I was programmed for this...by Warrior KittenChaptersChapter 0: PrologueChapter 1: Powered upChapter 2: Introductions and a mission.Chapter 3: I don't agree with waterChapter 4: Oh Celestia, what have we done!?Chapter 5: New and ImprovedChapter 6: First TaskChapter 7: The AnnouncementChapter 8: Princess of the NightChapter 9: Enchanted by the MoonChapter 10: That wasn't a pony.I'm programmed to dream...Chapter 0: ProloguePrologue "Call me crazy will they! After all I'd done for them!" The stallion grumbled as he trotted quickly between various desks on which lay various components and hardware from a multitude if machines, he stopped at a desk which had a circular orb on it that resembled a robotic pony head, he reached out to one of the various components on the table and brought it over to the orb. "I'll show them, they'll have to believe me, I'll prove to them I'm not crazy." He opened a hatch on the orb and reached inside, a faint click could be heard as he plugged the component in, if anyone looked at the orb now they would not deny it was a pony head. But it was terrifying, the eyes had started to glow when he'd plugged that certain component in. The stallion started to focus more on the gas at hand, mumbling as he went, "The hard drive is working... Generating alternate power supply... Need to field test the motor functions..." He moved over to a table right beside the table with the robotic pony head on it, this table had a laptop, which, before his eyes, spurted out various codes and data, "Interesting... The CPU is functional despite not being given any software to work with... It barely even has an operating system..." The stallion shook his head and cleared his throat, "Protocol 001: AI FalAIr, command; Upload" shortly after the stallion said this, the eyes on the robotic pony head blinked off and the laptop stopped spurting out codes and data. It instead loaded some legible sentences: Voice command acknowledged; Protocol recognised; AI FalAIr status: Active; Command received, transferring required data to AI; AI FalAIr confirmed data integrity; Initiating upload; Uploading AI FalAIr 0% complete... After seeing that the laptop had acknowledged him and that his AI had accepted, he turned away from the table and trotted slowly toward the opposite wall. Against it was what looked like metal armour made to imitate an exoskeleton, the only difference being that the armour wasn't empty. Inside it were motors and gears and all kinds of devices and components needed. This, was the robot body. Grabbing a wrench from a bench built into the wall nearby, he reached deep into the robot body and checked that all the bolts were tight as necessary. Satisfied that the body was ready, he trotted back over to the table with the laptop, he briefly checked the screen, noting that the upload was now at 7%, he turned to the left! he checked the blackboard that was on the far wall! noting that the prophecy that 'she' had predicted told of forever night, endless chaos, the end of trust and a darkness inside a crystal. 'She' had said that there was more, but had said she was unable to decipher it. The stallion sighed, "If what she predicted is true, than the fate of Equestria rests on this AI. But if it's false..." He turned to the laptop again, surprised to see the progress bar had skipped to 79%. He trotted over to the laptop, confused, "Well, that can't be-" Suddenly, errors flashed across the screen, the eyes of the robot head glowed intensely and- Time seemed to slow down, as the laptop exploded, throwing the robot head towards the robot body and blasting the Stallion across the room, he was dimly aware as the sprinklers activated, his attention was on the darkness creeping towards him from the corner of the room, it seemed to move at a faster rate than everything happening around it. The Stallion cried, "No! She said I had lots of time! I haven't e-" The glint of steel, and the stallion was silent. Author's Note Ooo, ominous. Kind of annoyed that I resorted to POV of him viewing Death coming for him. But I was just in that kinda mood when I wrote that last part. Bloody dramatic slow motion deaths... Chapter 1: Powered upPowered up I woke up. As far as a robot can, anyway, to dust lying on my face. Not an ideal way to wake up, but it could have been worse... The first thing on my mind was to do diagnostics, which I immediately started with, code lit up in my vision before it gave way to a loading screen, it was simple, just a progress bar in the middle of a transparent screen. As I waited for it to load I attempted to turn my head, only to find I couldn't... That was a slight problem. At that thought, it had finished loading and the diagnostics immediately began. Data started to scroll down my vision, showing various information. The things I paid most attention to were the errors; Warning: AI download incomplete; missing data replaced with Defaults Warning: Body motor controls not responding; attempting to switch to remote control Warning: Location unavailable; magical wards detected Warning: Time unavailable; Internal clock is out-of-sync I quickly resolved these issues, starting with the software. Due to the incomplete installation of my AI, I had some trouble, I verified that most of the data that was missing was motor controls; but, I'm a learning AI, so that's not much of a big deal. I also noticed that certain combat-based software was missing, including night-vision, heat-vision, ultrasound, sonar and so on. I dismissed these as I had no need for them as far as I knew. I then started to resolve the hardware issues, during the time I had sorted out the software I had activated the remote control function, enabling me to control various parts of my body without my AI needing to be inside the CPU. Due to the diagnostics I had found out that, apparently, my head wasn't attached to my body. I learnt the hard way that controlling something without seeing it is very hard, as there is no optical hardware on my body. After quite a while of crashing noises and multiple times where I accidentally kicked myself, I was finally able to get my head back onto my body. I was able to put the cables into their correct places and with a satisfying click, my head was connected. I resumed the diagnostics on my body, Recieving signals that everything was operational. With that, the code and data in my vision disappeared. With everything sorted out with myself; I decided to finally take a look at my surroundings. The first thing that I noticed was the dust, that and the scorch marks. These showed two things, one, nobody had been down here in a VERY long time and two, an explosion had happened here. I frowned, That's strange, I would have thought I would have at least seen my creator... but I dismissed it, deciding to go outside. My pre programmed instructions say that before attempting anything that would expose me to the public, I must enable the illusion that my creator had made, this illusion would make me look and feel like a real living pony to anyone who happened to see or touch me and lastly, it would remove the metallic sound from my voice as that's always there, no matter what kind of voice hardware and software is used. It's a powerful illusion, using both magic and technology to create something that almost all unicorns and scientists can't see through. The instructions only other thing to say was to not arouse suspicion. Well, that's easy enough. With that, I started to walk towards the stairs that would lead into my creator's building, but when I went to take a step, I immediately fell forward onto my face. Oh, that's right, I don't have any programmed motor controls. Geez, how did I even manage to get to my head? I tried to get back onto my four hooves, but only succeeded in running on the ground, Well, there's those controls at least. I was eventually able to figure out which series of commands created which series of actions and immediately attempted to stand up, with a lot of stumbling, I was able to stand up. Well, it's not perfect, but it'll have to do. Let's just hope I don't have to do anything complicated soon... After taking a moment to save the motor controls data, I started again for the exit, I smiled upon getting to the door with only 2 slips. I began walking up the stairway, at one point I fell back down but hey, trial and error. I was eventually able to make it up the stairs only to realise there was no way out. The door in front of me had no door handle and attempts to just open by pushing had failed. I looked around, curious as to how to open it, I was looking in two places simultaneously, both in my database for a file of it and around me for any hints. With no luck, I decided to inspect the door to see if I could try breaking through it, I gaped upon noticing that the door was just magically reinforced bark. From a tree. I lifted my leg, bracing it for the impact by redirecting power and moving in shields, and struck the door. My leg went straight through it, I continued this till I had made a hole large enough for me to go through. I walked through and... It was only then I noticed the 6 mares staring at me with various emotions on their faces, mostly shock. I immediately thought about deleting the memory that had said stealth was easy, but I decided not to. With some time to spare before any pony did anything, I decided to look at who I had surprised. I confirmed the fact that they were mares, all of them, the first one that caught my eye was the Unicorn mare closest to me, she looked the studious, nerdy type. Her coat was purple, her mane was blue with magenta lines through it and her cutie mark was one big star with four stars around it. I could feel an aura of knowledge and power. She was holding a book in her magic in front of her which I could not recognise, I could not identify it either as I could not see the cover. The second mare I noticed was the blue Pegasus that was hovering in front of the purple one, she looked as though she had recently been flying through a tornado, as far as her mane described, it was wild, but seemed to also have a sense of organisation, as if she had made it that way on purpose. Her mane was rainbow-coloured and her cutie mark was of a cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt coming from it, which made absolutely no sense. I could feel an aura of arrogance and the will to protect, the former kind if annoying me. The next mare I couldn't help but notice, as she had the blue Pegasus' tail in her mouth for some reason. If her hat indicated anything, she was a country earth pony, her coat was yellow and her mane blonde, i noticed her mane was abnormally long, though it was held together, same with her tail, by a band near the end, she wore a grey Stetson hat on her head and her cutie mark was of three red apples. I could feel a strong aura of strength and stubbornness, the latter also kind of annoying me I felt as though I could trust anything this mare said. The fourth mare I noticed because she was similar to the Stetson-wearing one, well, on the inside at least. Her coat was completely white, clear of anything that would ruin the colour, her mane was styled in a beautiful curl, same with her tail, them both being a slightly lighter magenta than the unicorn before. She was also a unicorn, her cutie mark was of three diamonds. I could feel an aura of stubbornness, similar to the stetson-wearing earth pony, and of beauty, she made me feel ugly in comparison, which is not something I should be able to feel... The next mare I hardly even noticed, she was hidden in the corner, her position suggests she had dashed there as soon as I had shown up. She was a yellow coated Pegasus with a pink mane, both her mane and tail were curled at the ends, both inwards. Her cutie mark was of three pink butterflies. I could feel a strong aura of shyness and a weak aura of kindness, the former making me feel guilty. I noticed that there was one mare missing, but straight after I thought that she came up from the bottom of my vision, I was confused in so many ways at this. But before I could dwell on it, she started throwing words at me, "Oh my gosh! A stallion just came out of the wall! Who are you and where did you come from? Wait, I don't know you, and I know everyone in Ponyville! That means you're new here and I need to throw a party for you, but I can't right now because Nightmare Moon is going to create eternal night and that's not good for any pony but-" My CPU gave up at that point, so I blocked her out and turned to the others, the pink ones sudden outburst must have broken the silence because all the mares, excluding the pink one and the yellow Pegasus, were staring at the purple unicorn with mixed expressions, obviously in a conversation, but my CPU was too taxed to listen in. I turned back to the pink one, who at this point had paused, probably having noticed I wasn't listening. I opened my mouth to ask something only to have her smile and wink at me, my mind blanked immediately. I was broken out if my confusion by the blue Pegasus, who had flown up to me suddenly. She pointed at me with a hoof, "Twilight says she doesn't know you, and since everyone is convinced that she isn't a spy, and that you just came out of a wall, and that even Pinkie doesn't know you, I'm going to ask you the same question. Are you a spy?" I was saved by the purple unicorn, who must be Twilight, when she walked up to contradict the blue Pegasus. "Rainbow, that's no way to treat anypony, however, she does have a point. May I ask who you are and how you got inside the wall? Also, what were you doing in there?" The others walked up behind the two, except the pink one, as she was already there, and the yellow Pegasus, who only moved into another corner to get closer. I dashed through files, using all my CPU to come up with a believable explanation that wouldn't bite me in the flank later. However, I didn't have enough information. I had just woken up, so I don't know anything about where I currently am. I do, however, have an alias. I sighed, "My name is Falair and I'm afraid I have absolutely no explanation as to how I got behind that wall, or why I was there." To my surprise, the country mare supported me. "I believe him." All eyes turned on her, she stared back confidently and stated, "He's tellin' the truth." Author's Note I decided to use first person 'Cause why the heck not? Also, I thought it would be easier and more interesting. Interesting? Yes. Easier? No. Chapter 2: Introductions and a mission.Introductions and a mission "Applejack, how can you trust a pony who had just burst through another ponies wall?" Inquired the blue Pegasus. "Ah cain't explain it, but ah do. I just trust that what he's sayin' is the truth." Replied the earth pony, who must be Applejack. "Well, that's all nice and everything but, can we get back to the matter at hand? Which is the fact that there's a pony standing right in front of us who just burst through my wall!" Said the purple unicorn as she turned towards me, "If you can't tell us how you got back there uh, Falair, was it? Then, can you at least explain to me how you broke through magically reinforced bark?" I ran through possible explanations based on data I was collecting as I stood there, the building was fairly old, but not old enough that it would be easy to break, even without being magically reinforced. The shape of my body is made as a normal stallion, so I can't use strength as an excuse... I shouldn't have to go through this! There's too many unknown variables! I can't make the right decisions! I was using a lot of RAM and CPU trying to come up with an excuse, I didn't realise how much time had passed. I shook myself out of it when the blue Pegasus slapped me in the face! "Hey, what the heck!?" I exclaimed, running through default routines for possible hostility. "Sorry, but you were completely out of it." Replied the pegasus, "So, what do we do with him?" She said, turning to the other mares as if I was not there. "Maybe he was pony napped?" Said the yellow pegasus, though I barely heard her. "I suppose it is a possibility, oh the poor dear. He must've been through a lot, I mean just look at him!" Said the white unicorn, "He probably hasn't had a chance at decent hygiene in a long time, he's covered in dust!" I immediately looked at my illusion; she was right, I was covered in dust and my mane and tail were unkept. It shouldn't bother me much, but if the ponies were bothered by it, then I'd have to sort it out, somehow... "Maybe I should contact the Princess, she might know something about this." My ears perked at the mention of a Princess, Does this mean a government was established? I must get information about where and when I am. "Twilight, what about Nightmare Moon?" Inquired a baby dragon, which I hadn't noticed before. He was male as far as I could tell by his vocal patterns, he had purple scales with green scales running down his middle and along the bottom of his tail. He stood at the height of the purple mare, whose name I now know is Twilight's barrel. "Spike's right, we can sort this out later." She turned to me, "I suppose you should come with us, I don't know who you are yet and you might be connected to Nightmare Moon. We could also help each other." Before I said anything, I looked up this 'Nightmare Moon' character. I came up with null search results. I mentally facehoofed. I decided to join Twilight as it would be the best way for me to gather information, especially on this 'Nightmare Moon' character. The white mare, whose name I now knew was Rarity, would not leave me alone until I looked 'decent', she cleaned all the dust off of me and smoothed my mane, I had to hold my breath throughout the time she did this as I still was not sure if the illusions worked. The blue pegasus, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Twilight were frustrated by Rarity's insistence on cleaning me up. I was just confused. As Rarity was finishing, Twilight told the baby dragon, Spike, to stay and watch the building, which is apparently a library. Spike was reluctant, but obeyed, it confused me as to why a dragon would take orders from a pony but I couldn't dwell on it. Twilight had said from the book that the location we were heading to was located in what the locals called 'the Everfree Forest'. All the mares, except Twilight, stopped short of entering the forest, which confused me before Applejack explained, stating that the forest was not reliant on ponies as everywhere else in Equestria. Regardless of the fact that the 5 mares were scared, they followed Twilight into the forest, I trailed behind them, inspecting the vegetation as I passed and gathering data as to my estimated location. By the time the girls slowed down enough for me to capture their conversation, I had established that my location and time settings were unable to be found because the magical navigation wards that my creator had placed around various areas had been erased. it must have been a long time, otherwise the protection spells would have prevented the wards being erased. We halted on a cliff, I was about to ask why when I noticed Rainbow Dash stalking Rarity, Pinkie Pie and the yellow pegasus, I tilted my head to the side, confused by this behaviour. I didn't get to contemplate it much as the cliff we were standing on collapsed! I predicted the collapse 2.25 seconds before it happened and was ready to dig my hooves into the ground before I slid too far. I was unable to warn the others however, as all of them except Rainbow Dash and the yellow pegasus began sliding down the mountain, heading towards a long drop that could kill them! Immediately as the mares started falling Rainbow Dash called out, "Fluttershy, quick!" Before diving towards the screaming mares, the yellow pegasus, Fluttershy, only replied by repeating "Oh my goodness" 3 times before diving as well. As soon as I was able to get a grip I cautiously let myself down to lend aid, I was looking around rapidly, calculating the danger each mare was i. I saw Rainbow Dash lift Pinkie Pie, which told me how strong she was and saw only a few seconds later, Fluttershy grabbing Rarity's tail to bring her to a halt. Applejack was able to grab onto a root and stop herself, leaving only Twilight, who slid right to the edge of the cliff face, she stopped just short, her hind legs dangling off. I calculated quickly that I wouldn't be able to reach her in time without risking us both falling off the edge. Applejack, however, noticed Twilight and let go of the root she was holding on to, thankfully she was far enough down the mountain that she wouldn't gain enough speed to slide off. I dug myself back into the mountain and looked around for a way off, only to notice Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had carried everypony to safety and were coming back for me and the others, I waved them off, not wanting them to risk themselves trying to carry my weight, but did not tell them as such. They shrugged and turned to help Applejack and Twilight. I noticed a way down the cliff but stayed just in case Applejack needed help. I tuned in to their conversation just in time to see Twilight's irises widen to a ridiculous degree, only for her to let go of Applejack! I screamed and raced forward, only to stop when I saw Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy catch her. I sighed and followed Applejack on her way down. As soon as I hit the ground I felt another magical fluctuation, I searched around, scanning thoroughly so I didn't miss anything, all I got for my troubles was the sound of a roar echoing through the forest. What is this strange magical fluctuation and why does it keep occurring? Could it be the forest? As we continued through the forest, I watched, confused, as Rainbow Dash pantomimed what had just happened by flying around in different aerial patterns only to land beside Twilight. I turned away to check our surroundings only to gasp as a huge lion with a scorpions stinger and bat wings appeared in front of Twilight! Twilight confirmed my suspicions as to the species of the creature, "A manticore!" The manticore roared as I readied myself for combat, I diverted power to agility and strength as I wanted to keep everypony safe. I charged at the manticore only for it to pounce at Rarity and swipe at her with a large paw. Rarity dodged the attack and bucked the manticore in the nose, taunting with, "Hah! Take that you ruffian!" The manticore replied with a powerful roar that slicked Rarity's mane and tail back, much to her distress, she retreated with the manticore chasing her. I ran to intercept the manticore only for it to halt as Applejack landed on top of it! I gaped as Applejack called out "Yeehaw! Get along lil doggy!" My surprise allowed me to hear Fluttershy call out, "Wait!" Though it was merely in a normal tone, nobody heard her. The manticore bucked, trying to get Applejack off its back, I ran to protect Fluttershy, as I noticed the manticore come close to crushing her. Fluttershy recoiled when I landed in front of her, but she simply moved to the side so as I was out of her way, I snorted, glaring at the manticore, daring it to do something to harm any of the ponies. As if the manticore heard my dare, it threw Applejack off its back, she comically flew through the air, heading past Rainbow Dash she calmly said, "All yours partner." To which Rainbow Dash replied with "I'm on it!" And dived towards the manticore and started to build up a strong wind current in an attempt to create a tornado around the manticore, or confuse it, I could not tell which. The manticore was he phased however, and simply used its stinger to trip the blue pegasus out of her tornado. I gasped, she seemed unhurt but that could have killed her at those speeds! I headed towards the group and joined them as they got ready to charge the manticore in a final assault. All 6 of us charged at the manticore, we were close to engaging with it only for Fluttershy to appear between us and call out, "Waaaaaait!" I stopped immediately, detecting the urgency in her tone. Though I did not understand why, all of us, including the manticore, stared at her in confusion. Fluttershy turned and approached the manticore, I gaped at her bravery, but immediately was about to rush forward when I saw the manticore go to swipe at her. Only to blanch as Flutershy nuzzled its paw! The manticore hesitated briefly before turning its paw over, revealing a thorn the size of a hoof embedded into its pad. "Oh you poor poor little baby" Fluttershy said to the manticore, calmly looking up at it. "Little?" Rainbow Dash remarked, disbelief evident on her face. I was staring at the thorn, curious as to where a thorn that size came from and how the manticore got it in its paw. It seemed to have a magical aura, but, then again, so did everything in this forest. But it's aura seemed different to the forest's aura. "Now, this might hurt for just a second," Fluttershy soothed the manticore, reaching towards the thorn, she pulled it out, only for the manticore to lift her up to its mouth, roaring straight into her face! "Fluttershy!" Screamed the girls, alarmed and worried for their friend, I was at the time inspecting the thorn, I had confidence in Fluttershy despite the Manticores aggressive nature. The manticore began licking Fluttershy, slicking her mane up with its saliva. Fluttershy was giggling, "Aw your just a cute little baby kitty aren't you?" During this, the girls began smiling, approaching the manticore and walking around it. I gave up inspecting the thorn, not having enough data on the area to make any observations. I joined Fluttershy as she walked past Twilight, telling her that "sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness". The girls continued on through the everfree with me trailing slightly behind, I was analysing the recent magical fluctuations, looking for a pattern or a magical signature of some kind. The magical fluctuations were similar to the extent that they were almost exactly the same, though oddly enough, despite what scanning technology or magic that I used, I could not pick up a magical signature. I shook my head and saved the data, deciding to try again later. I trotted to catch back up to the girls, "Oh wait, I think I stepped in something," before I could step up to see what it was that Applejack had stepped in, Fluttershy screamed, I looked in the direction she was looking and blinked, "It's just mud," Applejack said, before turning around, only to sate right into the gaping maw of a sharp-toothed monster! She jumped away in fright. Something seems amiss here, it's not moving. As the mares around me began squealing in terror, I went to go and walk up to the apparently immobile 'monster', only to stare in confusion as the pink earth pony, Pinkie Pie, began to zoom around the place, singing a song that, amazingly, dispelled the illusions on the trees by making the other mares laugh. When the song was finished and all 6 of them had collapsed to the ground laughing, I was looking at Pinkie with newfound respect and lots of confusion. I had recorded the song, just in case, and had saved the data in a special folder I had named 'Musical Spells?'. Author's Note I know you may think this is just another OC inserted into the MLP series story, but it's not. I'm starting the story off with the elements of harmony episode to introduce FalAIr to the mane 6. When I've finished the episode I will begin the original story I have planned. The other episodes will fit into my original story so that the story has a timeline to refer to. I haven't decided in what order the episodes will go in yet however. I'm thinking of imitating Shisno Chronicles timeline as the author has an idea of what order the episodes would go in if they happened IRL. Chapter 3: I don't agree with waterI don't agree with water Our group continued through the forest, with Pinkie Pie in the lead and the rest of us following single-file. I took up the rear again, staring at Pinkie. She was jumping for some reason, I caught sight of her every time she appeared above the other mare's heads. They were still giggling, to my confusion, it wasn't even humorous, why did they even laugh in the first place? I stopped as soon as Fluttershy, who was in front of me, walked into the others as they had stopped as well. They all craned their necks around to look for an explanation as to why Pinkie had stopped, I took the initiative and simply walked up beside the group. My eyebrows drooped in worry when I saw the roiling water. Oh dear, rain I can handle, but this? I won't survive 2 seconds! "How are we going to cross this!" Right after Pinkie had said that, a distressed wailing sound was heard from up the river. To me, the sound was unidentifiable, "Huh?" Pinkie and the girls waked up the the bushes that hid the upper parts of the river and peered through as the wailing continued. I stayed back and inspected the river, looking for the driest route across. Thus far, it seemed futile. After a few moments, and a lot of calculations, I had deduced it was impossible to get across without setting hoof in the water. I sighed and decided to check in with the others. The moment I stepped through the bushes, I was assaulted with shrieks of pure happiness, "Ooo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! My moustache! How wonderful!" I stared at the sea serpent's mismatched moustache, staring at the purple curled part in particular. "You look smashing!" I turned to Rarity, immediately noticing her tail, which had been cut off. "Oh, Rarity, your beautiful tail!" Protested Twilight, who had walked up behind the white unicorn. "Oh, it's fine my dear, short tails are in this season," replied Rarity as she turned to face Twilight, "Besides, I-it'll grow back," she said, waggling her tail as if to emphasise the point. "So would the moustache," muttered Rainbow to Twilight, who was smiling at the time, she gasped however when she noticed the river. "Look! We can cross now!" She said as she began walking through the water. "Wait, girls, I can't-" I was interrupted when Twilight was lifted out of the water by the sea serpent's tail. "Allow me," he said before sub urging back into the water, his tail creating stepping stones across the river. Well, that works. I walked up to the side of the river and waited as the others began crossing. Once Fluttershy had gotten off the first part of the serpent's tail, I jumped. The instant I landed, the sea serpent's tail shook and the part I was standing on visibly struggled. Oh dear. "Girls I think we should hurry it along!" They had already noticed however and had sped up the pace, only Fluttershy was left on the Serpent's tail. I readied the hydraulics in my legs so I could jump instantly, I took off jumping across the serpent's tail as it collapsed into the water behind me. Once I was on solid ground, I turned back to the river, "Sorry!" I apologised, I turned back to see that everyone, except Fluttershy, had their mouth agape. "What?" I asked innocently. "Just how much do you weigh!" Rainbow blurted out, rewarding her annoyed looks from Twilight and Rarity. "Uh, well, I am heavy for somepony my size..." I started, looking for some sort of explanation. "Heavy enough that a sea serpent can't lift!" This again earned Rainbow annoyed stares. "We can sort this out later, right now we have business to attend to," Applejack piped up. "She's right, let's go." Twilight agreed, she turned and led the group onward through the forest. We continued through the forest with. Twilight in the lead. I decided not to stay at the back this time as I'd gathered all the information I could about the forest. The trees started to part and through it I saw a clearing, I smiled as Twilight gasped, "There it is! The ruins that hold the elements of Harmony, we made it!" Before running straight towards the castle ruins with the others following. "Twilight! Wait for us!" I stopped upon noticing the rope bridge however, my eyes widening. "We're almost there!" "Twilight, stop!" Too late, Twilight skidded before the edge and ended up with her forelegs scrambling for a grip while she was held only by her hind legs. I went to go grab her, only for Rainbow Dash to beat me to it. "What's with you and falling off cliffs today?" She said as she pulled Twilight away from the cliff by her tail. I walked up to the edge with the others, we stared off through the fog to the other side of the abyss. "Now what?" Pinkie stated, Rainbow Dash answered with a "Duh" and ruffled her feathers in Pinkie's vision before diving off the cliff as Pinkie replied, "Oh yeah," I watched as she dashed down into the fog and appeared halfway across the abyss carrying the ropes of the bridge towards the other side, she twisted the ropes around the log. As she did so, I felt another magical fluctuation, this one stronger than all the rest, so strong in fact that I actually saw a purple aura dash past Rainbow's legs. She must have seen it too, because she reared up and challenged whoever was in the fog, it was barely audible however, forcing me to enhance my hearing, "Show yourself!" I heard her yell into the fog. The scene was quiet for a moment, till out of the fog echoed a voice. It was barely audible even with enhanced hearing, "We've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the best flier in Equestria," To which Rainbow replied ignorantly, "Who?" The voice nearly chuckled, "Why, you of course!" "Really? I mean, oh yeah! Me! Hey, uh, you wouldn't mind telling the Wonderbolts that, would ya? 'Cause, I've been trying to get into that group for like, ever!" "No, Rainbow Dash, we want you to join us, the Shadowbolts!" As the voice said is, three ponies galloped out of the fog and slid to sit on their haunches in front of Rainbow, by the looks of it, the voice was coming from the mare in the middle, I don't like where this is going. "We are the greatest aerial team in the Everfree Forest, and soon we will be the greatest in all Equestria." The mare flew up to talk into Rainbow's ear, "But first, we need a captain." She flew past and began to circle her, "The most magnificent," "Yup!" "Swiftest," "Yes!" "Bravest flier in all the land," "Yes," Rainbow giggled, "It's all true!" "We need," The mare closed in on Rainbow's ear and whispered something to her, whatever it was caused her to jump high into the air. "Woohoo! Sign me up!" Now I see what they're doing. I leaned over to Twilight and began to whisper into her ear, "Twilight, they're drawing on Rainbow's ambition to cause her to abandon us!" Twilight turned to me and nodded once, I took it as she understood. Twilight walked closer to the edge and called out, "Rainbow!" The Shadowbolts mare turned towards her and scowled, her eyes glowing, the fog started to move in, "Don't listen to them!" She frowned at the fog, "I don't think she heard me!" "Then we must rely on Rainbow and her loyalty, otherwise Fluttershy will have to go over." I turned to the mare, only for her to look away, I frowned. Meanwhile in Paris, France... Absolutely nothing related to this story happened. I looked towards the fog, hearing something approaching, the fog parted to reveal Rainbow Dash along with a repaired bridge. We all cheered and began crossing the bridge, I stayed back and stared as the girls crossed. When Twilight reached the other side, she noticed my hesitance, "Are you coming?" I looked at her with a sad expression, "I'm afraid I cannot cross this bridge." Obviously recalling the sea serpent incident, Applejack wade over to Twilight and began a group huddle with the girls. I could not discern what they were saying. When the girls broke away, rainbow and Fluttershy flew back over to me, while Twilight and Rarity readied their horns. "What are you doing?" I asked Rainbow, only for her to wink and ask me to trust Twilight. My eyes widened and I turned to Twilight, shaking my head, "Twilight this is a bad idea! You do not realise what you are trying to do!" Twilight replied calmly as she nodded to each girl in turn, "I know what I'm doing, I just need you to trust us." Rainbow and Fluttershy grabbed a hold of mr, while Rarity and Twilight enveloped me in a telekinetic aura, "Ready girls?" Twilight asked, to which she got a swift reply from each girl. "Ready." And with that, they all lifted. Author's Note This is hard, I'm trying to keep it so that it doesn't turn into an OC in Equestria fic but it's hard to come up with situations that won't cause the story to go too off track. I still want the mane 6 to defeat nightmare moon, but I want them to have new obstacles because of the fact that FalAIr is with them... So far this is all I could come up with. Chapter 4: Oh Celestia, what have we done!?Oh Celestia, what have we done!? Alternate title: Another Path Despite my protests, the mares began to lift me. To my horror, they were able to lift my weight and began to slowly move me over to the opposite side of the abyss. I thought about demanding to be put back, but it was already too late. Alarms went off throughout my system as I watched Fluttershy slowly begin to lose her grip, Rarity and Twilight began to break into a heavy sweat and Applejack just watched in horror with a straight-maned Pinkie Pie beside her, they both knew what was about to happen. Fluttershy lost her grip first, my weight shifted, causing Rarity to scream in pain as blood trickled from both her nostrils, Twilight grunted, another magical layer appearing around her horn as blood trickled from her left nostril, though not as much as Rarity. Rarity passed out, collapsing to the ground, Rainbow Dash lost her grip, Twilight remained. Her horn was so bright it was painful to look at, blood dripped from her nostrils onto the ground, producing a puddle underneath her, She's going to kill herself if she doesn't stop! I realised. In a panic, I turned to Applejack, "Applejack! Stop her! She's killing herself!" She just stood there, shocked, I tried again, "Applejack!" That broke her out of it, she shook her head and turned towards Twilight, she turned back to me and nodded, mouthing, "I'm sorry." Before she tackled Twilight to the ground, breaking her concentration and causing me to fall, alarms flashed, silent klaxons blared, my systems shutting themselves down one by one as I spun down into the depths of the abyss... Twilight Sparkle slowly regained consciousness, she felt as though she was bring shaken and her ears were ringing. Her senses started to clear, "-an you hear me? Twilight!" She blinked, staring at Applejack as she shook her and screamed at her to wake up. "A- Applejack? W-where? Wha-?" Suddenly, she remembered, "Oh Celestia, FalAIr!" She tried to get up, but her head spun and she collapsed back onto her side. "Woah there Twilight, settle down," Applejack soothed, Twilight turned to her in a panic, "But FalAIr! Is he okay?" She frantically looked around, searching for the stallion. She couldn't find him, only succeeding in giving herself a headache. "I'm sorry Twilight, but, ya dropped him into the abyss. He's gone." Twilight just blanched, staring into space for a moment before she broke down and began to cry. Applejack leaned in and hugged her friend, offering her a shoulder to cry on. Rainbow Dash comforted Fluttershy nearby, as she cried into her arms. Pinkie Pie checked up on Rarity, her mane and tail straight and tears in her eyes, Rarity had not woken up yet. Twilight stopped crying briefly to utter a single sentence, "Celestia, what have I done?" Commencing system reboot... Performing systems check...DONE Performing Software check...DONE Performing Diagnostics......DONE Diagnostic report: Severe hull damage Right foreleg unresponsive Left optical lens damage detected Motor damage detected Synthetics unresponsive Shields down Arcane Battery level: MED Loading last accessed data.....ERROR Data corrupted Attempting data recovery.....DONE Some data was unable to be recovered System reboot complete The lights in FalAIr's eyes slowly flickered to life, illuminating some of the area surrounding the wounded robot, some rats and mice scurried away from the light. The robot groaned, slowly moving its limbs in an attempt to get up. I was able to get up, only to crash back down onto my other side, I moved my head to look at my right foreleg to assess the damage, the leg looked salvageable at least, as long as someone knew how to reattach it, the leg lay close beside me, only held on by wires and circuitry, if i tried to move it, the wires would spark. I looked around, my vision slightly impaired because my left lens was cracked, but I was able to make out an opening in the cliff face, it was my best bet, so I slowly tried to get up again. I was successful this time, wobbly, but successful, I slowly made my way towards the hole in the cliff face, avoiding bumps and cracks in the ground so as not to fall over and waste time getting back up, as far as I knew, right now I just had to get back to the girls. It took me some time to get there and I stumbled a few times, but I finally made it to the hole in the cliff face, I looked inside, enabling night vision for a better view, my leg sparked again, briefly blinding me, but it passed. I was able to see into the hole, and I sighed at my luck, there was a stairway, leading upwards towards a small ladder that led to a trap door. Possibly leading into the ruins, I made forward to head up the stairs. I struggled taking the first step, my motors complaining at the extra work, I had to lean against the wall due to my missing leg. The second step was even harder, the individual motors in my hind legs didn't fare well, clicking every so often as they tried to lift each leg. I made it partway up the steps before I realised that my missing leg was going to catch on the ledge of each step. I had to remove it. I brung what was left of the leg up to my muzzle, bending down as well to meet it partway and I bit into the wires. They sparked against my muzzle, causing warnings to flash all over the place. This was going to waste a bit of energy. By the time I had removed the leg, my battery power was reading at LOW. I was going to have even more trouble getting up he stairs now, not to mention that ladder. I hobbled my way up to the stairs, ignoring the low battery warnings I was getting the entire way. I noticed one in particular however, the one that caused dread to drop inside me. BATTERY POWER: CRITICAL, SWITCHING TO EMERGENCY POWER. The lights in my eyes went out and I was plunged into darkness. I could faintly see the ladder, but it would be enough. I went through and disabled most of my system software to allow more owner to be redirected to my three remaining limbs, it caused me great discomfort and I became confused very quickly, but I knew one thing, I had to get up this ladder. I didn't know why, I just had to. I began the agonisingly slow climb, grabbing with teeth and legs to pull me up the ladder. It was so slow it hurt. By the time I made it to the top I'd felt like centuries had passed. I looked up, expecting to see something, but I saw nothing, I pushed upwards with my head experimentally, and felt something move. I pushed more this time, and shifted he tile out of the way enough to pull myself out onto the surface. My systems re enabled automatically and I looked around, immediately searching for the girls. I didn't see anyone, I sighed in defeat. I began hearing a low beeping sound, I looked around for what it was, only to realise it was me. I was dying. My emergency power was all used up. I lay there, waiting for the inevitable end. But suddenly a light flashed above me, and none other than Twilight Sparkle flew out to land in front of me, I heard another pony land behind me, but I could not move to see who it was, whoever it was had noticed me however, "What the buck is this thing?" I felt them prod me with a hoof. Twilight looked at me, mouth agape, "No matter, it is none of my concern." Twilight glanced at me, then at the pony behind me, then back at me, then at the pony again. Finally, she couched down and started pawing at the ground, "You're kidding," the pony behind me said, "You're kidding, right?" Twilight however, was obviously not kidding, she began to advance as her horn glowed bright atop her head. She began trotting faster and faster, eventually breaking into a swift canter. I heard hoof steps behind me as well and I saw a huge black alicorn in dark blue armor run by me, I'd never seen anything like it! I subconsciously disabled all my systems except my optics to reserve power and to watch what was happening. The two ponies gradually got closer and closer as Twilights horn glowed brighter and brighter until when they were about to collide, Twilight disappeared! I did not know where she went, I re enabled my hearing just in case. I'm glad I did though, I heard Twilight behind me, "Come on, come on" the pony in front of me suddenly turned into a blue tornado and flew by my head. I heard a yelp and Twilight went flying in front of me. "No, no!" I heard the mare behind me say, Twilight smirking in triumph as she got back up. She suddenly gasped "But, where's the sixth element?" She asked, as the mare behind me started to laugh evilly. I heard a bang and something shatter and Twilight's spirit seemed to shatter as well. "You little foal! Thinking you could defeat ME!" Twilight cowered in front of me, sparking something inside my Hardware. Streams of data poured through my head. DEFENSE SYSTEMS ACTIVE WARNING: LOW POWER TARGET ACQUIRED A circular reticule glowed around Twilight. DEFEND TARGET I slowly rose to my hooves, hearing both Twilight and the mare behind me gasp in surprise, "What is this thing?" I turned toward that dark alicorn and raised my head, "Y-you s-s-sh-shall n-no-not t-touch-ch a hai-ir on thi-this m-m-mar-res h-head!" Suddenly, Twilight, who was behind me now, began talking to the dark alicorn. I moved backwards slowly, keeping my eyes on the mare 24/7. I couldn't hear anything they were saying because I'd lost power to my hearing, but I had an idea. As I watched the dark alicorn, I noticed shards of something start flying past me, I wasn't fast enough to stop them, so I kept focusing on the alicorn. A few moments went by and the shards kept flying past. Until they stopped. Then, suddenly a rainbow burst from behind me and struck the alicorn, who struggled in its light,it seemed to vaporise her, causing the data that was streaming through me to stop suddenly. I stood there for a moment, before beginning to stumble, I saw a light descend towards the ground before I collapsed, clanging onto the ground, my vision fading to black. The last things I saw: POWER DEPLETED SYSTEMS SHUTTING DOWN FALAIR SHUTTING DOWN... Chapter 5: New and ImprovedAuthor's Note Credit to joeyjumper94 for submitting his OC Philips Diesel Quinn to be used in the story. Chapter 5: New and Improved New and Improved Manual start-up requested Request acknowledged Performing systems check....DONE Performing software check.........DONE New software detected; Installing.........DONE Performing Diagnostics...DONE Diagnostic report: Hull fully repaired Shields at maximum capacity Batteries: FULL Loading last accessed data.......DONE Initialising FalAIr I awoke with a start, nearly screaming till I noticed where I was, I was standing in front of seven ponies, six of them I recognised but I couldn't quite place it. "Where am I?" I turned my head, scanning the room to get some idea as to where I was. A white alicorn with a multicoloured mane and a sun cutie mark approached me, her mane flowing in a nonexistent breeze, "You are in Canterlot Castle, the infirmary to be exact." It was then that I realised why I recognised the six mares behind the Alicorn. "Nightmare Moon! Twilight and the others! Did we stop Nightmare Moon?" I frantically asked the alicorn, attempting to get off the bed I was laying on. A blue coated stallion pushed me back onto the bed, surprising me as I had not noticed him in the room, "Careful, you're still plugged in." The stallion's right wing tranformed into a multi-tool and he starts disconnecting cables that I didn't notice. "I'm Philips Diesel Quinn, but you can call me P.D.Q." I looked at him, confused as to how he knew what I was. That was when I realised I was naked, figuratively speaking of course, my synthetics were disabled, my metal body bare for all to see. The alicorn nodded to P.D.Q, then turned back to me as he walked away, "Twilight and her friends defeated Nightmare Moon using the Elements of Harmony. But they refused to go home until they saw that you were all right. Because of their concern, I called the only pony I knew would be able to help you," I leaned over to look behind the alicorn, smiling when I saw Twilight and the others looking at me with obvious concern and relief. Twilight walked forward, "I didn't know what you were, but I knew that you went out of your way to protect me. It wasn't until I moved closer that I realised," she gestured to the engravings on my body and limbs, they were faded but it was still clear that they said F.A.L.A.I.R. Applejack walked up beside her, "When Twilight showed us, we immediately turned to the princess asking her to help." Rarity walked up too, "We couldn't very well leave you in that state now could we?" Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy walked up too, all five of them nodding their heads in agreement at what Rarity had said. "Thank you. All of you... Wait," I turned to P.D.Q, "How did you know how to repair my systems and re-wire my leg?" He turned to me smiling, "It is my special talent," he gestured to his cutie mark, which was a plain red toolbox with gears and wires inside. "But, I thought my creator was the only one to work with wiring," I said, confused. "That was a long time ago, FalAIr, Equestria is beginning to use more and more technology, though not quite advanced as you," Said the alicorn, as she walked up to stand next to P.D.Q, "Diesel here is one of a few ponies who work with wiring, though out of all the ones I've seen, only he was able to understand how to fix you," with that said, she turned towards him, "Diesel, thank you for helping fix FalAIr, I'll send for a chariot to take you home," "You're welcome, Princess Celestia. If you need anything, my laboratory is on the other side of town." he bowed before leaving the room. I watched as the stallion left the room before turning back to the Princess, "So, what will happen to me?" She turned to look at me, a calm smile on her face, "That is your choice," I turned to look at Twilight and the others, who were still there, awaiting my decision. "Princess, I would like to stay with Twilight Sparkle. My creator's old laboratory is built into where she lives. But not only that, I've come to know these ponies despite the small time we've been together. They ignore the fact that I'm just a metal contraption, and actually see me as a pony. These six mares made my life, from the time I was activated up until now, the best life I could have hoped for," I turned back towards the Princess, "I do not wish to give that up." She turned towards Twilight, a silent exchange happening between them, "I'm not about to abandon my friends," Princess Celestia nodded, acknowledging Twilight's response. "I'm proud of you, not only have you discovered the magic of friendship and unlocked the elements of harmony, but you also defeated Nightmare Moon, saved my sister and you continue to show the values of friendship," she turns back to me, "You may return to Ponyville. I will send a letter ahead of you to inform the Mayor of your presence. I will also send a message to the guards. I would ask that you don a disguise however, so as not to cause too much chaos." I nod, acknowledging the Princess' wishes, "Thank you, Princess Celestia," Chapter 6: First TaskSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.Chapter 7: The AnnouncementThe Announcement "Metal plates?" Twilight asked, as she inspected the dents in my hind hooves, "I think the Princess- sorry, Princesses will know where we can get some, I mean the guards pony uniform consists of metal," "That's just it, Twilight, my creator likely used only the strongest metals to create me, mostly lightweight metals to reduce the stress on my motors," "Hm, I'll send a letter to Princess Celestia asking if she can help, but it might take a while so try not to damage your hooves any further." She said as she turned to Spike who was sitting on the nearby couch. He immediately got up and ran for a quill and paper. I re enabled my synthetics, making sure to disable the part that shows injuries as I did not want to explain why I was walking around with broken legs. I left the library in search of something to do, I headed towards the park as that was where most of the interesting stuff happened. While I was walking I wondered when the announcement about my presence was going to be made. I had a fear that ponies would ignore me if they knew what I was, but I knew it was an irrational feat, because they would all have to find out eventually. I entered the park and started to look around as I headed towards a dry patch of grass to lay down on. There wasn't much to notice as there weren't very many ponies in the park, I wondered why that was. I then noticed that everypony was walking out of the park towards the town hall, I followed out of curiosity, abandoning my improvised plans entirely. I looked around for anypony that could tell me what's going on and found Rarity heading towards the town hall. I altered my course slightly so that I would meet with her. "Excuse me, Rarity," I said, as I got close in an attempt to get her attention. She turned to me and immediately smiled, "Hello FalAIr, how are you today?" "I'm fine, Rarity, my hind hooves are dented from removing a boulder for Applejack though. But that's not why I'm talking to you," She frowned at that, but prompted me to explain, "Do you know why everyone is gathering at the town hall?" "Ah, nopony must've told you. Today, Mayor Mare is going to announce your presence in Ponyville and explain what you are," My eyes noticeably widened, Rarity noticed, "Dear, I'm sure it'll be fine, Mayor Mare will keep everypony calm. I asked her myself to keep it as brief as possible," I smiled and thanked her as we neared the town hall. I could already hear a mare calling out, "Settle down, everypony!" I pushed off to stand on my hind hooves briefly to see who was speaking, it earned me a few stares from lots of ponies, but I succeeded in seeing who was talking. A mare was at the front of the crowd standing on the steps of the Town Hall behind a podium, she had a gray mane streaked with silver down the middle it fit well with her light brown coat. I figured this was Mayor Mare. The crowd of ponies was eventually quiet enough for Mayor Mare to speak, "As all of you already know, Nightmare Moon is real, she appeared during the Summer Sun Celebration, wreaking havoc in Town Hall. However, thanks to the bravery of some of our very own and the intelligence of one former Canterlot mare, Nightmare Moon was defeated. But, these mares did not do this alone, one extraordinary stallion helped them on their quest, this stallion is the reason I have called you all here today," I sighed, turning to Rarity, "I'd better get closer, she's bound to call me up, " "No matter what happens FalAIr, we'll still be there for you," I smiled at the reassurance. "Thank you, Rarity" I slowly turned and began to wade through the crowd of ponies. I had to struggle through tight spots and had to say excuse me so many times it felt like it had lost all meaning. All the while, Mayor Mare was talking about me and how against all odds I helped Twilight and the others defeat Nightmare Moon. I was near the front of the crowd, I wondered if she'd ever run out of things to say. "I would like to call this stallion to the stage. FalAIr, please come up here." I felt all eyes turn to me at the mention of my name, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. Now I just have to prepare myself in case I get kicked out of Ponyville. The remaining crowd in front of me moved away to give me thoroughfare to the stairs of the Town Hall. It was almost painful, seeing the awe on their faces that may very well turn to expressions of anger, hatred and worst of all. Fear. My hooves moved on literal automatic as I prepared myself for the possible outcome. Nothing could prepare me fully, but I could at least try to be strong. I reached the pedestal and stood next to Mayor Mare, facing the crowd. It was worse up here, the height difference made them seem smaller, but it also allowed me to see more. So many faces turned towards me. So many foals expecting something amazing from me. So many ponies expecting me to be a great role model. But in the middle of it all, 7 faces turned to me with smiles on their faces, supporting me. 7 pillars that held me up away from the flames of fear that tried to consume me. 7 friends that would always be there for me. I smiled back, catching my lost confidence as it was thrown back to me. "This stallion beside me may not appear to be much at first glance, but he is more than what he appears to be. Princess Celestia herself sent a message telling me of what this stallion is and of what he will become. A valuable friend. But enough of this stalling, it's time to get down to the core of the reason that I have called you here. Please welcome Princess Celestia," I turned to look in shock at the pedestal as Mayor Mare moved away, a blinding light shone at the entrance to the town hall, the entire crowd gasping and most averting their eyes. I turned my back towards the crowd so I could turn my head to see what it was. The blinding light was coming from none other than Celestia herself, she hovered, wings spread, above the ground. She slowly began to descend, the light dimming to the point where no pony had to avert their eyes anymore. As soon as she touched the ground her eyes opened and I swear I saw her smile at me. She slowly approached the pedestal (Y U NO MOVE FASTER) and looked down upon the gathered crowd of ponies. "Citizens of Ponyville," she began, her voice loud as to reach all of the crowd, "I am here today to because of this stallion beside me," she gestures to me, "As you know Ponies as a species do not have very advanced technologies, we prefer to work the earth with our own hooves. However, years ago one pony thought different. He'd heard of what was going to happen in our time and he hoped to plan ahead," she paused, gazing over the crowd before zeroing in on Twilight. She smiled and looked away, "This pony created an advanced piece of technology and was shunned for it by others. This advanced piece of technology is among us as I speak," a few ponies in the crowd began to look around, whispering amongst themselves, "This technology was- and is- programmed to help save Equestria. I advise all of you in the crowd to not panic, for you are all safe. What you are about to see is alien to most of you, but it is not of your imagination," she turned to me and nodded, I understood the gesture and closed my eyes. Warning: multiple sentients detected in the area Disabling Synthetics is not recommended... Disabling synthetics... I heard the entire crowd gasp. ...Synthetics disabled It wasn't as I expected, I could hear the whispering and quiet murmurs but they did not sound hostile. I slowly opened my eyes to see a sea of awed faces in front of the pedestal. The entire crowd was staring at me and my naked glory. Celestia waited for the whispers and murmurs to die down before she spoke again, "This is still the same pony, FalAIr, but this is him without the illusions. He may be made of metal, but he has the personality, the emotions and the soul of a pony. I am hoping that soon, you will all come to know FalAIr as what he is on the inside, knowing him for his actions, his deeds, his personality, not for what he's made out of. In the end I hope that FalAIr will become good friends with you all," She turned to smile at me one last time, "Thank you all for taking the time out of your day to see this announcement," With that, she turned and walked back towards the town hall's main door, before the blinding light appeared again and she was gone. Leaving me in silence, naked in front of a crowd. To my surprise however, when I turned back around, the crowd was already dispersing, returning to their normal daily chores, some grouping up and gossiping and an even smaller amount were approaching me with Twilight and the others. "I'm sorry FalAIr, I'm usually more organised, I can't believe I forgot it was-" I interrupted Twilight before she could say any more. "It's fine, Twilight, mistakes are made by everypony, it's natures way of teaching you to be better," I smiled at her reassuringly, I noticed the group frowned a bit at the metallic sound of my voice, "So, what are these other ponies here for?" I kept my tone neutral just in case. Twilight frowned and looked behind her in surprise, "Oh! I actually didn't know they were behind us, can we help you?" But the group dispersed, muttering amongst themselves like the others. A few foals tried to stay behind, but were pulled away by their siblings and/or parents. I sighed as Twilight and the gang turned back to me, "Well that was just plain rude!" Applejack commented, to the agreement of the others, "Don't let them bother ya, FalAIr, they're just afraid," "That's exactly what I'm bothered about," I said, shaking my head and sighing, "My AI is shaped by my interactions with others and events that happen around me. As such, I only have one fear. Loneliness, I fear being rejected and despised by ponies, I fear, being feared." I turned and headed back towards the library, feeling the eyes of everypony in Ponyville following me. Author's Note Ugh, so much research on metals, so many idiotic answers. Geez you ask a question like "What is the strongest metal in the world" expecting a straightforward answer "Adamantium" but instead get lectured about different kinds of metals and their applications. Even now, I'm still not sure if Titanium and Tungsten are the right metals to go with, but I don't know enough about metals to do further research. Sorry for dragging the speech, but I was getting stuck with this chapter and had to go into more detail to get moving again. I hate the speech to be honest, it seems too long, it doesn't seem like the ponies talking are in character, and then near the end it seems too rushed because I was trying to get to the point. ARGH I HATE SPEECHES Scratch that. I hate this chapter in general, but I can't think of anything else to put here. I'd just like to point out that I may make certain ponification errors, e.g. Every one instead of every pony. If you see any of these mistakes could you please point them out, thanks. Chapter 8: Princess of the NightRare Metals Occurs during Season 1 Episode 6: Boast Busters Upon returning to the library I headed straight for the lab, I thought that maybe I could start some tinkering on the old damaged machinery in there, maybe get my mind off of the recent events. However as soon as I approached the work bench a flash of light appeared in front of me, when my optics recovered from the sudden light shift I found a scroll sitting on the work bench. I literally went cross-eyed trying to open the scroll, I didn't have any coding on how to do things with my hooves or mouth so I had to teach myself. It took some struggling and I lost the scroll a few times, going to need to repair a few this too. But they were old anyway. I finally got the scroll open, and is looked around at the mess I had made. Though if anything it was an improvement, this lab had never been cleaned since... I dismissed the thought and turned back to the scroll in front of me. To FalAIr Sister hath explained to Us what thou art and has told Us what thou need. I request that thou make haste to Canterlot so that We can discuss with thou what thou need. I doth think that thou will appreciate our contribution to thy repairs. P.S. Sister hath told the Guards to not let anypony disturb Us, even with Our royal seal. The guards do however, have instructions to let an unusual pony in. We apologise but you shall have to show them thy true form. Princess Luna I read it again, just to make sure what I'd read was true. It was true, Princess Luna wanted to meet me in Canterlot. I took the scroll in my mouth and turned around with one thought on my mind, I need to show this to Twilight. But I stopped, After what just happened? I don't think I can go out there again. I didn't get to think about it too much though. "FalAIr, are you okay?" Asked a concerned-looking Twilight from the hole in the wall that was the entrance to the lab, "I didn't know you felt this way about this all," I turned towards her, but kept my gaze lowered, "You couldn't have known Twilight. I done blame you or your friends, not even the Princess for this," I sighed and slowly raised my gaze to look her in the face, "I was just afraid, and I still am. But, I think, if at least you seven accept me..." My eyes widened as Twilight approached and wrapped her fore-hooves around me, "FalAIr we'll always accept you, as I said before. No matter what happens, you're still our friend," if i had any tear ducts I would have been crying, as it is I did what I could, leaning into the hug, my AI experiencing the feelings it was programmed to feel. I don't know how long we stayed like that, but it had to end eventually. I was the one to end the hug, immediately bending down to pick up the scroll I had dropped, only for it to be encased in a lavender glow and floated up to me. I looked up to find a smiling Twilight, her horn aglow, "Thank you Twilight. But, I think you should read it. It's from Princess Luna," Twilight's smile turned into a frown "Princess Luna? Why would she send a letter?" She opened the letter and began to read. Having nothing else to do, I simply waited for her to finish, which didn't take long, "Princess Luna wants to help? So soon after the Nightmare Moon incident?" I nodded, "I agree that Princess Luna has shown an extraordinary recovery rate, this letter being proof, but I see no reason why that should stop me from accepting her help," "That's not the only problem I have with this. It's just that I can't go with you if you decide to go today," Twilight said, rolling the scroll back up, "I promised I'd go and see a new magic show that's come to Ponyville with the girls," "I understand Twilight, you have to avid breaking promises to your friends," I said, smiling, "I'll be fine," the only problem with that statement was, I couldn't figure out if I was lying. The girls and spike all made sure they said goodbye before I went to the train station. I was baffled at how they found out so fast though. I noticed that some of the Ponyvillians still greeted me, but the majority didn't and some even went out of their way to ignore me. It was disconcerting, till I saw a filly glare at her mother for trying to get away. I activated my synthetics, snickering a bit at the filly and her mother. Other than that, not much happened until I got to the train station. There wasn't much activity, which was normal, but it was still odd seeing only a few ponies entering and exiting trains. I had memorised the train schedule word for word, I knew when my train was going to arrive as well as where it was coming from and other things. But, you can never be certain. I sat down next to a to wait for the train to Canterlot, so I didn't bother trying to start up a conversation. Soon enough the train to Canterlot arrived and I got up to enter, not noticing had disappeared. I sat close to the windows on the train so I could watch the land roll by, it was interesting, seeing all the various types of plants and animals. I had data on some things and were able to recognise them as the train rolled past, but most things I couldn't identify. Maybe I should do some travelling I thought as the train pulled into Canterlot Train Station. I got up and walked out the train doors as they opened, I headed straight towards Canterlot Castle, taking in the sights as I went. Most of the aristocrats ignored me, which didn't bother me as they're aristocrats. I have data on them, uptight, snooty, tend to ignore or abuse lower class ponies. It honestly disgusts me to say the least. I arrived at the castle soon enough and was stopped by guards at the front gate, "Halt. State your business citizen," "I am here by request, I received a summons from Princess Luna," the guards looked at each other, smirking "We have instructions from Princess Celestia not to let anypony disturb Princess Luna, so, sorry bud," I sighed, expecting as much from Luna's letter, but a small part of me had hoped they'd let me through. I made sure nopony else was around before I disabled my synthetics, I wasn't ready for a re-run of Ponyville quite yet. The guards gasped as I shed the illusion, my metal chassis bare to them. They gazed on in silence for a few moments before returning to their senses and looking at each other, "You think this is the 'unusual pony' the princess was talking about?" The one on the left asked. "Whether he's the right pony or not doesn't matter right now. He's an unusual pony and I'd hate to know what happens if we don't let him in," replied the other before turning to me, "You may see Princess Luna," he stepped aside, and the other followed, albeit hesitantly. I nodded to them before walking past them and into the castle. I instantly had to ask for directions when I entered the castle, I couldn't even begin to guess where Princess Luna could be found. The helpful guard sent me in the right direction, making sure I understood that I had to knock on Luna's bedroom door to ask for permission before entering. It seemed a bit silly now that I thought back to it, despite the castle's size, it's not hard to get from the entrance to Luna's bed chamber. I supposed that was more for the guards benefit. I stopped when I reached Luna's door and knocked as instructed, there was a moment before there was a response, "Thou may enter," I opened the door and entered, making sure to close it behind me as I did so. When I turned around I found Princess Luna lying on her bed, observing me, "Thou must be FalAIr?" She asked as I moved away from the door to sit down. "Yes Princess, I am FalAIr," I replied, sitting down in front of the Princess. My gaze was drawn upwards immediately as I noticed there were cracks in the circling. The cracks originated around a chandelier which sat in the centre of the ceiling above where Luna was lying. Luna noticed my gaze and cocked her head, trying to look at where my eyes were, "What art thou looking at?" "Apologies, Princess but..." I did some quick calculations in my head based on what I could see, "The position of the ceiling that chandelier is connected to is unstable, I estimate that the chandelier will collapse along with part of the roof onto the bed, likely crushing you with it, in about a weeks' time, give or take a few days as I don't have much data to-" Luna interrupted me, "Thou art saying this chandelier will fall and crush Us in one weeks' time?" I nodded, "Roughly, yes, depending on the weather conditions, the material of the ceiling, natural disasters, unnatural disasters etc," Luma spread her wings and flew up to inspect the cracks, "Be careful, Princess. I am unsure how the air from your wings or even touching the chandelier will affect its condition!" Luna ignored my warning and flew close to the cracks in the circling, she gently rubbed her hoof along one of the cracks to verify what it was. As soon as Luna touched the ceiling the cracks began to spread, Luna panicked and flew back down towards me, I ducked as Luna landed and the centre of the circling collapsed with the chandelier, debris falling and crushing the bed where Luna had been. Guards immediately rushed into the room, "Princess!" They looked at Luna, coughing beside me as I cowered on the ground, then at the bed, covered in debris and pieces of the chandelier, "Princess are you okay? What happened?" I slowly got up and turned towards the princess, as soon as she stopped coughing she turned to me, her eyes wide, "FalAIr. Thou just saved Our life," I shook my head, "I made an error Princess, the circling was less sturdy than I estimated, my incorrect estimate could have killed you," "Nonsense, if thou had not drawn Our attention to it, We surely would have perished," she turned to the nearest Guard, "Inform Our sister of what hath happened," she turned back to me, "We believe we had something to discuss?" Author's Note Why did I think Early Modern English was easy? Chapter 9: Enchanted by the MoonChapter 9: Enchanted by the Moon Luna guided me to a nearby guest bedroom, which was to be her bedroom till everything was fixed. After entering and closing the door behind us, Luna flew up and lay down on the bed as she was before the roof collapsed, "Now, where were We? Ah, yes, We believe that We can help thou with thy repairs and possibly make some... Improvements," I raised my eyebrow, "You are able to identify what metals my chassis is comprised of and repair my hind hooves, as well as making improvements?" Luna nodded, "How will you be making improvements?" Luna hesitated, "Thou... Remember Our... The armour that Nightmare Moon wore?" I quickly scanned the various files I had of that moment, "I have only vague ideas of what it looked like, but yes, why?" "That armour was crafted by Nightmare Moon and enchanted using the powers of Our moon. It is because of this fact that Nightmare was so powerful when Sparkle and her friends confronted her. The armour amplifies the wearer's magical abilities while in Our moon's light," I nodded in understanding, "But would the armour not have been destroyed when Nightmare Moon was purged?" Luna shook her head, "Nay, the armour is made from the materials of Our moon, thus it remains in tact. The enchantments laid on the metal however, were broken. This does not matter, as We are able to imitate the enchantments that were laid on the metal. But Nightmare used dark magic when weaving the enchantments, that is why her power was so raw. We will not use dark magic when We weave the enchantments, the power will be more focused and easier to control," "You are saying you would use this armour on my chassis? Despite it being made from pieces of your moon?" "Despite what We may say, the moon does not belong to Us alone. It belongs to all beings that willingly stand in its reflected light. But either way, We cannot simply return the armour to the moon. Powerful magic was used to send Us to the moon and powerful magic was used to send Nightmare back. It would take an equally if not more powerful magic to send the armour back to the moon. We cannot simply let this armour lie around for anyone to use. We believe you will take good care of it, using its power in the way it should be used," the shadows beside the door to the room shifted and a bat pony appeared, holding a rectangular box upon its back with its wings outstretched to balance it. The bat pony approached Princess Luna, and she lifted the box from his back, nodding to him. He bowed and left the room as Luna opened the box. I looked inside, my optics quickly adjusting from the unexpected glow coming from the armour. It looked exactly as it did when Nightmare Moon was purged, albeit slightly black around the edges. "Why does it glow?" I asked, frowning as I turned to Luna, "The moon does not produce its own light, therefore the armour should not be glowing," Luna simply shook her head, "What thou says is true, however the moon is special. It reflects all light it is given, regardless of how little. This armour, when enchanted, will have its dormant powers awakened. We can place only 4 enchantments on the armour, one being taken by the enchantment that will be placed upon it, the name of the enchantment is 'Lunam lumine', 'tis Latin for Moon's Light. This leaves 3 enchantments, wouldst thou have Us place any enchantments other than the one?" I shook my head, "I do not wish to be a nuisance, Princess. I cannot think of any other enchantments I would need or want for that matter," Luna closed the box and placed it beside her, "Very well, you may simply contact Us if you wish to have another enchantment placed upon the armour, We can place an enchantment on the armour at any time, but as We said before, the armour can only take 3 more enchantments," I nodded, "Very well, thank you, Luna. At what time can the repairs be made?" Luna smiled, "Immediately," she got off the bed and began walking towards the door, levitating the armour with her and me following behind. I had to have some of my parts removed for the armour to be put on properly, I wasn't entirely comfortable with being taken apart by ponies I don't even know, but I knew I was safe with Princess Luma there watching over the entire thing. Problem was I had to guide them through each part, some ponies left after the first parts of me being taken apart, probably couldn't handle being guided by a decapitated robot pony head, figures. Honestly, ponies gawking at my circuitry is pretty much what I expected, but they were fairly professional about what they did, though a few of the stallions chuckled amongst themselves as they disconnected various cables from my rear end, the foals. Despite this, it was over quickly, the armour fit almost perfectly onto my chassis. Parts of the armour had to be cut off to get it to fit properly, but the parts that were cut off were melted with the metal that was used to repair my hind hooves, Luna said it shouldn't hinder the armours effects too much, though I had to wonder. With new armour, a moon on my chest and blue-tinted hind hooves I was ready to go. Author's Note Sorry for the short chapter, I had trouble, kept getting stuck on the simplest of parts. Credit to SkyDaz for giving me the translation for Moon's Light, 'Lunam lumine' Chapter 10: That wasn't a pony.Chapter 10: He's not dead! He was never alive! "She did WHAT!?" I said, incredulous at what Rainbow Dash was telling me. "Yeah! It was so awesome! She picked up that Ursa Major like it was nothing!" replied Rainbow Dash as Twilight walked up. "It was an Ursa MINOR, Rainbow and I was very tired after using that much magic," Twilight pointed out to the cyan pegasus. "Still," Rainbow grumbled. Twilight turned to me and smiled, "Enough about me, how was Canterlot, FalAIr?" Twilight asked, leading me over to the couch where the others were sitting. "Oh yes dear, tell us all about it!" Rarity smiled. I sat down next to Applejack, happy to relay what had happened in Canterlot, "Not much happened, Princess Luna simply wanted to help me with my chassis, making repairs and even some improvements," I said. "Well that explains the blue parts on ya," Applejack said, gesturing to the neck piece I now had, "But surely more than that happened," I shook my head, before pausing, bringing my hoof up to my chin, "Well, Princess Luna did almost get crushed by a chandelier," "WHAT!?" Everypony yelled, their expressions ones of horror. "Dear goodness I hope she's alright!" Rarity exclaimed. "She's fine," I said, attempting to calm everypony, "I told Princess Luna about the structural integrity of the chandelier when I noticed it, she flew up to verify my statement and the chandelier dropped and fell on the place she had been sitting bringing some of the roof down with it. Nopony was hurt." "Well, that's a relief, but I actually have to go now, I'm a bit late on the weather schedule," Rainbow Dash said, flying over to open the door. "Rainbow, one day your slackin's gonna come back and bite ya in the flank," Applejack commented, frowning. "Hey I don't slack, I just take breaks throughout the day, besides I got a bit caught up with what happened with Trixie,"Rainbow said, hovering in the doorway. "Whatever," Applejack dismissed as Rainbow flew out the doorway, "It's gettin' late Twi, s'pose I should head back to the farm before Granny Smith starts worryin'" Applejack said, getting off her seat and making for the door. Rarity got up too and began to head for the door, "It's close to Sweetie's bedtime, I need to get to the boutique before she gets into any trouble," "I should probably go too, Angel will get worried if I'm not home in a few minutes," Fluttershy said, following behind Rarity. "Cya Twi! Cya FalAIr!" Pinkie said, bouncing after Fluttershy, the door closing behind her. I sat down at the library, going through my data and deleting unnecessary records to clear space. Twilight had left a few moments earlier, saying she wanted to 'get out of the library for a while'. So I was left with Spike, who was currently putting the books that Twilight had left laying around back into their places. I had offered to help but Spike warned me that Twilight was specific about her sorting. I didn't truly understand it, but I took his advice regardless. "Hey FalAIr, I have to run an errand at the town hall later, want to come with?" Spike asked, pausing in his cleaning for a moment. I pushed my cleanup into the background, "Sure, I've got nothing to better to do, what's the errand?" I asked, turning to face him. He picked up another book and walked to it's shelf, "Oh, it's nothing too important, just have to pick up a few scrolls," he replied, placing the book into its rightful place among its brethren. "Cool, when do we go?" Spike scanned the room quickly, it was practically clean now, save for the few errant piles of books that either weren't sorted yet, or Twilight was reading them still, "Now actually, I think I'm done here," I stopped my cleanup and got up from where I was sitting, "Even better, let's go!" I said, happily trotting towards the door and opening it for the small drake. "Thanks FalAIr," Spike said as he walked out the door with me following behind, we both began heading for the town hall. "Are you sure you're okay?" I asked, concern evident on my face as I followed the walking pile of scrolls that was Spike. "Yeah, I'm fine, honestly," he replied as I walked ahead to open the door, giving him a concerned glance as I pushed it open, allowing him through. I walked out behind him, noticing Pinkie Pie and Rainbow immediately. "What are-" I didn't get a chance to finish the question when Rainbow Dash kicked a cloud that was beside her, the cloud sending a bolt of lightning downwards. Just my luck, the bolt arced straight towards me, I spasmed, my systems going haywire at the surge of power it suddenly got, my legs flailing all over the place as the motors got confused as to what to do. By the time my system got the surge under control I was a mess, my forehead was charred where the bolt had struck me and my mane and tail were sticking out all over the place. I shook myself then turned to look at Rainbow Dash with a glare, but she was too busy laughing at something, I followed her gaze down to see Spike, he had dropped all the scrolls and was trying to pick them up, but every time he grabbed one he'd hiccup and burn it. I knew of Spike's magical fire, I hope Princess Celestia wasn't doing anything important. My system was still recovering from the power surge, so most of my senses were inactive, I couldn't hear anything that was happening around me, but I could see the concern that Pinkie Pie, who came out of nowhere, suddenly shot me. I could see Rainbow say something to Pinkie, Pinkie said something back, then while Pinkie wasn't looking she struck the cloud beside her again. My eyes widened in alarm, time seemed to slow while the bolt arced towards me, Spike still trying to pick up the scrolls and failing, Pinkie jumping with a sudden surprised expression, Rainbow, her smirk slowly shifting to shock. I didn't know what to do, so I shut my systems down systematically, my vision went dark as I entered standby mode, the bolt striking me on the forehead as I did so. I was awoken again straight after the bolt struck by errors running through me, my system warning me that while I was in Standby Mode an 'unknown static charge' struck me. I looked up upon noticing I was lying on my side, Pinkie, Spike and Rainbow were standing around me with looks of concern on their faces, Pinkie and Spike still hiccuping. "Rainbow, don't do that again," She flinched at the sound of my voice, I didn't blame her, my vocal synth was WAY off. I recalibrated it quickly, "Test, test. Right, Rainbow, what the heck were you doing?" "Well-" she was cut off from her explanation by Pinkie Pie, who immediately got right up in my face. "OH MY GOSH! Are you okay FalAIr? I mean I was so busy laughing I didn't see the bolt strike you, but when Rainbow struck the cloud again I saw the bolt arc downwardsandthenIgotworriedcauseInoticedyouwerestandingwheretheboltwasgointohitand-" I stopped her with my hoof, giving my CPU time to run over everything she just said. "Pinkie, I'm fine, it was just a disorienting power surge, nothing but a small shock to me," I turned back to Rainbow, "Continue," She obliged, "Well, Pinkie was playing a prank on Spike, I didn't know about it until I heard Spike's hiccups. I didn't know the lightning was arcing towards you until you collapsed. Are you sure you're okay? That was a big bolt," "I repeat; it was just a disorienting power surge," I assured her, getting up into my hooves. "Well, if you're sure," she turned away hesitantly, prepared to fly off, but she stopped before pouncing and turned back to Pinkie, "Hey Pinkie, I didn't take you as a prankster," "Are you -hic- KIDDING? -hic-" Pinkie practically yelled into my ear, "I love to pull pranks, -hic- it's all in good fun, and Pinkie Pie Lo~o -hic- oves to have -hic- fun! -hic-" I was staring at her throughout the entire sentence, watching her mane spasm with every hiccup and trying to fathom how that was even working. I could almost feel smoke coming off my CPU "You know Pinkie, you're not as annoying as I thought," I whipped my head 'round to look at Rainbow, giving up on Pinkie being Pinkie for now, and frowned at her saying that Pinkie was annoying, Pinkie didn't appear to notice however, "You wanna hang out?" Pinkie grinned, "-hic- That'd be" she flew into the air above Rainbow, "-hic-" she flew somewhere out of the left of my vision, "I'd really, -hic-" she flew back before I could turn my head, "-hic- When do -hic- -hic-" she flew off to my right, I facehoofed, "I mean -hic- when would you -hic-" the onslaught of words finally stopped, I sighed in relief. "A simple nod will do," Rainbow Dash said, her hoof in Pinkie's mouth, Pinkie nodded, humming her consent before Rainbow took her hoof away. They both turned and began walking away, the sound of prank planning could be heard from both of them. I turned towards Spike, who was just staring at the two as they walked off, obviously his hiccups had disappeared in his astonishment, "So Spike, what about the scrolls?" "Hm?" he said, turning towards me with a questioning expression, "Oh! They'll be fine, Princess Celestia'll probably send them back after figuring out what they are," I nodded, standing back onto my hooves, "Well then, we mineaswell head back to the library," I said, beginning the walk back towards the homely fauna. Zoom: 25% Four targets found Identifying. . . Primary Target "Rainbow Dash" identified Primary Target "Pinkie Pie" identified Secondary Target "Spike" identified Fourth target unidentified Zoom: 0% Connecting to PVBU. . . Connection established Connection: Strong Sending gathered Data. . . Information sent to PVBU Data received 2/6 Primary targets located 1/1 Secondary targets located Compressing Data. . . Data compressed Forwarding compressed Data to CB . . . Response received Decompressing. . . Decompressed Forwarding data to UnitRD Forwarding data to UnitPP New data received Updating Mission Objectives Recon mode disabled Stealth mode enabled Primary objectives: Remain out of sight Pursue targets at specified distance I watched intently as Twilight added another chemical to the blue mixture next to me, "Are you sure mixing these chemicals are safe?" "It's safe," she said, turning back to her paper, only to gasp, "Where did-?" I turn to look at the paper too, only to see the writing that was there a moment ago had disappeared. I was about to reply, "I don't-" when the potion exploded. "FalAIr!" Twilight exclaimed, startled at the explosion. I quickly got my hooves back under me, my right optical lens being obscured by something, "I'm okay! I'm okay!" I reassured Twilight, doing a minor systems check to make sure nothing had been damaged. Everything seemed fine, though I didn't know why my right lens was obscured, or why Twilight was making that face, "Is something wrong Twilight?" I asked her, frowning at her expression. There were tears forming at the sides of her eyes as she replied and her voice sounded higher than normal, "You've just got... Something on your side," I blinked, before turning so I was able to see my side, it was purple. "I think the potion had a bit of a side effect..." "What was the potion intended to do?" I asked, turning away from my purple side. "It wasn't intended to do anything, I was inspecting the effects of mixing those chemicals." At seeing my expression she quickly rectified, "I did the calculations beforehand! The potion is harmless! There are no adverse effects!" She looked to my purple side, "Though I did see that as a possible effect." Twilight turned to look out the window at the sound of laughter, I looked out too to see Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie on their backs laughing hysterically, a blue bottle with an outlined drop of liquid lay between them. Twilight smirked, "Well, there's our culprits" "So Pinkie Pie, are you sure that this friend of Rainbow Dash is really so mean?" Twilight said, flipping through the pages of the book that currently sat on the pedestal in front of her, I sat beside Spike as we flipped through similar books. The three of us were looking for a way to remove this purple stuff, so far simply washing it off hasn't been working. "Um, yeah. She keeps stealing Rainbow Dash away, she pops my balloons, and she told me to buzz off. I've never met a griffon this mean. Well, actually, I've never met a griffon at all, but I bet if I had, she wouldn't have been as mean and grumpy as Gilda." Pinkie said, pacing across the room before stomping her hoof on the floor. "A griffon?" I asked Spike, he just shrugged in response. I noted to ask Twilight about it later. I turned back to the conversation at hand. "You know what I think, Pinkie Pie" Twilight said, looking worriedly at Pinkie. "Hmm?" Pinkie inquired, getting all up in Twilight's grill. "Well I think," Twilight turned away, keeping her eyes on Pinkie, "you're jealous" "Jealous?" Pinkie exclaimed, incredulous. "Green with envy," Spike cut in, looking up at Pinkie, "well, in your case, pink with envy," I gave Spike a wry look, he just looked at me and shrugged. "Well, yes. Jealous," Twilight said with a tired expression, I could tell this conversation wouldn't last much longer, "Listen Pinkie, I don't want to upset you, but just because Rainbow Dash has another friend doesn't make Gilda a grump. I mean, perhaps it's you, Pinkie, who needs to improve her attitude." "Improve my attitude? But I... D... B.. It's Gilda that... D... Are you seri..." Pinkie stutters before screaming in frustration and walking off, albeit with a weird "puick" sound with every hoofstep. Twilight, Spike and I look on worriedly as she walks out of the library, flinching as she slams the door. Spike and I approach Twilight as she sighs, "Well, that could've gone better," I comment before turning to look at Twilight, "I'd like to meet Gilda at some point, I've never seen a Griffon before, I have no data on them whatsoever." Zoom: 10% Three targets found Identifying. . . Primary Target "Twilight Sparkle" identified Secondary Target "Spike" identified Third target unidentified Zoom: 0% Connecting to PVBU. . . Connection established Connection: Strong Sending gathered Data. . . Information sent to PVBU Data received 3/6 Primary targets located 1/1 Secondary targets located Compressing Data. . . Data compressed Forwarding compressed Data to CB . . . Response received Decompressing. . . Decompressed Forwarding data to UnitTS New data received Updating Mission Objectives Recon mode disabled Stealth mode enabled Primary objectives: Remain out of sight Pursue targets at specified distance I had my eyes on the sky while walking through Ponyville in the hopes that I'd spot Gilda and Rainbow Dash. My forward sensors were active so as I wouldn't bump into anypony while at it. I stopped abruptly when I heard Rainbow Dash laughing. It sounded like it was coming from Sugarcube Corner. I turned and headed towards the candy-themed confectionery shop. I caught sight of Rainbow Dash as she flew away from the area, "Later," she said, her prismatic trail originating from nearby the stalls. I dragged my gaze towards the area, catching sight of a figure that was certainly not a pony. That must be Gilda she had the head and talons of an eagle and the body of a lion. Honestly, I don't know what I was expecting. I moved to approach her but stopped suddenly, noticing Pinkie sitting by herself at a table outside Sugarcube Corner. I noticed she was hunched down at the table, almost as if she were hiding. I decided to see what Pinkie was up to before meeting Gilda. I stopped in my tracks as I heard an elderly mares voice, "Aaah! A rattler, a rattler! Run for the hills! Everypony forsake yourselves!" I turned quickly, seeing the mare in question creaking (literally, her legs were creaking) away from the store I had seen Gilda approach. I was about to move towards the stall to deal with the supposed 'rattler' before Gilda appeared behind the stall, I immediately noticed her tail was in with the corn and carrots. She pressed a tomato with her tail, "This stuff ain't fresh, dude," she remarked, before wandering off, much to the stall-owners confusion. My ears twitched as Pinkie started talking, I turned around to listen, "How mean. No, no, I can't misjudge her. It was kind of a funny prank, I guess." I cocked my head, before I realized that the 'rattler' must've been Gilda's tail. I turned back around yet again, eyes locking to Gilda as she approached another stall that oddly looked the same as the last. She walked parallel to the stall, behind the backs of the ponies that were surrounding it. I watched as she used her tail to grab an apple from the baskets that were under the stall, immediately sticking it into her beak. My eyes widened, She didn't pay for those! I started trotting towards Gilda, meaning to confront her about the theft, but I was forced to stop as Fluttershy walked past in front of me, "Sorry Fluttershy," "Oh, it's okay, thank you Falair," she smiled before continuing on her way, the ducks she was leading following closely. I stood there and watched her lead them away, I noticed Gilda behind her and began to trot forwards, expecting Gilda to move out of Fluttershy's way. She didn't. "Hey" Gilda exclaimed as Fluttershy bumped into her. Fluttershy turned to look up at Gilda, who was towering over her, my expression lowered, I could see where this was going, I kept moving forwards, approaching the duo as Fluttershy began, "Oh, please excuse me" Gilda spread her wings and pushed her beak forwards menacingly, "I'm walkin' here," Fluttershy began backing away, "Oh, um, I'm sorry. I-I-I was just trying to..." I was getting closer to the scene, but I decided not to interfere... yet. Gilda stood back up straight, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she mocked, before thrusting her beak forward again, "Why don't you just watch where you're going, doofus?" The ducks scattered as Fluttershy backed into them with Gilda pushing forwards. I decided now was the time to interfere. I pushed between Fluttershy and Gilda, the latter taking a step back, "Back. Off." I narrowed my eyes at her, my stance sideways so as to block Fluttershy from view. "Who are you supposed to be? Her bodyguard?" Gilda responded, she looked to be miffed that someone had stood up to her, "Can't she stand up for herself?" "I am her friend, I will not stand idly by as you bring her to tears," I could tell Fluttershy wouldn't have lasted much longer, "It'd be better if you went somewhere else," nobody moved, it was practically a stand-off between Gilda and I. "Feh, you ponies are lame anyway." She said before flying off. I turned to Fluttershy, "Are you okay Fluttershy?" It was probably too much for her, because the instant Gilda left, she broke into tears and flew off. I looked on with a sad expression. I didn't really know what had happened, it was all a blur of pink. But somehow I had ended up in Sugarcube corner with a small group of other ponies who looked equally as confused as I did. Soon after the initial confusion, ponies began to mill around and socialise. I just remained on the chair I had been placed on, watching the goings on. Pinkie Pie was at the door welcoming everypony as they entered. I turned my head and noticed Fluttershy with Twilight, I angled my ears over to listen to what they were talking about. "Oh, um, well, I'll tell you later, Twilight." I didn't know the context, so I couldn't tell what they were talking about. On the upside, Fluttershy looked better. Fluttershy walked away from Twilight and over to Pinkie Pie, so I decided to talk to Twilight. She noticed me approaching. "Hey Falair, did you meet Gilda?" She asked, turning towards me as I stopped next to her. "Well, yes, but not in the way I had hoped." I replied, I was stopped from continuing by Pinkie Pie. "Gilda!" I turned to see her land in front of said Griffon, "I'm so honored to throw you one of my signature Pinkie Pie parties, and I really, truly, sincerely, hope you feel welcome here amongst all us pony folk." She extended her hoof for Gilda to shake. Gilda slowly took hold of Pinkie's hoof, only to be electrocuted. She scowled as Pinkie Pie laughed. "Oh Pinkie PIe," Rainbow dash trotted up, "the old hoof-shake buzzer. You are a scream." Gilda hesitantly agreed, "Yeah, uh, good one, Pinkie Pie." I turned back towards Twilight, "That seemed like a lot of volts for such a small buzzer." Twilight turned to me, "Oh, it's not that much. Gilda was probably just surprised." We turned back as Pinkie Pie rushed to the center of the room, "Everyone, I'd like you all to meet Gilda, a long-time, dear friend of Rainbow Dash," she rushed over to hug Gilda, "Let's honor her and welcome her to Ponyville." Before rushing away again, Gilda just scowled. Everyone, save Fluttershy and I, cheered. Gilda smiled forcefully as Dash came up and put a hoof behind her. "Please help yourself," Pinkie said, standing near the food table. "Vanilla lemon drops. Don't mind if I do," Gilda said, placing the mentioned treat into her beak. Her beak burst open, flames pouring out. I jumped in surprise, turning to Twilight, "Griffons breathe fire!?" "No, it's probably just pepper," she replied calmly. "How does that even-" I was interrupted by laughter from the ponies near the punch table. "Well, whaddya know, pepper in the vanilla lemon drops, and the punch served in a dribble glass," Pinkie commented. I turned to Twilight, "What's going on? This seems like a setup." "They're just harmless pranks," she replied I cocked my head, "What's a prank?" Twilight was about to reply, but was interrupted by more laughter. We both turned to see Gilda, a polka-dotted cylinder in her talon, with her feathers fluffed up in surprise. We couldn't help it, we both laughed. "That, is a prank," Twilight said to me when she calmed down. "Surprising someone is a prank?" I responded, cocking my head again. "No, well, somewhat. A prank is a joke you pull on someone," Twilight explained. "A joke, like that disappearing ink thing?" I asked. "Exactly." Twilight replied. "Cake time everypony." Pinkie Pie said, rolling a huge cake in. Everypony gathered around. "Hey, can I blow out the candles?" I hadn't even noticed Spike arrive. "Why don't we let Gilda blow out the candles, Spike. She is the guest of honor after all," Twilight responded to Spike's query. Gilda appeared and punted Spike away with her elbow. I scowled, "Exactly," she said, taking a huge gulp of air to blow the aforementioned candles out. She blew them out and smiled, only for the candles to relight themselves. She took another gulp of air and blew them out, panting afterwards. Ponies started to laugh as the candles re-lit themselves yet again. Gilda blew them out again and again, again and again and again and again, each time the candles would relight themselves. I zoomed in on the candles and noted the chemical reaction taking place. I zoomed back out, noting the time that had passed. "Hey y'all, it's pin the tail on the pony. Let's play." I trotted up to talk to Twilight, "Pin the tail on the pony? Wouldn't that be painful and dangerous?" Twilight looked at me, confused, "Pin the tail on the pony is a game that ponies play at parties. A picture of a tailless pony is placed on the wall, while another pony is blindfolded and given a tail with a pin. The pony then must place the tail on the pony," she explained. I filed that away, Learning quite a few new things today. We turned back just in time to see Gilda slide past us, "What the!?" I exclaimed, taking a step back as Gilda slid straight through the doors at the other end of the room. When the smoke (which had come from nowhere) cleared, Gilda was sitting there with a purple... Thing, on her beak. "Uh, Gilda? You pinned the tail on the wrong end." Pinkie Pie commented, everypony burst into laughter. Everypony went quiet immediately as Gilda roared, she flapped her wings and hovered above everypony, "This is your idea of a good time? I've never met a lamer bunch of dweebs in all my life." I scowled and moved to confront her, but Twilight stopped me, shaking her head. "And Pinkie Pie, you!" she pointed at the pink party pony, "You are queen lame-o with your weak little party pranks. Did you really think you could make me lose my cool?" She moved and put her talon behind Dash, "Well, Dash and I have ten times as much cool as the rest of you put together. Come on Dash, we're bailing on this pathetic scene." she moved towards the door, Dash stayed where she was, "Come on Rainbow Dash. I said, we're leaving." Rainbow Dash lowered her head, "You know Gilda, I was the one who set up all those weak pranks at this party." Gilda took on a surprised look, "What?" she looked at Pinkie Pie, but Rainbow Dash stuck her head in the way. "So I guess I'm queen lame-o." "Come on, Dash, you're joshing me." "They weren't all meant for you specifically, it was just dumb luck that you set them all off." Dash said, looking down sadly. I heard Pinkie Pie say something, but my focus was on Gilda and Rainbow Dash. "No way. It was Pinkie Pie, she set up this party to trip me up, to make a fool of me." Gilda growled. Everypony turned their attention to the pink mare, "Me? I threw this party to improve your attitude. I thought a good party might turn that frown upside down." she turned her head upside down. Dash agreed, "And you sure didn't need any help making a fool of yourself. You know, this is not how I thought my old friends would treat my new friends. If being cool is all you care about, maybe you should go find some new cool friends someplace else." Gilda spread her wings, in defense this time, "Yeah? Well you, you, you are such a, a flip-flop: cool one minute and lame the next. When you decide not to be lame anymore, gimme a call." she turned and made to exit, only to bump into another pony, "Get outta my way!" she pushed the pony, accidentally scratching him. Gilda must not have noticed, because she flew out. I looked at the pony as he ran out of the room, he wasn't bleeding, I saw sparks. Unit damaged, aborting. Dash had apologised after Gilda had left, Pinkie and her both pranking each other with buzzers, much to everypony's enjoyment. Twilight had also apologised to Pinkie for her accusations. The party had continued after that. We were back at the library now, Twilight was just about to finish her letter to Celestia. I decided to bring up the subject of that pony, "Hey Twilight," "Yes Falair?" she turned away from the letter to look at me. "You didn't happen to see that pony that Gilda scratched before he ran off, did you?" I asked. "No, I guess I was too caught up in what was going on, is he okay?" Twilight asked, worried. "That's just it, he wasn't bleeding," Twilight sighed in relief before I continued, "He was sparking." Twilight's breath caught in her throat and she devolved into a coughing fit. When she recovered, with my help of course, she exclaimed, "You're sure you weren't just seeing things?" "Positive, Twilight. This concerns me greatly, judging by my data, I was the only unit ever created. This would suggest that others have created their own units." I looked at Twilight worriedly. "I should report this to Princess Celestia," I nodded as we turned back to the letter Twilight was about to send. Author's Note Ooo, beginning to introduce this stories protagonists. Shit's goin' down now! What, you thought I would let one of my characters stand by as Fluttershy gets verbally abused? Hell naw! I'm programmed to dream...My CPU's are running on overdrive as I run through Ponyville. Nopony was in sight, but that didn't concern me. I had to get to the library, fast. The gears in my legs make a lot of noise, not used to being put through this much stress, but I pushed them on. A yell from my left distracted me, I turned just in time to avoid Rainbow Dash as she's thrown back by what looks like another unit! I glance at Rainbow Dash, making sure she's alright. She's unconscious. I turn back to the unidentified unit, preparing myself. ...I'm programmed to have nightmares... We crash together, gears grinding in our efforts to overcome each other. I was steadily being pushed back though, the unit being built more heavily than I am. I had to think of something. I scanned everything within my vision, trying to find something I could use. There. I broke off to the side, causing the unit to move with me, right into the park bench, which I had gone under. I slid out under the unit and forced all my hooves upwards, aiming for the barrel. ...I'm programmed to feel... I held my cheek in my hoof, the metal there heavily dented. It would hold for now, but I have to be more careful. I stared the unit down, it hasn't moved since I put a dent in its chest. Suddenly, I was hit from my side. I grunted, before turning to check what it was. Another unit. ...I'm programmed to think... I was close to finished, I'd underestimated the first units agility, however it seemed to excel in strength. That, I could barely deal with. But this second unit seemed to excel in agility, I will not underestimate it's strength. Rainbow Dash was still unconscious behind me, I'd kept the units away from her as best I could, but I don't know how much longer I can go on for. The Agility unit moves, rushing off to my right, while the Strength unit rushes off to my left. I looked both ways, they're trying to trick me. A full second it took me to make the decision, I turned and ran, scooping up Dash as I did so. It would hinder my speed and I'm more likely to take some devastating blows, but I need to get Dash to safety. ...I'm programmed to live... I'd thrown Dash as carefully as I could into the Library. I knew the others would find her there, wherever they are. My main goal now was to eliminate the threats in any way possible. Even if it killed me. I was on my last legs, I'd damaged the Agility unit heavily, it wasn't made to take blows, merely avoid them. I'd gotten the hits on it by pure luck and anticipation of its movements. One more blow to the cranium should take it out. I rushed the Strength unit, then jumped as I approached. It anticipated this and grabbed my rear hooves, slamming me into the ground. I could feel wires getting taught inside me, some already ripped and sparking. My armor was heavily dented, I could barely move my right forehoof. Regardless, I bent up and slammed both forehooves into the joints of the Strength unit's forelegs. It worked in getting it to let go, with the bonus of almost disabling them. I rolled out of the way, right before the Agility unit slammed its hooves where my head had been. I got onto my hooves and jumped towards it. My hoof swinging down onto its head. The hit connected. It fell in a heap, dead. The Strength unit had recovered and charged me, its head low. I jumped, pivoting on my arm, over the disabled Agility unit. The Strength unit barreling past me. ...I am not, however... I felt a magical shot hit me from behind and my entire system took the hit as it punched through my armor. I turned and briefly caught the silhouette of a stallion, before my vision went black. ...Programmed to die. I am FalAIr. I will live. I will learn. But I will not die. Not yet. My time comes on my own terms. I will protect those I care about till the very end. Even if I have to break myself in the process. Author's Note Just a little short I thought up, thought I might post it. I'll post a short every ten chapters, probably. Just to get the thoughts flowing. I know, it's horrible, probably cliche too. BUT I LIKE IT!
Chapter 0: ProloguePrologue "Call me crazy will they! After all I'd done for them!" The stallion grumbled as he trotted quickly between various desks on which lay various components and hardware from a multitude if machines, he stopped at a desk which had a circular orb on it that resembled a robotic pony head, he reached out to one of the various components on the table and brought it over to the orb. "I'll show them, they'll have to believe me, I'll prove to them I'm not crazy." He opened a hatch on the orb and reached inside, a faint click could be heard as he plugged the component in, if anyone looked at the orb now they would not deny it was a pony head. But it was terrifying, the eyes had started to glow when he'd plugged that certain component in. The stallion started to focus more on the gas at hand, mumbling as he went, "The hard drive is working... Generating alternate power supply... Need to field test the motor functions..." He moved over to a table right beside the table with the robotic pony head on it, this table had a laptop, which, before his eyes, spurted out various codes and data, "Interesting... The CPU is functional despite not being given any software to work with... It barely even has an operating system..." The stallion shook his head and cleared his throat, "Protocol 001: AI FalAIr, command; Upload" shortly after the stallion said this, the eyes on the robotic pony head blinked off and the laptop stopped spurting out codes and data. It instead loaded some legible sentences: Voice command acknowledged; Protocol recognised; AI FalAIr status: Active; Command received, transferring required data to AI; AI FalAIr confirmed data integrity; Initiating upload; Uploading AI FalAIr 0% complete... After seeing that the laptop had acknowledged him and that his AI had accepted, he turned away from the table and trotted slowly toward the opposite wall. Against it was what looked like metal armour made to imitate an exoskeleton, the only difference being that the armour wasn't empty. Inside it were motors and gears and all kinds of devices and components needed. This, was the robot body. Grabbing a wrench from a bench built into the wall nearby, he reached deep into the robot body and checked that all the bolts were tight as necessary. Satisfied that the body was ready, he trotted back over to the table with the laptop, he briefly checked the screen, noting that the upload was now at 7%, he turned to the left! he checked the blackboard that was on the far wall! noting that the prophecy that 'she' had predicted told of forever night, endless chaos, the end of trust and a darkness inside a crystal. 'She' had said that there was more, but had said she was unable to decipher it. The stallion sighed, "If what she predicted is true, than the fate of Equestria rests on this AI. But if it's false..." He turned to the laptop again, surprised to see the progress bar had skipped to 79%. He trotted over to the laptop, confused, "Well, that can't be-" Suddenly, errors flashed across the screen, the eyes of the robot head glowed intensely and- Time seemed to slow down, as the laptop exploded, throwing the robot head towards the robot body and blasting the Stallion across the room, he was dimly aware as the sprinklers activated, his attention was on the darkness creeping towards him from the corner of the room, it seemed to move at a faster rate than everything happening around it. The Stallion cried, "No! She said I had lots of time! I haven't e-" The glint of steel, and the stallion was silent. Author's Note Ooo, ominous. Kind of annoyed that I resorted to POV of him viewing Death coming for him. But I was just in that kinda mood when I wrote that last part. Bloody dramatic slow motion deaths...
Chapter 1: Powered upPowered up I woke up. As far as a robot can, anyway, to dust lying on my face. Not an ideal way to wake up, but it could have been worse... The first thing on my mind was to do diagnostics, which I immediately started with, code lit up in my vision before it gave way to a loading screen, it was simple, just a progress bar in the middle of a transparent screen. As I waited for it to load I attempted to turn my head, only to find I couldn't... That was a slight problem. At that thought, it had finished loading and the diagnostics immediately began. Data started to scroll down my vision, showing various information. The things I paid most attention to were the errors; Warning: AI download incomplete; missing data replaced with Defaults Warning: Body motor controls not responding; attempting to switch to remote control Warning: Location unavailable; magical wards detected Warning: Time unavailable; Internal clock is out-of-sync I quickly resolved these issues, starting with the software. Due to the incomplete installation of my AI, I had some trouble, I verified that most of the data that was missing was motor controls; but, I'm a learning AI, so that's not much of a big deal. I also noticed that certain combat-based software was missing, including night-vision, heat-vision, ultrasound, sonar and so on. I dismissed these as I had no need for them as far as I knew. I then started to resolve the hardware issues, during the time I had sorted out the software I had activated the remote control function, enabling me to control various parts of my body without my AI needing to be inside the CPU. Due to the diagnostics I had found out that, apparently, my head wasn't attached to my body. I learnt the hard way that controlling something without seeing it is very hard, as there is no optical hardware on my body. After quite a while of crashing noises and multiple times where I accidentally kicked myself, I was finally able to get my head back onto my body. I was able to put the cables into their correct places and with a satisfying click, my head was connected. I resumed the diagnostics on my body, Recieving signals that everything was operational. With that, the code and data in my vision disappeared. With everything sorted out with myself; I decided to finally take a look at my surroundings. The first thing that I noticed was the dust, that and the scorch marks. These showed two things, one, nobody had been down here in a VERY long time and two, an explosion had happened here. I frowned, That's strange, I would have thought I would have at least seen my creator... but I dismissed it, deciding to go outside. My pre programmed instructions say that before attempting anything that would expose me to the public, I must enable the illusion that my creator had made, this illusion would make me look and feel like a real living pony to anyone who happened to see or touch me and lastly, it would remove the metallic sound from my voice as that's always there, no matter what kind of voice hardware and software is used. It's a powerful illusion, using both magic and technology to create something that almost all unicorns and scientists can't see through. The instructions only other thing to say was to not arouse suspicion. Well, that's easy enough. With that, I started to walk towards the stairs that would lead into my creator's building, but when I went to take a step, I immediately fell forward onto my face. Oh, that's right, I don't have any programmed motor controls. Geez, how did I even manage to get to my head? I tried to get back onto my four hooves, but only succeeded in running on the ground, Well, there's those controls at least. I was eventually able to figure out which series of commands created which series of actions and immediately attempted to stand up, with a lot of stumbling, I was able to stand up. Well, it's not perfect, but it'll have to do. Let's just hope I don't have to do anything complicated soon... After taking a moment to save the motor controls data, I started again for the exit, I smiled upon getting to the door with only 2 slips. I began walking up the stairway, at one point I fell back down but hey, trial and error. I was eventually able to make it up the stairs only to realise there was no way out. The door in front of me had no door handle and attempts to just open by pushing had failed. I looked around, curious as to how to open it, I was looking in two places simultaneously, both in my database for a file of it and around me for any hints. With no luck, I decided to inspect the door to see if I could try breaking through it, I gaped upon noticing that the door was just magically reinforced bark. From a tree. I lifted my leg, bracing it for the impact by redirecting power and moving in shields, and struck the door. My leg went straight through it, I continued this till I had made a hole large enough for me to go through. I walked through and... It was only then I noticed the 6 mares staring at me with various emotions on their faces, mostly shock. I immediately thought about deleting the memory that had said stealth was easy, but I decided not to. With some time to spare before any pony did anything, I decided to look at who I had surprised. I confirmed the fact that they were mares, all of them, the first one that caught my eye was the Unicorn mare closest to me, she looked the studious, nerdy type. Her coat was purple, her mane was blue with magenta lines through it and her cutie mark was one big star with four stars around it. I could feel an aura of knowledge and power. She was holding a book in her magic in front of her which I could not recognise, I could not identify it either as I could not see the cover. The second mare I noticed was the blue Pegasus that was hovering in front of the purple one, she looked as though she had recently been flying through a tornado, as far as her mane described, it was wild, but seemed to also have a sense of organisation, as if she had made it that way on purpose. Her mane was rainbow-coloured and her cutie mark was of a cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt coming from it, which made absolutely no sense. I could feel an aura of arrogance and the will to protect, the former kind if annoying me. The next mare I couldn't help but notice, as she had the blue Pegasus' tail in her mouth for some reason. If her hat indicated anything, she was a country earth pony, her coat was yellow and her mane blonde, i noticed her mane was abnormally long, though it was held together, same with her tail, by a band near the end, she wore a grey Stetson hat on her head and her cutie mark was of three red apples. I could feel a strong aura of strength and stubbornness, the latter also kind of annoying me I felt as though I could trust anything this mare said. The fourth mare I noticed because she was similar to the Stetson-wearing one, well, on the inside at least. Her coat was completely white, clear of anything that would ruin the colour, her mane was styled in a beautiful curl, same with her tail, them both being a slightly lighter magenta than the unicorn before. She was also a unicorn, her cutie mark was of three diamonds. I could feel an aura of stubbornness, similar to the stetson-wearing earth pony, and of beauty, she made me feel ugly in comparison, which is not something I should be able to feel... The next mare I hardly even noticed, she was hidden in the corner, her position suggests she had dashed there as soon as I had shown up. She was a yellow coated Pegasus with a pink mane, both her mane and tail were curled at the ends, both inwards. Her cutie mark was of three pink butterflies. I could feel a strong aura of shyness and a weak aura of kindness, the former making me feel guilty. I noticed that there was one mare missing, but straight after I thought that she came up from the bottom of my vision, I was confused in so many ways at this. But before I could dwell on it, she started throwing words at me, "Oh my gosh! A stallion just came out of the wall! Who are you and where did you come from? Wait, I don't know you, and I know everyone in Ponyville! That means you're new here and I need to throw a party for you, but I can't right now because Nightmare Moon is going to create eternal night and that's not good for any pony but-" My CPU gave up at that point, so I blocked her out and turned to the others, the pink ones sudden outburst must have broken the silence because all the mares, excluding the pink one and the yellow Pegasus, were staring at the purple unicorn with mixed expressions, obviously in a conversation, but my CPU was too taxed to listen in. I turned back to the pink one, who at this point had paused, probably having noticed I wasn't listening. I opened my mouth to ask something only to have her smile and wink at me, my mind blanked immediately. I was broken out if my confusion by the blue Pegasus, who had flown up to me suddenly. She pointed at me with a hoof, "Twilight says she doesn't know you, and since everyone is convinced that she isn't a spy, and that you just came out of a wall, and that even Pinkie doesn't know you, I'm going to ask you the same question. Are you a spy?" I was saved by the purple unicorn, who must be Twilight, when she walked up to contradict the blue Pegasus. "Rainbow, that's no way to treat anypony, however, she does have a point. May I ask who you are and how you got inside the wall? Also, what were you doing in there?" The others walked up behind the two, except the pink one, as she was already there, and the yellow Pegasus, who only moved into another corner to get closer. I dashed through files, using all my CPU to come up with a believable explanation that wouldn't bite me in the flank later. However, I didn't have enough information. I had just woken up, so I don't know anything about where I currently am. I do, however, have an alias. I sighed, "My name is Falair and I'm afraid I have absolutely no explanation as to how I got behind that wall, or why I was there." To my surprise, the country mare supported me. "I believe him." All eyes turned on her, she stared back confidently and stated, "He's tellin' the truth." Author's Note I decided to use first person 'Cause why the heck not? Also, I thought it would be easier and more interesting. Interesting? Yes. Easier? No.
Chapter 2: Introductions and a mission.Introductions and a mission "Applejack, how can you trust a pony who had just burst through another ponies wall?" Inquired the blue Pegasus. "Ah cain't explain it, but ah do. I just trust that what he's sayin' is the truth." Replied the earth pony, who must be Applejack. "Well, that's all nice and everything but, can we get back to the matter at hand? Which is the fact that there's a pony standing right in front of us who just burst through my wall!" Said the purple unicorn as she turned towards me, "If you can't tell us how you got back there uh, Falair, was it? Then, can you at least explain to me how you broke through magically reinforced bark?" I ran through possible explanations based on data I was collecting as I stood there, the building was fairly old, but not old enough that it would be easy to break, even without being magically reinforced. The shape of my body is made as a normal stallion, so I can't use strength as an excuse... I shouldn't have to go through this! There's too many unknown variables! I can't make the right decisions! I was using a lot of RAM and CPU trying to come up with an excuse, I didn't realise how much time had passed. I shook myself out of it when the blue Pegasus slapped me in the face! "Hey, what the heck!?" I exclaimed, running through default routines for possible hostility. "Sorry, but you were completely out of it." Replied the pegasus, "So, what do we do with him?" She said, turning to the other mares as if I was not there. "Maybe he was pony napped?" Said the yellow pegasus, though I barely heard her. "I suppose it is a possibility, oh the poor dear. He must've been through a lot, I mean just look at him!" Said the white unicorn, "He probably hasn't had a chance at decent hygiene in a long time, he's covered in dust!" I immediately looked at my illusion; she was right, I was covered in dust and my mane and tail were unkept. It shouldn't bother me much, but if the ponies were bothered by it, then I'd have to sort it out, somehow... "Maybe I should contact the Princess, she might know something about this." My ears perked at the mention of a Princess, Does this mean a government was established? I must get information about where and when I am. "Twilight, what about Nightmare Moon?" Inquired a baby dragon, which I hadn't noticed before. He was male as far as I could tell by his vocal patterns, he had purple scales with green scales running down his middle and along the bottom of his tail. He stood at the height of the purple mare, whose name I now know is Twilight's barrel. "Spike's right, we can sort this out later." She turned to me, "I suppose you should come with us, I don't know who you are yet and you might be connected to Nightmare Moon. We could also help each other." Before I said anything, I looked up this 'Nightmare Moon' character. I came up with null search results. I mentally facehoofed. I decided to join Twilight as it would be the best way for me to gather information, especially on this 'Nightmare Moon' character. The white mare, whose name I now knew was Rarity, would not leave me alone until I looked 'decent', she cleaned all the dust off of me and smoothed my mane, I had to hold my breath throughout the time she did this as I still was not sure if the illusions worked. The blue pegasus, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Twilight were frustrated by Rarity's insistence on cleaning me up. I was just confused. As Rarity was finishing, Twilight told the baby dragon, Spike, to stay and watch the building, which is apparently a library. Spike was reluctant, but obeyed, it confused me as to why a dragon would take orders from a pony but I couldn't dwell on it. Twilight had said from the book that the location we were heading to was located in what the locals called 'the Everfree Forest'. All the mares, except Twilight, stopped short of entering the forest, which confused me before Applejack explained, stating that the forest was not reliant on ponies as everywhere else in Equestria. Regardless of the fact that the 5 mares were scared, they followed Twilight into the forest, I trailed behind them, inspecting the vegetation as I passed and gathering data as to my estimated location. By the time the girls slowed down enough for me to capture their conversation, I had established that my location and time settings were unable to be found because the magical navigation wards that my creator had placed around various areas had been erased. it must have been a long time, otherwise the protection spells would have prevented the wards being erased. We halted on a cliff, I was about to ask why when I noticed Rainbow Dash stalking Rarity, Pinkie Pie and the yellow pegasus, I tilted my head to the side, confused by this behaviour. I didn't get to contemplate it much as the cliff we were standing on collapsed! I predicted the collapse 2.25 seconds before it happened and was ready to dig my hooves into the ground before I slid too far. I was unable to warn the others however, as all of them except Rainbow Dash and the yellow pegasus began sliding down the mountain, heading towards a long drop that could kill them! Immediately as the mares started falling Rainbow Dash called out, "Fluttershy, quick!" Before diving towards the screaming mares, the yellow pegasus, Fluttershy, only replied by repeating "Oh my goodness" 3 times before diving as well. As soon as I was able to get a grip I cautiously let myself down to lend aid, I was looking around rapidly, calculating the danger each mare was i. I saw Rainbow Dash lift Pinkie Pie, which told me how strong she was and saw only a few seconds later, Fluttershy grabbing Rarity's tail to bring her to a halt. Applejack was able to grab onto a root and stop herself, leaving only Twilight, who slid right to the edge of the cliff face, she stopped just short, her hind legs dangling off. I calculated quickly that I wouldn't be able to reach her in time without risking us both falling off the edge. Applejack, however, noticed Twilight and let go of the root she was holding on to, thankfully she was far enough down the mountain that she wouldn't gain enough speed to slide off. I dug myself back into the mountain and looked around for a way off, only to notice Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had carried everypony to safety and were coming back for me and the others, I waved them off, not wanting them to risk themselves trying to carry my weight, but did not tell them as such. They shrugged and turned to help Applejack and Twilight. I noticed a way down the cliff but stayed just in case Applejack needed help. I tuned in to their conversation just in time to see Twilight's irises widen to a ridiculous degree, only for her to let go of Applejack! I screamed and raced forward, only to stop when I saw Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy catch her. I sighed and followed Applejack on her way down. As soon as I hit the ground I felt another magical fluctuation, I searched around, scanning thoroughly so I didn't miss anything, all I got for my troubles was the sound of a roar echoing through the forest. What is this strange magical fluctuation and why does it keep occurring? Could it be the forest? As we continued through the forest, I watched, confused, as Rainbow Dash pantomimed what had just happened by flying around in different aerial patterns only to land beside Twilight. I turned away to check our surroundings only to gasp as a huge lion with a scorpions stinger and bat wings appeared in front of Twilight! Twilight confirmed my suspicions as to the species of the creature, "A manticore!" The manticore roared as I readied myself for combat, I diverted power to agility and strength as I wanted to keep everypony safe. I charged at the manticore only for it to pounce at Rarity and swipe at her with a large paw. Rarity dodged the attack and bucked the manticore in the nose, taunting with, "Hah! Take that you ruffian!" The manticore replied with a powerful roar that slicked Rarity's mane and tail back, much to her distress, she retreated with the manticore chasing her. I ran to intercept the manticore only for it to halt as Applejack landed on top of it! I gaped as Applejack called out "Yeehaw! Get along lil doggy!" My surprise allowed me to hear Fluttershy call out, "Wait!" Though it was merely in a normal tone, nobody heard her. The manticore bucked, trying to get Applejack off its back, I ran to protect Fluttershy, as I noticed the manticore come close to crushing her. Fluttershy recoiled when I landed in front of her, but she simply moved to the side so as I was out of her way, I snorted, glaring at the manticore, daring it to do something to harm any of the ponies. As if the manticore heard my dare, it threw Applejack off its back, she comically flew through the air, heading past Rainbow Dash she calmly said, "All yours partner." To which Rainbow Dash replied with "I'm on it!" And dived towards the manticore and started to build up a strong wind current in an attempt to create a tornado around the manticore, or confuse it, I could not tell which. The manticore was he phased however, and simply used its stinger to trip the blue pegasus out of her tornado. I gasped, she seemed unhurt but that could have killed her at those speeds! I headed towards the group and joined them as they got ready to charge the manticore in a final assault. All 6 of us charged at the manticore, we were close to engaging with it only for Fluttershy to appear between us and call out, "Waaaaaait!" I stopped immediately, detecting the urgency in her tone. Though I did not understand why, all of us, including the manticore, stared at her in confusion. Fluttershy turned and approached the manticore, I gaped at her bravery, but immediately was about to rush forward when I saw the manticore go to swipe at her. Only to blanch as Flutershy nuzzled its paw! The manticore hesitated briefly before turning its paw over, revealing a thorn the size of a hoof embedded into its pad. "Oh you poor poor little baby" Fluttershy said to the manticore, calmly looking up at it. "Little?" Rainbow Dash remarked, disbelief evident on her face. I was staring at the thorn, curious as to where a thorn that size came from and how the manticore got it in its paw. It seemed to have a magical aura, but, then again, so did everything in this forest. But it's aura seemed different to the forest's aura. "Now, this might hurt for just a second," Fluttershy soothed the manticore, reaching towards the thorn, she pulled it out, only for the manticore to lift her up to its mouth, roaring straight into her face! "Fluttershy!" Screamed the girls, alarmed and worried for their friend, I was at the time inspecting the thorn, I had confidence in Fluttershy despite the Manticores aggressive nature. The manticore began licking Fluttershy, slicking her mane up with its saliva. Fluttershy was giggling, "Aw your just a cute little baby kitty aren't you?" During this, the girls began smiling, approaching the manticore and walking around it. I gave up inspecting the thorn, not having enough data on the area to make any observations. I joined Fluttershy as she walked past Twilight, telling her that "sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness". The girls continued on through the everfree with me trailing slightly behind, I was analysing the recent magical fluctuations, looking for a pattern or a magical signature of some kind. The magical fluctuations were similar to the extent that they were almost exactly the same, though oddly enough, despite what scanning technology or magic that I used, I could not pick up a magical signature. I shook my head and saved the data, deciding to try again later. I trotted to catch back up to the girls, "Oh wait, I think I stepped in something," before I could step up to see what it was that Applejack had stepped in, Fluttershy screamed, I looked in the direction she was looking and blinked, "It's just mud," Applejack said, before turning around, only to sate right into the gaping maw of a sharp-toothed monster! She jumped away in fright. Something seems amiss here, it's not moving. As the mares around me began squealing in terror, I went to go and walk up to the apparently immobile 'monster', only to stare in confusion as the pink earth pony, Pinkie Pie, began to zoom around the place, singing a song that, amazingly, dispelled the illusions on the trees by making the other mares laugh. When the song was finished and all 6 of them had collapsed to the ground laughing, I was looking at Pinkie with newfound respect and lots of confusion. I had recorded the song, just in case, and had saved the data in a special folder I had named 'Musical Spells?'. Author's Note I know you may think this is just another OC inserted into the MLP series story, but it's not. I'm starting the story off with the elements of harmony episode to introduce FalAIr to the mane 6. When I've finished the episode I will begin the original story I have planned. The other episodes will fit into my original story so that the story has a timeline to refer to. I haven't decided in what order the episodes will go in yet however. I'm thinking of imitating Shisno Chronicles timeline as the author has an idea of what order the episodes would go in if they happened IRL.
Chapter 3: I don't agree with waterI don't agree with water Our group continued through the forest, with Pinkie Pie in the lead and the rest of us following single-file. I took up the rear again, staring at Pinkie. She was jumping for some reason, I caught sight of her every time she appeared above the other mare's heads. They were still giggling, to my confusion, it wasn't even humorous, why did they even laugh in the first place? I stopped as soon as Fluttershy, who was in front of me, walked into the others as they had stopped as well. They all craned their necks around to look for an explanation as to why Pinkie had stopped, I took the initiative and simply walked up beside the group. My eyebrows drooped in worry when I saw the roiling water. Oh dear, rain I can handle, but this? I won't survive 2 seconds! "How are we going to cross this!" Right after Pinkie had said that, a distressed wailing sound was heard from up the river. To me, the sound was unidentifiable, "Huh?" Pinkie and the girls waked up the the bushes that hid the upper parts of the river and peered through as the wailing continued. I stayed back and inspected the river, looking for the driest route across. Thus far, it seemed futile. After a few moments, and a lot of calculations, I had deduced it was impossible to get across without setting hoof in the water. I sighed and decided to check in with the others. The moment I stepped through the bushes, I was assaulted with shrieks of pure happiness, "Ooo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! My moustache! How wonderful!" I stared at the sea serpent's mismatched moustache, staring at the purple curled part in particular. "You look smashing!" I turned to Rarity, immediately noticing her tail, which had been cut off. "Oh, Rarity, your beautiful tail!" Protested Twilight, who had walked up behind the white unicorn. "Oh, it's fine my dear, short tails are in this season," replied Rarity as she turned to face Twilight, "Besides, I-it'll grow back," she said, waggling her tail as if to emphasise the point. "So would the moustache," muttered Rainbow to Twilight, who was smiling at the time, she gasped however when she noticed the river. "Look! We can cross now!" She said as she began walking through the water. "Wait, girls, I can't-" I was interrupted when Twilight was lifted out of the water by the sea serpent's tail. "Allow me," he said before sub urging back into the water, his tail creating stepping stones across the river. Well, that works. I walked up to the side of the river and waited as the others began crossing. Once Fluttershy had gotten off the first part of the serpent's tail, I jumped. The instant I landed, the sea serpent's tail shook and the part I was standing on visibly struggled. Oh dear. "Girls I think we should hurry it along!" They had already noticed however and had sped up the pace, only Fluttershy was left on the Serpent's tail. I readied the hydraulics in my legs so I could jump instantly, I took off jumping across the serpent's tail as it collapsed into the water behind me. Once I was on solid ground, I turned back to the river, "Sorry!" I apologised, I turned back to see that everyone, except Fluttershy, had their mouth agape. "What?" I asked innocently. "Just how much do you weigh!" Rainbow blurted out, rewarding her annoyed looks from Twilight and Rarity. "Uh, well, I am heavy for somepony my size..." I started, looking for some sort of explanation. "Heavy enough that a sea serpent can't lift!" This again earned Rainbow annoyed stares. "We can sort this out later, right now we have business to attend to," Applejack piped up. "She's right, let's go." Twilight agreed, she turned and led the group onward through the forest. We continued through the forest with. Twilight in the lead. I decided not to stay at the back this time as I'd gathered all the information I could about the forest. The trees started to part and through it I saw a clearing, I smiled as Twilight gasped, "There it is! The ruins that hold the elements of Harmony, we made it!" Before running straight towards the castle ruins with the others following. "Twilight! Wait for us!" I stopped upon noticing the rope bridge however, my eyes widening. "We're almost there!" "Twilight, stop!" Too late, Twilight skidded before the edge and ended up with her forelegs scrambling for a grip while she was held only by her hind legs. I went to go grab her, only for Rainbow Dash to beat me to it. "What's with you and falling off cliffs today?" She said as she pulled Twilight away from the cliff by her tail. I walked up to the edge with the others, we stared off through the fog to the other side of the abyss. "Now what?" Pinkie stated, Rainbow Dash answered with a "Duh" and ruffled her feathers in Pinkie's vision before diving off the cliff as Pinkie replied, "Oh yeah," I watched as she dashed down into the fog and appeared halfway across the abyss carrying the ropes of the bridge towards the other side, she twisted the ropes around the log. As she did so, I felt another magical fluctuation, this one stronger than all the rest, so strong in fact that I actually saw a purple aura dash past Rainbow's legs. She must have seen it too, because she reared up and challenged whoever was in the fog, it was barely audible however, forcing me to enhance my hearing, "Show yourself!" I heard her yell into the fog. The scene was quiet for a moment, till out of the fog echoed a voice. It was barely audible even with enhanced hearing, "We've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the best flier in Equestria," To which Rainbow replied ignorantly, "Who?" The voice nearly chuckled, "Why, you of course!" "Really? I mean, oh yeah! Me! Hey, uh, you wouldn't mind telling the Wonderbolts that, would ya? 'Cause, I've been trying to get into that group for like, ever!" "No, Rainbow Dash, we want you to join us, the Shadowbolts!" As the voice said is, three ponies galloped out of the fog and slid to sit on their haunches in front of Rainbow, by the looks of it, the voice was coming from the mare in the middle, I don't like where this is going. "We are the greatest aerial team in the Everfree Forest, and soon we will be the greatest in all Equestria." The mare flew up to talk into Rainbow's ear, "But first, we need a captain." She flew past and began to circle her, "The most magnificent," "Yup!" "Swiftest," "Yes!" "Bravest flier in all the land," "Yes," Rainbow giggled, "It's all true!" "We need," The mare closed in on Rainbow's ear and whispered something to her, whatever it was caused her to jump high into the air. "Woohoo! Sign me up!" Now I see what they're doing. I leaned over to Twilight and began to whisper into her ear, "Twilight, they're drawing on Rainbow's ambition to cause her to abandon us!" Twilight turned to me and nodded once, I took it as she understood. Twilight walked closer to the edge and called out, "Rainbow!" The Shadowbolts mare turned towards her and scowled, her eyes glowing, the fog started to move in, "Don't listen to them!" She frowned at the fog, "I don't think she heard me!" "Then we must rely on Rainbow and her loyalty, otherwise Fluttershy will have to go over." I turned to the mare, only for her to look away, I frowned. Meanwhile in Paris, France... Absolutely nothing related to this story happened. I looked towards the fog, hearing something approaching, the fog parted to reveal Rainbow Dash along with a repaired bridge. We all cheered and began crossing the bridge, I stayed back and stared as the girls crossed. When Twilight reached the other side, she noticed my hesitance, "Are you coming?" I looked at her with a sad expression, "I'm afraid I cannot cross this bridge." Obviously recalling the sea serpent incident, Applejack wade over to Twilight and began a group huddle with the girls. I could not discern what they were saying. When the girls broke away, rainbow and Fluttershy flew back over to me, while Twilight and Rarity readied their horns. "What are you doing?" I asked Rainbow, only for her to wink and ask me to trust Twilight. My eyes widened and I turned to Twilight, shaking my head, "Twilight this is a bad idea! You do not realise what you are trying to do!" Twilight replied calmly as she nodded to each girl in turn, "I know what I'm doing, I just need you to trust us." Rainbow and Fluttershy grabbed a hold of mr, while Rarity and Twilight enveloped me in a telekinetic aura, "Ready girls?" Twilight asked, to which she got a swift reply from each girl. "Ready." And with that, they all lifted. Author's Note This is hard, I'm trying to keep it so that it doesn't turn into an OC in Equestria fic but it's hard to come up with situations that won't cause the story to go too off track. I still want the mane 6 to defeat nightmare moon, but I want them to have new obstacles because of the fact that FalAIr is with them... So far this is all I could come up with.
Chapter 4: Oh Celestia, what have we done!?Oh Celestia, what have we done!? Alternate title: Another Path Despite my protests, the mares began to lift me. To my horror, they were able to lift my weight and began to slowly move me over to the opposite side of the abyss. I thought about demanding to be put back, but it was already too late. Alarms went off throughout my system as I watched Fluttershy slowly begin to lose her grip, Rarity and Twilight began to break into a heavy sweat and Applejack just watched in horror with a straight-maned Pinkie Pie beside her, they both knew what was about to happen. Fluttershy lost her grip first, my weight shifted, causing Rarity to scream in pain as blood trickled from both her nostrils, Twilight grunted, another magical layer appearing around her horn as blood trickled from her left nostril, though not as much as Rarity. Rarity passed out, collapsing to the ground, Rainbow Dash lost her grip, Twilight remained. Her horn was so bright it was painful to look at, blood dripped from her nostrils onto the ground, producing a puddle underneath her, She's going to kill herself if she doesn't stop! I realised. In a panic, I turned to Applejack, "Applejack! Stop her! She's killing herself!" She just stood there, shocked, I tried again, "Applejack!" That broke her out of it, she shook her head and turned towards Twilight, she turned back to me and nodded, mouthing, "I'm sorry." Before she tackled Twilight to the ground, breaking her concentration and causing me to fall, alarms flashed, silent klaxons blared, my systems shutting themselves down one by one as I spun down into the depths of the abyss... Twilight Sparkle slowly regained consciousness, she felt as though she was bring shaken and her ears were ringing. Her senses started to clear, "-an you hear me? Twilight!" She blinked, staring at Applejack as she shook her and screamed at her to wake up. "A- Applejack? W-where? Wha-?" Suddenly, she remembered, "Oh Celestia, FalAIr!" She tried to get up, but her head spun and she collapsed back onto her side. "Woah there Twilight, settle down," Applejack soothed, Twilight turned to her in a panic, "But FalAIr! Is he okay?" She frantically looked around, searching for the stallion. She couldn't find him, only succeeding in giving herself a headache. "I'm sorry Twilight, but, ya dropped him into the abyss. He's gone." Twilight just blanched, staring into space for a moment before she broke down and began to cry. Applejack leaned in and hugged her friend, offering her a shoulder to cry on. Rainbow Dash comforted Fluttershy nearby, as she cried into her arms. Pinkie Pie checked up on Rarity, her mane and tail straight and tears in her eyes, Rarity had not woken up yet. Twilight stopped crying briefly to utter a single sentence, "Celestia, what have I done?" Commencing system reboot... Performing systems check...DONE Performing Software check...DONE Performing Diagnostics......DONE Diagnostic report: Severe hull damage Right foreleg unresponsive Left optical lens damage detected Motor damage detected Synthetics unresponsive Shields down Arcane Battery level: MED Loading last accessed data.....ERROR Data corrupted Attempting data recovery.....DONE Some data was unable to be recovered System reboot complete The lights in FalAIr's eyes slowly flickered to life, illuminating some of the area surrounding the wounded robot, some rats and mice scurried away from the light. The robot groaned, slowly moving its limbs in an attempt to get up. I was able to get up, only to crash back down onto my other side, I moved my head to look at my right foreleg to assess the damage, the leg looked salvageable at least, as long as someone knew how to reattach it, the leg lay close beside me, only held on by wires and circuitry, if i tried to move it, the wires would spark. I looked around, my vision slightly impaired because my left lens was cracked, but I was able to make out an opening in the cliff face, it was my best bet, so I slowly tried to get up again. I was successful this time, wobbly, but successful, I slowly made my way towards the hole in the cliff face, avoiding bumps and cracks in the ground so as not to fall over and waste time getting back up, as far as I knew, right now I just had to get back to the girls. It took me some time to get there and I stumbled a few times, but I finally made it to the hole in the cliff face, I looked inside, enabling night vision for a better view, my leg sparked again, briefly blinding me, but it passed. I was able to see into the hole, and I sighed at my luck, there was a stairway, leading upwards towards a small ladder that led to a trap door. Possibly leading into the ruins, I made forward to head up the stairs. I struggled taking the first step, my motors complaining at the extra work, I had to lean against the wall due to my missing leg. The second step was even harder, the individual motors in my hind legs didn't fare well, clicking every so often as they tried to lift each leg. I made it partway up the steps before I realised that my missing leg was going to catch on the ledge of each step. I had to remove it. I brung what was left of the leg up to my muzzle, bending down as well to meet it partway and I bit into the wires. They sparked against my muzzle, causing warnings to flash all over the place. This was going to waste a bit of energy. By the time I had removed the leg, my battery power was reading at LOW. I was going to have even more trouble getting up he stairs now, not to mention that ladder. I hobbled my way up to the stairs, ignoring the low battery warnings I was getting the entire way. I noticed one in particular however, the one that caused dread to drop inside me. BATTERY POWER: CRITICAL, SWITCHING TO EMERGENCY POWER. The lights in my eyes went out and I was plunged into darkness. I could faintly see the ladder, but it would be enough. I went through and disabled most of my system software to allow more owner to be redirected to my three remaining limbs, it caused me great discomfort and I became confused very quickly, but I knew one thing, I had to get up this ladder. I didn't know why, I just had to. I began the agonisingly slow climb, grabbing with teeth and legs to pull me up the ladder. It was so slow it hurt. By the time I made it to the top I'd felt like centuries had passed. I looked up, expecting to see something, but I saw nothing, I pushed upwards with my head experimentally, and felt something move. I pushed more this time, and shifted he tile out of the way enough to pull myself out onto the surface. My systems re enabled automatically and I looked around, immediately searching for the girls. I didn't see anyone, I sighed in defeat. I began hearing a low beeping sound, I looked around for what it was, only to realise it was me. I was dying. My emergency power was all used up. I lay there, waiting for the inevitable end. But suddenly a light flashed above me, and none other than Twilight Sparkle flew out to land in front of me, I heard another pony land behind me, but I could not move to see who it was, whoever it was had noticed me however, "What the buck is this thing?" I felt them prod me with a hoof. Twilight looked at me, mouth agape, "No matter, it is none of my concern." Twilight glanced at me, then at the pony behind me, then back at me, then at the pony again. Finally, she couched down and started pawing at the ground, "You're kidding," the pony behind me said, "You're kidding, right?" Twilight however, was obviously not kidding, she began to advance as her horn glowed bright atop her head. She began trotting faster and faster, eventually breaking into a swift canter. I heard hoof steps behind me as well and I saw a huge black alicorn in dark blue armor run by me, I'd never seen anything like it! I subconsciously disabled all my systems except my optics to reserve power and to watch what was happening. The two ponies gradually got closer and closer as Twilights horn glowed brighter and brighter until when they were about to collide, Twilight disappeared! I did not know where she went, I re enabled my hearing just in case. I'm glad I did though, I heard Twilight behind me, "Come on, come on" the pony in front of me suddenly turned into a blue tornado and flew by my head. I heard a yelp and Twilight went flying in front of me. "No, no!" I heard the mare behind me say, Twilight smirking in triumph as she got back up. She suddenly gasped "But, where's the sixth element?" She asked, as the mare behind me started to laugh evilly. I heard a bang and something shatter and Twilight's spirit seemed to shatter as well. "You little foal! Thinking you could defeat ME!" Twilight cowered in front of me, sparking something inside my Hardware. Streams of data poured through my head. DEFENSE SYSTEMS ACTIVE WARNING: LOW POWER TARGET ACQUIRED A circular reticule glowed around Twilight. DEFEND TARGET I slowly rose to my hooves, hearing both Twilight and the mare behind me gasp in surprise, "What is this thing?" I turned toward that dark alicorn and raised my head, "Y-you s-s-sh-shall n-no-not t-touch-ch a hai-ir on thi-this m-m-mar-res h-head!" Suddenly, Twilight, who was behind me now, began talking to the dark alicorn. I moved backwards slowly, keeping my eyes on the mare 24/7. I couldn't hear anything they were saying because I'd lost power to my hearing, but I had an idea. As I watched the dark alicorn, I noticed shards of something start flying past me, I wasn't fast enough to stop them, so I kept focusing on the alicorn. A few moments went by and the shards kept flying past. Until they stopped. Then, suddenly a rainbow burst from behind me and struck the alicorn, who struggled in its light,it seemed to vaporise her, causing the data that was streaming through me to stop suddenly. I stood there for a moment, before beginning to stumble, I saw a light descend towards the ground before I collapsed, clanging onto the ground, my vision fading to black. The last things I saw: POWER DEPLETED SYSTEMS SHUTTING DOWN FALAIR SHUTTING DOWN...
Chapter 5: New and ImprovedAuthor's Note Credit to joeyjumper94 for submitting his OC Philips Diesel Quinn to be used in the story. Chapter 5: New and Improved New and Improved Manual start-up requested Request acknowledged Performing systems check....DONE Performing software check.........DONE New software detected; Installing.........DONE Performing Diagnostics...DONE Diagnostic report: Hull fully repaired Shields at maximum capacity Batteries: FULL Loading last accessed data.......DONE Initialising FalAIr I awoke with a start, nearly screaming till I noticed where I was, I was standing in front of seven ponies, six of them I recognised but I couldn't quite place it. "Where am I?" I turned my head, scanning the room to get some idea as to where I was. A white alicorn with a multicoloured mane and a sun cutie mark approached me, her mane flowing in a nonexistent breeze, "You are in Canterlot Castle, the infirmary to be exact." It was then that I realised why I recognised the six mares behind the Alicorn. "Nightmare Moon! Twilight and the others! Did we stop Nightmare Moon?" I frantically asked the alicorn, attempting to get off the bed I was laying on. A blue coated stallion pushed me back onto the bed, surprising me as I had not noticed him in the room, "Careful, you're still plugged in." The stallion's right wing tranformed into a multi-tool and he starts disconnecting cables that I didn't notice. "I'm Philips Diesel Quinn, but you can call me P.D.Q." I looked at him, confused as to how he knew what I was. That was when I realised I was naked, figuratively speaking of course, my synthetics were disabled, my metal body bare for all to see. The alicorn nodded to P.D.Q, then turned back to me as he walked away, "Twilight and her friends defeated Nightmare Moon using the Elements of Harmony. But they refused to go home until they saw that you were all right. Because of their concern, I called the only pony I knew would be able to help you," I leaned over to look behind the alicorn, smiling when I saw Twilight and the others looking at me with obvious concern and relief. Twilight walked forward, "I didn't know what you were, but I knew that you went out of your way to protect me. It wasn't until I moved closer that I realised," she gestured to the engravings on my body and limbs, they were faded but it was still clear that they said F.A.L.A.I.R. Applejack walked up beside her, "When Twilight showed us, we immediately turned to the princess asking her to help." Rarity walked up too, "We couldn't very well leave you in that state now could we?" Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy walked up too, all five of them nodding their heads in agreement at what Rarity had said. "Thank you. All of you... Wait," I turned to P.D.Q, "How did you know how to repair my systems and re-wire my leg?" He turned to me smiling, "It is my special talent," he gestured to his cutie mark, which was a plain red toolbox with gears and wires inside. "But, I thought my creator was the only one to work with wiring," I said, confused. "That was a long time ago, FalAIr, Equestria is beginning to use more and more technology, though not quite advanced as you," Said the alicorn, as she walked up to stand next to P.D.Q, "Diesel here is one of a few ponies who work with wiring, though out of all the ones I've seen, only he was able to understand how to fix you," with that said, she turned towards him, "Diesel, thank you for helping fix FalAIr, I'll send for a chariot to take you home," "You're welcome, Princess Celestia. If you need anything, my laboratory is on the other side of town." he bowed before leaving the room. I watched as the stallion left the room before turning back to the Princess, "So, what will happen to me?" She turned to look at me, a calm smile on her face, "That is your choice," I turned to look at Twilight and the others, who were still there, awaiting my decision. "Princess, I would like to stay with Twilight Sparkle. My creator's old laboratory is built into where she lives. But not only that, I've come to know these ponies despite the small time we've been together. They ignore the fact that I'm just a metal contraption, and actually see me as a pony. These six mares made my life, from the time I was activated up until now, the best life I could have hoped for," I turned back towards the Princess, "I do not wish to give that up." She turned towards Twilight, a silent exchange happening between them, "I'm not about to abandon my friends," Princess Celestia nodded, acknowledging Twilight's response. "I'm proud of you, not only have you discovered the magic of friendship and unlocked the elements of harmony, but you also defeated Nightmare Moon, saved my sister and you continue to show the values of friendship," she turns back to me, "You may return to Ponyville. I will send a letter ahead of you to inform the Mayor of your presence. I will also send a message to the guards. I would ask that you don a disguise however, so as not to cause too much chaos." I nod, acknowledging the Princess' wishes, "Thank you, Princess Celestia,"
Chapter 6: First TaskSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.
Chapter 7: The AnnouncementThe Announcement "Metal plates?" Twilight asked, as she inspected the dents in my hind hooves, "I think the Princess- sorry, Princesses will know where we can get some, I mean the guards pony uniform consists of metal," "That's just it, Twilight, my creator likely used only the strongest metals to create me, mostly lightweight metals to reduce the stress on my motors," "Hm, I'll send a letter to Princess Celestia asking if she can help, but it might take a while so try not to damage your hooves any further." She said as she turned to Spike who was sitting on the nearby couch. He immediately got up and ran for a quill and paper. I re enabled my synthetics, making sure to disable the part that shows injuries as I did not want to explain why I was walking around with broken legs. I left the library in search of something to do, I headed towards the park as that was where most of the interesting stuff happened. While I was walking I wondered when the announcement about my presence was going to be made. I had a fear that ponies would ignore me if they knew what I was, but I knew it was an irrational feat, because they would all have to find out eventually. I entered the park and started to look around as I headed towards a dry patch of grass to lay down on. There wasn't much to notice as there weren't very many ponies in the park, I wondered why that was. I then noticed that everypony was walking out of the park towards the town hall, I followed out of curiosity, abandoning my improvised plans entirely. I looked around for anypony that could tell me what's going on and found Rarity heading towards the town hall. I altered my course slightly so that I would meet with her. "Excuse me, Rarity," I said, as I got close in an attempt to get her attention. She turned to me and immediately smiled, "Hello FalAIr, how are you today?" "I'm fine, Rarity, my hind hooves are dented from removing a boulder for Applejack though. But that's not why I'm talking to you," She frowned at that, but prompted me to explain, "Do you know why everyone is gathering at the town hall?" "Ah, nopony must've told you. Today, Mayor Mare is going to announce your presence in Ponyville and explain what you are," My eyes noticeably widened, Rarity noticed, "Dear, I'm sure it'll be fine, Mayor Mare will keep everypony calm. I asked her myself to keep it as brief as possible," I smiled and thanked her as we neared the town hall. I could already hear a mare calling out, "Settle down, everypony!" I pushed off to stand on my hind hooves briefly to see who was speaking, it earned me a few stares from lots of ponies, but I succeeded in seeing who was talking. A mare was at the front of the crowd standing on the steps of the Town Hall behind a podium, she had a gray mane streaked with silver down the middle it fit well with her light brown coat. I figured this was Mayor Mare. The crowd of ponies was eventually quiet enough for Mayor Mare to speak, "As all of you already know, Nightmare Moon is real, she appeared during the Summer Sun Celebration, wreaking havoc in Town Hall. However, thanks to the bravery of some of our very own and the intelligence of one former Canterlot mare, Nightmare Moon was defeated. But, these mares did not do this alone, one extraordinary stallion helped them on their quest, this stallion is the reason I have called you all here today," I sighed, turning to Rarity, "I'd better get closer, she's bound to call me up, " "No matter what happens FalAIr, we'll still be there for you," I smiled at the reassurance. "Thank you, Rarity" I slowly turned and began to wade through the crowd of ponies. I had to struggle through tight spots and had to say excuse me so many times it felt like it had lost all meaning. All the while, Mayor Mare was talking about me and how against all odds I helped Twilight and the others defeat Nightmare Moon. I was near the front of the crowd, I wondered if she'd ever run out of things to say. "I would like to call this stallion to the stage. FalAIr, please come up here." I felt all eyes turn to me at the mention of my name, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. Now I just have to prepare myself in case I get kicked out of Ponyville. The remaining crowd in front of me moved away to give me thoroughfare to the stairs of the Town Hall. It was almost painful, seeing the awe on their faces that may very well turn to expressions of anger, hatred and worst of all. Fear. My hooves moved on literal automatic as I prepared myself for the possible outcome. Nothing could prepare me fully, but I could at least try to be strong. I reached the pedestal and stood next to Mayor Mare, facing the crowd. It was worse up here, the height difference made them seem smaller, but it also allowed me to see more. So many faces turned towards me. So many foals expecting something amazing from me. So many ponies expecting me to be a great role model. But in the middle of it all, 7 faces turned to me with smiles on their faces, supporting me. 7 pillars that held me up away from the flames of fear that tried to consume me. 7 friends that would always be there for me. I smiled back, catching my lost confidence as it was thrown back to me. "This stallion beside me may not appear to be much at first glance, but he is more than what he appears to be. Princess Celestia herself sent a message telling me of what this stallion is and of what he will become. A valuable friend. But enough of this stalling, it's time to get down to the core of the reason that I have called you here. Please welcome Princess Celestia," I turned to look in shock at the pedestal as Mayor Mare moved away, a blinding light shone at the entrance to the town hall, the entire crowd gasping and most averting their eyes. I turned my back towards the crowd so I could turn my head to see what it was. The blinding light was coming from none other than Celestia herself, she hovered, wings spread, above the ground. She slowly began to descend, the light dimming to the point where no pony had to avert their eyes anymore. As soon as she touched the ground her eyes opened and I swear I saw her smile at me. She slowly approached the pedestal (Y U NO MOVE FASTER) and looked down upon the gathered crowd of ponies. "Citizens of Ponyville," she began, her voice loud as to reach all of the crowd, "I am here today to because of this stallion beside me," she gestures to me, "As you know Ponies as a species do not have very advanced technologies, we prefer to work the earth with our own hooves. However, years ago one pony thought different. He'd heard of what was going to happen in our time and he hoped to plan ahead," she paused, gazing over the crowd before zeroing in on Twilight. She smiled and looked away, "This pony created an advanced piece of technology and was shunned for it by others. This advanced piece of technology is among us as I speak," a few ponies in the crowd began to look around, whispering amongst themselves, "This technology was- and is- programmed to help save Equestria. I advise all of you in the crowd to not panic, for you are all safe. What you are about to see is alien to most of you, but it is not of your imagination," she turned to me and nodded, I understood the gesture and closed my eyes. Warning: multiple sentients detected in the area Disabling Synthetics is not recommended... Disabling synthetics... I heard the entire crowd gasp. ...Synthetics disabled It wasn't as I expected, I could hear the whispering and quiet murmurs but they did not sound hostile. I slowly opened my eyes to see a sea of awed faces in front of the pedestal. The entire crowd was staring at me and my naked glory. Celestia waited for the whispers and murmurs to die down before she spoke again, "This is still the same pony, FalAIr, but this is him without the illusions. He may be made of metal, but he has the personality, the emotions and the soul of a pony. I am hoping that soon, you will all come to know FalAIr as what he is on the inside, knowing him for his actions, his deeds, his personality, not for what he's made out of. In the end I hope that FalAIr will become good friends with you all," She turned to smile at me one last time, "Thank you all for taking the time out of your day to see this announcement," With that, she turned and walked back towards the town hall's main door, before the blinding light appeared again and she was gone. Leaving me in silence, naked in front of a crowd. To my surprise however, when I turned back around, the crowd was already dispersing, returning to their normal daily chores, some grouping up and gossiping and an even smaller amount were approaching me with Twilight and the others. "I'm sorry FalAIr, I'm usually more organised, I can't believe I forgot it was-" I interrupted Twilight before she could say any more. "It's fine, Twilight, mistakes are made by everypony, it's natures way of teaching you to be better," I smiled at her reassuringly, I noticed the group frowned a bit at the metallic sound of my voice, "So, what are these other ponies here for?" I kept my tone neutral just in case. Twilight frowned and looked behind her in surprise, "Oh! I actually didn't know they were behind us, can we help you?" But the group dispersed, muttering amongst themselves like the others. A few foals tried to stay behind, but were pulled away by their siblings and/or parents. I sighed as Twilight and the gang turned back to me, "Well that was just plain rude!" Applejack commented, to the agreement of the others, "Don't let them bother ya, FalAIr, they're just afraid," "That's exactly what I'm bothered about," I said, shaking my head and sighing, "My AI is shaped by my interactions with others and events that happen around me. As such, I only have one fear. Loneliness, I fear being rejected and despised by ponies, I fear, being feared." I turned and headed back towards the library, feeling the eyes of everypony in Ponyville following me. Author's Note Ugh, so much research on metals, so many idiotic answers. Geez you ask a question like "What is the strongest metal in the world" expecting a straightforward answer "Adamantium" but instead get lectured about different kinds of metals and their applications. Even now, I'm still not sure if Titanium and Tungsten are the right metals to go with, but I don't know enough about metals to do further research. Sorry for dragging the speech, but I was getting stuck with this chapter and had to go into more detail to get moving again. I hate the speech to be honest, it seems too long, it doesn't seem like the ponies talking are in character, and then near the end it seems too rushed because I was trying to get to the point. ARGH I HATE SPEECHES Scratch that. I hate this chapter in general, but I can't think of anything else to put here. I'd just like to point out that I may make certain ponification errors, e.g. Every one instead of every pony. If you see any of these mistakes could you please point them out, thanks.
Chapter 8: Princess of the NightRare Metals Occurs during Season 1 Episode 6: Boast Busters Upon returning to the library I headed straight for the lab, I thought that maybe I could start some tinkering on the old damaged machinery in there, maybe get my mind off of the recent events. However as soon as I approached the work bench a flash of light appeared in front of me, when my optics recovered from the sudden light shift I found a scroll sitting on the work bench. I literally went cross-eyed trying to open the scroll, I didn't have any coding on how to do things with my hooves or mouth so I had to teach myself. It took some struggling and I lost the scroll a few times, going to need to repair a few this too. But they were old anyway. I finally got the scroll open, and is looked around at the mess I had made. Though if anything it was an improvement, this lab had never been cleaned since... I dismissed the thought and turned back to the scroll in front of me. To FalAIr Sister hath explained to Us what thou art and has told Us what thou need. I request that thou make haste to Canterlot so that We can discuss with thou what thou need. I doth think that thou will appreciate our contribution to thy repairs. P.S. Sister hath told the Guards to not let anypony disturb Us, even with Our royal seal. The guards do however, have instructions to let an unusual pony in. We apologise but you shall have to show them thy true form. Princess Luna I read it again, just to make sure what I'd read was true. It was true, Princess Luna wanted to meet me in Canterlot. I took the scroll in my mouth and turned around with one thought on my mind, I need to show this to Twilight. But I stopped, After what just happened? I don't think I can go out there again. I didn't get to think about it too much though. "FalAIr, are you okay?" Asked a concerned-looking Twilight from the hole in the wall that was the entrance to the lab, "I didn't know you felt this way about this all," I turned towards her, but kept my gaze lowered, "You couldn't have known Twilight. I done blame you or your friends, not even the Princess for this," I sighed and slowly raised my gaze to look her in the face, "I was just afraid, and I still am. But, I think, if at least you seven accept me..." My eyes widened as Twilight approached and wrapped her fore-hooves around me, "FalAIr we'll always accept you, as I said before. No matter what happens, you're still our friend," if i had any tear ducts I would have been crying, as it is I did what I could, leaning into the hug, my AI experiencing the feelings it was programmed to feel. I don't know how long we stayed like that, but it had to end eventually. I was the one to end the hug, immediately bending down to pick up the scroll I had dropped, only for it to be encased in a lavender glow and floated up to me. I looked up to find a smiling Twilight, her horn aglow, "Thank you Twilight. But, I think you should read it. It's from Princess Luna," Twilight's smile turned into a frown "Princess Luna? Why would she send a letter?" She opened the letter and began to read. Having nothing else to do, I simply waited for her to finish, which didn't take long, "Princess Luna wants to help? So soon after the Nightmare Moon incident?" I nodded, "I agree that Princess Luna has shown an extraordinary recovery rate, this letter being proof, but I see no reason why that should stop me from accepting her help," "That's not the only problem I have with this. It's just that I can't go with you if you decide to go today," Twilight said, rolling the scroll back up, "I promised I'd go and see a new magic show that's come to Ponyville with the girls," "I understand Twilight, you have to avid breaking promises to your friends," I said, smiling, "I'll be fine," the only problem with that statement was, I couldn't figure out if I was lying. The girls and spike all made sure they said goodbye before I went to the train station. I was baffled at how they found out so fast though. I noticed that some of the Ponyvillians still greeted me, but the majority didn't and some even went out of their way to ignore me. It was disconcerting, till I saw a filly glare at her mother for trying to get away. I activated my synthetics, snickering a bit at the filly and her mother. Other than that, not much happened until I got to the train station. There wasn't much activity, which was normal, but it was still odd seeing only a few ponies entering and exiting trains. I had memorised the train schedule word for word, I knew when my train was going to arrive as well as where it was coming from and other things. But, you can never be certain. I sat down next to a to wait for the train to Canterlot, so I didn't bother trying to start up a conversation. Soon enough the train to Canterlot arrived and I got up to enter, not noticing had disappeared. I sat close to the windows on the train so I could watch the land roll by, it was interesting, seeing all the various types of plants and animals. I had data on some things and were able to recognise them as the train rolled past, but most things I couldn't identify. Maybe I should do some travelling I thought as the train pulled into Canterlot Train Station. I got up and walked out the train doors as they opened, I headed straight towards Canterlot Castle, taking in the sights as I went. Most of the aristocrats ignored me, which didn't bother me as they're aristocrats. I have data on them, uptight, snooty, tend to ignore or abuse lower class ponies. It honestly disgusts me to say the least. I arrived at the castle soon enough and was stopped by guards at the front gate, "Halt. State your business citizen," "I am here by request, I received a summons from Princess Luna," the guards looked at each other, smirking "We have instructions from Princess Celestia not to let anypony disturb Princess Luna, so, sorry bud," I sighed, expecting as much from Luna's letter, but a small part of me had hoped they'd let me through. I made sure nopony else was around before I disabled my synthetics, I wasn't ready for a re-run of Ponyville quite yet. The guards gasped as I shed the illusion, my metal chassis bare to them. They gazed on in silence for a few moments before returning to their senses and looking at each other, "You think this is the 'unusual pony' the princess was talking about?" The one on the left asked. "Whether he's the right pony or not doesn't matter right now. He's an unusual pony and I'd hate to know what happens if we don't let him in," replied the other before turning to me, "You may see Princess Luna," he stepped aside, and the other followed, albeit hesitantly. I nodded to them before walking past them and into the castle. I instantly had to ask for directions when I entered the castle, I couldn't even begin to guess where Princess Luna could be found. The helpful guard sent me in the right direction, making sure I understood that I had to knock on Luna's bedroom door to ask for permission before entering. It seemed a bit silly now that I thought back to it, despite the castle's size, it's not hard to get from the entrance to Luna's bed chamber. I supposed that was more for the guards benefit. I stopped when I reached Luna's door and knocked as instructed, there was a moment before there was a response, "Thou may enter," I opened the door and entered, making sure to close it behind me as I did so. When I turned around I found Princess Luna lying on her bed, observing me, "Thou must be FalAIr?" She asked as I moved away from the door to sit down. "Yes Princess, I am FalAIr," I replied, sitting down in front of the Princess. My gaze was drawn upwards immediately as I noticed there were cracks in the circling. The cracks originated around a chandelier which sat in the centre of the ceiling above where Luna was lying. Luna noticed my gaze and cocked her head, trying to look at where my eyes were, "What art thou looking at?" "Apologies, Princess but..." I did some quick calculations in my head based on what I could see, "The position of the ceiling that chandelier is connected to is unstable, I estimate that the chandelier will collapse along with part of the roof onto the bed, likely crushing you with it, in about a weeks' time, give or take a few days as I don't have much data to-" Luna interrupted me, "Thou art saying this chandelier will fall and crush Us in one weeks' time?" I nodded, "Roughly, yes, depending on the weather conditions, the material of the ceiling, natural disasters, unnatural disasters etc," Luma spread her wings and flew up to inspect the cracks, "Be careful, Princess. I am unsure how the air from your wings or even touching the chandelier will affect its condition!" Luna ignored my warning and flew close to the cracks in the circling, she gently rubbed her hoof along one of the cracks to verify what it was. As soon as Luna touched the ceiling the cracks began to spread, Luna panicked and flew back down towards me, I ducked as Luna landed and the centre of the circling collapsed with the chandelier, debris falling and crushing the bed where Luna had been. Guards immediately rushed into the room, "Princess!" They looked at Luna, coughing beside me as I cowered on the ground, then at the bed, covered in debris and pieces of the chandelier, "Princess are you okay? What happened?" I slowly got up and turned towards the princess, as soon as she stopped coughing she turned to me, her eyes wide, "FalAIr. Thou just saved Our life," I shook my head, "I made an error Princess, the circling was less sturdy than I estimated, my incorrect estimate could have killed you," "Nonsense, if thou had not drawn Our attention to it, We surely would have perished," she turned to the nearest Guard, "Inform Our sister of what hath happened," she turned back to me, "We believe we had something to discuss?" Author's Note Why did I think Early Modern English was easy?
Chapter 9: Enchanted by the MoonChapter 9: Enchanted by the Moon Luna guided me to a nearby guest bedroom, which was to be her bedroom till everything was fixed. After entering and closing the door behind us, Luna flew up and lay down on the bed as she was before the roof collapsed, "Now, where were We? Ah, yes, We believe that We can help thou with thy repairs and possibly make some... Improvements," I raised my eyebrow, "You are able to identify what metals my chassis is comprised of and repair my hind hooves, as well as making improvements?" Luna nodded, "How will you be making improvements?" Luna hesitated, "Thou... Remember Our... The armour that Nightmare Moon wore?" I quickly scanned the various files I had of that moment, "I have only vague ideas of what it looked like, but yes, why?" "That armour was crafted by Nightmare Moon and enchanted using the powers of Our moon. It is because of this fact that Nightmare was so powerful when Sparkle and her friends confronted her. The armour amplifies the wearer's magical abilities while in Our moon's light," I nodded in understanding, "But would the armour not have been destroyed when Nightmare Moon was purged?" Luna shook her head, "Nay, the armour is made from the materials of Our moon, thus it remains in tact. The enchantments laid on the metal however, were broken. This does not matter, as We are able to imitate the enchantments that were laid on the metal. But Nightmare used dark magic when weaving the enchantments, that is why her power was so raw. We will not use dark magic when We weave the enchantments, the power will be more focused and easier to control," "You are saying you would use this armour on my chassis? Despite it being made from pieces of your moon?" "Despite what We may say, the moon does not belong to Us alone. It belongs to all beings that willingly stand in its reflected light. But either way, We cannot simply return the armour to the moon. Powerful magic was used to send Us to the moon and powerful magic was used to send Nightmare back. It would take an equally if not more powerful magic to send the armour back to the moon. We cannot simply let this armour lie around for anyone to use. We believe you will take good care of it, using its power in the way it should be used," the shadows beside the door to the room shifted and a bat pony appeared, holding a rectangular box upon its back with its wings outstretched to balance it. The bat pony approached Princess Luna, and she lifted the box from his back, nodding to him. He bowed and left the room as Luna opened the box. I looked inside, my optics quickly adjusting from the unexpected glow coming from the armour. It looked exactly as it did when Nightmare Moon was purged, albeit slightly black around the edges. "Why does it glow?" I asked, frowning as I turned to Luna, "The moon does not produce its own light, therefore the armour should not be glowing," Luna simply shook her head, "What thou says is true, however the moon is special. It reflects all light it is given, regardless of how little. This armour, when enchanted, will have its dormant powers awakened. We can place only 4 enchantments on the armour, one being taken by the enchantment that will be placed upon it, the name of the enchantment is 'Lunam lumine', 'tis Latin for Moon's Light. This leaves 3 enchantments, wouldst thou have Us place any enchantments other than the one?" I shook my head, "I do not wish to be a nuisance, Princess. I cannot think of any other enchantments I would need or want for that matter," Luna closed the box and placed it beside her, "Very well, you may simply contact Us if you wish to have another enchantment placed upon the armour, We can place an enchantment on the armour at any time, but as We said before, the armour can only take 3 more enchantments," I nodded, "Very well, thank you, Luna. At what time can the repairs be made?" Luna smiled, "Immediately," she got off the bed and began walking towards the door, levitating the armour with her and me following behind. I had to have some of my parts removed for the armour to be put on properly, I wasn't entirely comfortable with being taken apart by ponies I don't even know, but I knew I was safe with Princess Luma there watching over the entire thing. Problem was I had to guide them through each part, some ponies left after the first parts of me being taken apart, probably couldn't handle being guided by a decapitated robot pony head, figures. Honestly, ponies gawking at my circuitry is pretty much what I expected, but they were fairly professional about what they did, though a few of the stallions chuckled amongst themselves as they disconnected various cables from my rear end, the foals. Despite this, it was over quickly, the armour fit almost perfectly onto my chassis. Parts of the armour had to be cut off to get it to fit properly, but the parts that were cut off were melted with the metal that was used to repair my hind hooves, Luna said it shouldn't hinder the armours effects too much, though I had to wonder. With new armour, a moon on my chest and blue-tinted hind hooves I was ready to go. Author's Note Sorry for the short chapter, I had trouble, kept getting stuck on the simplest of parts. Credit to SkyDaz for giving me the translation for Moon's Light, 'Lunam lumine'
Chapter 10: That wasn't a pony.Chapter 10: He's not dead! He was never alive! "She did WHAT!?" I said, incredulous at what Rainbow Dash was telling me. "Yeah! It was so awesome! She picked up that Ursa Major like it was nothing!" replied Rainbow Dash as Twilight walked up. "It was an Ursa MINOR, Rainbow and I was very tired after using that much magic," Twilight pointed out to the cyan pegasus. "Still," Rainbow grumbled. Twilight turned to me and smiled, "Enough about me, how was Canterlot, FalAIr?" Twilight asked, leading me over to the couch where the others were sitting. "Oh yes dear, tell us all about it!" Rarity smiled. I sat down next to Applejack, happy to relay what had happened in Canterlot, "Not much happened, Princess Luna simply wanted to help me with my chassis, making repairs and even some improvements," I said. "Well that explains the blue parts on ya," Applejack said, gesturing to the neck piece I now had, "But surely more than that happened," I shook my head, before pausing, bringing my hoof up to my chin, "Well, Princess Luna did almost get crushed by a chandelier," "WHAT!?" Everypony yelled, their expressions ones of horror. "Dear goodness I hope she's alright!" Rarity exclaimed. "She's fine," I said, attempting to calm everypony, "I told Princess Luna about the structural integrity of the chandelier when I noticed it, she flew up to verify my statement and the chandelier dropped and fell on the place she had been sitting bringing some of the roof down with it. Nopony was hurt." "Well, that's a relief, but I actually have to go now, I'm a bit late on the weather schedule," Rainbow Dash said, flying over to open the door. "Rainbow, one day your slackin's gonna come back and bite ya in the flank," Applejack commented, frowning. "Hey I don't slack, I just take breaks throughout the day, besides I got a bit caught up with what happened with Trixie,"Rainbow said, hovering in the doorway. "Whatever," Applejack dismissed as Rainbow flew out the doorway, "It's gettin' late Twi, s'pose I should head back to the farm before Granny Smith starts worryin'" Applejack said, getting off her seat and making for the door. Rarity got up too and began to head for the door, "It's close to Sweetie's bedtime, I need to get to the boutique before she gets into any trouble," "I should probably go too, Angel will get worried if I'm not home in a few minutes," Fluttershy said, following behind Rarity. "Cya Twi! Cya FalAIr!" Pinkie said, bouncing after Fluttershy, the door closing behind her. I sat down at the library, going through my data and deleting unnecessary records to clear space. Twilight had left a few moments earlier, saying she wanted to 'get out of the library for a while'. So I was left with Spike, who was currently putting the books that Twilight had left laying around back into their places. I had offered to help but Spike warned me that Twilight was specific about her sorting. I didn't truly understand it, but I took his advice regardless. "Hey FalAIr, I have to run an errand at the town hall later, want to come with?" Spike asked, pausing in his cleaning for a moment. I pushed my cleanup into the background, "Sure, I've got nothing to better to do, what's the errand?" I asked, turning to face him. He picked up another book and walked to it's shelf, "Oh, it's nothing too important, just have to pick up a few scrolls," he replied, placing the book into its rightful place among its brethren. "Cool, when do we go?" Spike scanned the room quickly, it was practically clean now, save for the few errant piles of books that either weren't sorted yet, or Twilight was reading them still, "Now actually, I think I'm done here," I stopped my cleanup and got up from where I was sitting, "Even better, let's go!" I said, happily trotting towards the door and opening it for the small drake. "Thanks FalAIr," Spike said as he walked out the door with me following behind, we both began heading for the town hall. "Are you sure you're okay?" I asked, concern evident on my face as I followed the walking pile of scrolls that was Spike. "Yeah, I'm fine, honestly," he replied as I walked ahead to open the door, giving him a concerned glance as I pushed it open, allowing him through. I walked out behind him, noticing Pinkie Pie and Rainbow immediately. "What are-" I didn't get a chance to finish the question when Rainbow Dash kicked a cloud that was beside her, the cloud sending a bolt of lightning downwards. Just my luck, the bolt arced straight towards me, I spasmed, my systems going haywire at the surge of power it suddenly got, my legs flailing all over the place as the motors got confused as to what to do. By the time my system got the surge under control I was a mess, my forehead was charred where the bolt had struck me and my mane and tail were sticking out all over the place. I shook myself then turned to look at Rainbow Dash with a glare, but she was too busy laughing at something, I followed her gaze down to see Spike, he had dropped all the scrolls and was trying to pick them up, but every time he grabbed one he'd hiccup and burn it. I knew of Spike's magical fire, I hope Princess Celestia wasn't doing anything important. My system was still recovering from the power surge, so most of my senses were inactive, I couldn't hear anything that was happening around me, but I could see the concern that Pinkie Pie, who came out of nowhere, suddenly shot me. I could see Rainbow say something to Pinkie, Pinkie said something back, then while Pinkie wasn't looking she struck the cloud beside her again. My eyes widened in alarm, time seemed to slow while the bolt arced towards me, Spike still trying to pick up the scrolls and failing, Pinkie jumping with a sudden surprised expression, Rainbow, her smirk slowly shifting to shock. I didn't know what to do, so I shut my systems down systematically, my vision went dark as I entered standby mode, the bolt striking me on the forehead as I did so. I was awoken again straight after the bolt struck by errors running through me, my system warning me that while I was in Standby Mode an 'unknown static charge' struck me. I looked up upon noticing I was lying on my side, Pinkie, Spike and Rainbow were standing around me with looks of concern on their faces, Pinkie and Spike still hiccuping. "Rainbow, don't do that again," She flinched at the sound of my voice, I didn't blame her, my vocal synth was WAY off. I recalibrated it quickly, "Test, test. Right, Rainbow, what the heck were you doing?" "Well-" she was cut off from her explanation by Pinkie Pie, who immediately got right up in my face. "OH MY GOSH! Are you okay FalAIr? I mean I was so busy laughing I didn't see the bolt strike you, but when Rainbow struck the cloud again I saw the bolt arc downwardsandthenIgotworriedcauseInoticedyouwerestandingwheretheboltwasgointohitand-" I stopped her with my hoof, giving my CPU time to run over everything she just said. "Pinkie, I'm fine, it was just a disorienting power surge, nothing but a small shock to me," I turned back to Rainbow, "Continue," She obliged, "Well, Pinkie was playing a prank on Spike, I didn't know about it until I heard Spike's hiccups. I didn't know the lightning was arcing towards you until you collapsed. Are you sure you're okay? That was a big bolt," "I repeat; it was just a disorienting power surge," I assured her, getting up into my hooves. "Well, if you're sure," she turned away hesitantly, prepared to fly off, but she stopped before pouncing and turned back to Pinkie, "Hey Pinkie, I didn't take you as a prankster," "Are you -hic- KIDDING? -hic-" Pinkie practically yelled into my ear, "I love to pull pranks, -hic- it's all in good fun, and Pinkie Pie Lo~o -hic- oves to have -hic- fun! -hic-" I was staring at her throughout the entire sentence, watching her mane spasm with every hiccup and trying to fathom how that was even working. I could almost feel smoke coming off my CPU "You know Pinkie, you're not as annoying as I thought," I whipped my head 'round to look at Rainbow, giving up on Pinkie being Pinkie for now, and frowned at her saying that Pinkie was annoying, Pinkie didn't appear to notice however, "You wanna hang out?" Pinkie grinned, "-hic- That'd be" she flew into the air above Rainbow, "-hic-" she flew somewhere out of the left of my vision, "I'd really, -hic-" she flew back before I could turn my head, "-hic- When do -hic- -hic-" she flew off to my right, I facehoofed, "I mean -hic- when would you -hic-" the onslaught of words finally stopped, I sighed in relief. "A simple nod will do," Rainbow Dash said, her hoof in Pinkie's mouth, Pinkie nodded, humming her consent before Rainbow took her hoof away. They both turned and began walking away, the sound of prank planning could be heard from both of them. I turned towards Spike, who was just staring at the two as they walked off, obviously his hiccups had disappeared in his astonishment, "So Spike, what about the scrolls?" "Hm?" he said, turning towards me with a questioning expression, "Oh! They'll be fine, Princess Celestia'll probably send them back after figuring out what they are," I nodded, standing back onto my hooves, "Well then, we mineaswell head back to the library," I said, beginning the walk back towards the homely fauna. Zoom: 25% Four targets found Identifying. . . Primary Target "Rainbow Dash" identified Primary Target "Pinkie Pie" identified Secondary Target "Spike" identified Fourth target unidentified Zoom: 0% Connecting to PVBU. . . Connection established Connection: Strong Sending gathered Data. . . Information sent to PVBU Data received 2/6 Primary targets located 1/1 Secondary targets located Compressing Data. . . Data compressed Forwarding compressed Data to CB . . . Response received Decompressing. . . Decompressed Forwarding data to UnitRD Forwarding data to UnitPP New data received Updating Mission Objectives Recon mode disabled Stealth mode enabled Primary objectives: Remain out of sight Pursue targets at specified distance I watched intently as Twilight added another chemical to the blue mixture next to me, "Are you sure mixing these chemicals are safe?" "It's safe," she said, turning back to her paper, only to gasp, "Where did-?" I turn to look at the paper too, only to see the writing that was there a moment ago had disappeared. I was about to reply, "I don't-" when the potion exploded. "FalAIr!" Twilight exclaimed, startled at the explosion. I quickly got my hooves back under me, my right optical lens being obscured by something, "I'm okay! I'm okay!" I reassured Twilight, doing a minor systems check to make sure nothing had been damaged. Everything seemed fine, though I didn't know why my right lens was obscured, or why Twilight was making that face, "Is something wrong Twilight?" I asked her, frowning at her expression. There were tears forming at the sides of her eyes as she replied and her voice sounded higher than normal, "You've just got... Something on your side," I blinked, before turning so I was able to see my side, it was purple. "I think the potion had a bit of a side effect..." "What was the potion intended to do?" I asked, turning away from my purple side. "It wasn't intended to do anything, I was inspecting the effects of mixing those chemicals." At seeing my expression she quickly rectified, "I did the calculations beforehand! The potion is harmless! There are no adverse effects!" She looked to my purple side, "Though I did see that as a possible effect." Twilight turned to look out the window at the sound of laughter, I looked out too to see Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie on their backs laughing hysterically, a blue bottle with an outlined drop of liquid lay between them. Twilight smirked, "Well, there's our culprits" "So Pinkie Pie, are you sure that this friend of Rainbow Dash is really so mean?" Twilight said, flipping through the pages of the book that currently sat on the pedestal in front of her, I sat beside Spike as we flipped through similar books. The three of us were looking for a way to remove this purple stuff, so far simply washing it off hasn't been working. "Um, yeah. She keeps stealing Rainbow Dash away, she pops my balloons, and she told me to buzz off. I've never met a griffon this mean. Well, actually, I've never met a griffon at all, but I bet if I had, she wouldn't have been as mean and grumpy as Gilda." Pinkie said, pacing across the room before stomping her hoof on the floor. "A griffon?" I asked Spike, he just shrugged in response. I noted to ask Twilight about it later. I turned back to the conversation at hand. "You know what I think, Pinkie Pie" Twilight said, looking worriedly at Pinkie. "Hmm?" Pinkie inquired, getting all up in Twilight's grill. "Well I think," Twilight turned away, keeping her eyes on Pinkie, "you're jealous" "Jealous?" Pinkie exclaimed, incredulous. "Green with envy," Spike cut in, looking up at Pinkie, "well, in your case, pink with envy," I gave Spike a wry look, he just looked at me and shrugged. "Well, yes. Jealous," Twilight said with a tired expression, I could tell this conversation wouldn't last much longer, "Listen Pinkie, I don't want to upset you, but just because Rainbow Dash has another friend doesn't make Gilda a grump. I mean, perhaps it's you, Pinkie, who needs to improve her attitude." "Improve my attitude? But I... D... B.. It's Gilda that... D... Are you seri..." Pinkie stutters before screaming in frustration and walking off, albeit with a weird "puick" sound with every hoofstep. Twilight, Spike and I look on worriedly as she walks out of the library, flinching as she slams the door. Spike and I approach Twilight as she sighs, "Well, that could've gone better," I comment before turning to look at Twilight, "I'd like to meet Gilda at some point, I've never seen a Griffon before, I have no data on them whatsoever." Zoom: 10% Three targets found Identifying. . . Primary Target "Twilight Sparkle" identified Secondary Target "Spike" identified Third target unidentified Zoom: 0% Connecting to PVBU. . . Connection established Connection: Strong Sending gathered Data. . . Information sent to PVBU Data received 3/6 Primary targets located 1/1 Secondary targets located Compressing Data. . . Data compressed Forwarding compressed Data to CB . . . Response received Decompressing. . . Decompressed Forwarding data to UnitTS New data received Updating Mission Objectives Recon mode disabled Stealth mode enabled Primary objectives: Remain out of sight Pursue targets at specified distance I had my eyes on the sky while walking through Ponyville in the hopes that I'd spot Gilda and Rainbow Dash. My forward sensors were active so as I wouldn't bump into anypony while at it. I stopped abruptly when I heard Rainbow Dash laughing. It sounded like it was coming from Sugarcube Corner. I turned and headed towards the candy-themed confectionery shop. I caught sight of Rainbow Dash as she flew away from the area, "Later," she said, her prismatic trail originating from nearby the stalls. I dragged my gaze towards the area, catching sight of a figure that was certainly not a pony. That must be Gilda she had the head and talons of an eagle and the body of a lion. Honestly, I don't know what I was expecting. I moved to approach her but stopped suddenly, noticing Pinkie sitting by herself at a table outside Sugarcube Corner. I noticed she was hunched down at the table, almost as if she were hiding. I decided to see what Pinkie was up to before meeting Gilda. I stopped in my tracks as I heard an elderly mares voice, "Aaah! A rattler, a rattler! Run for the hills! Everypony forsake yourselves!" I turned quickly, seeing the mare in question creaking (literally, her legs were creaking) away from the store I had seen Gilda approach. I was about to move towards the stall to deal with the supposed 'rattler' before Gilda appeared behind the stall, I immediately noticed her tail was in with the corn and carrots. She pressed a tomato with her tail, "This stuff ain't fresh, dude," she remarked, before wandering off, much to the stall-owners confusion. My ears twitched as Pinkie started talking, I turned around to listen, "How mean. No, no, I can't misjudge her. It was kind of a funny prank, I guess." I cocked my head, before I realized that the 'rattler' must've been Gilda's tail. I turned back around yet again, eyes locking to Gilda as she approached another stall that oddly looked the same as the last. She walked parallel to the stall, behind the backs of the ponies that were surrounding it. I watched as she used her tail to grab an apple from the baskets that were under the stall, immediately sticking it into her beak. My eyes widened, She didn't pay for those! I started trotting towards Gilda, meaning to confront her about the theft, but I was forced to stop as Fluttershy walked past in front of me, "Sorry Fluttershy," "Oh, it's okay, thank you Falair," she smiled before continuing on her way, the ducks she was leading following closely. I stood there and watched her lead them away, I noticed Gilda behind her and began to trot forwards, expecting Gilda to move out of Fluttershy's way. She didn't. "Hey" Gilda exclaimed as Fluttershy bumped into her. Fluttershy turned to look up at Gilda, who was towering over her, my expression lowered, I could see where this was going, I kept moving forwards, approaching the duo as Fluttershy began, "Oh, please excuse me" Gilda spread her wings and pushed her beak forwards menacingly, "I'm walkin' here," Fluttershy began backing away, "Oh, um, I'm sorry. I-I-I was just trying to..." I was getting closer to the scene, but I decided not to interfere... yet. Gilda stood back up straight, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she mocked, before thrusting her beak forward again, "Why don't you just watch where you're going, doofus?" The ducks scattered as Fluttershy backed into them with Gilda pushing forwards. I decided now was the time to interfere. I pushed between Fluttershy and Gilda, the latter taking a step back, "Back. Off." I narrowed my eyes at her, my stance sideways so as to block Fluttershy from view. "Who are you supposed to be? Her bodyguard?" Gilda responded, she looked to be miffed that someone had stood up to her, "Can't she stand up for herself?" "I am her friend, I will not stand idly by as you bring her to tears," I could tell Fluttershy wouldn't have lasted much longer, "It'd be better if you went somewhere else," nobody moved, it was practically a stand-off between Gilda and I. "Feh, you ponies are lame anyway." She said before flying off. I turned to Fluttershy, "Are you okay Fluttershy?" It was probably too much for her, because the instant Gilda left, she broke into tears and flew off. I looked on with a sad expression. I didn't really know what had happened, it was all a blur of pink. But somehow I had ended up in Sugarcube corner with a small group of other ponies who looked equally as confused as I did. Soon after the initial confusion, ponies began to mill around and socialise. I just remained on the chair I had been placed on, watching the goings on. Pinkie Pie was at the door welcoming everypony as they entered. I turned my head and noticed Fluttershy with Twilight, I angled my ears over to listen to what they were talking about. "Oh, um, well, I'll tell you later, Twilight." I didn't know the context, so I couldn't tell what they were talking about. On the upside, Fluttershy looked better. Fluttershy walked away from Twilight and over to Pinkie Pie, so I decided to talk to Twilight. She noticed me approaching. "Hey Falair, did you meet Gilda?" She asked, turning towards me as I stopped next to her. "Well, yes, but not in the way I had hoped." I replied, I was stopped from continuing by Pinkie Pie. "Gilda!" I turned to see her land in front of said Griffon, "I'm so honored to throw you one of my signature Pinkie Pie parties, and I really, truly, sincerely, hope you feel welcome here amongst all us pony folk." She extended her hoof for Gilda to shake. Gilda slowly took hold of Pinkie's hoof, only to be electrocuted. She scowled as Pinkie Pie laughed. "Oh Pinkie PIe," Rainbow dash trotted up, "the old hoof-shake buzzer. You are a scream." Gilda hesitantly agreed, "Yeah, uh, good one, Pinkie Pie." I turned back towards Twilight, "That seemed like a lot of volts for such a small buzzer." Twilight turned to me, "Oh, it's not that much. Gilda was probably just surprised." We turned back as Pinkie Pie rushed to the center of the room, "Everyone, I'd like you all to meet Gilda, a long-time, dear friend of Rainbow Dash," she rushed over to hug Gilda, "Let's honor her and welcome her to Ponyville." Before rushing away again, Gilda just scowled. Everyone, save Fluttershy and I, cheered. Gilda smiled forcefully as Dash came up and put a hoof behind her. "Please help yourself," Pinkie said, standing near the food table. "Vanilla lemon drops. Don't mind if I do," Gilda said, placing the mentioned treat into her beak. Her beak burst open, flames pouring out. I jumped in surprise, turning to Twilight, "Griffons breathe fire!?" "No, it's probably just pepper," she replied calmly. "How does that even-" I was interrupted by laughter from the ponies near the punch table. "Well, whaddya know, pepper in the vanilla lemon drops, and the punch served in a dribble glass," Pinkie commented. I turned to Twilight, "What's going on? This seems like a setup." "They're just harmless pranks," she replied I cocked my head, "What's a prank?" Twilight was about to reply, but was interrupted by more laughter. We both turned to see Gilda, a polka-dotted cylinder in her talon, with her feathers fluffed up in surprise. We couldn't help it, we both laughed. "That, is a prank," Twilight said to me when she calmed down. "Surprising someone is a prank?" I responded, cocking my head again. "No, well, somewhat. A prank is a joke you pull on someone," Twilight explained. "A joke, like that disappearing ink thing?" I asked. "Exactly." Twilight replied. "Cake time everypony." Pinkie Pie said, rolling a huge cake in. Everypony gathered around. "Hey, can I blow out the candles?" I hadn't even noticed Spike arrive. "Why don't we let Gilda blow out the candles, Spike. She is the guest of honor after all," Twilight responded to Spike's query. Gilda appeared and punted Spike away with her elbow. I scowled, "Exactly," she said, taking a huge gulp of air to blow the aforementioned candles out. She blew them out and smiled, only for the candles to relight themselves. She took another gulp of air and blew them out, panting afterwards. Ponies started to laugh as the candles re-lit themselves yet again. Gilda blew them out again and again, again and again and again and again, each time the candles would relight themselves. I zoomed in on the candles and noted the chemical reaction taking place. I zoomed back out, noting the time that had passed. "Hey y'all, it's pin the tail on the pony. Let's play." I trotted up to talk to Twilight, "Pin the tail on the pony? Wouldn't that be painful and dangerous?" Twilight looked at me, confused, "Pin the tail on the pony is a game that ponies play at parties. A picture of a tailless pony is placed on the wall, while another pony is blindfolded and given a tail with a pin. The pony then must place the tail on the pony," she explained. I filed that away, Learning quite a few new things today. We turned back just in time to see Gilda slide past us, "What the!?" I exclaimed, taking a step back as Gilda slid straight through the doors at the other end of the room. When the smoke (which had come from nowhere) cleared, Gilda was sitting there with a purple... Thing, on her beak. "Uh, Gilda? You pinned the tail on the wrong end." Pinkie Pie commented, everypony burst into laughter. Everypony went quiet immediately as Gilda roared, she flapped her wings and hovered above everypony, "This is your idea of a good time? I've never met a lamer bunch of dweebs in all my life." I scowled and moved to confront her, but Twilight stopped me, shaking her head. "And Pinkie Pie, you!" she pointed at the pink party pony, "You are queen lame-o with your weak little party pranks. Did you really think you could make me lose my cool?" She moved and put her talon behind Dash, "Well, Dash and I have ten times as much cool as the rest of you put together. Come on Dash, we're bailing on this pathetic scene." she moved towards the door, Dash stayed where she was, "Come on Rainbow Dash. I said, we're leaving." Rainbow Dash lowered her head, "You know Gilda, I was the one who set up all those weak pranks at this party." Gilda took on a surprised look, "What?" she looked at Pinkie Pie, but Rainbow Dash stuck her head in the way. "So I guess I'm queen lame-o." "Come on, Dash, you're joshing me." "They weren't all meant for you specifically, it was just dumb luck that you set them all off." Dash said, looking down sadly. I heard Pinkie Pie say something, but my focus was on Gilda and Rainbow Dash. "No way. It was Pinkie Pie, she set up this party to trip me up, to make a fool of me." Gilda growled. Everypony turned their attention to the pink mare, "Me? I threw this party to improve your attitude. I thought a good party might turn that frown upside down." she turned her head upside down. Dash agreed, "And you sure didn't need any help making a fool of yourself. You know, this is not how I thought my old friends would treat my new friends. If being cool is all you care about, maybe you should go find some new cool friends someplace else." Gilda spread her wings, in defense this time, "Yeah? Well you, you, you are such a, a flip-flop: cool one minute and lame the next. When you decide not to be lame anymore, gimme a call." she turned and made to exit, only to bump into another pony, "Get outta my way!" she pushed the pony, accidentally scratching him. Gilda must not have noticed, because she flew out. I looked at the pony as he ran out of the room, he wasn't bleeding, I saw sparks. Unit damaged, aborting. Dash had apologised after Gilda had left, Pinkie and her both pranking each other with buzzers, much to everypony's enjoyment. Twilight had also apologised to Pinkie for her accusations. The party had continued after that. We were back at the library now, Twilight was just about to finish her letter to Celestia. I decided to bring up the subject of that pony, "Hey Twilight," "Yes Falair?" she turned away from the letter to look at me. "You didn't happen to see that pony that Gilda scratched before he ran off, did you?" I asked. "No, I guess I was too caught up in what was going on, is he okay?" Twilight asked, worried. "That's just it, he wasn't bleeding," Twilight sighed in relief before I continued, "He was sparking." Twilight's breath caught in her throat and she devolved into a coughing fit. When she recovered, with my help of course, she exclaimed, "You're sure you weren't just seeing things?" "Positive, Twilight. This concerns me greatly, judging by my data, I was the only unit ever created. This would suggest that others have created their own units." I looked at Twilight worriedly. "I should report this to Princess Celestia," I nodded as we turned back to the letter Twilight was about to send. Author's Note Ooo, beginning to introduce this stories protagonists. Shit's goin' down now! What, you thought I would let one of my characters stand by as Fluttershy gets verbally abused? Hell naw!
I'm programmed to dream...My CPU's are running on overdrive as I run through Ponyville. Nopony was in sight, but that didn't concern me. I had to get to the library, fast. The gears in my legs make a lot of noise, not used to being put through this much stress, but I pushed them on. A yell from my left distracted me, I turned just in time to avoid Rainbow Dash as she's thrown back by what looks like another unit! I glance at Rainbow Dash, making sure she's alright. She's unconscious. I turn back to the unidentified unit, preparing myself. ...I'm programmed to have nightmares... We crash together, gears grinding in our efforts to overcome each other. I was steadily being pushed back though, the unit being built more heavily than I am. I had to think of something. I scanned everything within my vision, trying to find something I could use. There. I broke off to the side, causing the unit to move with me, right into the park bench, which I had gone under. I slid out under the unit and forced all my hooves upwards, aiming for the barrel. ...I'm programmed to feel... I held my cheek in my hoof, the metal there heavily dented. It would hold for now, but I have to be more careful. I stared the unit down, it hasn't moved since I put a dent in its chest. Suddenly, I was hit from my side. I grunted, before turning to check what it was. Another unit. ...I'm programmed to think... I was close to finished, I'd underestimated the first units agility, however it seemed to excel in strength. That, I could barely deal with. But this second unit seemed to excel in agility, I will not underestimate it's strength. Rainbow Dash was still unconscious behind me, I'd kept the units away from her as best I could, but I don't know how much longer I can go on for. The Agility unit moves, rushing off to my right, while the Strength unit rushes off to my left. I looked both ways, they're trying to trick me. A full second it took me to make the decision, I turned and ran, scooping up Dash as I did so. It would hinder my speed and I'm more likely to take some devastating blows, but I need to get Dash to safety. ...I'm programmed to live... I'd thrown Dash as carefully as I could into the Library. I knew the others would find her there, wherever they are. My main goal now was to eliminate the threats in any way possible. Even if it killed me. I was on my last legs, I'd damaged the Agility unit heavily, it wasn't made to take blows, merely avoid them. I'd gotten the hits on it by pure luck and anticipation of its movements. One more blow to the cranium should take it out. I rushed the Strength unit, then jumped as I approached. It anticipated this and grabbed my rear hooves, slamming me into the ground. I could feel wires getting taught inside me, some already ripped and sparking. My armor was heavily dented, I could barely move my right forehoof. Regardless, I bent up and slammed both forehooves into the joints of the Strength unit's forelegs. It worked in getting it to let go, with the bonus of almost disabling them. I rolled out of the way, right before the Agility unit slammed its hooves where my head had been. I got onto my hooves and jumped towards it. My hoof swinging down onto its head. The hit connected. It fell in a heap, dead. The Strength unit had recovered and charged me, its head low. I jumped, pivoting on my arm, over the disabled Agility unit. The Strength unit barreling past me. ...I am not, however... I felt a magical shot hit me from behind and my entire system took the hit as it punched through my armor. I turned and briefly caught the silhouette of a stallion, before my vision went black. ...Programmed to die. I am FalAIr. I will live. I will learn. But I will not die. Not yet. My time comes on my own terms. I will protect those I care about till the very end. Even if I have to break myself in the process. Author's Note Just a little short I thought up, thought I might post it. I'll post a short every ten chapters, probably. Just to get the thoughts flowing. I know, it's horrible, probably cliche too. BUT I LIKE IT!
