Blank Flank. Why would any parent name their filly that? It was something that was always on Blank's mind. The worst part was how fitting the name was. She had just turned twenty years of age yet no cutie mark adorned her deep purple flank. Slowly she began to brush her tangled mess of a mane, she really loved her mane. It was five varying shades of purple, someponies said orchid, indigo, violet, amethyst and well.. Purple. Others used different colors. It was noticeable though, the lighter shades made the darker ones much more prominent. In fact, if she had to compare it to anything it was like a.. Rainbow of purple.

Then again, she had never seen a rainbow before.

Once she was finished maintaining her mane, Blank Flank did the same to her tail before starting to pack. Necessities only. It was her twentieth birthday and she had gotten permission to finally leave Station Twenty-Seven, also known as Maresville on account of its large population of female ponies. "Blankie, are you ready?" Blank Flank winced at her mothers nickname. Her mother, Glitter Dawn, poked her head through the doorway and grinned. Only one of her lopsided eyes focusing on Blank. "Just lemme get my RIG*, okay mom? I promise I'll be down in.. Five minutes, alright?"

"Okie Dokie Lokie!" and with that her mother was gone, leaving Blank with her own thoughts. Once again they drifted to her blank flank. It wasn't unusual in the Underground, it was just hard to find that one special talent.. Her mother remained a blank flank to this day and she was forty! Still, it didn't ease the pain when she was named Blank Flank. She took her sweet time, her new RIG from Grandpappy Smiles was the second best gift she had gotten, the first being her mothers old amulet which had her family crest on it. A giant purple sparkle which was surrounded by five small white ones, nopony knew what it meant but she loved it, the heirloom always called out to her.. Her magic wrapped around the amulet and she slipped it over her head with ease, a smile crossing her lips when she felt the familiar cold metal, it was rather comforting.

After that she levitated the round metal band that was her RIG and clicked it into place. Her eyes shut as she felt the familiar sensations of the RIG activating. It wasn't unwanted. The few ponies that were lucky enough to have a RIG had told Blank that it felt so wrong. To Blankie, it felt so wrong that it was right. Metal plates slid from the metal band around her throat, slowly shifting and sliding to cover her from head to hoof with its protective shielding. Her heat beat heavily within her chest as she saw nothing but darkness and then.. Light. It always felt exhilarating, she couldn't say why, but putting a RIG on left her feeling so.. So..

"Pumped? Oh and HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLANKIE! Ohmygosh are you having a party!? And you're taking me with you!? I LOVE PARTIES!" The voice pricked at her mind, its pure bubbly joy was infectious. A mare rolled across her view and sprawled lazily on her mattress, her coat a vibrant pink and her mane a darker shade of the same color. Two large blue eyes stared at her that glowed with the purest of joy. "Yep! Why wouldn't I take my -best- friend to my birthday party?" The pink mare's jaw nearly hit the floor.

"Wait! There's more Pinkie, we're leaving Maresville today, I got hired to guard a Caravan to Coltler Station." Once the words sunk in, Pinkie started making a mixture of a squeal and a gasp. her hooves wiggling about happily. "This is soooo exciting I mean we'regonnagoonanadventure and and and...!" Blank knew what was happening before it occurred. The buzzing hum of her RIG fizzled before a zap richotected through her body and her vision went black. After a few seconds of waiting she could see again, pink letters formed "Standby, Rebooting." which flashed over and over again. Soon Pinkie was back in her vision, a sheepish smile across her face.

"Sorry! I uh, I got overexcited.." Blank giggled and wrapped her hooves around Pinkie, giving her a great big hug. Pinkie always felt so.. Real. Even though Blank knew that the mare truly didn't exist. "That's alright, Pinkie. C'mon lets go, everypony is waiting for us!" Blank smiled and let the plates around her head ease down her face and rest upon her neck before she trotted down the stairs, Pinkie Pie trotting besides her with a wide grin and constantly babbling on about parties, sweets, and something called a cherrychanga.

----

The party was in full swing, or as good as a party could get. It was slow for Pinkie's tastes, Blank could tell. The pink AI system was running a simulation where she was stuffing her face with any and all sweets that were on the table. "Taste good?" "You beatch! Mmmm yummy! I bet it'd go great with some cider!" Suddenly the doors to the kitchen burst open and an old looking keg was rolled into the room. "Ask and you shall receive.." She mumbled under her breath, Pinkie just clapped her hooves together with a little squee.

"Yer old 'nough to guard a caravan, so ah thought ya'd be old 'nough for your first taste of Apple Cider, this stuff has been kept clean an' good by yer grandmas magic. Nothin' more sexy then a unicorn an' their magic tricks.." Grandpappy Smiles grinned from ear to ear, his brows waggling playfully in Grandma Apple's direction. "Oh Smiles, darling. Stop it, you're making me blush!" Blankie could only smile, she loved seeing her family happy. Even her mother was beaming at her.

"I used to make ponies smile all the time... It's nice to know that this place isn't all frownies and downies." Blank Flank silently regarded her family. The cider flowed freely and mugs were passed around. Talks were shared, laughs and smiles. It was still strange for Blank. Her grandparents looked so.. Different. While she and her mother were both shades of purple, her grandpappy and grandmammy were completely different colors. Her grandmother, Tricky Seed was a deep shade of orange with a gray mane and tail, her cutie mark was a wand tapping a seed. While her grandfather was a bright yellow with a matching gray mane but those colors were from age.

"Here ya go, kiddo." A mug was shoved into her face. Her magical aura gripped the mug and a smile crept across her face. "Thanks Grandpappy! Save some for Pinkie!" she said before taking a swig from the mug. It was.. There were no words to describe it, the slight burn down her throat and the warm feeling in her gut. A hint of apples stayed on her tongue. It tasted fresh, compared to the apples that were grown in Maresville with magic. "Yer still usin' that model? Thought ya traded in for the Celestial system!" Blankie stared at her Grandpappy and quickly shook her head.

"No way! I've had Pinkie since mom gave me her Filly RIG back when I was a foal. She's like.. My best friend!" Smiles shook his head and rolled his eyes. "She's ain't nothin' more then a AI, someponies personality molded into somethin' useful. The Celestial system has more options an' a bigger holdin' portal. Yer gonna need that when ya get out there in the real world.. It ain't like Maresville.. Rest of the Underground ain't nice." Blankie watched Pinkie out of the corner of her eye. She saw her closest friend hopping around watching ponies enjoy their party. After a few seconds she turned to stare at her grandfather fully. "She's more then that." was all she said, her hard, almost cold tone rung in her grandfathers ears. "And I'm not going to betray her by getting some other pony in my RIG and my head. She's perfect how she is." The short debate ended there with Smiles sighing and wishing Blankie a happy birthday.

One goodbye later and Blankie was on her own. Maresville was silent during this time of hour, most ponies having gone home. Only a few were sleeping on the street. She was deep in thought, wondering how different the world outside of Maresville was and how dangerous it could be. But it didn't matter, she would NEVER give up Pinkie Pie for any silly system. No matter what the cost..

"You.. You know he's right.." Pinkie's sad voice hit Blank like a brick to the face. The pink mare's hair was down and straightened and tears threatened to flow from her eyes. "You were listening?" "I am.. Sorta apart of your RIG, I can't just not hear it. Sorry.." Blank shook her head vigorously from side to side. "Nope! Nah uh, not having any of it. I don't care what my grandpa said. No silly system can give me hugs and make me smile. I wouldn't trade you in for the best RIG system in all of the underground. Not for some stupid nostalgic purpose either, nah. It's because you're my best friend, and a real pony, Pinkie Pie. Not some robotic voice in my head. Nothing ponymade can do what you do." The familiar sensations of her friends embrace made Blankie smile, her eyes shut as she took it all in.

She couldn't believe Pinkie Pie was an AI, she'd denied it for so long. Letting her mind think of it as fantastic programming. But something that didn't exist couldn't give a hug like that, the warmth, protective, nurturing, friendly.. Eventually she felt the pressure leave and a smile was on her jubilant friends face, her mane and tail back to its all natural poof. "Now lets go. We don't want to be late." "Okie dokie lokie! We are gonna have SO much fun! And I'll write letters to Glitter for you and we'll have cupcakes and and.." Pinkie Pies words became nothing more then excitable gibber. To most ponies it would come off as annoying, but to Blank Flank.. Well, she couldn't be happier.

Author's Note

*RIG: Resource Integration Gear, or RIG for short, is an integrated health management and strength augmentation system that assist users in previously impossible and dangerous environments. Before Equestria's downfall, RIGs were usually integrated with some form of AI system based off of the Princesses or the Elements of Harmony. Though RIGs are designed to only sustain one AI per RIG, it is possible to have multiple ones. Though they can conflict with one another and the results could be disastrous.

This has a lot of Metro & Dead Space aspects to it. As well as a few others from different video games.