In Space, We Don't Abandon Innocence

by David Silver

26 - Climbing Buddies

For all her initial hesitation, Dawning Star found scrambling over and under things to be surprisingly engaging. Dex had programmed up some jungle challenges that were physically demanding without being unsafe. North, being smaller, still managed to find the hardest ways through the programs. Dawning did her best to keep up with him, laughing along the way.

"Whew." Dawning flopped onto a fake fallen tree with a gasp of air. "Okay, North, you win. I can't climb anymore."

Dex wandered up behind her with a warm chuckle. "It's your first day. It takes practice. I bet you'll start beating both of us if you keep trying." He offered a hand to help her back to her feet.

Dawning accepted his help with a toothy smile. "Maybe so, maybe so. North sure has a lot of energy. Where does he get it all?"

North bounced in place. "For one, I'm still growing. It's almost cheating." He twirled left and right. "So when something would get sore, it gets replaced really fast. I'll finish growing pretty soon, then I'll have to work like everyone else, and get tired, like everyone else." He stuck his tongue out at the thought.

"Growing sucks," Dawning agreed with a slow nod. "All your scales itch, and you feel too big for everything. Ugh." She put her hands on her hips as she stood there. "I'm still growing too, must be why I kept ahead of Dex."

"Harsh." But he laughed at the antics of the two younger climbers. "But I don't think you're entirely wrong."

North flopped against Dawning's leg with a hug. "You're cool. We should hang out more." He smiled up at her brightly. "Right?"

Dawning Star reached down to rub North's head gently. "Huh, yeah, you seem cool enough." She pointed up at the top of a craggy hill. "Bet I could beat you to the top of that."

North perked sharply. "Betcha can't!" With that challenge laid down, he bolted towards the peak of the fake mountain.

Dawning dashed after him with a laugh. "Cheater!"

They climbed eagerly, hooves seeking purchases as draconic hands grabbed and pulled her along. Near the top, Dawning overtook North, scrambling up and onto the peak. "Ha! I win!" She straightened up with fists on her hips as she stood there proudly.

"Aww." North flopped on the top, reaching it moments later. "Nice job." He laughed as he rolled onto his back, hooves in the air. "Fun hike, Dad!"

Dex crested the hill, much slower than either of the younger sapients. "Glad you had fun." He was breathing harder from the climb, wiping sweat from his brow. "Thanks for coming with us, Dawning Star was it? You're a great climbing mate with North here."

Dawning sniffed. "Of course I am. Dragons are good climbers." She grinned at Dex before flopping down next to North. "Man, look at that fake sky. Such a pretty shade of green."

They all sat at the edge of that cliff, enjoying the alien, simulated, sky. Dex broke the silence after a few minutes of rest. "North, why don't you go find mom and see what she's up to?"

North Star bounced to his hooves, offering a hoof to Dawning. "Sure thing, Da! C'mon, Dawning. Mom likes showing me cool science things. It's fun."

Dawning hauled herself back to her feet with North's help. Together, they raced to the bottom, and out through an open archway that led quite abruptly out of the holographic room and into the rooms of the ship. North eagerly led the way through the hallways towards one of the science areas. "Mom!" He called ahead to a pony. "Da and Dawning came hiking with me."

Doctor Wind Whistler glanced up from her console at North and the dragon girl with him. "That's lovely, dear. Dawning Star? Pleasure to meet you." She trotted over with a soft smile.

Dawning Star saw through it. "Uh, your mom's kinda, you know." She reached out to poke at the mare. "You're a hologram."

Wind Whistler chuckled warmly. "Astute. Yes, I am a hologram, but I'm also Wind Whistler, Doctor of astrophysics." She offered a hoof for Dawning to shake. "North mentioned he made a new friend. Glad you joined him and his father on their hike."

Dawning shook the hoof with some clear confusion. "Hey, Miss Whistler. You're going to have to explain to me how a hologram is a mom to anything that isn't also a hologram though." She threw her hands up. "And how do humans have such good holograms! As much pride as I have in dragon stuff, our holograms are trash compared to this."

Wind Whistler lit up. "Would you like a science lesson? North loves when I show him how things work." She gestured towards a couch-like spot on the wall of the room, joining Dawning on it.

North leaped up next to Dawn and settled down. "She's right. I love it when she teaches things. She can make complicated things sound so simple!"

Wind Whistler glowed at that praise. "North is exaggerating. It is not a simple topic by any stretch." She spread her hooves in front of herself as a panel appeared before her. "One major difference in our holograms, especially that of living creatures, like ponies or humans, is that we don't program them."

Dawn hiked a scaled ridge at that. "How do you have programs you don't program?"

"Excellent question!" Wind clapped her hooves. "They start with actual minds, uploaded into a personality matrix, which is itself a feat of incredible software development. It evolves and adapts to the personality loaded into it, and can keep right on adjusting as it changes its own weightings and inclinations. It has all the benefits, and downfalls, a proper personality can have."

North leaned against Dawning gently. "Mom loves explaining all this stuff. Da doesn't get into the programming bits though. Mom likes science, Dad likes piloting."

Wind Whistler bobbed her head once. "I loved science when I was a breathing pony. Becoming a program didn't dim that at all. Now, as for how I'm the mother of this adorable colt." She reached over to ruffle North's mane. "That's thanks to a different program, a spell as Twilight puts it. Any two species can breed on this ship, if they want a child. The child simply comes into being. My being a hologram doesn't stop it."

Dawning squirmed slightly from her seat. "Twilight explained some of that already. So, North is half hologram?"

Wind Whistler didn't squirm in the slightest. "As a matter of fact, no. Well, are they my son? Of course! But if you dug into him and examined his genes, his code, there'd be no holographic bits in there. He's a pony. A pony with shared traits of me and his father, but 100% pony."

"Wow." Dawning Star leaned back in her seat with wide eyes. "Dragons aren't anywhere close to that kind of tech. Holograms we can do, sure, but not, just making babies happen!" She threw her arms wide. "The captain got all weird when I wanted to do it with him."

North lifted his brows sharply at that. "Wait, you wanted to what?"

Wind Whistler held a hoof over North's muzzle. "Hush now, Dawning wants to grow up. And, apparently, she feels ready to have a child of her own." She gently pressed a hoof to Dawning's snout. "But you're a child yourself, dear dragon."

Dawning slumped where she sat with a grumble. "Twilight said the same thing. Captain Roger, and Sunset Shimmer too." She rubbed her snout where Wind had touched it. "But isn't it my choice? Why's everyone so sure about what I do?"

Wind Whistler offered a soft, comforting, smile. "Captain Roger is older than you, in a different phase of his life. He also doesn't want to hurt you."

Dawning crossed her arms at that. "Dragons are tough. He should stop assuming I break that easily. Besides, this 'spell' of yours doesn't involve laying eggs anyway. Just, pop, hatchling, right?"

Wind Whistler levitated over a dataslate with North leaning closer to see it. "True enough. However, a spell can be cancelled, or interfered with. Twilight doesn't wish to see you having an egg you're not ready for, and Roger cares about you too much to agree to it."

"Ugh." Dawn leaned back against the wall. "I can handle a little hatchling. I don't see what the big deal is."

North put a hoof on Dawn's side gently. "It's not that simple." The colt inclined his head. "If you have a wyrmling, they'll grow fast, like me. they'll be about your age before you know it. Your son or daughter will be exactly your age. Imagine that."

Dawning slumped where she sat with a soulful sigh. "Ugh. Okay, I get it. Your 'spell' is strange. I just want a little baby wyrmling." She cradled the imagined infant. "I would love them, and they would make me a part of things, a real part."

Wind Whistler reached over to rub Dawning's arm. "You can become part of things without a child, dear. Roger is welcoming you, North likes you. Sunset as well, yes?"

Dawning slackened at that. "Well, yeah. Shoot, you've all been super nice so far." She squirmed in place. "I don't know why. Are humans and ponies just like this?"

North chuffed at her. "Mom's nice because she wants to be. Da's nice because he's my dad." He hugged Dawning gently. "Humans are pretty friendly too, some more than others."

Dawning huffed gently before she surrendered to the kindness that was being thrown at her. "Fine! Fine..." She pulled North up onto her lap, heavy as he was. "You are awfully cuddly."

North snuggled right into her grip with a laugh. "Da says I take after mom that way." He closed his eyes with a warm purr. "Dragons cuddle?"

Dawning shrugged loosely. "Actually, not as a habit. But, um, getting used to it." She dared to try a little nuzzle, only to learn that ponies were actually kind of nice to nuzzle. She nestled with her new friend for a long while.

Wind Whistler watched Dawning and North cuddle on the couch. "Adorable." She flashed Dawning a smile. "I should get back to work, but you're always welcome to come ask a question if you have one bouncing around. You're our child too, all of ours. As a young creature on our ship, it is all of our duty to help you how we can."

Dawning hunched where she sat with North in her lap. "Thanks. This is all still pretty sudden for me." She leaned forward enough to bump snouts with Wind. "Glad I've made some good friends so far."

North angled his ears at Dawning. "If the captain won't be yours, what if I was?" He flashed her a cheeky smile. "We could cuddle a lot!"

Wind Whistler moved in, separating the two sapients. "North, Dawning has plenty of time to find romance on this ship, or out there."

North pouted at being removed from cuddle time. "Aw! What'd I do wrong?"

Wind Whistler tutted North. "Nothing dear, but Dawning isn't interested in romance right now." She rubbed her son's head gently. "Be her friend first, hmm?"

Dawning pat North's flank gently. "Y-yeah." She didn't sound nearly as certain as Wind Whistler did. "Friends are nice. Say, North, wanna grab something to eat? All that hiking's worked up some hunger."

"Yes!" North raced for the exit. "You read my mind!" He galloped down the hallway towards the mess hall.

Dawning hustled after him. "North, wait up! Dragons are faster than ponies, I bet!"

Wind Whistler chuckled gently as she returned to her console. Work waited for no pony, not even a happy mother mare.

Author's Note:

Those two are quite adorable together.

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Comments

[Booster Spice]

I wonder what reentrant multithreaded code looks like for a herd species? Where the bits of personality matrices that are common between entities are reused just with different ID tagged surce and destination pointers? Then theres all the OOP hardware in CPUs which cache common code and scripts so they dont ahve to be computed every time?

Extreme example, when the ponies are in energy saving mode in the mess, they all sit the same way, all lift cups the same way, they all use the same animation, just with different colour pointers to the pallete?

Still, lots of chances for problems and intresting times to occur with a young dragon. Especially if when meeting other species by ship docking or planet orbiting, they are invited to meetings aboard the ship and the spell isnt filtered or disabled?

[Okie Brony]

🎶Welcome to the jungle,
We got fun and games.

North Star was adorable in this chapter.

Dawning seems to think that she's on the Love Boat.

Once the characters are mature enough, I will approve of this ship.

[PiMan]

Wait, I thought only main6+Sunset were converted minds, and that everyone else was a native hologram? Isn't that why we have so many known ponies?

[David Silver]

11937595
You are correct.

[David Silver]

11937595
Wait, sorry. They are the only ones of the original Equestrian ponies. There were ponies born on Earth.

[PiMan]

11937597
Then how do we get known ponies, like the CMC and other G4 ponies? If those ponies originally existed in Equestria, and they obviously didn't travel with Twilight or Sunset, then how do they now exist as holograms unless they were natively holograms? If not holograms first, it requires some magic shenanigans not previously addressed.

The only other thing I can think of would be that some ponies were born on Earth, then uploaded, while others were natively holograms.

[David Silver]

11937602
You are correct. Sunset managed to get to Earth, then uploaded. Twilight and the others of the Mane 6 arrived first, uploaded.
They uploaded memories of their old friends and family that grew and evolved over time to become pretty hard to tell apart from the naturally grown sorts.
And you had other ponies, born on Earth after Mane 6 got there, who later uploaded.

[Amethyst Dragonfly]

Did any humans upload themselves? If so, are any of them in this ship?

[David Silver]

11937732
So far, we've only seen Sunset Shimmer. The theories given don't seem to outright deny the possibility.