Chapter 45: Lux
Lilac knew of incredible, terrifying creatures, beings of ancient Equestrian myths. They'd come from a distant, terrifying place, where all was endless pain and all they did was consume. Beings of magic, that could take the shape of other creatures, to impersonate them to their loved-ones, and ultimately feast upon their magic.
She was no changeling, and could not perfectly copy the shape of other creatures with such ease. Yet she didn't need their magic to stop Keen Focus from recognizing her. She had plenty of costumes to choose from, and plenty of makeup.
And when that wasn't quite enough, she had the magic of the breezies to fill in the gaps. Nothing quite so powerful as the changelings could manage—but light and glamour, that was easy. With the right nudge, she could make her coat look brighter, inverting her hues until her coat was soft yellow instead of her namesake.
Pair that with a raincoat and a few rubber bands to keep her mane swept back, and she could pass for one of the numberless cabin-boys she'd seen skulking around the ship. It would be strange to see one of them as an earth pony and not a unicorn, and her scent would give her away if she got too close—but she could overcome all that!
"There are greater magics of transformation given to us," Saffron whispered, as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. Finally, something that didn't fill her with disgust. Appropriately confident, daring even. Herself. "Bending light is such a simple illusion, one unfit for your apprenticeship. Yet you will need another subject if you wish to experiment."
She looked to the side, where Saffron lounged under the fresh leaves of the little oak tree. "Why?" she asked. "Wouldn't changing yourself be easiest?"
The bug laughed. The sound of it was as strange as she remembered, distorted and stretched. An insect noise, her own large ears were ill-suited to hear. "Perhaps if you were a lesser creature. The witnesses around you may fill your head with lies, but on one matter they are right: you are far greater than a mere pony. You cannot be transfigured through simple charm. Your true self would reassert itself in time, overpowering any spell you were wrapped in."
"But..." She reached up, adjusting a few loose strands of mane. She needed to look just the right amount of disheveled, so she could pass for a member of the crew. But not so lazy that she got reprimanded, and they had to answer the awkward question of who she was. "You said something about changing Firefly. Isn't she the same thing as me?"
Saffron nodded once. "It appears your ears aren’t stuffed with cotton after all, apprentice. It is true, that process would not be permanent. But it could appear that way, if regularly renewed. For now, direct your attention to more significant matters. Put your talents to the test."
"Thanks. I've needed someone to talk to these last few weeks. Somepony who actually listened."
"Don't think the tutor was not listening," Saffron cautioned. He followed behind her as she approached the metal grate, then started working it with a screwdriver. She'd found it right where the bug said she would, tucked away in a bathroom drawer. But if the ship's staff assumed she would not use it, they were mistaken. "Her loyalty is to your father, and ultimately to the Crown. Anything you say, she will remember and use against you. You are not safe here."
Soon she had the grate off, settled onto the floor. The tunnel beyond might comfortably fit little Firefly, but for her it would be a tight squeeze. "You sure I can make it through this?" she asked, pawing awkwardly at the edge. "I'm not... however old I was when I got here... anymore."
Saffron actually laughed, his voice high and energetic. "All a matter of perspective, Lilac. What feels smaller, this bedroom, or that tunnel?"
She groaned at the suggestion. But there was no arguing with him--she might be a little cramped navigating the vents, but at least when she finished she would have the whole ship to explore.
If her gratitude reached him, he made no sign of it. He only nodded sharply, flicking his tail away from him. Dismissive.
She vanished through the vent. She didn't run—despite the temptation to finally be free, she knew how short-lived this little escape might be, if she made too much noise. Not to mention the advantage she would lose if Keen Focus caught wind of her powers. So long as she thought Lilac was nothing more than a helpless earth pony, she would keep treating her like one.
So she kept her head down, sneaking through tight corridors and listening at every bend. She passed each of the cabins in a line, starting with Keen Focus in the one just beside hers. The unicorn wasn't there, curiously enough. She resisted the urge to investigate, for fear that the mare might be able to sense her magic if she got too close.
She was no changeling, and could make no perfect imitation. She needed caution.
Eventually she found what she was looking for—a shaft leading down to the next deck. There amid the engines and foul-smelling mechanical apparatus, she could be certain Keen Focus would not find her. Such a place was beyond the dignity of a pony of her station, after all. She would leave that work for her "lessers".
Climbing down without making noise was its own challenge, with heated air blasting around her every second. She could bump around a little, so long as she didn't do anything too obvious. No adult pony would fit in here, they don't have to watch too closely.
She landed on the floor below, and was soon moving down another hall. Here the vents were far larger, positioned beside sprawling industrial-style mechanisms. Fascinating machines hummed in each one, serving to maintain this strange vessel. Now where could she get out?
She found her golden opportunity another short way down the passage, where she could see the metal grate hanging loose from its mounting. All she had to do was wedge a hoof up under the edge, and she could probably get that off.
As she got close, she heard a voice, lowered in frustrated muttering. "Still jammed. Why isn't the transition matrix engaging?"
A surprisingly young voice, considering the sophistication of his words. She lowered her head, pressing it to the metal to listen.
She saw a pony's back, facing a heavy machine. Only this one had its metal casing off, revealing several complex spinning disks within. Crystals were set into the metal at regular points, like some strange hybrid of a mechanical engine and a magical apparatus. She could sense the misalignment from across the room, even without the uneven glow coming from beside it.
The pony working on it was taller than she was, though not by much. He wore a simple ship vest, along with a toolbelt full of magical devices. His coat was gray, or probably supposed to be. There were so many different layers of grease stuck inside that he'd turned brown. "No, that's not right. Something's missing here. Why aren't you... hmm."
She couldn't help herself. Lilac emerged from the vent. She marched right past him, over to a single disk among many. “The resonance of this entire section is mismatched from the others," she said. Before he could stop her, she caught his thaumic-mechanical wrench out of the air. She had to use her mouth, lowering it to the disk, and rotating it in place.
"Wait, you can't! You don't know—"
Unhappy clunking noises stopped, and the disks started spinning together, settling back into a gentle hum. She tossed him back the wrench, grinning. "There. Not sure what got it out of phase like that. A large enough vibration might be able... but our flight has been smooth for the last few weeks."
His mouth fell open. From the front, she could get a better look at him. Not bad looking for a colt—the grease in his mane gave him a practical appearance at odds with his unicorn horn and uniform vest. He fumbled with the wrench, sliding it back into his belt. At least he could manage levitation well enough.
He was older than she'd first guessed, too. Not just old enough for his wrench-shaped cutie mark. Old enough to be graduated from the simple school most ponies attended, and into his craft. A year older than she was, and a little taller to match.
"You fixed it," he finally said. "How?" He looked her up and down, frowning. "I've never seen anypony like you aboard. You must work in engineering to know how... how haven't I seen you?"
Right, the easiest question in the world. What the hell was she going to say as soon as literally anyone found her down here? "I've been... serving with passengers," she said lamely. "My parents think I'm too good to be down here. But I want to be in the engines. Officers are boring."
He laughed. "Yet they make twenty bits a day, and I make three. Might be you're in the right place, uh..."
"Der—Lux. I'm Lux." She extended a hoof towards him, uncaring of the grease and slime. But he was a unicorn, and there wasn’t actually anything on his hooves. The one place he'd kept clean, despite his labor. "Don't ask my rank. I don't belong here."
The colt nodded, glancing to the doorway, then back again. "Engine Mate Copper," he said. "Shouldn't I report you?"
She shook her head vigorously, circling around the huge machine. It wasn't an engine, not really—she could see the pipes connected to it from either side. This strange device somehow converted the motion of the engine into hot water for the passengers.
"Maybe." She stopped in front of him, lowering her hood. Did she look enough like a colt? At least he wouldn't be able to smell her through all the grease. "But I'm guessing you have other problems, Copper. I can sense it—you're in trouble. You need some help. They gave you too much work, and not enough time to get it all done."
He groaned. "You have no idea! Officers up there having fancy lunch with all the unicorns riding along, while we're down here sweating our flanks off! Bloody unfair it is!"
She closed the distance between them. "Find me an extra vest like yours, and I'll help. I don’t care about bits either. But it would be nice if you could find me some dinner when we're done."
"Really?" His face lit up, beaming at her. "Crazy little colt you are—leavin' the top deck, workin' for free. Sure you aren't trying to trick me?"
"Positive," she said. "I just want to do something else for the day, Copper. If you knew what they made me do up there... you don't want to know. I'd rather swab the decks, or bilge the... pumps, or whatever it is you do down here."
"Bilge the pumps?" he repeated, giggling. "Alright, Lux. I know where they keep the spare uniforms. But I'm gonna hold you to it—a solid shift's work before last bell, we have. Make it that long, and I'll cover for you at mess. Deal?"
She would've done it for nothing. But how could she say no to a thrill like this? Let Keen Focus pace back and forth outside her room, thinking she was a helpless prisoner. She'd be down here, actually having fun. "Deal!"
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She was pretty confident she wouldn't break the machine with what she did... Could have blown up in her face!
But she has made a new friend at least.
I just realized, airships show up an awful lot in your stories.
Earth pony magician now has an entire engine room worth of enchantment materials and a magic wrench. noice.
YES!
A good step! Looks like she has a friend on board, outside of the 'high society' ponies she used to be mingling with. He's gonna be very helpful, for sure...
Lilac has found something of value during her trip. Can't exactly get off the ship but at least here she can keep her sanity.
The cult might have had to get Lilac out in short notice, but I'm pretty sure they could've planned this out a bit better.
Let's hope Keen isn't watching right now.
Not good enough for a noble pony, but good enough for a goddess.
Wonder if that's something to note for later.
She already has.
Let the nobles have their dresses and dancing up deck, this here is what an Earth pony sorceress lives for.
The first actual mention of changelings in the whole story (as best I can remember without rereading previous chapters). Now to actually see one.
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That will take a lot of luck (seeing a black bug-pony) as outside the hive, they're usually in disguise ...
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true, but that doesn't mean that something couldn't happen and one gets revealed
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There's definitely at least one you've seen already. Like with some other stories I've written before, the scope of this one has gotten out of control for me. The number of things happening accelerated so much that plot developments I expected much earlier are only coming up here at 100k words plus. X.x
It's all coming eventually though, promise.
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There is something which has bothering me, specially after Saffron's comment: Are Firefly and Lilac "higher beings" who were once banished and reincarnated into the human world losing their memories in the process, or does that status apply as well to all of humanity?
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That's a question this story will answer, so doing it in the comments would probably be doing it a disservice. Lilac and Firefly certainly don't think of themselves as some kind of superior being.
Been here since the first chapter came out. I still love this story.
Delightful bit of art at the end. The scar’s an especially nice detail.
Meanwhile, Keen Focus might be better named Tunnel Vision given all her exploitable preconceptions… unless that’s what she wants Lilac to think.
So, the image at the end here isn't loading.
Don't know if it's just me or something actually wrong with the image.
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Same here. Shame, I wanted to see it
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Imgur has prevented embedding and uploading of images. Lots of stories have broke as a result. But if you take the URL here and paste it directly, it should still load: https://i.imgur.com/AhaY7ik.jpg
Hehe, she's emulating a changeling! Which is funny, considering the other guy.