Overhead was a greenish blue mass that pulsated and flashed with inner lights. Sideralis stared upwards, peering at the blurry whatever it was up above him, his eyes wide with awe. Around him, on the deck, changelings paced and ponies stood guard. Sideralis had no idea what he was looking at. Around the deck were strange black growths, but they were too blurry to make out.

“Above you is the gasbag for The Ouroboros,” Stout said as she continued to hold Sideralis in a levitation field. “All biowaste goes into digesters and gets converted to a gas that keeps us afloat. He also needs love to keep him powered up.” Stout let out a soft giggle and turned Sideralis’ head so he could see two ponies kissing on deck.

“The Ouroboros started off as a famous airship. It was docked in Ponyville as part of the celebration for the Running of the Leaves. When Twilight made her retreat, she seized The Ouroboros and made her escape. It was intended to be a showpiece, not a functional airship. It was a flying hunk of junk. The hull was bad. The interior was bad. Everything was bad. The ship barely flew. It was overcrowded. It is said that Twilight Sparkle held the ship together by force of will.”

Sideralis blinked and tried to focus his eyes. The golden light made them burn, making the blurriness even worse.

“But The Ouroboros had a proud history. Somehow, he held himself together. Queen Chrysalis, who began to recover, grew stronger because of the love of the survivors. She hatched a plan…” Stout giggled at her own joke and watched as several pegasi came in for a landing. “Chrysalis, using her magic, and the love of the ponies around her, a love given to her freely, she hatched a special egg. She placed the egg on the bottom of The Ouroboros’ hull. It hatched after a time, made strong by our love. Black chiton began to grow around the hull. It took a while, but The Ouroboros grew.”

In the distance, Sideralis saw something white. He wondered if it was a cloud.

“In time, The Ouroboros grew in length and mass, becoming larger, and he started growing new facilities for the ponies living aboard. The first digesters began to appear, and he started taking over the failing, leaking gasbag. Spike the dragon had been working double time trying to keep the gasbag full of hot air. Twilight was recovering. The few unicorns that were capable of magic helped to keep the ship afloat during the transitional phase.”

Sideralis listened with rapt attention as he continued to peer at the world around him, acting very much like a newborn foal, which, in a sense, he was.

“While floating over the ocean, The Ouroboros was attacked by dragons and manticores under the influence of mind control parasites. There was a fierce battle and we almost lost. But the The Ouroboros surprised us. As a changeling, The Ouroboros changed it’s outward appearance, becoming a cloudbank. This, along with an impressive display of magic from Twilight and Chrysalis, allowed us to survive.”

Sideralis felt a breeze hit him, it ruffled his feathers and blew through his pelt. He tingled, never having felt this way before. He closed his eyes and gave up trying to see. He used his ears instead, because they were strong. He heard laughter. He heard happy sounds. Somewhere, in the distance, heard the sounds of what had to be foals playing.

“The Ouroboros, anticipating our needs, knowing that we needed to survive, began to grow weapons and defenses for itself. It is a living hive and every day, it changes just a little bit more. The original Ouroboros airship remains at the heart of The Ouroboros hive ship. That is where the hospital wing is, down in the central core, that is where your room is, and that is why everything is made of metal. But as you go further out, or go to the front or the back of the ship, you will see where the transition happens. The walls become black and you’ll start seeing veiny things along the walls. You should always respect The Ouroboros and treat him with kindness. Do no harm to him. He keeps us alive. He grows our food. He makes our water. He keeps us afloat and out of harm’s way. He protects us, and make no mistake, he loves us. Sometimes, when everybody aboard the ship is particularly loving, The Ouroboros will start singing. Nopony knows how he does it, but it sounds like whalesong. It’s beautiful. A lot of foals have been made to the sounds of whalesong.”

Somewhere, there were birds chirping. Sideralis felt happy to hear them. Something about that felt normal. He reasoned that there must be birds living on board The Ouroboros. The breeze picked up and he could feel his mane whipping around his face and neck. The breeze felt so strange. He had felt the breeze in the Unity Web, but this, this was different. This was real. He felt a strange prickle in his spine that traveled down his wings.

“Wow, he looks just like Luna,” a voice said.

Opening his eyes, Sideralis blinked. He was able to make out a vague white shape. She had a rough voice. It seemed as though his eyes had given up on focusing. He couldn’t see anything but smears.

“My name is Captain Blossomforth. You can call me Captain Blossomforth. I’ll probably be teaching you how to fly someday. You hurry up and get better… we need every able bodied pony and changeling we can muster.”

Blinking, Sideralis watched as the blur began to shrink, it seemed that Blossomforth was walking away from him. He glanced over at Stout, trying to see her. Her outline was fuzzed over so much that he could not make her out.

“Captain Blossomforth is a good trainer. She’s a little strict, but she needs to be. She’s actually very nice in private when she’s not on deck and expected to be in command. She’s a stern snuggler though, and committed to make ponies do their part to generate enough love.”

Something about Stout’s words got Sideralis’ attention. “Stern snuggler?”

“Well, there are mandatory cuddle times… we have to regenerate power sometimes, like when The Ouroboros has to do a lot of flying or maneuvering. Or after a battle when we need to heal damage and recharge our weapons. If Blossomforth ever grabs you, you’d better just let her hug you, otherwise, you’re due for a long, long, long lecture about the regulations and give and take.”

“I… I don’t even know what to say about that,” Sideralis said to his companion.

“Life here is different. We do what we have to for our survival. Chrysalis and our changeling friends need our love, so we give it, freely. I’m powered by love. All of my implants, all of my augmentations, everything that powers and enhances my combat chassis endoskeleton, all of that is powered by love. Without adequate love, I’m told I’ll begin to power down and lose function.” Stout cleared her throat. “I don’t like having a combat chassis endoskeleton. I don’t like violence. I don’t like being a prototype weapon, and I hope that I am never used for my destructive potential. Sacrifices had to be made. I had something to contribute though. We all do our part. When I gave myself over to the program, I got my cutie mark.”

“I can’t see it,” Sideralis said.

“It’s a pink heart with three interconnected cogs inside of it,” Stout replied.

“My cutie mark is a swirling vortex of stars.” Sideralis closed his eyes and heaved a contented sigh. He could feel the sun shining on him, and it felt good. He heard Stout’s breathing increase and his ears perked.

“Um, Sideralis…”

“Yeah?”

“You don’t have a cutie mark,” Stout whispered.

“What?” Sideralis opened his eyes and tried moving his head around, trying to see his own backside. He felt frantic, panicked, his cutie mark made him who and what he was. The stars gave him hope. The stars made him feel better. The stars were the things he talked to sometimes when he was in his most hopeless states. He squirmed and he struggled, floating in Stout’s levitation field, and a choking sob escaped his throat. He couldn’t even see his own back half.

“I’m sorry Sideralis… but… I don’t think your cutie mark ever existed. You’re blank back there,” Stout said as she levitated Sideralis closer. The magic field faded from around Sideralis, but not his IV bag or his food dispenser. Even though he was much larger, she held him up with ease, cradling his body and his neck in her forelegs. “I’m so sorry.”

Sideralis felt other warm bodies touching him. It both unnerved him and made him feel comforted at the same time. He felt more and more bodies pressing on him, and he realised he was in the middle of a massive group hug. He didn’t know how to feel about it. His ears twitched as he heard the soft murmurs, the voices of strangers, ponies he didn’t even know, all of whom were trying to comfort him, trying to make him feel loved.

It took him a moment, but he understood the necessity of what was happening. It was feeding time. An opportunity had presented itself and now there was a moment of shared love. Sideralis was bewildered from the experience, and like everything else, he was overwhelmed by this as well.

The only thing that worked well on Sideralis was his ears. He focused on the voices around him, the soft words of encouragement, of comfort, of kindness, the gentle words spoken to him to make him feel better. He could hear everything around him. He heard the gentle rustle of pelts rubbing together, the faint crackle of static electricity, and the sounds of the breeze.

There was also the sounds of whalesong, something that Sideralis somehow knew what it was without ever once hearing it. The Ouroboros was singing, and something about the sound made Sideralis feel better.

It felt good to be back in bed. It was nice to be back inside of the cramped hospital room, even though Sideralis could not say why. The lights were dim and it seemed that his eyes were recovering. He could almost make out his IV drip and the food dispenser that was connected to the tube going up his nose. Beside him, Stout lay in the bed, and she was rubbing his barrel with one of her hooves, making slow, lazy circles. He lay on his back and Stout lay on her side. She had one of his wings pinned up against his side, but his other wing was free. Sideralis felt it moving around a bit, quivering, almost as if it wanted to flap.

“Stout?” Sideralis, fearful, wanted to ask a question. There was something he needed to know.

“Hmm?”

He could feel her breathing on his neck. It caused a peculiar feeling of calm arousal. It was easy to be close to her. He didn’t feel feel awkward, self conscious, or weird about it, not any more. “Stout, was I born? Or am I artificial?” He heard Stout sigh and he wondered how much she knew about him.

“From what little we know, you were created with Luna’s genetic material and grown in a vat like all the others. There is a breeding facility in Canterlot. You were grown,” Stout replied.

“So I’m fake—”

“You shut your mouth!” Stout snapped.

“Why are you angry?” Sideralis cringed, but was unable to move away from his companion. She had stopped rubbing his barrel. He could feel her angry little snorts against his neck. The whole bed trembled as her body quivered. “What did I say? What did I do?”

“You’re not fake and I’m not either! We’re both still ponies, and if you ever, ever refer to yourself as being fake, or synthetic, or artificial ever again, I will kick you from one end of this ship to the other, do you understand me?”

“I’m sorry—”

“You better be!” Stout let out an angry nicker and then a contemptuous whinny. “Now be quiet and try to get some rest. You had a long day. A nap would do you good.”

“I really am sorry—”

“Stop your yappin’ and get to nappin’!” Stout barked.

Fearful that he had somehow hurt Stout, Sideralis lay there, now silent, wondering how to fix this. How to appease her anger. She was his companion. He depended on her for his care. He didn’t want her angry at him. He sighed, not knowing what to do. He closed his eyes.

As he thought about sleep, he felt Stout’s hoof resume making slow, lazy circles on his barrel.

Author's Notes:

You there! Drop and give me twenty snuggles!