Dig Until Dawn
Dr. Dawn Hardy, Hegemon of the human race, sat in her underwear atop the edge of an artificial waterfall overlooking Recreation Area Seven. One arm rested on bare knees covered in freckles, letting the holofield projector set into the bracelet fill the area in front of her with readouts. Half a dozen little windows floated in the air, alternating between camera footage, maintenance information, historical logs, and a few active terminals.
“Midir Outlook Relay transfer returns complete,” said Core, its voice a striking approximation of human speech.
Dawn tapped the fingers of her free hand impatiently on one knee. She reached up, running her fingers through the layer of orange fuzz that had grown there. Cryogenics hadn’t been kind to her hair, but that hardly mattered now. She had a lifetime to grow it all back.
“Give it to me,” she said, not even bothering to restrain a groan. Core wouldn’t care.
“Outbound Transit Record:
Achilles (57 lr) – 1878 years – Last transmission: green
Nobunaga (104 lr) – 2366 years – Last transmission: red
Gilgamesh (26 lr) – 3051 years – Last transmission: amber
Davy Crockett (70 lr) – 21 years – Last transmission: DESTROYED DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ENT-
Inbound Transmission Record: ”
Dawn sat still for nearly a full minute, wondering if Core had malfunctioned. She leaned back, then hopped into a standing position on the edge of the sculpted rock. The projections all vanished as soon as she moved her arm. “Inbound transmissions record?” she prompted.
“As presented,” Core responded. “There are no transmissions to list.”
Of course there weren’t. Dawn had sent the request nearly two hours ago, and spent most of that time waiting here. “So much for the arkships.” Hegemon Dawn Hardy of Earth spat in each hand to give herself grip, then backed over the edge of the dry waterfall and began making her way down. She wasn’t wearing shoes or gloves, which meant she could get a very good hold on the stone.
By the time she made her way down onto the ground floor, she felt a little better about being the only living human in the universe. About as good as could be reasonably expected. As she walked, lights came silently to life, illuminating the underground recreation area with mock sunlight that would never pass beyond her field of view.
“Where was that wall he wanted me to visit?”
Core evidently understood this question, because there was no more hesitation for it than any of the other questions she had asked. “First floor conference room B. Would you like me to direct you?”
“No. I remember where it is.” Dawn didn’t go straight to the first floor. Knowing she had her entire lifetime to spend, she wasn’t ever in much of a hurry.
A few hours and a hot shower later and Dawn was wearing her full uniform, albeit with the top of the jumpsuit tied about her waist and a large flashlight in one hand. It didn’t matter that the whole base lit up with every step—Dawn knew it was dark all around her. Like the darkness was a disease, ready to consume her if she ever gave it the chance.
Less than a year down here and I’m already losing it.
“Give me… the terraforming log,” she said, as she rode her way up the gigantic central elevator. She’d already heard that log a hundred times, but she liked hearing a voice with her in the dark.
“Completion: 30,000 years (approximate)
Orbital Correction Agents: Functional (2)
Climate Correction Agents: Functional (1.23 * 10^8)
Biosphere Correction Agents: Functional (2.74 * 10^8)
Coverage: 19%
Intervention: Not Required”
The elevator doors opened with a polite ringing sound. Dawn found herself moving a little slower than before, unable to completely contain her discouragement. Even with her youth, even with a lifespan stretched by genetic engineering and the best medical care available, she would be lucky to stick around for a single percent of the remaining duration.
I’m just a cog in the endless wheel, here to burn myself up. There was no hope of reprieve from this duty. Dawn would rule humanity until she died, and then she would be replaced.
“How did the others cope with it?” Dawn asked, very quietly.
Of course, Core could overhear. So long as she wore the computer on her wrist, Core could always hear her. “Answer varies. Most relied on antidepressants and antipsychotics for the duration of their service. Many suspended autorepair functions in some sections, giving them regular duties to perform. Some interacted with exterior bio-resource modules. A few attempted to improve the efficiency of the ongoing terraforming process, or devoted themselves to some other personal project. Most kept diaries you may examine at your discretion.”
“Not right now.” Dawn stepped into the conference room, or what had once been the conference room. Most of the rooms here were built to a few standard designs, using the same modular parts that repeated forever. But someone had ripped away the wall-plates, stripping the perimeter of the room down to bare basalt.
There were names written on the dark stone, carved with great care. Each was written with a different handwriting, to different depths. Yet someone had painted clear lacquer over the sections of wall with no more room to write, preventing them from being worn away any further. She could read almost all of it quite clearly.
“Irving Musk – first!
Mohamed Abdul Mehdi – Take me to hell, just please no more lava.
Carmella Vasquez – Watch my movie. It’s good.” And on and on they went, all the way around the room. There were so many names—dozens of them, as she knew there would be. Dawn kept walking until she got to the second (and longest unbroken) wall, where there was some space near the bottom. Adam Lockheed had signed, along with his own epitaph. “Don’t let them in. It hurts too much to see them go.”
There were no instructions left behind for her, only a titanium chisel and a mallet. Dawn picked up both, and set to hammering her own name into the rock. It would take a very long time, and she wasn’t close to an epitaph for herself yet. She had many, many years to figure that out.
She hadn’t gotten past “Dawn” when the computer on her arm began to vibrate urgently. She stopped hammering, glaring down at it. “What is it, Core?”
“One figure approaching rapidly from the biomodule service entrance. Mining biosegment ‘Daisy.’ Divert, intercept, or allow?”
Dawn considered the question for several long moments. The smart thing to do was probably divert, restricting access to the base except during the time of offering. Dawn knew nothing about people and less about dogs, but more contact seemed like a bad idea.
“Let me see her,” she commanded. Her computer projected an image into the air in front of her, taken from one of the many hidden cameras in the passages that surrounded the entrance. Daisy was not a large specimen of the mineral canine breed, not even fully grown. Yet there was something distinctly human to the fear in her eyes, the terrible desperation. She ran with speed Dawn would’ve thought impossible for anything slower than a horse, apparently without regard for her safety.
“The Diamond Dogs are not biological machinery to be re-cloned and replaced as soon as the dynamics of their pack breaks down,” Adam had said, his face much younger on the instructional recording. “They will give you all the loyalty they possess, they will die for you, if you can show them you love them in return.”
“Allow,” Dawn said. She could not see the pain on that disturbingly intelligent face and not feel an intrinsic tugging in her chest, demanding she try and do something about it.
Dawn dropped the chisel, making her way down the hall towards the entrance. She was already on the top floor, so she wouldn’t keep the visitor waiting.
“Have these dogs ever hurt anyone?” Dawn asked, jogging instead of walking towards the entrance.
“Yes,” Core answered. “But not for many generations. Breeding efforts have produced a species that appears unwilling to harm humans so long as individuals are not cornered or threatened.”
“So, I don’t need a gun,” she muttered. “That’s all I wanted to know.” Dawn had the computer, and it had a few defensive modes that could work in a pinch. But none of them would do her any good against a powerful enemy determined to do her serious harm.
Like almost everything. There were many reasons previous occupants of this base had spent almost their entire lives here. Reasons many, many successors would do the same.
“She is outside,” Core said, when Dawn reached the massive blast-doors of the mining entrance. “Should I—”
“Yes,” Dawn interrupted, adjusting her tank-top and tightening the jumpsuit about her waist. Had there been anyone else awake, she would’ve taken the time to dress up for an occasion like this. Even from skimming Adam’s records, Dawn had seen he almost never contacted the dogs without wearing powered armor. More than once, he had used that armor.
But Adam had martial training—Dawn’s degree was in Terraforming.
The door ground open wide enough to permit the dog, and not nearly wide enough for Dawn herself. She could only hope she looked sufficiently regal—the warrior queen of a tribe with one member.
Daisy skidded and bounced her way in, making harsh scratching sounds against the metal with her paws as she did so. She stopped several meters away, whimpering with confusion as she looked up at Dawn.
She was big for a puppy, at least compared to the true canines Dawn had once known. Diamond Dogs were a large breed—perhaps the size of a Doberman when fully grown. The pain and fear in her face looked nothing at all like a puppy, or any other animal for that matter.
You shouldn’t be this smart. Even knowing the whole planet was covered with engineered bioagents didn’t make it any less strange to look down at a dog that could talk back to her. That knowledge was theoretical—Daisy was real.
“What’s wrong?” Dawn asked.
“Your shell hasn’t grown in yet?” Daisy asked, her tone closer to what it had been the last time they met. Eternally curious
“My… shell?” Dawn stared blankly at her. “Oh, the armor. I don’t usually wear it, not without a good reason.” She folded her arms, glowering. “Why are you here, Daisy?”
It took her nearly a full minute to collect herself enough to answer, starting fitfully in barks and other sounds that Dawn couldn’t understand. Eventually she managed. “Rover… badly hurt,” she said. “They were fighting over you. Spot, and some of the others… then he fell. It was one of the unfinished tunnels… collapsed.”
Dawn tensed, her mind working rapidly through the implications of what she had just been told. She extended her arm. “Core, give me biofeedback from Rover’s collar.”
An image appeared in front of her, scrolling medical information. She knew only the basics of what it represented—serious injuries. Struggling heartbeat, uneven breathing. Daisy was right.
“Please, you have to use your magic to save him!”
Dawn could see a pair of branching futures before her—both insignificant as far as humanity was concerned. But not to the dogs. One might require her considerable involvement in their lives—the other might end with their loyalty to her species broken, requiring her to grow new clones to replace them. How many generations of work went into you? she wondered, staring down at Daisy.
Dawn reached down, petting the dog’s head. Daisy relaxed. “Magic isn’t what you think it is,” she said. “But I’ll help him.” She rose again, turning sharply away. “Core, get a bike up here with a medical trailer. I’m gonna get dressed.”
“Are you certain you wish to use medical supplies on the biosegments? Nanofabricator resources are limited, and replacement parts might not be available if you are injured. We only stockpile supplies for one. Given your choice of recreational activities, I find it likely you will need those correctives soon.”
“I won’t climb until you make new ones. Just do it.” She glanced down at the dog. “Wait here. It will take a minute to get dressed.” She was already struggling into the rest of her jumpsuit, running towards the armory.
Less than ten minutes later, and Dawn was zooming through the tunnels atop the hoversled, its sloping blades kicking up dust and debris. Her motions all felt stiff and uneven, sheltered as she was within the shell of the exoskeleton. How Adam felt comfortable wearing this stuff all the time I’ll never know.
Even so, she wasn’t about to leave the bunker wearing only a jumpsuit. She might want to be helpful, but she wasn’t an idiot.
Holding Daisy while driving the bike was by far the most difficult part, particularly since the animal seemed determined to stick her head out from behind the front windscreen and let her tongue loll out in the wind.
“I can’t believe you’re coming back to the den!” Daisy shouted, her voice barely audible over the roar of the hoversled. “I thought you were going to give me some medicine, or maybe a spell to make rocks go away. Adam hasn’t come for… generations!”
“Adam was old,” Dawn called back, the faceplate of her armor lowered so she could still speak to the Diamond Dog. It had sensors, and would seal airlock-tight if it detected anything dangerous in the air. Dawn doubted very much that might happen, though. The day when their grandparents’ skeletal fingers would reach back through time to snuff out more life were over now. Even their unimaginable weapons had been consumed in the first stages of terraforming. “He had hobbies when he was younger too. But that would’ve been a long time in dog years.”
“How can we be going so fast?” the dog asked. “You’re heading the right way, and I didn’t tell you! Your flying noisecart is magic.”
It wasn’t, obviously. But explaining sonar and lidar to a dog while blasting down a tunnel at eighty kilometers an hour was a doomed prospect. Dawn wasn’t steering the bike—human reaction times were too imprecise, and too likely to turn her to pulp against a wall if she made a single mistake. But Core had a map of all these tunnels, and sonar to look ahead for obstacles. All Dawn had to do was hold on, listening to the cargo-satchels on its side shake and rattle with each new turn.
“My hoversled knows where its going,” she answered. “Rover’s collar has a tracker! Adam apparently wanted to know how to find you if something bad happened!”
They were slowing now, and the tunnels around them were no longer categorically unlit. They passed through a few with distant openings to the sky, and others with sparse oil lamps burning at prominent intersections. Though the dogs were excellent builders, their tunnels were always a little imprecise compared to the ones humans had built—they didn’t have surveyors to make sure every new line was perfectly straight, or lasers to measure the arch of the ceiling.
Abruptly the tunnel opened into a very large, open pit mine (though still underground). Perhaps five hundred meters across at the widest, though it sloped smaller as it got lower. An inverse pyramid in the dirt, with tracks running up for the dogs’ identical carts.
The sled slowed to a stop at the top of the mine, lowering itself for a landing. It was just barely tall enough for her to stand up in here with the armor. Much of the detritus of mining was down here, machinery and half-repaired carts and a workshop for tools. As for the dogs themselves, she could see only one. Near the bottom of the pit, a shaft had been carved to one side, cutting under the level above. That was where the ceiling had collapsed, and where she could see one of Rover’s legs poking out from inside.
“Where is everyone?” Dawn asked, hopping off the side of the now-silent sled, and bending down to open the cargo satchel. She removed a single red-plastic box from inside, covered in red markings.
“You were loud,” Daisy answered, hopping down beside her. “Scared them, probably. They didn’t think to stay behind and protect Rover since he’s trapped. Dogs stuck like him… they die.” She shivered. “You won’t let him die, right?”
Dawn rose, careful not to stand too straight. She looked down over the edge at the collapse. The dog didn’t look good. But correctives were an advanced science these days—they could reconstruct all the skin of a terrible burn victim, regrow missing organs… “I will try,” she said. “We won’t know if it works until it works.”
She wanted to jump all the way down to the bottom—the armor could easily handle a drop of twenty-five meters or so, and that would save the time to climb and cross. But given how unstable the rubble looked piled on top of Rover as it was, she didn’t want to risk burying him even deeper.
“Here.” She thrust the medical bag towards Daisy. It was enormous for her, but not quite so large that she wouldn’t be able to carry it. “Bring that.” She made her way around to the other end of the bike, collecting the cave-in kit. It was a container about the same size as the medkit, though much heavier. So heavy that Dawn could only lift it with help from the armor. She secured it on her shoulders, then made her unsteady way down the slope.
As she did, she noticed the eyes on her. The dogs had hidden, but not very far away. There were numerous entrances, and quite a few carts and other obstructions to hide behind. A few were just now peeking out from within, watching her. Some had dressed themselves up adorably, with silly breastplates and spears or maybe a shirt.
She said nothing, focusing on her climbing. The armor was incredibly strong, and she could easily punch her way through rock to make handholds. But wearing it also tripled the volume of her body, making it difficult to navigate a mine made for creatures about a third a human’s size. Still, she made it down to the bottom in another few minutes.
If Rover was still conscious, she saw no sign. The only dogs she saw were observers, who had begun to crowd around the mine from the upper ledge. There were dozens of them there—maybe even the whole pack. Only Daisy had followed her below.
Dawn turned around, lowering her visor with a slight twitch. They would see only polarized glass. “Why haven’t you dug him out?” she asked, her voice stretched and expanded by speakers until it boomed through the whole cavern. “Isn’t he your alpha? Do you have no respect for your pack leader?”
Dogs cowered and whimpered at her words. They seemed to be searching among each other, glancing back and forth until they had settled on a single member, pushing him out towards the front, almost over the edge to the ground below.
“Rover was weak!” the dog shouted back to her, his diminutive frame producing exactly the high and grating voice she had imagined. “He obeyed too easily. The earth has judged him. Alpha is dead—that means we don’t have to follow you if we don’t want.”
Dawn raised the visor, glaring up at him. She shouted only with her natural voice then. “You are a bad dog!” she yelled, pointing her gauntlet at him. Then she turned away. “But I don’t have time for you. I’ll punish you after.”
She turned away from him, hurrying back to the site of the cave-in. “Structural analysis complete,” said Core into her ear. “You can’t just move those boulders—this is likely to perpetuate further collapses.”
“Highlight them for me,” she said, removing the bulk of the cave-in kit from her back and dropping it to the ground in front of her. It opened without prompting, revealing the three things it contained packed inside transport foam. A collapsible sprayer, a large tank (most of the mass), and a folded sheet of shimmering material.
“You alright in there, Rover?” she called back towards him, not as loud as she had been talking to the dogs.
She heard only a grunt in response—faint, and obviously pained. That’s something.
Daisy arrived behind her, setting down the medkit and flopping to the stone. She remained still, panting heavily with the effort. She didn’t even try to say anything, just watching her and occasionally glancing in at her father.
The HUD had highlighted large sections of rock around the site of the cave in, along with a few suggested structural lines. Dawn took up the sprayer, slotted the tank into place with only a little awkwardness from the gauntlets, then began to spray. The foam that emerged was as light as spider’s silk, but also many times stronger by weight. As she sprayed, it worked its way between cracks in the rocks, connecting them all together, securing them to the unbroken stone of the layer above. She used much less than the whole tank to cover the whole area, sealing it into a homogenous chunk.
The next part was harder—too hard to attempt while wearing the armor. She didn’t quite trust the puppy to do it, even if Daisy was now sitting up and watching the work with interest. Not only her—many of the dogs were watching from above. Even the tiny one who had spoken out against her was there, though he appeared to be conversing with the other dogs.
Dawn parked the armor close to the cave in as possible. “Core, emergency release. Now.”
The seal around her body hissed in protest, clicking at the joints as the breastplate opened in front of her. Her boots sank spikes into the rock, holding it all in place as she wiggled out through the hole. Powered armor like this was meant to be applied (and removed) by machine, but someone as lean and fit as she was could get out without the complex mechanisms to unseal it all.
No way to get back in again, though. Core better be right about these things not attacking humans. Dawn wore only her jumpsuit, her computer, and her socks underneath the armor, since she hadn’t bothered with the complex heat-regulation and other layers that would be required for an extended trip.
The only thing to impede her as she climbed out to the ground was the gasps of the dogs. A few looked away in horror, or stared at her in morbid fascination. Dawn realized with some frustration she would hardly be graceful, pulling herself out headfirst and flopping forward on the ground. But the ground was where she needed to be anyway.
“What are you doing?” Daisy asked, rising to her hind legs, and walking along beside Dawn. She didn’t get in the way as Dawn removed the final item from the cave-in kit—what looked like thick fabric with a bit of metal on one end. Of course it wasn’t, as its numerous warnings clearly marked.
“Core, get ready to lift,” she called back to the suit, which began to close itself up. Just because there was no intended way for a human pilot to get back in didn’t mean it couldn’t still help.
“There is a nonzero probability you will be crushed when we make this attempt,” his voice said, now from the gauntlet. “Are you sure you’d like to proceed?”
“Be ready on my mark,” she insisted, before getting down onto her belly and making her way towards the cave in.
In some ways, the process was easier than it would’ve been for a human (for whom the kit had been designed). At a command, the section went rigid, making a small arch meant to cover the one trapped inside. She began to push carefully, watching as it cut through rubble and dirt. It would cut through limbs just as easily, so she had to make sure with every inch that Rover’s body wouldn’t get it the way.
Fortunately, dogs were small. Once out of her suit, it was comparatively easy for Dawn to weasel her way around the rocks. She wasn’t crushed when her empty armor tossed the whole chunk of broken rock out of the way. A few stones fell over Rover’s now-covered form, and the process was easy from there.
Less than ten minutes later and she’d cut the dog free of his clothing, applied the correctives, and was sitting beside his injured body with her back against the wall. She was smeared all over with dirt and slime, had half a dozen shallow cuts, and had lost one of her socks, but otherwise survived the encounter. She was sipping now from a container of water Daisy had brought her, ignoring the acrid aftertaste of copper mixed in. Just now she was too thirsty to care.
“Preliminary report indicates damage to his spine, ribs, and one broken leg. His body is responding positively to the correctives. Full recovery is estimated in two weeks,” Core said from her gauntlet. “I hope it was worth it. A crowd of the biosegments is approaching from above.”
Her empty armor reacted as though it weren’t, straightening and readying the only weapon it had—the adhesive gun.
“Don’t bother,” Dawn grunted, before struggling to her feet. If she’d known today would be so exhausting, she wouldn’t have spent her morning climbing all over everything. She rose to her full height—ripped jumpsuit, missing sock and all, watching as the group of dogs made their way down from the upper level.
The disobedient little runt was among them, leading them in fact. She waited until they had almost made it, then stepped forward. If they did decide to attack her, Dawn didn’t like her odds—these dogs were impressive creatures, with teeth and claws that would tear her apart. She wasn’t even wearing boots, with which she might’ve kicked the little one if it went for her. The rest were too big for that.
But she didn’t give him a chance to talk. “You are here to apologize,” she said, standing as broad and tall as she could. “First to me, and then to Rover.”
The dog looked taken-aback, mouth opening but no words emerging at first.
Dawn didn’t wait for him to collect himself. Before the dogs could react, she sprung forward, yanking the little dog by his collar. How he’d gotten one of the trackers she didn’t know, but just now she didn’t care. Dawn dragged him forward towards the cave in, pushing his nose right in at the broken rock. “Bad dog! You are a bad dog!” she said, as disapproving as any vengeful goddess.
He didn’t bite her, didn’t turn around to snap at her unprotected arm. He only whimpered pathetically, tail tucked between his legs.
With that, the rest of them were hers as well.
Dawn carried the injured Rover out from the mine in her own arms, following the thick smell of dog all the way back to their burrow. She remained there for several hours, until Rover could sit up and understand the instructions she gave him.
“I can’t feel my legs,” he croaked, from the end of a torn cot. “I am a useless dog now.”
“No.” She glared at him. “You will heal. You are not allowed to leave this bed until I come back, do you understand? Those correctives will take two weeks—I’ll come back then and check on you. You’ll be fine until then; the pack will look out for you.”
He nodded. “I didn’t think you would come. Adam always expected the alpha to be strong.”
“I won’t always be able to come,” she admitted. “If something happens on the surface, you dogs will have to get out of it yourselves. But down here? I’ll take care of you. If I can.” She left, making her way back to the mine and the waiting hoversled. The armor was already gone by then—walking its slow way home through the dark.
She realized that Daisy had followed her, and was even then whining at her heels. She brightened as soon as she’d seen Dawn had noticed her, letting out a few excited sounds. It took a little while for her to say anything Dawn could understand. “I knew you would save him,” she said. “I hope you come back more.”
Dawn shrugged noncommittally, or at least she tried to. But she’d never been a very good liar. “I’m a dog person,” she admitted. “You’ll see me again.”
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Castok the Shadow · 3.6k words · 517 18 · 8.4k views
- Sarcastic Brony · 6.9k words · 619 58 · 19k views
- Starscribe · 16k words · 902 58 · 8.9k views
- Starscribe · 246k words · 376 28 · 5.3k views
- Starscribe · 27k words · 120 11 · 1.6k views
- Starscribe · 101k words · 512 21 · 4.8k views
- Starscribe · 140k words · 625 33 · 7.2k views
- Starscribe · 130k words · 471 48 · 6.9k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.237 seconds
Total duration
787 users online
640,437 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
You did a great job with this chapter :)
And que the want and need for more of this
PLEASE?
Daisy is a very, very good Dog. Good girl, Daisy. This was an excellent followup to the first.
A wonderful chapter!
Very nice followup to the initial chapter, and more so for being a surprise!
2 Orbital Correction Agents? The royal sisters, I presume.
Still great and full of W&FF
i.pinimg.com/736x/d5/73/0f/d5730fe964ca5ae1b53eecc39f57bb91--adoption-quotes-dog-adoption.jpg
Such good doggos.
8444441
Guessing "Climate Correction" and "Biosphere Correction" are Pegasi and Earth Ponies, too. Wonder where Unicorns fit in? Riddle for the ages, I guess.
8444446
Agreed!
The last time I read Diamond Dog as such good doggos was in The Misadventure of Trixie. There they are mining for survival and defense against underground horror that wanted to eat them.
8444622
My guess is unicorns role are maintenance drone. Many unicorn occupy the secondary and next level industry that provide comfort and service for other race. They make donut, become government official, and creating music. The nimbleness of magic provides the races as a whole a multi role possibility.
This was a lot of fun to read, great job
I just realized that if diamond dogs are normal dog sized, then ponies are tiny and Winona is the size of a mouse.
It's a good story if complete, but room to grow.
I loved the first chapter. And I always want more answers. Tell me people who have read the second chapter.
Is it story wise, as good as the first?
Is the flow similar?
And is the knowledge worth ending the innocent wonder the first chapter created.
Thank you for the chapter!
8444243
Yes
8444682
There are a little more than twice as many "Biosphere correction agents" as there are "Climate correction agents". Although Ponyville may have an earth pony majority, I think the best explanation for the difference is that unicorns and earth ponies are lumped together in the biosphere group, just with different specialties. Perhaps they had a hand in extinguishing those "skeletal fingers".
My big question is, "What does "LR" stand for?"
Im waiting for letting ponehs to show up
8445127
Light years.
I'm a sucker for stories featuring humans as basically the precursors to all things in Equestria and beyond. Even better that it's so well written.
Will there be a chapter where the ponies discover the Humans or nah?
This need to be a full book.
This Story is good. Very good indeed.
But it has a gigantic flaw...
There is not enough of it.
8444846
The show is called My LITTLE Pony, after all
I'm not a huge fan of this chapter. It felt like it was answering the wrong sort of questions. It gave a lot of info on the Diamond Dog society and a few nice details on the humans, but I felt the questions that needed answering the most were why they had to hide from the ponies/inheritors and why they only had a single human at a time. There were hints of what caused the apocalypse, but it doesn't really explain how physics itself changed enough to enable magic.
8445176
I'd like to note that LY is the standard abbreviation for lightyears, at least currently.
8444441
Yep, my thought too. Only I didn't make the connection until Core called dogs "biomodules".
8445912
How would you react if aliens shown up and told you your entire species are effectively living tools made to clean up their mess. Ponies might not react too violently, but since they are thinking creatures, they might rebel, jeopardizing the whole mission. They WILL know once humans wake up, of course... but at least Earth will be in better condition by then.
All in all, amazing chapter. I like it a lot.
I'm still loving it and I still want more: Am I a bad dog?
I like it, makes me wonder even more about this world, and how things came to be as they are. Excellent work sir.
8445912
Again my money is they are hiding from Discord, You know the one Celestia and Luna had to Overthrow then imprison in stone.
8445912
I'm not sure it has. See "Magic isn’t what you think it is."
8445912
A single human at a time makes sense since they need someone to be in charge, to ensure the safety of those in stasis. But, humans are a limited resource so the time this can go on is measured in life times. Having multiple humans up and about would effectivly lower the amount of time they can wait before they are forced to return to the world or go extinct.
8446470
Assuming canon remains true, at the very least we know that time travel exists and, while difficult, isn't ridiculously so. And clouds shouldn't be able to support the weight of anything significant. And the whole sun/moon motion being completely insane. That's enough to count as magic in my book
8446509
Children are a trivial solution to that problem, though one that doesn't work without at least two humans at once (though it'd require some careful management to keep genetic diversity high)
8445989
Why tell them that? The Diamond Dogs don't have all the details, trade can still be performed without offering confidential intel.
so are the grandparents "windigoes"?
8446523
Children might be a trivial solution. But a child has to grow up to be useful. In the meantime they're resource hogs and time sinks.
Core states "Nanofabrication resources are limited" though we get no further explanation, though the implication I'm taking alongside the nearby note of medical supplies being stocked for only one person is that they can't support the more than one person that would be required to safely conceive and deliver a baby.
And goodness gracious me how long has it been already? Dawn notes "dozens" of names on the Wall, and that she could potentially live as much as three centuries...
To me, unspecified multiples always mean 5 or more. 60+ custodians, give each a 300 year span on watch... 18,000 years.
Whew...
...I admit to confusion about the transit/transmission log. It doesn't seem to make sense. Can we get an explanation on the thought process of that report? ..one thing that's really weird is "transit" and "transmission" are two entirely different things and yet they seem to be used interchangeably here.
We have:
Name
Range
Time span
Last transmission
... one of them even indicates last transmission "green" so presumably everything should be fine, but then Dawn's reflecting that she's the only living (awake) human in the galaxy, and then implies that the arkships are all failures. Help?
8446523
Well, Diamond Dogs have an extremely limited contact with humans. They also have a rather simple civilization, which limits the concepts they can comprehend.
However, if all/most of humans were aware of true nature of Earth current inhabitants, then something this big would be impossible to hide for any prolonged period of time under conditions of tense contact between the races. Someone WOULD blurt that out. For example, to justify why humanity should stop toying around and just rule everyone else with an iron fist. Sadly, we both know that in population sufficiently large to not suffer from lack of genetic diversity people with such worldview are likely to be found.
The secret could be maintained if either:
a) most humans remained unaware of current races having been created as tools, assuming the Earth restored itself naturally. That, and all those aware would keep their mouths shut and any logs out of sight - which is semi-likely at best.
b) humanity stayed sufficiently isolated, with outside contact limited to few selected individuals - unlikely. Why bother restoring Earth if you're not going to resettle?
All in all, I'd say that this particular cat would get out of the bag sooner or later.
I sure would like to see some more stories in this setting, perhaps with Daisy and Dawn having to go out into the rest of the Equestria because maybe they need something.
well this defiantly opens this story up and fills in so much.
exultant writing Starscribe.
but now i am wondering if this will possibly tie in to your message in a bottle story?
the window is there.
8450959
No connection to message in a bottle. If anything it's a crossover with... But one that's so light and barely there that even someone familiar with that book might miss it.
8451234
i think i have looked at Children of Time some ware but i don't remember ware.
Ah, no, I think this part is totally worth reading. :D
This and "You are a bad dog!" got me laughing good. XD
8445529
I loved reading this. There are so few Diamond Dogs stories that don't revolve around Rarity or Clop materiel of one sort or another that it's almost sad.
And to take it in a sci-fi direction? AND it's well-written!? Woo-hoo!
8452250
Your review didn't say what factual error you thought this story had. I'd love to know so I could fix it.
8454779
Me too! I tend to make mental note of these things, then remember the note and not the source. D: Sorry I can't be of assistance. (I guarantee, if I read the story again, I won't find it.)
8454835
Alas. Well, was worth asking. Maybe if anyone comes here from your review they'll be able to tell me what it is. Assuming it exists, I mean.
Great story. I loved the way it built the mood of mystery and secret knowledge from the beginning, decidedly sci-fi before anything was actually revealed, and only gradually making clear just what the Alpha was (I came in knowing the title, but not tags or description).
I think ultimately I was one of the people who shouldn't have read the second chapter, but it was good in its own right, and did a bit to round out Adam as well as move things into a new future with a new Alpha.
This was a lovely addition I only got to now. Dawn sounds like she'll be an active kind of god -- maybe she'll have a beneficial impact on Diamond Dog society. Make it less dog-eat-dog, if you'll pardon the pun.
Still not sure why the humans think the ponies would destroy them, though.
On another note, this reminded me of this one fan take on the original Planet of the Apes I found on Deviantart, Planet of the Apes (and some others), specifically when the author starts going into non-primate uplifted species:
That was a wonderful breath of fresh air. Not only is this set in the beginning of the show before things went to shit, but you also really captured that early fandom feeling of creativity, inspiration, and independent thought that has largely died over the years. Even if the core idea isn't an entirely unique concept, you really took the time to think it through and explore what it could be in a different context rather than simply slapping a new coat of paint on the same old story which makes this feel new and thoughtful rather than derivative. Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to do this, and I hope to see more of it in the future.
8454936
It was probably misabbreviating lightyear as lr instead of the proper LY.
I know what I imagine, I might imagine what you imagine, but I also might not.
And so, I wish to know what other people imagine.
Mmm... Yummy Starscibe story.
I'm definitely one who liked the secound. I'd have more than that even. Just something about good old 'hard' sci-fi masqurading as fantasy.
...and not a common genre either..
I particularly enjoyed the dog shenanigans on this one.
The grammar issues were ignored, as requested.
I found this second chapter excellent, like the first. Additional story and background are always welcomed by me. That's the category I fall into. The emotional aspects of this chapter as well and the wide differences in Dawn's and Adam's methods make the narration particularly interesting and satisfactory. The rebellious dog brought just the right amount tension to the story.