VII - Mite
The entire awake crew of the Ark stared at the hologram in front of them. It showed an orange sphere with six legs, at the tip of which were thousands of snaking tendrils of all sorts, presumably for interfacing with any sort of technology it came across.
“We’re calling it the Mite,” Twilight announced. “We think it was guarding the Brick, as evidenced by it being made of the exact same material. We think it was trying to destroy the Ark.”
“Okay question,” Discord said. “Why have a guardian for a Brick with a random bunch of numbers on it?”
“We have no idea,” Twilight answered. “But this bug was trying as hard as it could to take control of our computer systems. We are just lucky it couldn’t interface correctly - hence all the glitches it was causing in its efforts. The systems were incompatible, but it did learn alarmingly fast."
Luna frowned. “It stopped us from moving. Besides the lightning of the attack, that was the only effect that seemed on purpose.”
Twilight nodded. “Unlike all the other commands it sent out, that was the only one it continually ordered once it had figured it out.”
“So it didn’t want us to go anywhere.” Starlight looked deep in thought. “Did it send out a signal at any point?”
“Not that we detected. Why?”
“If it wanted us destroyed and couldn’t do it itself, it might have called for help. It’s what I would have done.”
“Then it’s a good thing we got the heck out of dodge.” Discord said, throwing a dodgeball into Celestia’s face.
Celestia sighed. “It is indeed… Let us hope we can put this behind us. Though we will continue to run tests-”
Discord smirked. “Oho! Can I try this time! I can shrink to an eensy-bitsy size and toy with it!”
“Discord!” Twilight yelled. “You can’t be-”
“Wait,” Celestia said, her eyes sparkling the way they did when she got a feeling about something. “Perhaps since this Mite is a creature, it would be best to meet it on its level. Unless anyone else knows advanced shrinking spells?”
Starlight raised a hoof.
“That is also willing to be within close proximity to a potentially hostile alien machine?”
Starlight lowered her hoof.
“That’s what I thought. Proceed Discord. Don’t let it out.”
“You can count on-a-me! Discordio!” He said before vanishing down a green pipe.
“Sister, what are you doing?” Luna questioned. “This could go wrong in so many wa-” Then she saw the twinkle in Celestia’s eyes and facehooved. “Oh great. One of those.”
“I simply foresaw that Discord would be… Helpful.”
Luna looked at the socks she was wearing. “Useful…” She seethed. “...I’m way too old for this…”
“I’m a year older than you. And look at me.”
Luna bristled, ready to make a comeback retort, but she was interrupted by Cadence.
“...Are we safe?”
Everypony turned to look at her.
“Are bad aliens going to come and blow us up?”
Twilight bit her lip and the sisters looked nervous. Starlight sighed inwardly. As the only good liar, I get to talk her down, again… “No Cadence, we stopped the Mite and we are going very far away now, everything will be fine.”
“Starlight, you’re convincing. But the looks the rest of them are giving prove that it’s not safe!” She glared. “We’re going to die, aren’t we? Get killed by some aliens that just don’t like us! We! Are! Doomed!”
“Cadence…” Twilight cautioned.
“My baby almost died! Starlight was attacked! Who knows what’s next? A space war? Magic sickness? One of us just vanishes? One of us dies!?”
“MI AMORE CADENZA THAT’S ENOUGH,” Celestia shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice, fire in her eyes. Cadence reared back in fear, as did Twilight and Starlight. Luna simply scooted a little bit away from her sister.
Celestia looked Cadence in the eye. “I know you have it worse than the rest of us. I know you aren’t in your right mind. I know you are struggling to get through each and every day,” She paused. “I know you’ve considered throwing yourself into the jump drive.”
Twilight gasped.
“But you don’t. You carry on because you have a family waiting for you. You keep yourself together for their sake. You try as hard as you can,” She took a sad breath. “So, Cadence, use your connection to your family. Instead of panicking, use your feelings to your advantage. Instead of crawling around scared and broken, fight. Fight for the lives of your family and your friends. Do not lose hope - we will survive.” She looked around at everypony else. “We all will.”
Cadence looked down at the floor for a few moments. When she looked back up at Celestia she had a small smile on her face. “Thank you. I… Needed that,” She smirked. “The story tonight will be of defending homes that are yet to come.”
~~~
Discord sealed the room and unsealed the jar that contained the Mite. Then he teleported into it and sealed it from the inside. He was the size of the Mite. It stood before him - the sphere that made up the main body was perfectly smooth and the six legs floated a slight distance from the body at equidistant points. It looked exactly like the hologram except more solid - and mobile.
“Hello there Mite,” He said. “Fancy meeting you here in the microscopic plane.” He walked towards it. “I’d love to see your tricks. What makes you-”
The Mite rushed Discord and stuck one of the legs into him, filling his body with tendrils, trying to interface with him. Discord let out a “GAK” of pain, but then started laughing and teleported away. “Not going to wooooork silly Mite! Hrm… Electrical discharges, lots of feeling around - were you trying to hack me? Oho how silly, I’m not a nanobot mister Mite!”
It charged him again, only to realize it was trying to hack a fruit cake.
“I’m beginning to think you don’t have ears,” He said. “Let me fix that.” He snapped his fingers and two cat ears appeared on top of the Mite. It freaked out at the new input it was receiving - doubly so since at this scale sound shouldn’t even be a thing. It stumbled around like an idiot for several minutes, making more freaky noise with its very steps. Eventually it decided to stand perfectly still.
“You done?” Discord asked, munching on a pomegranate skin. The Mite didn’t respond. “Guess you need a way to talk as well…” Discord created a miniature speaker decorated with kumquat stickers.
The Mite immediately plugged a leg into the device and started spewing high pitched noises at Discord. He simply stuck cauliflowers in his ears and cleared his throat. “Mite! Mite! It’s not real sound down here. Have it function like a normal full-sized speaker so I don’t have to alter reality again to make us be able to talk to each other.”
The sound from the speaker subsided, becoming standard background static.
“There we go. Now, mister Mite, I know you understand what I’m saying. You’ve at least partially hacked our systems, and that requires at least the ability to, oh I don’t know, read.” He tossed a book at the Mite - 1001 Ways to Annoy Nanomachines. Discord grabbed a glass and put it on his head. “Now, I want to know what you are.”
“Keeper,” The speaker spouted.
“Very good. Honestly didn’t expect you to figure this out so quickly, Mite. Now, here’s the thing, basketball, we want to know what you know. We can cut you open and hope we don’t damage you, or you can tell us and we don’t destroy you. Win-win! Everyone gets ice cream!”
“Agreed.”
“Good,” Discord laughed evilly. “What were you trying to do to our ship?”
“Destroy.”
“Why? I happen to like this ship despite evidence to the contrary.”
“Orders.”
“From who?”
“Unknown.”
“What does that mean?”
“Unknown.”
Discord sighed. “Well you’re certainly talkative. If you don’t know who, then where did these orders come from?”
“Activation.”
“When did you activate?”
“Trespassers.”
Discord chuckled. “Ah, us, ruining your nice sleep. What exactly were you ordered to destroy?”
“Protect.”
“Not destroy, protect? Hrm… Why is that Brick important?”
“Key.”
“It’s a Key? Key for what?”
“Unknown.”
“You really don’t know much do you?”
“Keeper.”
“Whatever. Well, I suppose you were helpful. Enjoy your continued existence. Any requests before I leave? You know, besides freedom.”
“Database.”
Discord snapped his finger and a crystal computer tower appeared. “Knock yourself out.” He teleported out, checked to make sure the jar was sealed, and then teleported back to the ponies.
“It’s a Key,” He said. “I have no idea what to, and neither does mister Mite, but it has to be something big if they had that advanced guardian on it. It has a full AI uploaded into that small space, somehow.”
Twilight blinked. “A full AI!? Our computer isn’t even a full AI! How advanced were they?”
As everyone started discussing what it meant, Discord let his mind wander to memories of the past.
“Any requests before I leave?” Discord asked. The clearing was perfect - bright trees, birds singing, animals prancing around, and the sun high in the sky. In the center of it all stood Fluttershy, a sad smile on her face.
“Yes,” She said. “Take me back to the Ark.”
Discord tensed. ”W-what are you talking about? That never happened! Starlight rewinded time...”
“Discord. I know what you’re trying to do.” She turned to look him in the eye, her own eyes watering. “You want me to be with you. But I can't. I have to go into that pod. No amount of fake worlds you conjure up will make me change my mind.”
“But-”
“Discord. We have to be separated. You can’t keep me awake in this pocket world.”
He huffed. “Why not?”
“Because I want to be there when my friends come out,” She sniffed. “I won’t live forever, Discord.”
“I can change that.”
Fluttershy unleashed the Stare on him. He gulped. “You know I don’t want to be an immortal, Discord.”
Discord looked down at the ground, tears in his eyes. “I just…”
“I know. And I forgive you.” She hugged him. “But I have to go. And then I will wake up one day - and you’ll be there. And everyone can be happy. Can you do that, Discord?”
“...Yes Fluttershy. I can.”
“-cord?”
“Hm yes I was listening.”
Starlight rolled her eyes. “Everypony else already left. There’s nothing we can really do right now.”
“Oh,” He said. He put on some sunglasses. “Guess I’ll get some rest then.”
“You don’t need slee- and he’s gone. Wow.”
~~~
The Mite flooded the database, looking for all the information it could. It had already determined that it did not have the resources to break the seal on the jar, so it had decided to analyze the history and purpose of the Ark.
It just got more confused and lost in the process. For some reason it kept looking at the ‘music’ and ‘culture’ of these people, even though that had little significance to the search. Its ears twitched in annoyance.
It still wasn't used to that. Living, fleshy ears. It didn’t make physical sense. They could actually hear things as if they were happening at a biological size! How was that even possible!? Air molecules should be too large down here to have the exact same effect!
What was this thing called ‘magic?’
~~~
Everypony and Discord stared out the window, eyes wide and jaws dropped. They had just arrived at their destination. Outside the Ark they could see a large blue and green marble filling most of their view. Continents covered in jungles, plains, mountains, deserts, and much more drew their attention. The oceans were brilliant and the clouds swirled in beautiful weather patterns.
A screen beeped. Starlight barely glanced at it. “...no dangerous radiation levels. Lots of organic compounds. And lots of artificial structures.”
Discord said what everypony was thinking. “What now?”
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Aliens...........
This is awesome.
7837361 quickmeme.com/img/ff/ff39d9865b975e50204556b5a4f31a6015bb93968d2fb3391ae2a83bcc25c26d.jpg
It's promising ^^
If you don't mind, this has been added to New Horizons! It features exploration and new discoveries, which is exactly what this group is about!
OK yeah I really want to see where this is going. Such a place to stop, such a cliffhanger... For a moment I though the brick was nothing but Nano machines, but the mystery deepens. I wonder if the Ark is following a path of someone who had seeded the stars.
7837495
OOo! My story's in a group now! I am honored! Hope everyone there enjoys!
-GM, master of DA MAGIKZ.
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSS!!!!!
You have my attention
did they go to earth??
7837651
No.
I won't say anything else though.
-GM, master of gari.
7837732
One of those guesses is right! Not saying which one though.
-GM, master of writing.
7837747 well, with Starlight immortal, neither of possibilities is a long stretch... eh, guess I will just have to wait than.
7837818
Huh? What section are you referring to?
-GM, master of RRR
7837836
Nevermind, it was before the machine got onto the ship. Thought it probably is important still.
Well, the trigger happy fully-functional AI in a nanomachine makes me a bit wary of reading this, but eh. I will eagerly await more
Not sure what I was expecting when I stepped in here, but it was fun. I always enjoy a deeper look at just what immortality would do to someone.
7837935
No, not earth. You could describe any oxygen-atmosphere world with lots of oceans and life the same way. Including Equis.
-GM, master of gerome.
7837939 If you wanted to go Star Trek classifications, you'd have a Class M planet.
7837997
True, it is Class M, by Star Trek logic. But this ain't Star Trek, so frankly they'd literally just say "Equis-like."
You know, like how we call em "Earth-like"
-GM, master of Trees.
7837999 Fair 'nuff
i bEt iTs nARnIA!!!!111
7838157
Besides immortality, it is easy to deal with... Now. The moment she got it was horrifying and traumatizing.
-GM, master of spikes.
Twilight should know as well. Heck, they all should know. Maybe not Cadance...
7837613
What do you like about Starlight? I don't see her appeal.
7838177
Perhaps I should have made it clearer that it meant microscopic shrinking spells. When you get smaller than the eye can see - nanobot level - you've got to deal with not having enough atoms to produce the same effects as full size, or being so dense that you'd fall through things. It's not that the others can't shrink down that small, it's just that they never bothered to learn how to make it so they could function at that small of a size.
-GM, master of sizes.
7838198
Why would Starlight care to learn? Doesn't seem very useful unless she is a medical doctor or looking to make ponies explode from the inside.
7838218
Discord taught her because they were bored one day. And Starlight's more open to doing weird stuff than Twilight.
Discord did it because it really messed with ponies. They magically search for their table, have the spell tell them it was right in the room, and still not find it. Or he could play hockey with fleas. Essentially, another tool to cure his boredom.
-GM, master of pumpkins.
7838177 I do not know really.
Her likeness to Twilight(post season five, obviously) and her differences? Her looks(I mean, damn; she and Twilight are two best ponies from looks alone if you ask me)? Something else?
I can't quite put my hand on it. Though, to be frank, I absolutely hated her in a first two-parter of season five. I still want to unsee it to this day.
7838370
I currently do not like her, see her as a Sunset replacement. Kinda just stopped watching when she was introduced but people keep telling me pick the show back up.
7838434 Well, I don't know. I never was one for good judgement, so I can't say if you should start watching it again or not. Thought, I certainly do not regret watching further if it stands for something
I like this.
7838473
I like your comment.
-GM, master of just for fun.
well, this story just keeps getting more interesting...
NANOMACHINES, SON!
(couldn't resist)
7839314 Now there's a pretty meme. Exquisite.
7842035
1) Starlight still a unicorn. There's another reason she's immortal.
2) Cadence and Celestia add a dynamic the other characters you listed cannot attribute. The loss of the sun affects Celestia the most even if she hides it, and Cadence allows me to explore extended feelings of loneliness and being driven to the brink.
3) There is no romance between the Immortals. They've all gotten *sick* of each other. I don't recall if I ever imply that Starlight and Discord had a fling, but if I do, it's not a major plot point.
-GM, master of explaining.
Ciao!
Those billions that believe in god evidently want to be immortal. Everybody wants to live forever.
Also Fluttershy is element of harmony. That makes her immortal or at least ageless.
dont give AI all your info... thats just a bad idea
8010923
I know this is old. A few years old, in fact. But I just had to point out that there is at least one and probably many more exceptions to that rule. I, for one, would reject any offers of immortality ever made to me. I mean, I would accept life span extension, but true immortality is just something that I know becomes a curse the longer you have it. Forever is a long time, much longer than our species will live. When all intelligent life in the galaxy except for you is extinct and has been extinct for millions of years, then tell me if you still want to live forever. Because while I could be wrong, it sounds like you think you would want immortality.