15: Something is Amiss...
A rhythmic beeping pierced through a dreamless sleep.
Beep… Beep… Beep…
It was almost calming really, like a reassuring presence. The sleeper cracked an eye open only to find a darkened room. She was in a nice warm bed, so she was slow to try and process her surroundings. However, a subdued light creeping through the walls dragged her further awake over time. An ear twitched as the steady beeping pulled an eye towards a small screen a foot away from the bed. It took a few seconds, but eventually, the sleeper realized the sharply peaking line was a heart monitor.
In that instant, memories flashed. Her name, the attack by purple lizards, and singing a particularly merry ditty about Spike the Dragon’s ignoble exploits in courting mares and dragon matrons alike. That last one made Prism jolt up, and looked around to find herself in a hospital bed with her mother Twilight Sparkle being jarred out of reading her personal display.
“You’re finally awake!” Twilight stepped closer with an unreserved relieved smile, giving Prism cause to grin sheepishly at her. In this moment of privacy, Twilight doted on her stricken daughter with a dozen motherly kisses on top of Prism’s snout and forehead, making sure to exaggerate the noise with each one. Prism tried to crane her head away from the onslaught, but with her trapped under the covers, it was a hopeless battle.
“Moooom, I’m not a little filly anymore!” Prism was trying her best to not sound like a moody teenager and failing miserably.
Nevertheless, Twilight relented, and brushed the steel colored lock of hair out of Prism’s pouting eyes. “You’ll always be my little filly no matter how old you get.” She paused to allow Prism to reclaim some dignity by pulling up a chair to sit next to the bed. “You scared me half to death I’ll have you know. The last thing I want to put on one of my daughter’s headstones is ‘death by tiny lizards’.”
Prism would have loved to shoot back a scathing zinger the likes of which the new world has never bore witness to before, but with full consciousness came the aches and pains all over her body that sleep had allowed her to ignore. Worst of all, a foul taste akin to a month old latrine after a week of beans and chilly rotting in her mouth took the wind out of her sails. “Hold that thought.” Prism lurched to the side of the bed away from Twilight and threw up into a pre-placed bucket. Prism made only a partial attempt to aim.
The hideous taste was made even worse as some managed to get stuck in the back of her mouth right near the entrance to the nose, nauseating Prism into a second dry heave. Twilight remained silent as she gently stroked her daughter’s back, trying to ease her as best she could without magic. Prism had just finished her second upheaval when Doctor Sawbones stepped through the privacy field along with a nurse pushing a cart laden with medical supplies. “Princess, could you please stand aside?”
“Of course.” Twilight pushed herself away with a flap of her wings, and took a bit of warm pleasure that the good doctor remained professionally objective given the situation and their relationship.
“Nurse, I need a sprayer with one hundred fifty milligrams of counter Arcanoresperate agent seven mixed with seventy milligrams of Colestrate.” As the nurse prepared the dosage, Sawbones ignored the mess on the floor by stepping up to the side of the bed Twilight had occupied so he could study Prism’s sunken face. “You’ll be fine, Pathfinder, just try to keep your stomach calm for a few minutes. Can you open your eyes nice and wide please?”
“Ugh, no promises on the puking.” Prism’s gut rebelled against her feeble attempts to keep from heaving again, but for the time being, she kept it down. She didn’t resist Sawbones as he used his magic to gently pry her left eye open a little further than she was willing, and shown a horn light at her bloodshot eyes.
Sawbones glanced at the heart monitor. While Prism and Twilight could only see the pulse, both medical personnel could see a much more detailed readout of other vital signs on their personal displays. “So far so good, you’re not showing any symptoms of stage two Arcanoresperate toxicity.”
“Here you go, doctor,” the nurse announced, offering the sprayer.
Being the queen of all knowledge sponges she had always been, Twilight had kept track of medical science and advancement in the past several decades. And yet the sprayer still looked for all the world to be a small bottle of window cleaner complete with squeeze nozzle to her. The sight of it alone threatened to make her giggle.
Sawbones held the sprayer aloft next to Prism’s face and addressed her with a warm bedside manner. “Can you open wide for me?” Dread passed over Prism’s face for a bit, and complied hesitantly. Once done, Sawbones inspected the gums and tongue, both of which were a deep black with splotches of green. The pearly white teeth stood in stark contrast to the discolored flesh that disturbed Twilight enough to have bile rise, yet it didn’t faze Sawbones in the slightest. “Nurse, take note that the patient demonstrates the normal response to Arcanorespritory. Metabolized compounds have pooled in the gums and surrounding soft tissue.” He waited for the nurse to finish documenting. “Now, Miss Flash, you might experience some mild discomfort.” Using bit of magic to firmly hold Prism’s mouth open, Sawbones started squirting the medication all over Prism’s mouth and tongue.
If the puke taste in Prism’s mouth had been foul before, now it was truly abhorrent to the point where it transcended time and space. The medication was grape flavored... assuming those grapes had rotted in the sun for a month while sitting in a landfill and picked over by skunks and used as a troll's toothpick... somehow. Prism tried to spit it out and yank her head away, but the doctor held firm and emptied the gracefully small bottle into Prism’s mouth. Once it was empty, he camped her jaw shut with his magic and used another spell to block the fluid off from the back of her mouth. “I know it’s foul, but they trained you on this during basic. So suck it up buttercup,” he ordered with a coy grin. “To turn a phrase.”
All Prism said in response was to direct muffled venom at the inventor of the combat stim, and tried to keep herself from squirming. After roughly half a minute, the nurse presented a bottle of water, minty mouthwash, and a second bucket. Sawbones released his hold on her jaw.
Prism promptly snatched the mouthwash in both hooves and started swishing the foul sludge out of her mouth. “There you have it, Pathfinder, that will finish things up on our end. You will probably feel sleepy shortly, but the effect won’t last but a few hours.”
Once Prism had rinsed the grime out of her maw, she wiped away some of the crust on the edge of her mouth. “That was beyond foul! Why wasn’t year-old grape classified as cruel and unusual?! Even the TIs used strawberry.”
Twilight snickered more at the sprayer than her daughter’s antics. Her relief was palpable after seeing Prism’s gums and tongue were mostly restored to a healthy pink. Sawbones returned the sprayer to the nurse who departed with the cart and bucket after he dismissed her. “You should be fully back on your hooves by dinner, Pathfinder. But I should mention that any blues and purple you see in your urine for the next week or so is no real cause for alarm.”
“That’s encouraging,” she replied icily.
In a warm bedside manner, Sawbones gave her a reassuring slight smile and patted her shoulder. “If you think that was bad, you should have tried the mango flavor. Haven't needed to use the stomach pump yet after that was introduced. A real time saver,” Sawbones deadpanned, making Twilight fight a losing battle to keep from bursting out laughing at her miserable daughter.
Prism’s irritation molded into a spike of revulsion at the mental image. “But… Such is the fallout of using Arcanoresperate. Might I suggest, not angering the fauna so much next time. I don’t think the Pathfinder corps can handle it for much longer.” Prism offered a half-hearted wave and a moan of understanding, prompting Sawbones to make for the exit. “You’re free to leave as soon as you wish, although I suggest waiting until after a nap. Princess Twilight, if I may have a word with you about Alf when you’re done visiting, I’d appreciate it.”
“I’ll be with you shortly then.” Twilight had been wanting to have that talk for a while now, and she didn’t like how Sawbones’ voice grew dour after mentioning the alien.
With a nod towards his princess, Sawbones slipped through the privacy screen to attend other patients. Now that they were alone again, Twilight returned to her daughter’s side, ignoring the sickening coy stench of puke and sweat. She took a moment to check her display and saw that Sawbones had already given commands for an orderly to clean the mess up. Even so, Twilight's compulsive nature railed against the absence of cleaning supplies in the room so she could start doing it herself. “Assuming you live long enough to achieve alicornhood, you might want to take up pharmacology to create combat stims with less messy side effects. I don’t fair much better than you have when I’ve had to use stims.”
Prism rolled a lethargic eye towards her mother and huffed in annoyance. “You just want me to give up exploration. I’m onto you and your chessmastery ways. You think you're sooo clever, but I know your tricks.”
“Some of them, I admit,” Twilight teased while flicking Prism’s nose with the tip of a feather. Twilight used some magic to gingerly pull the bits of bile out of the corners of Prism’s mouth, and appraised her bedraggled coat with the critical eye of a worried mother. “We both know this world is still a big unknown and clearly dangerous place, but this is your second visit to the hospital in less than a year.”
“Hey, come on, momma. That’s a pretty good track record for, and I quote, ‘big unknown and clearly dangerous place’ end quote.” Prism countered with a smug grin of victory. “Don’t you think?”
Twilight raised a hoof to rebuke, but rethought the argument. With her hoof dropping Twilight nodded. “Okay, point taken. But all the same, that just means we need to take even better precautions.” Prism’s grin sank at the expected new set of rules. “I know you’re going to hate it, but I believe a more heavily armored rover for the corps is the only way you’ll survive out there anymore.”
The phantom image and pain of the alpha lizard clamping down on her neck flashed in Prism’s mind, making her shudder and rub her sore neck. But the news was not the unwelcome addition she had feared. “Just so long as Joe can still fly, then fine by me. Can I put an order for s-pattern ammo? That would have been a lot better at picking off those lizards.”
Twilight grinned at the determination that crystallized in her daughter’s amber eyes, serving to remind Twilight so much of her late husband. “I’ll send my approval to the armory, Little Wing. But from here on, try to avoid combat. Your job is to explore the land, not tame it. Leave that to the soldiers.”
Prism pouted and yawned. “Hey, it’s not my fault! I wasn’t spoiling for a fight with those stupid things.”
Twilight returned Prism’s huff with that motherly stern scowl that always preceded a lecture. “Which is why you’re only in the hospital rather than both this and a court-martial if you had wanted to fight them.”
The drowsy side effect of the detox started to take root, and impaired Prism to the point where she took a second or two to register the warning. “Whoa, a court-martial!? Isn’t that a bit harsh, momma?” She struggled and failed to hide a yawn. “Besides, you can’t court-martial me if I’m not technically military.”
Twilight gave Prism a half-frown at the technicality, but also silently approved of her daughter being smart enough to know that. “Spike and I have been quite laissez-faire about how the Pathfinders conduct themselves, but to date, only Ruby wears her armored duster. It’s the only reason she’s still alive.” The impact of that statement didn’t fully register to Prism as drowsiness overpowered her higher thinking. Twilight on the other hand, was too caught up in her lecture to notice and started rattling off with her hoof in the air and her eyes closed as she recited from memory. “From here on, wearing the duster is mandatory while any Pathfinder in is the field. I know it can be problematic to fly with it, but I’m sure that won’t be a problem with you, now that you're used to having larger wings.” The unexpected silence made Twilight fume a little. “It’s more than just some fancy fabric you know-” Twilight opened her eyes when she heard familiar snoring that could wake the dead from all the way back to Equis. Sure enough, Prism was passed out and sawing logs the likes of which had not been heard in generations. Twilight’s ears pulled back, though it didn’t help against the bone rattling snores. She never could stay awake when I- Twilight groaned at herself. “I was lecturing again wasn’t I?” she asked herself.
You’d think I’d have figured out how to stop doing that… Seeing she would do little good in ruining her hearing by staying around, Twilight departed the room, and stepped into the main ring’s hallway. Just as well. I shouldn’t keep Bones waiting. While the medical facilities were originally quite cramped, the exodus of various storage locations and other services in the surrounding ring, had allowed the medical staff to commandeer the now empty floor for more hospital rooms. As such, Twilight started making her way towards the main sickbay.
Shortly enough, she found Sawbones conversing with a fellow doctor and the senior bioengineer Polypeptide, an earth stallion with dark green coat that bore a deeply troubled expression. “I’ve followed the molecular guideline to the letter. The substance is exactly what Alf requested, right down to the molecular shape.”
“Is there a problem?” Twilight half asked, half announced as she joined the trio. All three ponies bowed towards the princess, who made a curt wing wave to get them back up and the conversation going again.
Sawbones was the first to respond. “I should say so. We’ve been running some tests on the substance Alf requested of us for his… self-imposed brainwashing, and it’s proven to be extremely lethal.”
The news was not entirely unexpected to Twilight, but it still made her scowl nonetheless. “Well, doctor, anything to do with altering memories or the brain in general could be toxic no matter what, even in tiny doses.”
The other doctor, a pearl white pegasus mare with a bright pink mane, who was sporting a baby bump as large as Twilight, barked a testy reply that spoke of lack of sleep. “We’ve run simulations on every conceivable dosage and vector from sprayers to pills. Princess, this poison, since I can’t bring myself to call it medication, breaks neurons apart in both ponies and whatever Alf is. I bet my last pinfeathers Alf is trying to commit suicide.”
Sawbones gestured for restraint. "As far as we know. It's not like we have anything more to work with on Alf's physiology aside from scans and simulations."
“If he wanted to end his own life, Alf has had plenty of time and opportunity to do that,” Twilight mused aloud as she started pacing around the group. It was a thought that crossed all their minds. “If you’re right, why would he want to involve us in on it?”
“Could be a cultural issue,” Sawbones offered as he turned his head around to follow the pacing alicorn. “According to Alf’s testimony, his brethren were being turned into animals by multiple AI like the one found by Prism Flash. Perhaps direct suicide is forbidden while assisted or ritual suicide is acceptable.”
Polypeptide remembered watching the publicized videos regarding the alien and that story in particular. The whole recording put a nervous twinge in his voice. “A ghastly thing to be sure. Should I have the stock destroyed?”
Twilight stopped pacing and twisted her face into her patented contemplative frown that melted into one of pity. “Not yet. For all he knows, Alf could be the last of his kind. What’s left of his kin roaming this world as little more than animalistic beasts. Part of that Judgement he kept referring to. That is not a fate I wish to force him to endure.” She faced Polypeptide, giving him a look that brooked no argument. “Have the requested amount brought to the observation lab. I wish to speak with Alf before giving it to him.”
While the bioengineer remained more or less dour about the order, the two doctors paled. The mare spoke out first. “Princess, I must protest giving Alf this poison!” she yelled tactlessly while stomping her hoof. “It isn’t right!”
Sawbones remained quiet however, leaving Twilight more ill-at-ease than if he too had voiced his disapproval. “If he were a pony, or at least one of the other species of Equis, I’d agree with you, but only on the grounds that I know their culture inside and out. As for Alf…” Twilight hid her discomfort as best she could, especially from Sawbones. “If we do not help him in this, he might as well be our prisoner.”
Polypeptide silently extracted himself from the conversation with a hasty bow towards Twilight and departed sickbay. Seeing she was getting nowhere, the doctor turned to Sawbones and waved a hoof at Twilight. “Come on, Chief, back me up on this.”
Sawbones searched Twilight’s eyes for a long moment. For the moment, the stern visage of an experienced ruler spoke of a sound mind to him. Yet Twilight allowed a brief slip of her more troubled inner thoughts via a short downward tilt of the corners of her mouth. A wordless gift to him alone since his colleague was so focused on him. “I trust our Princess will do what she thinks is right. There is nothing more for us to say on the matter.”
“Thank you for your council, doctors, now if you’ll excuse me.” Twilight’s eyes lingered on Sawbones’ own for a moment or two before she turned away to speak with the alien. That left the two doctors to return to their work, one fuming angrily and the other full of deep worry.
Prism awoke in a snap at the sound of hoofsteps. She bolted up to find Silver and Praxia stepping inside with relief filled smiles. Prism’s hand gauntlets were being held aloft in Praxia’s emerald green magic. “Oh, hey guys! I’ma... back from my trip!”
Silver made an attempt to be macho and waved it off with a smirk. “Ah, I knew you’d be fine. You’d never let a bunch of lizards kill you. Ruby woulda used it against your memory til the day she died.”
Silver’s performance was not quite convincing as Prism could see the undercurrent of stress in his tense shoulders and tone of voice. Praxia was of no mind to act aloof and buzzed over to the side of the bed to look the grey pegasus over. “You gave me quite a fright at least. You need to hurry up and ascend already before you get in worse trouble out there.”
“Oh yeah!” A gleeful light burst in Prism’s eyes and grin and she all but yanked Praxia’s hoof on her forehead. “Tell me what you feel!”
“H – Hey! Watch the leg hole! It’s sorta sharp.” Praxia’s surprise was great enough for her to drop the gauntlets, but Silver was quick enough to catch them before they hit the floor. At first, Praxia only felt a smooth forehead and was growing frustrated at being forced into an awkward stance. “I don’t feel anything, can’t you just- wait. Is that what I think it is?”
“What?!” Silver asked with mounting curiosity.
Praxia met Prism’s stupidly massive grin with a more dignified smile of her own. “Our little alicorn is growing up.”
“Seriously!? Can I feel?” Silver’s hoof all but pounced on Prism’s forehead once Praxia removed hers. Knowing what to look for, he felt the tiny yet hard bump on Prism’s head. The macho act fell apart as raw cheer flooded the bat pony. He jumped on the bed and gave Prism a surprise bear hug. “That’s awesome, Prism! I knew you had it in you!”
“Well, duh,” Prism snarked. “There’s that whole being born with alicorn blood don’tcha know?”
Prism and Silver started giggling like schoolchildren and rolled around on the bed in sheer delight. That left Praxia to be the mature one, as always, and give the two of them a bemused shake of her head. These two are such idiots. The thought held no malice.
Silver pulled his head up enough so that Prism could look at him clearly. “Say, why don’t we celebrate with a round or two of Zombogeddon?”
“Ooo, sounds good to me.” Prism and Silver turned to Praxia, putting her on the spot. “You coming too?”
“Uhh –” Praxia was trying to keep herself composed and reserved. “I’d be happy to. But I can’t right now, I have to meet with Spike in a half an hour to discuss the construction of a few more automated bunkers along the west ridge. How about in…” Praxia went about shuffling her schedule around, a skill Twilight had been sure to instill within her. “Two hours?”
“Sounds good,” Prism replied. With a thrust of a wing, she threw the covers off the bed and jumped off, only to remember there was puke on that side. She skidded a bit on clean floors. Oh, whew, the janitors must have been real quiet. Once on all fours, Prism took the time to stretch and pop her joints with ear grinding cracks that made Praxia physically ill while Silver was just impressed by some of the louder snaps. It did much to release some of the pressure, but a few in her back refused to pop. “I’m starving. I don’t know about you two, but I can’t stand hospital food, you coming to eat, Silver?”
Silver’s grin turned sheepish as he scratched the back of his head. “Actually, I was in the middle of extracting Joe from his blue box. I could get the automatic process of dumping him into a new rover started in a couple of hours since you totaled him, sooo about the time Praxia’s done.”
Prism rounded the bed and collected the offered hand-gauntlets. “Hey, blame those stupid tatzlwurms, not me.” Prism blew him a raspberry. “But whatever. That’ll give me time to wash up and all. See ya at the club.” Prism only donned one gauntlet before roping Silver into a hug. Praxia felt the few traces of love and promptly joined in the embrace to savor it.
The tight hug resulted in several ominously loud pops out of Prism’s spine, making her freak out while the other two jumped back out of shock. The pegasus’ shock turned to relief as the tense muscles relaxed, making her sag a bit to the floor. “Ohhh, there it goooes.”
Some deep part of Praxia’s mind couldn’t help but to imagine the cracking sound as snapping chitin. Primordial fear caused her to jump backwards and buzz into a low hover. Her logical side struggled to cope with instinct. “I ahh, I better get going to make it in time.”
Praxia sped away before either pony could question her. Silver clicked his tongue. “What was that about?”
Prism shrugged,. “Not a clue. Miss Bug gets like that every so often.” She playfully pushed him off so she could make for the door as well. “Get going on those repairs. I wanna see you at the club as soon as you get off work.” Thankfully, the stiffness in her muscles wasn’t too bad, so she made it outside with only minor difficulty.
“Oh I’ll be there alright!” he called as he followed her out.
It was some time later that Twilight stepped into Alf’s habitat. It was a far cry from the spartan amenities it once had. A Hodgepodge of different artwork, ranging from pseudo-marble statues to classical oil paintings, to the latest in holographic art of video game characters, Alf had placed them in seemingly imperfect positions that belied an alien sense of taste. Or perhaps a simple lack of home decor, as far as Twilight was concerned.
The floor was still a sterile white plastic, and most of the cameras had been removed. The tv was off, with Alf currently inspecting a famous hologram of the princesses, including Flurry Heart. The sight of her dead niece tugged at Twilight’s heartstrings, but the melancholy was only a shadow of what it had once been. The hologram had each alicorn arrayed like the spokes of a wheel, while the ground and air around each of them played on their various aspects. A sunbeam illuminating Celestia, a crescent moon wrapped around Luna, and the like.
Presently, Alf was focused on Twilight’s image with a confounded glower marring his lined face. The sound of the door sliding open was intentionally loud enough for Alf to hear her entry, as if the clip-clop of her hooves were not enough, allowing the alien to end his observation and bow deeply towards her. “Exalted one, you honor me with your arrival.” As usual, he spoke in his native tongue while Voyager dampened his speech and replaced it with Equestrian.
“As polite as ever, Alf.” Twilight’s initial regal smile threatened to waver. As had become commonplace with her visits, she made a slow wave with a wing to signal him to rise. “I take it you are critiquing art today?”
Alf gave a frown and more or less looked rather uncomfortable. “I fear insulting you on this, goddess Twilight, but my kind always viewed true-to-life art, at least I think that’s the term you use, as horribly boring outside of educational purposes.” He waved a hand towards a tall statue that had an idealized Twilight Sparkle. It lacked the baby bump, slight plumpness around the flanks, and general grooming that Twilight prefered to make herself more approachable, the statue was the very definition of divinity. In addition, there was a procession of technology that danced around her with scrolls and old books around her hooves while e-books and digital text weaved upwards to eventually form a halo in the form of a data stream.
The statue stood ten feet tall in total, but only because anything larger would scrape the ceiling. The statue Twilight was lean and radiated beauty and power. The statue’s gaze was both soft yet commanding, with the crown sporting the only bit of color on the otherwise white marble, and that was a purple jewel that sparkled in the light. All in all, it made Twilight gag, but also fear that was exactly how many ponies saw her. I swear, if it wasn’t for my string of daughters, the common pony would probably think alicorns were an entirely different species.
“Now, that is art,” Alf proclaimed. “Not a perfect replica of life, but life idealized to perfection!” Despite the flash of iron his voice, his posture threatened to slouch into morose longing. The sorrow vanished behind a mask of contentment as Alf turned back to Twilight. “Did you wish to talk further of art, or was there another reason for your visit?”
“There was, actually.” Twilight approached a ring of lounge chairs near one of the walls. As she neared, the AI automatically had one of the seats pulled into the floor with a replacement taking its place that could accommodate a pony of her size and condition. “We finished synthesising that compound you requested two months back.”
Twilight kept her voice level and betrayed nothing. She sat down on her side to keep from pressing down on her sizable belly. As with many of their visits, Alf opted to stand at a respectful distance, as was custom for him. As always though, Alf’s chair was offered and refused. The alien took a few moments to notice that Twilight was not sporting any sort of carrying bags. “Stop me if I sound presumptuous, Goddess, but given that you did not bring it with you. I assume you have issue with it?”
Twilight watched him, for the first time in a month, take a seat and steepled his fingers. He leaned forward on the hard chair to limit any comfort. “Then you already have some idea as to why I’m here.” With a touch of magic, Twilight created a hologram of the vial she had seen in the lab on the way in. The dark black liquid caused Alf’s eyes to dilate in desire. “I’ll admit our medical knowledge of you is limited, but this stuff is likely to kill you more than anything else.”
Alf was silent for a moment, his eyes falling away from the illusion, prompting Twilight to dispel it. “That… is a possibility, yes. I take it, you do not approve of the risk?”
Twilight let off a heavy sigh, her thoughts drifting back to her daughter. “My people are no strangers to dangerous medications. Our soldiers and scouts more than most. But I must know if you were honest with me on what this drug does, or if you’re trying to commit suicide.”
“...You are correct on both, Goddess Twilight,” Alf said at length. The constant goddess title irked Twilight, making the corner of her right eye twitch, but she otherwise made no outward reaction. “The Judgement of Rea the Polite Judge is used to commune with, as the name implies, Rea the Polite Judge.” The name was new to Twilight, so she shifted a little to sit up a bit straighter. “Traditionally, the Judgement is used by political officers against subversives who blaspheme against the pantheon and against the majority of criminals.
“The Judgement’s purpose is to open the imbiber to Rea the Polite Judge. From there, it can free us of whatever misguided mentality the officers discern. If Rea the Polite Judge declares us fit to reenter society, we survive the process, if not, we are claimed by Gulrat the Harvester.”
Twilight allowed herself to show some visible concern via a scowl and raised eyebrow. “So essentially, it’s a gamble.”
Alf was brought up short, as if he had never considered it. He hesitated to answer, but Twilight allowed the silence to drag on to give him time to think. “I - I suppose an outsider would see it that way.” He pulled his hands away to subconsciously scratch the side of his arm.
“It would be easier to simply treat you as a pony, Alf. I’d feel more justified in refusing to allow you to use this, but at the end of the day, you’re not. Doing so would force you to either live in isolation from us, or have to suffer watching your greatest taboos.” Twilight fell silent for a long moment, trying to reconcile potentially losing the only sapient alien she’d likely ever find. “I won’t deny you this, if you feel the need to commune with Rea. But I would ask if there is anyway I can help improve your odds of survival.
“I’m not here to keep you against your will if you must do this, but as your friend, could you at least give me the chance to help you live through this.”
Alf gave an awkwardly forced toothy smile, an act he knew the ponies saw as positive, but was a peculiar way of showing it to his people. “I am honored by your wisdom, Goddess Twilight. As for helping me, the Doctors of the Cloth of my people would know of a way to ease the communion. That is knowledge I was not given unfortunately.”
“Then at least let us help with what we can.” Twilight stood up to stand eye to eye with Alf. Solid iron gave weight to her words. “My people may not have the level of technology you’re used to, but we can be quite creative.”
Alf was moved by the offer, finding renewed conviction he had thought he had lost. “I will create a list of things that I do know of.”
Twilight flashed a wide grin. “I can’t tell you how much I love lists.”
Prism emerged from her new carbon copy house all cleaned up and ready to hang out at the VR club. The short five feet between the front door and the dome’s airlock was covered in short grass to give the place a more familiar feel. As she approached the airlock, she found the scowling and quite positively irate face of Ruby standing on the other side of the glass with only three legs. Wait, what!? At first, Prism didn’t fully compute the absence of Ruby’s left front leg, but it hit her fully after reaching the airlock. The red crystal pony was kept upright by a translucent mesh looking spell that emulated scaffolding around the missing limb. The phantom limb looked rigid and uncomfortable.
Ruby pressed a button on her side of the airlock to speak over the intercom. “PF, we need to talk in private. Now!”
“Whoa, hey now,” Prism rebuffed with a wave of her left leg. “By Celestia’s sunburnt plot what happened to you?! Did the Commander finally give in to curiosity to see if crystal ponies taste like gems?”
Ruby pressed her helmet to the glass and snarled in throbbing pain. “I lost this damn leg yesterday you feathery lurdane! Now let me in before someone sees me like this or I’ll throw you back on underwater duty for a year!”
Prism couldn’t stop her eyes from constantly wandering to the missing leg. “Then how did you get-” Prism caught herself after remembering the pathfinders had all been given their new houses one right after the the other, placing them in their own little sub-neighborhood. Oh, right. That’s not the rover I requested from Voyager. Prism snapped out of it and pressed the simple control panel. “Okay, okay, geez, no need to get pissy, Boss.”
With a few deft key presses with her robotic hand, Ruby was cycled through the lock with the surrounding glass rendered opaque with a few mana crystals placed evenly across the dome. Once Ruby was inside, Prism’s snark returned in full force, only to dim a little at seeing how much it was taking out of Ruby to walk even the short distance through the airlock. “Now come on, chief, it’s not like you to get outwitted by a critter. So what really happened? It’s gotta be worse than running into a pair of tatzlwurms and getting swarmed by dog-lizards.”
Ruby hobbled into the enclosure and had to check herself from snapping at Prism. Mostly because she caught the barest hint of concern in the pegasus’ tone. Probably her imagination. “... I was cooking dinner when I assume the smell attracted a group of wolfbeetles while I was on one of the jungle islands beyond the shore. I forget the name, not that I’m going back. My rover’s warning came barely a second before the damn swarm came down on me. Thanks to Larry I got out alive, mostly.” She glanced down at her missing leg, both physical and emotional pain seeped through her tightly controlled scowl. The last thing she wanted was to show even a modicum of mental weakness in front of Prism. “Might have saved my leg if there had been a spare medivac when I called for one.”
It didn’t take Prism long to take offense to the comment. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Ruby snorted and shook her head. “Nothing… look, I’m going to make this quick, the pain meds-”
Prism’s wings flared and she pushed herself in between Ruby and the airlock, an iron gaze locking Ruby in place. “Just say it. You want to blame me because I occupied a medivac that could have gone to you, don’t you?”
Ruby plopped down on the grass and had her suit’s helmet pop open so she could have her head free of its tight confines. Prism scowled at the delaying tactic, but said nothing as she waited for an answer. “Lemme tell you something, Prism.” Ruby bit her cheek to keep from letting the dull pain in her missing leg from causing her to flinch. “You may be the daughter of the princess,” Ruby grumbled while shooting an evil eye at the large-winged pegasus. But as far as I’m concerned, the only thing royal about you is the pain in my ass. If I want to keep my mouth shut then by Cadence there’s not a damn thing you can do to change my mind! So back off,” Ruby shoved Prism’s face back and away from her with a hoof, nearly making her cry in pain at all of her front weight suddenly going to her magical prosthetic.
Prism begrudgingly allowed herself to be pushed back, fuming at the irate crystal mare while rubbing her smushed snout. “Fine then, I’ll just have to go with what I think you meant,” Prism said with a coy tone. Oh I can’t wait to wave my horn in your face when it becomes visible. Images of Ruby’s jaw dropping to the floor and, most gratifying of all, was the red crystal pony having to bow down towards her during the future coronation. The mental image alone was enough for Prism to hold back on further commentary. At least nothing that might get her to swing at me. Wouldn’t want her falling flat on her face just yet. “Just so we’re clear. I hope you do realize that the ‘no special treatment’ idea that mom told everypony was my idea, right? How many times do I have to prove to you I earned my place?” Prism narrowed her gaze. “The only reason I got that medivac was because I got injured first, it’s not a difficult concept.”
Ruby snorted dismissively as Prism stepped forward challengingly. “Says the mare who just so magically scored higher than anypony else on the final assessment exam, and yet cannot even remember to say some historic words when she first set hoof on the new planet. If not Twilight, then one of the other princesses must've gotten to the graders." Prism felt her blood boil at the insufferable crystal pony, and slapped Ruby across the face before she could say another word.
"That's a damn lie!" Prism all but screamed with fury in her eyes. Ruby took the slap coolly, letting her head stay facing away from Prism for a moment before slowly turning back to look at her. " I busted my tail off to get that grade! No pony helped me get that grade except me!"
Ruby was stunned to see only vindictive anger in Prism instead of any defensiveness that would betray a lie. So either she’s done some mental gymnastics to forget that she cheated or was helped, or she's completely ignorant of it. The implications of that thought disturbed Ruby deeply, and saw she could gain a little else from Prism directly. That revelation did nothing to improve Ruby's view of Prism, quite the contrary, it worsened it because now she believed Prism was fool.
"You know what, whatever, Believe what you want. Not that it makes a difference now that we are already here."
"I'm gonna believe the truth, now did you just come here to piss me off or try to gain sympathy for losing your leg? Because any you might have gotten just flew out the window." Prism was inches from bodily chucking Ruby out the airlock, but she was mostly scared at herself for slapping Ruby in the first place. I can't believe I let her get me riled up like this. It's not like I haven't heard all this garbage before. Prism wanted to do her mother’s calming breathing exercise, but Ruby’s presence made her hold off.
Ruby felt a headache start forming and she squinted her eyes from the pounding right behind her eyes. "For what it's worth, I'm..." she had the fight herself to save the next word. "Sorry." Prism was caught off guard by that, but remained indignant. "These meds are screwing with my head. The doc said I should stay at home until the nerve blocks are removed, but orders are orders and I was the closest one to you. So if we can keep our wiseass comments to ourselves, I can tell you why I’m here looking at your ugly mug instead of just calling you.” When Prism offered no interruption outside of a mixed expression between anger and a modicum of pity, Ruby continued in a mildly less hostile tone.
“The Commander wants to keep this whole debacle on the down low since it could put a big dent in colony morale, but every last one of us Pathfinders were hit yesterday.”
Prism’s frown faltered for a second or two before deepening considerably. “Wait… Are you serious? Why didn’t Silver say anything, or mom for that matter? Did the others make it!?”
Prism stepped forward only for Ruby to growl and shove her back. “Yes I’m dead serious. As far as I know, the engineers of our unit haven’t been told yet. I wasn’t even told until after the Princess personally teleported me to my house. Less ears, less tongues, ya got that?”
Prism bit back a colorful retort for Ruby’s tone implying she was moronic. “I’m not an idiot, Ruby, I’m the last person you need to dumb it down for.” A smirk burrowed through her scowl. “At least I’ve been able to keep my limbs intact.”
A flash of hate curled Ruby’s lips, but she refused to rise to any more bait. I've embarrassed myself enough already today. Damn pills. I did not need to listen to that mare’s mouth. “So far at least,” Ruby stated through terse lips. “As for the gag order, you can ask Spike if you want confirmation, but for now, we don’t mention a word of this on the comms. The commander doesn’t share the Princess’ faith in Thorn keeping his word on not hacking us. If he knew all six Pathfinders are out of commission, he could take advantage of it somehow. Then there’s the issue with somepony here possibly being a bit too nosey in the logs. The last thing we need is more bad news with all the soldiers getting banged up on a daily basis.”
“Hey, I can keep a secret,” Prism grumbled defensively. I guess that’s why Silver didn’t say anything either. “But we all got hit on the same day?”
Ruby’s harsh tone softened moderately at remembering what Spike had mentioned Prism’s injuries in passing. Not as bad as mine obviously, she mused while glancing at her stump. but still… “Yes. From what the Commander’s said, you were attacked first, while I was last. Firefly got lucky and only lost his rover to those acid throwing dartons, but he had to be recalled because of it. The rest of us are still in the hospital. All of which are in critical condition last I heard.”
The news got Prism’s inquisitive mind churning. With her comrades safely back in the colony, her concern shifted to the implications of so many attacks in one day. That would explain why I was in such an isolated ward. “What does mom and Spike make of all this? Just some bad cosmic coincidence?”
“Well unless the xenos got on the plant-based internet and told all their buddies to kill ponies on sight, then yeah, flukes happen.” Ruby struggled to get back up, refusing to even acknowledge the token assistance Prism offered more out of habit than any love between them. “Anyway, I’ve said what I had to. Just keep your mouth shut about it for the next week or so until the Commander lifts the gag order. Probably waiting until we’re all up and about again.”
“Can I at least talk about it with Silver and Praxia?” Prism asked as she watched Ruby hobble into the airlock.
Ruby stopped before stepping fully inside to turn towards Prism with a grimace of pain shooting up her body. “The regent should already be in the know, not so sure about the engineers, but we’re technically not even supposed to talk about it between each other until the gag order’s lifted. So put a sock in it and keep your mouth shut.”
“Wow, a double idiom, fine I get the message. But before you go,” Prism eyed the Ruby’s stump of a leg. “Are you getting a vat-grown replacement or a bionic?”
“What’s it to you?” Ruby barked as she slapped the cycle button with her hip.
Prism leaned against the wall in a way that she could still see into the airlock now that the privacy spell on the dome was dissipating. “Nothing, just curious if I should start watching out for that right hook of yours the next time we throw down for packleader.”
Ruby snorted bitterly. Despite their animosity, neither mare had ever directly come to blows beyond the occasional slap or two. “I’ll let you figure that out if you ever come after me.”
Prism’s boastful side nearly made her bring up her developing horn, but the strategic thinking made Prism check herself. No… I’ll let her find out when my horn gets large enough to see easily. That’ll throw her off her rocks in a real hurry.
Ruby caught Prism giving her a smug eye as the airlock opened. “What?” she barked heatedly before stepping back outside.
“Just wondering the real reason you hate me so much,” Prism shot out a bit quicker than she intended. Ruby huffed dismissively and hobbled over to the rover she had rode in on. It may have been a short walk to her house, but that wasn’t so easy on three legs. Prism didn’t let distance deter her from an answer. “You say it’s ‘cause I rode in on my mother’s coat tails, but come on, you can do better than that.”
The half-mocking half-joking tone was enough to grate on Ruby’s nerves, this time, she wouldn’t let Prism get a rise out of her. This time, no one else was watching, not even Voyageur due to the AI passively recording all interactions it had. Instead, Ruby climbed inside the rover, activated the privacy spell built into the transport, and had her holographic face materialize in front of Prism. “You want to know that badly?”
Prism was put mildly on edge by Ruby’s sudden humorous voice, though she didn’t let it show. “Yeah. So out with it.”
“Fine, but let me ask you this. Is there anyone you hate?” Ruby studied Prism intently, her face dancing between dead seriousness and derisive mockery.
Prism’s mind went straight to her older sister, but after that, there was no individual person should could bring herself to admittedly hating them with a passion. At length, Prism eventually shook her head. “No one still living.”
“Well you should,” Ruby snarked in the same tone that Prism always used. “Makes life more fun.”
Prism stood there with a blank look and blinked slowly. “Are - are you being serious?” Ruby’s toothy smirk only widened before she cut the call short, leaving Prism totally baffled. Flustered at being played, Prism scoffed and stomped over to the airlock to leave. “Whatever. She’s just being a creep.” A night at the club wasn’t so appealing anymore, and yet she couldn’t bring herself to cancel on Silver and Praxia.
Later that evening, Twilight Sparkle and Alf stood in an observation blister overseeing a previously empty laboratory. Alf had brought a backpack full of items that Twilight had only glimpsed at. The lab beyond the glass was populated by a team of engineers directing the construction of a sensory deprivation tank modified for Alf’s size and physiology. 3-D printers had been brought in to facilitate it. The design alteration was simple enough, so Twilight was intent on spending time going over the details with Alf. “So let me get this straight, you’re banking on your biological enhancements to survive?”
Alf gave a shallow bow, speaking in a patient voice. “Correct. While I no longer have access to a proper doctor, my body should still retain its enhanced durability for at least four more of your years.” He made a swishing motion with his elbows, an act Twilight had caught on that meant he was unsure. “At least that is my understanding. I built ships, not bodies.”
“That leaves a lot more variables than I’d prefer.” Twilight brought up the list she had made on her display. “So all you do is let the mind bleach absorb in your skin, and watch images of taboo acts to eliminate your revulsion of it?” Twilight chided herself at used that particular term for it, but the nickname of the chemical had stuck.
“I can hear your doubt. Do you fear I am being elaborate in trying to commit suicide?”
Twilight might have been mildly embarrassed for being called out, but her concern, and overall confoundment, only left her confused. “Well…” She scratched her neck while scrutinizing an image of mind bleach’s molecular make up, as if trying to divine its function by willpower alone. If he was, he’s going above and beyond in effort here. Maybe that’s a cultural requirement. “It just seems a bit fanciful.” Alf shifted to defend himself, but Twilight continued on. “But, I will trust you in this, as friends should,” she added with a reassuring smile.
“Trust well placed, I assure you.” Alf’s trepidation made his voice quiet. He sweated profusely as the lid of the deprivation tank was closed as the engineers started testing the equipment. It would not be long before it was ready. “Rea is nearly impossible to appease without offerings,” he muttered just low enough for Twilight to hear him speak, but not for Voyager to translate. “But I have no idea how the offerings are made. All the same… I refuse to live as a recluse.”
The more he stared at the sensory deprivation tank, the more a sense of foreboding weighted down upon him like a choking wrap of chains. In truth, he was terrified. Had he not been spending the last two months purposefully distracting himself… The Goddess of Ponies has more kindness than most of the divine. I don’t think she would allow this if I showed such doubt. Standing here waiting for the ponies to finish their work, more fear than he thought possible was bubbling up. Not so much of his fear of the possible brain damage, but in meeting his god of judgement as the one who failed to save some modicum of his people. “Goddess Twilight, if you would allow it, I must commune with Rea the Polite Judge.”
So a full on ritual? Twilight nodded and backed away to give Alf some room. “By all means. Go ahead.”
“I thank you again, Goddess Twilight.” He bowed deeply at her before unshouldering his backpack and pulled out several holy relics tied to Rea. A short straight blade, a plastic twig of some plant Twilight couldn’t identify, a set of small measuring scales, and a fist sized crystal sphere colored like that of a red cloudy planet. All of these ‘relics’ had been printed the month before, but Alf hoped it was the imagery that counted.
He placed the red orb in front of him, the scales behind him and the other relics flanking him, Alf genuflected towards the sensory deprivation pod. There he recited a series of prayers that lasted until the engineers were finished and the medical personnel were now doing their part to ready the tank. Twilight stood through it all, wanting to witness everything she could, even as fatigue started to claw at her drooping eyes. With the mandated prayers complete, Alf was at last able to add his own request, as is tradition. Rea the Polite Judge, I beseech you. If I am still worthy of mercy, then I beg of you to show me the path. If my people are to be robbed of the Spark of the Divine, then what else is there for me?
No answer was forthcoming, but one was not expected outside of the tank. That would be rectified all too soon.
Just in case any of you missed my last blog, I had a bit of a tornado pass through town and took away my power and internet right after new-years. But as with this new chapter, I'm clearly back in actions, but my updates will be slower now that I am taking nursing classes.
As for the chapter itself, just what is amiss...hmmm?
Is it the Arcanorespritory pooling in the gums instead of filtered out by the kidneys? ... Nah, if that happened the compounds would cause renal failure without the doctor's meds. 
That's my story and I'm sticking with it.
also, TIs stands for training instructors. It's a military term.
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First of all, gross. Secondly, I absolutely adore Twilight in 'mom mode'; she's just so adorable! Such a doting mother! Best mom of the year, for sure.
I love how, unlike most other stories, these ponies are taking alicornhood in stride. No overblown jealously; no drawn-out 'woe is me' after initial acceptance; just a life choice that was thought through logically and helped through emotionally by her friends. The lack of 'angst' is greatly appreciated. Oh! I'm so excited for her!
That's our Twilight!
I love this nerdy princess so much!
I don't know what's worse: the fact that Ruby thinks Prism is an idiot, or the fact I could actually see Twilight Sparkle doing everything in her power to get her baby on the ship with her. Even though Prism mostly likely did get in by being qualified, the posibility that Twilight pulled some strings is not out of the question.
Now, that is a strange coincidence! Or is it? Hmm...
Outstanding chapter as always! Had me at the edge of my seat. It seems everything is going smoothly, with a few ripples here and there, but at this point my biggest worries are about Alf; here's to hoping the ritual goes okay and his brain isn't turned into Swiss cheese. Poor guy.
I keep forgetting this is a story I like.. But I am happily reminded with each update you make. I do so love your writing in this tale and hope to see its end one day.
I wasn’t even told until I was told until after the Pr
Noticed a repetition, janky as hell if you remove the "i was told" part it sounds way more natural.
Wait, when did Prism encounter an AI? I don't remember any mention of AI being made except in reference to Joe and the shipboard AI that came with them. It's been a while since I read the previous chapters, but I'd think I'd remember something like that...
Hmmm... Given that ALL the pathfinders were hit at once... It's possible that they're on a planet where someone else already completed the Harmony victory path. After all, plant-based internet is basically what the Mind Flower and Mind Stems are. This could be the hivemind that resulted trying to kick the ponies off the planet. Or maybe just the proto-hivemind the planet was implied to have beforehand.
I have a feeling that Alf is going to survive. Plus, I believe that when Alf is in the act of communicating with his deity it is actually the manifestation of his guilt or sins and he has to come to terms with them. Or it could just be that he does have some actual deity who has power over something.
7950022 Remember the holograms that appeared out of the crystal artifacts? I think that's they're referring to.
7950022 The hivemind exists before you do the Harmony victory. Xeno aggression is global right from the start, and Twilight's colony is handling things in the expected way -- shooting back at the bugs when they attack -- which eventually leads to eternal hostility.
You really have to go out of your way to avoid conflict if you don't want to eventually be fighting everything that you haven't leashed.
7950714 Ah, no, I didn't remember that. It's been a while since I've read the previous chapters.
7951233 I haven't really played the game very much (I get too distracted just reading through the civilopedia to start a new game, and I got too frustrated to continue my previous game when a glitch in a quest required that I build a structure that required a specific strategic resource in the borders of the city, and the specific city I needed to build it in did NOT have that resource in its borders) but I'm pretty sure that's not correct. My own experience, and what the game tells you, is that the alien species don't really become aggressive until you start attacking them, or unless you get too close to their nests.
And the hivemind definitely does NOT exist, at least not as a conscious, self aware entity, until the Harmony victory is achieved. The only evidence for it existing at all before then is that the aliens become hostile all at once if you antagonize them too much, and that could easily be explained as a limitation of the game mechanics, representing that the aliens are 'learning' that humans are dangerous, similar to how many animals on Earth IRL instinctively avoid human settlements, only more proactive. Other than that, the game implies that, before the Harmony victory is reached, the planetary hivemind existed only to the same extent that a similar hivemind could have existed on Earth before the biosphere was ruined.
7951367 The game heavily implies that Harmony is you communing with the existing hivemind and bringing it to consciousness.
And 'non-hostile' aliens will go out of their way to:
(a) Stand on your farms and mines
(b) kill your workers and colonists
So it's really hard to deal with them being around and any reasonable person would kill the ones that got too close. Especially since sonic fences were heavily nerfed and basically do nothing now.
They'll leave your military units and explorers alone, at least. So it's *possible* to keep them from getting aggressive but that has to be your explicit goal and you'll probably have to end up forgiving some dead colonists and workers.
And ONE MISCLICK and they'll be hostile to you forever. You don't get a war-warning popup if you have a unit pathing into one like you would for another player's, they just attack and now the aliens will 'fight back'.
Ruby... you're the one that's the real pain in the ass!
7951476 I do not recall having any such difficulties, but then again the last time I actually played the game instead of reading its lore was before they nerfed sonic fences. It is entirely possible that things have changed drastically since then, especially with the Rising Tides expansion. Or, possibly, I was playing on an easier difficulty level than you. While I quite like games like Civilization, I'm not actually very good at them, so I tend to play on the easiest setting.
7951476 I do not recall having any such difficulties, but then again the last time I actually played the game instead of reading its lore was before they nerfed sonic fences. It is entirely possible that things have changed drastically since then, especially with the Rising Tides expansion. Or, possibly, I was playing on an easier difficulty level than you. While I quite like games like Civilization, I'm not actually very good at them, so I tend to play on the easiest setting.
Eh. I ship it.
7949790 No Coinkydinks here. As of the latest version of Beyond Earth: Rising Tide, the aliens will not attack anything belonging to a given player unless they attack first or destroy a nest. This includes workers, colonizers (I send them out alone on a regular basis and never lose them), explorers, cities, and all military units. Since the aliens are less obtrusive than at first this isn't much of a problem, so the player is free to build and expand a bit without worrying about any siege worms coming knocking. Even if another faction does attack the aliens they won't go after you personally until one of your units does something.
7951597
7951233 The aliens are no longer such a big nuisance (to the point that you don't even need sonic fences right away) and this story so far seems to mirror their actions pretty well.
7955180
I've heard about that (they sell, or at least used to sell, "miracle berry" compressed-powder tablets on ThinkGeek.com so you can experience the effect), but I've never really tried them.
I can still taste flavors that other people consider at least moderately strong (IE, I can taste the difference between coffee with hazelnut/vanilla/etc. creamer, and coffee with unflavored creamer), but it's FAR more subtle to me.
One of the biggest issues that causes me is that I have to put WAY too much salt on salty foods.
)
I can literally put enough salt on my pizza to make a friend gag with one bite of it, and then happily enjoy the entire slice in front of them.
(I sometimes use this to make a few bucks at bars when I travel. Order something like chicken salad, pizza, etc. and bet someone I can salt the crap out of it, then eat the whole thing with a smile. To date, I've never lost that bet.
I have trouble remembering, what does Alf look like?
Also Ruby is a bitch.
7951367 What game are you talking about?
Edit: wait, is this whole thing a crossover type thing and I've never noticed? Dayum.
7984794 Heheh, yup. With Civilization: Beyond Earth. Though it seems more of a spiritual crossover; I don't think the ponies are going to encounter any human civilizations.
Ha! Protein puns
If the main OCs of this story were voiced, what would they sound like?
8052574
Because Discord is a walking deus ex machina that would have corrected or trivialized the very premise of the story. He either has to be ignored that he ever existed or outright killed in most stories like this. As for Flurry Heart, she wasn't a thing until well after the first chapter was written.
8052822
True, Discord is the only one who can alter spacetime without any serious consequences. I still view Flurry Heart as a foal though, so that was a hard one to process.
8073401 yeah. i could partially understand it with price of immortality but i always prefered just difficult for them to be pregnant.
This story will be good. it has a different aura (witch is good, but i loved better the twidash hive books )
what can i say? Im only a pony after all.
Needs beginning " marks.
______________
8052822
If Flurry Heart wasn't the original cause of the Great Freeze. What was? And do you think the path you ended up taking was better than that story path?
Missing " marks.
_________________
Neat story but it’s just not clicking for some reason.