Foundation's Dawn

by Spatial Observer

The Premonition—Chapter 2

2

===

Encyclopedia Equestria V 8.1

THE STABLEDON PROJECT —

… described as the greatest endeavor of the new millennium in a scholarly field. The project commenced in 10093 E.E. (-7 A.P.) during a time of academic persecution, which culminated years later in the Global Security trial of Starswirl…

… Among the arrested leaders was Crescent Moon, who later adopted Nova Sparkle’s maiden name upon their marriage. In a political situation out of their control, the two unicorns are believed to have first met by chance. But with matters regarding Starswirl Stabledon, very little can be considered coincidence…

When the vehicle touched down, the internal prisoner mechanisms shut off, and Nova and Crescent stepped out only to be greeted by a line of unicorn officers. The mass of authority led to the entrance of another white hemisphere in a sea of counterparts; the only difference this time was that the distant onlookers were unicorns, not ponies. Through the partially-tinted pilot window of the taxi, Nova shot a glare at her driver, who instantly averted his eyes and shrunk into his seat before the windows turned pitch black.

While walking up the pavement, she asked Crescent, “Do you live here by yourself? I really wouldn’t want to be a bother on anyone else.”

“No, I live here alone. The rest of my family lives on the opposite side of Canterlot.”

Without looking at the intimidating guards, Crescent swiped his card on the door lock and stepped to one side, bowing his head as Nova trotted in first.

Nova looked around at the various dividing walls that cut the house into separate rooms.

“You must always be organized, since you weren’t expecting a visitor at all,” she complimented. The entrance shut behind them, and Crescent swiped his card again. “Do you—”

Crescent had raised a hoof to his lips. Peering at him strangely, Nova watched as Crescent closed his eyes. He remained quiet while his horn glowed, illuminating a small portion of the dim room. Yet, in a split-second, the radiating light given off by Crescent’s horn dissipated.

Crescent winced afterwards, opening his eyes. “I figured as much,” he panted. He brought a trembling hoof to the nearest wall, leaning slightly. “They have a scrambler nearby.”

Nova glanced at Crescent’s horn peculiarly. “Is that what caused the energy to leave your horn so quickly? I’ve never heard of a ‘scrambler’ before.”

“I wouldn’t have expected you to,” he replied, smiling reassuringly. “They have been around for decades, but Global Security put them into practice just over a couple of years ago, when you were still off-world.” He looked at her still hooves. “Shouldn’t it be affecting you, though? I thought your body shakes when you feel energy flowing in unnatural ways.”

“I’ve learned a few coping mechanisms over the years,” she said. “My condition was worse when I was a foal, but I learned to disable feeling in my horn entirely. I had to do that during the ride over here.” She glanced around, scanning the room. “But before I start concentrating to use my horn, can I have an idea of how these scramblers work? I just want to know what sort of feeling to expect.”

Crescent nodded. “You are familiar with collectors already, aren’t you? Well, magi-scramblers work like magi-collectors; they pull the energy away and let go of it once the conversion process is done.” Crescent pushed off the wall, slowly walking into the room while staring up at the ceiling. “But scramblers repeat the routine every second or so without actually using the collected energy. The process happens so quickly that no unicorn can focus long enough to cast a spell—let alone bring magic into their horn. The moment we gather it in, the power gets drawn into the machine.”

“Sounds irritating,” she muttered, to which Crescent nodded.

“It is. Few can trump the machines. Trying to normally use magic is like fighting a losing battle. The only known way to win is to disable the scrambler physically; but knowing Global Security, they probably have placed the magi-tech somewhere outside my home where we can’t reach it.”

While Crescent surveyed his surroundings, Nova sighed and shut her eyes. Light surged at the base of her horn and traveled to the tip, but the glow unnaturally streamed out and phased into the dimness. Wincing, Nova growled as her horn lit again. After encountering the same result, she strained her eyes and tried once more. But before she could continue, Crescent grabbed her hoof and broke her concentration.

“You need to stop,” he said with a worried expression. “You are trying too hard to fight the scrambler. I’m not kidding about this; unicorns have gone to the arcane emergency room over these kinds of ‘duels’.”

Nova nodded, pressuring the base of her horn with a hoof. “You’re right, though,” she stammered, her knees shaking. Before she could completely lose her balance, Crescent sprung to her side and allowed her to lean on him. “These are much worse than magi-collectors.” As she breathed heavily she strained her eyes again, and the shaking of her limbs subsided. “I guess I won’t be casting any sort of magic for a while.”

“Neither will I,” Crescent said. “The scrambler has a temporary, dizzying effect, so what you’re feeling right now is completely normal. Your head needs to clear up, so you need to lie down.”

Nova nodded weakly and slowly walked alongside Crescent, whom she was leaning on for support. “I may just take a nap,” she said groggily. “I was already sleepy from waking up early; this only made it worse.”

Crescent showed her to a sofa, which absorbed her weight and completely conformed to her body shape.

Although her eyelids were heavy, she squinted at Crescent and asked, “What will you do in the meantime?”

“While Global Security is busy rummaging through Starswirl’s property,” he said quietly, “I have to conduct a search of my own.” He walked out of sight, and soon returned with a blanket. After bringing the insulating fabric over her immobile body, he said, “Get as much rest as you can. I think you will need it for when we talk later.”

* * *

Slowly opening her eyelids, Nova peered into the dim room and lifted her head up. She blinked in the darkness and shrugged her shoulders. But before she could bury her mane into the pillow again, her eyes bolted open, and she sat upright. The layout of the room had changed; the once neatly arranged items were disheveled and unorganized, lying in piles or tossed about.

As she sat up, she brought up the blanket protectively; yet, as soon as Crescent trotted in, she dropped her stance. His gaze wandered between her, the mess, and the windows. “Oh, good, you’re awake.” he said. He stared at a nearby pile of papers and metallic devices, blushing. “Um… please ignore the mess for now; I’ll explain everything soon.” Adjusting one disheveled pile, Crescent walked over and sat on the other end of the couch. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Better than I was in the morning,” she said, stretching her legs with a yawn. “How long was I asleep?”

“Four hours.”

Nova paused in the middle of her yawn, and immediately turned to the nearest clock. Looking back to Crescent with a frown, she said, “You could have woken me up earlier. I almost slept the day away”

He shook his head. “I saw no reason to. Not to mention you seemed too comfortable.”

She glanced around at the shifted objects and opened drawers. “So… did you find what you were looking for?”

“I did, but I hoped I would find nothing.” Crescent reached to the coffee table and grabbed an object off of the surface. “I searched every nook and cranny of my home, and I came up with this.” He held out to her a crushed, black square no larger than a Canterlot ID tag. Thin wires protruded from the thick, fractured edge. “It wasn’t here a few days ago. It was attached to a dark surface. Global Security, or whoever was snooping through my home, must have placed it there.”

Nova leaned in closer. “It looks like a recorder of some sort, judging by the tiny holes.”

Crescent nodded. “Essentially, it’s an audio receiver powered by an electric battery. Global Security is not known for using non-magical methods. But because of the scrambler, they resorted to something a little more primitive.”

“What should we do with it?” she asked in a low whisper.

“There is nothing left to do, aside from tossing it out.” He jingled his hoof, separating the cracked receiver into pieces. “I’ve crushed it already.”

Nova moved back, staring at him with wide eyes. “Don’t you think that was a little risky? Security wouldn’t appreciate someone breaking their equipment.”

Crescent shrugged his shoulders. “They know they can’t listen in on equines under this stage of house arrest. They probably know this has been discovered, but I could threaten them with a legal or ethical matter if they approach me. Yet, if I do so without being approached first, they will deny any accusations.”

“If they’ve done this for us, doesn’t that mean they are using the same methods for Starswirl?”

“I’m sure they have bugged every centimeter of the room—or cell—he is staying in, since his arrest is of a higher level. Not to mention they might have cast a few spells that monitor sound—but Starswirl probably knows that already.” He muttered, “If anything, he is already two steps ahead of Global Security.”

“Surveillance spells? Do you think they have cast some here?” Nova shut her eyes, but a quick nudge from Crescent stopped her. He frowned, gesturing to the ceiling that acted as a barrier between them and the magi-scrambler.

“Sorry,” she said, smiling sheepishly. “Checking for spells has become a habit.”

“Well, no need to do that here. The scrambler practically stops us, and Global Security, from casting spells of any kind. Once all magic concentrated around a spell is taken away, it no longer functions and falls apart as a result. While this method does contain and prevent us from using magic, it also backfires against Global Security on some levels.”

“Well, that removes the possibility of spells.” Nova looked at the corners of the dome. “Are you absolutely sure that this”—she gestured at the broken receiver—“is the only one?”

“Sadly, no.” Crescent dumped the pieces into a waste slot embedded in a wall. “My hooves can’t reach around every corner of this place, and levitation is out of the question because of the scrambler. But I checked the ventilation, and ran a compact metal detector everywhere I could. If there is another bug somewhere, it’s put in a location that cannot pick up sound very well.”

“But we should still try to talk quietly if we start treading on topics relating to—” Nova stopped talking, biting her lower lip.

“Starswirl,” Crescent finished. He shrugged off Nova’s reaction and continued, “His name isn’t taboo, Nova, and it’s not like they will get more information out of us than they already have.”

Nova winced, and her expression hardened. “And what information is that, exactly? What is going on, Crescent? Starswirl never mentioned anything about a trial. In the last message, he only assured me that ‘Everything is fine’ concerning his project. How has it gotten the attention of Global Security?”

“It sounds like he didn’t want to worry you. That sounds typical of him.” He looked to the ground. “Or, maybe he felt his calls were being monitored, so he never outright explained the situation.”

“You had reason to think your calls were being monitored?”

Crescent nodded slowly. “For a year now, we’ve known that Security forces have been monitoring the project. Agents have been in our midst, but we’ve been able to single them out rather easily. I’m guessing that because their espionage is failing, they have issued a trial to analyze concerns relating to his project, which they unjustly believe is the source of treachery. And—well, before I go on, what do you know?”

Nova wore a puzzled look. “About what, specifically?”

“The project. What we’ve come to call ‘The Stabledon Project’”

Glancing up at the ceiling, Nova said, “I don’t know the details, but I know the goal. You’re helping to create some kind of all-encompassing spellbook, right?”

“For the most part, yes,” said Crescent with a nod. “The details of it are unimportant right now. All you need to know is it really shouldn’t attract the slightest attention from the authorities on Canterlot. There are tens of thousands of encyclopedias being produced across the galaxy—maybe hundreds on the capital as we speak—but Global Security only cares about this one.” Crescent rubbed the base of his muzzle. “Their motive is something else entirely, and my guess is that officials are using our harmless project as an excuse to confront Starswirl.”

“Confront him over what?” She leaned in. “You clearly know more about Starswirl than I do, Crescent. What do you think?”

Crescent stood up, and trotted to the nearest window, looking from every possible angle. After a few seconds, he turned around. “There are two distinct details regarding Starswirl’s background: his project, and psychohistory.”

Nova gazed at Crescent blankly, but then her eyes lit up. “I thought he gave up on the entire ‘psychohistory’ theory decades ago. I only heard rumor of it from my parents, but that’s all I have.” She tapped her hoof against the sofa. “It lets him see the future. That’s as much as I can remember.”

“Yes, that is what every equine knows. Some call him insane, but we both know that he is far from it.” Crescent fell silent, but he stomped his hoof. “Forget what that officer said about Starswirl’s ‘deteriorating mental state’. By eternity, if there wasn’t five inches of alloy in the way, I would have…” Crescent did not finish the statement, instead gazing to the floor. “Sorry, I was distracted there. But sort of like what you said, psychohistory has let him foresee crucial events of the Empire. He has made statements about what he’s determined using this science, and doing so has made him infamous on Canterlot.”

Nova raised an eyebrow. “He’s infamous?”

“—Only secretly infamous, if that makes any bit of sense. In the past few years, every now and again, Starswirl makes a public statement that sounds along the lines of—” Crescent suddenly stopped, peering out the window. “I am a little paranoid, so I won’t mention it.”

“Come on, you have to tell me.” She stood up and approached him. “We’re both in this together, so you can’t just leave me in the dark.”

Crescent hesitated at first, and he broke eye contact as Nova stared. But then he leaned closer, his voice a whisper. “The Empire will fall.”

Crescent backed up and waited for the shock and awe to fade from Nova’s face.

Nova’s mouth had gone agape, but she shook her head. She stuttered, “H-how could he possibly say that?”

“Because he believes it, Nova. He is not the type to joke around about these things—or any subjects, for that matter. He knows it’s true, and psychohistory is his proof.”

Crescent turned away from Nova and took a few breaths. “It doesn’t sound too unrealistic, I might add. I’m starting to notice faults on Canterlot which weren’t here a decade ago. Suppression of academic authorities, nightly curfews over certain cities, attempted assassinations of lesser officials; and those are just off the top of my head. Considering what Starswirl says, I think those fractures will grow.”

Nova raised her foreleg, as if to object, but halted. Her hoof and her head sank to the floor. “My parents agreed, too, I think,” she said. “They moved off-world very quickly, even though our ancestors have lived here on Canterlot for generations. They said they liked Fillyan more, but that excuse never sold me.” Taking a deep breath, she started to pace, her voice rising in volume. “I mean, what kind of equine chooses to migrate just like that?”

Before Crescent could answer or even gesture, Nova looked away. “Oh, who am I kidding? I’m guessing maybe they experienced those fractures for themselves, or maybe Starswirl might have convinced them somehow using the data of psychohistory.”

Finally halting, Nova dropped her gaze and brushed her hoof against the carpet. She stayed quiet as a police siren grew in volume, then faded away into the distance outside their temporary, hemispherical prison.

“I asked Starswirl about psychohistory as a child,” she muttered in the complete silence, “and his response was along the lines of, ‘No need to worry, Nova. That is all behind me.’ I never bothered about it as a foal, but did he really lie to me?”

Crescent Moon half-shrugged. “Plenty of equines lie to foals, especially over matters that don’t concern them.”

“It concerns me now.” She looked around Crescent’s home, stopping to stare at an officer patrolling past the window. “Especially now. I never made Starswirl out to be a liar.”

“Well, on the outside, Starswirl is just a calm, old wrinkled stallion with some charisma; but as all project members know at this point,”—Crescent brought a hoof to his temple—“he holds a lot of secrets within his aging mind. I can tell from looking at Mr. Stabledon that psychohistory isn’t just a theory, it’s a working science. All of his computerized belongings—whether they relate to the project or not—are heavily encrypted. I know that because a curious project member—a skilled hacker who went against our wishes—once tried to access Starswirl’s files to uncover more, but the attempt backfired and destroyed his own hardware.”

“What happened to that equine?” Nova asked.

“Starswirl immediately expelled him from the project," said Crescent with a shake of his head, "and we haven’t heard of him since.”

Nova shot him a puzzled look. “But Starswirl is a mathematician by destiny. I’ve seen his talent mark. Does that make him good with computers? Could Starswirl possibly rig tech items with that kind of security?”

“I have my doubts. My guess is that he had help from other equines that none of us are aware of. Still, the prospect of ‘seeing the future’ attracts too much attention. Perhaps the Palace Authority is trying, and failing, to obtain this information that only he knows about.” Crescent paused, his expression turning into a frown. “Or maybe they just want to silence Starswirl once and for all, because he is only provoking the population.”

“And what’s your opinion on this situation?”

Crescent stood up, narrowing his eyes into a scowl. “I honestly question Starswirl’s methods. In any normal circumstance, I would assume Starswirl is too stressed, lacking rest and relaxation. He really should enjoy his remaining years while he still can. Starswirl needs to give up command of the project to somebody else, someone with more youthful energy and perhaps just as much motivation. I am sure a fair portion of our group would agree.”

“But…?”

Crescent looked to her as she frowned, but then he sighed. “I’ve learned to trust him. Even now I trust him wholeheartedly. He has always been calm, even during the most stressful situations. He’s an outstanding pony, Nova, and you know that as well as I do.” With another shrug of his shoulders, he added, “I thought of this recently, but if some equine asked me who my role model was… Starswirl would be the first person to come to my mind.”

Nova’s expression was blank. While Crescent looked away, she trotted closer, and she wrapped a foreleg around his neck before he could turn to her. Crescent's eyes widened fully in the one-sided embrace, even as Nova detached and backed away. “Thank you,” she said with a grin, her white cheeks turning a shade of scarlet.

Crescent blinked twice. “I’m sorry for asking… but for what?”

Nova’s smile did not falter. “For proving to me that you are someone I can trust.”

“Oh.” Crescent shook his head. “I was just, er—” He stopped to cough into his hoof. “It’s no problem, Nova.” Breaking eye contact before the silence could sink in again, Crescent trotted in one direction. He glanced at the unorganized heap of belongings that lay scattered on the floor. “Anyway, now that you’re up to speed, I have some cleaning to do.”

“Do you need help?” she asked. Crescent looked as if he was about to protest, but one warm smile from Nova made him stop, blush, and look away. Nova picked up a short stack of books nearby, and then asked, “But, once we’re finished here, what will we do?”

“We wait,” said Crescent with a shake of his head. “There is not a single action we can take that will not backfire against us, Starswirl, and all other equines involved. Hopefully Starswirl’s psychohistory will help him through this, because with everybody who could possibly help isolated from him, he will need his predictions when he goes up against Global Security.”

Author's Note:

Acknowledgements
===============
Cadderly Illuvatar—Editor
Golden Vision—Reviewer
Mango12—Pre-reader

Comments

[Spatial Observer]

1911791
I will definitely continue. I think Foundation is an underrated universe despite its popularity in the past, so the more people I can introduce it to, the better, I suppose.

1912122
It's nice to know that another fan regards this as an insane undertaking, too. Hopefully I keep to a consistent level of quality throughout. But if my writing falters, be sure to let me know so I don't continue to slip.