03 - Claws Inside the Velvet Glove
Days of Wasp and Spider
by Luna-tic Scientist
===
The Pattern ran long, slow experiments with these novel compounds. Atoms were linked in increasingly complex ways to form chains, sheets and finally spheres packed with complex molecular machines. Floating in the dark, still ocean, these first organic life forms were able to use the chemicals in hot water jets to make more of themselves, spreading out in thick mats around the undersea volcanoes. Further changes and the single cells came together in cooperative clusters, individuals specialising in one task or another to give the whole cluster the ability to manipulate its environment. Dozens, then hundreds of new species were birthed and released into those dark, crushing depths.
It was here the Pattern met its first failure. Past a certain body size its created life would not take; no sooner would it make them then they would cease to function and break up. It immediately realised its error -- the energy budget was simply too small for the Pattern to continue with this interesting line of experiments. What it needed was a better power source than the slow leakage of trapped heat. It knew there were ways to combine atoms to release relatively large amounts of energy, but its universe was too small and contained too few atoms of the right types to manage this over the timescales of interest. Fortunately there was another way.
=== Chapter 3 (remastered): Claws Inside the Velvet Glove ===
Inside the pyramid was one large hollow space, with a dais in the centre under a thick pillar that descended from the apex of the peaked roof but stopped a couple of bodylengths off the floor. A darkly robed figure stood at the very centre, a platform by its side holding something that sparkled in a single spotlight.
The fifteen foals formed up into three ranks and stepped forward into the opening, marching with the small, quick steps they'd practiced for the last few megaseconds. Fusion was a couple of rows back from the leaders, her nerves fading away as the routine settled in. Up ahead, from between the heads and necks, she could see the robed figure standing... not quite motionless, she thought, was it... fidgeting? She kept her muzzle pointed forward as the foals all shuffled around into a circle surrounding the platform, staring at the Master out of one eye with unashamed curiosity.
The figure was tall, really tall, and very thin. Even without the dais it would be almost twice her height.
How does it manage to keep its balance on only two legs? Fusion thought.
The robe, black like the walls of the pyramid, covered it almost completely, but she could see pale furred, clawed hands clasped at its front. The -- Fusion groped for the unfamiliar term -- thumbs were tapping against each other. The figure's chest expanded slightly and she heard a faint sigh from the darkness inside the hood.
Soon the foals had spaced themselves around the platform, all gazing with wide eyes at the tall shape at its centre. The figure unclasped its hands and reached out with startlingly long arms to a shining metal circle set with a single large amethyst resting on the a plinth next to it. Raising the object over its head, the Master spoke.
"The Maker created the People at the beginning of time."
The Master, male from the voice, raised his head to stare at the metal circle, his hood falling back slightly to reveal a young-looking pale furred face. In the light of the spotlight, Fusion could see that the metal circle did not just have the single purple gem, but was also studded with a complex pattern of small gems on its inner surface. Despite her focus on the crown, tiara or whatever it was, Fusion couldn't help noticing that the Master sounded a little bored.
"In turn, we the People created you. In return for life you serve us in this world, knowing that you will ascend to paradise in the next."
The Master lowered the crown to pony-head height and stepped towards a foal two places to Fusion's left. The colt, Metal Matrix, looked up at the Master in awe, some light source inside the crown casting diffuse flickers of colour against his pale cream coat. The Master placed the crown onto the foal's head, setting it so it covered the top of his head and rested against the back of his horn.
"This Priest Blesses you in the Maker's name." The Master pressed a thumb against the large amethyst.
There was a purple flash from the gem. Metal's eyes widened and he drew in a ragged breath through a jaw suddenly clenched tight. A couple of seconds later he relaxed completely, eyelids drooping and mouth hanging open, sinking to the floor as his legs gave way. The Master retrieved the crown and moved to the next foal along, Random Walk. Raising it once more, he placed it on the filly's head.
"This Priest Blesses you in the Maker's name."
Fusion's mind whirled -- the voice was bored; this was not some special event like her parents had said, this was routine. ...and why does that phrase suddenly sound sinister?
With a flash of purple, Random gasped and collapsed to the floor, making Fusion twitch with the desire to come to her aid. The Master picked up the crown and moved to stand in front of her. Eyes wide, Fusion felt the panic build as the crown descended towards her head, the urge to bolt becoming very strong. Her attentions shifted from the Master to the crown he held; little glimmers of light flickered around the gems on its inner surface, the pulsing accelerating as he lowered the thing over her. As the cold metal settled on her head she had a sudden revelation; something was wrong, very wrong -- everypony called this a Blessing, but instead it was a terrible curse.
"This Priest Blesses you in the Maker's name."
Fusion tensed her legs, wings flaring in a useless instinct to escape, when that clawed thumb pressed lightly against the amethyst in the centre of the crown. A blinding light filled her eyes and something reached out of the metal and into her mind.
===
Fusion shook her head to clear it. Where had that come from? She shifted uneasily from hoof to hoof.
"Not enough sleep," she muttered to herself, turning to head back to the family shelter. She eyed the lightening sky behind the pyramid; dawn was only a few kiloseconds away, but she might as well try and get back to sleep. Fusion turned and walked slowly back through the middle of the town, her hooves crunching on the gravel.
Half way back she passed the darkened bulk of the infirmary, all the monitored stalls empty -- so far anyway, they still hadn't seen any of the reactor seventeen day shift workers back at the corral. Fusion paused, staring at the wide entrance. Somewhere in there was the special stall, one which ponies would go into and not leave. What am I going to do if I've lost my magic for good? She bit her lip, mind following darker paths. Those horror stories came back, but somehow she was unable to dismiss her fears this time.
There were jobs for ponies that could no longer perform the tasks the Masters set -- the burnouts, the flightless cripples and so on -- but there weren't many. The Master's work was invariably hard and there were always accidents -- and as the things ponies did were mostly high risk, these tended to be fatal. Ponies, though, had long lives, long enough that Fusion had never heard of anypony dying of old age, or even getting old like the Masters did. Those few jobs, things like teaching the youngest foals or maintaining the corral for those with even the dregs of magic remaining, were occupied by ponies for as long as they could stand it. Eventually a pony could bear it no more and would make that last trip to the infirmary.
Turning away from the building, Fusion plodded on, head bowed and lost in dark thoughts until she reached the family shelter. Creeping forward, she jumped slightly as her father lifted his head, eyes glowing a soft green in the heliostat's light. He opened one wing and she gratefully stepped into its embrace, snuggling against his warm fur.
"Everything will work out, you'll see," he whispered in her ear, then started to hum as he nuzzled the top of her head.
Fusion's eyelids drooped, the half heard, half felt lullaby sending her to sleep just like it did when she was a foal.
===
Fusion moaned as brilliant light stabbed into her eyes. Not again! One wing came up, waving feebly in an attempt to shield her eyes.
"Turn it off," she mumbled, then sighed in relief as something moved between her and the sun. Blinking, she yawned mightily and lifted her head to peer at the shape leaning down towards her.
"Better?" said a voice, murky and distant. "Time for you to get up. It's way past breakfast."
"Much, thanks." Fusion dropped her head back to the woodchip floor with a sigh. "Just a few more seconds."
There was a moment of silence, then the shadow moved and Fusion was blasted with light once more. Wincing, she opened her mouth to protest, then snapped it shut when something soft, yet irresistible, gripped her body from hind quarters to withers and pinched in all the wrong places at exactly the same time.
"Stop! Mercy! I'm awake, stoppit!" Fusion convulsed, legs thrashing as the tickling continued unabated. After a lifetime the torment ceased and she was allowed to breathe again.
"Just you wait until I'm better, you monster!" Fusion growled, panting as she struggled to her hooves. "Come here, you little..." Finally upright, she galloped after the dusky blue mare, already a handful of bodylengths away and accelerating fast. Seeing the distance rise and realising she had no chance of catching her tormentor, Fusion tottered to a halt, let her head droop and feigned a hacking cough.
Letting her wings drag in the grass, Fusion took a few more shaky steps, weaving slightly and shaking her head as if confused. Through narrowed eyes she saw Gravity come to a halt, a worried look on her face, then trot back towards her in concern.
"Sister... are you okay?"
Fusion ignored this, coughing again. Just a little closer... "Gottcha!" she whispered, then in one quick motion reared up to wrap her forelegs around Gravity's neck while raking both sets of primary feathers along her sister's belly. The effect was pretty much the same as the way Gravity had awakened her; the younger mare shrieked and thrashed her own wings in an attempt to fend off Fusion's assault.
"Enough!" Navy blue magic pulled Fusion away, holding her at bay while Gravity regained her breath. "I guess I asked for that," the other mare said with a wheeze. "Peace?"
"Peace," Fusion laughed. "What's the rush, anyway?"
"Your Homecoming party... we'd have had it yesterday, but you were still pretty shaky. Also..."
Fusion looked away, the happy distraction of the chase vanishing under the weight of her memories from the previous days. "For me? But nothing I've done deserves that." She chewed her lips for second, then looked back up to stare at her sister, a deep blue shape distorted by tears. "I failed, Gravity. Failed! How can I go to the party?"
Gravity blinked, her head jerking back in surprise. "But... you can't believe that!"
Fusion did not reply, but turned away, staggering slightly as she walked back to the shelter. Gravity trotted up beside her, hooking one dark blue wing over her withers and bringing her to a halt. She rested her head against Fusion's and sighed.
"I'm sorry, Fusion, I should have realised. I'm guessing you don't remember much of the night you were brought in?"
"I remember enough," Fusion said in a low voice. "My Master was so angry with me, and now I can't use my magic... I'm no use to anybody, Master or pony." Her voice dropped to a mumble. "I don't think I can live like this."
Fusion felt her sister's muscles suddenly go iron hard under her blue fur, then Gravity pushed away from Fusion with enough force to make her stumble. Wheeling around in front of the white mare, she raised one wing and slapped it sharply across her muzzle. Fusion's mouth fell open in shock, eyes wide as she stared at Gravity in confusion.
"That is quite enough of that. You are not thinking straight, my little pony!" Gravity paced in circles in front of her sister, hooves hitting the ground with more force than was necessary. "I heard what your Master said. She was angry, yes. But. Not. At. You." She ground these last words out with long pauses, before carrying on in a gentle tone. "Academician Vanca was angry at... the world, I think. She was angry that she couldn't continue her work immediately. Useless indeed." Gravity snorted, half in disgust and half in amusement. "The Master that brought you in was practically singing your praises."
Fusion shook her head as if to dislodge a troublesome insect, trying to remember that night in anything more than vague impressions. "I... you're sure?"
Gravity fluttered her wings in exasperation. "I was there, and unlike you I was paying attention. Yes, of course I'm sure! Do you think I can lie about something like that?"
That did it. Fusion's head came up as if a tremendous weight had been lifted from it. "Thank you, thank you. You don't know what it means to hear that."
"Possibly not. So... if you are feeling up to it?"
"Party?"
"Party. Oh, and it's not just for you. The reactor crew is back, and Packet Switcher is with them."
"And you were going to tell me this, when?"
"Just now, just before you, um..."
Told you I was planning a one-way trip to the infirmary, Fusion filled in, ears flattening. "Sorry about that." She cleared her throat, then continued in as convincing a tone as she could muster. "I'm okay, really. You don't need to worry."
"I know, I know." Gravity stepped forward and wrapped her wings around Fusion. "Sorry I hit you. Come on, let's make an appearance so I can hear you and Packet swap stories."
===
The party was, as they normally were, held on the wide staging area behind the infirmary. No pony knew when the tradition started -- it was one of those few things that weren't handed down from the Masters -- but after every accident, survivors or no, all off duty ponies would gather together to celebrate the fact that life goes on. The party would go on for a full day, ebbing and flowing as ponies came on and off duty. There was music from those skilled in fine manipulation, aerial displays from the weather team and plenty of food. Most of all there was the exchange of stories: stories of those fallen in the service of the Masters, stories from the survivors, and stories from those who escaped with only a tall tale to tell.
The two mares drifted through the groups of ponies, Fusion, glad that the return of the rest of the reactor shift had removed much of the interest in her story, kept a low profile. She spent most of the next four kiloseconds listening to multiple versions of the same story, standing behind Gravity as the dark blue mare drank in the details. When it came to her turn she was doubly embarrassed; mainly because her injury was a result of her own weakness, but also because she felt that her own tale just wasn't that interesting.
Eventually, Fusion caught sight of Packet, just as the lemon stallion was exiting the rear door of the infirmary. Nudging her sister, she apologised to the group they were talking to and trotted over to meet him. Rushing forward to hug him, she pulled up short when she saw him flinch, belatedly noticing the missing fur down one flank.
"No hugs, huh?" she said, looking him over. "What happened out there? I didn't think you were anywhere near the reactor?"
"No hugs," he confirmed with a laugh that immediately turned into a pained intake of breath. "Don't worry, it only hurts when I breathe." He relaxed and gave her a slight smile. "Want me to go first?"
Fusion nodded, interested to see how her friend had been injured despite being in one of the most heavily protected parts of the complex.
"Well," Packet began, "the first we knew of it -- that's me and my trainer, Cooper Pair -- was when he got an emergency override through his comms disk... the reactor must have exploded just seconds before, although we were too far away to hear it and it wasn't on our grid section." He pawed the ground, gazing off into some remembered space. "We didn't know at the time, of course, the orders were just to gather at the muster station, but it was already too late for the engineering team..."
===
"The important thing is maintaining the grid voltage; your main task will be fine control over the distribution network and..."
Packet jumped as a warbling alarm cut across the other stallion's voice. Looking towards the source of the sound he saw the flashing red light on Cooper's comms disk. He twisted his head to look down; the disk nestled in his own yellow chest fur was silent.
"What..."
Cooper raised a chocolate coloured wing to silence Packet, then tapped his comms disk with a forehoof to shut off the alarm. Head cocked to one side, he stared off at nothing with the distracted air of a pony listening to a voice only he could hear.
"Horseapples!" Cooper snarled. His head snapped up and he wheeled to trot down the corridor leading out of the main switching chamber. "Come on, they need everypony." He accelerated to a canter, horn glowing as he opened the next set of doors from half way down the corridor.
Packet froze for a second, then dug his hooves into the flexible flooring, going from standing to a gallop in the space of a half-dozen strides. Ahead, he could see the still open exit doors and the vanishing rump of Cooper Pair. Cursing under his breath, the lemon stallion opened his wings and kicked off the ground. The corridor was designed for the transport of heavy machinery, but despite this his outstretched wingtips brushed the ribbed walls with each rapid wingbeat.
The open doors approached faster than he could ever gallop; unfortunately these were only the inset pony-sized doors, not the big surrounding concertina machinery ones. The smaller doorway, big enough for a pair of ponies to walk through with space to spare, was looking awfully narrow when approached at flight speed. With no desire to slow down to hoof speed, Packet took one last quick downstroke, then folded his wings almost completely. With head down and legs and wings tucked in he passed through the exact centre of the opening, horn glowing as he fine-tuned his trajectory by pushing against the door frame.
Flashing into daylight, Packet opened his wings with a thump, gravel scraping his belly and knees before he managed to arrest his descent, then soared up into the less confined spaces between the cyclopean buildings and giant pylons making up the power distribution centre. Squinting into the slipstream, he swerved to avoid another pony heading in the same direction, then spotted the chocolate brown shape of Cooper Pair and pumped his wings to catch up.
Cooper was watching his approach, flying to the west with languid strokes. As Packet drew up alongside he turned his head and shouted to the younger pony.
"What took you so long?"
"Somepony didn't open the doors fully!"
Cooper grinned. "I didn't expect you to fly out... are you sure you shouldn't be with the weather team?"
"What's happened?"
"Don't know, sounds like an accident at number seventeen... and look over there." He pointed with one forehoof at a plume of dark smoke just starting to rise from a few windows high up on one monolithic structure. "New orders, hold on... follow me down."
The pair of ponies spiralled down, joining a rapidly expanding herd gathering on the loading dock. Near the big cargo doors were a cluster of unevenly parked emergency vehicles, their hazard strobes flickering in irregular patterns. At the head of the herd of ponies were a couple of tall bipeds; every few seconds they'd send pairs of ponies in through the doors.
Keeping quiet, Packet stayed close to Cooper, listening to the excited murmuring between the waiting ponies. He didn't have long to wait. One of the Masters, a spindly, dark-furred giant with a military-style equipment vest, gestured Cooper forward. Holding up a gem studded slab in one paw he spoke to Cooper.
"Cooper Pair SP1096 is to enter the upper windows and conduct a search for survivors inside the reactor floor and control deck. The pony is to rescue any of the People it finds, living or dead." He turned to Packet, frowning. "The pony will identify itself."
Packet stiffened, a sudden panic at the mere possibility of being in the wrong place washing over him. A headache started to build at the base of his horn, and he stared at a point over the Master's shoulder. "Packet Switcher JQ0377."
"Yessss..." A long drawn out hiss through the Master's canine teeth. "This pony is not on the local work list. An apprentice to this one?" he said, pointing at Cooper with one blunt claw.
"Y-yes, Master," Packet replied hesitantly.
"Good." With that single word the headache vanished and the panic was replaced by joy and an almost irresistible urge to grovel in gratitude. The Master ignored Packet and turned to Cooper. "The pony will take its apprentice and carry out its orders."
Cooper nodded sharply, but the tall biped had already turned to the next pony. Gesturing for Packet to follow him, Cooper took to the skies.
The upper windows had looked small from the air, but that was an illusion brought on by the size of the building. In reality they were tens of bodylengths wide and at least five high. About a third of the way along the structure one of these giant windows had shattered, letting out a plume of black smoke. Cooper hovered by the opening, horn glowing as he cleared the wing-long shards of glass from the window frame, then flew inside.
Packet glided in after the stallion, dropping quickly to get under the hot smoke layer near the ceiling, before circling inside the single giant room. This chamber was an enormous space -- almost a hundred body lengths across -- sitting over the fat torus of the fusion reactor, which occupied most of the top half of the building. Eyes watering in the irritant haze, Packet spotted the dark brown pony weaving between the plumes of smoke rising from electrical fires on the surface of the torus, heading for a structure jutting out from one wall of the room.
This must be the control room, Packet thought. Shapes were visible moving behind the wide windows, the silhouettes of what could only be Masters. Landing on a wide walkway, Packet trotted up to Cooper, who was banging on the control room door.
"Rescue team," he shouted. "Get away from the door."
"Give me a hoof with this," Cooper muttered to Packet, horn glowing a deep orange.
Between the two of them they forced the door open -- either one could have smashed it down, but without knowing what was on the other side they needed to open it carefully.
Inside the room was controlled chaos. Five Masters were frantically working at consoles, while a sixth was head and shoulders inside an equipment cabinet, strings of optic fibre, multicore cable and a rainbow scatter of crystals spread over the floor around him. Packet's ears flicked up and around; he could hear muffled swearing from various parts of the room. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Cooper step towards the nearest Master.
"Excuse me, Master..."
The Master, pale blonde fur dishevelled and patchy from minor burns, looked up and glared at Cooper. "These ones are busy, pony."
Cooper swallowed, cringing slightly and his ears folding back at the Master's tone. "I'm under orders from emergency command to rescue all Masters from this area--"
"Yes, yes. This one and these People cannot leave; the reactor is still not under control. The external data links have failed -- does this pony still have an active labornet connection?"
"Yes, Master."
"Praise the Maker. Logori, bring the connection kit. The pony will step over to this console." The Master pointed at the middle of the room where a bundle of cables spewed from a gutted console. Another Master, this one with an arm in a make-shift sling, dragged over a toolkit and started to pick through the mess of wires.
Cooper Pair stepped to the indicated spot, eyeing Logori nervously as he attached a crystal to one cable and held it against his comms disk. "I'm sorry Master, my orders are to assist you to--"
"This pony's orders will be changed once this one gets in contact with emergency command. Failure to shut down the reactor will result in further damage to the facility and more casualties to the People." The Master stared at the brown stallion, a thoughtful look on his face, as Cooper's jaw locked and his breathing became laboured. A moment passed, then he glanced at Packet. "The pony may send what appears to be its understudy to complete its orders."
"T-Thank you, Master," Cooper wheezed, then coughed, breathing coming back under control. "Packet Switcher, this area is clear. Sweep the reactor floor for survivors. Master, are there any of the People missing?"
"Maroril went to check the data lines. She has not returned." The Master tapped a few buttons and called up a schematic of the reactor floor, highlighting one area. "The pony will start its search here, where the data lines pass through an area of damage. Go."
"Yes, Master." Packet nodded and trotted back to the catwalk, then flicked open his wings and jumped over the side.
Even though the reactor room was large, most of it was cluttered with heavy machinery, cables and pipe-work. Packet swept down a walkway, wings half furled in the confined space. He glanced up again, tempted for a moment to fly above the machinery, then sighed. The smoke layer had lowered to the point where visibility would be minimal. Gliding lower, Packet cantered to a landing between two rows of complex mechanisms.
Even down here there was a definite haze in the air, not enough to hinder vision -- sight lines weren't long enough for that -- but the fumes were acrid enough to irritate his throat and make his eyes burn. Packet narrowed his watering eyes and trotted down the walkway, head sweeping from side to side and horn glowing as he scanned for anything alive. So far he'd encountered little damage, but just ahead there were actinic flashes lighting up the haze.
Packet didn't have his labour tattoo yet, but he was pretty sure what his special talent was. He'd always had a gift for energy manipulation -- even as a foal he'd been a skilled creator of firework effects and other illusions -- so it came as no surprise when he'd been apprenticed to the power industry. One of the things that came with this was the ability to easily visualise the flow or concentration of energy, which he perceived as coloured glows within the otherwise dark world of his shadow sight.
This was an extension of something all ponies shared, part of their inherent sensitivity to magic and magically active things. When looked at with their inner senses, the world became dark and shadowed, the physical fading away to leave the delicate fires of spellstuff and the hard colours of the Master's crystal thaumic technology. All could see magic, but a pony's special talent would let them see other things as well; for Packet it was energy. A quick dip into his shadow sight showed the arcane world was bright with huge numbers of magically active crystals, but behind them were the auras of power -- the most obvious of which was a phantasmal, near ultra-violet glow that spoke of vast energy only barely contained.
This, Packet knew, was part of the reactor's containment system. Hundreds of thousands of kilolengths of superconducting cables shrouded with networks of magically active crystals designed to enhance the magnetic fields, all holding plasma the temperature of Celestia. At least that was the idea. Beyond the purple glow, where there should have been the crimson fuzz of high energy plasma, was nothing but a dull, almost infra-red tint. Packet shook his head, it was obvious that the reactor vessel -- less than a leg-length away -- was at atmospheric pressure rather than near vacuum, although for some reason the air inside was hotter than a furnace. He blinked and refocused his magical senses on the area ahead.
Something had blown out the crystals lining the wiring loom, scattering pawfuls of gems and iron shielding across the walkway. Without thaumic enhancement the insulation had broken down, and fast, hard arcs of electricity were jumping to the nearest earthing points on the other side of the walkway. Beyond that...
The lemon stallion's wings stiffened in shock. Beyond that, right at the limit of his magically enhanced senses, was a bipedal form half buried in a collapsed section of equipment. A feeling of desperate urgency flowed over Packet and he galloped forward to come to the Master's aid. An instant of blinding pain flooded him as the artificial lightning stroked him across the chest and flanks, dropping him like a tree in a storm.
Packet awoke lying on his side, the crackle-snap-hiss of high voltage arcs snaking past half a body length over his head. For a few seconds he froze, eyes rolling wildly as he tried to remember where he was.
"Master!" he gurgled, body jerking as his hooves scrabbled against the ceramic floor, that overpowering need driving him to do something, anything. As his head lifted, a static thrill danced down his neck, every hair suddenly straining to be separated from its neighbours. In a sudden rush, sanity returned and Packet froze. The urge was still there, but at least he could think.
"Stupid foal," he muttered, closing his eyes and turning his attention to the energy flowing overhead. His horn glowed and the electric arcs shifted their paths slightly. Right. Packet focussed his will, creating a line of plasma a bodylength above the floor. The lightning still roared and flickered, but now was constrained along the conductive plasma.
The pony winced as he rolled onto his belly, broken gems and iron splinters digging through his fur. Keeping his head low, Packet crawled on knees and wing elbows under the electric arcs, trickles of blood leaving thin red trails on the scarred floor. Five bodylengths further on, well outside the electrically active area, the stallion levered himself to his hooves and relaxed the magic holding the plasma in place.
Flinching as the arcs resumed their spidering crawl, Packet whinnied quietly and trotted forwards into the haze. Up ahead, part of the machinery wall had collapsed, and under that... The pony's horn glowed as planes of yellow light quartered the wreckage, building a detailed model of the damage and the figure trapped beneath it. Packet was no medic, but like everypony he'd had basic training -- and it didn't take much to see that the Master's heart was still beating.
A vast relief flooded through Packet, enough joy that it almost brought him to his knees. The planes of light reformed into a glow surrounding parts of the machinery, each being picked up and discarded from the mass. A brief surge of indigo light that only existed in Packet's mind gave him a half second of warning. It gave him just enough time to crouch over where the Master lay in the wreckage and pull up a wing, before part of the wall exploded.
His feathers saved his eyes, but the blast flung Packet against the fallen machines with enough force to crack ribs. Head ringing, the pony called up a force field disk to deflect a blast of cryogenic gas from a liquid nitrogen pressure line fractured by the explosion. Unfortunately, this did nothing to protect him from a new and much closer set of electrical discharges from the damaged superconductors. Flinching at the brutal snap and flash, Packet drew a line of plasma in the air to short circuit the new arcs. Then, squinting from the effort of maintaining two magical effects, Packet got shakily to his hooves and activated his communicator.
"Packet Switcher JQ0377 to rescue command. I have located one of the People and need assistance."
There was a heartbreakingly long delay, but when the reply came it was from the communicator itself.
# Connection to labournet lost one hundred and ninety three seconds ago. Emergency command server not available. #
By the Maker, can I keep this up until Cooper comes looking for me? Packet thought, starting to panic. Already he could feel the next section of superconductor shielding weakening. Gritting his teeth he divided his attention again, lifting the next section of fallen machinery. A few more pieces and he'd moved all but the largest section, exposing the top half of the Master's body. She was badly injured, with an obvious broken arm, large chunk of missing skin on her head where it had been hit by something, and a nasty puncture wound to her abdomen. What really worried him, though, was the heavy metal stanchion pinning both her legs to the floor.
Packet swallowed, already feeling his strength starting to ebb from the effort required in maintaining his existing magics, then closed his eyes and felt for the metal beam. This will have to be quick, he thought, as soon as I move that beam she's going to start to bleed very quickly.
Taking a firm grip on the metal, the pony applied a rapidly increasing amount of force, pushing up while simultaneously trying to drag the Master under the shelter of his wings. A sudden surge of pain roared through Packet's head and his grip on the plasma line faltered, allowing electric arcs to strike near-by. He reinforced this, but that only caused the metal beam to fall back into place.
Packet's eyes opened wide, a sobbing gasp escaping his lips as he struggled to find the strength to do all the things he needed to do to complete his mission. The lemon stallion threw his head back and screamed, vision whiting out as he dug down to reserves he didn't know he had. In one last surge of effort the pony pushed as hard as he could on the beam, while allowing his shield to collapse and kicking off the ground.
The heavy beam flew backwards off the Master, allowing Packet to enfold her in a close magical grasp. A tenth of a second later the pony's wings thrust mightily downwards to fling him and his precious cargo into the roiling layer of black smoke. In that tenth of a second, though... High pressure supercooled gas splashed across the stallion's haunches, flaying skin and cutting deeply into the large muscles attached to his left hind leg, only missing his wing by a hoof-width.
As his world filled with a red blur of pain, Packet flew blindly through the black haze, relying solely on the magically bright beacon of Cooper Pair, still -- he hoped -- in the reactor control room.
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wow. I have no words for how great this has been so far, it's not even MLP, it's a brand new kind of sci-fi loosely based of MLP and I love it.
mother of celestia
this could be the best sci-fi story i have ever read
1407799
Right!?!? How did we just find this now!?
God damn man. This writing is amazing. You need at least 3 awards. At the very least.
This reminds me of Andre Norton's work. Her book 'Breed to Come' was in a similar vein. Very nice so far.
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Glad you are enjoying it! Not read any of Norton's work, but from the reviews it sounds like something I'd have read (before all my time was subsumed by pony, anyway).
Also: welcome!
That's definitely mis-phrased. I believe it should be "she might as well..."
Also, I'm going to take a moment to nark[1] on your use of 'kiloseconds', even though I really don't expect to change anything. My mental 'first approximation' of a kilosecond was "okay,
60 x 10 would be 600three hundred seconds is five minutes, so a kilosecond would be around ten-twelve minutes". Mind you, I punched it into a calculator shortly after, and now I'm facepalming in retrospect for missing so much time. Even so, taking ' a few' to mean "a small number greater than two", 'a few kiloseconds' is at least half an hour to forty-five minutes, which I would call a fair amount of time.Hey, as long as I'm giving you edits to make, either you missed a quote here or my connection's a lot flakier than I thought.
Also, (Big flashing sign here, this is nothing more than opinion!!) I don't feel this flows quite right. It may be this way on purpose, I don't know, for all I know you could be doing some subtle bit of characterization here that I'm not picking up or something. But I would have written it (Again, opinion!) "What happened out there? I thought you were nowhere near the reactor."
I don't know when I decided to spell-check. Must be that I'm on a re-read.
Speaking of re-read, something else I realized about kiloseconds. As I recall, Korn said 400 kiloseconds of rest (that's the only number I'm recalling off-hand). I punched that into my calculator, and assuming I didn't make a mistake (hang on... If so, I made it twice) 400 kiloseconds works out to about 4.63 Earth days. But I only recall three 'dusk-to-dusk' solar cycles -- 'yesterday', from Fusion getting off experiment duty to the same time a day later; this day, ending sometime after the party; and the next day, ending with Fusion at the training center. That's a lot less than four days, and she's using magic already at the end of that. Now, nowhere (that I can recall) did you say that Planet Equus here had an Earthlike 24-hour (ahem, 86.400-second... just to show I can work a calculator) rotation period, and such a mismatch could even be deliberate (or deliberately used) to contribute to the sci-fi slightly-weird-ness; but I'd be willing to bet that much -- even most -- of your potential audience will assume an Earthlike rotation period, unless explicitly shown otherwise, and wouldn't pick up on that use. (Then again, most of those probably won't -- wouldn't have?Er, sorry -- notice the mismatch, either.)EDIT: Oh. That'd do it. The first two and the final day are memorable, and the other two were simply skipped. So now I have to ask... does Equus have an Earthlike 24-hour rotation period?Another phrasing nitpick, I'm pretty sure there's no reason not to use a pronoun here.
Also, as someone with a roughly-casual interest in version control, and since you're tracking chapter versions (or were as of this chapter) anyways... Can I maybe talk you into putting versioning and revision/changelog information into the relatively recent "author's notes" area? (There's no emote for this, sorry. Closest I can find is
) Yes, it's newer than at least 60% of the fic (certainly did not exist before chapter 16, I'm not keeping super-close track), but...
Oh, and I think I identified what inspired the crazy ship idea this fic gave me. I feel fairly proud about that.
1412617 Hey, how do you think I feel? I didn't find this until like chapter 21, based on the age of your comment I'm gonna guess you first found it around chapter 10.
[1] In strict disregard of what the dictionary says the word means; frankly, I'm making up my own definition because the other words that come to mind (eg snark, complain, rant, nitpick) don't really mean what I mean.
This story coupled with my recent introduction to the Stanley Parable are invoking thoughts that I'm not sure that I'm comfortable sharing with others.
Coming from this particular pony...
Okay, so "The pattern" seems to be some type of god/creator. It needs more energy... and is trying "another way" Still not quite sure what is going on, but sill really intrigued to find out, and how this ties in with the main story.
So seems Fusion was able to remember what happened... or are we getting to see it but she isn't? Sure we'll know soon enough. Hope it's the first option. Also means that the programing isn't perfect.
So, guessing "the Maker might just be The Pattern"
Bullshit. Well, not sure about the first part, really curious just how this all happened, how the ponies came to be. Though nice way of trying to justify their slavery. And of course, do good, and after we make you die in agony or vaporize you in a stupid experiment, you'll be happy forever. Yeah what they are doing couldn't be more clear, and yet, it's so obvious and so well don't want ot say cliched, but, so familiar? So used? because.. well.. it works.
WOW, so yup directly messing with their heads in the most crude, painful, and callous way just to get slaves who won't fight back. And just taking it so normally, that he's bored by it. WOW Fuck them, and can't wait to see how they end up the pathetic trash they become. And on foals no less.
Well it was her starting to remember, good, remember what hey did to you, how fucking sick they are, fight it! (Yeah helps just from the summery I know what's coming, but still a mystery how.)
No, I take that back, being the pathetic trash we saw them becoming is to good for them. Killing them, just because you can't force more work out of them. Making them do it to each other, and having them so fucking brainwashed, they likely just willingly walk right into a saw blade or something
Yup, fuck they even just volunteer to kill themselves if they don't feel like they are serving the Masters enough.
And, enough of that depressing rage. Switch to something happy. Always important. Let the dark and the dreariness and the, well THAT last to long and people stop caring. Gotta keep some hope up. At least this early and, nice little bit.
Though right back to showing how WRONG this world is, as she's so heartbroken over being a failure. Since, you know, she stopped a freaking particle canon blast with her mind and only suffered some exhaustion and magical burn out, instead of being turned into a vague outline on the wall.
And more happy. Or at least good news, so nice balance. If still casting a rather somber outlook over the scene, but quite fitting.
And right back to happy, and also, a good sign. Something NOT dictated by the masters, something that shows, underneath the brainwashing, they are still their own maters. Proves they do have wills of their own outside what The masters instilled in them. So, there's hope for thing to be fixed.
Just how deep IS that programming? Damn. And how much of it is self reinforcing?
huh? Guessing that's a typo/edit goof
And so dedicated, that even rational thought is blocked, and right there is one of the downsides of that. Making them rush in and do stupid shit, that ends up being counter productive. Though at least he wised up before he killed himself. Loving this scene by the way. Even knowing he lives, lots of drama, intensity. You can feel the panic, the tenseness. And the plant. Is detailed enough to give someone who knows a bit a rough idea of what's going on. Not enough for details, but enough to get the general idea, the feel of it, without needing to go into to much exposition.
Also, Ponies can "see" magic, huh.. wonder what that is going to end up having to do with things, and what happens to that ability down the line.
Okay LOVED the rescue, really well done. An even ponies that aren't gifted savants like Fusion seems to be can do quite a bit more then you'd think.
Overall, still loving it and getting more and more into it as I go. The world is coming more and more into focus, the feel of it if not the details. Getting to see some more ponies other then Fusion. And seeing more and more just how deep, how insidious, and how WRONG what The Masters are doing to the ponies are. And yet, also seeing some bits about how, they aren't really evil maybe. They seem, just normal. The slavery, it's just SOP to them, odds are they really think they are doing ponies a favor. That they simply do not see them as equal, thinking feeling creatures, but just useful tools. To be cared for when it's not to much. But ultimately expendable. And, more and more want to learn how this happened, and how it will change.
You know, that scene with the "homecoming party" really makes me appreciate Pinkie Pie in a whole new light.
Ah now the sinister nature of the mind control becomes apparent, as is the unhealthy reverence ponies have for their masters along with their apparent lack of compassion for their own kind.
Yep, it's what I thought. Suddenly I am very disappointed and saddened to know that the Diamond Dogs are not extinct by the time of the show. But then, they do seem pretty dumb in MLP; maybe they received a just punishment.
I find myself wondering if Cooper's determination stems from his mental reprogramming or is a natural element of his personality. I mean, if a weaker-willed pony were in the same situation, would that pony have still taken all the same measures due to the controls planted in their brain?
Great story! I found a few minor typos while re-reading:
I didn't think you were nowhere near the reactor?"
indicated spot, eying Logori nervously
I wanna make a fallout crossover withthis. Involving an alicorn that gets misplaced here.
The crown sounds very much like Princess Celestia s tiara considering who Fusion is does that mean she took a deactivated one as her crown in the far future?
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Heh, I'd forgotten about that. I had a vague plan (back when I was innocent and this fic was only a few thousand words long) to write the whole sweep of Equestrian history, right up to the present day (ie start of S1). The tiara was going to be found by a pony jeweller and presented to the big C on her first coronation; distress and chaos would result.
Also: welcome!
I love the way you handled all of this. I was hesitant to read this, since it was a slave fic and I'm used to very one-dimensional villains, but this is great.
If these "Masters" were so hopelessly evil, then this fic would be useless. But this situation is remarkably close to one that humans could get into without realizing it.
I mean, just with the example of AI - we're constantly trying to create thinking machines, but do you really think that if we finally succeed, we'll strip them of the hard labor/calculation responsibilities we gave them to begin with? The main reason we want to do that to begin with is to free up our own brains. Who wouldn't want a machine that can adapt to changing circumstances in a hazardous environment? (As harsh as that sounds, that is why any of it is funded.) Sure, we might show them compassion (like that one Diamond Dog), but freeing them completely would be infinitely harder. Not to mention gradual societal changes that might put an evil system into place, regardless of individual intention.