Equestria 485,000

by Unwhole Hole

Chapter 5: The Machine

High above, the very ship that Twilight was struggling to communicate with was watching her closely. It sat in orbit, slowly drifting through the charged Exosphere of the planet below. All of the crew simply went about their lives, maintaining the ship toward the goal of accomplishing their mission. Each of them understood that this particular mission might take years, and even decades. All of the crew had been specifically selected because of their youth- -save for the captain- -and although each and every one of them was being slowly killed by the Mortality Virus, they would gladly give what little time they had toward their noble mission.

Few noticed as space distorted beside them until the wake of the approaching vessel caused their entire ship to shudder. It materialized from half-space barely five thousand kilometers away, and assumed a relatively slow speed approached Equestria.

It could not have been more different in appearance from its comrade. While the first ship- -the Prodijila- -was protean in design but while in orbit a nearly spherical white orb, the approaching ship was dark in color. Instead of a mutable morphiplasm shell, it was coated in plates of mithriline alloy. Its central form was that of a helix, although overall it assumed a highly grotesque and asymmetrical shape. While the Prodijila formed to the elegant and practical forms that its captain had been trained for nearly a century in creating, this ship had been rigidly assembled into a shape that rejected practicality and aesthetic in favor for mathematical purity, even if the formulas that governed its aesthetic were esoteric and obscure.

The two ships slowly approached each other high above Equestria. The new ship- -it had no name- -did not provoke any sort of aggressive response. It had been expected.

Aboard the Prodijila, the captain- -in her holographic form- -and her top ranking officers moved through the ship, the morphiplasm of its interior stretching and forming itself into elegant but understated hallways as they passed through it. None of them spoke, although there was a mutual tension between them.

The corridor finished assembling, and the group walked toward a docking bay that stood at the far end of it. They paused, staring at the door that now faced them. It was silverish in color, although dull and not remotely reflected. In a way, looking at something so rigid and mechanical made the captain feel ill. It was an obsolescence, and in a way an insult to how far ponies had come in their technology- -but at the same time, it evoked the idea of a far more treacherous and far less civilized era that she could not help but feel herself perversely romanticizing.

The illusion broke as soon as the door suddenly snapped open and as a deluge of putrid greenish fluid flooded into the hallway. Inky Nebula and Golden Star both took rapid steps backward, but the captain and Heliotrope stood their ground, with the latter allowing it to pass over her hooves. Both of them knew what it was, and that the ship now linked to them did not have a single ounce of air within it.

On the other side was darkness- -at first. As the first occupant approached, a slight glow became visible from the optics set in his helmet. As he neared the edge of his ship’s shadows, the captain felt those around her tense. She found that she could not blame them.

The pony stepped into view. He, like all ponies, was an alicorn, and he held the same proportions as his compatriots, although he was slightly taller. The difference, though, came in the fact that while every alicorn on the Prodijila allowed their beautiful bodies to be exposed, this pony had covered his completely.

He wore heavy armor that coated all of his body, and that, in turn, was covered in a long cloak that obscured his form. His helmet bore many symmetrical optic lenses, but what caught the captain’s attention was that the front of his helmet was marked with the One-and-Five: One large and violet six-pointed star surrounded by five smaller white stars. It was the insignia of Twilight Sparkle, and of her cult.

“Captain,” he said, his voice heavily and purposefully distorted by the machinery he wore. “It is good to see you…in person.”

“I reciprocate,” said the captain, although hollowly. “For the sake of efficient communication, to whom am I speaking?”

“Gloom Light,” said the mage. He gave no more information than that. Instead, his attention turned toward Inky Nebula, who seemed visibly confused by his gaze, not sure whether to be disgusted or to blush. Gloom Light stepped forward- -his gate was awkward and strange- -and a narrow robotic effector reached from beneath his cloak. Inky Nebula recoiled, but not before Gloom Light had already closed the distance between them.

“Such a beautiful mare,” he said, stroking the side of her cheek with the robotic claw. He turned several of his optic lenses toward the captain’s hologram. “Had I known that such impressive females dwelt within the crews of the Royal Navy, I would have thought to join the Defense instead of the Cult.”

The captain shifted her holographic head. “Either you are a being of great courage or one of great idiocy to lay an appendage on a member of my crew in my presence.”

“I assure you,” said Gloom Light, “I am neither. Courage is a pointless trait, and idiocy is the undying enemy of the Cult, as I’m sure you have comprehended.”

“Then why are you molesting my auxiliary?”

Gloom Light looked one more time at Inky Nebula, who still appeared to be in a state of being equally greatly disturbed and incredibly flattered. Then he retreated to a safer distance, his effector retracting back beneath his cloak. He did not apologize.

“Did you bring the required device?” asked the captain.

“Do I detect self-hatred in your voice?” The captain’s eyes narrowed. She already strongly disliked this stallion. Gloom Light, though, seemed to be enjoying himself. “What is your affiliation, captain? Cult of the Holy Mother, perhaps?”

“My religion is none of your concern.”

“I am a priest. Ostensibly, religion is my primary concern.”

“Then if you absolutely must know, I belong to no cult.”

“And yet your mother was a Sun worshipper.”

Even with her physical body halfway across the ship, the captain felt her jaw tighten. She was not ashamed by her mother’s dedication to Celestia, even if she found it quaint. Rather, she was offended that this cultist had been researching a past that he should not otherwise have had access to. “My allegiance is to the Royal Navy, and to the will of the Tribunal. Which is clearly more than I can say of you.”

“Because my presence here indicates my nature as a traitor?”

“Doesn’t it?” asked Heliotrope. Both Inky Nebula and Golden Star looked at her in awe.

“Then I see the captain has informed you,” said Gloom Light, no doubt smiling widely under his mask. “Interesting. And no. I am no traitor. My dedication to the Goddess of Knowledge has never once wavered, and it never shall. Although the philosophy supporting my definition of ‘dedication’ may be…abstract. To you at least.”

“Just answer my question.”

“Yes.”

Gloom Light stepped aside, and from behind him a pair of cultists dressed in similar cybernetic hard-armor stepped through. Both of them had clearly undergone vast cybernetic modification- -as their master no doubt had as well- -although one of the pair was far larger than the other. Between them they bore the device in question, a cylindrical device as long as a pony and slightly less than one meter wide, levitating it with exacting precision using their technomagic.

“They can deliver it to bay four,” said the captain. “The coordinates are being transmitted now.”

The two cultists clearly received them, and began to carry the machine toward its final destination.

“I thank you for this assistance in our mission,” said the captain, turning back to Gloom Light. “And I apologize for taking time from your busy schedule, both to deliver it and to construct it. May you return to your home space by the grace of the Tribunal.”

“I’m sure I will,” said the priest, although with a level of coldness that reflected the fact that he considered two members of the Tribunal to be vastly inferior to the third, as many cultists did. “But not immediately.”

The captain, who had already been turning, suddenly froze. She turned back, her eyes glaring. “And what do you mean by that, exactly?”

“The mission objectives require that I stay behind. Here, with you.”

“That was not stated on any briefing.”

“It was meant to be implicit. How else are you supposed to install it?”

“My engineers are more than capable. And I have a crew of remni standing by.”

“Remni? Are you of the opinion that remni would be able to install my device?”

“They are more competent than you give them credit for.”

“We shall see,” said Gloom Light. He stepped toward the captain, though, and this time even Heliotrope flinched- -but the captain held her ground. “But I will stay. You have no idea the importance of this mission. I refuse to leave until that device is activated.”

“They you may be waiting some time.” The captain leaned forward, so that their faces were only inches from one another. “And do you think I would even be here if I did not know the importance of what we were doing? Of course I do. But I will have you know: I take no pleasure in it. None.”

She suddenly pulled her face away and turned. Her crewmembers followed her as she departed. Gloom Light stood behind, his body still dripping with the residue of the fluid atmosphere of his ship. He did not say anything, but he watched the captain leave. It had been a long time since he had been this excited- -but he did not allow himself to let his guard down. They were so close, and if there was one thing the Cult of Twilight Sparkle had taught him, it was that he must never put his full faith or trust into another pony.

Comments

[Avid_Reader]

Trust no pony- what a fall from the Princess of Friendship

[AppleTank]

ain't that ominous

[Oreng Pingvin]

8857046
there is no princess of friendship left, there is a goddess of knowledge