Chapter 4 - Stepping Through Light Years - Part 2/2
Fortunately the next few hours went as smoothly as could be hoped for. The remaining guards were roused promptly, adding to their horsepower. However waking and herding the more civilian ponies proved a slightly greater challenge, some breaking out in panic attacks, still stuck hopelessly sobbing or shocked into near catatonic stupor. Cadance didn’t miss the looks Sunset spared them, the mare oscillating between contemptuous disgust and awkwardly sympathetic. Eventually they were left with a few hundred ponies, a mix of guards, maids, cooks, administrators and even non-crystal pony tourists that had been fortunate enough to be in or near the palace.
All the while Sombra skulked around the perimeter of the room, eyeing the activity with nought but cold analysis and the occasional disdainful sniff whenever some pony behaved in a manner particularly pathetic in his mind. Everyone present did their best to steer clear of the prowling former king, only daring to gaze wearily in his direction when they were certain his attention lay elsewhere. Many were still terrified of the dark king, his mere presence agitating old traumas that had hoped to be forgotten with his apparent death.
Meanwhile Sunset’s mechanical companion - Atlas - provided a similar source of trepidation due to its intimidating stature, or at least it did at first. Word that the machine was there protecting them from the tyrant and rumours that it had helped best him in a fight gradually turned those opinions around to ones of admiration and gratitude. Feelings that gradually extended to its mistress, most having seen the fiery maned unicorn trotting around releasing ponies from their macabre crystal prisons.
Soon, came the most difficult part. Informing and organising the ponies present for the tumultuous – if thankfully brief – journey to come.
Cadance, Shining, Sunset and a couple of the more senior guards gathered at the arbitrarily chosen ‘head’ of the circle, while Sombra seemed to be content to lurk in the shadows behind them. The crowd looked up to them with a nervous mix of hope and trepidation, their uncertain expressions begging their bedraggled Princess for good news. With a small gulp, Cadance resigned herself to the fact she was delivering less pleasant news first.
Her scuffed, gold plated shoes clattered and echoed loudly through the now largely empty crystal cavern as she took a couple of hoof stomps to gain the complete attention of the crowd. The noise quickly abated at the unspoken command of their Princess.
“My dear subjects,” Cadance addressed them, stealing her voice with confidence and certainty she did not feel. “It is with grave reluctance I have to inform you our struggles are not yet at an end.”
A cascade of mournful whispers radiated outwards through the room. Cadance put on a stern face and loudly stomped her hoof upon the ground thrice more to regain order, determined not to allow the mood to mature into outright despair.
“However! Circumstances have changed, and thanks to an old friend of mine a new opportunity has emerged,” she explained, gesturing with one hoof to Sunset, who was suddenly busy looking uncharacteristically bemused at being called a friend by the alicorn. “Sunset Shimmer - one of Princess Celestia’s past students – has returned from studying far abroad, offering safe shelter in the most distant… location, she has been exploring. The means of travelling there being a magical portal Princess Celestia entrusted me to protect until Sunset returned.”
At that point Cadance felt herself stumble. In truth she wasn’t sure what to say next, how to pose the need to leave perhaps indefinitely, or the fact they had been given little choice in the matter due to Sombra’s current lack of cooperation. Unfortunately somepony took this as an invitation to interrupt with a question, and not a comfortable one at that.
“B-but why didn’t we just use this portal before then?! Is it not safe or something?” a stallion called out, one of the less senior cooking staff if his greasy clothes were anything to go by. “Can anywhere truly be safe from those monsters?!”
Much to her embarrassment, Cadance silently fumbled over the question for a moment too long. The mirror was after all supposed to be something of a state secret, and not one she was terribly familiar with, let alone what awaited on the far side. In fact, Sunset’s earlier explanations were the most information she had ever received on the mirror.
Fortunately Sunset interceded at that moment to save the Princess from more serious embarrassment.
“No, it’s not dangerous. Not directly at least. It is however a very old and somewhat temperamental artefact with a number of idiosyncrasies to its function. One of those quirks is it is only able to open every thirty moons, a fairly detrimental drawback born of its ancient reliance on the cycles of the moon to power itself. That, is why I have only been able to return to Equestria now rather than any time earlier, for better or worse.”
The straightforward and calmly delivered explanation seemed to put the stallion at ease, or at the very least made him worry about looking like a fool trying to argue with her.
“Thank you, Sunset,” Cadance said warily, grateful but surprised by the unexpected diplomatic save from the fiery mare.
However she mentally swept the matter aside. Not that she didn’t appreciate the gesture, but she was privately busy lambasting herself for slipping up like that. The finer details of their earlier talk should not have already degraded into a disorganised soup of information in her mind. Furthermore she couldn’t let a fumble like that become a regular occurrence and erode their trust in her and by extension their rather delicate morale.
With what Cadance hoped looked like a determined expression she continued, “As a result, our current plan is to take this lifeline, retreat to this foreign world to recuperate and plan how to retake the Empire and Equestria from these other-worldly invaders.”
“W-we’re just leaving? Just like that? But this is our home!” one much younger mare - on the cusp of exceeding her teen years if Cadance had to guess – exclaimed with distress.
“Isn’t there some way we can stay and maybe fight Your Highness? I don’t want to give up yet,” one of the guards spoke up next, echoing the sentiment with a more aggressive edge.
“This is not defeat!” Shining spoke out firmly, trotting forward to take centre stage to speak. “Pony kind is facing a foe unlike any we have before. Magical monsters and powerful entities the likes of Discord and Tyrik are familiar threats, but a numerically and technologically superior foe like this? Never. We need time. Time to research our options, time to study our enemy and time to plan our counter attack. That is what this opportunity gives us! We will overcome this threat like we have all others before and return to the peace and prosperity we once knew. We just have to have a little patience and perseverance.”
Silently, Cadance couldn’t help but ponder how her husband’s impassioned speech mirrored Sunset’s own arguments so closely. She wondered if he realised that they shared a common line of logic or not; hoping it might be a nice point to start building a friendship at, and worried if he might instead resent that commonality.
“The Prince is right!” Flash Sentry spoke out, backing up Shining's words much to their relief given Flash’s previous sour attitude. “We might not know how to defeat these invaders but we overcame every other foe laid before us! Nightmare Moon, Discord and Changelings in recent years, foreign warlords, Windigos and worse in times long past. If we overcame them, we can overcome these invaders and survive! We just need to take what chances we can get to see that day come.”
The gathered guards ponies cheered in agreement with their Prince and his Equestrian attache, more in tune with the more aggressive variety of rousing speech but the civilians weren’t far behind with determined calls rousing each other. Discreetly Cadance stole a glance at Sunset, confirming what she knew she would see. Sunset was glaring at the guard thoughtfully, but did not stand still for long.
“This is one of those chances,” Sunset said, stepping forth to take her own slice of the speech and all the prestige that she could pridefully soak up, just as Cadance expected. “I can’t say it’ll be easy or comfortable, at least not at first, there’s a lot to do and that’s after just as much that you’ll all need to adjust to. I’ve established myself a modest if not-so-little home on the far side of the portal but it will take time to reorganise things for a larger population. On top of that you will need to adapt, not just to a whole new, literally alien society but to a new body as well. But the rewards are well worth it. What we can learn there, and assets we might bring back with us,” Sunset mentioned, gesturing at Atlas, “might very well give us the edge we need to overcome these vile foalnappers and revolutionise life in Equestria and the Empire in the process.”
Cadance reluctantly prompted Sunset to continue, as while this only encouraged Sunset’s opinion that the current crisis revolved around her, she really was the only expert on their temporary new home to be. Flash certainly did not seem too happy about this but held his tongue, reluctantly so given how he continued to wearily glare at Sunset.
There were a lot of uncomfortable murmurs as Sunset continued to explain. Initially she tempted them with the fact that both familiar and exotic new luxuries awaited them with only a little hard work in the short term; an expansive variety of food, theatre you could watch anytime and anywhere, new music, and games both athletic and mental among them. Meanwhile in the longer term the technologically superior weaponry of the Earthlings – some of which was briefly demonstrated by Atlas – truly gave them a fighting chance for reclaiming their homes and neighbours.
Once they were captivated with the idea, she swiftly moved onto the practical information they needed to know. Namely that the mirror portal would disguise them as one of the bipedal natives and moving on to the improbable fact that the new world they were going to was not really a world at all but a void ship on a mission to colonise the stars. Naturally there were questions from the sceptical audience, mostly revolving around how safe this new place would be, whether these other aliens were violent or if machines like Atlas might accidentally step on them.
Unfortunately, as informative as the session promised to be, there was the threat of it dragging on. A fear Cadance’s husband shared as they exchanged knowing looks, followed by a few private words of confirmation and nods of agreement.
“As much as I would like to learn more myself,” Shining began, interrupting between a round of questions, “we can’t have much more time here. We need to get organised and moving if we’re going to succeed.”
“Agreed. I’ll need to be one of the first through. Need to make the place safe,” Sunset spoke up quickly. “A rear guard might also be a good idea too, if any of the invaders unexpectedly turn up.”
“Sending you in alone with all the civilians while all the guards stay behind?” One nearby pony questioned with barely suppressed suspicion, a maid who was close to a now embarrassed looking guard - likely family given the foal between them – who had been initially awake among the six with Cadance. No doubt he had gossiped to the mare about Sunset’s less friendly first impressions. “That doesn’t sound like a terribly safe idea to me.”
“Yeah, and didn’t you just say this place was safe?” another maid close to the first – likely a friend and fellow gossip – asked next, though more fearfully rather than accusingly then the first.
Cadance caught a flash of anger or frustration pass over Sunset’s features, thankfully quickly enough that most would not notice. Surprisingly to Cadance, the normally temperamental unicorn had brought herself under control in but a moment. In fact, the longer Cadance watched the more she realised Sunset was behaving almost like an officer of the guard, as if she had received training on how to deal with such crowds. She couldn’t recall if the mare had ever gone out of her way to learn something like that all those years ago while still living in Canterlot palace, but it seemed unlike her at the time.
“Safe is always a relative term,” Sunset spoke apologetically, before continuing loudly and clearly enough for all to hear. “My home is also my workshop and laboratory. A bit like foal-proofing a kitchen with a baby on the way, I need to tidy away my tools and materials to help prevent any accidents, especially when you might all be unfamiliar with what is and is not safe to handle. I know it’s not the most flattering comparison but it’s the truth as I wasn’t exactly expecting so many visitors, especially ones bringing a number of actual foals with them. Additionally, I am the only one present with experience to help orient newcomers. This is not some attempt to swindle you out of what little safety you have down here, I am very much trying to help you.”
The seemingly earnest plea for cooperation placated the vast majority present. However any with a keen eye would have noticed Flash Sentry still looking on suspiciously, and it seemed a hoof full of guards tentatively trusted his opinion regarding Sunset.
Clearing her throat to bring attention back to herself, Cadance moved to speak once more. Sunset with but a glance and a nod complied with her wishes, stepping back.
“This is not a decision we have made lightly. Yes, we must proceed with haste but we are not proceeding without caution nor care,” Cadance spoke out again, comforting in her display of self-assured confidence. She only wished she felt every bit of that confidence she had put on display. “Shining, would you care to manage our ponies into groups?”
He nodded and stepped up, an intense and serious expression across his muzzle. “Alright, I want families to group up. Guards, into your squads. Everyone else, into groups of no more than six…”
It took a while to get everypony ready to move, to the point where it was well into the dimly lit early morning before the first of them re-emerged into the palace. The guards quickly spread out and set about securing a clear path to the mirror portal, ready to keep their civilian charges safe and moving in the right direction. Flash Sentry led the way by wing, scouting out the planned route before beginning to patrol back and forth along it, quietly ensuring everything was continuously in order and checking via what windows were easily reachable that no threats went unspotted from beyond the palace.
The lumbering mechanical form of Atlas followed soon after, crossing the threshold between the jaggedly hewn shaft and the pristine throne room with an ungainly stride from climbing the stairs that were smaller than comfortable for it. It quickly took up position near the largest exit; the open doors to the corridors and balcony beyond. Its eyeball-like ‘head’ swivelling back and forth at a dizzying rate between points of potential interest, searching for threats.
Right behind it was its mistress, leading the Crystal Princess, Prince Consort and their personal guards. Their own eyes nervously shiftied about as Sunset led them with a more confident stride to her hoof steps. Almost forgotten was Sombra, left trailing behind. His eyes were equally alive and searching though he was far more cold and arrogant in his overall demeanour, as if anything that might surprise him would be quickly crushed. Accounting for his range of allies however, he might not have been wrong to assume such.
They were so nervous and on guard, that it almost came as a surprise when they all arrived at the mirror portal without incident.
Cadance stood there in the doorway, allowing Sunset and her Husband to wander ahead. The mess that had been left by whoever had ransacked the castle drew her attention most. The empty bookcase and broken lectern stood a sore reminder of all her giddy hopes back when she was planning for reuniting with Sunset, and how remorselessly they had been crushed under the weight of the current crisis.
“So, what now?” Shining asked, eyeing the mirror sceptically before switching his gaze to Sunset. “You are the expert here, so how do we do this safely?”
“At most two at a time through the portal, with at least a few minutes between transits. Don’t run or jump and try to keep your eyes shut and hold your breath when you step through,” Sunset replied quickly and curtly, sweeping her eyes over the guards present to check they were all paying attention. “The whole thing is harmless but pretty damn disorienting. We’ll need the time to get people on their feet and out of the way of the next to come through. Unless we want to embarrass ourselves by getting hurt in a pile up on the far side that is. On that note, might want to give me and Mi-Moe a little extra time so we can actually get ready to help whoever comes next.”
“Wait a minute!” Shining called out, hoof held out in a halting motion. “Since when were we sending Cadance through first? It’s my job to take those risks and make sure everything is safe.”
“No, and for good reason,” Sunset replied back curtly, looking him dead in the eye to convey her seriousness. “No offence but you don’t trust me. If I tell you to do something, even if it’s for your own good, you’re going to be second guessing me. Cadance won’t have that problem. She at least trusts me far enough to know I’m not going to do something asinine like boiling her brains by sticking her head in a working microwave. We also need you here to watch Sombra and make sure he waits his turn.”
Shining grunted under his breath as he considered her point, even if he didn’t understand the details. “Fine, I can’t really argue with-”
“Oh? And exactly how long do you plan on making me wait, little sorceress?” Sombra butted in pointedly glaring at Sunset, as if promising a violent and sticky end should she slight him once more.
“Last,” Sunset said firmly, head whipping around to stare down the stallion. “Second to last if you want to include Atlas. No negotiation. I’m not letting you through, only for you to pull off some bull shit and leave your rivals here cut off and alone for the invaders to deal with for you.”
“You dare dictate to me-!” he immediately burst out before being cut off just as sharply.
“We, Sombra! We dare to dictate to you,” Shining Armour announced back, interrupting Sombra in turn with his own steely gaze. “Frankly I share her concerns, even if I weren’t predisposed to getting all of our civilians through first.”
“And how exactly am I to know you plan on no similar betrayal against myself?” he seethed, returning their glare with a malicious venom, one that seemed to leak from his eyes in a purple haze.
Shining scoffed back at him. “Because you very well know we would never behave so dishonourably. We have an agreement and we will stick to it, no matter how inconvenient you make yourself in the meantime.”
“So quiet down and drop this argument before we get bogged down in it and you only end up waiting longer,” Sunset said with firm finality.
To punctuate her point Atlas took that moment to loudly stomp closer with a far more grating, electronic bleating noise. Arms tensed to move into action he made for an even more intimidating figure, towering over the dark stallion who was already overtly tall for a pony.
Cadance meanwhile could not help but indulge in a weary smile. Besides how amusing it was watching them verbally tag-team Sombra, it seemed the two of them – Shining and Sunset – were beginning to trust one another just enough to work well together, whether they realised it or not. It was a small something to warm her heart in the midst of these cold and abandoned halls.
Sombra was clearly reaching the end of his patience, snarling and putting his fangs on full display. However it seemed his sense of discretion prevailed as he simply turned about with one final growl, stalking off back into the Crystal palace.
They all followed him with weary eyes until he was well and truly out of sight. A tense moment later Atlas made a set of more familiar, far less aggressive tones and seemed to relax. This seemed to draw Sunset’s attention who looked up to the mechanical hulk with a smirk.
“Heh, couldn’t have said it better myself Atlas,” Sunset replied to the uninterpretable noises.
Before either of them could enquire as to what had been said, Sunset sharply turned to Shining with a serious look.
“I’m giving you the authority to command Atlas,” she said sternly. “Its Equestrian isn’t great so keep it simple, but if you tell it to wait somewhere, patrol between a few points or attack something you point it at, it will.”
Shining was more than a little taken aback by the sudden offer. “Your robot soldier thing? You’re just giving it to me?”
“No,” she said with a snort, shaking her head. “I’m letting you give Atlas orders. They won’t supersede my own of course and I expect you to try and bring it back in one piece if things get dicey but Atlas will be there if you need the extra firepower, especially against Sombra. That said… as much as I value Atlas, pony lives - including yours - do come first. It’ll toss you through the portal and hold whatever off if needs be,” she explained further, casting a glance and a wink in Cadance’s direction.
“Right…” Shining gave the robot an uneasy look as he accepted her words. “So it’ll do what I tell it to?”
Sunset shrugged. “Sort of. Look, if it helps, think of it as a well-trained dog. Atlas is about as smart as that anyway. Keep it simple, and it’ll do it,” she explained dismissively, clearly trying to end the conversation and move on. Something she achieved by switching her attention to Cadance. “Come on Mi-Moe, let’s get this over with. The sooner we’re gone the better. Getting kind of tired of saying that too.”
Shining sighed and scraped his hoof against the floor irritably. “I don’t suppose there’s any way to talk you into sending someone else in your stead? I wouldn’t dare volunteer anypony but… I don’t know a guard who wouldn’t step up in a moment, myself included,” he asked his wife, clearly knowing the answer already but reluctant to accept it all the same.
Cadance felt the loving concern role off of him and shared a reassuring smile as she trotted up closer to the stallion she loved so dearly, for exactly this sort of reason. She cupped his cheek with one hoof, prompting Shining to look her in the eyes as she spoke. “It will be okay, Shiny. I promise Sunset will take care of me. She’s a difficult pony to get along with, but not a bad one deep down. You worry about taking care of our ponies and I’ll see you again soon.”
With that, Cadance leaned in to kiss him, deeply and warmly communicating her love and confidence in him as best she could with the intimate gesture. It didn’t last nearly long enough, but alas - Cadance lamented - such moments where true love was meaningfully put forward never did.
He sighed more gently and put on a forlorn smile. “Alright. I’ll hold down the fort. It’s what I’m good at. Just… stay safe. I love you,” Shining murmured warmly to his wife.
“You stay safe yourself,” she said with a friendly smirk, “and I love you too.”
Cadance continued to stare as he disappeared out of the room and around the corner with Atlas stomping along in tow before she turned back to see Sunset waiting with a pensive stare.
“Sunset? Is something the matter?” Cadance asked uneasily with one raised eyebrow when the mare did not react. Some sort of crass joke over their display of affection would not have been out of character for the amber mare right about now.
“Uh, nothing,” Sunset replied, instead dismissing the query with a shake of the head. “You know, I wasn’t lying. He’s a nice catch. And don’t worry, Atlas will watch his back.”
Blinking heavily in surprise, Cadance felt herself rear back a bit. The reassuring words were rather strange coming from Sunset’s mouth, but after a moment Cadance accepted them with a weak smile nonetheless. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”
Sunset reared back herself and sharply turned away to hide her light blush. “Yeah well… you’re annoying when you get sulky and cry. And there would be a lot of that if he died fighting off an army of alien goons in some heroic last stand. Something as cheesy-tragic as it would be awesome and full of explosions,” she said quickly, in a desperate attempt to further herself from any kind of sentiment.
It was enough to get Cadance to giggle at her immature bluster.
“Anyway!” Sunset shouted to drown out Cadance’s laughter. “Portal time.”
Promptly the amber unicorn trotted the short distance up to the mirror and Cadance followed promptly, only to halt there. She found herself wearily examining the strange artefact once more, its comfortably alicron proportions and horse shoe shaped frame, studded with gems that seemed to pulse with magic, its wide circular base and unnaturally perfect sheen. She had imagined greeting Sunset by it so many times, running through all the different ways their meeting might hopefully, or probably would, pan out. Never had she actually thought about using the mysterious artefact herself, not since Celestia’s vague warnings over how dangerous its use was.
Looking back at Cadance questioningly, Sunset made a curious comment. “Almost thought you were going to ask for one last look around before we left. If things go as planned… well you’re not going to see this place again for a while.”
Cadance glanced back past the doors again briefly but quickly turned her eyes back to Sunset and shook her head. “No. I would rather have fewer memories of my home like this,” she said, head dipping with the bitter admission.
Sunset looked up thoughtfully for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, I can get that. Now come on,” she said, tilting her head towards the mirror. “Might be leaving this mess behind, but there’s whole new worlds to see.”
Uneasily Cadance strode forward and lined up beside Sunset. “Uh, so how do we…?”
The unicorn nodded understandingly as she began to recap her instructions once more, “Just walk. Keep it slow and steady and hold your breath when you enter. The… currents - for lack of a better word – in the portal’s space between here and there can affect movement pretty randomly. Run and it might spit you out like a cannonball. Or spinning like a boomerang. Or just do nothing at all but you don’t really want to gamble on that.”
“O-okay,” Cadance murmured with an uncertain nod, glancing between Sunset and the reflective surface of the portal.
Sunset smirked as she nodded back at her. “Good. Then just follow me… and allons-y!” she cried out before gently skipping right on through the portal, seemingly in defiance of her own advice.
The mirror flashed causing her to wince and flinch away as Sunset passed through, the dazzlingly bright colours from the mirror unpleasant to the unexpecting eye.
With a gentle frown and one final deep reassuring breath Cadance steadied herself and took the plunge, stepping forward through the still rippling portal, eyes clenched shut as she pushed past its strangely liquid like surface.
Immediately her senses were assaulted with a violence that made the earlier display seem so very tame. Painfully bright swirling colours, some she had trouble putting a name to that flashed and ebbed away filled her vision. Meanwhile a cacophony of assorted sounds that crashed and cascaded like white water rapids penetrated her ears. To add to the confusion she felt herself tumbling endlessly in a way that made her native pegusi instincts protest in horror; falling, swirling and spiralling in contradictory directions according to her eyes and inner ear. Compounding her panic was the budding burning sensation in her lungs as she tried to breath, feeling the sensation of her lungs filling but gaining nothing from it in some paradox of asphyxiation. Beyond all of that was the marginally more familiar stretch and contorting of transformative magics playing itself across her body.
And then, just as it was starting to feel like it would never end, Cadance suddenly found herself able to breathe once more. It was a liberty she took a great deal of comfort from indulging in, gasping in deeply even as she fell from the portal and awkwardly landed in the blissfully dark room.
It took a few moments for her head to stop spinning and notice the next thing that demanded Cadance’s attention, namely her body. Knowing what would happen in advance made the sensation no less strange, but now she was left awkwardly propped up on four limbs, two of which were far too long to stand straight as her front two did. Not to mention her head now naturally rested facing down towards a cold, hard floor of smooth concrete.
The final thing to become apparent was the string of curse words from a distinctly Sunset sounding source not far in front of her.
Craning her head up – with what felt like a frustratingly short neck - Cadance saw a sight jarring enough to leave her speechless, and cause her legs to collapse beneath her into an awkward kneeling position. The pose did however provide her with a clear view of Sunset, sprawled out on the floor, still wrapped up in her winter wear on top of more clothing that seemed to have materialised with her new body from transiting the portal.
“Blyat! Stupid fucking portal! If you weren’t a few thousand years dead smeg-for-brains-Starswirl, I would turn you into a tartarus damned worm and feed you to Philomena!” she swore with a snarl while throwing a hoof boot off her clearly un-leg-like forelimb.
As Sunset wrestled and wriggled in her tangled mess of mismatched clothing - including a pair of ripping hoof boots stretching over a pair of differently shaped boots - Cadance couldn’t help but break out into giggles. The sight of the previously suave and confident mare swearing up a storm in multiple languages while looking like a filly that had got tangled up playing dress up in her mother’s clothes, was an innately amusing - if rather crass - display.
Almost immediately Sunset’s head whipped around to stare venomous daggers at Cadance, as a blush began to bloom across the honey skin tone of her now oddly flat face. An oddly flat face that Cadance quickly realised they now shared as she instinctively brought up her fore limb to stifle her still growing giggles. Indeed, Sunset’s embarrassment only spurred on her laughter much to the fiery maned girl’s fury.
“You can either learn to walk in the next five seconds and help me, or shut your pretty little trap, you feather brained home wrecking whore!” Sunset shouted out in furry, snarling as fiercely as any beast.
Immediately Cadance’s laughter choked up and died down, the vile vitriol robbing the situation of any humour as she felt her own face scrunch up in disgust at the foul language. It was a poignant reminder that sunset did not respond well to any kind of humiliation.
With a commiserating sigh, Cadance distracted herself with something more immediately pressing to herself. Namely her new form and especially the odd claw like appendage she had just been pressing to her face. Turning it this way and that with wide eyed fascination Cadance quickly began to experiment with moving the new groups of muscles in a series of erratic twitches that reminded her far too much of a flailing spider. It very quickly became apparent that it would take some time to master the perturbingly complex thing, but thankfully basic grasping motions seemed simple enough.
She was quickly distracted by the faux coughing of Sunset trying to get her attention, who was now casting a somewhat foreboding shadow as she loomed over Cadance. Uneasily, Cadance looked up to see a now much taller and imposing Sunset Shimmer, rid of her surplus clothing, glared down at her with a disgruntled look.
The imposing new bipedal form was more than a little intimidating from her position kneeling on the floor, and Sunset’s silent expression left the atmosphere tense enough that Cadance flinched when a forelimb abruptly extended towards her. It took Cadance a moment to figure out the outstretched limb was an offer of help. Taking a small steadying breath, Cadance clumsily extended her own foreleg to take it, placing her new claw against Sunset’s own which clenched around hers as Sunset began to pull her up.
With unexpected ease Cadance felt herself come to a shaky two legged stand. If she was entirely honest the tall pose gave the foreboding feeling she might become overcome with vertigo at any moment. Fortunately that didn’t seem to come, though a primal part of her did decide her new forelimbs might be better thought of as wings, stretching them out to her sides for balance.
With a tired sigh Sunset brought Cadance’s attention back to her just as she released Cadance’s hand and turned away a little, seemingly embarrassed.
“Look… I’m sorry for snapping at you,” she said, easing out the apology with a sour expression. “But I think you know how I get about people laughing at my expense.”
Cadance accepted the apology with a slightly stiff nod, even if she could not help a discreet roll of her eyes at the hypocrisy of Sunset’s attitude.
“I suppose I do. And for what it’s worth I’m sorry too. Still feeling… rather disoriented,” she uneasily apologised with partial sincerity, distracted as she compulsively kept glancing down at the now much more distant ground.
That also brought to her attention the elegant if simple white dress she was wearing, along with gilded white boots, bracers and belt. She also felt a chunkey segmented necklace resting around her neck but that was almost impossible to see with the limited length of her now short and inflexible neck.
With a discrete glance towards Sunset, she quickly realised that even with her shaky posture she was still a good half a head taller than her, something she had to suppress a small smirk at. Sunset had always liked to hold her head high, and pointing out Cadance was seemingly forever just a little taller than the mare was yet another means to light the fuse on her explosive temper.
Abruptly Cadance shook her head to dismiss those less then relevant thoughts and bring her attention back to the here and now. The rather expansive room she found herself in was dimly lit but thankfully not entirely dark. She could make out a few familiar shapes in what furniture was present, including a set of stairs running up along the far wall. But there were many more objects scattered around the area she could not recognise, especially with the lack of light.
Fortunately she didn’t have to wait long for that issue to be resolved as Sunset parted from her and marched off to a box on a far wall. Flipping a number of switches causing long light fixtures hanging from the rafters high above to gradually fade to life. It was surprisingly warm and comfortable compared to the jarring flickering Cadance had experienced from the rarely used electric lights of a similar scale back in Equestria.
The room revealed was both simple and alien at the same time. Walls composed of flat, featureless, light grey cladding between metal support beams painted a dark blue, occasionally interspersed with well organised wires and pipes of red, black and yellow fixed to those walls. The staircase meanwhile seemed to lead up to an overhanging second floor that looked down on most of the area with large windows. It was starkly strange in how utilitarian it was, and yet somehow Sunset had made her home in this distinctly un-pony-like place.
True, most of the area was scattered with strange contraptions with many blinking lights, work benches, odd tools and a few tarpaulin covered shapes but there was also a space set up like a crude drawing room. The floor there was covered with a collection of mismatched rugs and composed of three large, blanket-covered sofas in a semi-circle around a low table and a strange black, squat mirror.
Even as she examined the space with wide, cautious eyes Sunset rushed about, muttering and grumbling to herself as she tidied away things and adjusted the controls on machines. Cadance couldn’t help but notice how deftly she manipulated things with those strange grasping claw like appendages they now shared, or just how practised she was at moving on two legs. It truly brought home that Sunset had been living here for a good twenty years. Twenty years away from Equestria and whatever Sunset might have called home there. It left Cadance wanting to give the mare a tight warm hug, though she doubted the gesture would be appreciated.
With a sigh Cadance shook off her musings. It seemed she had temporarily been forgotten by Sunset, so with a few shaky steps she took her new situation into her own hooves as she did her best to mimic Sunset’s walking motion. It was a passable enough attempt as it at least got her to a nearby work bench where she could use her new fore-limbs to steady herself.
Any further attempt to teach herself was forestalled by a cry of panic and the distinct sound of metal clattering to the hard floor. Cadance turned her attention back to the plinth just in time to see a another newly transformed pony – a maid going be the dress that had morphed with the pony to fit their new form – screeching as she fell out of the portal and atop the poor transformed gardspony that was still gathering his faculties.
“Damn it! I should have asked for more time,” Sunset called out irritably as she turned away from her work and strode back towards them all. “Cadenza, I’ll need your help here.”
Cadance couldn’t help but bulk at the curt demand. “Sunset, I can barely stand myself right now!”
“That’s better than these two can handle! We don’t want anyone getting hurt in a crush, that would just be embarrassing,” Sunset yelled back at her as she gently took hold of the maid’s arms and cajoled her up onto two legs.
Cadance did her best to stumble over to and provide support for the fellow former mare, no easy task as she was still trying to find her balance herself. Unfortunately the end result was monarch and servant alike left awkwardly leaning against each other and mutually avoiding eye contact, quietly too afraid to move in case they should both fall over. Still, at least the closer look allowed Cadance to recognise the maid as her head maid, Jade Standard, something that perhaps should have been more obvious given her distinctive green and black striped mane. The strikingly dark, ebony brown skin tone threw her off given her previous coat of more faded lavender fur.
Sunset catching sight of this as she more roughly helped the guard to his feet and out of the way of the portal, could not help but sigh in exasperation. Still, a somewhat sympathetic look lingered behind her frustration and as she left the guard there leaning on his spear for support. Her next words were delivered with more patience.
“Okay, I know this is going to sound strange but the best thing you can do to maintain your balance is focus on your hips,” she instructed - with the smooth professionalism she had previously used when addressing the crowd - as she offered a hand to both women. “Unintuitively, because you’re so much taller now your centre of balance is actually lower in your body. Namely around your tummy area rather than up over your hunches. Stand up straight, avoid looking down too much, concentrate on balancing through that and the rest should follow much easier.”
Uneasily Cadance accepted Sunset’s hand in getting out of the awkward lean-to she had found herself in with Jade Standard and did her best to follow the advice. Her legs were still somewhat shaky but she could at least hold herself upright in one place without feeling like she was narrowly avoiding falling over.
The fact Sunset moved so fluidly on two legs helped reassure her it was possible. Furthermore it appeared rather graceful as a form of motion, certainly a lot more so than the more lumbering motion Minotaurs made with bipedalism.
Shaking off the distraction Cadance offered a sheepish smile to Jade before doing her best to support her journey to the same nearby table she had lent on earlier. Cadance left her there just in time for the next pair to come tumbling out of the portal.
Steadily a sort of routine was established. Those who had been there longer – especially guards who often came with a spear ready to lean on – helped newcomers up and passed advice around. Meanwhile Cadance grabbed another transformed pony – Glistening Page, an aid – she tasked with keeping a head count on everyone. Sunset herself had soon absconded from that duty to continue to make her workshop safe for them, or rather, make sure it was safe from them, given Cadance caught a murmur from her about not leaving her stuff out for idiots to break.
Immense relief filled Cadance when a pair of the maids that typically acted as nanny for Flurry Heart came through with her crib. Unfortunately the arrival was naturally accompanied by a lot of crying from the confused infant who had just had to endure the horrible sensations of the transit without any understanding as to why.
“Hay now, hush now, you’re safe sweety. It’s all over now. You’re safe,” Cadance cooed at Flurry as she drew closer and reached out an arm to gently comfort the child flailing in her blankets.
Cadance flinched back when her baby only screamed louder at her close approach. The fear clear in her eyes especially stung Cadance to see directed at herself. In front of her she could not help but notice once more her now recoiled hand and it hit her just how frightening she must have looked to her own child in such a strange form.
With a reluctant sigh she turned to some of the other former ponies standing nearby. “I need someone to help get Flurry out of the way and someone else needs to help these two get up as well please.”
That help was quickly rendered by Jade Standard and they lifted the crib clear into a less occupied corner of the room, where Cadance made to once again confront her still wailing child.
“Stay back a moment, I have an idea,” Cadance said, doing her best to stay quiet but that was not exactly easy given how healthy a pair of lungs Flurry had.
Cautiously Cadance dropped down to her knees, edged around the crib so she was out of sight of Flurry, and with a deep breath in, she began to softly sing.
“My little child, be not afraid. The Rain pounds harsh against the window, like an unwanted stranger… but there is no danger, for I am here tonight.”
As the mellodey began to waft through the air Flurry steadily caught on to the familiar tune and the voice behind it. Cadance couldn’t help but smile as her child began to calm, though Flurry was still making nervous babbling noises.
“My Sweet little child, be not afraid. The storm clouds mask your beloved moon. But its candlelight beam, still keep pleasant dreams, and I am here tonight…”
Cautiously, Cadance made to peek around at Flurry, locking eyes with her still distraught baby girl. The sense recognition at the bob of three tone hair and purple eyes further reassured her that mother was close.
“And some day you’ll know, that nature is so, and the same rain that draws you near me, falls on river and land, on forests and sands, makes the beautiful world that you see, in the morning.”
Playfully, Cadance used a hand to flick a lock of hair towards Flurry who quickly reached out a limb to bat at it, only to murmur in surprise at the sight of her own new limbs. Briefly she shook it around, as if trying to throw the strange little pink worms off. Seeing her confusion Cadance rose up a little to show Flurry her own strange transformation, uneasily raising a hand and wiggling her own hand in mid air. She sighed a little in relief as instead of bursting out into more crying Flurry stretched her own arm out in front of her and mimicked the wiggling movements before turning her attention back to Cadance and reaching out in her direction with a burbling cry of desire.
Carefully, and with a reassuring smile fixed in place, Cadance reached out her hand towards Flurry who ended up grabbing one of Cadance’s fingers in her hand. The burble of surprise and laughter as she tugged it closer prompted a giggle from Cadance at her daughter's newfound curiosity.
Glancing back at the other ponies present and the many dour faces, Cadance couldn’t help but feel a bout of envy at her daughter’s innocent naivety.
With a sigh and a sad smile she lent down to gently stroke her daughter’s hair and - a little awkwardly - plant a kiss on her daughter’s head. That resulted in another bout of giggles as Flurry made to grab onto Cadance’s strange little nose next.
Soon though, she had to pull away, much to her daughter’s protests. “Can you take care of her for now Jade?” she asked the still waiting maid who had been struggling to keep her own laughter at the adorable display of affection contained.
“Of course Princess,” she replied with a sympathetic smile.
Reluctantly Cadance turned and made her way back into the crowd, intent on returning to helping her subjects.
After a while the warehouse was beginning to feel rather well filled by the time the last two members of their party arrived. The lounge area was being used to contain all the children while Sunset was left to run around glowering at or chewing out anyone who looked like they were about to touch something or open some cabinet they were getting curious over. Her barely contained neurotic frustration was something Cadance could not help but inwardly chuckle at, in spite of the potentially real danger.
However both Sunset’s rushing and Cadance’s amusement were quickly dispelled by a new surprise.
Out from the portal came a pair of more masculine screams and one blurry black blob that was flung across the room at significant speed. The resulting crash caused a cascade of yet more cries of both surprise and pain as many former ponies on shaky legs were bowled over by the speeding ball of chitin.
Immediately the two rushed in to help get people up and out of the way, heaving people off of one another less anyone be left asphyxiating under the weight of numerous others. What they were left with once the pile cleared up left everyone in shocked silence.
“Ooooow… anyone catch the plate on that cart?” Thorax mumbled out in pain. “Wait, I wasn’t pulling the cart was I? Oh no, not again…”
Blinking away her surprise, Cadance knelt down to gently lift and place a few comforting pats on Thorax’s still very much Changeling body. Even though the form was familiar Cadance could not help but let her eyes wander over him, examining him for anything out of place. Everything was exactly as she remembered it, from pointed horn to all four holey hooves.
“Well, that’s interesting,” Sunset commented, similarly eyeing the changeling up and down with shameless curiocity once more. “And interesting always leads to the best discoveries,” she declared with an all too eager grin.
“Oh wow… right, the mirror,” Thorax murmured as he steadily came back to his senses and started sweeping over the crowd with his luminous blue compound eyes. “Huh, she wasn’t joking when she said humans were weird. Uh, but not bad weird! You all look fine! Really!” he commented, speaking all the more frantically as he tried to reassure them all from some imagined slight.
It was only then that Thorax realised what had happened, catching sight of his own forelegs as he flailed them in a calming movement. Looking between his hooves and the staring crowd of humans, blinking a few times in surprise, he calmly and rationally let out a long, shrill scream.
To make the matter worse, Flurry Heart began to make her displeasure at the loud noise known with a few sharp cries that were working their way up to something worse.
“Fuck!” Sunset cried out the foreign curse in irritation before she dove forward and clapped her hands around his muzzle. Notably she showed no fear of his protruding fangs. “What the tartarus is wrong with you?!”
The only answer she got was a few stifled mumbles and a gulp.
“Are you going to scream your little buggy head off again? Or am I going to have to muzzle you?” Sunset asked her captive, aggressively getting in his face with her own to stare him down more closely.
The now cowed changeling could only wiggle his head from side to side a little in Sunset’s grip.
With a grunt she released him, backing off but keeping her displeased and expectant glare locked on him.
“Not a bug…” he mumbled as he straightened himself up. “You, uh, I… caught myself by surprise?” he explained uncertainty, sheepishly smiling back at her.
“You got freaked out… by the fact you didn’t change?” Sunset asked as she pinched the bridge of her nose, face further twisting up into a scowl. “This had better be some sort of weird instinctual reaction because there’s no way I’m putting up with someone that stupid around this much delicate machinery.”
“Uhhhh…. Maybe? That would make sense since, you know, changeling, surrounded by strangers… exposed…” Thorax tried to reason, trailing off as Sunset’s continuously scrutinising glare derailed his thoughts with anxiety.
“Whatever!” Sunset declared loudly after a moment of silence, throwing her arms up in the air in exasperation. “I don’t get paid enough to put up with this.”
Cadance could only sigh and roll her eyes and held back a snarky comment about no one getting paid for this as Sunset stormed off to continue fiddling with her equipment. Meanwhile she busied herself with reassuring Thorax, finding him a place to regain his senses on one of the couches and then getting back to her other subjects and their needs.
However, before she could get much further than that, the sight of her beloved finally emerging safely through the portal put all other concerns on hold and sent her rushing back towards the strange statue’s plinth.
“Shiny,” Cadance greeted him with a sigh of relief as she hastily stumbled closer.
He merely groaned and shook his head with a groggy expression, as he stood there. On all fours. His confused looking around prompted a giggle from her just as he caught sight of her feet and began to crane his head upwards to look at her. Cadance promptly offered him a hand up.
Shakily, he too - with her help – pulled himself uneasily onto two legs.
“This… this is going to take some getting used to,” he said wearily as he looked down at his own trembling knees. “Feel like I should be getting vertigo or something.”
“Believe me, I know,” Cadance affirmed with a mirthless chuckle. “Just… try to imagine there’s a string pulling you up like a puppet, keeping you straight. Then move with your hips, that’s where your centre of balance should be.”
Meanwhile, Sombra who had been left to help himself out of the collective fear and resentment of the present company only had Sunset to grudgingly help him up. This happened to suit him just fine, given the girl’s terse and direct instruction, compared to the needlessly emotional prattling and hand holding the others exchanged.
It was not more than a moment after they had gotten up and moved away from the statue that a familiar mechanical whirring and stomping resounded through the room. Atlas, having been deposited into the room via the portal itself, rapidly looked about as it identified all the faces present before giving a friendly chirp and a wave in the direction of the largest congregation of people staring on. A few of the less skittish young even dared to wave back to which the robot chirped happily at, levelling two thumbs up at them.
It was a little strange to Cadance but the mechanical figure while still taller, broader and likewise imposing seemed a lot less intimidating now it more closely matched their height.
“So,” Shining spoke up uneasily, as he examined the room with analytical eyes. “This is where we’re going to be spending at least the next few years?”
Those words set the wheels in Princess Cadance’s head turning. No matter the circumstances, these were her people and she was their ruler. She had a responsibility to guide and protect them to the best of her abilities and at the moment… it seemed she had led them into somewhat bleak living conditions. Not that Sunset’s home wasn’t exactly homely even given its improvised nature, but it had only been one person here before. It was extremely tight quarters for so many.
“Bunkbeds will be a must in the long run,” Cadance murmured. “Ones larger than we’re used to as well,” she added, looking down at her much longer form.
“You’re… you’re saying this is all we’ll have between us!? Uh, you’re majesties?” A nearby maid, one of the younger ones spluttered in disbelief before hastily adding the honorific.
Cadance couldn’t help but wince at her blunder of so publicly highlighting their new living conditions. Worry was visibly overtaking her and several nearby people too who had overheard.
Shining meanwhile glanced about, searching for Sunset for confirmation or hopefully reassurance to the contrary. Unfortunately she had now run off to attend to her robot, hooking Atlas up to a large yellow support frame, connecting numerous wires to him while trying to answer a volley of questions fired at her by a couple of the braver children.
“Not quite… Sunset Shimmer mentioned more space we could move into but only another two or three rooms like this,” Cadance admitted.
With a defeated sigh Shining added his own two bits. “I’m afraid we’re all going to have to get used to being considerably more cosy with each other. All theoretical talk of void travel reasoned ships would need to be pretty tight quarters, given they would need to take literally everything ponies would need to survive with them. Much like a regular ship but worse; food, water and even the very air, not to mention fuel to keep everyone warm. Honestly I’m surprised we have as much space as we do. To have this much unused real estate on a spaceship implies it has to be pretty damn huge,” he explained, eyes darting around as he began to appraise the space with greater regard. “In fact… I’m starting to really want to know how they do it all. Recycling all the water they would need and not to mention the air as well! The first is an easy enough task with a little Earth Pony magic, enchantments and all sorts of spells but I have no idea how they could probably manage the latter with the hugely impractical task of hauling a whole forest along with them. Air freshening spells can only take you so far… and they don’t even use magic for any of this?”
Despite their situation Cadace could not help but chuckle ever so slightly as her husband began to geek out over his enduring love of science fiction speculation. “Dork,” she said to him teasingly.
“Ah, you know you love it,” he countered dismissively. “I make it at least half as adorkable as Twily.”
Unfortunately their brief moment of humour meant little to the crowd of former ponies and their growing murmurs of discontent. With a sigh Cadance made to speak up and deliver an impromptu speech about solidarity and how this was a temporary state of affairs while they adapted. However Sunset quickly blew those plans out of the water as she strode by loudly making light of their situation.
“Oh me, oh my! Woe is Us! Whatever will we do crammed into so few square qubits per person?!” she moaned out, dramatically waving her arms and pressing the back of one hand to her forehead sorrowfully as she ploughed through the crowd to the far wall.
She turned on the spot, standing there between a door and a set of long panels that composed a large span of that wall, looking back at the crowd with a lazy smirk. Uneasily, Cadance, Shining and the others better acquainted with Sunset’s antics edged closer through the crowd to get a better look… or easy access to intervene if needed.
“At the very least we have a decent sized closet to leave all our spare things in,” she said teasingly as she reached up to a yellow box fixed to the wall at chest height.
Grabbing and twisting a knob on that box the whole crowd jerked with surprise as a soft clunk rang out and those metal slats began rolling up into the ceiling. The bright, natural light of the outdoors shocked all of them as it started spilling in, leaving many blinking away the spots in their eyes from having been confined to low light conditions of the catacombs and this new warehouse for so long.
When Cadance’s eyesight finally cleared up they were rewarded with the sight of water, a whole lake’s worth of it just beyond a short wharf and down a ramp flanked by concrete piers. As the doorway continued to creep up and up more came to be revealed. Along the far shore of the glittering lake lay a gleaming city.
Distantly it resembled Manehattan or one of the other built up coastal cities. Many a tower rose from its skyline and there was a modest amount of water traffic along the shoreline that itself was smattered with docks to support such. That was where the similarities vanished. Unlike Manehattan naked concrete seemed a rarity, though not entirely absent. Some buildings were towering shards of glass, be it blue, green or black in tint. Others beckoned to older architecture looking like sandstone or marble structures with pillars and reliefs while bright but deeply coloured banners hung down their many stories. Another common architectural style were the starkly white buildings from which an abundance of greenery hung from like a multitude of hanging gardens. The variation didn’t end there with many more examples such as the black, gothic style hall complete with flying buttresses and gargoyles.
It was a magnificent sight that spoke of not just material wealth but rich cultural diversity, not to mention a display of the superior technology present as flying machines visibly zipped overhead, landing, taking off and weaving through the buildings. However it quickly became the second most astounding thing that came into view.
Beyond the lake and the city the horizon did not disappear in a flat line. Instead, to their left and right, fields, forests, rivers, roads and even further more distant settlements curved upwards into the sky above in a massive circle that stretched forwards beyond the city for many miles before terminating at a blue disk, dotted with concentric lights and containing an enormous crystalline flower-like structure at its centre.
Cadance’s mind struggled to make sense of the situation, to the point where edging forward to peer directly up at the ground above her invoked a bizarre sense of vertigo, even as she felt gravity pulling towards the ground. The ground that she spent a moment gazing back down at just to reassure herself it was still there.
Somehow, they were standing inside a ginormous cylinder.
In the background Cadance heard barely stifled laughter break out into full blown bellowing. Turning uneasily to face the source, Cadance predictably found Sunset grinning ear to ear. However her expression strangely seemed devoid of the tinge of cruelty that accompanied her pranks in the past. There was amusement at their expense certainly but… the expression was ultimately joyful in nature.
“Sunset… what? Wh-what’s going on?” Cadance asked uneasily, doing her best to straighten up and regain a posture more appropriate for a Princess.
With a further chuckle, Sunset stroad out the door and turned to face the crowd, smile wide and excited.
“Mares and gentelstalions! Colts and fillies! Whatever that Throw Axe, bug guy is!” Sunset called out, arms raised wide as if announcing to some hidden fanfare. “It is my pleasure to welcome you to the interstellar colony ship, Star Strider!”
Sunset: “Role Credits!”
Throw Axe Thorax: “Not a bug! Also my name is Thorax. Don’t you know basic Entomology?”
Sunset: “Of course I do! I know all about words. They’re my favourite thing to listen to myself saying.”
Well, this was a long time coming... probably too long. Again. Life be hectic an all that and mood swings suck.
Anyway! As I hope you can tell I loved writing Sunset bing, well, Sunset. As I imagin her anyway. A little unsure about how I'm going to handle the next few steps in all this but I at least have some rough ideas typed up for chapter 5 already.
Most importantly, I would love to hear what you all think about how things are going so please do leave a comment! They feed my creativity. 
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It's ALIVE! I'm liking how you are portraying Sunset. Also Thorax's reaction was great 😂.
Yeaaaah thanks for the update
Ayy, the story really kicks in! I love this new setting, though I wonder if it's practical for all the space inside this (presumably hollow) cylinder to go unused. Who knows, maybe the humans like the aesthetic. Can't wait to see how everybody reacts to this environment, and - importantly - where Sunset fits in on this ship. I'm so excited!
11480577 Unused is probably a relative term here. That space is storing an awful lot of breathable air for one. The open nature might also contibute positivly to people's sanity and preventing things like agoraphobia setting in for the magority of people.
That said, if it was a question of being entierly space efficent there would be an outer floor with considerable space with aroof progecting an image of an open sky and further lower gravity floors for... farming I guess? Low G sports arienas? Maybe some manufacturing?
But to be honest I decided to leave it as open air because it makes for the more impresive image.
More fun to have pegusi flying around and getting confused this way too.
11480923
You could add that the inside of the cylinder may be several dozen to hundreds of layers from the outer hull.
Also, adding that the outer hull may be filled/covered with heavy industry, mining and more storage.
11480923
Do the pegasi retain their wings? I thought they'd all been transformed into humans.
Or is this foreshadowing...
11481432.
How did you get your hands on my story notes?!
Heh, I do intend to drip feed more details about how everything works, but I also want to avoid some big boring infodump. That said you're barking up the right tree.
If this sort of stuff reall interests you, you might enjoy a seties of video lectures/podcasts exploring this sort of thing; Science and Futureisum with Isaac Authur. His material has been a big inspiration to the setting here.
11481458
Yes, the mirror portal certainly does transform them all into humans.
But not Changelings for some odd reason, so we have one natural flyer on Star Strider. Otherwise... spoilers darling.
While there are a lot of great narrative bits in this chapter, Star Strider's engineering is what I find most interesting. The number one thing that stands out to me based on the design in general and the skyscrapers in particular is that its diameter is much, MUCH bigger than the ~1km minimum for a comfortable gravity ring. This is a bit of an odd design decision because it imposes a much greater load on the radial structure holding it together than a more conventional long and (proportionally) skinny habitat. This is made worse by incorporating a proper biosphere because the soil and bodies of water add an incredible amount of unnecessary weight which also has to be supported by that structure. That might all be achievable with semi-realistic technology if it were a station since you could just throw hilarious amounts of steel at the problem (we're talking I-beams with flanges multiple feet thick here), but as a ship you need some way to get god only knows how much weight moving, and that means the engines and propellant tanks need to be even bigger. To make things even worse, propulsion means acceleration loading, and that means that absurd structure needs to be even stronger to deal with axial forces in addition to the titanic radial loads, making this whole problem even worse. I'm really curious to hear what you're thinking of regarding the tech base, because it's hard to see how you can pull this ship off without getting technology like easy artificial gravity which eliminates the need for a gravity ring/cylinder.
Now, there are a lot of other technical and design details I could go into, but I think I've written enough for now so instead I'll just point you at the best source for practical hard science fiction information on the web, Atomic Rockets. I could point you at relevant sections, but I strongly suspect you'll do what I did when I first discovered that site and vanish into it for days, if not weeks, so I'll just say enjoy.
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/index.php
Well, that is one promising story.
Well written, with intrigue, mystery, marvel, drama and unwilling allies, disguises and secrets, and living characters, ambitions, base building, sci-fi, hidden dangers, genius protagonist, whatever else.
So many good tags...
I'm deeply intrigued.
11482629 Ho boy, lot to unpack here.
Honestly, I plan to keep a lot of the finer details at arms length simply because I don’t want to make a minor mistake that makes everything impossible. I’m trying to take a more hard Sci-fi approach to human technology here but at the same time I’m no expert.
Regarding the “city” I describe here, I’m not actually trying to paint a metropolis the size of a modern supper city. In reality it’s more of a large town with a lot of tall buildings to give a more metropolitan feel. I plan to make this much clearer when we actually go see the place up close later.
As for size, yes I certainly have something larger than the bare minimum in mind, perhaps about 1.5K in diameter. The explanation being that carbon nanotubes pan out as a practical material for construction, perhaps reinforcing a steel structure a similar way to how we reinforce concrete with rebar? I haven’t settled on dimensions 100%, though I find it handy when trying to picture these kinds of dimensions to remember the world’s tallest building, the Burj Kalifa, is only (totally didn’t do a quick google to get the hight, honest) 828m tall and that thing is hecking massive up close. I think it’s plausible to fit a cityscape like appearance in a 1k diameter cylinder.
As for the bio-sphere, perhaps something shallow, perhaps only a few metres of dirt with hills and so forth being more simulated via structures underneath, with tech to handle a lot of the problems like maintaining a decent water table. Though the rivers, lakes and so forth wouldn’t be so shallow for, uh, reasons. Spoilers.
On a bit of a tangent, I think more typical artificial gravity might not necessarily make cylindrical habitats redundant. Depends on how that artificial gravity works after all, a spinning cylinder, especially once it’s up to speed is probably not nearly as energy expensive as some gravity generator that has to bend space time just to make a surface walkable. Similarly I don’t think thrust gravity should be discarded entirely, as even if you have some sort of inertial dampening system, why make it fight your own acceleration when you can just organise everything vertically and just dial back the gravity as you increase your acceleration.
As for Atomic Rockets, I am familiar with it and its reputation. Given how hectic and busy my life has been as of late I think I had best avoid it for the most part just in case. Goodness knows what kind of mess would be left if I got sucked into it for months on end. That said I do want to dive in sooner or later, I’m just not terribly confident in my ability to wrap my mind around all the maths involved.
11484281 Thank you kindly! I'm glad to know I've managed to catch your interest in so many ways and pulled of a lot of what I was hopping to achieve so far.
11484767
Yeah, keeping the finer details at arms length makes sense unless you're willing to do serious prep work to get things right. That work is critical in a visual medium where you can't avoid showing things, but for a single author writing a story you have a lot more room to bypass it.
That said, you do still need to think things through to a significant extent or you run the risk of implying something insane like you did when you brought in the anachronistic Manehattan (which is basically a modern metropolis dumped into Equestria) as a reference point instead of something more reasonable like Canterlot or the Crystal Empire. That implies buildings hundreds of meters tall which really don't work sensibly in this application. Gravity will fall off in proportion to the radius (half the diameter or 750m with your thinking/500m at the sensible minimum), and while we don't know the minimum sustainable gravity for health, my gut says it's somewhere between .5 and .75 g which would imply a maximum habitable height of 187.5 to 375m for your diameter (125 to 250m for the sensible minimum). However, it's important to remember that you also need a significant under-floor structure to tie the whole thing together, and you REALLY don't want to go any wider than 1 g if you don't absolutely have to because that will substantially increase your structural requirements (part of why I think gravity rings may be tuned slightly below 1 g in practice) and, by extension, your engine requirements.
What makes all this worse is that a cylinder isn't the most efficient gravity generation shape. The spinning doughnut space station is a classic for a reason. The circular cross-section is great for containing atmospheric pressure, and cutting out the largely useless central section dramatically reduces the structure's weight. A cylinder can make more sense for a ship since you can put things like fuel and engines in the middle, although even then you probably want the engines in a separate segment since it basically has to feature a nuclear reactor one way or another. I can't really go much further without knowing more about your propulsion plant and mission profile (especially FTL), so I'll leave the general layout discussion here for now.
However, there is one final engineering point I want to bring up before moving on to the lighter discussion, and that's carbon nanotubes. To make a long story short, they're not magic and they don't make these structural issues go away. Having worked with carbon fiber, I know those big strength numbers are mostly a lie when it comes to practical applications. They're strictly the number you get in tension, so after you add in the multi-directional layering, resin matrix (carbon will dissolve in most metals), foam spacers, and safety margins required to build up a usable structure, the resulting product weighs about the same as a comparable metallic structure. Carbon nanotubes might improve that some, but I'm very concerned about the brittleness implied by their stiffness because I can easily see tubes breaking under shear/torsional and vibrational loading. That could be accepted or compensated for with extra material in some applications, but in a long-life safety critical application like this it's probably disqualifying. Incidentally, fatigue is also a problem for carbon fiber, so you'll almost certainly be using titanium alloy since it has a true fatigue limit like steel so it can produce structures that won't wear out.
Regarding the biosphere, the right answer is simple. Don't. Tree roots typically go down about as far as the tree goes up so you need deep soil to support them, and any water body is insanely heavy. If I were designing a ship like this, it'd be mostly a maze of rooms and corridors with plants confined to scattered hydroponic pots in those areas, combined with a number of more open atriums/parks/malls which include significant numbers of bushes and other plants, once again confined to hydroponic pots. The only significant bodies of water would be a pair of swimming pools (mirrored across the axis for balance), although I wouldn't completely rule out the possibility of very shallow (as in an inch or less) cosmetic pools in some areas. In general the habitable area should be a closed loop which doesn't need a water reservoir, although I would include emergency tanks near the reactor where they can double as radiation shielding.
You do bring up a good point regarding artificial gravity, and it's something I've considered as well. At least for space stations, rotation probably makes more sense than a gravity generator. It's far more efficient to spin the main habitation sections and only use the artificial gravity in the non-rotating docking section (whatever shape that takes) and the access elevator. Major production sections also don't need gravity at all since they'll be mostly automated and will probably want either zero g or funky gravity fields for material handling, and many of them will presumably also not be pressurized since there's no need for it. Similarly, I agree that it makes sense to orient the crew compartment so the thrust helps with gravity (unless its intended to land), although I do want to mention the small caveat that the actual crew compartment of most ships will be very small since you don't need many people to run these highly automated ships.
Finally, that's a very fair concern about Atomic Rockets, especially since the consequences of the math is explained in such a way that you can get most of the value without to be able to run the numbers yourself, dramatically reducing the barrier to entry.
Noticing you kept using 'weary' when you meant 'wary'.
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Ooops. I see. Will keep an eye out for that and fix what's there.
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Much agree with you regarding the sensibal number of Gs. Perhaps about .9G on the "surface" while the what I'm dubbing the "underworks" might go a bit over 1G at the very bottom. So naturally that's where all the edgy hard core gyms have set up. But I am reconsidering the numbers somewhat and plan to take a closer look at the numbers at some point. Been feeling a bit stretched thin latly though so might end up handwaving the details a bit sadly, both for the sake of time and because it's not the most interesting thing to include in a story.
As for engins, for now thinking some sort of fussion torch. That and something with very gentle acceleration naturally. Also plenty of radiators for those kinds of engins, thinking lionfish might be a good descriptor there.
As for FTL... no FTL. You cannot break the laws of physics. You would need to be magic or something to do that.
At some point there will be a chapter roughly along the lines of...
Human Scientists: "That's imposibal!"
Sunset Shimmer: "LoL! I'm a mother bucking unicorn."
As for carbon... feeling like an idiot right now for forgetting you literally get steel by thowing carbon at iron.
And I understand it's not handwavium as far as things go but still feel it's viable with a little cleverness. If it helps, the habitat isn't one continuous open cylinder but esentially divided in three with bulkheads hiding cross struts. Still, I expect the limit is pretty high, especially when it's a popular idea that McKendry Cylinders might be the upper limit for what's posibal with Carbon nano-tubes. Doubly so when if you have suficently decent means to produce them you could theoretically make carbon nano tubes around carbon nanotubes giving you even stronger strands of the stuff.
To help with my credability this is also pretty far ahead in the future. Up to five centuries untill Starstrider even launched and the storyy far longer after that, with some technological stagnations given they're a collony ship always on the move to keep things less out there.
P.S. If this all sounds vague and poorly thought out, well my brain agrees with you because it's pretty much back there 24/7 screeming about how we have no idea what we're doing.
Wondering at how long you think till next chapter it's just getting good.
The culture shock alone will be amazing as theirs no magic in any of what's around them even if they heard it all before.
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Not sure. Got a good chunk of a chapter five down but I'm not too happy with it yet. But the good news is that's exactly the sort of thing I want to explore. The chalenge is doing it in such a way that makes it a fun read and not just a dence chunk of dressed up expossition.
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maybe break it down to multiple chapters with different points of view might help as it can help keep focus on what you want,
Like Sombra point of view as a Dark mage would be intriguing.
Or Shining' as a bit of a Si-fi nerd as a stranger in a strange if not too strange land at least to him, versus his wife who would be very out of her depth.
Heck the maids would be Shocked at modern convinces and at the death nail to most of their profession.
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You know you've actually got me thinking now... Like specifically with the maids for example, not just how their crent jobs seem to be becomming obseliete but also how they can adapt and grow their skills to keep up. I mean, having water on tap means the watter carrier is out of a job, but now you need a plumber.
Thanks!
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That sounds good on the gravity and numbers. I fully understand that it can take a lot of time and effort to get everything fully worked out, so no rush there. I'd be happy to take a look at what you come up with whenever you get the time, so just reply once you have something you want feedback on.
On the subject of propulsion, I agree that a fusion torch is basically mandatory for unfettered space travel. That power output is huge even within a system, and once you leave a system it's really the only option for a slow boat.
Now for the big one. FTL.
First, a slow boat like you're talking about realistically has to be a sleeper ship (or a digital arc which clones new people once it arrives if you stretch the definition of "ship"). The only theoretical alternative is a generation ship, but I don't think that's realistic. Even if we set aside human nature (which seems virtually guaranteed to cause a war inside a century) and the difficulty of getting people to volunteer to live on a ship for the rest of their lives in hopes that their decedents get to see another planet, the size and cost of a generation ship will be massively greater than a sleeper ship of the same capacity so it makes absolutely no practical sense. Thus, your whole concept falls flat if there's no FTL to reduce the travel times from centuries to months or years (less than that and you don't need such a comfortable ship).
Second, the laws of physics absolutely allow for FTL travel. While some old school sci fi fans (including the author of Atomic Rockets) like to claim FTL is impossible, physicists generally accept that there are multiple possible ways to travel faster than light. The key is simple. Mess with the fabric of spacetime. There are a couple ways to do this and lots of variations on each, but they generally either boil down to distorting spacetime to allow apparent FTL travel (e.g., the Alcubierre drive), or create some kind of connection between two points (usually a wormhole). In your case I think some variation on the Alcubierre drive is probably the right approach for the ship since it lets you cross a modest number of years.
Incidentally, I should mention that quantum entanglement unambiguously does not work for FTL communications, so if you were thinking of cheating that way, you need something else (probably a very small wormhole).
Finally, I don't think I really have much to add to the structural discussion since you've stated you're not happy with your work there, although I should mention that we've made nested nanotubes and they're actually weaker than more narrower nanotubes.
"muscles"
"Twily" - one 'l'. (Looks to me like the autocorrect might've confused that nickname with the weaving term 'twill'.)