Chapter 14: Equuius
For the second time in her life, Jamie woke overwhelmed by a body that didn’t make sense. At first there was the familiar vain efforts of her brain, reaching out to reassert whatever passed for normal. She was a pony now, she needed to remember. Of course that was the only thing going on.
There was the hospital bed, the straps to prevent her from falling off after her recent surgery. Her hands were turned into stumps, her organs were all shifted and her bones were different. Her face was stretched, her eyes were gigantic, she had a tail. All that was to be expected.
A touch of one hoof against the sheets brought a familiar sense of something soft against the little patch of sensitive frog surrounded by what was effectively just thick fingernail. But as familiar as that was, something about her back just didn’t make sense.
She felt the familiar ache of stitches, running all the way down to her bones, and something cold against her skin. Shifting even a little sent a wave of pain most of the way to her tail, and made her moan quietly with agitation. And that was nothing compared to her head.
Even a slight twitch made her world explode into colored stars and a wave of nausea set her to convulsing. She hacked and coughed, but only a few traces of bile made it up her throat before another pain sucked them away again.
“Do not attempt to move,” Epsilon said, as soon as she had stopped shaking. “You should not have returned to consciousness at this time. The interaction of this bioform template has caused… a strange synthesis of effects. Your dosage will be adjusted.”
She tried to croak out an objection, anything that would stop the AI from doping her again and continuing whatever terrible process it was performing on her. Please, let me go back to Shy in Hollow Shades. I don’t belong here. It’s not time to wake up yet, the world is too unsafe. Just let me go live out my life in peace.
There would be no peace for her now, unfortunately. Her world fogged, and the agony that was her every second became less important. She struggled vainly with her hooves for a few more seconds, kicking against nothing. Then it faded, and she drifted into the abyss.
Wellspring wasn’t there when they arrived with the artifact, just as she’d said. Instead there was a gruff-looking bat stallion, with a curved dagger on his hip and an eyepatch over one eye. His stern glare faltered as she levitated the obelisk through the door, settling it onto the ground with a resounding thump.
“We found this,” Star declared, grinning smugly at him. “Ancient altar looked like it had been sealed off. There’s active magic on it, but I don’t know what it is. Old spells like this sometimes decompose when you prod them too carelessly, or react in other ways. I thought you’d get more value from it if I left the magic intact.”
She was breathing heavily from the effort of carrying it so far, but she fought that, swaggering towards the unknown bat as casually as she could. “Don’t let anypony poke it unless they know what they’re doing. I can’t guarantee it isn’t some kind of ancient boobytrap against thieves. It’s not my fault if somepony gets turned to stone or whatever.”
The bat approached slowly, brushing the edge of the obelisk with a wing. “You levitated this all the way here by yourself?”
Star nodded. Her requests to have Ginny change into a unicorn to help were all ignored. Because they might’ve been watched, she’d explained. Of course, somepony was hiding in the ancient sewers in the middle of the night to make sure their changeling didn’t shapeshift. She was just lazy, and Star wasn’t fooled. “I’m from the magic district of Concord. Magical training starts almost as soon as we learn to walk.”
Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to carry that bucking thing.
“Well, uh… I’ll pass along your success to Wellspring.” The bat straightened, pulling up the hood of his cloak. “Don’t find us, we’ll find you.”
They left, keeping silent and solemn all the way back to their little bunkhouse. Ginny hadn’t chosen the place just for the discreteness of its owner, but for the many utility entrances close by. Getting out of the sewer and into the building only involved crossing a single street.
They didn’t say anything until Star had her silence spell back in place. She collapsed sideways onto the lumpy straw bed, breathing out a deep sigh of relief. “My horn is going to ache for a week after that.”
Ginny stood over her, grin widening. “For a find like that, it’s worth it. There’s no way that doesn’t get us in, Star. How could they send us away now? We’re bucking made.”
She closed her eyes, rolling over. “If I can get over the fear of what we’ve just unleashed. What if we just put a weapon in the hands of the resistance? Not that I’m saying the princess is fallible… obviously she’ll still destroy them. But it could cost more lives, more soldiers. I’ll be the one to lose sleep over it.”
Ginny climbed into bed beside her, settling a wing across her back. Star tensed instinctively, but didn’t push her away. She was exhausted enough that it just didn’t seem worth the effort. “Even if that’s true, don’t lose sleep over the Unification Army. Nopony’s going to lose their husbands and brothers over this. That ship probably sailed centuries ago.”
She opened one eye, glancing back at Ginny. “What’s that supposed to mean? You don’t think a rebellion could do damage with ancient magic like that? I’ve read about some pretty dark spells. Just because it didn’t feel like—”
Ginny pushed her mouth closed with a claw, silencing her. “Not that. Of course there’s dark magic. It could cost thousands of soldiers to destroy them, or maybe just a few. I have no idea. But it doesn’t matter either way. Losing soldiers is like having airships crash, or trains derailed. It’s not a tragedy, it’s just the cost of waging war.”
This time she rolled in place, turning back around to glare at Ginny. “I don’t understand. The Unification Army will lose soldiers. Their families will lose relatives. Or they might, because of… because we gave up that artifact. You don’t feel a little guilty about that?”
“No.” Ginny sat up, expression turning sad. “Do you not know what the Unification Army is, Star? You served the princess directly. I assumed she would tell you things like that. The basics of how her empire is run.”
Star’s ears flattened, and she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Maybe she shouldn’t have said anything after all? But she couldn’t just pretend she’d never heard anything, now she had to know. “What didn’t they tell me?”
She half expected Geist to say something useless about how secret the information was and how she couldn’t share anything Twilight didn’t want her to know. But she should’ve known better.
“The Unification Army aren’t alive in the way we think of it. They don’t age, for example… that’s why it’s so rare to have creatures join. Since they’re not dying off, the princess doesn’t have to recruit much. And the ones she does replace usually come from convicts.”
“Obviously.” She sat up straighter, growing a little more confident. “Joining the Unification Army can forgive any crime, any debt. It’s an honorable choice to redeem your life by repairing the damage you did.”
Ginny rolled her eyes. “I suppose they would say that.” She rested one claw on her shoulder, expression solemn. “Have you ever heard of someone who joined the army returning home?” She covered her mouth with a claw. “Wait, I’m not done. I don’t mean their unit went on parade in their district and they got to wave from behind a fence. I mean actually went home. The Royal Guards all get leave, they have husbands and wives and children. They have homes they return to when they’re done working. Don’t you think the Unification Army would be the same?”
She had another answer ready, as ingrained as the first one she’d given. Obviously the soldiers never returned, they took an oath of lifelong fealty. They served until they died, celibate except to the love of Harmony.
But Star Orchid knew more than most ponies. She’d seen reports of discipline from all across Equestria, correlated into Twilight’s expansive records. There was a section for the Unification Army, a set of shelves as vast as the Royal Guard. There were some books there, it was true, but many of them looked so ancient that even their covers were crumbling away. Nothing in her years as a clerk had ever gone into that section.
Not one soldier ever broke their vows. “How big is the army?” she asked. “Do you know how many soldiers there are?”
A grin spread slowly across Ginny’s face, smug and accusatory. “Now the pony asks forbidden information. Shouldn’t you be content with whatever reward the princess decides to share with you?”
Yes, I should. But she shouldn’t have sent me to the ground to crawl around in sewers. We’ll both have to make sacrifices. “I might need to know,” she said flatly. “You’ve obviously learned all kinds of things while you’ve been out of the court serving her. I bet you didn’t have permission either. You just figured out on your own and kept that knowledge for yourself.”
Ginny raised a defensive claw. “I don’t know as much as you’d like. The princess keeps her own secrets. You’d have to be as ancient as she is to know everything. What I can tell you is that the army is much bigger than it looks. The ones you see flying around on patrol, catching lawbreakers… they’re really only there for us to see. Equestria seems ordered because the army is so large. But you know what they say about Concord?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Lots of things.”
“Right. You probably never left Magic district.” She patted her on the head, turning away. “I’ll share it with you. The city is bigger than it seems. The six districts up on the surface aren’t even half the population. Most creatures live underground. Creatures that have been digging and stacking for centuries, living in the same little caves their great-grandparents dug.
“Somewhere down there is an endless supply of soldiers, waiting for the need. They don’t eat, they don’t sleep, just line up in battle formation and wait to be called on. That’s why no unit ever seems weaker. Back when we still had actual wars, Griffonstone or Seaquestria or wherever were always terrified because our soldiers seemed immortal. They could kill a thousand, and the next day Equestria would field a thousand more like it was nothing.”
I thought you just knew about spying and hurting ponies. There’s more in there than we gave you credit for. Not that she would ever admit as much to her, or else she’d never live it down.
Her mind drifted to the thought of a gigantic cavern, filled with almost-alive soldiers standing forever, waiting to be called on. The princess never wanted to bring them into the civilian parts of Concord. They always stay in their buildings and tunnels. They’re always behind barricades. Wouldn’t more ponies want to join up if they knew they were becoming immortal?
But she was too exhausted to struggle after questions like that now. She’d worked enough for the rebellion today. Their plan was succeeding. Maybe when they did, Equestria wouldn’t need armies anymore. That seemed like a goal worth fighting for.
Over the next few weeks, work with the rebellion progressed in much the same way. Every few days they got a cryptic message, telling them somewhere in the city to be in the middle of the night. Usually there was something to find in the ancient city, but as time went on their missions transformed. Suddenly they were stealing things from the museum, or burning a few records in the clerk’s office. Little things, that might earn them a whipping if they were caught.
But thanks to Ginny, they weren’t caught. Every violation twisted the knife of guilt a little deeper between Star’s ribs, but she resisted the urge to run to Golden Shine for confession. She was serving a greater cause, she had to remember that. Princess Twilight herself could forgive all her transgressions against Harmony, if the balance to the world when she was finished was the end of chaos forever.
It was frustratingly slow progress at saving the entire world, despite all intentions. Stealing things to make the rebellion stronger did nothing to uncover their mysterious Darktech, or its source. Star had yet to see any, even after two weeks of work.
“We can’t let them shove us into the background like this,” Star insisted, during their next mission. This one was the most menial yet, gathering edible plants from the jungle during the day. Not even an appreciable amount of the stuff either, instead they gathered barely enough to do anything with. Just a little of each kind from a stupid list. “They’re just bucking with us, Ginny.”
“Of course they are.” The bird landed with a bright red fruit grasped in one claw. She held it at hoof’s length, despite the pleasant aroma radiating from it even at this distance. “How do you think anypony ever knows whether they can trust you? They have to run us ragged. Remember, they’re hiding from the smartest, most magically powerful creatures in the world. If they were less careful, they’d already be hanged. They’re not, so that tells us something.”
“That they’re going to keep wasting our time?” Star asked, checking off the pomegranate and packing it away with several others. This close to the hallowed foundation, the jungle grew wild, with a dazzling variety of different plants. More than she’d seen at the Royal Botanical Garden by miles.
“For a little while.” Ginny lifted off again, shaking her tail suggestively. “We haven’t failed at something yet. It’s always spectacular success after success. Group like this can’t afford to let us do the crap jobs. But we can’t afford to seem ungrateful for what we get, either. They think they’re doing us a favor.”
“By making us crawl around in the sewers and steal historical artifacts? They’re so generous.”
“No.” Ginny landed in front of her so abruptly she nearly jumped, eyes widening with surprise. “You can’t think of your enemy as stupid, Star Orchid.”
“Not stupid, evil. They’re working against Harmony, so they have to be.”
Ginny rolled her eyes. “That’s even worse. Listen to me, Star. I know this might be hard for you to accept, coming from a perfect city surrounded by perfect ponies—but nopony thinks they’re evil. Do my job long enough, and you learn that really quick. Go ahead, ask around. Find a dozen condemned ponies, and each one will give you a reason why they are different.
“Sure, it’s wrong to kill. But their brother was asking for it. It’s wrong to steal, but I deserved it. The bigger the cause, the bigger their reasons have to be. But it’s always something. The rebellion really thinks they’re saving Equestria. Or… how was it they said… helping Princess Twilight realize that she could liberalize? Something like that.”
Star tore her eyes away, lifting up the basket and continuing on. Trouble was, she could see much of the same reasoning used by the princess herself. It was wrong to kill ponies, but the ones she executed had all defied the precepts of Harmony.
“So there’s no such thing as evil, Ginny? Just… ponies with different motivations.”
She laughed, loud enough for her voice to carry through the jungle, startling birds large and small. “Oh no, there’s evil. More than you can imagine. But nopony thinks they’re evil. We’re all blind to our own reflections, Star. It’s one of the things you learn when yours is always different.”
They said very little for the remainder of the trip, gathering up the plants they needed and reporting back to deliver them.
Instead of placing the plants to an empty crate somewhere in the city, they brought them to a little house in the Kindness “district”, tucked away between alleys. It was barely a house at all, really, more a shack wedged in between two larger buildings. Kindness was usually the place for slums.
At least we won’t have to go far from home to get here.
“Let ourselves in,” Ginny muttered, repeating their instructions. “You think they actually want any of these plants, or are they just redecorating? Maybe they want to make a bouquet.”
Through the half-rotten door was a single-room den that smelled like griffons had been using it as a nest for years and never picked anypony to clean. The bed was a mess of blankets covered in unknown stains, the cupboards had more insects than full containers of food, and there were only a few threadbare outfits hanging in the closet.
“Guess we just leave this here?” Star asked, settling the basket on the table that served as both food preparation and serving space. There was no food here, and every plate had been picked clean ages ago.
“No,” said Wellspring’s voice from behind her. She emerged from the stall of a bathroom, which… wasn’t a bathroom at all. The bucket was attached to a sliding panel of wall, which tilted to expose a passage beyond. “Bolt the door, then bring the basket. It’s time for you to meet the boss.”
Jamie couldn’t say how long had passed when she finally woke, twitching and struggling vainly to consciousness. Her memory of her first waking felt more like a bad dream, except for the pain. That remained firmly impressed on her, so she was very careful to keep her head still as she tried to open her eyes.
But as the seconds passed and she counted her breaths, she found that she was in far better shape than last time. Her accidental movements didn’t send her body to catatonic agony, and she was able to perceive the world around her without instantly overflowing with disgust and pain.
That didn’t mean the strange sensations had gone anywhere, however. She still felt like a parasite had latched onto her back, though instead of aching like torn flesh she now felt the kind of soreness that came from a workout. Her head was a little harder, other than a sense of painkillers numbing her perception. Not a headache so much as a head injury?
“A change in breathing and pulse indicates you are now awake,” Epsilon said. “Please, move slowly. You have been removed from life support, but serious danger of complications remains. It would be advisable to keep you fully sedated for at least a week, but you have stopped responding to every known coma-inducing medication. The risk of accidental damage has now been exceeded by the possibility of permanent brain damage.”
Your bedside manner is as fantastic as I remember.
“Uhh…” She tried to say something else, but it came out of her mouth as an undead zombie moan. She shuddered, then started hacking and coughing again. Bloody yellow slime emerged from her throat, and something pressed up against her face to catch it. She saw the vague outline of an orderly robot through scrunched eyes, wiping the slime away from her face.
But there was nothing compassionate in it. If anything, the AI rubbed harshly against her flesh, not caring that it was getting blood into her fur. “Do not be alarmed. The symptoms you are experiencing are an expected outcome. You will recover.”
Can you hear my thoughts now? Or did you just guess I would be furious with you about now?
Silence. She wasn’t in any hurry to respond, particularly as her memory returned. She’d been kidnapped, she knew that much. The AI hadn’t been happy about her ignoring it, and it didn’t seem like she would be allowed to sunset quietly away from the project. She’d traded her life for service, and Epsilon intended to collect.
Oh god. Jamie’s eyes widened in horror, and she could see the entire encounter playing out in her mind. Her heart raced, and she started to shake. She wanted to get away, her breathing was ragged—then came a sudden cold into her veins. She still remembered Epsilon’s plan, the one that was certain to get her killed. “Please tell me you’ve changed your mind since last time.”
No hesitation. “Progress towards deployment is moving quickly. Your assignment has not changed.”
She twitched a few more times, then slowed. Her eyes glazed over, and her panic faded. She still felt just as terrified, but now there was some drug to keep her from fighting too hard. “This won’t work, you fucking… stupid… toaster.”
“Probabilistic expansion suggests otherwise. The behavior of primitive societies is quantized. This one worships members of your current species. Their government will respect your demands as absolute. It is possible their existing subject of veneration will view you as a rival—but by the time they do, manufacturing will be underway and this shelter will fend for itself.”
You are so out of your fucking league. Jamie felt another wave of inadequacy—wishing she had any kind of technical aptitude to convince or force this AI to abandon its insane plan. The drugs stopped her from reacting too violently, anyway. Even if she wanted to. “This isn’t… a cargo cult,” she said.
Her voice was almost as emotionless as the computer, but not from lack of feeling. Now it was more like… she couldn’t translate her thoughts to her body very well. Everything was running through taffy. “They’re a whole country. They have cities, armies. Twilight Sparkle is a fucking dictator, do you even know what that is? Or the prophet of a… theocracy. She has inquisitors. Another Alicorn is going to be…”
Okay, she didn’t actually know. Shy had said there weren’t any others, but she hadn’t been upset at the question. Not the way she reacted to some of the other forbidden things Jamie said. It was just a fact to her that there weren’t other Alicorns. There was at least a possibility that this system would find a place for her.
Her thoughts ran so much faster than she could express them, part of her wanted to scream.
Even if this plan works, I couldn’t let Princess Sparkle accept me as another one of their demigods. I’d be sitting on top of a mountain of oppression and evil.
“It is not unusual to be fearful or disoriented after a major surgery. Do not worry, colonist Jamie. This course of action has been analyzed and determined likely successful. Trust to the mathematics and relax.”
It wasn’t giving her much of a choice about relaxing. I shouldn’t fight it like this, I’ll never get away. At this point I need it to finish whatever it’s doing, or my body will fall apart anyway.
Jamie put her fury on the backburner for the moment. When she wasn’t restrained, maybe then she could figure out what to do about Epsilon. For now, she would stop fighting. I’m never doing what you say, Epsilon. They’ll kill me before I even ask.
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Funny how Ginny's argument (nobody thinks he/she is the villain) can be applied to Twilight as well. Being a character filled with greys and ambiguity, one can't help but wonder on which side he actually is.
Either way, Ginny is making Star think in not-Twilight-approved ways. So kudos for him.
Also, zombie army? My, my, Sparkle. Is there any line you have not crossed yet for the sake of "Harmony"?
"you can't free a fish from water" rule of acquisition #217
And there's the key flaw in Epsilon's calculations. It thinks—inasmuch as it can think—Hollow Shades is the capital of this society rather than the absolute boondocks, and has extrapolated from there. After all, it's not connected to the network; it can't check with other shelters and get a wider view of the world. And it won't accept mere anecdotal evidence that contradicts that assumption. Oh, this won't end well at all...
Meanwhile, Star really does have a lot to think about. I can only imagine what the leader of the resistance (or at least someone the next rung up) will add to that load.
Hail hail Cargonia
Land of stolen things
Obey the Quartermaster
Lest he is a 'ling
Shy is going to look at Jamie and be completely baffled what happened in the last 2 weeks and how did she suddenly became a god. I wonder what would Star's reaction be like?
So Epsilon knows how to build earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns, but it's clearly not expecting the consequences of mixing the three into one pony...
This would confirm that alicorns were probably not part of the original biosphere correction agents. But at the same time, it is strangely serendipitous that this artificial hybridization of the tribes would give rise to such a strong synergy, if the possibility hadn't been accounted for by the initial system.
Ginny, you sure you aren't part of the resistance? Sounds like you want to unsettle Star a little more each day. Is it a test of loyalty to Harmony or is it an argument for defection?
I'm guessing retirement as a second-class Concord citizen is a one-way tour as a Unification soldier. Guess the perfect harmonious soldier is a meat puppet pumped full of preservatives.
No doubt would little alicorn Jamie be sucked up by the resistance first chance they get. Such a symbol she would become for them. Though, she'll probably have to remain hidden for a while if she does choose (if she's even given a choice) to support the resistance. No sense becoming a martyr. Or worse, a daughter of Harmony. I'm still waiting for Star Orchid's reaction to seeing alicorn Jamie. Such confusion will certainly be interesting to see.
10070095
Not again
10069985
I mean she talked casually about her zombie army before. She's lone gone.
She knows nothing.
Fluttershy? Someone else?
That AI really thinks this terrible fake alicorn plan is a good idea.
so does she actually have alicorn magic from the process? or is the appearance cosmetic only?
10069985
Err, yes. Star made that exact connection. In this chapter.
I wonder if Ginny would opportunistically overthrow the regime given the chance. It's clear there's resentment, but I've no idea if it would ever be opportunistic enough.
Interestingly, a monarchs are historically a common thing where they defer to the top level power -- nomarchs in Egypt for instance. It would make a lot of sense for Twilight to subjugate this new "diety" into her system to boost her own following and enforce her reign directly even the lower regions of the world. It'll be neat to see what might happen otherwise, I've no clue and am curious.
Ginny, or whatever their name is, is... interesting. It's obvious they don't wholly appreciate the world Twilight has built -- their comments about the state of changelings and Twilight's undead army make that clear enough -- but how deep does that resentment run? Do they just accept it all as a necessary evil? Or would there be enough to motivate them about doing something if given the chance?