//------------------------------// // Chapter IV - Airspeeder Drift // Story: Spark Wars - New Change // by AverageSMILEnjoyer //------------------------------// Chapter IV - Airspeeder Drift Kitein’s horizon was always a sight to behold. At night, everything was dark and shrouded in shadows, safe for tiny islands of civilization illuminated by their artificial lights. When the skies were clear and the stars visible, it was easy for me to just stare up and imagine as if I was there, just floating around in the vacuum, having awesome space adventures. Bright daylight then was something else entirely. The horizon lights up aflame in the morning, gradually changing through every shade from yellow and orange to blue. Though, even in the brightest days, there is still the Abyss. A dark, black spot, just sitting there below everything, getting larger and darker throughout the day. Like an ever present reminder that it is always there, and with a single slip it will claim you. Though, all these sights went completely unappreciated by the girl sitting just a hoof’s length next to me. For the first time in my life, I wished my superpower had an off-switch, as a foul taste of fear permeated throughout the cockpit, akin to a rotting wound. Of all the things I thought about Olivia, being scared of heights was not one of them. It was starting to get on my nerves when now and then Olivia decided to look outside towards the Abyss with ‘is-it-still-there’, then immediately freeze up and fill the cockpit with ‘YES-IT-IS!’. I was sitting in my seat turned perpendicular to the cockpit, just to keep an eye on her. Though, it was more so that she knew I was keeping my eye on her so she wouldn't try anything funny. I would have felt her intent long before anything. Sleeping with a stranger next to me was understandably out of the question, so I kept myself entertained by browsing the Scale. Reading articles, studying music theory, writing songs in an app, stuff like that. Just then I did feel a change in her, but not for the better. When I glanced away from my HoloPone towards her, I found Olivia with closed eyes and doing breathing exercises. The fear emanating from her only intensified, and I could safely guess she was imagining all the terrible things that could happen in this instant. Maybe I should have kept that threat of throwing her out to myself... Still, I started to regret confiscating her HoloPone. It was still stashed in the side-compartment where my hindlegs rested. I initially wanted to install a limiter app on it so that she could still use it and I wouldn’t need to worry about her contacting anyone, but Olivia refused to give me her password and so it now sits beneath my hooves. Finally, I had enough of that stench of fear that just grew ever potent, and since it didn’t seem like she would stop anytime soon, and I certainly didn’t feel like feeling her terror the whole journey, I decided to start a small talk. "So... You mentioned you are not from Kitein." I said, trying to break the silence. Olivia briefly opened her eyes at the question, but closed them right afterwards, nodding slowly. "Erm, quite. That is correct. I'm originally from Equin." She replied with her overly polite accent. Never heard of the place, but I still nodded, "Cool. How are you finding the... uh... scenery so far?" Olivia was surprised by my sudden interest, though already I could feel the fear diminishing as her attention went elsewhere. One win for me already! “I er...” The mare hesitated, “The city is impressive, although I must admit I'm not particularly fond of the heights and endless expanses." I looked at her incredulously, “Then why did you decide to come to Kitein?” I waved my hoof towards the windshield and the empty horizon beyond it, “There is nothing but heights and endless expanses!” At that the girl winced with her eyes closed again and a new wave of horrible smells, "Please don't remind me!" Oof, not helping! My last remark immediately undid all the work, and only made it worse. The fear wasn't as terrible as I made it out to be, she was after all more scared of the height itself than directly of me so it was all passive, though it still went on long enough to make my stomach turn. Additionally, I am not sure even Olivia could handle her fear for very long. Red and Blu had the excuse of being pegasi with wings, but this mare has nothing to comfort her. From what I could tell, this is her first trip across the sky of any considerable length and she's jittery already. We barely even left the Thunderhead! I contemplated just giving her her HoloPone back so that she could distract herself, but I wasn't lying when I said I take Homestead's security seriously. "H-How long until we arrive?" Olivia asked tentatively. "Ehh..." I looked towards the dashboard which was currently in a private mode, so that my passenger couldn't see our geological location. Liara was also in text-only mode, cus I don’t want her to accidentally pick up Olivia’s requests. The progress on the dashboard then still read four percent as it had a half an hour ago. "Quite a while left." I finished lamely, to which Olivia sulked down. Suddenly, an idea! I know exactly what the mare needs to get over her fear of heights, additionally, if we get low enough, Olivia won't be able to call anyone, so I can give her back her HoloP! It's the perfect solution! "Olivia?" I addressed her and the girl in the back looked up at me. "I'll give you back your HoloPone." "Truly?" The mare lifted an eyebrow. That's when I took over the controls of the speeder from the autopilot, "Just try not to scream." I added with a shit-eating grin. "Why would I—" Olivia started but she was cut off as I disengaged the external repulsor lift and the ever present view of the Kitein’s horizon turned into a full view of the dark Abyss below as I forced the speeder into a sudden nosedive. "—AAAAAAAAAH! VIOLEEEEEET!" And we plunged into the depths at mach speeds. \            / >==°o•o°==< /            \ "—AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! AAAAAA—" It's been a couple of minutes of a constant vertical descent and Olivia’s squeal was still on it. Like, damn! Girl got some lungs on her! The descent took us deep into the bowls of the gas giant. We were now well below the green, survivable layer of the Kitein. Nowhere near the really dangerous levels, but I still had some rebreathers ready in the side-compartment just in case one of us was stupid enough to override the safety locks, overpower the pressure difference, and actually manage to open the windshield. The sight of thick dark clouds blanketing the horizon beneath us was the sign we were nearing our target depth, so I fired up the repulsor lifts once more, slowing our fall and turning the headless nosedive into a gradual descent. Eventually, the speeder leveled out just as the dark layer enveloped us, plunging everything into complete darkness, broken apart only by the speeder’s interior lighting. “Phew, what a rush!” I let out a sigh of exhilaration, I even noted that Olivia stopped screaming into my ear. I glanced over at Olivia, who was gripping with her hooves around my seat, squeezing the life out of me now that we slowed down. Her face was now only a few shades of gray lighter than the color of my own hide. “Hey, uh. We are here." I pointed out awkwardly. "You can let go of me." With a reluctant yet somewhat embarrassed look, Olivia slowly released her grip on my seat. Her trembling hooves moved away, and she settled back into her own pillow at the back, attempting to regain some semblance of composure. "Y-You are a horrible pony. Y-You know that?" Olivia growled, her voice still shaking. I shrugged, “Come on, it couldn’t have been that bad, the repulsor field negates the acceleration inside the cockpit. We are fine!” Though Olivia only crossed her forelegs and avoided my gaze. The tension in the air was so dense I could literally taste it. “You can have your HoloP back,” I offered, trying to lighten her up and levitating the device out of the compartment towards her, but Olivia didn’t take it, her gaze instead fixed on the darkness outside. “Well, it’s here if you want it.” I finished lamely. For a while there was silence between us. We were both invested in our own devices, where I had my headset on and working on my next mixtape, and Olivia absentmindedly looking out into the darkness. Olivia was still peeved at me for the sudden change of vertical direction, and I was uncertain how long that would last. However, I still had one more trick under my hood. I’ve once done something similar to my auntie, and only gotten away with a month of blue-milk-only diet. The trick was in this dark place. Can’t be scared of the sight of the Abyss if you are in the Abyss! In a stroke of inspiration, I additionally added a few more commands to Liara, and resumed the descent. This time at a far more leisurely pace, and the darkness outside masked the movement so the pony behind me shouldn't notice. Now and then I sampled her reaction. My method of getting her to stop stinking up the cockpit with fear worked! …somewhat. Since there was no visible danger outside for her fear to grab onto, it eventually subsided, replaced by her anger targeted at me mixed with confusion which I interpreted as, ‘Why-would-you-do-that?’ and ‘I-hate-you’. Hate didn’t stink like fear, though it still had an uncomfortably hot aftertaste. While I’ve never tasted fear cus' I know I would hurl immediately, I have tasted hate before. It tastes like liquid molten metal, but as if I was drinking it as a pony, so… not good. Eventually, though, even that subsided, and it wasn’t long before Olivia’s mind was somewhere between calm and restless. ‘too-tired-to-feel’ A side effect of her earlier screaming. Now the grey earthpony was huddled in the corner of the cockpit, staring out into the darkness, because that was all she was feeling like doing. I bet even if she did take the HoloP back, she would instead choose to stare out of the windshield. Perfect timing, now I realized. Perfect for what I had in mind. Frantically, though making an attempt to be inconspicuous, I looked up our current depth. We were almost at the bottom of this dark layer. It was just out of sight, any lower and Olivia’s eyes would definitely catch it, which was not my intention just yet. I stopped the descent and anxiously scoured the dark horizon, while monitoring Olivia’s state of mind. Her mood reminded me of myself when I first discovered this place. I was feeling down, and after a particularly bad argument with auntie Red I stole the family Courier and ran away from home. Feeling particularly stupid, I instead flew vertically to get away faster. I didn’t stop until I barreled through this layer, where my sense of self-preservation finally kicked in. There! A small cyan mote of light suddenly appeared in the distance, exactly what I was looking for. The stuff we were currently flying through wasn’t dense enough to block out all light, it was actually a whole different layer above us blocking the sun and trapping heat inside. This is how I could still make out the exterior of the speeder which was illuminated by the inside lights, and how I could observe the light in the distance. I inputted several commands for Liara and the speeder slowed down enough to not fly past the mote of light. I then laid back in my seat and let Olivia find it on her own, turning all of my efforts at reading her mood. Olivia was sitting there in the same corner as I once have, forelegs crossed, head resting against the corner, and staring through the windshield out into the Abyss. The light of the mote had to come into view from below. The fluorescent gas was behaving more as a fluid in this depth and was bubbling upwards. I could almost feel her eyes of landing on it, with nothing else to focus on in the darkness. She didn’t immediately snap on it, her eyes first absentmindedly followed the prismatic light on its way up, and it wasn’t until it was almost out of sight that her mind finally registered the strangeness of this luminous orphan in the otherwise pitch black darkness. I heard Olivia jump on her hooves, with surprise and curiosity eliminating all remains of her earlier grouchiness. "Er, Vio… let?" Olivia turned my way, but her question died in her throat as she beheld what we were approaching this whole time, and it was only thanks to the fact I was facing the front that she didn’t see the wide, shit-eating grin on my face. That bubble of light was not an orphan. Not by a longshot. Entire pillars of streams of bubbles were rising from the depths, each softly glowing in the same fluorescent cyan color. Some pillars died out, the stream of fresh breathable air eventually turned into a trickle with darkness following behind it. They were however replaced by a hundred more, where the opposite happened and a new column spearheaded through the darkness, creating a new pillar that connected the invisible ceiling, and the glow from below. Olivia simply sat there with her muzzle open as the floor came into view. A bioluminescent landscape slowly emerged from the shadows beneath us, spreading out into the dark horizon and moving in calm dim waves, only gaining in luminescence in specific parts where the bacteria causing the glow were accumulating, until suddenly bursting upwards into a glowing column of light and bubbles. The speeder eventually descended to the bottom and gently dipped into the waves, lightly submerging until the glowing line reached the bottom of the windshield. Olivia glued herself to the window and watched the effect of our intrusion had on the field, which parted around the speeder like water and sped past us into the distance, leaving behind us a shimmering trail. “What is this place?” Olivia finally spoke up, child-like awe evident on her face. “Welcome to the Radiant Abyss.” I gestured with a sweep of my hoof towards the luminescent landscape, “Basically, the glowing stuff is a type of microorganism living down here. Long story short, this black cloud traps heat from the sunlight and the little guys use it to convert lower gasses into breathable air which then rises up.” My explanation didn’t do this place justice. I never really was one for lectures, I am more of an action girl, but she seemed to enjoy it, so that had to mean I did well enough. "The bacteria is highly toxic and doesn't have any natural predators, and with the abundance of gasses from below, they multiply uncontrollably, however they also often hitch a ride up out of the Abyss on the oxygen they produce which kills all of them off, leaving only the breathable oxygen and give or take some other breathable gasses." I turned away and gave a glance at Olivia, who was simply listening to my lecture while observing the Abyss. "It's an entire belt around Kitein, you know?" I added, and the grey mare turned to me for elaboration. "The Abyss I mean." I explained, "It's a thin layer that goes all the way around the gas giant. When you are up in the clouds and you look down, it's actually this layer you're seeing!" This time, I completely turned around in my seat to properly face her, Olivia in turn lifted an eyebrow at my action. "I want to ask for a favor," I elaborated and then pointed upwards, "Whenever you are up, and you look down, whenever you seize up at the sight of the Abyss, remember this sight, now that you know what's down here." It seemed my words reached the mare, as Olivia's eyes softened. She nodded absentmindedly, staring out on the glowing floor, "I..." She paused, "Sailing across an ocean is certainly not something I have ever expected to do on a gas giant. And a glowing one, no less." I grinned, "Yeah!" Though scrunched up at the foreign word, "What's an ocean?" Whatever I said instantly grabbed Olivia's attention, "Ocean? You don't know what an ocean is?" She looked at me incredulously, but then her face softened, "I suppose it makes sense that you would never have seen an ocean, but did you not encounter one during your research on other worlds? Considering you present yourself as an 'expert on space'?" I guiltily reached behind my head, "Eehh... I'm more of a space-space expert than other worlds I guess." Olivia rolled her eyes in amusement, "Well, to put it simply, an ocean is an immense, sometimes planet-wide, body of water found on certain worlds." I tried to wrap my head around that, "Like... A massive reservoir?" "Kind of?" Olivia cautiously nodded, "Though the water is salty and—" "Salty? Why?" I shook my head, "Wait, why do you pour salt in your water reservoir? Also that's like, a lot of salt to make an ocean salty." "—has to- huh?" Olivia blinked, "No, a water reservoir is only a comparison. The salt is naturally present, it dissolves from minerals at the ocean floor." That made me even more weirded out, "Who would throw rocks into an ocean to make it salty?!" "No, that's not—" She put a hoof to her temple, then immediately lowered it, staring at me in confusion. "Y-You don't know what an ocean is, yet you know what a rock is?" "Hey, we got rock farms," I raised my hooves in defense, and then pointed at her challengingly, "And we make salt with it!" "I— You know what? Forget I said anything." Olivia threw her hooves up in defeat, signaling the end of our salty discussion. Pssh, who pours salt into an ocean to drink saltwater? "What about your world?" I couldn't help but ask. "Equin?" Olivia tilted her head in thought, "Equin is... difficult to describe..." "Pfft," I smirked and rested on my forelegs, "Do your best. I am easily impressed." Olivia involuntarily smiled. It was true! "Well, Equin orbits the only world in our solar system, a blue ice giant named Lunaria, which in turn orbits a massive golden star, Celestia." "Equin... The entirety of it, is a one vast city divided into districts. But... there are also oceans, extensive agricultural fields with rural villages underneath an artificial dome of light, as well as deserts... and forests. I..." She paused, biting her lip. "I apologize, I'm finding it difficult to describe. I've never truly looked back, and... Equin is simply something a pony must see with their own eyes, I suppose. I wish I had some pictures with me..." "You didn't take any with your HP? Er... HoloPone?" I elaborated when she seemed confused. Olivia shook her head, "I have it for less than two weeks. I purchased it here in the Thunderhead." "Ah." I nodded, "Don't sweat it though, I still think your world sounds cool!" I encouraged her, "Has to be pretty lonely with only one planet though." "I believe it has its charm, and Lunaria has a lot of moons." Olivia paused then looked at me, "How many worlds does your solar system have?" "Three," I replied, "Ember, Torch, and Kitein. There used to be a fourth one, another gas giant, Crackle, but Torch swooped in too close with its massive intersecting orbit and it fell apart. Now there is only the Crackle's Ring, which separates the Kitein from the rest of the solar system." Olivia stared at me in horror, "Planets can do that?!" I smirked, "Yeah! Though that was millions of years ago, and Crackle's Ring is nowhere near Kitein for it to be affected by Torch's gravity when it smashes through the ring every one-hundred-and-thirty years or so. Then there are the only two moons in the solar system orbiting Kitein, Smolder and Garble." Olivia shook her head in disbelief, "I'll stick with my single world with no chance of interplanetary collisions, thank you very much." I laughed, and then we fell into a short silence. I iterated through my head for any more topics I wanted to discuss with her, and quickly came up with the main thing I wanted to know. "So, I was meaning to ask..." I tapped with my hindleg a bit, "What exactly is the deal between you and this, 'Black Empire'?" Olivia paused, taken aback by the question for some reason, "You've never heard of the Black Empire? They emerged out of nowhere and assaulted one of Equin protected worlds! It was the talking point for decades!" I gave her a look, "Girl, this is the first time I've heard of the word Equin." "B-But New Equin is the galactic center!" Now Olivia looked almost offended, "Surely the news had to have reached even out here!" I waved dismissively, "You are in the outer ring, girl! No one gives a shit about the politics of a system beyond the next sector, let alone half-way across the galaxy!" The rich girl let out an insulted huff. I then put the discussion back on track, "I guess it is safe to assume they aren't a group one simply associates with? Like pirates or something?" "I... I don't think that's exactly right." Olivia shook her head in thought, letting slide my space-politic illiteracy, "Nopony really knows their true intentions, and that is coming from a pony that has spent the better part of her life researching their remains and activities. Personally? I like to think they are, or were, desperate." That revelation took me aback, "You are an expert on Black Empire?!" I exclaimed, trying hard not to dance in the spot. Olivia blushed, "Not I, I'm afraid. My father is by far the foremost expert on Black Empire and its technology. I am only his assistant." She paused, and then momentarily evaded my gaze, "In truth, that's the real purpose of our visit to Kitein. Not for the wildlife." I raised my eyebrow but immediately recalled her lie at the cantina, "Oh yeah! I was wondering what was that about, props to you for coming clean." Olivia blinked, "You knew?!" I rolled my eyes, "Girl," I pointed outside, at the ever present background, "Radiant Abyss, this place down below, is pretty much the only reason how life could thrive on Kitein and consequently evolve into creatures that produce Tibanna, the main export of the giant and the only worthy research subject." I said. "You not knowing at least the name is a pretty big give away." "O-Oh." She looked down, brushing her black mane out of her eyes, "Am... Am I truly that easy to read?" "Eeeyup!" I pursed my lips, "But since you came clean, I'll admit something to you too." At that, Olivia perked up, "I didn't actually get any offers for the drone before you either." "Y-You lied?!" Olivia exclaimed in surprise, looking at me unbelievably, "Nopony has ever lied to me before..." Whoa. Equin's got to breed some screwd up people if they both lie and never expect to get lied to. No wonder she's so weird! Are all people on Equin this naive? I'm surprised she's still alive! I shook my head, and returned the discussion back on track, "Anyway, since you are the expert, why don't you tell me about the Empire some more?" "You want to know more?" Olivia almost jumped up, though kept herself reserved, "Well, I know quite a bit, but um... I am unsure if that's a comfortable topic to discuss. A-Are you sure you don't want to speak to my father instead?" There was a strange hopeful glean in her eyes, and she almost seemed giddy... I shrugged at her, "You are here right now, is that a problem?" "No no!" Olivia immediately backpedaled, "I'll happily share what I know, it's that..." The mare bit her lip and nervously brushed her foreleg with her hoof. "Most ponies just dismiss them as monsters and ignore the circumstances..." I laid back with my forelegs crossed on my chest, "I'm pretty open minded, and I'm curious about what's their story. So stop teasing me and chat away!" "Oh my goodness, I don't even know where to start!" Olivia immediately panicked, "The Black Empire is such a broad subject... D-Do we even have enough time?" "Eeeh..." I lazily looked back at the dashboard which helpfully updated our progress down to two percent, "We got plenty of time, just start whenever already!" "Right. I suppose history is a good starting point." Olivia cleared her throat and started lecturing, "To put it broadly, the Black Empire is an ancient order of Changelings. A race of shapeshifting emotivores who mainly feed off of the fear of ponies they attack. As species, they date all the way to the Celestial Rein, though they separated from everypony during the Great Equestrian Exodus, and weren't heard from for a long time..." \            / >==°o•o°==< /            \ So, I am a Changeling, huh? For some reason, today all the stars in the universe have aligned for a one mother of all jackpots and I've met one of the few experts in the whole damn galaxy that specialize on the very species that I've always wanted to learn more about. The species that I am secretly a part of. And holy shit this girl knew a lot! It took all my willpower not to jump her with specific questions, like how I can shape-shift, how does the feeding on emotions work, or the nature of my magic, or to jump in and correct her about the stuff that simply can't be true, but I didn't want her to suspect that I am a Changeling myself. I still don't trust her. She might have not lied about the whole princess business, but there is still a lot of weird stuff going on this day already, and the last thing I want is some random pony knowing my secret. The journey to the Homestead went past fast, as the mare managed to cover a wide variety of topics, reaching from history, biology, to culture. In my whole life, I've genuinely did not expect to ever be so thoroughly overwhelmed with Changeling information. And from the 'smells' of it, Olivia loved just talking about Changelings. Bad news first, Changelings are bad guys and there does not seem to be any other free roaming Changelings outside of Black Empire. At least that are known of. Even worse, apparently their culture revolves around a hive structure, where everyone is born into a specific role, the weak or unable are 'recycled', and pretty much any sign of individuality is suppressed. Yeah, if these guys found out about me, I would be dead. The good news, Olivia seems to believe that this might only be how their military operates, as military is the only context Changelings have ever been encountered in. For all we know, there could be colonies raising their own children in culture not dissimilar to ponies. Changelings could be simply misunderstood because of their culture and unique dietary needs. And the fact they revealed themselves by invading a planet unprovoked. Apparently, thirty or some years ago, there was an entire space-battle of epic proportions between Black Empire and Equin over some backwater planet. The Empire wanted to turn the inhabitants into a food farm, and Equin wasn't really keen on the idea. But here's the kicker, apparently the natives of the planet were in the middle of their own war, on the brink of destruction of the whole planet even. The Black Empire swooped in on the day the guys were launching doomsday devices and saved the species from extinction. Then there was some bet with a space race across a solar system, where the natives won the ownership of their planet back. Empire however didn't upkeep the bet and betrayed everyone because they really needed the food. And so the battle over the planet commenced. In the end, the Black Empire was annihilated with all of its leadership dead and forces scattered across the galaxy, leaving only highly sought after wreckage behind. This is actually how Olivia and her father knew about the Changelings so much. The two are scavengers hoarding information from these remnants. In any case, that was pretty much all Olivia knew, or anyone really, on the history and culture of Changelings. Olivia seemed regretful for not being able to tell me more, however all of what she has just freely given me was magnitudes more than I started with. There was, however, some information I wish she kept for herself. "—And that's the scientific concuss for why Changelings have holes in their legs!" Olivia finished with a smile, giving me a shudder. Olivia is knowledgeable, however, I've come to realize that biology is a topic I'll have to explore deeper on my own. Eugh, I'll never look at my holes the same way ever again. Quickly, I changed the topic, "You said something about Changelings feeding on thoughts?" "Emotions," the grey mare corrected, "Changelings feed on fear." That's another thing. There is no universe where changelings could feed on fear. I doubt she was lying to me, however if I can't stomach even being near a source of fear, then I can't see anyone willingly feed on fear and live long. I don't know if feeding on fear can kill, but I most definitely can assure that death is preferable. "What about other stuff?" I waved with my hoof, "like sadness, happiness..." Olivia shrugged, "Well, throughout recovered databases, there have been many deciphered records with fear in the context of food, fuel, and energy. Some of their victims reported that they encouraged both fear and Hatred." She paused as if she remembered, "There has only ever been one instance of information where Changelings have been feeding on Love." "Oh?" I immediately perked up. "Quite." Olivia mused, "Unfortunately that mention comes from our own records which are, regrettably, two thousand years out of date." "But they could do it?" I pressed. "Er, it's doubtful." Olivia shook her head, "Two thousand years is a long time, long enough for species to switch to a whole new diet for its reliability. But then again, it is far more likely that the ponies back then simply noticed the lack of Love of changeling prisoners, and wrote down that Changelings feed on love and leave only hate and fear behind." beep Our discussion was interrupted by a sudden chirp of the dashboard console. Liara has already set us on an upward trajectory some time ago, even the Kitein sky was back to its usual blue color than the orange tint of lower levels, so the notification we were getting close to the Homestead wasn't surprising. "What does that mean?" Olivia asked after I turned around. "We are almost there." I explained. "A-Already?" The girl exclaimed, almost sad that our time was running out. "Yup. " I nodded, "Time flies when you are having fun, huh?" After four hours of travel, we finally returned back to the general height of where we initially dove from. We were still a ways off from the Homestead, but the high altitude connected us to the Scale once more. And now that I think about it... giving me the opportunity to contact Red and Blu to prepare them for our arrival. Hopefully, Red will not freak out and Blu will not be too excited. How many? Which direction? Ah. I see. Have you scanned them? Did you find anything suspicious on her? <100820AH-RedSky Violet? Violet!? At that, I set the communication app to quiet mode, and ignored any imminent rant from Red. I then turned back to Olivia, who was now staring out of the window. There still was a lot of apprehension in her eyes, but it was progress. "Alright, that should do it." I announced, "The Homestead should be at the horizon any minute now, and we are clear to land." Olivia glanced at me, "I... I suppose I should thank you for the trip." "Don't mention it!" I waved her off, "Sorry for the dive, but I had a feeling the place would help you get your mind off of things." Olivia shook her head, and changed the subject, "What is it like to live out here? How do you even get to start? Did you build your own Homestead?" "I mean," I shrugged, "The view is great I guess. But no, we got the Homestead through a contract with the Dragon Lord. Though, personally I wasn't there when my family signed it." "Contract?" Olivia raised an eyebrow, "What kind of contract? "The risky kind," I explained, "To even start thinking about getting a home this far out, you have to get a license in the first place. Then you can either commission a company to build you a farm unit, which is highly expensive, or you sign a binding contract with the Dragon Lord." I continued, "You get a farm unit, but you not only are indebted to the Dragon Lord until you pay off the unit, but you also have to keep your unit supplied to stay afloat, and keep up with a minimum quota." "And if you don't?" Olivia tilted her head. "Ehh..." I cringed, "If you can't keep your unit supplied, you can't mine Tibanna. If you can't mine Tibanna, you'll fall behind on your quota. If you fall behind on your quota, your license gets revoked. Without a license, you cannot legally sell Tibanna. Eventually, you will be forced to return to Thunderhead along with your entire unit else you'll simply run out of fuel for the generator and fall. You still can sell the unit either for credits to help you get back up, or for a halved debt along with other debt related benefits." "That sounds harsh." Olivia commented. "Harsh?" I snorted, "I think its pretty fair!" I then elaborated, "Dragon Lord doesn't really do the whole 'I'll take your firstborn' thing. He just takes a by-you-decided percentage of whatever comes to your bank account until you pay off the debt, doesn't matter how much you pay or long it takes. You are just on a cooldown, as while you are in debt, you can't get a new license, leave the planet and few other stuff." "Plus," I continued, "It is worth if you manage to pay off the debt even with the added load." I turned towards Olivia and pointed at my chest, "Take us for example. We paid our debt and we are now off the hook. The Homestead? That's ours now. We can do whatever we want with it, and we can even sell it if we want to. Oh and that's another thing, we can also sell the Homestead even if it has been destroyed." I then added, "Let's say a liquid Tibanna condenses on the walls and the whole thing explodes. We can still sell our ownership with full value of the lost equipment, the Dragon Lord will take the loss, and we can start anew. Or not, and find something else." Olivia nodded, "I see." She said. Though, a bit more absentmindedly by the potent 'thinking' signals she was giving off. And I could tell I lost her interest by the sudden raise of 'frustration'. As another silence fell between us, I took the opportunity to look towards the horizon. The Homestead was still a ways off, but I expected to see its silhouette any moment now. "Why can't I understand you?" Olivia suddenly spoke up, and immediately kicked herself with 'not-out-loud'. I blinked. Oh? She's been thinking about me? Olivia continued anyway, "One moment you are nice and quirky, and the next you are pointing a gun at me, but yet, right afterwards you..." She groaned, "Argh, you are so frustrating!" "I do not like you," Olivia exclaimed before I could comment, "But... I suppose I should thank you." She paused, then quickly elaborated, "For taking me along I mean, and for changing your mind. You are an... interesting pony to be around, Violet." "Aww, shnucks!" I waved her off. "Even though you are brash, selfish, and lack any semblance of a proper tack." Olivia quickly added. "Yup, that's me!" I grinned, "Violet 'Tackle' Sky!" "That's not-" "Oh hey, we are here!" I interrupted, pointing out the window, "Welcome to the Hors Homestead!" We were rapidly approaching the Homestead, and I could already see its majestic siluete coming up on the horizon, lit up by the Aurora sun. Olivia certainly took notice, she leaned forwards, her eyes widening in surprise. "So?" I turned and nudged her, "What do you think?" "It is... floating?" Olivia replied with a raised eyebrow. "Well duh!" I exclaimed rolling my eyes, "This is a gas giant! Where else would we build? On the ground?!" Olivia flinched, "Sorry..." I waved her off, "It's fine, though, what did you expect?" "A cloud house," Olivia admitted, "Perhaps something akin to the Thunderhead? Or a community of ships I suppose." "Eh, not a bad guess." I shrugged, "There are some that do stick ships together like that, but the Homestead is much more specialized." I explained, "And, good luck trying to build with clouds on Kitein. If the weather doesn't tear it apart, then the wildlife will. Then there is necessity to enchant all of the equipment to keep it inside, and that's a whole other can of really expensive worms. Not even talking about the sensitive equipment that cannot be enchanted else it explodes or something." "I see." Olivia nodded, "Well, I think it is cozy." She admitted with a small smile. With that, we spent the small remainder of the trip in silence, as the Homestead grew larger and larger in our view. The moment we were close enough, I inputted the landing sequence and the speeder began to slow down. The Homestead was now in full view, and once again I could see Red and Blu waiting for us at the landing pad. "Alright, so before we land," I turned to Olivia, "I need to ask you to keep your cool. My family is... well, Red especially... Er, If you think I am bad, then you haven't met her yet." Olivia blinked, "H... Huh?!" After successfully putting Olivia into a panic mode, the speeder finally landed on the Homestead's landing pad, with Red and Blu already standing close by. That's when the weirdness I started to associate Olivia with, returned. The moment Olivia stepped out of the speeder, she was like a changed person. Gone was 'on the edge' Olivia, and in her place was a mare who was calm, collected, and even a bit... professional. Even her head was held high, broadcasting 'relief' and 'finally-something-familiar'. How come I put her on edge!? Gotta give it to her though. She's got some good masks. Finally we stood face to face with my family, and I could already see the confusion and shifty looks towards Olivia in their eyes. Red was the first to speak up, "Violet, who is this?" "Oh right!" I exclaimed and immediately pointed towards the grey mare, "Red, Blu, this is Olivia Walker. I ran and tackled her last night, but we met only today. Olivia, this is my family, Red and Blu Sky Hors." I expected a couple of eye-rolls from my method of meeting new people, but Red was very much in 'serious-mode'. Even Blu kept it to just a quick smirk. At that, Olivia stepped forth. "It is a pleasure to meet you both." She greeted with a bow, "I am Olivia Walker, and I represent the owner of the droid you have found." Damn, she's good. Is that really the same jittery mare from just a few hours ago? Not that I am complaining, I could feel Red immediately start sizing Olivia up, taking the heat off of me! Red and Blu exchanged a look before Red continued, "Blu, can you entertain our guest? I need to have a word with Violet." It took all my willpower to not gulp audibly. Blu nodded with a shrug towards me and gave an upbeat smile to Olivia, "Welcome to the Hors Homestead, Miss Olivia! It's great to meet you. Let me show you around!" As Blu and Olivia went further into bridge that connects the Homestead, I prepared for my immediate battle of wits with Auntie Red. Red turned towards me with a worried expression, "Violet, what's going on? Why do we have a guest? Why didn't you check with me? You know the risks involved!" "I know, I know!" I immediately raised my hooves in defense, "It was a bit sudden, but she gave some good reasons for me to bring her here!" "Explain." Red demanded. And so I did. "Basically, someone nabbed her boss, very rich space-princess-boss I mind you, and the droid we found is the only lead she has to find her. She also promised to intercede on our behalf for a very juicy monetary reward!" Red, closed her eyes, sighed, and rubbed her temples. "And you trust her?" Red lowered her voice, glancing where Blu entertained our guest. "Oh absolutely not!" I dismissed, "She tried to scam me, bug me, has been all kinds of shifty," I clapped my hooves together for every suspicious thing Olivia did. "And I am still not entirely convinced she isn't some kind of secret spy from how many spy gadgets she was carrying." "O-Oh!?" Red blinked with 'barely-contained-scream', "And yet, somehow, you still came to the conclusion that bringing her directly to the Homestead was a good idea? Why?" I motioned, towards the girl in question, "Because of two things. One, Bee-Zee really has some information which could save someone's life, and two, that 'someone' is incredibly rich. Obscenely rich. Like, Interplanetary rich! And goes by the name Princess Lavender!" Red was quiet for a while. A whole set of feelings run through her head at once. "And here's the kicker," I leaned in and went for a knockout, "The mare looks, acts, and feels, like a random official whose boss got nabbed and wants to find out what happened." Seeing Red falter, I continued, "I've taken every precaution I could, and I have several more thought-out depending on how things go. As far as I can tell, we have a lot to gain and the risk is minimal. On the contrary, keeping that droid around is a no-go for us as N is apparently selling info we have him." That did it, Red flinched at the last reveal and sighed in resignation, "I suppose that's as good of a deal we can get out of this mess." Red admitted, though still shook her head. "Still, all of this smells of a Neigharian Prince..." "I am aware," I replied, "But you yourself heard it from Cogsworth himself. That princess character is very much real and we would be mad to just shrug something like this off, and we don't really need the droid to stick around anymore either." I paused and looked around the landing pad, "Speaking of which, where are the two of them?" Red sighed, "Cogsworth right now indulges in the oil bath. Which, after he's done, he owes us a very long explanation. As for Bee-Zee, I sent him out to the Plant for a defrost duty." "Gotcha," I nodded, "For now, I say let's see what that girl gets out of the droid first and what Cogsworth has to say, then come together on a family meeting and decide with the new information." "Fine." Red finally conceded, nodding reluctantly, "Take her, but keep an eye on her. The last thing we need is to get caught up in any political mess or illegal activities," Red warned, and then motioned with her head towards the transparent bridge where Olivia and Blu were talking. "I don't trust her." I followed her gaze and saw Olivia paying attention with a curious expression, while Blu was explaining something to her. The mare was nodding along, but then suddenly something has changed. I couldn't really read her at this distance, but I figured Blu could't help but share some gossip about me as Olivia immediately turned towards the landing pad, and our eyes met. "I know what you mean," I replied, looking down and checking the weapon still strapped to my foreleg before stepping out towards the bridge, "But I have only good feelings about this!" \            / >==°o•o°==< /            \ The Homestead Plant structure was fairly different from the Dome. Where the household was, well, a dome with repulsorlifts attached from below, the Plant was a tall prolate structure, with a large open hall slightly below the center, ending in several levels of engineering blocks. The Plant was the main reason why this mining unit was a self-sustaining household, with the Tibanna gathered from the drones being processed and stored in the lower half, along with the drones themselves being maintained and repaired in the large hall. The upper half then was where most of the greenhouse systems, including the water reservoir and recycling systems, were located. The bridge itself then lead us into the dead center. Olivia was now following me in silence throughout the bridge. It was safe to assume that Blu told her something personal about me, as once again she was sneaking in a peek at me when she thought I wasn't looking. I have no idea what gossip Blu dropped on me, but the sudden intensity of 'curiosity', 'nervosity' and 'opportunity' was unmistakable. Guess she wanted to know more about me? "So," Olivia spoke up on the way, "You've been living here with your parents for a while?" Immediately I stopped to correct her, "Okay, first of all, not my parents. I am adopted." "Oh," Olivia paused, but then she immediately followed up, "But wouldn't that still make them your—" "No." I interrupted with a shake of my hoof, "It is an aunt and uncle respectively. Red and Blu are siblings, so if I suddenly started calling them ma and pa... things would get weird." Olivia nodded with a small 'oh', and resumed our walk towards the Plant. “Sorry, when I saw that all of you have white hides, I assumed…” “No problem," I waved her off, "I am still a relative, just not direct. White runs in our blood I guess.” Well, I was right that Olivia wanted to know more about me. Unfortunately, I couldn't exactly tell her the whole 'I am a Changeling' thing. This was pretty much the agreed upon lie we came up with, after a long discussion between, me, Red and Blu. Understandably, it was far more easier to explain I was a daughter of some dead relative halfway across the galaxy, than an alien shapeshifter with mind powers. Shame I need to throw bullshit around this topic. I can only imagine how she would react if she knew that am literally the living subject of the species she's been studying for years. A few steps later we arrived at an airlock of the looming structure, guarded by a segmented door and a panel, and I unceremoniously planted my hoof with the HoloPone on a nearby panel. *Whish* Eight segments of the entrance immediately folded to the sides, revealing a transparent shield that now replaced the door. I gestured Olivia to step through, and she did so with a quick comment. "Is this a decontamination chamber?" Olivia asked, looking at it. "Is it dangerous to go inside?" I shook my head, "Nah, it's just a pressure chamber. Our work is highly pressure sensitive. The outside pressure is often fluctuating even without us moving throughout the bridge, so we have to keep the inside-pressure constant." I then added, "It doesn't take much pressure difference between profit and an explosion!" "Oh." Olivia blinked after I stepped inside, watching the door behind us close instantly. "I see." *Whish* "And here is where the magic happens." I announced, leading the mare forwards. We came up upon a walkway with the sound of vibrating metal underneath our hooves. A railing kept us safe from the edge, with the walkway suspended over a decently sized hall, stretching horizontally to the other side. The insides of the Plant were built with power efficiency in mind. There were no grand energy gates active at all times for all drones that come charging through. Both ends of the hall simply had three small octagonal entries on the far walls, with a physical gate and energy field isolation to maintain the interior pressure. The drones then used one side of the hall to get in, and the other to get out. The Plant had sixty-four drone depots, though until now we could support only eight. Only one drone was currently docked, since there were so few available, it could take up to an hour before more returned. And so the hall was mostly silent, safe for a humming sound of that single dock as the high pressure Tibanna the drone gathered was funneled through pressurized pipes out into the floor. "Where is Bee-Zee?" Olivia asked, looking around. I pointed towards the floor, "He's downstairs monitoring for frost buildup on pipes. There is space for only one persone there, so we should wait. He should be up soon." "I see," Olivia replied and I caught her giving me a strange look. Immediately the mare feigned interest in the technology beneath us and sat down by the railing to get a better look below us. "So... What exactly are you doing here?" I followed her suit and also sat down next to her, while resting my forelegs, "Well, we mainly mine for Tibanna. Kitein is one of the rare gas giants whose atmosphere structure and density in the lower levels naturally supports and accumulates Tibanna." “Is it profitable?” Olivia asked, turning towards me, “Mining Tibanna I mean.” "Pfft! Is the sky blue?!" I exclaimed and shook my head, “The entire Kitein’s economy revolves around Tibanna! If you are not directly gathering Tibanna, then you make living off selling stuff for gathering Tibanna! Or teaching people how to mine Tibanna, or building farm units for people who want to mine Tibanna!” I waved with my hoof around the hallway, “Didn’t you see all the ads all over the city? ‘Buy coke today! Taste the refreshing beverage after your long day of Tibanna mining!’, ‘Running behind your Tibanna minimum quota? It’s time for an upgrade!’, and 'Not again! Hire a Hunter to protect your Tibanna!'” Olivia sulked down, “I suppose it was a silly question.” "Bah," I waved her off, "But to answer your question, it depends on what approach you take. You can be a proper farmer and go the natural way by cultivating Beldons and collecting the Tibanna they produce. It is by far the safest and you get a lot of benefits doing it, but it is a slow-burning process. Then there is the atmospheric condenser, which is a bit more pricier to setup and maintain, but allows you to passively gather Tibanna from the atmosphere. You probably already saw Thunderhead's atmospheric condensers, it's the massive pillars hanging from the city." That's when I waved towards the single drone in the hall, "And then there is the drone mining." The newer model MX-14 was a sleek spherical drone. There weren't any other marks on its hull, other than access panels and venting. It was basically just a remote-controlled floating tank, anything smarter would be too expensive to replace. As if on cue, the one occupied drone depot finished its emptying process, signalized by a loud 'clunk' and a sudden stop of the humming sound. BLARGH An alarm then went off with a red light surrounding the drone's resting place, indicating an imminent takeoff. In a quick succession, a door on the end of the hall opened, and the drone violently shot out of the depot, and then out of the Plant. Plunging the hall into silence once more. "Drone mining is by far the most profitable route, but also the most risky." I continued, "Basically we have a ton of expendable drones diving every day deep below into Kitein's red zone, where the Tibanna has accumulated on a thin layer over millions of years." "Then there is the question in how you package it." I continued, "Most tend to stuff it into carbon-freezed canisters and call it a day. We, however, go the extra mile and refine it into Tibanna's frozen form." I pointed down. "Below the floor is an entire refinery the Tibanna is pumped into and immediately condensed and frozen. It saves us a lot of space and carbonite import, and it increases the Tibanna's value by a lot." I then sighed, "But to get Tibanna into that state, you need to get through..." I shuddered, "Liquid Tibanna." Olivia gave me a look, "Is it dangerous?" She asked, "You have mentioned explosions..." "Definitely." I nodded, "I swear Liquid Tibanna just wants to explode. All it takes is a single light ray, sensor radiation, or a sudden pressure change. Sometimes, all you need to do is to look at it funny and the whole thing goes up in flames." At that, Olivia of course started glancing towards the floor nervously, as if expecting it to buckle up, "Tibanna really does that?" I lifted an eyebrow, "You don't know much about Tibanna, do you?" When I saw her shake her head, I grinned and looked towards a small elevator shaft that was leading down to the refinery. A red light was blinking on a panel above it, indicating that the refinery was currently in progress. "I suppose we have some time for a crash course." I finished and immediately fell into a lecture. "First of all, Tibanna is a gas that likes to do something we like to call 'Clumping'. If you mix two jars of Tibanna together under pressure, the resulting gas will be three times denser than the original mixture. Understandably, the denser the Tibanna, the more volatile it is, and the more are its secondary effects amplified." "In a gaseous form, Tibanna is the only known case of something called 'exponential-superconductor'. Basically, if you put Tibanna in a tube, put a laser pointer on one end and lense on the other..." I lifted up the hoof with my blaster pistol, "Congratulations! You made a laser blaster! Tibanna naturally amplifies any energy put into it, depending on its density. Now, there are of course other factors like burnout, shading, isolation, and focusing the resulting energy, as Tibanna amplifies everything, but that's the basic concept." "Tibanna is a catalyst, alone it is just a volatile gas, but it is a super powerful component when used in other stuff. Put enough Tibanna in a power generator, and you have a power generator that can power a city. Put enough Tibanna in a weapon, and you have a weapon that can blow up a city. Put enough Tibanna in a shield, and you have a shield that can withstand a city being blown up." I paused, "Put enough Tibanna in a matter-antimatter mixing chamber and you have a hyper-matter that pulls your starship throughout the galaxy!" "Oh..." Olivia stared down, feeling 'inadequate', "I see the 'space expert' claims were not exaggerated." At that I sheepishly scratched my head, "Well, it comes with the profession. And I can't help it! Tibanna is cool!" I could tell Olivia wasn't really interested in the topic, but... at the same time she was? Couldn't really decipher what was going through her head. She definitely wasn't bored, so I had to be doing something right. I waved with my hoof, "Anyway, you can imagine why Liquid Tibanna is a straight-up hell-spawn. It takes all the volatile parts of Tibanna and cranks them up on eleven. Worse yet, it has a tendency to condense on walls and just one day show up like a really ugly present." "Frozen Tibanna on the other side?" I suddenly pointed at the mare with my hoof, "That stuff is a miracle!" I then elaborated, "Frozen Tibanna is a recursive-insulator. Basically the exact opposite. It not only is the perfect universal coolant, but its also super stable. You can even leave it out on air and it will evaporate instead of melting into Liquid Tibanna. This stuff is literally sucking any energy out of the environment and evaporating in turn. Radiation, heat, this stuff is essential for compact generators." "Seems that you are quite passionate about Tibanna." Olivia noted with a smile. I shrugged, "It's the lifeblood of Kitein. It's hard not to be passionate about it. Plus, if you don't know the ins and outs of Tibanna, you are bound to blow up sooner or later." At that, a familiar sound of rolling elevator interrupted our conversation. I immediately turned towards the sound, and saw the familiar see-through cage ascending at the other side of the catwalk. "Ah, there he is!" I exclaimed and pointed out as the cage reached our level. The doors then opened to reveal a black droid stepping out. Olivia immediately jumped up, "Bee-Zee!" The droid in question turned towards us, and after a moment of its antennae twitching, he made his way across the catwalk. Bee-Zee's expression hasn't changed from the usual blank stare, however Olivia was certainly ecstatic to see him and met him half way. "Bee-Zee, we received your distress signal!" Olivia exclaimed, "What happened? Where is Princess Lavender?" Suddenly, the droid went up in flames. *WHOOSH* However, these flames had a familiar green tint to them. The same green tint of my own transformation. The moment the flames died down, a pony mare stood before us. Considering who this whole situation was about, I could safely assume who now stood before me. "Wh-" I started. "Aardvark of Terra," Princess Lavender interrupted, "You are my only hope."