Prologue: The Creation of the Grid
I finish typing the last bit of coding into the computer that is now the Grid.
"Twi, it's finally done." I tell the lavender unicorn, who is working on a potion on the other side of the basement.
"Hold on, I have just a few more things to do, then we'll see if it works." she replies.
"Well, it needs a few minutes to be ready, so I guess I can wait." I stand up from my personalized chair and walk over to the studious mare. I watch as she pours drops from one vile into another. She seems to be having trouble with a part that she can't use magic on, so I reach around her and help. I get one drop in before she nods. I put the other vile down then ask, "So, what are you making?"
"It is a potion to transform another living being into a pony, and it is extremely difficult to complete because I need a hair or tooth from the animal I want to transform." She sighs, but then asks, "Chase, would you like to become a pony?" I take a step back from her and put my hand on my chin.
"What type of pony would I become?"
"Well that depends on you. This potion allows the one using it to choose what type they become." I start to mull the idea of which pony I would want to become.
"Alright, I'll become a pony Twi." I tell her when I chose what I wanted to be. I pull a few loose strands of hair from my head and hold them out. Twi nods to the potion, so I drop them in. The potion turns from the dark blue it was, to a pure white.
"So, when will it be ready to drink?" I ask.
"Tomorrow." She answers, "So lets see if your computer works." we walk over to the massive computer. I sit on my chair and start typing the launch codes for the Grid. The screen lights up saying it is ready to receive players.
"Alright, all ready. If this works, I will go in first, all you have to do to follow is press the enter button twice." I tell Twilight as I hear the laser power up. I motion for Twilight to stand back. I then hit the enter button and get shot into the Grid. I wait for Twilight. She gets in after a couple moments.
"HA HA, it worked!" I shout into the dark sky. I take my hand and snap my fingers. A keyboard lights up in front of me. I start typing in codes for buildings and programs to live in them. After that was finished I start typing in codes for vehicles and weapons for the arena and recreational use. After the Grid's first city was complete, I pull a disk from my back. A screen pops up over the disk. I check how much time we have before the portal closes. Seeing that we have a few more micro cycles I put the disk back onto my back.
"So, anything you want to be here?" I ask Twi.
"Could you make me something to eat?" She asks. Now that I thought about it we hadn't eaten since breakfast.
"Yeah sure." I reply as I pull a baton from my leg. I Pull the baton into two pieces and watch as a two seated light runner puts itself together out of light. I pat the seat next to me and Twilight hops in. I start driving to a quiet dinner.
"So after we get something to eat how about we head over to the light cycle coarse and play a few rounds?" I ask itching to settle the score between me and Bizith, a program I created to be champion of the Light elimination race.
"I won't play, but I will watch." She tells me. "Oh and after can we go flying?" I chuckle at her knowing she is an aerial beauty.
"Yes, we can, but only if we race to the portal. We only have a few micro cycles left in here and it takes a couple to get there." She nods and I stop the runner as I pull up to the dinner. We both get out and I tap the runner's trans-shift button. The runner turns back into a baton and I place it on my thigh. We enter the dinner.
***
We leave the dinner and I assemble the light runner. We both hop in and I start driving to the arena.
"So what tactic are you going to use against Bizith?" asked Twilight.
"Well this time we're going to have two batons each, however the second baton is a light runner. So I will have the advantage when he gets me off the light cycle, also these are arena only runners so you lay on them like a light cycle."
"Well lets hope you two can finally settle the score."
"Oh, I'm definetly going to win this time." I say with a smirk. Twilight giggles as we pull into the arena.
"So, you want to sit in my box, or on the front row?" I ask as we get out of the light runner.
"Your box, it's more comfy." She answers as the light runner turns back into a baton.
"Of coarse it is. I made all the high power boxes like that, even if mine is more plush." I chuckle a little.
"Alright see you later Chase." She says heading to the elevator to my personal box above the arena seating. I just wave heading into the armory.
I enter the main armory and head strait to my personal room. Once inside I'm greeted by the program named BFW, which stands for big fucking weapons, who smiles and asks, "What will you have this time?"
"A standerd set of my armor and to batons, one a light cycle, and the other is this." I answer as I pull out my disk and show him the design of the custom arena only light runner. BFW smirks and walks into the back room returning with the equipment I wanted.
"Thanks, oh, and make sure Bizith gets the same two batons." I tell BFW as I shed my light robe and don my armor.
"I hope you win, Chase. Bizith has to many trophies." He chuckles and I join him.
"Oh *chuckle* don't worry, with this baby I'm sure to win." I wave as I exit the armory and head to the arena entrance.
"light cycle battle begin." I hear the arena's VI call out. I start running, jump, and pull the light cycle baton appart, creating the cycle under me. I land the cycle and speed into the arena. As soon as I enter the arena floor, my light cycle starts it's light ribbon. My ribbon's color is a deep purple, as is my clothing color.
I see the green light ribbon of Bizith's light cycle and prepare for our battle. I Drive up next to Bizith and he asks, "You ready to be beaten?" I just smirk and ask, "You have both batons?" He nods and we sepparate. I speed ahead and make a sharp right turn. Bizith just easily dogdes the ribbon. Bizith speeds infront of me, and does a drifting u-turn. He speeds back past me on the other side of me. I swear under my breath and jump off of my cycle. I went over the green light ribbon as my cycle crashes into the wall destroying itself in a wave of small purple cubes. I land and roll on the other side of the ribbon. I stand up and start running, jump and pull apart the light runner batton. I land in the custom runner and accelerate to a speed three times faster then a light cycle could acheive. I speed past Bizith and drift around him as he had done to me. I then slow down and look back to see that he had survived his own trick. I smirk and pull out my disk, driving the runner with one hand, and speed up to the side of Bizith. As I pass by, I angle my disk, and cut right through the side of his cycle. I then drift in a complete 180 degree turn and speed right back passed Bizith, cutting right through his cycle once more. I hear his cycle crash, but then I hear his scream. I stop the runner and look back to see one of Bizith's legs got derezed. I drive up next to him, get off of my runner and kneel next to him.
"Hand me your disk, and I can get your leg back." I tell him holding out my hand. He quickly pulls his disk off of his back, placing it into my hand. I immeadeatly get to work. I use the display on the disk to zoom in on the damage coding. I spot the damaged code and pluck it strait from the disk. I then replace the disk to his back. After the disk loads the new data, his leg slowly rebuilds itself. After his leg is finished building itself I hold out my hand. Bizith grabs it and I pull him up onto his feet.
"Sorry about that big guy." I tell him.
"Hey no problem Chase. I think you won this round, but I'll want a rematch later." We both chuckle at this comment.
"Winner, creator Chase." anounces the stadium VI.
"Arena, how much time until the portal closes?" I ask the arena VI.
"Three micro-cycles." The VI replies. I swear under my breath and say, "Arena prepare two Light jet speeders with light boosters, also bring user Twilight Sparkle next to me." The Arena VI complies and Twilight apears next to me along with two light jets.
"Chase, what's wrong?" asks Twilight.
"We're almost out of time Twilight. We need to get to the portal in under an hour." I tell her as I get on my light jet. She hops onto hers, and it shift to fit her form. I power up my jet, Twilight doing the same. I launch into the sky, with Twilight right behind me. She flies up next to me and I nod. We both, at the same time, activate the boosters, surpassing mach four in under ten seconds. The light jets shudder under the speed until the wings ajust. When the wings are in place we both activate the second pair of boosters, topping our speed at mach seven. I can see the portal getting closer by the second.
***
Twilight and I make it to the portal with five minutes to spare. When we land the jets and they derez themselves as they were made to do. Twilight and I enter the portal. I pull my disk from my back. A slot opens on the ground, and I push my disk into the slot slowly. Once it is inside the slot I stand. The portal VI apears in front of my saying, "We all hope you return soon, Creator Chase." I nod and look up to the exit of the grid. Twilight does the same, and we find ourselves back in the basement of the library.
Chapter 1: Transformation
Twilight and I sit down on the couch in the basement of the Library.
"Either the laser needs a larger power sorce, some one opens the portal later for us from out here, or we only visit for three cycles at a time." I say aloud.
"Well Spike could open the portal for us if needed, but I think I could make a much larger power sorce." says Twilight. I stand up and walk over to the potion that was made for me.
"Is the potion ready to drink?" I ask.
"How long were we in the grid?" asks Twilight.
"Well the portal stays open for seven cycles right now so... about a day and three hours." I reply.
"Then yes it's ready." I pick up the potion, focusing on the form I want to have. Twilight nods so I down the whole thing. Orbs of dark purple, blue, and white light, come out of my body, and start to revolve around me. Eventualy there are so many orbs revovling around me at such a high speed that I can't see anything else but a wall of purple, blue and white. The orbs start shooting into my body and I start to glow a blinding white. after all the orbs were absorbed into my body, and the light died out, I look at Twilight, seeing her jaw hanging open in a look of pure awe. I chuckle with my new voice. I am shocked to hear how deep it became.
"Chase, how did you become an Alicorn? The potion only allows the user to become an earth pony, pegasus, or unicorn." says Twilight, still awe struck at my new apearance.
"Wait, I wasn't supose to be able to turn into an alicorn?" I ask. She shakes her head and says, "Come upstairs, we have to report this to the Princess." I nod and atempt to take a step forward. However, me not being use to walking on all fours, resulted in me collapsing to the ground. I try to stand, but end up falling again. I try once more and manage to stand up. I take a slow step forward, then another, and another before I am walking regularly. We both make it upstairs and Twilight picks up a peice of parchment, a quill, and an ink well, and begins to write her letter to Princess Celestia. She spoke what she wrote, as she wrote it, saying, " Dear Princess Celestia, Chase, the human, has been transformed into an Alicorn by a transformation potion that was only suppose to make him into an earth, pegasi, or unicorn pony. I will wait for your instuction on what to do next. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle." Twilight rolls up the parchment, tying a ribbon around it. She then calls out to Spike, who walks down the stairs from his and Twilights bedroom, grumbling about how late it was. I look out a window to see that it was indeed night time.
"Spike, I need you to send this to the princess imeadeatly." says Twilight.
"I don't think it is very kind to wake up Celestia in the middle of the night Twilight." says Spike before he looks at me. His eyes widden before I say, "Calm down Spike, it's me Chase."
"Is this what the letter is about?" Asks Spike. I nod and he takes the scroll from Twilight. He walks over to a window, opens it, and sends the scroll off in a puff of green smoke. After a few moments, a bright flash is seen, and when it fades, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna are standing in the middle of the library.
"Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student, will you please explain how Chase turned into an Alicorn?" asks Celestia. Twilight nods.
"Well, I was making the potion for the assignment you gave me, but noticed that it required a strand of hair, or a tooth for it to be complete. I asked Chase if he would like to be a pony, he said yes, and after our trip into the grid, he drank the potion, then this happens." Says Twilight. Celestia looks to be in thought before she looks at me.
"Chase, did you have the intention of becoming and Alicorn?"
"No, just a unicorn princess."
"I am curious as to what this 'grid' is that Twilight spoke of." states Princess Luna.
"Well Chase, while I speak with Twilight will you explain this 'grid' to Luna?" asks Celestia. I nod and motion for Princess Luna to follow me. She follows me down to the basement. I walk up to the computer and start ckecking if everthing is ready for another use.
"So, Chase, what is this machine?" asks Luna. I look at her, and she is looking at the laser.
"That is the laser to get you inside of the grid." I answer. I look back at the computer screen to see that everything is ready. I power up the laser.
"What are you doing Chase?" asks Luna.
"The grid is one of the hardest things to explain, so I am going to show it to you." I answer.
"Oh, and how will you do that?"
"Hold on for a moment." I tell her as I walk back up to the door into the main library.
"Twilight, I'm going to show Luna the grid. If Celestia would like to see it too, you know how to get in." I call up the rest of the stairs.
"See you soon then." I hear back. I nod and head back the computer.
"Okay Luna, This machine is called a computer, and in this computer is an artificial world I created. The laser is what gets you in and out of the world. So don't be alarmed when you appear in a different building. Just wait a few moments, and I will be there soon." I tell Luna.
"Ok, but how do I get in?" She asks. I chuckle and wave her over to me.
"You see the button that says 'enter' on it?" I ask. She nods her head.
"So all you have to do is stand where I am and tap that button." I tell her, stepping to the side. She moves to where I was and hits the enter button. The laser fires a grid pattern onto her body, then scans it into the computer. After a few moments the screen reads 'Ready' on it, so I move into position and hit the enter button.
I appear in a room right next to Luna who jumps away from me.
"Welcome back creator Chase." says the grid's VI.
"Good to be back, GVI." I answer.
"Welcome user Princess Luna."
"Chase who is that?" asks Luna.
"GVI?" I ask the VI.
"User Princess Luna, I am the Grid's virtual intelegence programed by the creator, Chase." says GVI.
"Oh, well its nice to meet you." says Luna.
"Creator Chase, you have a new appearance. Would you like me to make the programs into a new form?" asks GVI.
"Yes, but, let me show you the forms I want."
"Ready to recieve data." I tap my hoof on the floor and a screen appears in front of me. I make the basic shapes for all three pony species for the males and females. I then hit the enter button, and the screen disapears.
"Data recieved, configuring now." says GVI. The grid turns fuzzy for a moment before it solidifies once more.
"Configuration complete."
"Good, prepare my light runner in front of the building."
"Done."
"Oh, GVI, If user Twilight Sparkle, and User Princess Celestia enter the grid, inform me."
"Very well Chase." I nod and motion for Luna to follow me.
Luna and I exit the building to see my light runner.
"Chase." says Luna. I look at her, "Why do you look similar to me in your Alicorn form?"
"What?" I ask as I stomp the ground to get a mirror to slide up out of the ground to see myself.
I see that my coat is a dark blue, my mane a flowing black mass, my wings have black tips, and my eyes are softly glowing blue.
"Well then. I guess I got one thing I wanted." I say as the mirror slides back under ground.
"And what did you want?" asks Luna.
"My glowing eyes. I was always told my eyes glow, but they never really, so I made that a fact. As to why I look like you, I have no clue."
"So, what is this machine?" asks Luna looking at the Light Runner.
"That is a light runner. It is a machine that uses light to move." I say as I step into the runner waiting for it to morph to my new shape.
"Wait your going to use it?"
"It's the only way to see the grid. So come on Princess, we're burning cycle time."
"What is a cycle?" asks Luna as she catiously gets into the light runner.
"A cycle is like a day inside the grid, but only four hours pass outside the grid for every one cycle." I answer as I start to head to the central tower of the grid. The central tower holds my living quarters on the top floor. As I'm driving on the light-way to the tower a light cycle, with it's light ribbon active, cuts across in front of me. I easily maneuver around the light ribbon. I start seearching for the program that did that. I slow the light runner to a stop and get out. I tap my hoove and a screen appears in front of me. I start typing on the screen and soon my light runner derezess itself. I then contiue typing until a light chopper rezzess itself where the runner was.
"Chase what was that?" asks Luna Looking at me with worry.
"That was a rouge program. A rouge program is a program that has bypassed it's coding, making it an artificial inteligence." I say as I step into the light chopper, "Now come, my tower has guards that can protect you."
"What is an artificial intelegence?" asks Luna as she steps onto the light chopper. I take a seat in the pilots chair and power up the rotors.
"An artificial intelegence is a machine that has gained a consience of it's own. They are very dangerous since they are basically a child with a gun." I tell her as the chopper starts to lift into the air.
"So, what do we do now?" asks Luna as she sits next to me in the co-pilot seat.
"We head to my tower and inform GVI. She will take care of the rouge program." I push the joystick of the chopper forward, making the chopper lean forward, and start heading to my tower. We made it there without insident. I landed the chopper on the helipad that I had on my tower. Luna exits the light chopper, and I do the same. The chopper derezzes itself, and we head inside.
"Welcome home creator Chase." says GVI.
"Chase, I thimk you should make a new name for yourself. Your current one doesn't fit your body." Luna tells me. I walk over to a screen.
"Hmm, you're right." I say as the screen lights up, "GVI any suggestions for a new name based from my apperance?" I ask. The screen shows the form of a bright blue pony.
"I have four names." She replies. I nod.
"Well let's hear them." The screen flickers fr a moment befor the names popped up.
"Lunar, Artermis, Cosmic, or Dread. What do you think Luna? Do any of these names fit me?" I ask her.
"I think the name Artermis suits you the best." She tells me.
"I thought so as well. GVI new name enterance for Creator Chase. New name os Artermis." I tell the VI.
"New name comfirmed. Creator Artermis, the name has been writen into my programing."
"Good, GVI I need you to run a scan for any rouge programs in the grid."
"Scan initiated. Guards activated."
"Good. When user Twilight, and user Princess Celestia enter the grid transport them here through the light chopper." I tell GVI.
"Understood." She replies, "Creator Artermis, would you like refreshments?"
"Yes, thank you GVI, and provide some for user Princess Luna as well."
"Acknowledged." I walt over to my big pillow of a seat, and lay down on it. I fold my wings up to my sides, and rest for a few seconds.
"Chase, I mean Artermis, how do we eat or drink in the grid?"
"GVI, inform Luna of anything she wishes to know about the grid. No access to the programing though." I tell my VI.
"Understood, User Princess Luna. Please follow the floor lighting into the holo-video room." I just lie my head down on the pillow and take a nap.
Meanwhile with Twilight.
Twilight was trying her best to find a reason as to why Chase turned into an alicorn. She was searching through her books with haste, searching at max speed while Celestia watched with amusement.
Eventually Twilight got too frustrated to continue, and actually, for once, put all the books back in place.
“I can’t find the reason.” Twilight says as she turns to Celestia.
“I didn’t think you would.” Celestia tells her as she walks over to her student, “You won’t find the reason because this is the first time something like this has happened.” Twilight calms a bit from these words.
“Then how do we know what happened?” Twilight asks with hope in her eyes.
“We don’t. Some things are just meant to happen sometimes my faithful student. Whether or not there is a reason for why it turned out that way.” Celestia tells her.
“Does that mean Chase was meant to be an alicorn as his destiny?” Twilight asks with a tilt of her head.
“Yes. I believe he has something very important to do in this world of ours.” Celestia says as she nuzzles her young protégé.
“So,” Celestia says as she stands tall, “let’s go see this grid that he has made.” These words brought a smile to Twilights face, and she nods quickly.
“You are going to love it in there. He made a whole world inside that computer of his.” Twilight informs as they descend to the basement of the library.
“How did he make a whole world in this small of a space?” Celestia asks as she eyes the electronic equipment that Twilight brought her to.
“He says it is the peak of technology from his world that he created while there. This is the container of a virtual world that he can do whatever he wants in, but only he can be basically a god there.” Twilight says as she looks over the screen to see if it is ready to bring them in. She nods with a small smile as she see the blue word ‘READY’ blinking on the screen.
“Okay Princess, a few seconds after I go in, you need to press the enter button twice to follow.” Twilight tells the ruler of the sun as she points to the enter button. The button itself was big enough that a pony that isn’t a unicorn could press it easily with their hoof.
“You need to stand right where I am after I’m inside. I need you to also stand out of the laser’s path so we don’t get hurt.” Twilight says as she looks over small bits of information that are scrolling down the screen.
“I understand.” Celestia says as she steps a few feet to the side. Twilight nods as she presses enter once, and Celestia jumps as the laser prepares to fire.
“Here I go.” Twilight says as she taps the enter button again, and gets shot into the grid.
Celestia is shocked at how painful it looked. Curious, and scared that her student is dead, she walks into the exact spot Twilight was standing in a few seconds ago, and taps the enter button. The laser hums to life once more and Celestia hesitantly taps the button once more.
With Artermis in his tower
“Creator Artermis, user Twilight Sparkle, and user Princess Celestia have entered the grid.” GVI says as I am woken from my nap.
“Okay, send a message to Twilight’s disk.” I say as I stand up, and stay still as I become light headed from moving too quickly.
“What should the message say?” GVI asks.
“It should say ‘Twilight, it is me Chase. A rouge program is on the loose, I’m having GVI send you a light chopper. Bring Celestia to my tower, and avoid any program that you see. I wish you a safe flight.’” I say as though I were actually talking to her.
“GVI, where is Princess Luna?” I ask as I slowly make my way to a tray that had a glass of water on it.
“She asked to go to the roof; would you like to see her?” GVI asks.
“Yes, but don’t tell her I’m coming.” I say as I somehow managed to pick up the glass with my hoof, and drink it.
“Understood. Incoming message from user Twilight Sparkle.” GVI says.
“Let me hear it.” I reply. I then hear Twilights voice come through GVI’s speakers.
“Chase, we are on our way to you. Celestia is nervous of the grid, but I can get her to your tower. We’ll see you soon. End of message.” GVI finishes.
“Alright, put it in the archives, and bring the elevator to this floor.” I reply as I head to the elevator doors. They open, and I step in.
“Take me to the roof.” I say aloud, and the elevator moves. It only took a few seconds of waiting since my penthouse was the second from the top floor.
The doors open, and I walk out to see Luna looking out over the expanse of the grid. I walk up to her side, and look over my world.
“How did you do it?” I hear Luna asks.
“How did I do what?” I ask to her, slightly confused on what she was asking about.
“How did you make your own world? How did all of this come to be?” She asks once more as she waves her left hoof over the Grid.
“I did it with my knowledge, and also with the help of friends. Humans can do most anything if they stay determined.” I reply as I look over the various areas of the grid.
“You did the impossible with a hunk of machine that didn’t even exist in our world before you came along.” She says as she continues looking out over the grid.
“I did what I do best. I create worlds, and I make them work like a real world, with real people. These programs you hear me talk about are virtual intelligences that I have created to fill this world. I consider this world a piece of my own home world.” I say as I spot the light chopper that Twilight was flying to us.
“I don’t understand.” Luna replies.
“This is what I have left of my world. Think about it. I no longer have any of my past belongings. I don’t have a family in Equestria, and my human body is now this. Luna, I’m trying not to forget my past. I don’t want to forget about my world. I don’t want to forget her.” I say as I remember my fiancé back on Earth.
She was a beautiful woman, and could bring a smile to anyone’s face just by being in the room. She was the one in my life until the mercenaries came, and took her from me forever. After that I was a broken man. Depression took control of my life, and I could no longer see a reason to continue with it.
The only thing that stopped me was the accident that brought me into Equestria. It was Twilight and her friends that saved me from my depression, and gave me a new meaning for life.
“You miss her, don’t you?” Luna asks with a monotonous voice. I just nod as I shed one single tear.
“Yes, and I will never stop missing her.” I say as I force my sadness back as I could hear Twilight’s light chopper nearing us.
“I assume this is Twilight Sparkle, and my sister that are coming to the tower?” Luna asks me as she spots the chopper flying towards us. I just nod, and wave to Twilight, and then point to the secondary landing pad. The chopper in response sways to the secondary, and slowly lands.
Luna and I walk over to the chopper, and wait outside of the rotor zone for the two to get out. Twilight powers the chopper down, and Celestia rushes out to her sister.
I then notice that Celestia’s mane is bright sparkly pink, and hangs down like normal hair.
“Sister, what is wrong?” Luna asks as she catches her sister in an embrace.
“I can’t feel the sun.” I hear her say in a shaky and fearful voice. Luna looks to me with pleading eyes. I nod, and look to Twilight.
“Come help me.” I tell her. She nods back to me, and we head into my tower.
“Take me to the creation floor.” I say as we enter the elevator. The doors close, and the elevator descends rapidly to the fifth basement level.
As the elevator slowly comes to a stop, I look to Twilight.
“What is wrong with Celestia?” I ask her as we walk into the creation floor.
“She is worried that she is going to lose her magic if she stays in here too long, but I think there is a way to fix that.” She replies. I nod, and look into the dark room.
“CVI, power up the creation floor.” I call out into the room. Screens of all sizes light up the giant single room, and the floor panels glow a dim grey.
“Creator Artermis, what will you be making this cycle?” The deep robotic voice of the Creation Virtual Intelligence asks.
“User Twilight will be creating something, and you will give her full access to all codes, and programs.” I reply.
“Understood, updating user Twilight Sparkle’s status. Status updated, welcome creator Twilight Sparkle.” CVI replies.
“You didn’t have to do that Chase.” Twilight tells me, “Besides, I’m going to need your help if I’m going to get this idea to work.” She tells me.
“And what is this idea you have?” I ask her.
“We need to create a sun, and moon for the grid.” She replies, “That way the Princesses will feel more comfortable here.”
“I think I can do that.” I tell her as I bring a hoof to my chin.
“CVI, bring up the map of the grid.” I say as I walk into the center of the room.
A scale version of the grid slowly makes itself from light, and places itself in front of me.
“Good, now make it into a globe with this city at the equator.” I tell the VI.
“Configuring… configuration complete.” CVI replies.
“Great.” I say as the grid slowly morphs into a planet.
“Alright Twilight, just tell CVI what to do, and it will try to do as you requested.” I tell her. She nods, and I step back to let CVI know that Twilight is now in control.
“One thing before you start though. Don’t make an actual star; just make it look like there is a star orbiting the grid.” I tell her. She nods, and looks back to the globe that is the grid.
“CVI, create a moon that perfectly orbits the grid about two thousand, and five hundred miles away, and has a diameter of two thousand, and sixty one miles.” Twilight tells the CVI.
“Creating… attempt one failed… attempt two failed… attempt three failed… attempt four is successful.” CVI says as it searches for the best solution to what Twilight wanted. The grid blurs slightly before it clears, and a moon is visible on the scale model of the grid space.
“Great, now this may be difficult, but I need you to create a fake start that never runs out of fuel, and only produces light. It needs to be about ninety three million miles away, and have a diameter of eight hundred, sixty four thousand, three hundred and twenty eight miles.” Twilight tells the CVI.
“Attempting creation… attempt one failed… attempt two failed… attempt three failed… attempt four failed… attempt five failed… attempt six failed… attempt seven failed… attempt eight failed… attempt nine is successful.” CVI says. I let out a breathe and watch my grid blur and clear. I step up next to Twilight.
“CVI, tell GVI to bring the users Celestia, and Luna down to this floor.” I tell the CVI.
“They are on their way now.” It replies.
After a few moments the elevator doors open up, and the two celestial princesses come out, and up to me. Celestia looks even worse than before, and Luna looks worriedly at me.
“Celestia, I have a way to fix your problem, but I need both of your help to do it.” I say as I wave a hoof over to a wall, and a machine slides out of it.
“I have created a sun and moon for you both to raise and lower inside of the grid, but CVI, or the Creation Virtual Intelligence, needs to know your magic wave length to allow this.” I tell them as I wave them over to the machine.
“So what do we do?” Luna asks. I point to the magic wave length recorder.
“I need you to put your horns into this machine, and use the spell that you want to raise and lower the sun and moon with. It has two holes, and your cutie marks will be over the hole that you will use.” I tell them.
“Let’s get this done.” Celestia says as she walks rather quickly over to her side of the machine. Luna does the same, albeit to her side.
“CVI, prepare to receive wave lengths.” I say as Celestia and Luna put their horns into the machines.
“I am ready to receive the data.” CVI replies. I nod to both Princesses, and the ends of their horns light up in their respected colors. I see the machine reading the data at a lightning fast pace, and then say it has enough data.
“Data received.” CVI says. I nod to both Princesses, and they stop their spells before they pull out of the machine.
“CVI, I want you to make it so that whenever these specific wave lengths are used inside the grid the sun and moon will set and raise, and vice versa.” I say as I wave them over to the scale model of the grid.
“Attempting order… order succeeded on first try.” CVI reports back.
“Good, now Princesses, use the same spell, and it should make the two bodies move.” I say as I watch the model.
I see the glow come from their horns as they do the spell again, and smile as the two bodies move in the model, and when the screens on the walls get brighter.
“Data is secured, and rectified.” CVI tells me.
“Good, power down the creation room, and summon the elevator.” I say as I head back to the elevator doors.
“Until you return Creator Artermis, and Creator Twilight Sparkle.” CVI says as screens shut down, and the model disappears. The elevator doors open, and we all get into it. The doors close.
“Take us to my floor.” I say as soon as the doors were shut. The elevator takes us up my tower rather swiftly, and deposits us all on my penthouse floor.
We all walk out and over to the window that surrounds the floor. Celestia sighs as her sun in visible in the east horizon of the grid.
“Is this better Celestia?” I ask as I head into the kitchen area.
“Yes, thank you Chase.” She tells me with a smile. I open the fridge, and pull out a few glasses of water, and set them on the counter.
“I am glad I made the grid comfortable.” I tell her.
“Not only that, but you managed to give me a connection to the actual sun through your computer. I hope that last word is correct.” She says with a smile. I smirk, and see that the sun moves a tad faster than the real sun. I just look back to the glasses before I look at my hooves.
“Uh Twilight, how do I use telekinesis?” I ask as I look at the glass of water. She looks to me, and sees what I’m having trouble with.
“You have to think that you are moving the glass with a spare limb that is as gentle as possible.” She tells me as she levitates a glass from the counter over to her, and takes a sip.
I look back to my glass, and start to think of an extra limb like she told me to, and end up thinking of a stretchy arm. I made the ethereal arm gently grasp the glass, and brought it up to my lips. Right before I take a sip the glass shatters, and the water falls to the floor with a splash.
The three mares giggle, and I sigh. A little robot cube comes out of the wall, and cleans up the mess I made before disappearing back into the wall.
“Well, that was convenient.” Celestia says as she watched the robot do its job. I chuckle at this, and walk over to my giant pillow.
“Creator Artermis, the rouge programs have been captured, and the guards await commands.” CVI says after a sat down on the pillow.
“Bring them to me with two guards per program.” I say as I lay the rest of the way down.
“Understood.” She replies. The elevator started to hum, letting me know that the programs, and guards, were on their way up.
“CVI, get me a light pistol.” I say aloud before the elevator doors open. In response to my command a light pistol rezzess itself onto my counter. It was the same shape as a regular pistol from my home world, but it was modified to fire very concentrated bolts of light.
“Creator, these are the programs Insumo, and Durina.” The red lighted guards say as they shove the two programs into my home. Insumo is male, and Durina was female. I knew them as the two mechanics in the lower grid area. They were the only mechanics that could create light vehicles from scratch.
“Seriously you two, why are have you gone rouge?” I ask the two pony programs. Durina’s light was deep blue while her husband’s was pure white.
“You think you can keep us all locked in here? In this virtual world of yours?” Insumo asks. I groan as this was the only reason programs went rogue.
“All programs know that it is against the laws of both worlds that none may leave without my permission, and the extra resources on the other side of the portal. All programs have to wait until I have the resources to create you all in the real world. You all know this.” I tell him. He spits at me, and I narrow my eyes at him.
“Durina, do you have anything to say? Perhaps a reason for me to keep you both here in this part of the grid as you both know what happens to rogue programs.” I ask the female.
“I want to be repurposed.” She tells me. This catches my attention as this was the first reason to not be to leave the grid.
“To what do you wish to be repurposed?” I ask her. She looks at me with lustful eyes.
“I overwrote my programming when you changed the appearance of all programs to match your own. I want to be repurposed as what you want in a person, not a program.” She tells me.
It was then that Insumo lunged at me. I dodged easily, and shot him in the head with my light pistol without hesitation. He derezed into many little white cubes before they deleted themselves from the grid.
“Program Insumo has been deleted from the grid.” GVI tells me. I then set my light pistol down on the counter, and look at the other program in my presence. I got right into her face, and look her in the eye. I couldn’t see any lie inside of them. I sigh as I back away from Durina.
“GVI, summon the elevator, and awaken CVI once again.” I say with a dejected sigh. The elevator opens, and I step inside as I motion for the Program to do so as well. I then look to the guards, and dismiss them with a wave of my hoof. The elevator then began its decent to the lowest level of my tower.
“Tell me Durina, why do you want to be repurposed?” I ask the program next to me. She looks to me with longing in her eyes, and then I see a hint of a blush behind her amber coat.
“I had come to not love my husband, and when he went rogue I saw it as an opportunity to be repurposed into what I want to be.” She tells me.
“And what do you want to be?” I ask her.
“I want to be the portal guardian, but I want to keep my AI status.” She tells me with a quiet voice. I thought about this for a few seconds, and came to the idea, that a guardian for the portal could be useful in case a crisis occurred within the grid, and I needed to protect the outer world.
The doors to the elevator open, and I stepped onto the creation floor once again.
“This is where the core of the grid is, and it is the only place I can reprogram anything. CVI make you known.” I say aloud as Durina follows me into the room.
A large circular panel slides apart at the center of the floor, and the core of the grid is elevated into the room. The core was a completely black cylinder with a large red lens on one side that let it see.
“Creator Artermis, you have returned with the rogue program Durina. Is there something different about this one?” The core or CVI asks. The light in the lens pulses as CVI speaks.
“Yes, she is to be repurposed without derezzing.” I tell it. The red light dims for a few seconds as though it were in thought before it brightens back again.
“Awaiting your request Creator Artermis.” It tells me. I nod as I walk forward.
“Return to your vault and we will get started.” I tell it. The core descends back into its hole, and the panel replaces itself before a machine descends from the ceiling.
“Durina, I am going to change a lot about you. You will keep your attitude and memories, but you will have a new name, and a new appearance, as well as a different body.” I tell her as I motion her to come up next to me. I smile to her, and she smiles back.
“Your disk please.” I say as a tray pops out of the machine in front of us.
She reaches back to her flank, and pulls the disk off of its holder before placing it on the tray. The tray slides back into the machine before a hologram of Durina is show in front of me. I got to work on her form first.
I changed her back into a human, and started to change her features into a soldier that could hold against anything. She had heavy armor that was light as aluminum tinfoil. She had muscle augmentations that allowed super strength, but I also planted a failsafe inside of her. It was an instant derez syndrome that would activate if she betrayed the duties I gave her.
I then went into her VDNA. I moved a few things around so that if she ever had children that they would be normal programs that didn’t have her augmentations. I then made her AI awareness permanent, and then solidified it all back into her disk.
“CVI Create a new disk structure for Durina so that she may be renamed but put all the data, save for her name, on her current disk onto the new one.” I tell CVI as I finish tinkering. I hear a robotic growl and turn to see that Durina had wandered off over to one of the data screens, and touched it. She was now restrained to the ground with light cannons pointed at her prepped for firing.
“Put the guns away CVI.” I say as I walk over to Durina.
“Now what did you do?” I ask her. She smirks at me with an evil gleam in her eyes.
“Your princesses will know soon enough.” She tells me before she derezess herself. I turn to the core vault as it opens and CVI elevates out of it.
“C-c-c-creat-t-t-tor. You m-m-m-must leave the gr-gr-gr-grid for you safety.” He tells me before his lens changes color. My eyes widen before I stomp my hooves and make a screen appear in front of me.
“GVI emergency teleport all users and creators to the roof now, including myself!” I yell at the screen.
I am derezzed and rerezzed on the top of my tower.
“What in the? Artermis, what is happening?” Luna asks as she rezzes next to me as do the others.
“Durina fooled me and planted something in CVI. It managed to warn me before he shut down and rebooted as a different VI. We need to get to the portal now.” I tell them as I head for the light jets that were always on the roof of my tower.
“Quickly get in so we can leave.” I tell them as I get into the pilot seat of a larger jet that could only carry four. A pilot, co-pilot, and two gunners operated it as I feared we would need this one.
“Twilight, I need you on one of the guns, and Celestia, you’re in the cockpit with me.” I say as I start to power up the jet. Luna and Twilight get in on the wing turrets while Celestia hops in next to me.
I force the jet out into the sky and launch us all into the direction of the portal to exit, but not before the grid blurred and we were being followed.
