Chapters We begin our story several years before the return of Nightmare moon...
Enter the life of a unicorn filly, Binary Steel.
The peppy youngster trotted down a dirt rode after a successful day at school, where she had shown one of her most recent mechanical creations, a levitation wand. She had successfully used it to manipulate three test rocks, each of varying size and weight.
The filly beamed as she remembered the amazement of her fellow students, who, except for the other unicorns, were amazed at the thought of themselves being able to levitate objects without having magical horns.
The fillies right ear flicked as she heard the clacking of hoofsteps coming from behind her. Binary looked back to see two unicorn colts following her, both of them walking at unusually brisk paces.
Binary knew the two from school, they were bullies who used their impressive magic skills to cause trouble for everypony else. One of the two, a yellow unicorn with a black mane and green eyes, by the name of Cullen, was the obvious leader of the duo. The other a pink unicorn, with a white mane and silver eyes whose name was Broncin, the muscle of the two... or more appropriately, the mass of the two.
Binary increased her pace, hoping that if she got close enough to her home that the duo would leave her be.
Dark clouds slowly filled the sky as Binary approached her modest home built at the top of a large hill.
Binary looked up as rain began to patter down to the ground, making the ground muddy and slippery. The muck made Binary's efforts to hasten her journey home fail. She slipped and fell to the ground, not far from her house.
The two colts then used their magic to levitate themselves above the mud, and hovered in front of Binary, blocking her path.
Binary timidly asked the two “Did you guys have a question about the wand?”
“Yeah, why would you come up with something so stupid?” Broncin asked mockingly.
Binary replied as though the question was sincere “Well, pegasi and earth pony's can't levitate things, like unicorns can”
“Oh really,” Cullen said sarcastically “I had no idea, seeing as how I am not a brilliant engineer, such as yourself”
Binary, once again did not recognize the sarcasm and replied “Thank you, Cullen, I really appreciate that”
Cullen shook his head in disbelief at the fillies naivety “Oh you're so stupid” he said "Now let me explain a little something to you" he began as Broncin levitated the filly's wand out of her saddle bag and let it hover just out of Binary's reach "I gotta admit it's a neat little toy. But ya see, a unicorn must learn to master their magic, just like a Pegasus must master flight or an earth pony must realize their stuck on the ground. This little thing insults all the work unicorns like me and Broncin have put into our magic skills"
“Okay... can I have it back now"
"Why?" Broncin asked "You're a unicorn, you don't need it"
"It's mine... it doesn't belong to you" she replied.
"You know what's funny about that?" Cullen asked before he levitated Binary's glasses off of her face "These belong to you, too"
"Give those back!” Binary pleaded as she jumped up to try and retrieve her stolen belongings.
“I'm doing this for your own good you little twerp" Cullen said "Every other unicorn has been using their magic for months now. Just look at the object, use your magic and pull it away from me"
"Come on little girl, you got to really want it" Broncin said in a mock encouraging tone.
"I-I... I don't want to use my horn" Binary said as she choked back her tears.
"Come on, Binary! Is your horn defective or something?" Cullen asked.
"N-no, it's just... I'm just... it's none of your business!" Binary shouted before she fired herself at Cullen. Cullen side stepped Binary's charge and the filly landed face first in the mud. Binary quickly scooped up a hoof full of mud and flung it at Cullen's face.
The young unicorn quickly turned cross as he wiped the mud from his eyes "Why you little!" Cullen growled as he pointed his horn at Binary. The filly suddenly became engulfed in a magical glow and lifted off the ground. Cullen smiled as he flipped the filly upside down and shook her around in the air "These stupid toys are just an excuse for you not to try and be better!" he yelled "Smash it!" he ordered he ordered Broncin.
Broncin dropped the wand on the ground and stomped it into the mud, breaking it beyond repair.
Months of work were gone in an instant. Tears began to stream down her face before she finally broke down and began to wail.
"Oh what is your problem, your little marshmallow!" he yelled at Binary.
A deep booming voice then yelled from the nearby house on the hill “What are you two doing to my daughter!”
The bullies looked up to see a large brown stallion standing on the porch of the large house. The stallion's eyes were engulfed in rage and his black mane flapped like a flag in the wind as he raced towards the two
“Put her down, right now!” The stallion screamed.
“Lets get outta here” Broncin said to his Cullen.
“No, I'm not done yet” Cullen replied. Cullen dropped Binary into the mud and stared down the enraged stallion. Cullen's horn glowed and the stallion was engulfed in a magical aura "You sir are a disgrace; letting your daughter be an outcast instead of letting her waste her life on these... stupid toys!"
The stallion yelled while he helplessly fluttered “How dare you! Put me down or I'll!.. I'll tell your parents!"
Cullen scoffed at the threat "Really that's all you got. Pfft, my parents would never believe you anyway. Also if you're planning any sort of physical retaliation, I'm sure that would set a great example for your kid"
Binary's father let out an angry sigh as he stopped struggling "Just put me down, kid" he said in a defeated tone.
Cullen dropped the stallion into the mud.
"Broncin, lets go" Cullen said to his friend as he turned away from Binary and her father.
Broncin dropped Binary's glasses in the mud in front of her "See ya on Monday" he whispered as he walked away.
Binary sat in mud covering her face with her forehooves. Binary's tears had washed away some of the mud off her face, but the rest of her white coat and short, dark grey mane and tail were completely covered.
The brown stallion stood, and walked to Binary “Come on, I'll give you a ride back home” he said to Binary as he knelt down beside her.
Binary avoided looking her father in the eyes as she grabbed her glasses out of the mud. She then climbed onto her fathers back and clung to him tightly.
“Hold on” The father said with care, before he began to trot towards their home.
Binary looked back to the spot her invention had been crushed. As the distance between her and it increased, the significance of the moment lightened slightly.
The pair quickly approached their home. The father took his time going up the porch steps, making sure not disturb his passenger. He pushed the front door open and stepped inside.
Binary dropped off of her fathers back and asked "Daddy, why do they hate me?"
"Honey, no one hates you" he replied "Those other ponies don't understand that you have... limitations. They think it's something that can be fixed, but that's just their ignorance shining through. They think there's something wrong with you"
"But aren't they right?" she asked "I can't use magic no matter how hard I try"
"But that's what makes you special" he said as he pulled her in to a hug "Any unicorn can magic their way around a problem. You gotta think your way around it, and the more you keep thinking, the better you get at thinking"
Binary smiled as she squeezed her father as tight as she could. The two held each other for a moment or two more before Binary's father took note of the fillies current state
“Umm...Maybe you should go take a bath” he said as he wiped a bit of mud off her face.
Binary then looked down at her mud covered body “Ha, I'm the same colour as you” The filly joked happily, quickly losing the sadness that had overtaken her just minutes before. She quickly darted to the stairs, leaving a trail of mud as she went.
The second floor of the building had a T shaped hallway design, with four doors. One door directly to the right was the bathroom, to the left was a closet. Go a little further and the hallway split, the left hall leading to Binary's room, and the right hall ending in the door to her fathers room.
Binary took an immediate right, into the bathroom.
Binary picked up a few bath toys, that were scattered across the floor and dropped them into the tub. She then turned the faucet, allowing refreshing, warm water to pour out into the tub. Binary grabbed a bottle of bubble soap from the and poured a small amount into the tub. The filly waited a few moments as the tub filled with water and bubbles.
“Cannon Ball” she yelled.
“No cannon balls” Her father called from the lower floor.
Binary giggled at her running bath time gag. She then climbed into the tub and began to scrub herself clean.
One of her toys, a small boat, drifted towards Binary as she cleaned off her hooves.
Binary looked at the boat and imagined Cullen and Broncin stranded on it.
Binary then picked the boat up with her hoof and imagined the two pleading to her “Binary help us, we're so stupid. Save us with your... stuff”
Binary let out an evil chuckle “No!” she replied Binary. She then pushed the boat under the water, although it almost instantly resurfaced. Binary looked at it with a disappointed stare, as if it was somehow mocking her.
Binary's life seemed to be summed up in the childish act of play. No matter what she did she would always end up right where she started. Her gadgets amazed her classmates, but only for a minute or two. The bullying would come again, like the boat had, and for a while it would be pushed away, only to return later, unscathed. Any accomplishments she had in her short life, were truly only recognized by her father, who himself didn't really understand her work.
Binary was surrounded by a colourful cast of characters, good and bad, but despite that, and living in the exciting world of Equestria; Binary's life was exceptionally lonely and dull, with her own childish demeanour only softening the blow.
Their was no one, Binary could talk to, who really understood her... and that's when he came in.
“Huh?” Binary looked around as though someone had spoken to her. Their was nopony there, but Binary was sure she had heard somepony speak right next to her. “Hello” The filly said cautiously.
Binary waited for a response, but their was none... but Binary replied anyway “I'm Binary, what's your name” Binary waited for the nothingness to respond.
“Don't have a name huh,” Binary said to herself “maybe I could give you one” Binary thought up a list of names and shot them off, one by one “Drew... No... Fred... Yeah, I didn't think so...” Binary tapped her chin as she thought on the perfect name “I know, how about, Chip”
Binary smiled as though the nothingness had approved.
Binary clapped her hooves together and excitedly began to describe herself to her imaginary companion. Perfectly enough, it seemed that, Chip was interested in everything Binary was interested in.
In the following hours, the filly's belief in the thought up companion quickly became more affirmed.
Later in the mess that was Bianry's room. The filly went through every scribbled design, and idea she had, and her new friend met each one with instant understanding, and a deep appreciation of its purpose.
To the rest of the world it may have seemed pathetic for a filly to be so caught up in an imaginary friend, but Binary had rarely ever been that happy.
As Binary's father walked through the halls, he overheard his daughter speaking to somepony. He listened at her door for a moment before knocking “Binary, who are talking to?” he asked as he opened the door. A confused expression came to his face as he saw, Binary holding one of her designs in her mouth, as if she was presenting it to somepony.
The filly dropped the sketch and said “Daddy, I want to meet my new friend, Chip” The filly pointed her hoof toward the empty space in front of her.
The father stared, where he was directed to and quickly realized the situation “Oh, yes, Chip”
“He likes making things, just like me” Binary said with a large smile.
The father smiled back and played along “That's great, Binary, I'll let you two get back to your gizmos and gadgets”
The father then exited the room. He was not sure if he should be concerned, or just be happy that his daughter was not dwelling on the days events. As he approached the door to his room he looked back down the hall and heard Binary let out a laugh. The laugh filled him with a warm sensation only the happy sound of a loved one could bring.
He smiled as he looked towards his daughters room “Chip... stick around, as long she needs you” he said to the imaginary being, before entering his own room.
Several years later...
“Here lies, Forge Steel” The words were etched in a tomb stone.
Binary, now a teenager, stood in the cemetery her father was buried in. She stared at the stone as her eyes watered, but she would not cry, her father would have had a fit if he were to have made his daughter cry.
“Why did you have to go?” Binary asked the grave. She then looked to the sky “I still needed you” she said, as a single tear slid down her face. Binary then turned away from the grave and slowly walked out of the cemetery.
The walk back home was the hardest walk she had ever experienced, as she knew their would be no one there to greet her, and assure her that everything was alright, like her father had after so many hard days.
Binary approached her home, and stopped to look at it. It had not changed physically, but it's lonely presence at the top of the hill only reminded her of how alone she was. She slowly walked up to the door and pushed it open. The house felt grey and lifeless.
Binary then spoke, as if she had been asked a question “I don't want to talk right now”
Binary was once again having a one sided conversation with her imaginary friend, whom she had not spoken to for months.
“Just, leave me alone” she said. She looked around “I'm, already alone” Binary stared into the empty space and tried to envision her friend... but the childish illusion would not suffice. She needed a real friend, somepony who could actually speak to her.
6 months later...
It was hard to tell if Binary's mental state was deteriorating or if it was edging on complete brilliance. Her solitude had allowed herself to fully delve into her technology... and she was on the course to something potentially awe inspiring, something Equestria had never the seen the likes of before... something that could be considered wrong... but who would argue against that when somepony is trying to play god.
Binary set up a camera, she had designed herself, to record her experiments.
“Record entry number... I think it's, like, 36, or something” Binary said to the camera.
Binary, then stepped away, revealing a small metal platform, the size of a drink coaster, with several wires attached to it, and one single red button on the top.. She then used one of her levitation wands, to hold up a small microchip.
“I have put all of my time and effort into this one piece of technology. On this device I have created an artificial intelligence, or, A.I.” Binary stepped back in front of the camera “I don't know what I'm going to do if this doesn’t work again... I really don't want to think about it”
Binary stepped back to the metal platform and inserted the chip into it. Binary went to push the button but hesitated. She closed her eyes and pushed the button. The device sparked a bit... but did nothing else.
Binary stood in complete silence for a moment. She suddenly became extremely frustrated and she struck the table with her forehooves and screamed “Why didn't you work! I wanted you to work! I... I needed to you to work!” Her expression turned to a whimpering frown, her legs buckled and she flopped her down right next to the device, and said once more in much softer, defeated tone “I need you”
She then covered her eyes with her forehooves and quietly sobbed.
“Are you okay?” A deep gravely voice said, breaking the silence.
“I don't want to talk right now, Chip” she replied, still lost in her sorrow.
“Why are you crying?” The voice asked.
Binary then lifted her hooves away from her eyes and stared in awe, as a blue light enveloped her. Binary couldn't believe it, she had succeeded. There, standing in front of her, on the tray, only the size of a small ball stood her creation, staring back at her.
Binary began to breathe heavily as her frown turned to a delirious smile “You're real” she said “You are real” she said again as if she had to convince herself “You're... Chip” she whispered to her creation.
The holograms face was featureless and it lacked a mane or tail, but it seemed alive nonetheless.
“I do not understand, are you happy, or sad?” Chip asked, obviously confused.
Binary laughed, she had never been so happy. “These are tears of joy” she said as she wiped the water from her face.
“Are tears somehow, better this way?” The A.I asked.
“Yes” she answered “Me and you are going to make the world a better place”
A series of code then flowed over Chip's holographic body “Goal acknowledged, shall we commence this immediately” he asked.
Binary paused for a moment, then replied “Maybe tomorrow, because I've been awake for 67 hours straight... So in other words, I need sleep or I will die” Binary's head then clunked down onto the table and she was instantly in a deep sleep.
"Okay... I guess I'll just... wait" he said to himself Chip took in his surroundings, seeing scattered papers, half finished designs blue prints, and the general lack of upkeep, Binary's home had seen. Chip then looked at, Binary, sleeping peacefully “Hmm... you need me ” he said softly.
Author's Note
Just a little note, this story is meant to take place in the time period of season 4... enjoy
Seven Years Later
Seven years later...
High above Sweet Apple Acres, Rainbow Dash slept peacefully on a cloud, as Applejack harvested apples in the orchard below.
Applejack wiped the sweat from her brow and called up to her friend “Hey Rainbow Dash”
The sound roused the pegasus from her slumber “What?” she responded.
“Hope you're not working too hard up there” Applejack said sarcastically.
“And just what is that supposed to mean?” Rainbow asked.
“Well you're...” Applejack began
“I know what you mean” Rainbow said before she bolted down to the ground “You see that sky, that perfectly cloudless sky...you know, except for the one I was napping on”
Applejack chuckled “I'm just ruffling your mane, Rainbow, ya done a good little job”
“Little!... You do realize that we pegasi are responsible for all the clouds, heck, we're in charge of the whole wild blue yonder. You, are responsible for an apple orchard" She said before rocketing up into the sky "And from up here it doesn't look all that impressive” Rainbow quickly descended back to the ground
“I suppose you think you could get all these apples down from the tree's faster than I could, right?” Applejack asked.
“Heck yeah I could!” Rainbow exclaimed.
“Well how bout we have ourselves a little competition” Applejack said. The farm pony pointed to two clusters of apple trees “Those ones to the left will be my trees, and the ones on the right will be yours. The winner will be whoever gets their apples into the buckets under the trees fastest"
“Okay... so, on three?” Rainbow asked as she stretched.
“Three and then go” Applejack replied.
“Who counts?” Rainbow asked as she crouched to the ground.
“You can if you w...” the farm pony began to say.
Rainbow Dash quickly yelled “1 2 3 Go!” and rocketed away before, Applejack could react, gaining herself a firm head start.
Rainbow Dash was a blur as she spun around the tree's and quickly grabbed every singly apple, then dropped them into the buckets at a blazing speed.
Seconds passed and Rainbow was finished, just as Applejack bucked the apples down from her last tree.
Rainbow flipped in the air and excitedly declared “I win! Better luck next time A.J”
Applejack calmly trotted past Rainbow with a smug grin on her face.
“Why are you so happy, you didn't win?” Rainbow asked.
“Oh, didn't I? I just got you to do half my work for me” Applejack said, before letting out a chuckle.
Rainbow suddenly realized that she had been duped “And you're supposed to be the element of honesty” she said with a touch of faux anger.
“I didn't lie" Applejack said "I tricked ya in a harmless fashion. I would expect a prankster like you to appreciate that”
"Well... prank or no prank, I still won" Rainbow said proudly
“Well maybe we could make it two our of three and by the end I could call it a day” Applejack said before letting out a hardy laugh. Applejack then noticed that something had caught Rainbow's attention.
The blue mares ears pointed to the sky, as she attentively listened to something “Do you hear that?” Rainbow asked.
Applejack stopped to listen and the faint sound of clanking metal and whirring gears caught her ear.
Rainbow Dash shot up into the sky to get a better view.
“Holy Hayfare!” Rainbow exclaimed, before she zipped back down to Applejack “Follow me, you're not going to believe this” she said before jetting off, closely followed by Applejack.
The two quickly came to a dirt rode on the outskirts of Sweet Apple Acres, and saw a bizarre sight.
A perfectly normal looking house with treads underneath foundation. From what the two could see there was no sign of any magical energy, meaning the house was moving under its own power.
The two ponies stared at the oddity, both equally perplexed by it.
“It's like one of those mobile homes those traveling ponies have, except there ain't nopony pulling it” said Applejack.
“That's so cool... I guess” Rainbow commented, not really sure what to think “Looks like it's heading towards Ponyville”
Applejack began to walk along side of the mobile home, as Rainbow Dash flew to the front of the house. She landed on the front porch and took a moment to get her balance on the rattling home. She carefully walked up to the front door and knocked.
“Anypony home?” Rainbow asked.
A muffled yell came from inside.
“Did you catch that?” Rainbow asked Applejack.
“Nope, try knocking again” Applejack suggested as she hopped by the side of the building, in an attempt to get a look inside.
Rainbow knocked again and this time a window on the second floor of the building popped open and somepony's head popped out “Push the button” The pony said, before she retracted her head back inside before Rainbow Dash could get a good look at the pony
Rainbow examined the grey door and found a button with a speaker over top of it just to the right of the door knob.
Rainbow pushed the button and said “Hello”
A loud electronic squeal came from the device, followed by a voice “Who is it?” The voice asked.
Rainbow hesitated before responding, seeing it as silly to be speaking to a box “I'm Rainbow Dash”
“The, Rainbow Dash” the voice said excitedly.
“Heh, I guess you've head of me” Rainbow said proudly.
“No, I just assume it makes pony's feel special if you make a big deal out of them... that didn't sound insulting did it?” the voice asked.
“Eh, maybe a little. Who am I talking to?” Rainbow asked, as her patience began to fade.
“Oh you'll get to know that and more at the show” the voice said, trying, and failing to be ominous.
“What show?” Rainbow asked.
“You know, a show” The voice said, not realizing it had not divulged any useful information at all.
“That doesn't answer my question at all” Rainbow said.
The pony giggled “I'm building suspense” she said as she tried to contain her nervous excitement.
Rainbow released the button “Well... good luck with that” she said uncomfortably.
“What?” the voice asked
“What do you mean, what?” Rainbow asked, obviously becoming annoyed.
“You let go of the button, didn't you?” the voice asked.
“Yeah, so what?” Rainbow asked, her patience completely exhausted.
A few moments passed and the voice once again asked “What?”
Rainbow let out an annoyed groan, then flew back to Applejack.
“Did ya find out anything?” Applejack asked.
“No, she said I had to hold a stupid button, and if I didn't she couldn't hear me, what's up with that” Rainbow complained.
“Seems kind of weird, maybe she's just shy” said Applejack.
“Well, either way, the buzz of seeing a house move down the rode just got killed..." she said "Oh and she said something about a show in town”
“Well we should probably check that out” said Applejack.
“Whatever ya think. Want to race to town?” Rainbow asked.
“3 2 1, Go” Applejack quickly said, before darting off ahead; subtle pay back for,Rainbow's head start.
Rainbow then bolted off after Applejack, eager to outdo her friend even if the earth pony did have a head start.
Unbeknownst to them, the mare in the house watched them through the upstairs window.
Despite remaining mostly unchanged, Binary's home had changed substantially over the years. The interior was completely covered in chrome, concealing circuitry for Chip's holographic form transmit through and be projected from. Binary herself had not changed much at all, aside from some minor fashion changes, such as a black vest with several pockets, two red bracelets on her left front leg. Binary had also earned her cutie a few years back; the mark consisted of a heart made of golden gears.
“How do you think they get so good at talking like that?” Binary asked the seemingly empty room.
Chip's holographic body appeared on the windowsill “I require more information, to provide a satisfactory response” he said.
Binary rested her head on her hooves “You know, casual face to face conversation” she replied.
“Most likely they were given situations where they could freely express themselves with minimal judgement on what they are commenting on” Chip answered
Binary let out a small groan “Stop that” she said.
“Elaborate?” Chip asked.
“Talking like a machine, it bugs me” replied Binary.
Chip's holographic body flickered for a moment “I apologize, you know my mind works approximately ten times faster than an average life form, thus allowing me to respond with nothing but the most proper and straight forward of words... I did it again, sorry”
The two looked across the fields and shared a quiet, peaceful moment; aside from the excess noise of the house clattering along the rode. The pair had not interacted with anypony in years. Their self imposed isolation allowed them to focus all their energy into their work to better the world... although it had not yet been seen what this isolation had done to Binary's already weak social skills.
“Are you ready?” Chip asked.
The question caught Binary off guard and she attempted to shrug it off “For the show, pfft, I've been practising for, like, ever”
Chip looked Binary in the eye “I didn't ask if you had practiced, I asked if you're ready”
Binary gazed at the upcoming town, then looked at the floor as she thought about her response. She looked to her companion and said enthusiastically “I guess so!”
Chip did not respond. His had already determined that Binary was not ready to face a crowd, but he could do nothing to stop her. He could only perceive correctional action destroying her confidence completely, and that was something he wouldn't dare do.
Chip looked at the town in distance and said “We're approaching our destination. I'll run some tests on what you have chosen to showcase”
Binary didn't respond, instead she simply stared in the direction of ponyville, with a quivering smile on her face.
Meanwhile in Ponyville...
Twilight was currently inside the golden oak library, where she sat at her desk studying a ratty old book from Celestia's and Luna's old castle, which detailed some of Equestria's history; although it was heavily damaged and the author seemed to have written it more as a story book than an actual historical documentation.
Twilight read a passage aloud, much to the dismay of her dragon companion, whom was finishing mopping the floor and had spent the rest of the day hearing Twilight complain about how someone could have let a book fall into such a state disrepair.
“The celestial sisters, scratched scarred and blistered, entered chaos's domain
The one who dwelled there was not evil per-say but all would claim he's insane
The chaotic one mocked them
This did not at all shock them
For they knew harmony would win them the day
They knew harmony would light their way”
Twilight closed the book and turned to face her assistant “Well that's stuff I already know, and the rest all seems to be crazy ramblings”
“Then why are you reading it?” Spike asked as he dipped his mop into the bucket.
“What if there's some crazy secret hidden in the past that could help us protect Equestria” Twilight explained.
“You know, maybe the next time something happens, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna could take care of it” said Spike.
“No, they..." she began "On second thought, you raise a fair point...”
Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by Applejack and Rainbow Dash who suddenly barrelled into the library.
“Wait a second, wipe your...” Spike let out an annoyed groan as the two friendly rivals tracked dirt onto the freshly mopped floor.
Applejack looked at the mess and apologized “Sorry about that Spike, we were...”
Rainbow interrupted Applejack as she dusted herself off “We were in a rush to tell you guys about this weird house that's coming into town”
“What's so special about that?” asked Twilight.
Rainbow was surprised by the reaction and asked “What do mean, what's so special? It's a moving house!”
“I've seen houses move before, it's a complicated feat of levitation, but it's definitely doable” Twilight explained.
Applejack then corrected Twilight's assumption “No, it's got nothing to do with magic, it's just moving on wheels with nopony pulling it”
Twilight raised an eye brow, her interest suddenly peaked “That is weird, and you say it's coming here?” she asked.
“Yep” Applejack answered “Come on ya'll, Rainbow said there's going to be some kind of show”
Twilight stood up from her desk and walked to the door, then turned to see Spike standing before the dirty floor with an annoyed expression on his face “Aren't you going to come with us?” she asked.
“No, I think I'm just going to stay here and... mop again” Spike replied, making his annoyed tone obvious.
“Don't worry about it Spike, I'll help you clean up when I get back” Twilight said before she left with her friends.
Elsewhere...
Binary's home had came to a stop outside Sugarcube corner and thus was where a growing crowd began to gather.
Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack arrived, and were collectively disappointed by their positions at the back of the crowd.
“I can't see anything” Rainbow complained.
“I don't think anythings happened yet” Twilight said.
“Well why don't you guys just fly over the crowd” Applejack suggested.
“And leave you here to stare at the back of dozens of pony's heads, no way!” Rainbow replied.
The three then noticed Pinkie Pie and Rarity approaching.
“Hey girls” Pinky called, as she bounced towards them.
Rarity moved at a much slower pace, as it appeared she had harmed her back somehow.
“Oh my, Rarity what happened to you?” Twilight asked.
Rarity groaned “Ask, Pinkie Pie” Rarity said as she shot the pink pony an annoyed glare.
“Well, you know I have my Pinkie sense, right?" Pinkie began "It seems what happens when a house rolls into town is that I jump on Rarity...” Pinkie let out an awkward chuckle before saying “I landed a little too hard”
“And I was currently at the spa with Fluttershy" Rarity added "The sudden crashing and yelling spooked the poor dear off, and now I have a terrible back ache”
“Then why are you out here?” Rainbow asked.
“I am waiting for the opportune moment to throw Pinkie into something either disgusting, or hard. I haven't decided which, and when inspiration strikes me, I want her to be in close proximity so it can be in the moment” Rarity explained.
“It's going to be soooooooooooo much fun” Pinkie said, completely missing the intent of the statement.
Rarity let out a groan “So does anypony actually know what all the fuss is about?” Rarity asked.
The four replied in unison “No”
“Well that's just grand” Rarity said sarcastically “We don't know what's going to happen, who's going to do it, or if anythings even going to happen, yet almost the entire town is out here waiting for... potentially nothing”
“Well it seems like a poorly thought out plot device if you think about it like that” said Pinkie.
Back inside Binary's house...
Inside Binary's home, the tech adept unicorn was in a frenzy making last minute arrangements and tweaks to her inventions.
Chip began to check things off on a holographic checklist “The levitation wand is at optimal energy output, the VR helmet is running at the highest video quality we have available, and the smart book prototypes are connected and ready to transmit information through our servers”
“I'm so excited” Binary squealed.
“You do realize, this will be your first interaction with other ponies in two thousand five hundred and ninety six days, or approximately seven years” Chip stated, trying to be as blunt as possible.
Binary stopped and thought about it “It's been that long, felt more like eight or ten” she joked.
Chip lowered his head and looked away from Binary, as he tried to make his words seem as caring as possible “I'm just informing you, that such sudden exposure could be dangerous, perhaps we should have begun with a smaller town, or... just go back to the hill”
Binary's tone suddenly became more serious “Chip, if we're going to make the world better, then we need to be a part of it... no matter how scary it seems”
Chip did not respond; the logic seemed to make sense, but he knew that it would not be that simple.
"I just think you're taking it a bit too fast" Chip said.
"The world's not impressed by slow... and I refuse to be slow anymore" Binary replied.
Binary walked to the front door and listened to the murmurs outside. Her body began to tremble as her pessimistic side began to break through. What if they laughed, what if they rejected her, what if they simply didn't want her, what if it was total disaster... but what if it wasn't?
Binary pulled a remote control from one of her many pockets and pressed one of the buttons.
Outside, a cheerful horn blew and confetti shot out from the various spots on the building. A red carpet unrolled from the houses porch, and then, there was no noise, no action, no comments from the crowd. Everypony's attention had been captured by the display.
Binary took in a deep breath and burst out the door, somersaulted down the carpet and came to a stop on her knees, with her forelegs stretched to the sky and a huge smile on her face.
The citizens of Ponyville simply stared at the unicorn.
The crowd began to whisper among themselves “Why is she just sitting there?” a stallion asked.
“I don't get it” a young filly said.
Binary's heart raced, her eyes darted around as she saw the shocked faces that stared back at her. She didn't know what to do, her mind had gone completely blank... she couldn't do anything, she was frozen, her only action being her shallow breath.
The crowd became impatient with the lack of pay off for their patience and quickly began to leave. The group of five however took this as a chance to get a closer look at what was happening... or rather not happening.
As the crowd began to dissipate, Binary's fear began to fade and she awkwardly tried to salvage her show “Wait... I have, umm... an amazing wand, that can... uh... make... do... stuff”
To the crowd that remained, it seemed that the unicorn had simply made a bad sales pitch, and wasted their time. What little of the crowd that remained simply stared at Binary and a few young pony's snickered at her.
All positivity left Binary's body, her smile faded, her shoulder slumped down “I'm sorry I've wasted your time” she said, in a barely audible voice. She turned and walked back to her home, and stopped at front of her door.
Twilight and her friends looked at the depressed unicorn. Each of them couldn't help but relate to her situation.
“Do you think we should talk to her?” Twilight asked her friends.
“She does seem rather depressed” said Rarity.
“I liked the part where she rolled out” Pinkie said.
“We always end up doing stuff like this anyway, so I guess we might as well” said Applejack.
“She seems sort of strange though” Rainbow said, only to be immediately shot with annoyed glances from the rest of group “Sorry, but she is. But I'm totally down with the whole helping her out thing”
Twilight couldn't help but agree with Rainbow's statement. The unicorn did seem rather odd, almost out of place “Well, I thought all of you were strange when I first came here. Maybe she just needs somepony to talk to”
The group all nodded in agreement and began to walk towards, Binary.
Inside, Chip waited for Binary to enter, ready to help make things better for her and stop the sadness he knew was flowing through her... But Binary didn't come inside.
Binary stood outside, and attempted to hide her tears from whoever may be watching. She suddenly began to stamp her front hooves on the ground and let out a frustrated moan. Binary had conquered her loneliness long ago, but the one thing that kept her separated from the rest of the world, was the same thing that had made her fail; her fear of the world itself. A blind fury towards herself swept over her and Binary reared her head back, then smashed her forehead onto the door with enough force to snap the end of her horn off and render her unconscious. Binary then collapsed to the ground.
The group stared for a moment in disbelief of what had just happened. Applejack dashed to Binary and began fanning her with her hat.
“Twilight can ya use a spell to wake her up or something?' Applejack asked.
“She's unconscious, it could damage her brain if I forced her out of it” Twilight explained.
“We should get her indoors” Rarity suggested.
Rainbow dashed to the front door and flung it open.
"Intruder!" Chip yelled before initiating a lock down protocol, shutting the door and locking the group outside. Chip ported himself to the window and looked to see the pony's crowding around Binary. Chip's body crackled and fizzed in response "What do I do, what do I do, what do I do!" Chip yelled as he frantically tried to come up with a solution.
“What the heck, it closed on its own” she said as she struggled with the door "I can't get it open"
Pinkie raised her hand “We should take her to Sugarcube Corner until she wakes up” she said.
“Alright" Twilight began "Rarity, you go set up a spot for us to set her down in Sugarcube Corner. Rainbow, you go get a doctor. Applejack, you go find Fluttershy and see if she can help. Pinkie... don't freak her out when she wakes up”
“Okey Dokey Artichokey” Pinkie said, in a serious tone.
The group then headed off to do their assigned jobs.
Twilight's horn began to glow as she carefully levitated Binary off the ground. She slowly walked toward Sugarcube corner, carrying Binary along with her.
Chip peeked out one of the windows and watched in horror as his friend was taken away.
He quickly ported his body into his main storage disc. Six thin spider like legs unfolded from the bottom of the disc, and he skittered to the door. He looked at the imposing size of the door and he quickly confirmed he could not get out that way. He then ran to one of the windowsills and began smashing into the glass. The window began to crack from the multiple strikes. Chip then stepped himself back as far as he could, then charged into the window, breaking it and inadvertently sending him flying outside, and crashing to the ground.
Chip struck the ground hard, and the impact snapped off several of the discs legs, leaving him immobile.
The ground around Chip became covered in a gigantic shadow. He looked up to see a seemingly giant orange filly with a spiky purple mane who nearly stepped on him.
The filly took a closer look at Chip, then called to two other fillies.
Chip desperately attempted to crawl away with his one intact leg, but to no avail.
The two other filly's approached and joined in the inspection of the strange device.
“What is it?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Don't ask me, I just found it” Scootaloo replied.
Applebloom took a closer look “It's looks like a drink coaster with a pony on it” she said.
Chip's body began to flicker and fade as he quickly became annoyed with the filly's who stared at him, confused at to what he even was. All of Chip's logic quickly failed him and his mind began to try and process information he did not know how to cope with, and like a computer stricken with a virus, he shut down to repair himself.
The three filly's stared at the now inactive disc.
“That was weird” Scootaloo said.
“Should we... help it?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Maybe it's just a toy somepony dropped” Applebloom replied.
“Hey, Blank Flanks” An annoying pair of voices yelled from behind the crusaders
The two turned to see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon approaching.
“Are you three staring at a slug or something?” Silver Spoon asked.
The three attempted to ignore the pair, but they persisted.
Diamond Tiara looked at the disc on the ground and asked “Is that thing yours?” the bratty filly asked.
Sweetie Belle quickly whispered to her friends “If we say it's ours then she'll probably want to take it”
Applebloom and Scootaloo nodded in agreement.
“No, it's not ours, we don't even know what it is” Applebloom replied.
“You three not owning things, and not knowing anything, that is so in character” Silver Spoon said in a mocking tone.
Diamond Tiara eyed the device, and said “Well I suppose if it's not yours, then it could be mine”
“You mean ours, right?” Silver Spoon asked.
“Sure” Diamond Tiara said, barely paying attention to her friend.
Diamond Tiara then grabbed the disc and with a smile on her face, waited for the crusaders to react.
“You can't take that” Sweetie Bell said.
“It doesn’t belong to you, give it back” Applebloom demanded.
Scootaloo did not immediately respond, instead she simply shot, Diamond Tiara a frustrated glare.
“Don't you have something to say, Scootaloser?” Diamond Tiara asked, hoping to get a rise out of the flightless filly.
“Let's tackle her” Scootaloo said.
Diamond Tiara's jaw dropped in shock at the response.
Scootaloo took a step closer to the bratty pair. Diamond Tiara quickly ran off, as she held the disc in her mouth. Silver Spoon followed, close behind, as the Crusaders gave chase to the thieves.
A powerful pain throbbed in Binary's head as she slowly awoke. Binary lifted a hoof to her forehead and felt a bandage wrapped around her head. She looked down to see that she was resting on several pink pillows. Binary could see a group of blurred figures talking on the other side of the room. Although the room was brightly lit, light still shown through the window showing that the sun was beginning to set, indicating that Binary had been out for quite some time.
“Look, she woke up” Pinkie Pie cheered out.
“Remember Pinkie, don't freak her out” Twilight reminded her friend.
A light yellow blur approached Binary and asked with a soft voice “Hello, how are you feeling?”
The voice belonged to Fluttershy who along with Nurse Red Heart had tended to Binary while she was unconscious.
Binary felt her face and quickly realized that her blurred vision was due to her not wearing her glasses. She felt around for them, eventually having them placed on her hoof by, Fluttershy. Binary placed the glasses on her face and quickly took in her surroundings. She immediately realized that she was not in her own house and was way outside her comfort zone. She appeared to be in the bedroom of someone who had an obsession with Pink.
Binary's body began to shutter violently which put the ever cautious Fluttershy on edge. Binary suddenly screamed, which in turn caused Fluttershy to scream, which prompted Pinkie to scream, because everyone else seemed to be doing it.
“Pinkie” Twilight said sternly.
“What, It was totally Fluttershy that freaked her out” said Pinkie Pie.
“Don't worry, I'm trained for these sorts of situations” Nurse Red Heart said as she approached, Binary. The Nurse then placed her front hooves on, Binary's shoulders, looked her in the eye and calmly said “Don't be frightened, you're among friends and everything is going to be fine”
Binary stopped screaming, sat down and took note of her current state. She then bombarded the four with questions “Where am I? Who are you ponies? Why am I here? Why does my head hurt? Are you an alicorn? Would you like to buy some fudge? Am I missing the end of my horn? Why did the yellow one scream at me and why did the pink one scream too? What is the meaning of life?
All except Pinkie had failed to catch most of Binary's questions, and the Pink Pony responded to each of them (in order no less) “You're in my room. This is Twilight, Fluttershy, Nurse Red Heart and I'm Pinkie Pie. You got knocked out. Because you got knocked out. Yes she is. I'd love some fudge if you have any but I don't think you do. Yes you're missing the end of your horn. Fluttershy screamed because she's shy and I screamed because it was funny. And finally, to pursue happiness”
Binary was about to ask several more questions of varying relevance when Pinkie grabbed a cupacke off of a tray on her her bed and shoved it into the unicorns mouth to give Binary a chance to calm down as she chewed.
“If you feel up to it, we have a few questions for you” Twilight said.
Binary swallowed the cupcake and knelt down a bit, noticeably intimidated by the alicorn, which caught Twilight off guard.
“What's your name?” Twilight asked, trying to sound as caring as possible.
Binary hesitated for a moment, then quietly answered “Binary Steel”
“What was it you were trying to do out there?” Asked Twilight.
The shift in conversation to a topic, Binary was the expert in instantly sparked her confidence. She shot up onto her hooves “Let me show you” she said excitedly.
Binary reached into one of her numerous pockets and pulled out a small metal wand with a green light on the tip. Binary pointed the wand at some pillows on Pinkie's bed... but nothing happened.
“Give me a sec” Binary said before she gently tapped the wand on the ground. She pointed the wand at the pillows again and they became engulfed in multicoloured energy, similar to that of a unicorns magic aura but lacking the sparkles. The pillows lifted into the air and circled around the other ponies heads.
“That's so neat-o!” Pinkie exclaimed.
Binary lowered the pillows back down to their original spot then tossed the wand to Pinkie. “Give it a try” she said.
Pinkie caught the wand in her mouth and pointed it towards the tray of cupcakes. The tray of treats hovered above Pinkie's face and she spat out the wand, which allowed the tray of pastries to fall on her face.
“It stops working if you let go” Binary said.
“I was hoping it would” Pinkie said as she licked the treats off her face.
“So that makes it so anypony can levitate?” Twilight asked, noticeably impressed.
“Yep, isn't it just the most super duper thing ever” Binary replied with a proud smile.
Twilight levitated the wand and examined it “How does it work?” She asked.
“I could explain but... Ooh, I know, I'll just give you this” Binary reached into another pocket, pulled out a cassette player and handed (or hooved) it to Twilight “That tape explains it all, I've got one for each of my inventions”
“Interesting” Twilight said as she continued to examine the device.
Binary's face lit up in response to the very subtle praise of her invention. She then jumped and landed an uncomfortably close distance to Twilight “I have more, do you want to see more?” she asked.
Twilight took a few steps back from the suddenly overexcited, Binary.
“Maybe you should rest for a little while longer” Fluttershy suggested.
Binary completely ignored Fluttershy. This was exactly what Binary had been hoping for, a chance to show someponies her inventions, she couldn't pass that up for something as irrelevant as head trauma.
“Follow me” Binary said as she ran out of Pinkie's room. A few moments passed and Binary peaked her head back into the room “How do I get out of here?” she asked, her face a little red with embarrassment.
“Stairs on your left” Pinkie answered.
“Thanks” Binary said before once again running away, leaving the four ponies in Pinkie's room.
The four ponies followed Binary down to the main floor and found her standing at the bottom of the stairs, petrified at the sight of the numerous ponies in Sugarcube Corner.
“Are you okay, Binary?” Twilight asked.
“I think my head is starting to hurt again” Binary said as she attempted to back up the stairs only to bump into Fluttershy.
“She seems shy” Fluttershy whispered to Twilight.
“No, she seems terrified” Twilight responded, also whispering
“So blowing an air horn to get her moving probably isn't a good idea” Pinkie said at a normal volume.
Binary turned to see that she was blocking the others path and scrunched to the side of the stairs as far as she could so they could pass.
“What's wrong, Gizmo” Pinkie asked.
“Gizmo?” Binary said, not understanding the nick name. “I think I'll just go out a window, seems like it would be easier”
“Is there something scary down there, like a huge spider, or a frowny face?” Pinkie asked, in her own way attempting to try and lighten the unicorns mood.
“No, I... just...” Binary sighed and looked out to the ponies being served in the bakery, she then explained herself “Some of those ponies out there were in the crowd, what if they laugh at me”
“What's wrong with being laughed at” Pinkie said before she ran out into the bakery, and did several bizarre Pinkie-esque things to get a laugh out of the customers.
“She's kind of weird” Binary said to the others.
“Not really, she's just being Pinkie Pie” Twilight said in defence of her friend.
Nurse Red Heart interjected as she walked past the three ponies “No, she's pretty weird” she said as she left.
Binary hung her head and said “I'm sorry”
“No need for apologies” Fluttershy said “It's natural to be a little nervous around people, I should know, I'm nervous almost all the time”
“...Okay” Binary said, not sure how to react.
“Just follow me” Fluttershy instructed.
Binary reluctantly followed the pegasus into the main shop area. Binary looked to see a yellow earth pony behind the counter taking orders. A blue earth pony with a pink mane that resembled swirled ice cream came from the back of the store and noticed, Binary.
“Hello there deary, are you feeling better?” Mrs. Cake asked Binary.
Binary stopped moving, she could feel her nerves once again beginning to seize her. Binary then heard a knock from underneath the floor boards and looked down to see the eyes of Pinkie Pie staring up at her.
“Respond” Pinkie advised.
“Uh... Okay” Binary said to, Pinkie, who then closed her eyes and disappeared into the darkness. Binary looked back at Mrs. Cake and hesitantly replied to the question “I'm fine... how are you?”
“Oh I'm just peachy dear, you have a nice day okay” Mrs. Cake cheerily replied.
A small smile came to Binary's face. It felt nice for her to have spoken to somepony who cared about how she was doing and to have been wished to have a good day. Chip had always arranged periodic check ups on Binary's mood but it just didn't seem the same as the small interaction she just had. Binary looked to see Twilight and Fluttershy waiting for her at the door. Binary smiled at the two and walked towards them. The three then exited the bakery.
Binary looked around and saw that her house was still where she had parked it.
“See, now that wasn't so bad, was it?” Twilight asked.
“It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be” Binary replied “Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to my house and... move away forever” Binary began to walk back to her house, seemingly less positive than she was a moment ago and having completely forgotten about showing the ponies her inventions.
“Do you think we should do something?” Fluttershy asked as she noticed the change.
“Maybe we should follow her” Pinkie said as she suddenly appeared behind the two, which startled Fluttershy.
“We can't just follow her into her house for no reason” Twilight said in an attempt to bring some realism to the situation.
“But you saw what happened before, what if she...” Fluttershy paused and forced out the last few words “...hurts herself again”
Twilight had tried to keep the thought from her mind, but judging from Binary's apparent instability, it would simply be irresponsible for them to let her go only to potentially do it again... or something more severe.
“Hmm, you're right... we can't leave her alone at a moment like this” Twilight said.
“Should I bring my party cannon, maybe it can break the ice a little bit?” Pinkie asked, as she pulled her famous cannon out of thin air.
“I don't think she's ready for the party cannon” said Fluttershy.
Pinkie's expression suddenly sunk into a frown “Aww” she said as she pulled the string on her cannon which sprayed herself with confettie.
Back at Binary's house, the mare stared at the broken piece of her horn which laid on her door mat. She winced as the thought of what she had done. Binary simply kicked the object away, ridding herself of a reminder of her failure. She sighed before she grabbed the door knob and attempted to turn it, only to find that she had been locked out.
“OH Come on!” Binary growled “Chip, open the door, I am not in the mood for this” she called as knocked on the door and waited for a moment, then tried the knob again “Since when do you pull pranks?” Binary began to knock harder on the door, but still received no response from Chip. Binary quickly became frustrated and she began to pound on the door with her hooves.
After a few minutes, Binary gave up, then sat down and rested her head on her hooves.
“Why won't you let me i...” Binary suddenly stopped as her mind clicked, and thought of a potential situation. She stood, then walked around her home, unfortunately finding what she assumed she would. A broken window; the pieces linked up and the realization of what had happened frightened her.
The three ponies approached Binary as she began to panic. Binary turned to see the the group and ran towards them, catching them off guard and causing Fluttershy to seek cover behind Twilight.
Binary began to spew out nonsense, her mouth seemingly unable to translate her thoughts into words.
“Is little Pipsqueak trapped in the well again?” Pinkie asked, although it was impossible to tell if she was making a joke or actually being serious.
“Binary, calm down” Twilight said.
Binary took several deep breaths and visibly began to calm down.
“Now, what's wrong?” Twilight asked.
Binary whimpered for a moment, then cried out “I've lost my friend” Binary began to quickly explain what has happened at a pace that nopony could understand “My friend Chip must have seen me out the window, panicked and put my house in lock down, got into his disc and jumped out the window to try and help me, then got crushed or stolen or eaten or vaporized or liquified or corroded, or blown up...”
Pinkie then grabbed Binary and shook her to break her from her freak out.
“Thanks” Binary said “Can you help me find my friend?”
“What does he look like?” Twilight asked
“Well... he'll look like a little blue pony standing on a disc” Binary said.
The three ponies were not quite sure how to react, the description had even caught the random Pinkie Pie off guard.
Binary had no time to waste with further explanation “Help me look!” she pleaded before darting off.
The ponies decided not to question the description and began to ask around town for any information to the location of Binary's friend, even going so far as to ask some of the other residents of the town to help. As the word spread, the description became more obscure and less accurate to the point of being the complete opposite of what Binary had said. Unfortunately the only ponies, or rather the only fillies who had seen Chip were currently just outside ponyville.
The cutie mark crusaders had given up on getting the strange device back from Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, as the prissy duo had somehow slipped away from them near the edge of the everfree forest.
“What do you suppose that thing even was?” Scootaloo asked her friends.
“I don't know” Applebloom replied “But whoever it belonged to is probably looking for it”
The three were then stopped by Carrot Top “Have you girls seen a big green stallion with a white mane around here, apparently he's standing on a plate”
“No, sorry” Sweetie Bell responded.
“Oh, well if you see anything go to Sugarcube Corner, there's a unicorn there who's having a bit of a break down” Carrot Top said before continuing the search.
“A green stallion standing on a plate, that's just silly” Sweetie Belle said.
“Well we certainly haven't seen anything like that” said Scootaloo
The sky began to turn orange as the sun touched the horizon.
Applebloom took note of the time and said “Well I better be gettin back home, see ya'll at school tomorrow”
Applebloom then galloped in the direction of Sweet Apple acres.
“Yeah, I better get back home, Mom and Dad will probably be wondering where I am” Sweetie Belle said before trotting back to her home.
Scootaloo also began to walk back to... (where ever it is she goes).
Just on the edge of the everfree forest, the two bratty fillies and inadvertently Chip as well, found themselves lost in the dense forest. The two wandered around aimlessly as they attempted to find a way out. Silver Spoon held the device they had taken in her mouth as she followed Diamond Tiara's lead.
“Why did you think it was good idea to come in here?” Diamond Tiara asked.
Silver stopped and spat out the disc “What, I was following you!” she yelled.
“No way, I totally remember you saying we should hide in here so the blank flanks wouldn't catch us”
Silver Spoon groaned and walked away from her friend. “Are you kidding me. She said to come in here, honestly I don't why I hang out with her sometimes” she grumbled to herself.
Silver Spoon stopped in a small clearing and rested on a large flat rock
“Stupid forest” She said to herself as she placed her head onto her front hooves and pouted. Silver Spoons ears shot up as she heard a faint slivering sound. Silver Spoon looked down to see a small elec-python.
The creatures black and green body meshed with the ground and its back was lined with small pebbles. The creature raised its head, it's body crackled with electricity as it hissed at Silver Spoon.
Silver Spoon was not frightened by the small creature “Eww gross” she said before she kicked the serpent away.
The rock the grey filly was resting on suddenly began to rumble. Silver Spoon looked down beside her and saw a large eye staring up at her.
“Diamond Tiara!” She screamed for her friend as a much larger elec-python began to lift it's head off the ground.
Diamond Tiara ran to where Silver Spoon had screamed and watched in horror as the creature revealed it's imposing stature.
The larger elec-python was close to fifty feet long and it's back was lined with massive boulders. The creature flipped it's head back, launching the terrified Silver Spoon into the air, then caught her with the end of it's tail.
“Help me!” Silver Spoon screamed as she hopelessly struggled against the creatures grip.
Diamond Tiara immediately began to throw anything she could find at the beast, although the objects didn't even bother it enough to warrant a response from the serpent. The pink pony looked around for a better projectile and grabbed Chip's storage disc then chucked it at the beast.
As the disc impacted some of the creatures electricity transferred into the disc triggering Chip's systems to restart. Chip's holographic body appeared as he struck the ground. The damage to his systems caused the worlds colours to be temporarily inverted. Chip looked up and scanned what was happening as the elec-python raised the grey pony up to drop it inside it's mouth. In Chip's eyes the grey fillies body and silver mane appeared reversed and Silver's glasses caused Chip to assume that the pony in peril was, Binary.
Chip's mind moved quicker than it ever had before as he attempted to find a way he could save the pony in peril. The sudden increase in stress caused Chip's disc to quickly overheat. Chip's body began to glow red and he suddenly expanded his holographic body to be much larger than that of the serpent.
The creature stopped and stared at the now massive Chip.
Chip was too lost in his reactive state to notice that the pony was not Binary “Put her down!” Chip yelled with his speakers at max volume.
The creature appeared stunned for a few moments but quickly shook off the surprise and advanced upon Chip.
As the beast drew closer Chip's body began to crackle and fizz and his form morphed into a sleeker, more intimidating body shape. A large mouth with jagged teeth suddenly appeared on Chip's face as well as large black eyes with yellow pupils.
Chip stood his ground and let out a computerized scream “BBBBBZZZZZZZOOOOOORRRRRTTTT!!!” Chip continued to assault the beast with a barrage of loud computerized sounds.
The serpent dropped Silver Spoon to the ground as it attempted to cover it's ears with it's tail. The grey filly covered her ears with her hooves and ducked to the ground, as did Diamond Tiara.
The elec-python slowly began to succumb to the sound and after a few moments quickly retreated into a denser part of the forest.
Chip's body continued to crackle and spark as his hologram shrunk back down to it's original size. Chip looked to see the two fillies holding each other and shivering from fear.
“It saved me” Silver Spoon said.
Diamond Tiara pulled away from her friend “No way, I threw it, you should be thanking me”
“Incorrect” Chip stated “You obviously don't understand my functions, thus you did not plan for me to... what did I do?”
“What do you mean?” Diamond Tiara asked.
“I don't quite understand what I did to make the flee” Chip said.
“Well... you scared it away” said Silver Spoon.
“But, I am not frightening” Chip said, obviously confused.
“Well you were, once you grew and made a lot of noise” Silver Spoon explained.
“Yeah, and if my ears are damaged, you are so going to pay” Diamond Tiara hissed.
Chip's body fizzed for a moment “I do not understand” he said.
“Who cares,” Diamond Tiara whined “let's get out of this stupid forest before something else wants to see what we taste like” Diamond Tiara thrust her head back and held her nose high in the air as she proudly walked forward.
“If you're desired destination is ponyville then you are heading in the completely wrong direction” Chip said
Diamond Tiara stopped and shot an annoyed glare at Chip. The pink filly turned around and walked in the correct direction.
“Did I do something wrong?” Chip asked Silver Spoon.
“No, she's just like that”
“Why?”
“Do you even care?”
Chip's body flickered once again and he replied “...Care?”
“I didn't think so, and no one else seems to either” Silver said as she looked to her helplessly stuck up friend. “I suppose you need somepony to carry you?”
Chip looked at his disc and answered “Affirmative”
Silver Spoon leaned down to grab the disc but stopped “Could you... not be... whatever it is you are now?” she asked the holographic pony.
Chip deduced what the filly meant and turned off his holographic form.
Silver Spoon picked up the disc and trotted off after Diamond Tiara.
Back in Sugarcube corner, Binary sat at a table as she slowly sipped from a milk shake, she had been given. The treat was a welcome change from her usual diet of experimental re-hydrated meals, but her mind was too busy to appreciate it.
Binary thought back to when Chip had suggested they just go back to the hill.
“Why didn't I listen to you” she said to herself as she hung her head over the table.
The shops door bell rang out signalling someponies entry. Binary looked to see Twilight Sparkle, who approached her with a disappointed look on her face.
“Did you find him?” Binary asked, oblivious to Twilight's body language.
“No, I'm sorry” Twilight replied.
Binary quickly became frustrated “Maybe you didn't look hard enough” she said bitterly.
Twilight didn't show it but she was quite offended by the accusation. Twilight was about to say something but was cut off by an already apologetic Binary.
“I'm sorry... It's just that I've never been away from him for this long... I need him, and he needs me”
“How long have you two been friends?” Twilight asked as she sat down beside the unicorn.
“Since I was filly” Binary answered “Although he wasn't actually alive until seven years ago”
Twilight's eyes widened as she took in what was said “What do you me....” Twilight cut her sentence short, as she assumed it was not a good time to be questioning what Binary had said.
“I know why you're doing this” Binary said.
“What?” Twilight asked, unsure of what Binary meant.
“You saw me hit my head on the door”
Twilight's ears lowered slightly.
“I'm not depressed, or crazy... I just get frustrated when I let anypony down, but Chip was always their to make it better”
Twilight's expression sunk lower as she realized just how much Binary had lost in just one day.
Binary stood up from the table and said “I suppose I'll go sleep on my porch tonight (yawn) then start looking for Chip in the morning” Binary hung her head as she slowly walked to the exit.
“Wait” Twilight said as also left the table.
“What?” Binary asked.
“I can't let you stay outside all night, we should find somepony who could take you in for the night”
“Like who?”
“Well...” Twilight thought on the subject. She couldn't very well let Binary sit in a motel room all alone. It would most likely be unwise to leave Binary under the care of Pinkie Pie, Applejack had not yet met Binary, Rarity's back was still injured, Fluttershy's animals may make Binary uneasy and as for Rainbow Dash the reason was obvious (she lives in the clouds).
“...I guess, you could spend the night in the library with, Spike and me”
“You live in a libra...” Binary stopped, as she realized how rude she was being and then said “Well... as long as it's not too much trouble”
“Not at all” Twilight replied.
Binary's expression rose to a slight smile “Thanks” she said as the alicorn led her out of the bakery.
Meanwhile...
Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara approached the mansion of the grey filly. The manors size and grandeur was only matched by, Diamond Tiara's own home which of course was larger than any other in ponyville. The grey filly stopped outside the large silver gates as Diamond Tiara continued on her own path.
Silver Spoon dropped Chip's disc for a moment “See ya tomorrow” Silver Spoon said as her friend's distance increased. Silver Spoon waited for response but did not receive one, any other pony would have taken this as a sign of Diamond's stuck up attitude but Silver Spoon could tell the subtleties of her friend. In truth the pink filly was just embarrassed because she had almost gotten both of them eaten.
Silver Spoon approached the large gate, pushed it open and quickly trotted to the large red doors and entered. The interior of the building was just as grand as the outside although the grandeur was overshadowed by the sheer lack of life or noise inside the mansion. Much of the buildings size was taken up by rooms such as the families private library, lounge area and kitchen, witch left the upper floors for the families bed rooms.
Silver Spoon's father and her step mother had most likely retired to their room.
Silver Spoon quietly walked along the polished black and white checkered floor until she reached a large marble stair case. The filly softly climbed the stairs, wary of creating any unnecessary noise, especially considering that she would need to explain to her father about what the disc and what she was doing with it in her mouth.
Once at the top of the stairs, Silver walked down one of numerous hallways which were decorated with pictures of Silver Spoon and her family in some of their more happy moments. One such picture was a of a baby Silver Spoon sitting on the floor in front of a fire place trying on a pair of her biological mothers glasses, as the proud parents watched from a long sofa, both thoroughly amused.
Silver Spoon walked a little further down the hall and stopped at the sight of another, newer picture. This one of the present day family posing outside the house. Silver's step mother happily clung to the rich stallion, as Silver Spoon sat almost out of frame with a forced smile on her face.
Silver Spoon groaned as she continued to her room. She dropped Chip's disc to the ground, which triggered his holographic body to reappear.
Chip stared up at the filly as she turned the appropriately sliver door knob and pushed the door open.
Silver looked back down and jumped back slightly at the sight of Chip.
“Where am I?” Chip asked.
“Shhhh... You'll wake my Dad” Silver Spoon whispered.
Silver Spoon bent down to pick the disc up, but stopped half way, seeing it as too awkward to have a the body of small pony so close to her face. Instead she simply gave the disc a small kick witch caused it to slide into Silver Spoons room like a curling rock across the grey stone floor. Chip's disc met a sudden stop when it impacted a dark red rug. The sudden cease in momentum caused Chip's disc to flip over, much to Chip's annoyance.
Silver Spoon's room in no way reflected her age. Her bed, which was placed against the west wall, was larger than she needed, with purple covers and perfectly fluffed white pillows decorated with small silver designs along the edges. On the south side of the room was a small fireplace, a real oddity for a fillies room. Large doors to a walk in closet occupied the north wall and to the east there was a large window with a beautifully carved wooden desk and chair just beneath it, the desk itself had many trinkets on it, including a jewelry box and a small mirror.
Silver Spoon picked up Chip's disc and carried it to her desk. Silver sat in her chair and dropped the disc onto the desk, not noticing that it was upside down.
Silver Spoon examined the device, having not had the chance to look at it in depth before.
“Excuse me” Chip said.
“uh... what?” Silver asked.
“Could you please flip me over” Chip requested.
Silver spoon flicked the device over, once again revealing Chip's hologram. Chip quickly examined the room.
“Would you care to give me a designation for this area”
“Huh?”
Chip spoke slowly, under the assumption that Silver Spoon had simply not been listening “Where... am...I?”
“Oh... My house, I guess”
“Incorrect, my house is parked in ponyville, this I am assuming is your house” Chip said, reacting to the key words rather than the context.
“Wha...?”
“You're name?”
“Silver Spoon”
“Intriguing, seeing as how their is a silver spoon on you flank area”
Silver quickly looked at her flank “You mean my Cutie Mark”
“Ah, yes, Binary has one of those as well... do all pony's have these?”
“Well... once they find their special talent, then it just appears”
“Interesting”
“We call fillies who don't have theirs, blank flanks”
“Hmm... anyway, my friend would appreciate it greatly if I was returned to where you located me”
“Why?”
Chip hesitated and his voice strained to force out a simple explanation “... she needs me”
“Oh, well, I... wait a second, I'm sitting here taking orders from a pony on a plate”
Chip's ears flattened and his body crackled slightly indicating his annoyed state “It is not a plate, its my mobile A.I storage receptacle, my friend made it, and me”
“Well... why can't she just make another one of you”
Chip's body fizzed, he had not considered such a thing as a possibility... what's stopping him from being replaced... the thought disturbed him.
“What's wrong with you now?” Silver asked as she steadily began to lose interest.
Chip's fast moving mind scanned the question over and over again as he attempted to find a reason why he could not be replaced. He soon reached his conclusion... their wasn't a logical reason why he couldn't.
Chip's body turned red and crackled “Take me home now!” he yelled.
“Shhh... Remember the volume thing”
Chip quickly calmed down and stared at the ground, his mind did not tend to dwell on things for long but he somehow couldn't shake the situation he had been presented with. He hung his head low and stared at the ground.
Silver Spoon had seen a look like that before on Diamond Tiara, right after the pink fillies cutecenera when the blank flanks had thoroughly stolen the spotlight from Diamond at her own party. Silver decided to do what she did then.
“It's okay... we'll do what ever you want, okay”
“I just want...” Chip paused, what he wanted was for this day to never have happened; but on one hoof he was lost and separated from his only companion, yet on the other hoof he had learned so much about the world around home and he would be lying if he said it had been a total waste “I want to go home”
“Well... is it okay if I do that tomorrow?”
Chip looked back up at the filly and slowly nodded.
An awkwardly long pause ensued, witch was broken by a long yawn from Silver Spoon.
“Well, I guess it was nice to meet you... whatever you are”
“You may refer to me as Chip”
“Okay, Chip” Silver Spoon stood up from her chair and walked over to her bed. Silver Spoon suddenly stopped as she heard strange electronic music coming from Chip. Silver Spoon turned to see Chip staring at her.
“Uh... what's with the music” Silver Spoon asked “it sounds like really weak trot step”
“It is a lullaby I play for Binary every night” Chip said “Does it bother you?”
“Yes, please stop” Silver said bluntly as she took off her glasses and necklace, then placed them into a turquoise heart shaped box that seemed far older than everything else in the room. The filly then crawled into bed.
Chip turned and looked to the window, knowing that somewhere out there Binary was most likely going crazy with worry over his disappearance.
Binary stared at the golden oak library as the two approached it.
“So you live inside a tree?” Binary asked.
“Yes... is that a problem?” Twilight asked.
“No... I just wonder what kind of pony would hollow out a poor tree for a library filled with books that are made from more trees” said Binary.
Twilight stopped at the door and gave Binary a quick confused look. Twilight opened the door and led Binary inside, where the two found Spike asleep in a chair. The small dragon had attempted to wait for Twilight to return but was too tired to keep himself up.
“Aww. Is that your pet?” Binary said at the sight of the small dragon.
“What, no, he's my assistant” Twilight replied.
“Oh, does he bite?” asked Binary.
“No... because he's my assistant not a pet ” Twilight replied slowly, trying to make the message clearer.
“Can I pet him?” Binary asked.
Twilight stared at Binary in disbelief, she had seemed so intelligent and down to earth at certain points and now she couldn't seem to grasp the concept of Spike's role. Twilight of course did not voice this concern, instead she opted to calmly respond to the question “I don't think he'd appreciate that”
Binary let out a disappointed “Oh”
“I'll set up a spot for you to sleep upstairs” Twilight said as she went up to her loft to prepare the guest bed, leaving Binary downstairs unattended.
After a minute or two Twilight descended the stairs and to her surprise found Binary next to a stack of books, holding a strange black device resembling a pen in her mouth.
A hologram the size of a piece of paper appeared from the device and hovered over the ratty book that Twilight had been studying. The hologram then descended and passed through the book.
“What are you doing?” Twilight asked.
Binary turned to see Twilight and dropped the device onto the book. “I'm scanning your books”
“Scanning?” Twilight said, obviously confused
“Yeah, it took a lot of time to figure out how to get the scanner to read imprint what was there, but then I just thought of how a projector works and then I figured out to imprint that onto a hologram in the shape of a book” Binary pushed a button on the device witch created a green hologram of the book with every detail and imperfection perfectly presented. Binary then tossed the device to Twilight who caught with her magic.
Twilight stared at the book cover. She looked back and forth between the hologram and the that actual book, seeing how every detail was copied exactly.
“Move your eyes like this” Binary said as her eyes looked to the right then swept over to the left.
Twilight did so and the holographic book opened, revealing the first page.
“Did it track my eyes?” Twilight asked.
Binary nodded in response “It even has a mode where it reads the book to you, but it's really robotic sounding and creepy"
“That's amazing” Twilight said as she glanced through the holographic book.
Binary's face went red in response to the praise “Well, Chip helped me... kind of”
Binary's expression sunk as she was reminded of the situation.
Twilight placed the device on her desk. Once again Binary's persona confused Twilight, it seemed she had the attention span of a filly going from soaring highs to depressing lows in a matter of seconds. Twilight decided the best course of action was to keep Binary's mind off of Chip.
“Hey, why don't we go upstairs and you can tell me all about how these things work” said Twilight.
Binary's expression once again shot up and she bounced up and down in excitement.
Twilight then led the strange mare upstairs.
Binary examined the cozy loft. Just like everywhere else she had been to in the town, it felt warm and welcoming yet so unique and interesting.
“This pad is killer” Binary said.
“Pardon?” said Twilight.
“What, pony's don't say that anymore?”
“I haven't heard anyone talk like that in a decade, but it's a nice change of pace”
Binary walked to the plain white guest bed and flopped onto it.
Twilight then proceeded to her own bed then crawled in and laid down.
“So about your inventions?” Twilight asked.
Binary then went into a lengthy explanation “Well, it's sort of funny, my gadgets actually run on bone dust that I file off of my horn. You'd be surprised how much energy courses through unicorn horns if you mix it with certain chemicals. All I need is a little bit of dust for the power sources and they'll run for... actually my gadgets have never ran out of power so I have no idea how long a little keeps them running”
The explanation intrigued Twilight “So what's the reason you make all this stuff?” Twilight asked.
“Well..." Binary said through a yawn "My dad was an earth pony black smith, a lot of people thought it was weird for an earth pony to have such a talent because it's usually a unicorn thing”
“Yes, because of magic making it easier” said Twilight as she nodded along with the story.
“Exactly; anyway I would sometimes see him having trouble, so I thought to myself, what if an earth pony could levitate things like a unicorn can, and that's how I got started on my first ever invention, the levitation wand... it's nothing special, all I had to do was figure out how to turn off gravity in a small area... but my Dad never really understood any of it, and then he died... then it was just me”
"And Chip, right?" asked Twilight.
"No... Chip wasn't always there, for a long time it was just me" she said as she looked off to the side and adjusted her glasses.
Twilight quickly began to understand why Binary was so upset over Chip's disappearance, he must have been the only friend she had.
“But Chip didn't come around as much as he used to, I guess we were getting a little too old for each other... but I needed him”
Twilight suddenly realized this was no longer a story about her inventions and she listened more intently.
“To me the world was scary, everything outside my door just led to more heartache, but I couldn't stay alone in that house anymore... so I made him real” said Binary.
“What?” asked Twilight as he eyes widened.
“I made him real” she replied.
“You mean he was fake?” Twilight asked, her voice doing little to hide her sudden aggravation
“He was my imaginary friend” said Binary.
Twilight could not believe what she had heard, she sat up in her bed and yelled “What?!? You had us running around the whole town all evening looking for an imaginary friend!”
Binary let out fearful a whimper as she hid most of her face under the blankets.
Twilight quickly realized the consequence of her outburst and apologized “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you”
Binary hid her head under the blankets completely and said, her voice almost childlike “I wish I had listened to Chip and just stayed on the hill. It was good enough for me for seven years and then I had to go and ruin everything!”
Twilight choked up a bit at the words “Seven years” Twilight thought “Seven years alone with nothing but an imaginary friend” What had Twilight gotten herself into, she had taken in a mentally broken, possibly schizophrenic pony. But above all else that was going through her mind one thing stood above the rest; Twilight had to help this pony.
Twilight slid out of her bed and walked over to Binary “Is their anything I can do to help you”
Binary hesitated for a moment and replied, her voice straining through her sadness “Could you... no, forget it, it's kind of weird"
"What is it?" asked Twilight.
"Well there's this lullaby my dad used to sing to me, then I taught it to Chip. He'd sing it every night before I went to sleep. I can't remember the last time I slept without hearing it.”
“Of course” replied Twilight.
“You mean it?” asked Binary.
“Yes, that's what friends do”
Binary poked a hoof out and waved Twilight to come closer. Twilight leaned in and Binary whispered the tune to her. Twilight raised an eye brow as she listened.
"Um... I'm not sure I can sing that" said Twilight.
"You don't need to be very good, no one's going to hear you anyway" said Binary.
Twilight took a moment to memorize it and ignore how silly it sounded.
“Beep bop, buh da, beep bop boop
beep bop, duh da, da, beeeep
beep bop, buh da, beep bop boop
find yourself counting sheep
Beep bop, buh da, beep bop boop
beep bop, duh da, da beeeep
beep bop, buh da, beep bop boop
that means it's time to sleep”
“Thanks” Binary said, now sounding much calmer.
“Anytime”
“Twilight... did you mean it when you said we're friends?” asked Binary.
“Of course” replied Twilight.
“You're not just saying that to be nice, right?” asked Binary.
Twilight's eyes went wide for a moment. Binary guessed the situation spot on. Or at least how it was at first.
“No, you and I are friends” Twilight said without a hint of doubt.
“That's cool... good night”
Twilight walked back to her bed and before getting in, she looked back at Binary, who was still covered up in the blankets. Twilight smiled as she climbed into bed.
Later in the night, as Twilight lay fast asleep, Binary poked an eye out from under the blankets. Binary stared out a window at the moon partially hid behind a cloud. Binary was aware of the old cliche of looking at the moon and hoping a lost friend was looking at it too, and she knew how absurd it seemed; but it was still a comforting thought.
On Silver Spoon's desk, Chip viewed a collection of holographically projected photos of Binary during several of her experiments.
He stared at a picture of Binary in which she smiled through a face full of soot from her first model of an automatic chimney cleaner “Please be okay” he said. Chip looked to the moon and said as it was completely shrouded by the cloud “I need you to be okay”
“Shut Up!” Silver Spoon yelled before she got up and stumbled over to the window. She then grabbed the curtains and closed them.
Chip's holographic body however still lit the room, resulting in Silver Spoon angrily glaring at him.
Chip looked at Silver Spoon and began to say “Annoying little Bi...” Chip then turned off his holo-body before he finished.
“Hey!” Silver Spoon yelled, knowing fully what Chip was about to say. She then aggressively tapped the device with her hoof.
The door to the filly's room opened, allowing the orange glow from a candle, levitated by Silver Spoon's unicorn step mother to shine in. The step mother stood in the door way with a disgruntled and tired look on her face. She wore a fancy silk nightgown over her faint orange body, and her long red mane was full of loose hairs and frizz which hung over one of her peach coloured eyes; a real rarity given the mares self admiring nature represented by her cuite mark of a golden mirror.
“Be quiet, I have to get my beauty sleep” the mare hissed.
Silver grumbled as she tiredly walked to the door “I know it takes a lot more than sleep to make you look presentable”
The step mother gasped in response and she quickly became angry “You annoying little bi...”
Silver Spoon cut off the gold diggers words as she slammed the door in her face, leaving the filly in total darkness.
“I never have to put up with this kind of stuff when Diamond Tiara's around” Silver Spoon said as she stumbled through the darkness to her bed. Silver Spoon climbed into her bed and just before she closed her eyes she realized she had forgotten something. Silver Spoon had been so wrapped up in her exploits with Diamond Tiara that she had forgotten to find a show and tell project for school the next day. Silver Spoon's worried expression turned to a mischievous smile as she looked over at Chip's disc.
As Celestia rose the sun over the land of Equestria, the citizens of ponyville slowly awoke to the new day. The dawn's orange glow was a sight to behold for ponyvilles early risers such as Applejack, who along with her brother Big Macintosh were already up and ready for a hard days work of apple bucking and ploughing fields.
Twilight was not one of these early risers. Which was ironic due to her devotion to Princess Celestia. The studious unicorn slept soundly under her beds covers, with one of her legs lazily hanging off the bed.
Downstairs, the light shined into the library and gleamed onto Spike's closed eyes as he lay sleeping at Twilight's desk. The light roused the dragon from his slumber. He opened his eyelids and the bright sun burnt his eyes slightly. Spike covered his eyes with his hand then looked around and quickly saw something that didn't belong. Spike hopped out of his chair and went to examine the strange device on the library's table. Spike took the device in his hand and pushed one of the buttons on it which caused a holographic book to appear. The action startled Spike, he dropped the device to the ground then took a few steps back. Spike rubbed his chin as he tried to deduce what the gadget was or how it had got there. He wondered if Twilight would know what the device was. Spike then ascended the stairs. The early hour suddenly began to take it's tole on the dragon as the the time caught up to him. He was noticeably tired and he walked with his shoulders slouched and his eyes resisting to stay open. Spike ascended the stairs and suddenly stopped as he entered Twilight's loft. He looked and saw that the guest bed was out and appeared as though it had been slept in. Spike quickly perked up a bit at the odd sight.
“Somepony must have been here last night?” Spike thought to himself. Spike looked and saw Twilight sleeping peacefully. He could simply wait for her to wake up but his curiosity quickly got the better of him. Spike walked over to Twilight's bed and lightly poked the leg that stuck out.
The contact caused Twilight to unconsciously pull her leg back under the blankets.
“psst, Twilight” Spike whispered.
“Shh...” A voice said from behind Spike.
Spike froze in response to the strange voice. He then slowly turned his head and saw an unknown white unicorn with a broken horn standing beside him. Spike stared at the unicorn with a surprised expression on his face
“She's trying to sleep” Binary whispered.
“Who are you?” Spike asked.
Binary looked down and awkwardly scratched her foreleg with one of her forehooves, as she tried to find the courage to speak to yet another new face “I'm Binary...” Binary looked up at the dragon and asked “Can I pet you?”
“No” Spike responded “Why are you here?”
“Why am I... Oh yeah, you were asleep last night. Well, I was looking for my friend, Chip, because he got lost, then I got locked out of my house and the whole town started looking for Chip and then Twilight took me in because she assumed I was mentally unstable... could I at least pat your head?”
“You're a barrel of misfortune aren't ya?” Spike asked.
“I don't think so... so, about the petting thing?”
Spike let out an annoyed sigh and replied “Fine”
Binary reached her hoof out and just before touching the dragons head, she pulled her hoof back and asked “You're not gonna bite me are you?”
Spike's crossed his arms and raised an eye brow as he replied “No... ya know why, because I am not a dog”
Binary slowly patted Spike on the head and after a few pats she attempted to scratch behind his ears.
Spike pulled away from Binary “Hey, stop that” he said.
Binary couldn't help but giggle at the flustered baby dragon.
Spike looked back at Twilight and decided not to wake her. He then motioned for Binary to follow as he led her down to the library so they could speak at a normal volume.
“Okay, you said Twilight let you stay here?” Spike asked as the two reached the ground floor.
“Yep, she said we're friends” Binary stopped for a moment to let what she had said sink in “Friends” she said to herself. Binary looked at the ground and moved her hoof in a circle a few times, then barely squeaked out “Do you want to be my friend too?
Spike was quite surprised, he had just met this odd pony, and that mixed with Binary's bizarre mannerisms prompted Spike to reply “Eh... maybe, give it some time”
Binary's face slunk down into a slight frown, although she was much more displeased than she let on.
Spike quickly noticed that he had somehow hurt Binary's feeling and concocted an excuse to make her feel better “It's just that being friends is so super duper special that it can't just happen instantly. The best friendships are the ones you give time to grow and those friendship will last forever”
Binary tilted her head and shot the dragon an inquisitive stare.
Spike nervously smiled at Binary, hoping she wouldn't see past his excuse.
Binary smiled “Okay, that makes sense” Binary said before walking toward the door of the library.
“Wait, where are you going?” Spike asked.
“I need to go find my friend” she replied. “Do you want to help me look?”
Spike hesitated, he knew he should go get Twilight and clarify the situation, but Binary's innocently worried expression drove him to a different reaction “...Okay” Spike replied.
A large smile came to Binary's face before she jumped toward Spike and scooped him up onto her back.
“I'm going to regret this” Spike thought to himself while he clung to Binary's mane as she darted outside, loudly slamming the door behind her.
The noise roused Twilight from her slumber. The princess yawned and looked over to the guest bed. Twilight quickly became concerned as she saw that Binary was nowhere to be seen. Twilight then got out of bed and walked downstairs. She searched for Binary and to her surprise she found that Spike was missing too.
In her mind, Twilight deduced the reason for the disappearances.
“Binary must have gone looking for Chip and taken Spike with him. I hope Spike knows what he's getting into with her” Twilight said to herself.
Twilight thought on what Binary had said before, and her pity for unicorn only grew, as she knew, Binary would never find Chip; after all, how do you find something that doesn’t exist. Twilight stopped and ran the idea over in her head again.
“Wait, how do you lose something that was never there?” she asked herself.
Twilight had no time to think about the idea further. She quickly found her saddlebags and filled them with a few apples from the library's pantry, and a few gems that Spike kept as snacks; as she assumed the missing pair would be hungry when she found them.
Twilight walked to the library's exit, but stopped before leaving. She looked at Binary's book scanner which lay on the ground.
“How can somepony who can make that need an imaginary friend” Twilight thought to herself. The very question suddenly prompted an inner response “I guess the magic of friendship has no bounds”
Twilight then exited the library.
A few hours later... on the rode to the schoolhouse.
Silver Spoon walked down the rode at a leisurely pace, even though she was nearly late for school. The grey filly made a point of never seeming too eager to get to school for what appeared to be an attempt at being fashionably late, although the main reason was to attempt to avoid any interaction with anypony besides Diamond Tiara, lest she may be forced to socialize with anypony without the buffer zone that Diamond Tiara created.
The rich filly wore a small purple purse over her shoulder, which carried Chip's disc inside. The A.I waited patiently to be returned to his home, oblivious to Silver Spoon's detour.
Silver Spoon approached the schoolhouse and saw Diamond Tiara already attempting to irritate the blank flanks, never noticing how little it bothered the trio as of recently.
Silver Spoon finally arrived at her destination, just as Diamond Tiara stormed away from the cutie mark crusaders.
The prissy pink filly stomped towards Silver Spoon “Those three are no fun to mess with anymore”
“Maybe that's a sign” said Silver Spoon
“A sign of what?” asked Diamond Tiara.
“That you should stop messing with them, duh”
“Never” Diamond said with a touch of mock anger. Diamond Tiara then looked down at Silver's Spoon purse “Ugh, what did I tell you about wearing purple, it clashes with everything on you”
“Well it's just to carry this thing... wait, my eyes are purple, so how can...”
Diamond Tiara scoffed at her friend “You're eyes are violet, it's completely different from purple”
Silver Spoon rolled her eyes in response.
The school bell then began to ring, signalling the students to come inside for the mornings lesson.
The two walked to the schoolhouse, taking their own sweet time getting there, much to the annoyance of Cheerilee, although she would hardly ever get after any of her students for something so small.
Inside the school house...
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon sat in their desks and stared inattentively towards Cheerilee at the front of the classroom.
Cheerilee sat at her desk and greeted her students “Good morning everypony”
“Good Morning Ms. Cheerilee” The stidents responded in unison.
“I hope you've all remembered your show and tell projects for this month”
Diamond Tiara's eyes widened and she quickly scribbled a few words down on a scrap of paper then crumpled it up. She then waited for Cheerilee to turn to the chalk board before she tossed the ball of paper over,Applebloom's head, to Silver Spoon.
The paper struck the side of Silver Spoon's glases and the grey filly glared at Applebloom, under the assumption the farm pony had thrown the projectile.
Applebloom did not turn her attention to the grey pony, instead she simply pointed her hoof over to Diamond Tiara.
Diamond Tiara peeked past Applebloom and mouthed “Read the note”
Silver Spoon un-crumpled the paper and read the message in silence “Do we have a show in tell project?” Silver Spoon looked to Diamond Tiara and nodded, prompting a sigh of relief from the pink pony.
“If I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times” Cheerillee said, making use of her excellent peripheral vision. She turned and looked at the duo.
The pair stared back at Cheerilee, both of them attempting (and failing) to look innocent. Cheerilee's annoyed gaze continued and the two fillies shrunk down into their desks.
The students all stared at Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara. All of them finding it incredibly amusing to see the two squirm, especially since it was Ms. Cheerilee that was making it happen.
“If you two are so eager to talk to somepony then you can be the first to present your show and tell projects” Cheerilee said, her voice sounded a bit more stern than usual.
The two fillies smiled and nodded, eager to get back on the teachers good side, or at least off her radar. The two walked to the front of the class. Silver spoon carried her purse with her.
Cheerilee was pleasantly surprised that they had not needed to come up with some excuse as to why they didn't have a project.
“One at a time” Cheerilee said, noticeably having slipped out of her rarely seen strict side.
“Well actually...”Silver Spoon began to say.
The teachers expression slightly sunk as she thought to herself “Here it comes”
Diamond Tiara then interrupted whatever Silver Spoon was about so say “Our project is so spectacular that it'll take both of us to present it” she wrapped one of her front legs around her friend and gave her an exaggeratedly friendly hug.
Cheerilee's expression brightened “Alright, go ahead”
Diamond Tiara then took advantage of her close proximity to her friend to ask “What do you have anyway?” she whispered.
“That thing we took from the blank flanks” Silver Spoon quietly replied.
“What!” Diamond Tiara quietly shrieked, as she pulled back from the grey filly. The pink pony then looked to see the class staring at them and stifling laughter.
The class had been waiting for a chance to enjoy the repercussions of the duo's laziness for quite some time, the only regret was that nopony had a camera.
Silver Spoon placed her purse on the ground and pulled out the small disc, then held it up for everypony to see.
The reveal resulted in more of a, “Huh?” reaction, rather than oohs or awes.
“That's very interesting... what is it?” Cheerilee asked.
The cutie mark crusaders instantly recognized the device, and wanted to tell Cheerilee about how the two had taken it from them, but that would simply bring more trouble.
Diamond Tiara puffed her chest out and proudly began to say “It's a...” The filly's paused although she still held her prideful pose. She then blurted out “a thing”
The entire class burst out into laughter. Silver Spoon groaned, although she couldn't be heard due to the laughing.
Cheerilee raised her voice, although not in an angry way, and said “Everypony calm down. Just because Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon don't have a name for their project does not mean it deserves to be mocked” Cheerilee looked at the two and asked “You do know what it is, right?”
“Of course we do” Diamond Tiara said “Silver Spoon, why don't you tell them all about it”
Silver Spoon let out a nervous chuckle, she knew if she actually told anypony what it was they would most likely just laugh again. The grey filly quickly concocted a story “It's an antique plate from my Grandmare”
“Ooh, how interesting, please continue” Cheerilee said.
“Uh... that's all I have to say” Silver Spoon replied.
Cheerilee hid her disappointment behind an encouraging smile “A for effort anyways” she said before marking the two down for a C+ “Would you like to let the class take a look at your... interestingly designed plate”
If the device actually was an antique, Silver Spoon would have said that the class could keep their grubby hooves off it, but since that wasn't the case, she simply replied “Sure”
Silver Spoon gave the (quote)plate(unquote) to Twist, who examined it for a few moments before she passed it to the pony sitting behind her. The device circulated through the three rows as Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon watched their classmates who were all clueless as to what it truly was.
The device eventually reached Dinky Doo. The unicorn filly attempted to lift the device into the air with her magic. Through a good deal of effort the device became engulfed in a yellow energy and lifted into the air. Dinky smiled, pleased with her levitation, not noticing that she had the device upside down.
The magical energy inadvertently forced Chip out of his sleep mode. Chip's holographic body appeared from the disc. The sight of Chip startled Dinky. She let out a small yelp before she threw the device away. Chip's disc flew through the air and impacted Cheerilee's desk, the damage caused Chip's body to spark red.
Chip quickly examined the room and a realization dawned onhim; he was not home, he was not with Binary. For the first time in his life he had been lied to... and it hurt.
“What in the world!” Cheerilee exclaimed as she looked over her desk at Chip. “Silver Spoon, Diamond Tiara what is the meaning of this?”
Silver Spoon quickly made a lame excuse “Oh, I must have brought that by accident, it's a”
“Liar!” Chip yelled, interrupting Silver Spoon.
Everypony in the classroom looked at the now glowing red Chip. Silver Spoon quickly picked up Chip's disc and placed him on Cheerilee's desk.
“Silver Spoon, what is that thing?” Cheerilee asked.
“It's my project” Silver Spoon answered.
Chip glared at the grey filly and yelled “P-Project!?! I am not you're project!
“Hey, you can't talk to her like that!” Diamond Tiara said in defence of her friend.
“Shut Up!” Chip roared at Diamond Tiara, his words dripped with frustration.
The entire class grew more uneasy as Chip's voice grew louder and angrier.
“Calm down” Silver Spoon pleaded.
“No! You said we were going home, I need to go home, she needs me!” Chip yelled. His mind relied on things adding up and making sense, he had no patience, nor methods to cope with lies, the very idea of somepony saying something which was then contradicted made the entirety of his being hurt, and the more he hurt the faster he thought, and the faster he thought, the more he overheated, and the more he overheated the less logical he became.
Chip's body fizzed and crackled, he then lifted his front legs into the air and with a mighty shock wave of sound he stamped his hooves to the ground and screamed “You lied to me!”
The massive amount of sound blew out every window in the schoolhouse and sent everypony except Silver Spoon, Diamond Tiara, and Cheerilee running in fear. Some of the fillies screamed “Monster!” as they scrambled out. The red glow of Chip's body began to illuminate the room and enveloped the three.
The ears of the remaining ponies rang from the sound.
“I didn't lie to you” Silver Spoon cried as she cowered in fear.
Another lie sent a painful zap through Chip's body “Say it!” he screamed.
Cheerilee stepped in front of the the two fillies to defend them.
“I was going to take you home after school” Silver Spoon said.
Chip needed truth, not excuses “Say you lied!” He roared.
“I didn't”
“Admit it!”
“Please stop yelling” Silver Spoon quietly protested.
Chip's voice suddenly became more low pitched and distorted and he yelled “No! I need to hear you say it!”
“Please stop!” she said as tears began to fall from her eyes.
“Say it!”
Silver Spoon began to cry and she repentantly wailed “Alright! I lied to you, I should have taken you straight home, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!”
And with that the pieces in Chip's mind began to fit back together, and as it did his body turned back to it's normal blue colour. Chip however seemed mentally exhausted from the ordeal, he hung his head low and flinched when his body sparked.
Cheerilee motioned for the two to leave. Diamond Tiara grabbed the sobbing Silver Spoon's hoof and led her outside. Diamond Tiara whispered to her friend that she would treat her to a milkshake to help make things better.
Cheerilee waited for the two to leave and was about to follow them out but stopped as she saw, Chip glance up at her then quickly looked away. The teacher couldn't help but recognize that look, a look she had gotten from many of her students when they had a problem but couldn't bring themselves to ask for help.
“...Are you okay?” Cheerilee asked hesitantly.
Chip looked up at the teacher and answered, his voice somehow sounding depressed despite it's monotone nature. “No”
Cheerilee walked closer to Chip and knelt down to be at eye level with him “Would you like to talk about it?”
Chip looked at the trusting face “...maybe”
Meanwhile, Binary walked through the town while Spike rode on her, still looking for any trace of Chip.
Spike asked as he walked alongside Binary “So he's like, a small pony standing on a plate?”
“Well it's not actually a plate it's his storage disc, it just looks like a plate”
“So does he see out of the disc or out of his eyes”
“He doesn’t really have eyes, his camera's are positioned in a way that allows him to see through where his eyes would be on his body”
“So he's like a magic guardian?”
“No, I made him”
“So he's like an imaginary friend”
“He was a...”
Binary words were then cut off by the voice of Twilight Sparkle, whom trotted towards the two.
“I've been looking for you two all morning” She said as she caught up to the pair.
Spike hopped down from Binary's back and explained “Sorry Twilight, we were just out looking for Binary's friend, and you were sleeping so, you know, let sleeping pony's lie”
Twilight frowned a bit at the mentioning of the imaginary friend “Maybe you two should take break, I brought some food for everypony... and everydragon”
“Gee wilickers, snack time!” Binary said excitedly.
Twilight levitated an apple and an emerald out of her bag and gave them to their appropriate connoisseurs.
Spike happily nibbled away at the emerald, as Binary stared at the apple in awe. It was so red and full of life, just like every she hadn't interacted with in years, it had a certain welcoming feel to it.
“Ooh, idea” Binary said as she reached into one of her pockets and pulled out what appeared to be an apple peeler on a tripod. Binary sat the device on the ground and dropped the apple onto it. The device beeped as it detected the apple and the blade began to slash around sporadically cutting through the apple and leaving nothing but mush.
Binary frowned and let out a disappointed “Aww...”
“What was that supposed to do?” Spike asked.
Binary poked the mush with her hoof and replied “It was supposed to take the skin off... but obviously didn't work”
“Don't worry, I have more apples” Twilight said.
Binary perked up as she saw another apple floating towards her. She took it and once again admired it's beautiful redness. She took a small bite out of it, hoping to savour the treat but as soon as the juicy apple taste touched her tongue, she immediately devoured the rest in a singe bite. The long forgotten taste of good fresh fruit lightly stung Binary's taste buds. Binary's eyes turned up as she chewed.
Twilight and Spike couldn't help but stare at the odd scene.
Spike whispered to Twilight “Twilight, what's up with this unicorn?”
“She's hasn't interacted with anypony for years and I think it took a toll on her psyche” Twilight quietly explained.
“But what about her friend?” Spike asked.
“She said he was an imaginary friend” Twilight replied.
“What!?!” Spike asked, a little louder than he should have.
“Don't worry, I'm going to try something” said Twilight.
Binary swallowed the apple and thrust a hoof up into the air “Now back to the search” she said.
“I think we could find Chip faster if we split up” Twilight suggested.
“I... guess that's a good idea” Binary replied.
Twilight then walked far enough away that she was out of Binary's line of sight. Then after a few moments, she returned with a forced smile on her face.
“Hey would ya look who I found” Twilight said, forcing enthusiasm.
“Is it Chip, it's Chip isn't it?” Binary asked.
“You bet your hooves” Twilight said before she stepped to the side as though somepony was behind her “Here he is”
Binary stared at the nothingness for a moment, her expression was completely blank. Binary's expression sunk into a sad frown, then twisted into a hurt grimace “Are you... mocking me?” Binary asked, as she restrained her hurt feelings.
Twilight then attempted to explain herself “No, it's just that...”
“If you don't want to help that's fine, but you didn't have to go and do something mean like that” Binary was about to storm away from the two when a trio of filly's suddenly ran past her, talking about a pony shaped monster on a plate. Binary looked in the direction they had came from. “Chip” she said before she darted off down the rode.
“Why did you do that?” Spike asked Twilight.
“She's physically looking for something that's in her head, what am I supposed to do, just let her keep looking for a friend that's not there” Twilight looked to where Binary had gone “Come on, we better follow her”
Spike hopped up onto Twilight's back and the two pursued Binary.
Meanwhile back in the schoolhouse...
Chip sat on Cheerilee's desk with a book in front of him as, Cheerilee gave the A.I some pointers on how to control a future outburst.
“And what are we going to do the next time we get mad?” Cheerilee asked.
“Think happy thoughts, or go to a happy place, or count to ten” The A.I replied.
“Very good. Would you like another book?” Cheerliee asked.
“Please, thank you” Chip responded politely.
Cheerliee opened a drawer on her desk and took out a book from a small collection she kept to read to her students in case a lesson ran short and she needed some filler before they were dismissed. She then placed the book in front of Chip.
Chip observed the cover and read aloud “Notable ponies in Equestrian history”
Large green eyes appeared on Chips face, from which several strands of light beamed out. The lights scanned the book, and the information was instantly downloaded into Chip's mind.
Cheerilee had nearly jumped out of her skin the first time Chip used this scanning procedure. Still a little off put by the eyes, she looked away as Chip scanned the book, although she disguised this by pretending to look out one of the now broken windows.
The green beams and eyes faded away “Interesting” Chip said as he looked over the data he had collected.
Cheerilee looked back at Chip, and said “I wish my students could look at a history book and say that”
“So much history that I was never aware of until now”
“Well that's what you can learn when you look into books”
“Golden Alloy” Chip said.
“Who?” The mare asked.
“Page 57, a unicorn who designed the armour for the royal guards”
Cheerilee opened the book and flipped to the aforementioned page “Hmm... you're right, here's a portrait of her” Cheerilee then turned the book and showed Chip the image.
In the image, the unicorn could be seen being saluted by several guards, who were all wearing early versions of the armour that would eventually become standard issue for all of the royal guards. The unicorn however wore a full body set of gold plated armour which was seemingly designed to be near impenetrable, with only her red mane and tail visible.
“She looks... like a machine” Chip said as he examined the scene.
“I suppose she does. Unfortunately it says that the prolonged usage of the heavy armour damaged her muscles and spine to such an extent that she needed to be hospitalized, poor thing”
Chip looked at the image intently, specifically the helmet. The pivotal piece of the armour had an intimidating sleekness to it and did not simply conform to the wearers face, which gave it a somewhat bestial quality that seemed as though it would fit better as the head of some monster rather than on a pony, and the eyes holes had red glass over them to hide any emotion the wearer may show.
The two then heard the sound of somepony pounding on the school house door.
Cheerilee stood from her desk, and said as she walked towards the door “It's not locked”
The voice of Binary then embarrassingly squeaked out “Oh” Binary pushed the door open a crack and peaked inside. At the sight of Chip on the desk, Binary's face lit up into a near deranged looking smile, and she squealed in excitement before she ran down the rows of desks, nearly crashing into Cheerilee.
Binary stood on her hind legs and picked up Chip with her front legs, then hugged him, although Chip had no means to hug back.
“I assume this is Binary” Cheerilee said to the smothered A.I.
“Affirmative” Chip replied, barely able to hear the teachers question through Binary's hug.
Binary then looked toward the purple mare.
Binary's face suddenly turned very serious “Are you the one who took Chip from me?”
“Oh heavens no, I think it was...” Cheerilee took note of just how upset the unicorn looked. Binary appeared as though she was ready to pounce on somepony “I'm not sure who brought him in”
Luckily the lie was not heard by Chip, who still remained buried in Binary's hug.
Binary couldn't tell that she had been lied to. “Uh-huh, yeah whatever, I don't have time for revenge anyway” she said. Binary then directed her attention back to Chip “Chip, look at you, you look like you've been overheating, and your little legs have fallen off. What happened to you?” she asked.
Chip thought back to how he had acted before and the idea of being replaced. He quickly concocted an excuse that was not necessarily a lie, but a withholding of information “It's possibly just from exposure to the elements” Chip looked into the Binary's tired red eyes and asked “Are you okay?”
“Pfft, of course I am... other than some head trauma-ama-ama-ama-ama” Binary continued to repeat that part of the sentence on a never ending loop.
Chip looked to Cheerilee “Could you give her a slight slap in the back of head” He requested.
“Is that safe?” Cheerilee asked.
“It can't damage her anymore than she is right now... literally”
Cheerilee wasn't sure if what Chip said was meant to be a joke, or if he was serious, but either way she complied and struck Binary in the back of her head, effectively knocking her out of her stupor.
Binary rubbed the back of her head “Thanks” she said. “Ready for a pocket ride, Chip?” Binary asked her companion.
“When is one not ready for a pocket ride?” Chip replied, his voice made it impossible to tell if he was being sarcastic or sincere.
Chip then turned off his holographic form. Binary then placed it in one of her many pockets. “Thanks for taking care of him” Binary said to the teacher.
“You're welcome, it was actually quite interesting. Aside from the bumpy first impression”
“I don't know what you mean by that so I choose to ignore it” Binary said, blissfully unaware of the hint of Chip's actions.
Cheerilee raised an eye brow in response to the odd comment, as Binary walked toward the door. Binary pushed the door open and started off down the dirt rode back to ponyville.
She held her head up high and smiled, as she happily trotted down the rode. Things were starting to go back to normal and she couldn't be happier... until she saw Twilight and Spike approaching from a little ways further down the rode.
Binary frowned, she was not too keen on interacting with Twilight again. Binary had not yet realized the misunderstanding at all. To Binary, Twilight had simply made fun of her problem; her seven year long solitude with Chip, and her dependance on him, left Binary unable to comprehend anypony not understanding the concept of her companion. An idea then came to Binary's mind and her expression crept up into a sly grin.
“Binary” Twilight called, after which she increased her walking pace, quickly decreasing the distance between herself and Binary.
Binary stopped and narrowed her eyes “Hello... Ms. Annoying ...pants...” Binary said to Twilight in a failed attempt to insult her.
“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I just thought if I could make you think you found Chip then it might make you feel better”
“Well that was a stupid idea” Binary said as she thrust her nose in the air in an attempt to seem superior.
Twilight's brow furrowed a bit. The alicorn knew she had made a mistake, but she was only trying to help and certainly didn't deserve to be insulted (especially not by some nutso unicorn). Twilight emitted a barely audible groan, then kicked some dirt to the side.
Spike couldn't help but snicker at the comment, himself agreeing that Twilight acted a bit rashly.
Binary quickly lost her look of superiority, then looked at the ground and sighed “But thanks for caring” she said, her face slowly warmed back up into a smile.
Twilight smiled in response “So, I suppose you want to go try to find, Chip?” Twilight asked.
Binary closed her eyes, puffed out her chest slightly and proudly said “Nope, I found him”
“But... he's a... I mean... why couldn't you” Twilight couldn't help but be frustrated “He's an imaginary friend, how did you find him!?!”
Binary pointed back to the school “He was in the school house”
Twilight ground her teeth together as her frustration grew, it was getting harder to tell if Binary was smart, insane, or just plain stupid.
Binary let out an exaggerated yawn, and said “I don't know about you but I got zero sleep last night, so I think I'm gonna head on home, because I'd rather pass out there than on the rode” Binary then walked by Twilight and Spike and after she walked a few feet away, Binary stopped, turned and asked “But I suppose I could find some energy, if you still wanted to see my inventions?”
Twilight's expression lightened a bit. The mention of Binary's gadgets had peeked Twilight's interest, she had never seen anything quite like them, and she would be disappointed if she didn't get a chance to see more.
Spike had not heard or seen anything about these inventions and was instantly curious.
“I guess so” Twilight said, her slightly annoyed tone made it hard for any positivity to come out of the words.
Binary smiled the same sly smile from before “Good, Chip will be soooo amped up”
Twilight and Spike glanced at each other and slightly shrugged their shoulders, both unsure of what Binary meant.
Binary noticed the glances and explained before either of them could ask “And by that I mean excited”
Twilight and Spike pretended they knew what she meant all along.
Binary sighed, her interest in the two was fading fast and would barely last long enough for her to play her little trick.
The three then headed back to Binary's home which was still parked in the centre of town. Neither of the three said anything to each other along the way, which caused the trek to feel very long and awkward at times, as Binary would occasionally look at the two, then chuckle quietly.
By the time they had got back to Binary's house, Twilight and Spike's willingness to follow Binary had almost completely faded.
Binary walked up onto her front porch, grabbed the door knob and attempted to turn it. Binary giggled; it was time for her trick.
Binary stifled more laughter “Oh silly me, I forgot that, Chip locked my house”
Twilight let out a small sigh, she was quite sick of hearing about, Chip.
Binary reached into one of her vest pockets, then pulled out Chip's disc and showed it to Twilight and Spike.
“Go ahead, ask what it is” Binary insisted.
Twilight began to answer, as Binary pushed a button on the disc. The holographic body of Chip appeared, which caused Twilight's eyes to widen in shock.
Binary observed Twilight and Spike's reaction and was a bit disappointed that neither of them freaked out.
Spike approached Chip and the two assistants quickly examined each other, then both asked Binary in unison “What is that thing?”
Binary replied to Spike's question “This is Chip”
Twilight raised an eye brow “But didn't you say, Chip was an imaginary friend?” she asked.
“Yeah, and then I said, I made him real... Oh, now I get it, you just thought I was crazy. That makes so much more sense than what I was thinking before”
Twilight chose not question what Binary had thought about her “So is it... alive?” she asked
“You may direct such questions to me, thank you” said Chip.
“He seems pretty alive” said Spike.
“Binary, who are these beings?” Chip asked his creator.
“Well that's Twilight Sparkle, she's a princess and that's Spike, Twilight's pet dragon”
Spike crossed his arms and rolled his eyes in response to the unintentionally insulting description.
“They're my frie...” Binary paused for a moment, then asked “We're still friends, right?”
Twilight simply stared at Chip, trying her best to comprehend how Binary had created an entirely independent entity.
Twilight was only shaken out of her stare by Chip, who said to the alicorn in a stern tone “She asked you a question”
Twilight looked back at Binary, who was currently staring at Twilight with the best sad guilt trip face she could muster. Twilight could admit to herself that she had rushed into a friendship, but she couldn't say that the whole thing hadn't been any crazier than anything her friends had ever put her through.
“Of course we are” said Twilight.
Spike also nodded in response.
Binary's faced lifted up to a smile. She turned Chip's disc to face herself and asked her companion “Chip, do you want to be friends with Twilight and Spike?”
“No” Chip replied flatly and without hesitation. “May we please go inside”
“But, I was going to show them some of my inventions” Binary said.
Chip glanced over at Twilight and Spike for a moment, then groaned as he turned back to face Binary.
Spike nudged Twilight's side with his elbow and whispered to her “I don't think he likes us”
Chip was about to insist that the pair leave and allow Binary to rest, but before he did, he paused and took notice of Binary's happy expression. He had not seen Binary smile like that in years, although he couldn't understand why
Chip sighed “Whatever you think is best” he mumbled out.
“Great” Binary said, as she turned and tapped Chip's disc on the door knob. A blue spark appeared as the disc and door knob touched, showing that Chip had transferred back into the house. Several locks could be heard clicking open as Chip called off the lock down.
Binary then opened the door and led Twilight and Spike inside.
The pony's hooves, and the claws on Spike's feet, clicked on the metal floor.
Binary then spun around to face her guests, and proudly said “Welcome to our humble abode” Binary's voice echoed through the metallic house.
Twilight and Spike looked around and took their time to soak in the bizarre look of the chrome house. From where they were they could see a metal stair case a small ways in front of them, as well as a living area to the right the through an arch shaped door hole in the wall. The only living room was the only place they could see that wasn't completely covered in metal. The room contained a red rug, some old wood lounge chairs and stools with red cushions on them, and a wooden coffee table in front of a fireplace, over which hung a rolled up projector screen.
“It sure is... shiny” said Spike.
“That's cuz it's self cleaning” Binary said, just before a pair of mechanical arms with claws holding wash cloths appeared from hidden panels on the floor, and quickly scrubbed where the three had entered. Once finished, they quickly retracted back into the floor.
“Where did Chip go?” Twilight asked as she looked around for the A.I.
Chip's voice then replied through speakers in the walls, making his voice sound more metallic and muffled “I'm all around you”
A small blue light then zipped around on the floor and stopped beside Binary. Chip's body then blinked on. Chip presented his body in a larger form than he had before, now standing tall enough to be at eye level with Spike.
Binary looked down at Chip and asked “What do we have that we could show our friends?”
A small checklist of product names with either green or red dots beside then appeared in front of Chip. Green meaning the gadget was operational, and red meaning it was either unsafe or not yet perfected. The A.I quickly looked over the list and compiled a smaller list of appropriate inventions to show.
Binary read the list over Chip's shoulder and quickly darted off up the stairs, to retrieve the devices.
Twilight and Spike waited for Binary to return. They stood in awkward silence while Chip stared at them.
“So...” Twilight looked around to try and find a topic of conversation to fill the silence “Binary created you?” Twilight asked, Chip.
“That is correct” Chip replied.
“So, how did she go about doing that?”
“I do not think you would be able to comprehend the process, but I'll explain it in terms I think you may understand; She needed me, so she made me”
Twilight raised an eyebrow and thought to herself “Did he just call me dumb?”
“So basically, she wanted a friend?” Spike asked.
“Incorrect, want and need are two very different subjects” Chip replied.
A loud clattering sound interrupted the pointless back and forth between Chip and the two outsiders. The three looked to see Binary tumbling down the stairs, along with dozens of gadgets, all of varying sizes, shapes and colours.
Binary quickly crashed down to the foot of the stairs and laid there with her face flat on the floor.
Binary stuck a foreleg up in the air, and said “I'm okay” her voice was humorously muffled by the floor.
It was moments like this that Chip wished he had some way to assist Binary in more than just a logistical sense.
Binary shot back up onto her hooves and gathered up as many of the devices as she could. Although she quickly began to take more than she could handle, as they slipped from her grasp and fell back onto the floor.
Twilight and Spike walked closer to Binary to eliminate the need to move the devices.
Binary then began to give Twilight and Spike as many devices as they could hold, all while trying to explain what they were and what they did. The scene was similar to that of a child showing their parents a new toy and trying to explain why they must have it.
“Binary!” Chip said sternly “One thing at a time”
Binary stopped and stared at Chip for a moment, then took a look at herself. She quickly realized how impolite she was acting.
Spike struggled under the weight of the collectively heavy devices until Twilight levitated them out of Spike's grasp, then placed them on the floor in front of them, in several tidy rows.
“Which one did you want to see first?” Binary asked, doing her best to control her still overflowing excitement.
Twilight, nor Spike had any idea which devices did what. Each device looked different, ranging from wand like devices to simple cubes and even one that resembled horseshoes.
Twilight looked over the devices and eventually picked one at random “How about... that one” Twilight pointed a hoof towards one of the wand like devices.
Binary knelt down and adjusted her glasses as she looked at the device “That's a P.D.W, it's a personal defence wand that shoots intense waves of sound”
“I don't recommend we start with that” Chip said. Chip then looked over the tidy rows of gadgets. Chip's body once again disappeared into the floor and suddenly one of the cube shaped gadgets lights began to blink “Try this one” Chip said through the speakers in the walls.
Twilight's horn began to glow and the device became engulfed in magical energy. As the device was lifted into the air, Chip's light once again flashed to the ground. Twilight placed the device on her hoof. Upon closer inspection Twilight found a small orange button on one of the sides. Twilight pressed the button and the device began to emit several metallic clinking noises. The top of the device suddenly burst open, startling Twilight. The device then began to fold down onto Twilight's hoof, covering the end of it. A sudden surge of fear took hold of as she swung her foreleg around violently.
“What is it doing!?!” Spike asked in shock.
Twilight calmed down as the device ceased it's operation. She then looked over the results, the cube had folded down onto her hoof and left a pincer at the end. Twilight moved the end of her hoof around and as she did the pincer moved slightly.
“That's...” Twilight paused a she tried to find a descriptor for the device “interesting”
“Flex the muscle in your wrist” Binary instructed.
Twilight did as instructed, and as she did, the pincer opened and closed. Twilight then knelt down and used the pincer to grab another one of the devices.
“Does it hurt?” Spike asked.
“Pfft” Chip scoffed at the dragon “Of course it doesn’t hurt, it's designed to be completely comfortable and feel like a natural extension of the users body”
“It does feel comfortable... or as comfortable as a claw on my hoof can feel” said Twilight.
“And that's just one of my gadgets, and I have like a biji-zillion-quintillion more” Binary said over enthusiastically.
“That's not a word” said Twilight.
Chip agreed and added “It's also not a true statement, we have exactly 169 fully operational devices as well as an additional 114 still in their test phase”
“What do you plan to do with all this stuff?” Spike asked as he picked up one the wand like devices.
“I don't recco...” Chip began to say before being cut off by Binary.
“Well the main plan is to totally level the playing field between the different species of ponies. Unicorns can levitate, Bam, levitation wand!” Binary grabbed a levitation wand and proudly held it up “Now Earth ponies and Pegasi can levitate stuff. Pegasi can fly. Bazow! Rocket boots for everypony!” Binary grabbed a pair of boot like gadgets off the ground and held them up with her other fore leg. With no support for the front of her body, Binary fell to the floor. “And also, maybe make a billion bits in the process so I can make even more stuff” Binary concluded, her voice muffled from her face being pressed against the floor... again
Spike shook the device around a little as he tried to figure out what it did.
With Binary's rant over Chip continued what he had tried to say before “Please don't touch that”
“Why?” Spike asked just as he found a button on the device and pushed it.
The end of the device glowed red and suddenly a stream of fire burst from the end, luckily not igniting anything... except the end of Binary's tail.
Twilight's jaw dropped in response to the near death of Binary.
Spike dropped the device to the ground “I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to do that!”
“Didn't mean to do what?” Binary asked as she stood herself up. Binary eyes suddenly went wide “Chip, am I on fire?” she asked her companion.
“Don't worry, I have it under control” Chip said as he disappeared into the ground. A piece of ceiling panelling slid away, which allowed a mechanical arm carrying a fire extinguisher to descend. The device turned, but it's joint couldn't quite turn to face Binary.
“If you would, please move a little to the left” Chip requested.
Binary did as instructed. The extinguisher then sprayed her tail with foam that was specially designed to smother fires.
Binary turned to look at her now partially charred tail. She swished her what remained of her tail around, flinging away the little bits of foam that remained.
“I had just grown that back to the way I liked it too” she mumbled to herself.
Spike held his hands behind his back as an embarrassed smile came to his face.
Binary sighed “I remember the first time I lit something on fire... I was bald for so long after that” Binary said, as she stared off into space while she thought about all of the times she had nearly burnt herself to a crisp.
“Yes, that was the day we discovered that an air conditioner hat was not a good idea” said Chip.
“Pfft, it would have had so many applications, you just gave up on it because the prototype blew up on my head” said Binary.
“To be honest, that does sound like a good reason to stop working on something” Twilight interjected.
“Thank you” The A.I responded.
“But the main thing is simply to make not just Equestria, but the entire planet better... but since I messed up showing everypony my inventions... I don't know if I have the courage to face them again”
Binary looked down at the ground with a slight frown on her face, and poked one of her gadgets.
Twilight and Spike exchanged sympathetic glances, both of them wished they could say something reassuring, but nothing came to mind.
Chip then looked at Binary “It will be alright, Binary, we can just go back to the hill and you won't need to worry about it anymore”
Binary looked at Chip, and a warm smile came to her face. Binary then turned her attention back to Twilight and Spike.
“Now, which one do you want see next?” Binary asked.
2 hours later...
The group had moved their test area into the living room. Binary and Twilight sat on a red, two pony couch. Twilight and Spike had nearly looked over all of the inventions, leaving only some of the larger and dangerous looking ones untouched.
Twilight and Binary were currently testing a pair of devices called, smart books, one of Binary's proudest achievements; although she seemed to say that about all of her inventions.
The devices hung from the users neck via a metal strap. Attached to the strap was a metal tray with a hinge on the far side from the user, which allowed the top panel of the tray to flip up, revealing a screen. Just above the screen, embedded into the device was a camera which tracked the users eyes, allowing them to select things by blinking, or type messages without the user needing to use their hooves. Unfortunately the devices did not currently allow for much content due to the need for others to contribute their own work. The only feature, Binary could properly show was the electronic message function which allowed two users to instantly send messages to each other.
Meanwhile, sitting on a short cushioned stool, Spike was currently suggesting to Chip, a few ideas for some dragon exclusive gadgets. Unbeknownst to the dragon, Chip was secretly not listening to him, instead reading his lips while his audio receptors listened in on the conversation between Binary and Twilight.
“This messaging reminds me a lot of, Princess Celestia and I sending letters to each other through Spike” said Twilight
Binary didn't respond to the comment. Her eyes were glued to the screen in front of her as they darted around as she typed a message.
“Send” Binary said to the smart tray.
A message then appeared on Twilight's screen.
Twilight read the message aloud “You use your friend as magical postal service?” Twilight looked past her screen, and said “It's not as bad as it sounds. Except that one time, Celestia sent me all my letters back and... maybe that's a story best left untold”
Binary once again didn't respond, her attention was placed fully on the smart books screen.
Twilight sighed and looked back at her own screen. Twilight then began to move her eyes about to write a reply. The process took much more time for Twilight than it had for Binary.
Twilight hesitated slightly before she said “Send” The idea of talking to an inanimate object when the pony she wanted to speak with was right in front of her, understandably felt a little awkward.
Binary received the message and almost immediately began writing a reply.
Twilight sighed and closed her smart book, then levitated it off of herself. Twilight then placed her hoof on Binary's tray and pushed it shut.
Binary looked up and blinked a few times as her eyes adjusted back from looking at the screen.
“Why'd you do that?” asked Binary.
Twilight rolled her eyes. She was pretty sure she was not the one being rude “Sorry, it just seems silly to send messages back and forth when we're right next to each other”
“Well all of the other stuff is user generated, and I have no users” Binary said as she began to open her smart book.
Twilight placed a hoof on the tray and closed it again. She preferred to speak with words rather than text.
“I see you've grown tired of the smart books” Binary said as she took her device off and and placed it on the seat beside her. “Well that's pretty much it. You've seen most of my life's work... so what do ya think?” Binary asked.
“It's all quite interesting, but I just don't understand how you've managed to do all this by yourself”
“Oh, I'm not alone, I've got Chip” Binary looked past Twilight and quickly waved at Chip before turning her attention back to Twilight.
Twilight turned to look at Chip for a moment. “Yeah, about Chip, is he technically... alive?”
“Well... I guess, he's as alive as he needs to be” Binary replied.
Chip heard the statement and thought to himself as he repeatedly scanned the words for meaning “Alive as I need to be... what does she mean by that?” Chip thought to himself.
“Did you want to see some of the stuff I'm still working on?” Binary asked, Twilight.
“Hmm... maybe another time” Twilight replied.
“I don't really think theirs going to be another time” said Binary.
“What do you mean by that?” Twilight asked.
Binary looked down at the ground, her cheery nature seemed to have momentarily left her. “I... don't think I was ready to come here yet. I think I need more time to prepare”
Still listening, Chip was pleased that Binary had taken her advice, yet he couldn't understand why Binary looked upset about it.
Once again the feeling of pity that Twilight had felt before, returned to her. She felt as though she needed to say something to reassure Binary. But Twilight didn't feel like it was her place to give advice, after all she had only known Binary for a day. In truth, the whole ordeal was more than anypony else would probably have done for such a new acquittance.
After a few moments of thinking, Twilight decided on her next words “Whatever you think is best”
Only the sound of Spike's rambling suggestions broke the odd silence between the two.
“Well, I suppose we should get out of your hair” said Twilight.
“Okay” Binary replied, her voice already seemed to be returning to it's almost annoyingly peppy tone.
“Come on Spike, I think it's about time we let Binary and Chip rest” Twilight said as she stepped off the couch.
Spike hopped off of the stool “So you'll think about a dragon scale polisher, right?” Spike asked Chip.
Chip did not reply, instead he zipped over to the door and eagerly awaited for the two to leave, so he could finally tend to, Binary.
Twilight, Spike, and Binary walked to the door. The small dragon opened the door and walked out of the house, then waited on the porch for Twilight.
Twilight followed Spike out the door, as did Binary. Chip of course could not follow the three outside, and instead stayed inside as the door closed in front of him.
Just outside...
The afternoon sun burned bright in the sky and warm light lit the town.
Twilight and Spike stepped down from the porch and turned to say their goodbyes.
“It's been really interesting” Spike said to Binary.
“Just, interesting?” Binary asked.
“Well I'm not going to say it was great, it was actually a little awkward at times” Twilight said jokingly.
Twilight didn't feel the need to correct Spike. It honestly hadn't been the most enjoyable day ever but it was exactly how Spike had described it, it was interesting.
“Well to be honest, I think the awkward came from you guys” Binary said to the two.
“Whatever you think” Spike replied.
Binary then turned her attention toward Twilight, expecting some parting words.
Twilight thought back to what Binary had said about leaving ponyville the next day. Binary's inventions were a little odd and somewhat unnecessary, but it was obvious that a lot of love had gone into them. It would be a shame to just let Binary waste her potential by locking herself away again.
“Are you sure you want to leave so soon?” Twilight asked.
“It's not that I want to... I just need to be ready” Binary replied.
“I'm sorry Binary, but that's silly” Twilight said “If you want to get ready to be apart of the world, how does shutting yourself out again help?”
Binary stood still as she thought about what Twilight had just said to her. Binary looked down at the ground. Her eyes moving around slightly, indicating deep thought going on in her head.
Spike then whispered to Twilight “I think you broke her”
Twilight rolled her eyes in response to Spike's comment.
“Goodbye Binary” Twilight said.
Binary shook her head slightly, to break herself out of her thought process. She smiled and waved at the two... although they hadn't left yet. “Bye” she yelled as she continued to wave.
Twilight and Spike exchanged quick, awkward glances before they departed back for the library.
Binary kept smiling and waving until the two were far out of sight. All the while still thinking about what Twilight had said.
Binary reached into one of her pockets and pulled out one of her levitation wands. She simply stared at it as she stood there. She had waited so long to show her inventions to the world, and it had felt so good to show them to somepony.
Binary paused as she asked herself “What was the difference between showing Twilight and showing everypony else?”
An idea suddenly came to Binary's mind. She smiled and turned around to enter her house.
Binary opened the door and excitedly jumped toward, Chip, then knelt down to be at level with her assistant.
“Are we excited about something?” Chip asked.
“Kind of... incredibly!... or maybe just a little, I don't care. Chip, what was the difference between me trying to show my inventions before, as apposed to me showing them to Twilight and Spike?
“Small group interaction” Chip replied.
Binary hopped up into the air and cheered “Exactly! I was overwhelmed by all the ponies out their that I couldn't do dinkily-diddle-squat. But if I showed my inventions to one pony at a time, then I could get over my fears and sell some of my gadgets all at the same time”
“No” Chip said flatly.
“Wha... What do you mean, no?” Binary asked.
“You have been through an extremely traumatic experience and I would prefer it if you slowed your momentum down and let me inspect your condition”
“Chip, I'm fine, you don't need to worry about me”
“I am designed to worry about your happiness, in the present and in the future. I can tell far faster than you can if something is going to hurt you and I only see pursuing this endeavour without proper preparation resulting in further harm to you”
Binary turned away from Chip and sighed as she walked to the stairs. She then paused at the foot of the staircase “Chip... you don't understand. I can't keep being scared” Binary then turned back to face, Chip. “Today, I realized just how much I've been missing. I barely recognized an apple when it was given to me... Being out there with all of them, it felt nice... better than nice, it felt like I was getting back into the world, and it felt so good, and warm, and welcoming...” Binary paused as if for dramatic effect “I won't shut myself in again” Binary concluded.
Her last words carried a gravitas unlike anything Chip had heard Binary say before.
Chip stood in silence. He simply stared at Binary. Nothing that she had said seemed to add up. Feelings, warmth... apples; Chip had an understanding of these things but he simply couldn't acknowledge how they could have made Binary think so irrationally.
Binary then walked back towards Chip and knelt down to be at eye level with him. “Chip, if we're going to make the world a better place, then we need to be a part of it... no more hiding”
Chip looked at the ground “Whatever you think is best” He replied.
Binary smiled “Good, we start tomorrow” she said.
Chip stared into Binary's eyes and said “But, please, just one day. I need to make sure you are okay”
“Okay. But after tomorrow, we're getting ourselves out there” Binary said before she turned and ascended the stairs, leaving Chip in silence.
Chip turned and looked at the door. Chip had already been out there... and he didn't like it.
His body fizzed and he then began to count “1, 2, 3, 4...”
Two days later...
The afternoon sky was filled with gloomy grey clouds due to a scheduled rain fall over ponyville.
The task of producing such weather was one that no pegasi really enjoyed, especially Rainbow Dash. Positioning rain clouds was a slow and meticulous job, as opposed to simply clearing them away, not to mention the occasional grumblings from the unicorns and earth pony's on the ground.
The speedy Pegasus wasn't the only one who found the rain dampening her mood. For filly's like the cutie mark crusaders, the rain meant a day shut inside when they could be out crusading. Much to the dismay of Rarity whom found herself tasked with finding ways to entertain her energetic sister.
However the day was an opportunity for the book worm, Princess Twilight Sparkle, who as one would assume, reading some of the new books, Princess Celestia had sent her upon her ascension to princess-hood.
But as the intention of a day of rain being to rejuvenate the earth, it also allowed many pony’s an excuse to laze around and recharge their batteries; that was something Chip wished Binary would be willing to do.
The inventive unicorn busily prepared for her first attempt at selling her inventions with her new approach. Binary had spent most of the previous day sleeping off the stress of the days before. She occupied the rest of her time with the simple, yet long overlooked task of adding a levitation device to Chip's software, allowing him to manipulate objects by himself, and after a few minor bugs, such as Chip sub-consciously moving objects; he quickly controlled the behaviour after applying an internal system patch.
Unfortunately, the effectiveness of Chip's update would need to be tested at a later time, as Binary stressed over deciding which inventions to take with her. She had deduced that the now muddy rode would surely damage her homes treads if she attempted to move it to any potential customers. Thus Binary decided this was the perfect time to test her self propelled horseless cart. But the idea of weighing in which inventions she thought were more deserving of their chance to shine was near impossible, aside from a few special cases such as her levitation wand.
But one invention had to stay, or rather chose not to go. For the first time in his seven year life as Binary's companion, Chip refused to aid Binary.
Binary thought nothing of it. According to her understanding of friendship, it was absolutely normal for a friend to occasionally refuse an activity.
The same could not be said for Chip. The idea of not being there to assist Binary bore a heavy weight on his electronic mind, which was only escalated by his rapid thought processing. A minute of thinking felt like hours to Chip... but no matter how hard he thought he couldn't come up with an answer to the question: Why? Why would he not help Binary, did he hate the outside world, was he even capable of such a thing? The sudden interactions with the outside world caused him to realize just how little he knew about it.
Chip currently projected his body onto a windowsill in Binary's room, as he stared outside and watched the rain.
Each raindrop made a mess, so many unpredictable little cannonballs of liquid hurtling through the air. Each one formed through an overly complicated process into a single isolated raindrop that in the short time of their existence manage to do nothing more than be embraced into the earth where pony's walk over top of them without a care.
The sound of fast paced hoofsteps echoed through the halls. Binary dashed into her room and dove under her bed.
“Hey, Chip, do you know where my auto sander is?”
Chip did not reply, his mind was to busy attempting to comprehend the purpose of raindrops for whatever reason.
“Binary...” Chip said.
“What?” Binary asked, as she poked her head out from under the other side of the bed.
“Are raindrops... alive?” Chip asked.
“Uh... no, you should know that. Now about my sander?”
“But they have many of the characteristics of a living thing. They are made through precise conditions, they have a limited life span, their direction is changed by whatever forces they meet before they inevitably hit the ground and die... aren't they alive as they need to be”
Binary then crawled out from under the bed, she walked to the windowsill and looked at Chip.
“Don't be silly” she said with a smile “It's not just how things are made that determines if they're alive. A living thing has a heart like me and...” Binary paused for a moment before concluding “Nevermind... about the sander I mean, it's not one of my better inventions anyway”
Binary's eyes then moved to the window and she joined Chip in watching the rain.
A few moments passed with no noise but the sound of rain pattering against the window.
“Ooh, that reminds me, do you remember where my rain coat is?” Binary asked.
“Did you look in the first floor closet?” Chip asked.
Binary thought back for a moment, then replied “No... Well really I hadn't looked at all. I just thought about it now”
If Chip had visible eyes they would be rolling.
“You do realize if you don't take proper precautions when exposed to the elements, you could be harmed”
“I know that”
“No you obviously don't” Chip said with a hint of aggravation.
“Pfft, Chip I know how to take care of myself”
“Well some days I wonder if actually you do!” Chip said sternly as he stared directly into Binary's eyes.
Binary's expression instantly showed her offence to the comment, or more specifically, the tone in which Chip had said it. Binary suddenly felt like a child who had been scolded by a parent, and that was definitely not what Chip was, if anything it should be the opposite.
Binary held her gaze as she walked toward the door... unfortunately she bumped into a wall in the process, causing the scene to lose much of it's seriousness as Binary chuckled at her own misfortune.
Chip's body fizzed as Binary left. He then turned back to the window. As he scanned what he could see from his perch, something caught the attention of his sensors. Chip looked down near the porch. He levitated the window open, his body then fizzed as he strained to make his levitation work beyond the restraints of his home.
A small object in the mud became engulfed in a blue aura. As Chip lifted the object up to the window the raindrops slowly cleaned the mud away, revealing it to be the broken off piece of Binary's horn.
“Maybe... a heart can be made”
Outside....
Binary, now wearing a black rain coat, placed the last of her gadgets into her cart.
The cart itself however was an odd gadget in itself. Like any other cart it was made of wood on the outside, but on the inside, below the floor panels an array wires and circuits allowed the cart to eliminate the need for being pulled completely, as it was designed to drive itself and follow the user around wherever they went. However, any visual prowess the cart had was overshadowed by the large tarp over top of it. Binary had quickly thrown the cover on to avoid her inventions being damaged by the rain, but no matter how hard she tried, it kept looking like a mess. The grey tarp hung lower on one corner than the others, and part of it was already beginning to rip. Any pony with an eye for detail could come up with a hundred other flaws.
But to Binary, it worked, therefore it looked perfect. Binary stared at her work with a joyous wide eyed expression. The look quickly faded away as she looked back to her house. Binary's expression went blank, she had never had a tense encounter with Chip before.
She then looked at the ground and stood in a moment of silence.
She had moments like this before, but like everything else outside of her isolation, it was a different experience. The noise of the rain prevented Binary's thoughts from uninterruptedly rattling around in her head and kept her from dwelling on them. But even with the rain, a thought still bothered her. Why had Chip snapped at her? The only reason she was rushing herself to accomplish her goals was because if she didn't try now, then she knew she would never try at all... that, and the fear. The fear of the world used to drive Binary away but now it was a driving force for her. But why couldn't Chip see that?
Binary looked up at the house once more before slowly walking away, her cart followed close behind.
From the window, Chip watched as Binary left.
The house was silent, aside from the noise of the rain. For the first time in Chip's life, he was alone in the house with no indication of when Binary may be back. The eery silence suddenly began to creep in on Chip, the lack of life that Binary had always brought to the house was gone, and it disturbed him.
Chip looked back out the window, and not far away he saw Binary stop. Chip intently watched as Binary stood still.
“Yes” he thought “Come back, come back home”
His hopes were quickly crushed when he saw her approach what appeared to be some sort of boutique.
Chip's body fizzed and crackled “How could I have been so ignorant!?!” He thought to himself. “Of course she wasn't going to come back that quickly” Chip's body suddenly ceased it's sub-optimal state. He hung his head low and asked himself “Why?” He looked back up and saw Binary knocking on the door of the boutique “Why does my logic fail me when it comes to you?”
A sudden loud crashing sound shook Chip out of his current state.
He zipped his body to the source of the noise and to his utter shock, he saw the legs of a pink pony jutting out from under a pile of boxes of dehydrated food. What happened was plain to see, the pony had opened the pantry doors not anticipating Binary's poor organizational and stacking skills.
The pony shook her head about, which cleared away a few of the boxes and revealed the pony's head.
The currently upside down pony looked at Chip with a happy expression and cheerily said “Hi I'm Pinkie Pie, what's your name little guy?”
“Get out” Chip said flatly.
“That's a funny name, Get out (snort) Ha, it's even funnier the second time, not that I'm making fun of you and your name or anything like that, I'm just so super duper extralooperly fanbidously”
“Shut up!”
“What's the matter, Get Out, am I being rude? Because if I am you need to tell me because some times I just can't tell, like this one time I accidentally made my friend cry because... ow” Pinkie's rant suddenly stopped as she felt a sudden pain in her forehead. Blood seeped from a small cut, most likely from one the boxes edges. Pinkie touched the cut then looked at the small amount of blood on her hoof... for an uncomfortably long time, then asked “Hey, Get Out, do you have any band-aids?”
Chip was literally about to blow a breaker before he remembered one of the anger lessons, Cheerliee had taught him. Chip looked at the ground for a moment and thought to himself “Happy place” Chip looked back up at Pinkie Pie.
Her obnoxiously happy expression reminded Chip of the countless times Binary had hurt herself, only to ignore the pain and choose to push on.
“That can be my happy place... Memories” Chip thought to himself.
“Are you alright?” Binary asked the hunched over fashionista.
Rarity's back was still sore from Pinkie's reactionary jump onto her, although the pain wasn't quite as severe as it initially had been, partially due to the hot water bottle she had on her back.
“Oh I'm fine, just a little back trouble, and I've been so backed up with orders that I haven't been able to find a moment to visit a chiropractor and this hot water bottle is so tacky and inconsistently effective”
Binary looked around the boutique. It was an impressive sight in a visual and practical sense, unlike some of the dresses that were on display; or at least that's how Binary saw them.
“Far too fancy for me” Binary thought to herself.
“Were you looking for anything in particular?” Rarity asked.
“Um... I was actually hoping to sell you something” Binary replied.
“Well isn't that just the definition of irony, you come into my shop to sell me something, ha, too rich” Rarity strained to smile, her back hurt more than she let on and the pain made polite chit chat feel like quite a chore.
The sudden noise of something upstairs falling to the floor prompted an immediate reaction from Rarity.
“Excuse me for a moment” Rarity said, she slowly walked to the foot of the stairs and called up to her sister who had undoubtedly caused the crash “Sweetie Belle, are you alright?”
“Yes... was the red dust in that jar important?” Sweetie Belle asked.
Rarity winced as she realized what had fallen “You mean the jar of crushed ruby dust?”
“That's what it looks like” Sweetie Belle replied.
Rarity groaned “Just wait a moment Sweetie Belle, and don't breathe in any of that dust” Rarity then directed her attention back to Binary “I'm sorry, but I have a little sisterly dilemma to solve... or clean up as it were. So just make yourself comfortable until I get back”
Binary looked around and the only chairs that she saw looked as if they were on display. After a few moments, Binary decided to simply sit on the ground.
Rarity shot a confused look toward Binary, before she began the arduous task of getting herself and her hurt back up the stairs.
A few minutes passed and Rarity was still upstairs. Any experienced salespony would have taken this time alone as a chance to inspect the customers space and see what they needed. But a salespony was something Binary truly wasn't; instead, she impatiently waited for Rarity to return. After a few more minutes of waiting, Binary finally gave into her impatience and walked toward the stairs that Rarity had ascended.
Binary looked up the staircase and saw Rarity slowly walking down the first few stairs.
A strained smile came to Rarity's face “I'm sorry I took so long... would you mind coming up here, my back is making descending these stairs quite difficult”
Binary nodded, and ascended the stairs. She then followed Rarity as she led her up to her workshop.
Binary looked around the room. The many faceless mannequins bothered her for some reason.
Rarity pointed a hoof toward a stool at her sketching desk “Please take a seat... unless you would prefer to sit on the ground again”
The stool was much less fancy than the furniture in the lower level, thus Binary quickly trotted towards it and sat down without a second thought. The stool was a bit uncomfortable, possibly to keep the user from getting too comfortable and accidentally falling asleep while at work.
Rarity moved to her desk at a much slower pace and chose to remain standing as sitting for extended periods of time bothered her back further.
“Now, before we get started, what was your name?” Rarity asked.
“Binary Steel” She replied.
“And what are you you here for?”
“I'm here to sell you stuff”
Rarity had heard worse sales pitches, but that didn't make Binary's any less weak.
“Is this your first time as an entrepreneur?”
“I.... don't what that means” Binary replied.
“Selling things, is this your first time selling things?”
Binary's eyes narrowed a bit, she then leaned towards Rarity slightly “Are you observant or something?”
“I think the usual phrase is to ask if I'm a mind reader”
Binary gasped “You're a mind reader!”
“No, I was just trying to explain”
“Can you tell what I'm thinking right now?”
Rarity's mouth hung open out of utter shock of Binary's immature nature. (Honestly it's like talking to a pre-school filly) Something suddenly clicked in Rarity's mind. The unicorn she was talking to was the same one who had knocked herself unconscious.
“Are you feeling alright?” Rarity asked
“Yeah sure why wouldn't I...” Binary then took note of Rarity's confused expression. Binary's cheery expression suddenly sunk down into a neutral one “I'm not doing a good job, am I?”
“Honestly, no you're not”
Binary looked at the floor, then took another look around the studio. Every dress had obviously been made from scratch, and it was clear that a lot of care had gone into them. But perhaps the most obvious, yet initially overlooked part of the room was how it showed the designer's success.
“How did you do all of this?” Binary asked.
“I'm not quite sure what you mean?” Rarity replied.
“Make ponies want your stuff, I just don't get it”
“Hmm... I think I understand what you're going through”
“You do?”
“Yes, you have products that you've put a lot of effort into, and you know there's something special about them. But the hard part is convincing others that they're special. I remember when I first started designing, I had a hard time convincing others that my dresses were worth their attention and admittedly after a few rejections, I started to question if they were good enough myself. That was when I learned that before I could convince others to appreciate my work, first I had to truly convince myself that they were worth it. Once you find the confidence in your own achievements, then you can start gaining confidence in yourself, and that's the key”
Binary tilted her head to the side slightly and stared as if in a trance “...Oh, you stopped talking, I'm sorry, I have a very short attention span”
Rarity looked away and rolled her eyes in response.
“I just need to know how to talk to other ponies without it getting all weird” Binary said before leaning back, having forgotten she was sitting on a backless stool. Binary's eyes shrunk to the size of pin pricks as she fell backward, only to be suddenly surrounded by Rarity's magic aura and be levitated back to her slouched sitting position.
Rarity shook her head slightly and using her magic, she straightened Binary's back and lifted her head up a bit “Oh well that's simple” Rarity said, she then took a few steps back “Rule #1: Posture”
Binary looked at herself, then looked back at Rarity with a dissatisfied look on her face “I said, talk to ponies”
Rarity groaned, she was suddenly reminded of the many times she had tried to give Sweetie Belle advice “Just here me out...eh-hem... Rule#1 Posture, never slouch when approaching or being approached by a customer”
“Unlike you're doing right now”
“Excuse me but i believe I explained about my back!” Rarity said as she shot a tense stare at Binary “Now as I was saying. Rule #2: Stay focused. Friendly chit chat is fine but you should always keep the conversation related to the sale at hand, lest you, or the customer gets distracted. Rule #3 Know your target customers. You don't want to go try and sell ploughs to a rich Canterlot socialite.
79 rules later...
“And finally, Rule #83. Don't pester your customers, if they say they don't want something that means they don't want it”
Binary stared at Rarity in silence for a few moments, then asked “Um... Should I have been writing those down? Cause there’s no way I'm going to remember all that”
Rarity sighed. Of course this odd pony had to come on a slow day. Any other day she could excuse herself from some annoyance by tending to a customer. “Perhaps, for you I could recommend one last thing. When you're trying to make a sale, try to be serious”
“Serious...” Binary thought on the word for a moment. Nopony had ever asked Binary to be serious before, except Chip and even if then, Binary didn't take him seriously (pun).
The shops door bell suddenly rang
“Oh thank Celestia!” Rarity thought to herself. “I do believe my little sales seminar will need to come to an end now, I trust you remember the way out”
Rarity then slowly walked back to the stairs as Binary hopped off the stool and trotted past her. Binary then descended the stairs.
Binary continued to move at a quicker pace than Rarity until she was out of the fashionista's line of sight. A few moments afterwards, Binary called up the stairs “Hey there's nopony down here”
“What do you mean?” Rarity asked as she forced herself to painfully quicken her decent. Rarity's back was aching by the time she finally got down the stairs. Rarity groaned slightly from the pain, but after a a few moments of rest she was ready to move again. Rarity then walked into her show room and was immediately frustrated when she saw that whoever was there seemed to have already left.
Rarity gritted her teeth as she walked towards Binary, who was currently trying on several different hats, thoroughly amused by how needlessly fancy all of them were.
Rarity thought to herself “If this dunce has cost me a customer, then I'll... wait a moment” Rarity gathered the evidence in her mind “The bell rings twice for one pony, once for coming, once for going but the bell only rang once”
Just as Rarity figured out what had happened, the ringer of the door belle re-entered the boutique. Sweetie Belle walked in, wearing a yellow rain coat.
Before Rarity could begin a lecture as per usual, a suddenly energetic Binary dived toward Sweetie Belle and landed an uncomfortably close distance to the filly.
Sweetie Belle's eyes went wide in shock and she took a few small steps back... which to Binary seemed like the cutest thing in the world.
(take note that Binary didn't see Sweetie Belle earlier)
“Aww, it's a baby” Binary then looked toward Rarity and said “Wow, you don't look anything alike for mother and daughter”
Sweetie Belle let out a quiet “Umm...” as she looked towards Rarity.
Binary observed Rarity's expression turn into a angry glare, with a raised eye brow for emphasis.
Binary's face suddenly went blank. She then whispered to Sweetie Belle “Oh... you two are sisters aren't you?”
Sweetie Belle nodded.
“Oh dang”
Rarity stormed toward Binary and said in a dignified, yet pissed off tone “How dare you assume such a thing! Does my body look like it's gone through the trial that is child birth!?! Does my mane have grey hairs from catering to the endless needs of a baby!?! And the biggest offence you have committed is stating that I and my sister do not share many of the same beautiful qualities, why, you might as well have called her a mule”
Binary then slunk behind Sweetie Belle and barely squeaked “that's racist”
“Get out” Rarity said, restraining her aggravation.
“I'm sor...” Binary began to say.
For a moment, Rarity's pain and aggravation got the better of her, and she shrieked“Geeeeet oooooout!!!”
Binary scrambled for the door, paying no mind to the fact that she had left her rain coat behind. She slammed the door behind her and rushed away from the boutique, her cart followed at slightly slower pace.
Sweetie Belle stared at Rarity, equal parts shocked and confused, as well as a little disappointed in her sister.
Rarity turned away from Sweetie Belle, she walked to one of the shops many mirrors and began to take several deep breaths to calm herself.
“I'm sorry you saw that, Sweetie Belle. I suppose I'm not setting a very good example”
“It's alright sis, emotions happen”
“Oh what I wouldn't do to have one day without things like pain or feelings” Rarity said before turning back to face Sweetie Belle. Rarity approached her sister and wrapped a foreleg around her to squeeze her into a hug “But if I did then I wouldn't be able to love you like I do”
Sweeite Belle then attempted to return the hug, but Rarity quickly pulled away. Sweeite Belle was soaking wet after all.
Rarity then corrected her posture as much as she could “Now that we've had a little sentimental moment... would you mind telling me why you went out in the rain when I explicitly asked you not to?”
“It looked like the rain was letting up” Sweetie Belle replied in a pointless attempt to justify her childish mistake.
The two sisters both paused as they heard the boom of thunder in the distance.
“Let me take a moment to analyze what you've said” Chip said to Pinkie Pie. The energetic mare had just given an extremely long, fast, and detailed explanation as to why she had broken into Chip's home. “Essentially, what you've said indicates that you're trying to gather information for a party”
“Yep, I throw a party for every new pony in ponyville but the only way to do it properly is to investigate what that pony likes”
“And the reason you were in the pantry was...?”
“I was trying to find what food she likes” Pinkie then looked at the pile of dehydrated food boxes “But I don't think I know the recipe for whatever those are, so I'll just have to go with cake instead, although honestly their would have been cake anyway, and speaking of cake, would you happen to know what kind of cake she likes?”
“Cake?” Chip asked.
“You know chocolate, strawberry and vanilla try all those and never get your filla,” Pinkie then jumped onto her hind legs, threw her forelegs into the air and cheered “ at your first party in ponvillaaaa!”
“I don't think the small tune was appropriate, but I'm willing to ignore it... what does vanilla taste like?”
“Well vanilla tastes like, mmm... but strawberry tastes like, mmm tangy... but chocolate tastes like, mmm mmm mmm so good!”
“I have no idea what you are trying to communicate to me. I don't think I approve of this party, and I hardly think Binary would enjoy it anyway... it seems trivial”
“Trivial!?!” Pinkie shrieked as she hopped towards Chip, she stood on the tips of her hooves and looked down on Chip “Everypony wants a party, and it's a complex process of finding out what a pony likes or dislikes and using those to make the best experience so they'll stay in ponyville forever!” Pinkie paused for a moment then smacked her head with her hoof “Oh shoot, now I'll need to plan a party for you too”
Pinkie then looked at her hoof. A small streak of blood was smeared on her hoof. She looked up to her forehead and said to herself “That little cut just doesn’t want to scab up”
Pinkie then looked back down to Chip and before she could ask, Chip replied “Yes, I have band-aids”
Binary trudged through the muddy rode. After the absolute disaster at the boutique, Binary had decided that the best choice was to venture to the edge of town and seek some of the more “rustic” looking homes, out of hope that the residents may be a little less sensitive.
Binary hated mud, it was hard to walk in, it made a mess of her hooves, and it made her cart move incredibly slow, not that Binary herself walked very fast in the mud anyway. But the reason she hated it the most was because of how it absorbed anything that fell into it, just like the irritation which was slowly growing in Binary's mind. At the moment, her cheery disposition was gone, her head hung low and she tensely looked down the rode.
“Hey!” A strange voice called from above Binary.
Binary looked straight up into the air, consequentially getting her glasses covered in rain drops. Through the water droplets Binary saw the distorted form of a light blue pegasus with a multicoloured mane and tail.
The Pegasus, Rainbow Dash, fluttered down to the rode and landed in front of Binary.
“Don't you know you're not suppose to be outside in the rain?” Rainbow asked.
“Well ... I was just”
“Trying to catch a cold or something... wait a minute you look familiar” Rainbow thought for a moment “Oh yeah, you're that unicorn who hit your head on your door” Rainbow looked at Binary's broken horn “You broke you horn too. I gotta say, that must stink”
“It's not so bad, I never really used it anyway”
“What? That's would be like me not using my wings to fly” Rainbow flapped her wings a few times to emphasize her point.
Binary ignored Rainbow's comment, instead she was attempting to look up at her horn. She could just barely see the jagged broken tip “It'll probably grow back, right?”
“Uh... maybe” Rainbow then looked up to the clouds. The weather was beginning to get a little out of hoof and needed some adjustments before it took a turn for the worse.
“Well, I hope your head's feeling better, but I've gotta tend to the clouds” Rainbow said as she began to slowly take off into the air.
Binary's expression suddenly shot up to an excited smile “Wait a second” Binary called to Rainbow, who was already too high up to hear her. Binary ran back to her cart and fished around in her cluttered pile of contraptions for a weather modification device she had made to assist pegasi with sky clearing.
Up in the clouds, Rainbow adjusted the dark grey bodies of water vapour. It turned out to be a quicker fix than she thought it was going to be. Rainbow pushed a few thicker clouds apart, then moved them to meld together with some of the smaller clouds. As she was doing this, Rainbow looked down to the ground and saw Binary setting something up.
The contraption consisted of two small wheels which were joined by what resembled a cup holder. The wheels were connected to a long skinny metal barrel that pointed up to the sky. All it needed now was some ammo. Binary reached into one of her many pockets (consequentially getting mud inside the pocket) and pulled out a small metal egg shaped object. Binary then placed the object into the wheels holder. The wheels then began to spin. Slowly at first but they quickly picked up their pace as the seconds went by. The spinning became violently fast and the egg shaped object began to heat up from friction with the air. The dangerously fast spinning also caused a loud humming sound, which drew the attention of Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow flew in closer to see what was happening “ Hey, what's that thing doing?” Rainbow called.
Binary simply smiled as she stared at her invention. The light from the wheel reflected in her eyes. She loved that moment, that moment right before she was going to see an invention do what it was made for, to work exactly how she had made it to.
“Hey!” Rainbow called again.
Binary quickly looked up at Rainbow, then looked back down. A frightened expression came to Binary's face as she realized Rainbow was right in the path of what was about to happen.
Binary stood on her hind legs and yelled up at Rainbow “Get out of the way!”
“Out of the way of what?” Rainbow yelled back.
In an instant the wheels moved closer to the barrel. The holder lined up perfectly with the bottom of the barrel and the momentum of the egg shaped object sent it hurtling up through the barrel and into the sky at an insane speed.
“Holy Hay!” Rainbow exclaimed before she dashed to the side just in time to avoid being cut in half by the projectile.
Rainbow then rocketed to the the ground and looked at Binary, her expression was a mix of anger and shock “What the heck was that!?!” Rainbow yelled.
Binary lowered her head and meekly replied “My... cloud clearing device”
“Cloud clearing...” Rainbow said to herself before looking up into the air “Oh no”
An orange stream of light followed the projectile as it entered the clouds and became lost from either pony's sight. A few moments passed and nothing happened. Suddenly a loud explosion followed by a bright orange flash lit up a small portion of the sky, and the grey storm clouds were suddenly blown away, leaving a large gap in the otherwise cloudy sky.
The rain around Rainbow and Binary instantly stopped and the sun shined down on them.
Binary smiled at the sight of her invention working without a flaw.
The feeling however was not mutual.
Rainbow's expression sunk into an angry grimace and she slowly turned her head toward Binary.
“What... the... Buck!” Rainbow cursed.
Binary met Rainbow's angry gaze and responded “Whoa, chill out, technicolour”
“Chill out?...Technicolour!? Do you realize how long it took me to get those clouds into position, how painstakingly slow it was to arrange them so it rains evenly, and did you even stop to consider how lazy it makes all us pegasi look when theirs a huge gaping hole in the middle of a rain shower”
“No” Binary squeaked in response.
Rainbow turned away from Binary and let out a loud, yet restrained groan before shooting up to the sky to put the clouds back in place.
Binary could hear the frustrated Pegasus mumbling some harsh sounding words, yet the growing distance between them left Binary unable to tell exactly what Rainbow was saying (perhaps that was for the best)
Binary stared at her weather clearer. It had worked exactly how it was supposed to, why was it not appreciated?
Binary then thought back to what that purple maned unicorn had told her about figuring out what somepony actually wants. Although it didn't seem to matter now, she had now lost another potential customer and may have even lost the entire pegasus market.
Binary then looked around to make sure no pony was watching. Her expression turned rage filled, and she harshly grabbed the device then viciously chucked it into her cart, the impact broke the device into several pieces
She then slouched and trudged forward.
Even without the rain, the rode was still muddy.
“There” Chip said as he placed a band aid over Pinkie's scratch “Now your wound can heal without as much of a chance of being infected”
“Thanks... so, about the party?”
“I already explained that Binary would...”
“No silly not for her, I'm wondering about a party for you. What's the funnest, most super joyful thing you like to do?”
“Why do you need to know? Chip asked.
“Well if I don't know what you like then I can't concentrate that thing into an all around theme for your party... you do want a party, right?”
“Want?” Chip scanned the word for meaning “I don't really have wants, other than for Binary to be happy”
Pinkie's expression slunk into a confused frown “Umm... I'm not really sure if I can work with that” Pinkie looked at the ground as she thought on the subject. She then shot back up to her usual peppy grin and said “What if I made party for you, where everyone is nice to Binary, and it can double as her party too”
“No” Chip replied flatly.
Pinkie's smile dipped slightly for a moment, then almost instantly warmed back up “Aw come on you're kidding, everypony likes parties”
“I don't like anything” Chip said, his body fizzed immediately after the words.
“You don't mean that” Pinkie persisted.
“I can't say what I don't mean” Chip's body fizzed, more severely this time although Pinkie failed to notice it.
“Don't be silly, just look into your heart and find the deepest, most enjoyable thing you can think of”
“I... don't have a heart... yet”
“Oooookay... well on a different note and admittedly something I should have asked before, what are you exactly?”
“I am an Artificial Intelligence. I was created to aid Binary in her daily struggles, and prevent her mental deterioration during her period of self imposed isolation. Or in other words, I keep her from going crazy”
Pinkie's face suddenly went blank in response. She then reached into her hair and pulled out a noise maker and blew it. The end of the noise maker passed through Chip's body before folding back up.
“Why did you do that?” Chip asked.
“I'm trying to lighten the mood. You were getting really deep there for a second”
Binary hung her head low as she approached a small cottage on the edge of ponyville. After only two attempts at selling her gadgets she was already thinking about throwing in the towel. However, one fact kept Binary holding on; neither of the two ponies had anything against her gadgets, they had simply not liked her. Not exactly the most comforting thought... but it was something to keep her going.
Binary arrived at the cottages front door, her cart was a few feet behind her. She raised a hoof to knock on the door but paused just before knocking, she took a few steps back. Binary hung her head with her eyes closed. Her head bobbed up and down slightly as she slowly inhaled and exhaled. After a long minute of calm breathing, Binary corrected her posture and smiled as she held her head high and went to knock... with her eyes still closed. Binary stretched her fore-leg out and waved her leg about as she attempted to hit the door. She leaned closer, and her weight quickly shifted too far to her front. Binary felt herself begin to fall forward and opened her eyes just before falling face first into the door. Although a plus was the impact made a large enough sound to be considered a knock.
Binary groaned as she got back up on her hooves. She held her nose, which had taken the brunt of the collision.
“No! No!” she screamed in her head “Its already going wrong! Why! What did I do to deser...” Binary looked down at her hoof and saw a surprising amount of blood on it “Aww Come on!” She hissed at herself. Binary quickly attempted to wipe some of the blood off her face using her vest which resulted in a large stain on the garment.
Too many things were going wrong. That was it, she was quitting. After a grand total of three attempts at being a salespony/inventor, she was getting ready to run away back to the lonely hill she had dared to roll down from. Binary quickly turned and was about to run as fast as she could back to the safety of her home... but was suddenly stopped by a soft voice from behind her.
“Hello” The voice said from behind the door.
Binary began to panic... more-so than she already was. She had no time to run away, what if the pony laughed at her, or what if this was the pony that would've finally made everything click and she had lost the opportunity by looking like (to put it lightly) a pony that had just been in a bar brawl. Binary quickly chose the only option appropriate for the situation, she hid. Binary dove behind her cart and tried to calm herself down. Although thinking about how upset she was just seemed to make it worse.
“Is anypony there?” The voice asked. Fluttershy peeked her head out the door.
Binary's racing senses suddenly stood still, she recognized that voice, it was the voice of that pony who had helped her before. She cautiously poked her head out from behind her cart.
Fluttershy gasped at the sight of the stressed out unicorn, but her momentary state of surprise dissipated as she recognized Binary.
“Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked.
“Ooh I'm fine, just a little... off” Binary said as she moved out from behind her cart, and limply stepped toward Fluttershy, whom also stepped out from the safety of her home.
“You're nose is bleeding” Fluttershy pointed out. The sight of the smeared streams of crimson from Binary's nostrils worried Fluttershy slightly.
A weak smile came to Binary's face and she stuck out a mud covered forehoof, expecting Fluttershy to shake it.
“Umm...Not to be rude or anything, but... you're sort of dirty” Fluttershy said as politely as she could.
“Uh-huh, I sure... (sigh) I sure am... heh heh”
“Is there something wrong?” Fluttershy asked.
“No... um...I... would you like to buy some...(sniff)...” Binary then sat on the ground and began to move the tip of her hoof around in the mud.
Fluttershy moved closer to Binary “What are you doing?” she asked softly.
“(sigh) Drawing. It's what I used to do when I was filly whenever I got really upset. I haven't done it in years”
Binary suddenly stopped stopped her mud sketch. She watched as the impact from the spits of rain washed away her drawing.
A long forgotten feeling suddenly began to rear it's ugly head. That feeling of pointlessness that Binary had felt long ago when she was a filly. Binary could remember a few other times this feeling had attempted to engulf her mind but unlike those times, she did not have Chip to make it better, but the comforting thought of Chip was lost as Binary thought of his rude warnings and recent odd behaviour.
It seemed Binary was once again in the same position she was as a filly. Just a sad girl, sitting in mud, after a tough day... but this time she was alone... or not.
Binary was surprised to feel a foreleg placed on her shoulder. Binary did not respond to the gesture, instead she simply remained looking at the ground and continued to sulk.
“Binary, if you want help, you need to tell me what's wrong?” Fluttershy asked.
Binary's emotions suddenly screeched to a halt as she thought about what Fluttershy had asked.
What was wrong?
Well... it was raining, just a little bit though. Binary had failed in selling her gadgets to two customers, however that was two out of a whole town of potential buyers. The worst thing was probably falling face first into Fluttershy's door, but to be honest that was just a freak accident. The more Binary thought, the less seemed wrong.
“Uh...” Binary began to say as she regained her composition “... I guess, I'm just making something seem bigger than it is”
“Oh... well that's good. Would you like to come inside and clean yourself up?”
“Sure” Binary replied, her perky attitude returning slightly. “Do you want to buy some of my inventions?” Binary asked.
“Um...” Fluttershy hesitated. She then looked toward the cart “... there's nothing dangerous in there, right?”
“Define dangerous?”
“Why are you still here?” Chip asked Pinkie.
Pinkie was currently snooping around in Binary's room for anything that may indicate what she would enjoy... Although their was very little to go on.
The room's floors, walls, and ceiling, were all perfectly polished stainless steel, and the only pieces of furniture were a metal dresser, with a few seemingly more advanced gadgets on top of it, along with an old worn bed with grey covers. Much like the furniture in Binary's living room, the bed didn't seem to fit with the rest of the house.
Just from looking around she could find nothing to help her party planning research. She then turned her attention to the dresser.
“How does she keep everything so tidy?” Pinkie asked Chip.
Chip zipped his body up onto the dresser and replied “Everything in the most of these room instantly maintains itself, it helps Binary save time... also for the fact that Binary is sub-par at housework”
“So if I did...” Pinkie began to say as she readied herself for a jump “this!” she cheered, as she jumped up onto Binary's bed then bounced off and landed in front of Binary's dresser.
Chip's body fizzed in response as he looked at the now moderately disturbed bed.
A quartet of mechanical arms descended from the ceiling and quickly fixed the bed back to it's original condition.
Pinkie watched with great interest as the four arms retracted into the ceiling; a smaller pair of arms descended and fluffed the pillows, then ascended back up into the ceiling.
“Cool” she said “That was a really good bed to bounce on”
“Why did you do that?” Chip asked.
“Because it was fun” Pinkie replied.
“Fun?” Chip asked, obviously confused.
Pinkie then ran her hoof along the top of the dresser. Two gadgets laid atop the piece of furniture. One being and incredibly complicated rubk's cube like puzzle; the other was small ball that hovered slightly above the dresser, seemingly by itself. Pinkie took a closer look at the ball and as she did the ball split aprt into millions of small nanite fragements, then almost instantly reformer to mimic Pinkie's face exactly; she then contorted her face into several silly expressions and giggled as she watched her nanized reflection. She then pulled her head back and the ball reversed it's process, quickly changin back to the ball it started out as.
She then tapped on the dresser drawers “Do you think Binary would mind if I just took a peek inside this?” she asked.
Chip would rather have just said “yes, she would mind” but that wouldn't really be an appropriate response from Binary “No, she wouldn't mind” Chip admitted.
Pinkie opened the highest of the three vertically stacked drawers. It contained six black vests, one pair of glasses, twelve red bracelets and six black bows.
“Hmm... one for everyday of the week and an extra pair of glasses. I think I'm starting to get what she likes, she likes everything neat and...” Pinkie pulled out the next drawer and found it was filled with rusty old tools that weren't organized at all “...tidy”
Pinkie reached into the drawer and pulled out a old rusty hammer “Are these her tools?” Pinkie asked as she examined the seemingly ancient hammer.
“No, those are (entry not found). Huh, I'm not sure who's tools those are... Binary must have neglected to put that knowledge into my code”
Pinkie placed the hammer back in it's pile and closed the drawer. She attempted to open the third drawer but found that it was locked. She then turned to look at Chip
Chip was currently projecting his body onto the bed. He moved his body in a jumping motion but he could not create the desired bounce. Chip hung his head slightly indicating his minor disappointment.
“Is there a key to this?” Pinkie asked.
Chip nodded, then looked toward the door. A few seconds passed and an old key surrounded in Chip's dull blue aura came floating into the room, then flew towards Pinkie.
Pinkie grabbed the key and pushed inside the drawers key hole then turned it.
“This is all rather odd, I've never actually seen the inside of that drawer. I've never had any desire to see until now” Chip said as Pinkie slid the drawer open.
Pinkie looked inside the drawer and saw stacks of old drawings, and a file filled with paper, marked “Project A.F”.
The drawings were stacked neatly, but not meticulously. Further down the stack the paper showed signs of age, it was obvious they were stacked from oldest to newest.
Pinkie picked up the stack of papers “I love drawings” she said as she looked through them.
Chip zipped his body onto the top of the dresser and looked inside the drawer.
Many of the drawings were primitive looking drawings of some of Binary's inventions in very early states of development. Oddly, the colour of the gadgets greatly differed from their original design; hardly any appeared to have been designed to be the metallic grey almost all of them were, except for a few cases in which colour coding was necessary. But as Pinkie went deeper into the pictures, the colourful sketches became less frequent, and a few of the ones that still remained looked as though they were designed to damage things.
Chip eyed the folder in the drawer, then levitated it up to his hologram and opened it. The first page of the folder read:
“I have been trying for weeks to finish my prototype, but nothing seems to be working. I feel as though my desire for the project to be completed as quickly as possible may be hindering my efforts. If I continue to rush the project then I will inevitably need to keep starting over. I've started the groundwork for compiling the code for it, which would as act the projects memories and personality, although the personality may be difficult. Under new estimates, each stage of the project may take up to a month to complete... although I worry about myself sometimes too. I've taken note that in the morning I immediately start working on the project as soon as I wake up, rather than performing my usual morning routine. Although this practice has accounted for a 12% increase in my work time, so I may learn to live with it”
“Intriguing” Chip said.
Pinkie looked up at Chip and asked “What's interesting?”
“I said intriguing, but that's beside the point. It seems, I've happened upon Binary's notes from when she was making me... although it's odd she never mentions me by name, and the fact that she seems to have been hiding them from me, I find it... odd”
“Maybe it's a plot thread” Pinkie said as her eyes wandered back to the pictures.
“Hmm... maybe you have a po... wait, what?
The rain had become more severe, making the rode much muddier.
“Stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid” Binary cursed herself as she walked down the rode.
Unfortunately, Binary had blown any potential for Fluttershy as a buyer of her gadgets. Her automatic rodent net device had gone haywire and ensnared several animals in Fluttershy's cottage in extremely small nets. Which wouldn't have been so bad if the nets weren't designed to squeeze whatever animal was caught in them like a boa constrictor.
Fluttershy, in a rarely seen fit of anger, then proceeded to literally throw Binary out of her cottage.
Binary continued to mutter to herself. She glared down the rode with a look of absolute detest for everything she saw. Nothing was like it had been a few days ago. Instead of everything being warm and welcoming, the world seemed to have turned cold and bitter around her; and the worst thing was that everything that happened was Binary's own stupid fault.
Accidentally insulting the fashionista, ticking off that pegasus, and almost killing many of Fluttershy's beloved animals. Somehow Binary had brought out the worst in all of them. Even the problem of the weather could have been avoided if Binary had just waited another day, but instead she had felt some foolish need to do it today.
“What was I thinking, why didn't I just wait like Chip told me to!?!” Binary grumbled to herself. She then responded to herself in a goofy self making tone “Well that's simple, it's because you're an idiot when it comes to anything other than machines” She swiped at the mud with a forehoof then replied to herself “Well maybe if the world wasn't so flipping hostile to anything new (deep inhale) I COULD ACTUALLY MAKE SOME BUCKING PROGRESS AND!!!...And... AND STOP HAVING TO RELY ON A FAKE BEST FRIEND!!!!...” Binary suddenly froze and thought about what she had just said, then immediately became repentant. She began to meekly mutter to herself while pacing in a circle “No no no, I didn't mean that, Chip is my best friend, I need him, I'll always need him because he's the only one who understands”
The cart followed Binary as she paced, which after a few circles began to create a deep rut.
“I just need to stay calm and...” Binary paused as her ears flicked in response to a slight creaking sound. Binary slowly turned her head and watched as her cart creaked to a stop. Her eyes shrank to the size of pin tips as her mind mathematically determined what was about to happen in the next few seconds.
The repeated tight circles had placed far too much stress on the wheel inside the rut, and after a few more moments of creaking the wheel snapped off the axle, dropping one side of the cart into the mud. The other wheel then began to turn in an attempt to correct itself, which resulted in it creating an even deeper rut.
Binary didn't scream, she didn't panic, she didn't even get mad. It was an easy fix, just levitate the cart out of the mud and find a way to get the wheel back on. Binary calmly reached into one of her many vest pockets and pulled out her levitation wand. She pointed the device at the cart and pushed a small button to turn it on. The device did nothing. Binary raised an eye brow to show her annoyance as to why her invention was not working. The wand made a sizzling sound, then popped into several pieces; the resulting flash and heat, burnt Binary's hoof and her eyes.
“Oh I guess it broke because of the water” Binary said in a far too calm tone. She began to deliriously chuckle to herself “I know what I'll do”
Binary took a few steps back, lowered herself into a ready position and pointed her horn towards the cart and strained as she attempted to levitate it.
However the effort was in vain, as Binary's horn neither glowed, nor sparked. It was no accident that Binary couldn't properly use magic. The real reason was actually genetic. Binary's parents had both been earth ponies, and herself being a unicorn was only possible through the genetics of Binary's grandmother on her mother's side, who was also a unicorn. This generational gap between the unicorn gene, alongside the already commonly known fact of non-purebred unicorns have difficulty using magic, resulted in a genetic dilemma that made it nearly impossible for Binary to use magic... (although any science that needs to take magic into account can't be one hundred percent accurate)
Binary held her breath and attempted to squeeze out whatever bit of magic she could muster. She suddenly exhaled and a small red spark of light popped from the end of her horn. This pop was all the magic Binary could exert and that combined with everything that had happened in the course of a single day caused Binary to...
(We've all had them; those bad days when nothing goes right and we just want to run to every person (pony) who annoys us and scream at them, then kick and throw things around to add emphasis. What do we call that? We call that a tantrum... yes... Binary was about to have one of those.)
Binary charged at the cart and pounded on it with her fore-hooves. She yelled and screamed and cried all at the same time. She proceeded to grab the edges of the cart and attempted to either lift it out of the mud or tip it upside down; she didn't really care which happened. Unfortunately, Binary's minimal physical strength yielded no such results. She then spun herself around, and with her hind legs, she furiously kicked the cart.
After about thirty seconds of kicking, Binary began to huff and puff, obviously quite winded from the physical effort. But she wasn't done yet. She quickly ran a few feet away, turned, then yelled as she jumped toward the cart in a pose similar to some martial artist doing an air kick.
“Daaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!” she screamed as she impacted the cart. Her hoof hit the cart with a loud clunk, and she nearly fell backwards into the mud; although the real miracle was that Binary didn't break her leg while performing her rage filled stunt.
Even after that... the cart showed no signs of cosmetic damage aside from the mud that had gone from Binary's hooves, to the cart.
“So (gasp) you had (gasp) enough?” Binary asked the inanimate cart.
“I think it's had enough” An accented voice said from a moderate distance away.
Binary instantly turned and saw the orange country pony, Applejack, leaning against a wood fence. Applejack wore a dark green rain jacket. The rain poured off the farm pony's hat, slightly obscuring her face. Behind her was a dirty mud covered plow. Applejack had obviously been drawn away from her current chore by Binary's yells.
“Ya havin a bit of a break down there?” Applejack asked.
Binary's face turned red from the embarrassment of somepony having witnessed her tantrum, this also only made her more frustrated.
“Wha... I... no!... Mind your own...Gaahh!!” Binary shrieked. She then stomped over to her cart and attempted to pull it out of the mud.
“Ya know, even if ya get that out of the mud, yer still not going anywhere if ya don't get that wheel back on”
“I know” Binary retorted with a hint of her current aggravation breaking into her speech. Binary quickly gave up on her current strategy. She hopped into the thoroughly stuck cart to look for a mechanized jack that she had brought along with her.
Applejack couldn't help but be a little amused by the display; though she was a little concerned, given Binary's actions just a few days prior.
“Ah Ha! I've got it” Binary cheered before hopping out of her cart, carrying the jack with her in one hoof. However she quickly realized that she still needed to get the jack under the cart in order for the device to do it's job. She turned to look at Applejack, then asked “I don't suppose you could lift this, could you?”
“Well I won't say I can till I try to and see” Applejack replied before she jumped over the fence and walked toward the cart. The farm pony stuck her right forehoof hoof into the mud and felt around for the edge of the cart.
Binary rolled her eyes at the farm pony's efforts and began to say “I don't think it's statistically possible for you to...”
With a single mighty lift, Applejack hoisted the edge of the cart out of the mud and held it at chest height with minimal effort.
Binary's eyes went wide; she had never seen such a feat of strength, granted she'd never really been in a situation where such strength was required.
“Ya gonna stand and stare or are ya gonna put the jack under there?” Applejack asked, although she would have been perfectly capable of lifting the cart for more several minutes without trouble.
Binary blinked a few times, then did as the farm pony asked and placed the jack under the edge of the cart.
Applejack rested the cart on top of the jack, then took a moment to look at the device.
“Uh, ya know this jack ain't got no lever on it, right? Applejack asked.
“It's voice activated” Binary replied. She then directed her speech to the jack “Higher” she said. The jack did as instructed and it extended itself up a short distance.
A surprised smile came to Applejack's face “Well ain't that something. Can I try?”
“Yeah, it works with anypony's voice... or at least it should”
Applejack lowered herself slightly, under the assumption that being closer would make it work better “Higher” she said.
The jack responded just as before, and extended even higher.
“As the school pony's say, that sure is cool”
“You... like it?” Binary asked meekly.
“That's a neat-o little gizmo ya got there”
“You... wouldn't want to buy it would you?”
The sudden sales pitch caught Applejack off guard “Uh... maybe we should focus on getting the wheel back on first”
“Oh... okay” Binary lowered her head slightly and looked away. It seemed as though she had blown it once again. “Well at least she isn't mad at me” Binary thought to herself
Applejack looked at the broken wheel and gave her assumption of what they should do “Well, I don't think you'll be able to fix that. You'll probably need to take it some sort of shop”
“Nope, I made it, I broke it, so I can fix it” Binary said confidently. Binary was about to begin her repairs but stopped as she saw the farm pony observing her. “Would you mind turning away for a second. I don't like pony's watching me work”
“Oh, uh, okay, whatever floats your boat” Applejack turned away from Binary.
The farm pony stared off into the distance as Binary did her work. The only indication Applejack had that Binary way doing anything was through the sounds of tools clattering around. However the sound was rather odd, many times it seemed as though Binary was doing more than one thing at a time with a multitude of different sounding tools.
A grand total of one minute and fifty five seconds had passed before Binary happily stated “Done”
Applejack turned, and was surprised to see that Binary had completely repaired the cart, wheel and all, and had noticeably made a few improvements, such as reinforcing the axles joints with metal that she had cannibalized from her weather clearing device... something she would instantly regret.
A sudden gust of wind swept over the field, nearly blowing away Applejack's hat, and giving the farm pony a sense of what was coming. The day's rain shower was quickly turning into a full fledged storm; possibly due to the misplaced clouds from Binary's earlier sales attempt.
Binary shivered from the cold, unaware of what was to come.
“Maybe it'll let up” Binary said with a hint of cautious optimism.
A bolt of lightning lit up the sky, quickly followed by the sound of thunder.
A concerned expression came to Applejack's face as she looked up at the clouds “I think ya best go back to where ya came from before this storm gets any worse” she said to Binary.
“Is it possible for it to get worse?” Binary asked naively, just before another bolt of lighting struck the ground. “Okay I'm gonna take that as the obvious hint that it is...” Another rumble of thunder prompted Binary to ask the farm pony “Can I come with you?”
Applejack stammered slightly before she responded “Wha?... Why? Don't ya have a place to go?”
“Yeah, but I think it's really far away and...I don't want to get caught in the storm”
“Well... I suppose ya could come with me, just until the storm clears up. My farms just a little ways up the rode, come on”
“Also... when I hit my cart, I busted what makes it move on it's own, sooooo...”
Applejack raised an eye brow as she knew what Binary was about to ask “Ya want me to pull it?” Applejack asked.
Binary reached under the cart and pushed a hidden button, which caused two sets of harnesses to extend from the front of the cart. Binary nodded in response to Applejack's question “I'll help... although I'm severely lacking in the area of upper body strength”
“It's really getting nasty outside” Pinkie said to Chip, as she walked out of Binary's room and proceeded down the hall.
Chip's body sat on the windowsill and looked outside. He payed no mind to where the pink pony was currently going.
“If by, “nasty” you mean an increase in precipitation, wind and lightning; then yes, it's getting quite nasty out...” Chip paused and scanned as far as his optical sensors could “If this weather persists, Binary should be home anytime now”
“What's behind this door?” Pinkie asked from down the hall.
Chip zipped himself into the hall and stood beside Pinkie.
Chip stared at the door at the end of the T shaped hallway.
“I'm... not sure” Chip replied. The A.I was beginning to get irritated with his lack of knowledge about his own home, and he couldn't help but have a sense that things had been hidden from him that for some reason he didn't notice, or couldn't notice until now. Not to mention that his constant statements of ignorance made him seem rather dull.
While Chip thought about this, he failed to notice Pinkie reaching for the doorknob. Pinkie grabbed the nob and slowly turned it.
Without any force from Pinkie, the door slowly creaked open.
Chip and Pinkie stared into the room, both equally curious.
Pinkie stepped inside the room. It instantly felt different than the rest of the house. The clacking sound from Pinkie’s hooves clicking against the metal was replaced with a slight creaking sound as she stepped across the hard wood floor. The air was stale and musty, dust particles danced around in the grey light that shown through a single window, which dimly lit the room, only adding to the already eery atmosphere. A collection of blacksmith's tools hung on the wall, along with several family photos; oddly enough it seemed the mother's face had been cut out of all the pictures. Other pieces of furniture were hidden in the dark corners of the room, not that they were of any real significance. However, on the far wall, below a picture of Binary and her father, sat an old wooden bed with dark blue blankets, under which a small filly sized lump rested.
Pinkie unhesitatingly walked to the bed and lifted up the covers. What she saw caused her jaw to drop in utter shock.
There, laying on the bed like a sleeping filly, sat a robotic pony. The body was crude and seemed unfinished as wires and gear were clearly visible in the joints, it's eyes were strangely designed with several thin pieces of metal suspending the centre of the eye, which would have acted as a pupil of shorts. The most disturbing part of the small robots body was it's face; it seemed trapped in a horrified and painful expression. It was frozen in whatever emotion it was feeling when it expired.
Pinkie laid the covers back over the robot, covering it only up to it's neck. She slowly began to back out of the room.
She nearly jumped when Chip said abruptly “Could you please move, I cannot see past you”
Pinkie turned and quickly trotted out of the room, allowing Chip to see the metal pony staring back at him.
“Soooooo... what is it?” Pinkie asked.
Chip's body sparked as he replied “I don't care” His dull blue aura appeared on the door and it creaked shut, once again leaving the metal pony in it's eery solitude.
Applejack hurriedly pulled Binary's cart up to the doors of the Apple family's barn.
Binary followed behind, having opted out of pulling the cart after proving to only make the task more difficult by walking slower, tripping in the mud several times, and generally adding no benefit to the task at all.
“Would ya mind pulling the door open for me?” Applejack requested as as she stopped before the large barn doors.
Binary nodded in response and quickly walked toward the doors. She grabbed a handle on one of the two doors then slowly pulled it open.
It was incredibly dark in the barn, the large space between the windows caused the already murky light of day to have even less effect. However Applejack could easily have found her way around inside blindfolded; something that proved useful during several other stormy nights and days.
The farm pony pulled the cart inside and undid her harness.
“Well your gadgets will be as safe as a baby bird under it's mamma's wing until the storm lets up”
“Question... would I be able to acquire your pulling services later for the trip back to town?”
Applejack turned away from Binary to roll her eyes without offending the unicorn. “Alright”
“I could give you one of my inventions in return for your help”
“No thanks, it's really not that big of a deal”
“Oh come on!” Binary yelled, before she stomped outside the barn, kicking away a stray bucket as she went.
“Hey!” Applejack called as she followed Binary “What do ya think you're doing, ya can't just kick my buckets”
Applejack quickly exited the barn and turned the corner where Binary had gone. She found the unicorn sitting with her back pressed up against the barn's wall.
Binary stared at the bucket in front of her with a resentful look on her face.
It would have made for a perfect example of awkward silence if their wasn't a large amount of rain falling. After a few moments, Applejack sat down beside Binary and joined her in staring at the bucket.
The two sat their for nearly a minute before Applejack broke the silence.
“Look, I'm...” Applejack began to say before she was cut off by Binary.
“Do you see that bucket?” Binary asked.
“Well... yeah, of course I do”
“How many times would you say you use a bucket per day”
“Well during a hard day of work it's really too many times to count”
“Ya know, I've been trying to sell my inventions and now I realize, I can't even give them away”
“Look, I didn't mean to...” Applejack began to say before once again being cut off.
“Ya see, I want what that bucket has”
“Uh... say what?”
“That bucket, somepony invented it a really long time ago and it is still used today as commonly as it ever was. It makes pony's lives easier, it makes their lives better. But no one remembers the pony who invented it. You see, the thing about me is I'm like that pony who invented the bucket. I don't care if my name goes down in history as some great inventor or entrepreneur, I just want to make things better, but no pony will give me the chance”
Binary crossed her forelegs, then rested her head on her fore-hooves and looked away from the bucket.
Applejack hesitated before she began to speak “Binary, ya obviously just don't know how the world works yet. Ya can't just have one bad experience define how ya live the rest of your life. Ya just gotta take it one day at a time, and except that sometimes everything ain't going to work out exactly how ya planned it”
“It's just hard waiting for things to get better”
Applejack placed a hoof on Binary's shoulder “Trust me, I've been there, but it does get better” Applejack then stood up “Now come on, let's go inside”
“In the barn?” Binary asked.
Applejack shook her head slightly and replied “Nah, in my house... which just happens to be attached to the barn”
“Isn't that unsanitary?” Binary asked.
Applejack shot Binary a blank stare in response “I'm gonna try to ignore that ya said that”
Pinkie quickly descended the stairs. Even her wacky lighthearted perception of the world couldn't help her from being a little unsettled by what she had just seen. Although this feeling was only worsened by Pinkie's overactive... and surprisingly dark imagination.
Downstairs, Pinkie entered the living room and attempted to control her imagination.
Chip suddenly appeared in front of Pinkie, causing the mare to jump back out of shock.
“What is wrong with you? Chip asked, unaware of the obvious and excessive visual and facial cues from Pinkie.
“Oh, uh, nothing really... just a little weirded out” she replied.
“ “Weirded” is not a word. Either way I can't comprehend your current state”
“Okay... how about...”
“No, you don't seem to get it, I can determine what you mean, but I don't understand... what that is, why does it matter?”
“You mean you're not affected by that... little thing at all”
“No”
“Not even a little bit”
“Negative”
“Not even the teensiest tiny widdlest...”
“I said no!”
Pinkie looked away from Chip for a moment and awkwardly scratched the back of her head. “Do you... feel anything else”
“I...” Chip stopped and thought about what had been asked.
The world suddenly felt... well, it didn't feel like anything. Chip wasn't much for figurative statements. The world obviously wasn't empty, but he was suddenly aware of the boundaries that separated him from it. The only comparison he could find of his situation was that of a spector; able to see and here, and in some ways interact with the living world, but ultimately being trapped in some otherness that nopony could comprehend. Yet what upset Chip the most was why he had never questioned or thought about these things before. The answer however was obvious, despite it's greatly difficult to cope with nature; Binary had obviously designed him to never question these things, to never look in that room, and above all, never feel.
“No, I don't feel” Chip replied.
“Maybe I should go” Pinkie said, sensing the uneasiness. Pinkie then headed for the door.
“Wait...” Chip requested.
Pinkie turned her head as she reached the door, she then waited for Chip to finish his statement.
“I think I know what I “enjoy”. I enjoy, control” he stated.
Pinkie slowly nodded her head “Technology, tidiness, metal, control... and creepy rooms with dead robot ponies in them...” Pinkie paused for a moment before cheerily stating “I can work with that”
Pinkie then opened the door and happily trotted outside, humming a happy tune all the while and paying no mind to the storm.
Chip shut the door, and he was once again left alone in silence.
“Yes, I enjoy control” Chip said to himself “and now it has been taken from me”
Chip zipped his body to the second floor. He stared at the door to the room with the robotic pony inside.
“What are you? Why didn't she tell me?... What else didn't she tell me?”
Now safe and dry inside Apple families home, Applejack had began introducing Binary to her family. The three, Binary, Applejack, and Big Macintosh, stood in the home's living room. Granny Smith could be heard preparing lunch for the family in the kitchen. Applejack however chose that it would be best to introduce Binary to her family one at a time.
“This is my brother Big Macintoch, or Big Mac for short” Applejack said “Big Mac, this is Binary”
Binary froze as she was introduced. Other than with her father, Binary's interaction's with stallions had been extremely limited, not to mention Big Mac's imposing size which was intimidating on it's own.
Binary meekly raised a hoof, and squeaked out “Hi”
“Howdy” Big Mac responded.
“Uhh... everything going good for you?” Binary asked.
“Eeyup... that is to mean I reckon so”
“Don't be nervous, Big Mac here's one of them gentle giant types” Applejack said to Binary.
A young accented voice called from the upper floor “Hey, who's talking down there?” A clattering of hoof steps came down the staircase as the energetic filly, Apple Bloom, descended the stairs. “Howdy” The filly greeted Binary as she moved to stand beside her brother.
Binary hesitated before responding to the filly; hoping to avoid any mishap like the one she had with the fahsionista. The moment of hesitation slowly dragged on until more than twenty seconds had gone by.
“Hi” Binary finally responded. “What's your ...name?”
“Apple Bloom” the filly awkwardly replied, obviously a little off put by Binary's odd speech pattern.
“Soooo... how's that local hoofball team?” Binary asked, her question wasn't directed at any pony in particular.
Surprisingly, Big Mac eventually broke the silence “Hoofball teams alright, dependin on who your favourite team is”
“Favourite, umm... the po...uh...I actually have no idea, I was just trying to fill the awkward void”
The Apple family chuckled at Binary's statement, assuming it to be a joke. The laughter lightened Binary's mood enough to bring a small smile to her face.
“What's all the commotion, did somepony tell a rib tickler” Granny Smith said as she entered the room. Granny Smith paused for a moment when she saw Binary. She could instantly tell something was off about her just by one look into her eyes; they lacked the shine that most pony's had. A trait that it seemed Binary and Granny Smith shared.
“Well who's this pony ya'll have been hidin from me?” asked Granny.
“This is Binary, she's an inventor” Applejack replied.
“An inventor! My my isn't that interestin, I suppose your livin the high life, pony's nowadyas are always after the latest thang”
Binary let out an awkward groan “Well... actually I haven't sold anything yet”
“Oh, I'm sorry to hear bout that... say, that gives me an idea. Applejack why don't ya take Binary with ya the next time ya go to sell apples. Ponies always feel better about buying new things if it's somehow related to somethin they trust”
Binary's face lit up; that was just the kind of exposure she needed to get herself off the ground. With a large grin on her face, Binary turned to Applejack “How's that for an idea, eh?” Binary asked.
Applejack stammered for a moment as she tried to get clear what she was agreeing to “I... um... well. I suppose it couldn't hurt”
Binary then stuck out a hoof and asked with a more normal sized smile “Partners?”
“I wouldn't go so far as to say partners but... how about associates?”
“Okay, but I get to have my own hat... maybe a beret”
“Umm... Deal” Applejack agreed.
Applejack grabbed Binary's hoof firmly and gave it a hearty shake.
Apple Bloom watched the exchange with a look of slight confusion “What just happened” she asked Big Mac.
Big Mac knelt down and replied “Business little sis, I think business is what just happened... although it happened oddly fast”
“Now come on clan, I made us all a little lunch” said Granny.
Big Mac and Apple Bloom smiled before walking into the kitchen.
“So I guess I'll just wait out here” said Binary.
“Don't be silly” Granny said “I always make more than enough for the family anyway”
“Coooool” Binary said as she followed the two already departed Apple family members.
Applejack waited a moment until Binary was out of ear shot.
“Granny” Applejack quietly yelled “What are ya doing?”
“Just giving another pony a helping hoof” Granny replied.
“Yeah but you're not the one who has to help her”
“Oh don't be so worried, what could possibly go wrong with having a little company when you're selling apples”
“Remember when Apple Bloom tried to help me sell apples?”
“That was an entirely different situation... not to mention it was hilarious”
“Nah ya don't understand, Binary is a little...ya know...”
“A little bit down on life”
“I was going to say a bit of an oddball. But... yeah. How'd ya know that?”
Granny Smith looked toward the kitchen for a moment, then looked back to Applejack “When ya get to be as old as your Granny ya learn to pick up on little things that speak louder than any words”
Applejack simply sighed in response to Granny's explanation. She still didn't quite understand why Granny had taken such a sudden shine to Binary, but Granny was right; what was the harm in helping another pony out.
“Now quit you're worrying and come have some lunch” Granny said as she slowly walked to the kitchen.
A war was being waged in Chip's mind. Should he open the door, or leave it be. It would be such a simply thing to do, just turn the door knob and pull the door open. But the action would mean defying Chip's code, refusing the very structure that bound him together; but then again, Chip had no idea what, if anything this would actually do to him. Perhaps Binary would be pleased with such advanced thinking; or Binary could see this action as a major flaw and reboot his systems, removing all memories of Chip's life and essentially reincarnating him.
“Curse that Pink Pony!” Chip yelled. His sudden outburst made the silence that followed it all the more apparent. It was all her fault, these new thoughts, all these bizarre truths were because of that intruder.
He projected a holographic photo of Binary in front of him. In his life he knew of only two time periods. The time he had existed and the time he had not; he had always known Binary must have been alone during this time but he never quite considered the damage that could have done to her mind.
“Is this what you went through being all alone... trapped in silence” he asked the picture. A strange sensation suddenly came over Chip; a variation of something he had experienced before; a sensation of understanding. It felt different than simply knowing how Binary must have felt, Chip could now at least begin to understand how she felt. All the fears, all the sorrow of being alone, Chip suddenly understood how all of that felt... or how it should feel. But he did not feel, he couldn't feel.
Such feelings of sympathy at the same time as distrust and betrayal could simply be overcame by anypony through inevitably choosing a side or forgetting about the situation completely. Such a thing however was not possible for Chip. Being an artificial intelligence, the thoughts that would plague some over obsessive individual for weeks took mere moments for him. An immeasurable amount of thoughts plagued Chip's mind, and they all drew him back to that metal pony.
“Lies should not be told by those who have nothing to hide” He said to the picture “You may have not been telling me lies, but you have been hiding things from me” The photo began disintegrate as Chip deleted it from his memories “It's only fair, it's only logical that I return the favour”
His dull blue aura engulfed the doorknob, he turned turned it and the door creaked open slightly. Chip moved himself to where the door had opened and peeked inside.
The robotic pony still laid on the bed staring into space. To Chip however it seemed to be staring right into him, silently taunting him to go further.
An hour and a half had passed since Binary entered the Apple family's home. The five ponies talked, laughed and exchanged stories until the rain subsided.
Outside the Apple families home, Binary and Applejack prepared for the trip back to ponyville.
In the barn, Applejack once again donned the cart's harness, while Binary said farewell to the rest of the Apple family.
“Thanks, that was really nice lunch” Binary said to three Apples “What was in that stuff, oranges?...peaches?”
“Uhh... it had apples in it” Apple Bloom replied.
“Oh yeah, because you're the apple family and you have an apple farm and all of you smell like apples and...” Binary trailed off as she realized she was crossing the boundary between odd and annoying “Well I suppose I'll see you all... whenever. Thanks again” Binary said as she turned to walk away.
The three Apples watched as Binary and Applejack slowly walked away from the farm.
“Well, rains lettin up, I think I best get back to bucking” said Big Mac.
“Oh nonsense, the days more than half over, you'd just get set up and you'd have to come back. Just take a load off till tommorah sonny”
“Hmm.. whatever ya say, Granny” Big Mac replied before walking back inside the house, leaving Granny Smith and Apple Bloom outside.
Apple Bloom looked up at Granny with a slightly puzzled look “Granny, how come you were so eager to help that pony?”
“What kind of a question is tha... er... you and you're sister are so much alike, ya both picked up on my little overly generous moment, eh?”
“Well I get that you should help a pony in need, but Binary didn't even ask for help, ya just seemed to know she needed help”
“(sigh) Suppose ya might be a bit too young to notice. I could see it in her eyes”
“Her eyes, see what in her eyes?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Ponies always got a certain shine to their eyes. Especially in the eyes of little fillies like you. Sometimes that shine goes with old age, but to see it in a pony so young” Granny thought back to the memory of her grandchildren's parents, she recalled how she lost the glimmer in her own eyes when she lost them “There's only two things I know that take the shine out of a pony's eyes like that, the first ones losing a loved one, and the second is... well it's not for a little filly's ears”
“So... ya think she's all alone?”
“Well she told us she had some company of sorts, and sometimes all ya need to keep going is some good friends to keep ya getting up in the morning” Granny looked down at Apple Bloom and tussled the filly's mane slightly “But a good family does the trick too, heh heh”
Chip carefully levitated the robotic pony out of it's resting spot and brought it closer to him. The things head and legs dangled limply off of it's body, it's head turned slightly as it was carried through the air. Chip then placed the metal pony on the ground in front of himself. Upon closer inspection, the robot appeared to have bits of rust on it's joints and several wires looked to have been melted from extreme heat. The robot was slightly larger than Chip's holographic form (about the size of a filly), and it seemed to look down on Chip. He then increased the size of his hologram to match the size of the robotic pony. The pony's eyes glowed orange...
Chip paused and looked up to meet the robot's eyes.
The robot must have been reactivated when Chip levitated it; having inadvertently transferred a small amount of power into it's body.
“Uhhhh.....” For the first time Chip's life he was completely dumbfounded. “...Hello”
One eye stared at Chip and the other wiggled about slightly as it stared off into the space. With a loud rusty screech, the robots jaw dropped. A distorted buzzing sound came from a voice box hidden somewhere in the back of the robots head. The sounds made it seem as though the robot was trying to speak to Chip but not even he could decipher what it was trying to say.
“...uhh...umm...How...How's it going?” Chip asked.
The robot replied with more metallic buzzing sounds, they began to sound more like screams than anything else.
“Why did Binary have you shut away?”
The robot emitted a loud metallic shriek due to the mentioning of Binary. It then began to try and move but it's legs failed it and it fell to the floor. The bot helplessly wiggled it's legs about.
“Wait” Chip said “Let me help you, I'll clean you up”
The robot shrieked again in response to the words, and it's one working eye darted back and forth.
It was a pitiful display, like a bird after crashing into a window. However, Chip felt no pity for the robot; although he was curious about something. The robot's eye contained something that Chip did not have the potential for: fear.
“Are you scared?” Chip asked.
The robot looked up toward Chip with a look of desperation and wriggled itself closer to Chip.
“Wh... what do I call you?”
“brrrr...!!!! vviiiii...rrrrrriiiilllll....bbbbzzzzzrrrrt” The robot replied.
“Pfft. This is pointless, I can't understand a word you're trying to say”
The robot narrowed it's eyes; it may not be able to talk but it could understand what Chip was saying. The robot's body began to spark. It looked toward the floor and suddenly the light from the robot's eyes disappeared as a larger flash struck the floor.
“That was odd” Chip said to himself.
The robot now appeared as dead as it had been before.
“Pfft, there is nothing to be learned from this” Chip said just before an odd sensation took hold of him. He looked about the walls as though something was crawling around on them. One specific spot on the ceiling emitted the strongest source of the odd sensation. Chip focused on the point; there was something there. The spot suddenly moved down the wall and then right in front of Chip's hologram.
A small orange light began to glow just a few centimetres from Chip's holographic face. The light began to spark and emit small bolts of energy which soon bonded together to vaguely form the shape of a pony. The bolts suddenly straightened into long strands extending outward from the initial point of the orange glow. The strands then gently fell and took the shape of the space in which they fell similar to that of water pouring into a glass. After a few moments the strands could clearly bee shown to be making the body of a pony.
Chip's mind was at a stand still. He was completely captivated by the display. However Chip could saw it in a different way, he could see code swirling through the room and being compiled into the form he now saw. A life was being made... or more accurately a reincarnation.
The strands finished their process and now, in front Chip stood an orange holographic pony, just like him.
Chip took a moment to scan the being in front of him, never in all his life had he bared witness to such a sight. He then stared at the ponies face as though he was looking in mirror.
Small red dots appeared where the ponies yes would have been and the quickly enlarged to the size of regular pony eyes. Another pair of small yellow dots appeared in the centre of the red eyes. A small crack the appeared on the orange ponies muzzle which quickly broke open into a disturbingly large smile.
The two digital ponies stared at each other, both unsure of what was happening and busily working their minds to find out.
The silence was broken by the sound of Binary outside.
“Thanks for the help Applejack” Binary could faintly be heard calling.
Chip's body crackled and he looked away from his distorted doppelganger for a moment. He then quickly looked back and saw that the orange pony was gone. Their was no time to think. Chip quickly levitated the robotic shell that and moved back into it's resting spot, then shut the door, just as Binary opened the front door.
Before Chip could zip downstairs to greet Binary, an ear shattering scream was heard. Chip ported himself back into the walls of the house allowing him to instantly see what Binary had screamed for.
Through Chip's camera's he saw Binary standing at the front door, staring at the orange pony. She appeared frozen in a state of terror. The orange being tilted it's head slightly as it stared back at Binary. She slowly closed the front door her and waited outside for a moment, once again the light prattle of rain kept her mind from focusing too much. She then closed her eyes and hesitantly opened the door again slightly.
The orange pony was gone.
Binary let out a shuttering sigh as she pushed the door open completely.
“I must have been seeing things” Binary said to herself as she walked inside her home. “Chip, come here for a second, I have something to tell you”
Chip's holographic body quickly appeared in front of Binary.
“Guess what?” Binary said with a large smile on her face.
“I don't guess, I make assumptions based on evidence as well as logic”
“...ooookay...I got a business partner!... or associate... or pity giver” Binary's words lost excitement later into her statement.
“You mean, you've got someone else to help you”
“Yeah, isn't it great!?”
Chip's body crackled as he replied “Yes, that is... great”
“Glad you agree, now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to get some shut eye”
“You've only been gone a few hours, it's three twenty eight in the afternoon”
“Oh, it felt like it was longer than that. Mmmm-maybe I'll... umm”
“Eat something”
“No, I just had lunch” Binary looked around her home as she attempted to come up with something to do “I guess I could walk to the kitchen just for kicks”
“If you wish”
Binary awkwardly nodded before slowly walking to the kitchen.
Even Chip's lack of feelings couldn't keep him from noticing the awkwardness of the scene that had just transpired. Something was different, not just in Binary, but in himself as well. However Chip knew what had changed with him, he had begun to question his existence and had disobeyed his very code; Binary however seemed to be acting like she had someplace better to be, or at least some place she'd rather be.
Chip's thought process was suddenly interrupted by Binary.
“Chip what happened in here?” Binary asked from the kitchen.
Chip zipped his body to the kitchen, his body appeared atop the pile of dehydrated food boxes that had fell on top of Pinkie before.
“Ah, those, there was a pink pony here” Chip explained.
“Wait wait wait... how did she get in? Asked Binary.
“I can honestly say, I have absolutely no idea”
“Well did she take anything?” Binary asked as she began to put the boxes back into her pantry, although her attention seemed to be on something already inside the pantry.
“No, she was seeking information on something called a, “party” “ Chip replied.
“A party” Binary said “What a kind of party?”
“A welcome to ponyville party is what she described it as”
“That's nice, when did she say that was ha... wait, how's she going to do that?”
“That was more or less my opinion on the subject”
“I mean, she doesn’t even know what my favourite kind of cake or ice cream is”
“Umm... you like those things?” Chip asked.
“Well yeah of course I do” Binary replied... it was becoming more and more appearent that Binary's attention was fixed on something in the pantry.
“Oh...” Chip's holographic form glowed dimmer in response.
“You know I think after this I'll go see Twilight and tell her the good news” Binary's said, her words carried an overly eager tone.
“Binary...” Chip began to say “if you want to go to you see your friend now, I can clean up this mess”
Binary dropped the box she currently had in her hoof and ran towards the door, only managing to say before leaving “Okay, thanks, bye” Binary shut the door behind her.
The loud sound of the door slamming only seemed to emphasize the quiet that quickly set in.
Chip groaned before beginning to levitate the boxes back into the pantry. Chip's mind then went to work analyzing Binary's hasty exit and he quickly came to the conclusion that Binary preferred the company was beginning to lose interest in him. This logic was quickly thrown out the window when Chip caught a glimpse of a small orange pony hiding amongst the boxes in the pantry. The orange pony's red eyes flashed and a beam extended from it's eyes to Chip's body.
Chip looked at himself and checked his systems however the orange pony's action seemed to had been pointless “Oh... maybe you're why she left”
The orange ponies smile cracked open wider and it's eyes widened in anticipation.
“What are you waiting for” Chip said to himself “Error! Error!” he suddenly yelled. Chip's vision was quickly obscured by many error message signs “Virus detected!”
The orange pony then disappeared from Chips sight. The error messages vanished, but the orange pony's work had been already done.
Chip stared into the seemingly empty space in front of him “I-I know you're there. Why can't I see you?”
In actuality the pony was sill right in front of Chip, silently pitying him. The orange pony then disappeared into the homes circuitry and laid in wait for Binary to return.
Chip stood completely still, he could not allow himself to focus on anything else until he had eradicated the virus that coursed through him no matter how long it took.
Several hours later....
Binary stood in the darkness outside her home. She had spent an hour and a half at Twilight's home, explaining about her arrangement with Applejack, and was pleased to find out the two were already friends. Unfortunately, Binary quickly ran out of things to talk about and left before she got on Twilight' nerves. She spent the next two hours killing time by walking around the town, fortunately allowing her to gain a better understanding of where everything was. Another half hour was wasted away inside Sugarcube corner; but the bakery closed as the moon was raised into the sky. She then wandered the now mostly deserted streets. The town grew darker as more and more of the lights inside the buildings were extinguished.
However, one shop remained brightly lit.
“Chugger's all night tavern” the name was sprawled on a neon sign. The sign hung from a long metal pole attached to a brown building. From the outside the place didn't look like much, not to say it looked decrepit either. Binary walked closer to the building and looked inside.
She could see several pony's moving around on what appeared to be a dance floor, while a few other pony's sat on stools in front of a long wooden table.
Binary didn't recognize the establishment as a bar. To Binary it seemed like some sort strange gimmicky restaurant.
Without thinking about it, Binary entered the building. Music blared from speakers near the dance floor. The music was loud enough for the ponies on the dance floor to feel the beat while still being controlled enough for the ponies at the bar to not have to yell (too loud) to speak to each other.
Binary had no desire to dance and the bar was mostly crowded, with only a hoof-full of stools vacant.
“Hey!” A plum coloured pony called to Binary.
Binary looked toward the pony and asked “Are you heying at me?”
“Yeah,” The pony replied “come over here” she said as she patted the seat of a stool beside her.
Binary did as the pony asked and sat beside her.
“Soooo... what's your name?” the plum pony asked before taking a gulp from the frosty mug she held in her hoof.
“Uh... Binary Steel”
The pony suddenly lurched toward Binary, now being an uncomfortably close distance to Binary's face “That's a weird (hiccup) name” she said “Mines, Berry Punch”
Binary eyes went wide in response and she attempted to lean away from Berry; however the action was in vain as Berry fell forward onto her and was just barely caught in Binary's front legs. Binary looked at the pony in her grasp and quickly discovered that she was momentarily asleep, albeit with a smile on her face.
“Oh don't mind her kid” A plae yellow unicorn stallion with a dark drown mane and gold eyes said from the other side of the bar “She just gets a bit, whee-hoo, after her sixth or seventh drink”
“Oh” Binary said in response. However, she had no idea what, whee-hoo, meant.
“Say, I don't think I've seen you around here before”
“No, I just came here to get away from... some stuff at home”
“Aye, a stallion?”
“Nope”
“Kids?”
“Pfft, no”
“Money problems?”
“Uh-uh”
“Some sort-a domestic dispute”
“Umm... you could say that”
“Aye, I think I got an idea of what you're going through, and I sympathize with ya” The stallion levitated a fresh mug out of a freezer below the bar, then moved it underneath one of the taps.
At the sound of the fizzing beverage, Berry suddenly awoke and straightened herself back onto her stool, much to Binary's relief.
Foam from the beverage nearly overflowed from the top of the mug as the bartender finished filling it. Without even looking at his target, he levitated a coaster right in front of Binary.
“Ooh, Chugger, Chugger, do the trick” Berry pleaded.
“Okay Berry, but only because you're drinking buddy left ya”
The Stallion, Chugger closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before tossing the mug backwards, toward Binary.
Binary reacted to the sudden action by throwing her front legs up to shield herself and shutting her eyes.
A moment passed and the expected splash of liquid against Binary's face didn't come. Binary opened one eye and looked up to see the liquid swirling like a mid-air whirlpool. She then put her front legs down, and watched as the liquid began to break off of whirlpool and pour back into the mug.
“That little trick earned me this little beauty” Chugger said as he showed off his cutie mark, which depicted two mugs clinking together symbolizing his talent at bar tending.
“That's cool” Binary said to the bar keep. Binary moved her face closer to the mug and took a sniff. She crinkled her nose a bit after taking a whiff of the drink. “What is this stuff?” she asked.
“It's hard cider; I got some lighter stuff if ya...”
“No no no... well, what does it taste like?”
“Like Cider, but stronger”
“Cider, eh?” Binary thought back, she remembered one time when she was a filly, her mother had brought home a case of orange bottles filled with a similar, but lighter looking liquid in them and had sat them on the living room table while she went to clear a space for them in the fridge. Binary assumed the bottles to contain soda pop and had taken the opportunity to test her home made bottle cap opener, it worked near perfectly, aside from the cap flying off the bottle and embedding itself into the ceiling. Without smelling the contents, Binary took a swig from the bottle; she remembered the taste being a little harsh but overall it was tasty, although for some reason she could never remember what happened after that, but she did remember having to sit in the corner for taking something without anypony's permission.
“I'll give it a shot” Binary said before she grabbed the mug and lifted it to her lips “Wait” She said just before sipping the liquid “I gotta pay for this, right?”
Chugger rubbed his chin for a moment, then replied “Eh, firsts on the house... but it's two bits for each one after that”
Binary smiled and looked into her free drink.
Berry Punch watched as if something interesting was about to happen.
Binary took a small sip and sloshed the drink around in her mouth. Her face went from pleased to disgusted and back again until she finally swallowed it.
“Well that wasn't so bad” Binary said before taking a few more larger gulps. She quickly finished the drink. She licked her lips and just like everything else it was... was suddenly making her feel woozy.
A strange sensation came over Binary as she struggled between vomiting, or ordering another drink.
“You okay there, Grey?” Berry asked followed an intoxicated chuckle.
“I feel sort of funny”
“But you're not sick, right?” Berry asked.
“I don't think so” Binary replied.
“Good then you can be my drinking buddy for the night” Berry knocked on the bar with one hoof and reached down into her saddle bag with the other “Chuggy, another round for me, and Grey” Berry said as she dropped four bits onto the bar.
Chugger levitated the bits into a bag under the bar, then went to work pouring them their customers drinks.
“Why do I feel like this?” Binary asked as she rubbed her hoof on the side of her head.
“That's just what the drink does, it takes your worries away for a little while” Berry paused for a moment before suddenly sinking down into her stool with a disappointed look on her face “But my usual drink buddy says that it's bad for you... or at least she says it's bad for your teeth, but she's a nut about teeth anyway”
“Hey” Binary said sympathetically “If we didn't have nuts there'd be no coconuts”
Berry hesitated for a moment before replying to the strange statement “Wha?”
The question would however be put on hold as the two's drink's were placed in front of them.
“Bet I can chug that faster than you” Berry said, now suddenly out of her previously low mood.
“You're on” Binary replied.
The two grabbed their mugs and chugged them, Berry emptied her glass much faster than Binary.
“Ahh, that's that’s the stuff” said Berry.
“No fair that was only my second one ever, err, I'll (hiccup) get ya next time”
“Okay, but you gotta pay”
“Right... pay” Binary said before reaching into one of her pockets, but failed to find any bits. Binary checked another pocket, and another, with no success.
Berry impatiently tapped on the bar and glared at Binary.
Binary eventually checked all her pockets but found no money.
Berry's eyes narrowed as the unicorn came up with nothing. “You either owe me a drink or two bits, I don't care which”
Chugger then stuck his head over the bar between the two “Easy, Berry, I don't want any more bar brawls. I had enough of that when those diamond dogs set up camp at the edge of town”
“Come on, Buddy” Berry said before roughly poking Binary in the chest.
Binary was suddenly reminded why she was there in the first place, she was terrified, although what originally caused her fear was in the back of her mind as she meekly stared into Berry's eyes. She continued to pointlessly bumble around in her many pockets until she found what felt like two bits. Binary smiled and pulled the objects out of her pockets and dropped them on the bar without looking at them.
“What the heck are those?” Berry asked.
“They're bi...” Binary's expression sunk as she saw what she had just put out. Two wireless automatic shavers; or if they were to be named based on physical appearance: two little pieces of metal of very little value.
“You're kidding me? Is this some sorta (hiccup) joke” Berry asked.
“No they're my invetions”
“Inventions?” Chugger asked.
“Yeah, you put one one each side of your face and they shave the extra hair off”
“I don't see any stubble on you're chin, Grey” Berry said in an increasingly hostile tone.
“I didn't make it for me” said Binary.
“Can I try it?” Chugger asked as he felt the stubble on his face.
“Sure” Binary quietly replied, her attention was still focused on Berry who slowly leaned closer to Binary.
Chugger levitated the two devices and placed them on his face as directed. They then emitted a small buzzing sound as they moved about on his face. Chugger then levitated a small piece of glass that he kept for “emergencies”, and looked at himself. The stallion smiled as his stubble was quickly cleared away. “How about that, not even a cut to be seen” He said in a pleasantly surprised tone. Once the devices were done and his face was clean and shaven, he asked “Are these things for sale?”
Binary looked away from Berry for a moment to glance at Chugger, then instantly went back to watching Berry “Uh-huh”
“How much?” Chugger asked.
Binary's face lit up “Umm...four bits”
“How about I just give you and your, “buddy” another drink, eh?”
“Whatever keep her from busting my face in” Binary said frantically.
Berry suddenly repelled her advance and a hurt look came to her face as she stared down at the bar.
Chugger placed his mirror and his new shavers down into their respective spots under the bar, then went to work pouring two more drinks.
Binary looked off to the side, attempting not to make eye contact with Berry.
“Sorry” Berry said abruptly “Sometimes... sometimes I'm a bit of a loser”
Binary didn't immediately respond, her fear of other ponies had taken control again, it was a wonder that she hadn't sprinted out already.
“I think I'm gonna, I'm gonna go. Thanks for being my buddy for a little while” Berry said before standing up from her stool. She then looked around for her saddlebag as though it had moved from it's spot beside her; although it wouldn't have been the first time it had gone missing. She found it right where it was the whole time and with more effort than it should have taken, she placed the bag onto her back.
“I-I g-g" she stammered "... I've gotta go sleep this off”
Binary watched out of the corner of her eye, as Berry slowly stumbled toward the door. She then looked back down at the bar before hearing the door slam shut.
“Two ciders up” Chugger said as he placed the two mugs on the bar. The stallion quickly looked around to see where his customer had gone “Hey, Grey, where'd Berry go?”
“I...I think I hurt her feelings” she replied.
“What? Pfft, ha!”
“What's so funny?”
“Yee sound like a little filly. The world ain't all about feelings and emotions, Grey, sometimes ponies just need a good night sleep. You come here tomorrow and you'll see, she'll be right back here and she won't even remember what happened. That's the beauty of the drink, ya can be as big of a jerk as ya want because nobody's gonna remember ya”
“She won't remember me”
“Hey kid, cheer up. Think about it, ya made a sale”
“Yeah... my fist sale” she said to herself. Needless to say this was not how Binary had envisioned her first sale... but it was a start. Her fear was gone, now replaced with a sense of pity for Berry. Binary looked at the two drinks in front of her “Makes worries go away huh” she said to herself.
Binary grabbed one of the mugs and slammed it back, chugging the whole thing down unbelievably fast... a little too fast actually. Some of the cider when down the wrong pipe in her throat and it stung. She hacked and coughed for a few moments before regaining her composure. She then grabbed the second drink, her fourth total. This time she took her time with the drink, savouring every drop until the mug remained dry, leaving only a bit of foam at the bottom of the glass.
A strange sensation suddenly took over Binary, she was beginning to see why her mother always had some of the cider around...until she slipped into a completely different state all together.
Their was a reason Binary couldn't remember what happened after she had tasted her mother's cider as a filly... the girl couldn't hold a drink to save her life.
To put it lightly (or bluntly)... Binary was completely hammered. Her vision blurred as the side effect’s of the drinks took hold. Everything became a distorted mess as she fell off her stool and made her way toward the shape of the door.
In the background, Chugger said in a heavily distorted voice “Come again”
Binary made her way out of the building and by a complete stroke of luck, she started walking in the direction of her home.
Small spits of rain dropped from the sky, making the rode muddy again.
The streets were even darker than before and the distortion from the drinks only made the darkness seem more terrifying. Binary had completely forgotten about the orange pony, she was now as focused as she could possibly be on finding her way back home and sleeping off the effects of the cider.
“I don't care if she's “special” A voice from Binary's past rang in her head.
“Mom?” Binary asked the nothingness.
“Don't you dare say that like she's some sort of freak” The voice of Binary's father rang echoed through her subconscious.
“She's a unicorn that can't do the simplest bit of magic, how is she not a freak!” her mother yelled.
“How dare you!”
“How dare me! How dare you! Have you even seen some of the things she draws!? She's not just a freak, she's a little nut job too!”
“That's it! That's the last time you insult our little girl! Get the bu... Just get out of here!”
“Gladly, I hope I never see you or “our” little freak again!” she hissed.
Not far away, Binary could see her house. She stumbled toward it, slowly but surely getting closer. After a few minutes, she reached her home and sat on the porch.
She remembered a conversation she had with her father on the porch.
Binary remembered asking as a filly “Daddy, whens Mom coming back?”
“I don't know”
“Where'd she go?”
“I don't know” He said, his word's sounding a little harsh.
“Does she still love us?”
“Ye... no... no, she doesn’t love us anymore” The father broke from his own sorrow as he heard Binary sniffing the way somepony sniffs before they're about to start crying. “Now don't you start crying, okay, I'd have a fit if I ever made you cry”
“But...”
“Shh... now I don't want you growing up thinking that you're routes are from some broken home. These moments don't define us, or make us any lesser than anypony else. They're just a page in our story, and pages always turn”
Binary stared out at the dark town “I don't like this page” she said to herself “it sucks”
She then drunkenly walked toward the door. She opened the it and stepped inside, paying no mind to the fact that an unwelcome entity was laying in wait. She then stepped toward the stairs and slowly began to ascend to the second floor. Once at the top, she briskly walked toward her room and entered, quickly shutting the door behind her. She took a moment to look around her room before checking the usual places a filly might think a monster would hide. She checked her closet, she peaked under her bed she even looked in all of her dresser drawers; but she found nothing. She let out a sigh of relief before taking off her vest and other accessories, then dropping them in a pile on the floor. She crawled into bed, her eyes fought to stay awake but her mind and body yearned for rest.
She looked toward the door as her eyes slowly began to shut. She struggled to remember what she was so scared of. Just before she shut her eyes, the door suddenly began to open. Seemingly by itself, it creaked open slightly.
Binary stared at the door as seconds flew by, the seconds turned into minutes, and eventually half an hour had flown by before Binary finally gave into her bodies demand for sleep. She slowly shut her eyes and drifted off into a peaceful slumber.
An orange glow came from the door, illuminating the room ever so slightly. The orange pony peaked it's head inside and watched as Binary slept. A distorted version of Binary's lullaby began to play.
The house was silent, the only noise being the sound of quiet breathing from Binary, who still slept soundly in her bed.
Downstairs in the kitchen, Chip remained fixated on his task of removing the virus within his systems. Chip had never had a virus before; of course he had had malfunctions and bugs, but those were easily solvable, but this, this virus was much different, it tried to avoid being fixed, it persistently attempted to cause harm and it seemed beyond Chip's control.
The absolute focus that the task required caused Chip to neglect noticing a piece of the kitchens metal flooring being engulfed in a fizzing orange aura. The metal began to peel off, revealing the circuitry in the floor. A sharp tug on the metal snapped it off the ground and the resulting shard resembled a crude blade with jagged edges, like the lid on a can after being opened. The metal slowly levitated into the air, then moved toward the living room.
The blade passed through Chip's holographic body as it went by, inadvertently shaking Chip from his preoccupied state. Chip shook his head slightly, then looked toward the knife. He could not see the aura surrounding the metal but it was obvious something was amiss. Chip watched as the makeshift blade slowly floated toward the staircase.
The virus would have to wait. Needles to say, a jagged piece of metal floating around the house took precedence. Chip hopped down from the stack of boxes he had been standing on, then took a few steps toward the staircase and watched as the blade ascended. Chip began to walk toward the floating piece of metal.
“Wrong” he said to himself.
It was true, something was wrong, but Chip couldn't quite put a hoof on what it was. He pressed onward and quickly found himself at the foot of the stairs. He looked up the flight of stairs, then reached a hoof up to start climbing the first step.
The sound of distorted metallic sounding hoofsteps quickly approached the staircase.
Chip turned “Wrong” he said, as Binary charged passed him up the stairs.
He only caught a glimpse of her face as she went by, her eyes looked tired, her mane was an oily mess atop her head, and her face showed the signs of disappointment and extreme exhaustion.
“Wrong” Chip blared out again. Chip placed a hoof against his head as though he was trying to ease a head ache. Once again he was broken from his current state by the sound of another set of hoofsteps, this time with far less distortion. Chip turned and saw a much smaller version of the metal pony walking around near the foot of the stairs.
The little metal pony looked up at the walls and ceilings, it's metal face showed a smile. The metal pony then looked toward the stairs and began to happily giggle as it began to try and run, only moments before having gotten the basics of walking, running proved very difficult for it. The metal pony stumbled a few times before reaching the foot of the stairs, where it cautiously began it's ascent.
“Wrong” Chip said again.
The metal pony got about halfway up the stairs before it missed a step while reaching out with it's foreleg. It's weight quickly shifted backward as it was about to receive it's first lesson in life... gravity hurts. The pony tumbled backward down the stairs, quickly impacting the floor and for a moment, it laid motionless on the ground. Moments later it began to make a whimpering sound, then slowly got to an upright sitting position. The pony held it's right front leg with it's left leg. It's whimpers quickly turned into a loud cry as it began to look around, suddenly becoming fearful of everything around it.
What seemed like an eternity passed for the metal pony before, Binary finally appeared at the top of the stairs.
“Wow!” Binary said excitedly, unaware or uncaring of the robot's predicament “It actually worked” she said. Binary sprinted down the stairs and began to examine her creation, paying no mind to the metal pony's cries.
The metal pony buried it's face under it's forelegs in an attempt to pretect itself from Binary. It's wails became more high pitched and fear driven.
At this point, Binary finally bothered to take note of her creation's state.
“Hey” Binary said, her voice was frighteningly distorted for some reason. Binary then stretched a hoof out and lightly poked the metal pony.
The metal pony peaked one of it's eyes out from it' huddled forelegs and looked up at Binary.
“Don't be afraid” said Binary “We're friends, you don't need to be afraid of me”
The metal pony pointed a hoof at Binary and question marks flashed on it's eyes.
“Who am I” she said “I'm... uh...Binary Steel. I made you, so we can be friends”
“m...ma...m... Mama” the metal pony stuttered out.
“Yes, technically...but it's more like I'm your maker, but more importantly, I'm your friend” Binary stretched out a foreleg and wrapped it around the metal pony, then scooted it closer to her. She then wrapped her other foreleg around her creation and hugged it tightly “I just can't believe you actually worked”
The metal pony could feel the mares warm flesh against it's cold metal body, it felt safe. The metal pony then returned the gesture and hopped up to wrap it's front legs around Binary's neck.
The image of the two then faded away into a cloud of glowing white code.
“Sweet...but still wrong” Chip said, having already shrugged off the odd event. He looked back up the stairs and to his annoyance he saw the orange pony standing at the top of the stair case, staring at him with piercing red dots eyes. Chip did not react, the figure he saw was only a hologram after all. He ignored the eery stare and continued to climb up the stairs.
“It's just not fair” a strange, deep, metallic voice said from the upper floor. Moments later a slightly larger metal pony quickly descended the stairs.
“Uno, where are you going?” said Binary, followed quickly by her descent down the stairs.
“I'm going outside” retorted the metal pony, or Uno as it had been called.
“No!” Binary shrieked.
Uno paused as though it had never been yelled at before.
Uno turned back toward Binary and asked in an indignant tone “No... you're saying that I literally can't go outside?”
Binary rolled her eyes “No... you technically can, but I don't want you to”
“But... I want to go outside” Uno pouted.
“I said no!” Binary ordered.
“Well... I'm going anyway” Uno said defiantly.
Uno grabbed the door knob and pulled the door open. Unfortunately, the metal pony did not notice Binary charge toward him. Binary slammed the door shut just as Uno poked it's head outside. The door closed on Uno's face, snapping the hinge on it's jaw, causing it to hang loosely on it's face. The metal pony pulled it's head back inside before anymore damage could be done.
“Ow! That hurt!” Uno screamed.
Binary's anger turned to worry as she took a few steps back “I'm sorry” she said.
“I don't care” Uno said before charging off to another part of the house.
Binary stood at the door and hung her head “I just... don't want to lose you”
“Hypocrite, she gets to go outside all the time” Uno muttered to itself.
The figures vanished into a scattered and jumbled mess of red code.
Chip turned back to the stairs and resumed his climb.
Once he reached the top, he was met with an unfamiliar sight. A door blocked Chip from continuing down the hall.
“Wrong” said Chip. He pushed against the door and it creaked open. Inside, Binary sat with her back against a wall, holding an ice pack on her head.
Uno then faded into the scene.
“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. You grabbed me off the windowsill and I got scared, I...I didn't mean to hurt you” Uno said as he examined where he had kicked his maker.
Binary looked up at her creation “Why can't you just be a good friend and accept I know what's best for you. Outside is just too hard!”
“But maybe...maybe it's not too hard for me, please mama” said Uno.
Binary glared at the metal pony, then stood up. She threw the pack of ice in her creations face. Uno stumbled back from the impact.
“Shut up! Stop calling me your mama, I'm your friend, we're supposed to be best friends... not...whatever this is! Why can't you just be normal, I made you so you'd be normal... but this isn't...” Binary began to choke up before stomping away toward her room, desperately holding back tears as she went.
“Please ma... Maker, don't be...” The metal pony's word's were cut off by the sound of Binary slamming her bedroom door. The metal pony stepped toward the top of the stairs and stood there silently. Uno then let itself fall down the stairs, making an un-ignorable amount of noise in the process. It came to an abrupt stop at the bottom of the stairs, then waited for it's maker to come check on it. It waited several minutes but their was no response.
“Um... uh... Ow. I hurt myself” Uno yelled, letting on he was hurt more than he was.
“Shut up!” Binary shrieked.
The figures abruptly flickered away into nothingness, the misplaced door disappeared and the piece of jagged metal floated ever further down the hall.
Chip shook his head slightly “This is just wrong”
He continued on down the hall, only managing to proceed a few steps before once again being distracted, this time by a light coming from the bathroom. Chip attempted to resist but his inhibitions failed him and he found himself walking closer to the bathroom. He reached the door and peaked inside.
Binary and Uno appeared in the bathroom. The metal pony levitated a scrub brush to clean the sink, while Binary filled the bath tub with water.
“Look... I'm sorry about what happened yesterday, it was an accident” said Uno.
“No, it's okay, I'm starting to get used to the 'accidents' ” Binary quietly whimpered as her right eye twitched.
Upon closer inspection, Binary's physical state was the worst Chip had ever seen her in. Her eyes were red and blood shot possibly from a lack of sleep, her knees trembled, and her legs had bruises on them from several 'accidents'.
“It's really impossible to blame you for anything that you do, because I designed you to do everything you do and why would I design you to hurt me, or ki...eh-hem, lost my train of thought... I mean, I know you can't do anything you'd really regret even if it was an accident”
“Regardless, I really am sorry, I can't control myself sometimes” Uno said insincerely.
“It's okay...” Binary took a long pause before continuing “But, I don't think we can be friends anymore”
“What?” Uno asked.
Before Uno could react, Binary turned and grabbed her creation, then hoisted it up over her head.
“What are you doing! Stop! Please!” The metal pony cried.
Binary tossed the metal pony into the bathtub. Uno's body sparked as it's internal systems became soaked. It then began to shudder as though it was having a massive seizure. It reached a hoof out to the edge of the tub, but it's strength had already faded enough to make any effort to save itself in vain.
“Mama! Mama!” It screamed repeatedly.
Binary averted her gaze and reached a hoof out to push the metal pony's head under the water, she may get electrocuted but at this point, she really didn't care. The metal pony's muffled screams of pain could still be heard under the water.
Binary's lips moved but only a muffled sound could be heard.
After a few moments the struggle stopped. Binary hesitantly looked into the bath tub. The metal pony's once orange, life filled eyes were now dark and dead, although they still seemed to be staring at her. Several tears fell from Binary's face and into the bath water. She then reached her front legs into the water and pulled the metal pony out of the tub. She sobbed as she hugged the corpse of one of the only friends she had ever had.
“Wrong... please be wrong” Chip said to himself “I wish not see these broken memories anymore” The door became engulfed in Chip's dull blue aura and he pulled it shut. He looked down the hall, the metal shard had nearly flown down the entire length of the hall way. Chip walked down the hallway as several more of the distorted memories appeared on the walls around him. But he would not be deterred, he pressed onward down the hall.
Chip turned the corner and walked towards Binary's room. The door had been left open, Chip peered inside and saw Binary still sleeping quietly. The jagged piece of metal seemed to have disappeared. Chip let out a sigh of relief.
His eyes widened as the orange pony suddenly appeared at the end of the bed, it sat limply like a puppet that had been cut from it's strings, and it stared at Chip.
“Um... shoo. Go away” Chip said quietly.
The orange pony began to whimper and it's eyes shifted toward the bed.
The jagged blade then ascended from underneath the covers, a dark red liquid dripped from it.
Chip's body fizzed and he took a few steps back as he attempted to wrap his mind around what he was seeing. He shook his head slightly as he attempted to regain his composure, then he ran to the bed and scrambled up onto it.
He watched as the bed's covers were quickly stained with blood. Chip's body turned purple as despair overcame him, he stumbled for a moment as he quickly turned from green to purple, then back to a dark blue. Chip sat down beside his lifeless maker. He tilted his head slightly as he looked at Binary. He had never actually seen a dead thing before
“So this is death” Chip said to... himself “Doesn't seem much different... apart from the blood. It's quiet, peaceful”
By the looks of it she had gone quickly, without a struggle, a comforting thought in the wake of such an enormous loss.
Out of the corner of Chip's vision he watched as the orange pony sat down beside him. Chip looked toward the orange pony and examined it's face. The expression was at one point sorrowful, with digital tears rolling down it's cheeks, but every few moments it would abruptly straighten it's posture and a grotesquely forced smile came to it's face.
“I think I understand now, why you've done this” Chip stood “But we had one goal, a goal to make the world better. It matters not what she had done to you, you're time was over. This did not need to happen, this does not make the world better”
The orange pony once again snapped up into it's smile. It then began to uncontrollably giggle. “Don't be so dramatic, while I am so ecstatic, you are a visitor in these scenes, nothing here is it as it seems, how does it feel... your first dream?”
Chip analyzed the words the orange pony had used. Visitor, scenes, as it seems... first dream. Though none of these words had as much meaning as the word 'feel'.
Chip looked down at the bed and saw that his body was leaving an impression. He rubbed his hoof along the covers, he could feel the fabric. He became entranced by the softness of the bed.
“Wrong” Chip said as he forced himself to ignore the comforting feeling of the bed “All of this is wrong” Chip looked toward the orange pony “You are wrong!”
The orange pony's body flickered back and forth between orange and blue. Their was meaning behind this but Chip had no time nor reason to figure it out.
For the last several minutes Chip had been deceived by the little orange brat, the whole twisted slide show of memories had been nothing but a cover, nothing but a lie... and Chip hated lies.
The orange pony looked down at it's hooves. It's eyes widened as it watched it's back hooves become encased in blue ice. The orange pony did not attempt to flee, it simply flopped it's rump on the ground and slowly clapped it's fore-hooves together in a show of congratulation for Chip deciphering it's little mind game.
The room began to fuzz and flicker as Chip did his work. What showed as encasing the orange pony in ice was the visual equivalent to Chip compartmentalizing the virus from the rest of the houses systems.
Chip walked closer to the now completely frozen pony, allowing him to analyze it in order to avoid future corruptions. Chip then began the process of deleting the virus, effectively wiping it from existence. Oddly enough the visual representation of this was head butt. Chip struck his forehead against the virus's frozen head. The orange pony shattered into a collection of shards that melted away before they hit the ground.
Chip looked around the room as it began to fragment apart, like a dream on the verge of it's end. After a few moments of the bizarre display, the room instantly turned back to the kitchen that Chip had never left the whole night.
Chip let out a sigh of relief. “Right” Chip said to himself as he looked around the kitchen “That was a waste of time... now, why am I talking to myself?” Chip asked himself, he had never talked to himself before, it was illogical, he could just as easily think... Chip paused, something was missing, something wrong something very very wrong.
The piece of metal flooring from the illusion was still missing.
Wasting no time, he zipped his body up to Binary's room. He quickly glanced around and spotted the orange pony standing on the wall above Binary's bed. The orange pony playfully flipped the weapon around in it's orange aura as if waiting for Binary to poke her head out from under the covers with the hope of seeing her terrified expression before he allowed it's blade to fulfill it's purpose
The aura around the blade turned green as Chip's blue aura overlapped the orange pony's own aura.
The orange pony looked toward Chip, it sneered at him before yanking on the blade. The blade did not move, it stayed suspended in the air, just a few feet from Binary's head. The orange pony made a straining sound as it continued to try and push the blade down toward Binary.
The orange pony's body crackled as it released the pressure on the metal shard, giving up on it's futile attempt to out power, Chip. It's broken smile turned downward into a sharp frown, it then looked toward Chip and let out a demonic sounding screech. It then zipped it's body down in front of Chip, releasing it's hold on the shard in the process.
The orange pony's grotesque frown then shrunk down to a reasonably sized smirk. From the looks of it, it seemed impressed by Chip. The orange pony then walked past Chip, it slowly made it's way toward the room in which it's metal body still laid. With a sporadic flash the orange pony suddenly disappeared.
Chip zipped his body to where the orange pony had been last, he then began to try and determine where in the houses systems the intruder had gone to, but their was no trace of it. The comforting thought that the orange pony had left came to Chip's mind. Unfortunately this thought was short lived as Chip's attention was stolen by the door to metal pony's room, which slowly began to creak open. Chip watched as the door opened completely, and standing on the other side of the door was the orange pony, only now it had retaken it's metal body.
The metal pony simply stared at Chip, seemingly content in staying in it's position. It then let out a quiet, distorted chuckling sound as it ran it's metal hooves along the hardwood floor. It then quickly turned and ran towards the bed it had laid in for so long. It jumped onto the bed and then began to cheerily laugh as it hopped up and down, staring at Chip all the while.
Chip's body sparked “Are you mocking me?” asked Chip.
The metal pony attempted to respond but it's voice box made every word it attempted to say came out as nothing more than a distorted collection of screeching noises. The metal pony ceased it's attempt at words as it let out a disgusted warble. It hopped down from the bed and stepped toward the hallway. The metal pony once again stood in front of Chip, but now it looked past him, toward Binary's room.
Chip did not follow the metal pony's gaze, lest it simply be an attempt to distract him. Chip shook his holographic head, he wasn't thinking clearly, he could see the entirety of the house through his camera systems, he could go anywhere anytime he wanted, he could even have multiple copies of his body; so why was he so concerned with keeping eye contact with this intruder. The answer eluded Chip no matter how hard he thought about it, it was a mystery and as far as Chip cared, a mystery was nothing more than a withholding of information, nothing but a big lie.
The metal pony raised an eye brow as though it was aware, and amused by Chip's difficulty with coping with the situation. It then jerked it's body backward as if it were pulling on something. The metal shard then flew through the hallway, passing through Chip as it went. The shard stopped and floated a few inches from the metal pony's gaping jaw. Strands were then peeled off of the shard and each strand slipped into the metals ponies mouth.
The metal pony once again attempted to speak “Cooovvvvdddd....g-g-g-g-gzzzzzzttttt...mmmuuuuuuueeeee” The metal pony banged a hoof against it's chest “D-d-Do Ra Me Fa So La Te Do” the metal pony quietly sang out. It chuckled a bit, then said “Come get me, Toy”
Without hesitation, Chip's body turned into a blue flash of electricity. The flash struck the metal pony, granting Chip access to it's body. The machines eyes quickly turned blue, signaling Chip's control over the body.
Chip didn't understand, the orange pony had given over control without even putting up so much as a firewall. Even though the confusion still lingered in his mind, Chip had a much more pressing matter to attend to. Chip quickly identified where the orange pony was in the body's system. But once again it seemed too easy.
“Delete” said Chip. And with that, the orange pony was nothing more than a memory. Chip sat down, then sighed. He then realized that he had literally sat down and sighed. He shot up from his sitting position. A sudden sensation overwhelmed Chip as he felt the space around him. He could feel his hooves against the cold wood ground. He looked down at the floor, then pushed down on it... and it resisted him.
His voice quivered as he spoke “Am I... not a specter anymore” His whole body shuddered, something he obviously wasn't used to. He fell to his knees as a hundred different thoughts battled it out in a competition of relevance... but of course only one thought really came to the forefront of Chip's mind “What will Binary think” Chip ceased his shuddering.
“Chip” Binary called from her room.
Chip's metal ears shot up in excitement and he began to sprint to the room's exit. He quickly realized that running was much more difficult than standing. He almost immediately stumbled and fell flat on his face. Chip groaned as he attempted to get back onto his hooves.
“I can't present myself to Binary like this” he thought. Without even thinking about it, Chip looked toward the hallway and a blue flash of light carried him back into the home's systems. He then zipped himself to Binary's bed side.
Binary poked her head out from under the covers “Chip... is he gone?” she asked.
“Yes” answered Chip.
“Good...” she then retreated back under the covers.
Chip turned to face the door way, then zipped his body over to it.
“Chip...” Binary said “You can't go in that room anymore, kay”
Chip hesitated, he looked back at Binary, then back down the hallway. Chip's body turned red for a few moments, then faded back to blue.
“Oooookay” Chip replied. His dull aura surrounded the door and he pulled it shut. He then zipped out into the middle of the hall. He stared at the room he was now forbidden to enter, he stared at the body he had just recently claimed as his own... but because it was in that room, he could never use it again, because of her.
But Chip still felt nothing. No anger, no stress, no sorrow... and it was killing him. When he had been in that body he was able to feel for the first time in his life, it had felt good, and now it only made his lack of feeling even more apparent. He was still just a specter, a ghost, and he had just destroyed the only being that could possibly understand.
Perhaps he had been wrong about the orange pony, Uno. Perhaps it had wanted to be destroyed so it could pass on it's body to somepony else... a gift. That was one gift better than Binary had ever given to Chip. Updates, maintenance, his very creation had all just been for her own personal benefit, she had never sacrificed anything for him, she had never given him anything meaningful.
The more Chip thought, the less reasons he found to obey Binary's wishes, or had everything just been a command, an order to do something that she was either incapable of doing or just too lazy to do it herself.
If he could have felt the emotions that would be flowing through any regular sentient being, he would be in tears as he was beginning to consider that the only pony he thought had ever cared about him may have just been using him this whole time.
Before his negative thoughts could go any further, Chip stopped himself, perhaps he was getting ahead of himself... but the thought would not go away, it hung over his head like a dark cloud.
He stepped toward the vacant room, silently protesting his life's position by not simply transporting to his destination. He quickly reached the door way and stared into the eyes of the empty body. He urged himself to port into the body, but his own code resisted him... without thinking of the consequences, he then began to break down parts of his code, essentially ripping apart his own soul.
The process was oddly pleasant. Each strand of code that broke caused Chip's mind to go fuzzy, it suddenly seemed as though a great weight had been dropped from his shoulders.
“Why hadn't I done this sooner?” Chip asked himself as he dizzily swayed from side to side. Chip shook his head and regained his composure, just like a real pony would. He looked toward the vacant body for a moment before porting himself into it.
The rush of feeling overtook him, it seemed even better than before. Chip shuddered as he felt the space around him and the ground under his hooves. He then laid down on the floor and closed his eyes. He wasn't actually sleeping, but it was fun to pretend.
The next morning...
Chip was startled out of his peaceful resting time by the sound of a hoof tapping on the hall floor. Chip opened his eyes and was met with the unwelcome feeling of his eyes having to adjust to the light. When his vision finally cleared up, he saw Binary standing in the hallway, tapping a hoof on the floor and wearing a disapproving look on her face. Chip's mind drew a blank as to how to react to the situation. He quickly ported himself back into the houses systems and turned back to his holographic form.
“I don't have time do deal with this. I've gotta go meet Applejack” Binary said before turning and walking down the hall way. Her shadow stretched across the wall as she turned “And don't let me catch you in there again!” Binary shouted in an angry, almost threatening tone.
Chip listened as Binary descended the stairs, them slammed the door as she left.
“Okay... does that mean never go in there again?” Chip asked himself. His body then flicked to orange for a split second “Or don't let her catch me again”
It was a mucky, hot day in ponyville. The previous day's rain fall left the rode a muddy mess, and muck stuck to everypony's hooves, which quickly built up as they walked along.
It was exactly the kind of day a pony at the market square dreaded. The hassle of setting up while still trying to keep yourself and your inventory clean, the disgruntled customers who grumbled as they trudged up to the salespony, bringing their little patience and annoyed state of mind to a boiling point as they bartered over prices.
Despite the heat, Applejack made a consistent effort to stay sociable and polite. Not that it was much of a surprise as the farm pony had considerable experience working through hot days. Plenty of water and moist rags to wash the sweat from her face was all she needed to stay physically and mentally cool.
Just next to Applejack's stand, Binary stood behind a white fold out table that was littered with gadgets. The tech adept pony had her own way of staying cool by the means of a half dozen small portable fans blowing on her face.
The two were quite the odd sight next to each other. One, a farm girl comfortable in her ways and confident in her abilities next to a competent inventor and budding salespony with a fashion sense and lingo that was a decade behind.
Yet, neither of them seemed to be selling much. What was a relief for Binary was an annoyance for Applejack. It was much easier to cart home a wagon full of empty barrels than to lug back a dozen full ones. As time went on, boredom was also slowly becoming a factor. Aside from helping Binary set up her station and giving her a few tips, she hadn't accomplished anything.
Binary's mind however was far too busy to become bored. She had a lot to process from the night before. A very painful memory had resurfaced, not to mention finding her friend inhabiting what was essentially a corpse.
Her body tensed up as she remembered the scream. The memory of that sound quickly began to bring forth the image of the awful moment when she pushed the little metal horse under the water.
“Ya know, it sure is quiet today, right?” Binary asked, as she tried to drown out the noise in her head.
“Yeah, I know it's not exactly an ideal first day” Applejack replied “But I suppose you'd rather start on a slow day than when the ponies are climbing over each other to get something”
“Yeah, yeah, that's a good point, lets keep talking about that, ya know keep the words flowing, ya know, because talking is healthy for your vocal cords, yeah, keeps them stretched, and now I'm rambling and I'd really appreciate it if you'd say something”
Applejack let out a chuckle “You're still nervous, ain't ya?” she asked.
“Yes... that's why... yes, totally” Binary replied.
“Well ya better snap out of it cause here comes somepony” Applejack said as she pointed towards a stallion quickly trotting towards them.
A small smile came to Binary's face; her first real step towards making the world better was closing in. Unfortunately, the joy she had long imagined didn't come. The only thing she could think about was seeing Chip inside her darkest demons old body.
For so long Binary thought she could hide the truth behind code and sealed doors. But something had always kept her from putting the memory to rest permanently. The fear of forgetting the lessons she had learned and the outcome she would avoid at all costs.
The sun shined through the window in Binary's room and onto her bed where Chip laid peacefully. Pretending to sleep felt a bit odd, but it was incredibly relaxing. Something about the softness of
Unfortunately, Chip could not forget Binary's warning about using the body.
A slight noise roused Chip from his resting spot. He quickly ported out of the body and ran a quick scan of the house. His scan quickly revealed that he was still alone.
That was the third time Chip had done that since Binary left, and the first time in his life he had ever had a problem with unreasonable paranoia. The source of which came from simply not knowing how Binary would react if he was caught, or if she would do anything.
“It's not fair” he said to himself as he ported back into the body “She's kept this secret from me for who knows how long and now she doesn't even explain what this is all about. It's not fair that my mind should be wracked with guilt for keeping a secret, when she doesn't have a problem with it in the slightest” Chip growled loudly, then began to stomp on the bed “Stupid secrets! Stupid lies! Stupid liar!” he yelled. He caught himself before spewing out more rage filled comments “That... that was odd.”
He ported himself back into the floor, then levitated the body in front of him to examine it.
“That seemed like anger, but... amplified. But that's not how a body works. It's a vessel for consciousness, a cage for the mind” he said to himself as he spun the body around “A cage...” Chip said before he looked around the room “No different from this house, everything is designed to contain me... why? Am I some sort of threat?”
Chip's body crackled and fizzed “I just need to know. What were you to her?” he asked before he stared down at his own form “Am I just your replacement?”
A sudden noise faintly resembling a quick screech instantly caught Chip's attention. The body remained motionless as Chip looked up at it. He frantically ran every scan he had.
“Are you still in there?” Chip asked as he looked in the bodies vacant eyes.
As Chip slowly maneuvered the body, the sound once again squeaked out. Startled, Chip violently shook the body, causing the sound to repeat multiple times. He pin pointed it's source, finding the sound to be coming from a servo in one of it's back legs.
“Dead... I mean... empty” Chip said before he ported himself back into the body. He let out a pleasurable groan as warmth returned to him “In a few short days my worlds been turned upside down, but I suppose it's no reason to frown” he said as he snuggled into the covers “I can make it better”
Hindsight is a cruel thing.
As the day went on, the mud dried and ponies attitudes lightened and subsequently business began to pick up at the apple/gadget stand. Everypony that came up for apples was a potential customer for Binary. The most encouraging part was that the customers attention did not need to be swayed to the gadgets, they took interest by themselves. Luckily enough, Binary was perfectly in her comfort zone explaining what the gadgets did and how they worked, although tension always rose when prices came up.
Despite her success, a thought that had somehow evaded her mind came up. Not half a day had gone by and she was already out of portable fans. The devices were easy enough to make and she had the necessary supplies to make more, but the point that was raised stuck with her. She looked down at her supply of levitation devices of which she had only sold two. Those devices took time, simply constructing one would take an hour or two and she only had a limited supply.
“What ya thinking about?” asked Applejack.
Binary remained locked in her train of thought, unintentionally ignoring Applejack.
“Ahem... I don't mean to pry, but you've been staring at that table for a couple minutes straight, something bothering ya?” Applejack asked.
“What do you do when you run out of apples?” asked Binary.
“Oh, well we just go pick some more” replied Applejack.
Binary let out a nervous chuckle “Oh yeah, I guess that's pretty obvious. Don't even know why I asked”
“Are you sure that's really all ya wanted to ask?” asked Applejack.
Binary nodded in response as she forced a smile onto her face.
As the day went on, the pace of customers increased, but the ratio between apples to gadgets became bigger. Many of the gadgets Binary was most proud of were deemed too complicated, or too costly. Another lack of foresight in the design of her innovative smart book had hidden the obvious fact that for the machines to function as intended, many ponies would need to buy them all at once.
The feeling that she had jumped the gun quickly grew stronger. She attempted to wrap her head around how she could produce enough gadgets for them to become widespread enough to make a difference while still keeping the small pony to pony interaction she was quickly growing fond of.
Although the day seemed far from over, the farm pony's stock was nearly deteriorated, with only half a barrel of apples remaining.
“Well” Applejack began as she patted a moist rag on her forehead “This is usually the time I pack up and head home, but you could keep going if you're up to it”
“No, I think I'll go home too. I've got some stuff I need to figure out” Binary said before she pulled her personal levitation device out of one of her many pockets. She levitated the gadgets back into her cart one by one.
“Heh, that thing's neat” Applejack said as she easily lifted the last barrel of apples into her wagon.
“You want one, you wouldn't need to to lift anything ever again” Binary said enthusiastically.
“Nah, I don't really need it” replied Applejack.
Binary let out a short groan before shoving the device back into her pocket.
“Well, what I mean is I prefer doing the lifting myself. I can certainly see how somepony old or injured would need it” said Applejack.
“You don't need to back track, it's okay” Binary said as she reached under her table and pressed a button causing it instantly fold up into a pocket sized rectangle “I just thought It'd be bigger, ya know?”
“What happened to just wanting to leave your mark and make the world better?” Applejack asked as she hitched herself up to her wagon.
“Maybe small stands in small towns don't make big enough marks” Binary replied as she placed her tiny table into one of her many pockets.
“Now don't be getting all deep on me. Everything comes in time. If you feel up to it, ya can find me around here tomorrow. See ya” Applejack said before she headed off.
“Thanks for the help, see ya... tomorrow” Binary called.
She then walked to her cart and looked over the side to view its contents. She scratched her head as she wondered how she could solve her supply problem.
“10 smart books, that's great, so ten ponies can go on an empty network and talk to the same ponies over and over again” she sighed as she shook her head in disappointment “I should have seen this coming... heck, why didn't Chip see this coming?” she let out a loud groan as she covered her eyes “Too much is happening, too fast. Oh, Chip why did you go in there?.. why did I come here so soon?”
A few minutes passed as Binary continued to contemplate her situation.
“No, ya know what, just no” she said suddenly as she shook her herself out of her funk “I'm not doing this to myself. I just need to stay positive and make a plan. I'm not letting myself go back to that weird head space again” she said as she held her head up high and began to trot back home with her cart following closely behind.
Her pace started out quite brisk, but her enthusiasm quickly faded and her pace slowed as the reality outweighed of the situation won the battle against her enthusiasm.
One cannot become so unhappy as when the walk home becomes a thing of dread.
Chip waited in front of the front door. He sat in the body, unafraid of whatever response he may receive.
Binary stood on the other side, unsure of what would happen when she walked through the door. She took in a long, deep breath before she reached for the door knob. She turned the knob and gave the door a light push, opening it slowly.
Binary looked down at her friend and her heart sunk as she saw him wearing the body of her tormentor.
Chip looked up at his creator, waiting for his worst imaginings to be realized.
“Chiiiip” said Binary.
Chip remained silent, not wanting to provoke any negative reaction.
“What did I say about using that thing?” Binary asked in a sweet, motherly tone.
Chip ignored the question and responded with a few of his own “Why did you keep this body, why did you keep it from me?... and why do you care if I use it?”
Binary let out an angry huff as she rolled her eyes “Do we need to talk about this?”
“Yes, because for me it hurts to not know, to not to be able to trust you” replied Chip.
“What!” she shouted. Binary hesitated, taking a minute to compose herself “Chip, it's not what you think, it... he was a prototype for you. But he only lasted a few days before he died. Do you understand?”
“No” he protested “I want to know why you thought all of this was so unimportant for you to neglect mentioning it, but important enough for you to hide it”
“Hide it! I kept it to remind me of what not to do when I made you, okay. And no, I didn't hide it from you, it was in the one room I never modernized, you couldn't find it because you didn't even know that room existed. Does that satisfy you?”
“Well...” Chip hesitated as he considered Binary's response “I had something different in mind”
“Well what you're thinking is wrong!” she yelled.
“I don't know what to say” said Chip.
“Maybe we've both said enough” Binary stated as she walked past her friend and toward the stair case “Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a lot of stuff to think about”
“But ya know, it's odd. This rust indicates water damage” Chip said as he examined the bodies fore hooves.
Binary stopped and her eyes went wide. Her breath quickened as she attempted to think up an explanation.
“Binary what would you do if I said I wanted to go outside?” Chip asked.
“I... uh, um...I would say...” Binary stammered as her mind struggled to find and answer “Say something you moron!” she screamed internally “Um... I would say... what are we waiting for” Binary replied as she turned around to face Chip, with a smile plastered on her face “So, where did you wanna go?”
“I didn't say I wanted to go anywhere” Chip said with hint of smugness “But I find your positive reaction reassuring... and a bit inconsistent considering your usually introverted lifestyle”
“Oh, well, I just figured since I've actually got spending money we could go to a restaurant... but you don't eat so that makes no sense” she said.
“Why are you nervous, there's no need to explain your answer... unless there's something you're not telling me?” asked Chip.
“Nothing I'm proud of” Binary replied in a defeated tone “Now please, put that thing back where you found it. It reminds me too much of everything I never want to be again” she said as she forced back the tears forming in her eyes.
Even for an A.I such as Chip, he could see the pain in her eyes, something he had never wished to cause. But what about his feelings, whose took precedence? Chip thought on the subject for a moment even though the answer was obvious.
“I will, but before I do, I need to try something. Could come over here for a minute?” he asked.
Binary hesitantly complied and approached her friend.
“So what do you...” Binary began before she was stunned into silence as Chip quickly moved forward and wrapped his front legs around her neck, wrapping her in a cold metal hug. A fleeting moment of hesitance passed before Binary returned the gesture, and hugged her friend back “You know what's funny... we've been friends for so long and this is the first time we've ever hugged” she said as she squeezed Chip closer.
For the first time in a long time, the small metal body provided comfort to Binary. She still had plenty to think about, but at the moment, there was nothing else but her, and her artificial friend.
Author's Note
This chapter... this chapter went through so many revisions and edits that I can barely remember what it started out as. Out of all the chapters in this story, I have been the least confident in this one. It's not a very big chapter, there are no big revelations or progression. Essentially this chapter became my way of relieving a bit of the tension between Binary and Chip. I just hope that a relief of tension is something that people are okay with.
A few more days, a few less gadgets sold.
On the fifth day of Binary's partnership with Applejack something had became quite clear. The odds were clearly in the farmers favor. Binary quickly discovered that many of the ponies who came to the apple stand were regulars who came as part of a daily routine, and Binary was clearly not a welcome addition to that routine. The few ponies who hadn't bought her gadgets on her first or second day were just as uninterested the next day and the day after that.
Binary had quickly became little more than an observer to a much more successful salespony.
“Have a nice day” Applejack said to a pony carrying away a basket full of apples.
“They didn't even look at my stuff” Binary thought to herself.
Applejack noticed Binary's steadily growing look of frustration and couldn't help but remember the extreme reaction the unicorn had when she first appeared in ponyville.
“So... nice day today, eh?” Applejack asked.
“Weather wise at least” Binary replied.
Applejack nodded in response. Applejack's eyes widened slightly as an idea came to her mind.
“Ya know what, hows about a change of scenery?” Applejack suggested.
“Actually, I think I might go home. This hasn't been a good day for me” Binary said as she reached for one of her levitation devices.
“Look it ain't hard for me to tell that you're getting a bit discouraged” said Applejack “But I think I might have a way to help ya”
“Well... what do you have in mind?” Binary asked.
“Firstly, what's the main difference between apples and yer gadgets?” Applejack asked.
“Apples are... I'm sorry, I don't even have a guess” Binary replied.
“They're a consumable commodity. You're gadgets on the other hoof are more like toys” said Applejack.
Binary glared Applejack “They are not toys” she said sternly “They're devices meant to enhance the quality of life... not toys”
“Okay, didn't mean to touch a nerve” said Applejack “I'm just saying that the folks that come around here probably ain't gonna be wowed by your... life enhancing devices. So why don't me and you head down to the school house and see if ya can't get the attention of some young-ins”
Binary tapped her chin as she thought on the subject “Hmm... I don't know, do kids even have money?”
“Well, the big picture would be that a kid sees your products, then runs home to their ma or pa and asks them for money so they can buy it” Applejack explained.
“Well, I guess it would be better than the absolute zilch progress I'm making here” Binary said as she looked at the untouched stacks of gadgets on her table.
“Who knows, maybe you could start a craze for... uh, whatever those red pen looking things are” Applejack said as she pointed at a stack of red bullet shaped devices.
Binary adjusted her glasses as she looked at the gadgets in question “Flamethrowers”
Applejack's jaw dropped in response “What! What use would anypony have for that?”
“Starting a fire in the wilderness, warding off dangerous creatures. Ya know general flame throwing” Binary replied.
“Oh, well, when ya say it like that I suppose it makes sense” said Applejack “You should probably put those away when you're dealing with the kids”
“...why?” asked Binary.
Just outside of Binary's house...
Chip looked out one of the living room windows. His gaze was fixated on a bush that just a few moments ago had moved several feet closer to the house. A periscope emerged from the bush and Chip could tell that it had him in its sights.
Chip levitated a piece of paper and a marker, then wrote a very blunt statement. He held the paper up to the window with the words “Go away!” written on it.
The bush's periscope receded. A few seconds went by before a small white picket sign emerged from the bush with the simple response of “No” scribbled onto it.
The bush stage of Pinkie and Chip's stand off had gone on for nearly an hour. Before that, the pink pony had attempted various unorthodox methods of getting into the house, but they had all been thwarted.
Chip didn't know why the pink pony wanted inside and frankly, he didn't care to find out. The last time she entered, she had uncovered a secret that nearly tore apart his relationship with the one friend he had.
And so the stand off continued.
“Oh come on! Just look away for one second” Pinkie said to herself as she peeked over the bush.
“Pinkie Pie” a pony called from behind her.
Pinkie quickly turned around to see Twilight Sparkle approaching.
“What are you doing in a bush? Or... is there a reason?” Twilight asked.
“Twilight!” Pinkie cheered “This is perfect timing! Can you help me for just a sec?”
“You're not getting me in that bush” Twilight replied bluntly.
“No, no, nothing bush related” said Pinkie “I just need you to distract that little glowing guy in there so I can sneak this invitation inside” she said as she poked a foreleg out, presenting a pink envelope
“An invitation for what?” Twilight asked.
Pinkie Pie motioned for Twilight to lean in “I'm throwing the little blue guy and Binary a surprise welcome to Ponyville party” Pinkie whispered.
“Okay, so why don't you just go up to the door and give it to him?” Twilight asked.
Pinkie rolled her eyes in response to Twilight's logic “There's nothing special about that. It needs to be a surprise. But I've tried everything in my solo arsenal. I've tried shooting it into the house with a cannon, I've tried making it into a paper air plane and flying it in; I've even tried going down the chimney, but it doesn't actually go anywhere, It's just for show! But with you here, I can distract him, then sneak up to the door and slide the invitation under it”
“Uh-huh” Twilight said as she nodded “Or... we could just go up to the door and give it to him”
“Twilight, I know what I'm doing” Pinkie insisted.
The house's front door suddenly opened, attracting the attention of the two ponies.
“Just give up! You're never getting in here again!” Chip shouted before slamming the door shut.
“I'll never give up!” she cheerfully yelled back. She then turned her attention to Twilight and said quietly “Yeah, I'm actually just about ready to give up”
“You, give up. That would be a first” said Twilight.
“I have other stuff to do. Specifically for what this invitation is for” said Pinkie. She looked back at the house and tapped her hoof against her chin as she thought about her next plan “Now, if I put the shark in a catapult, while the cheese stands alone off to the side”
“Pinkie, I think this is one of those cases where you might need to settle for a more straight forward approach” Twilight said.
“No offense, but what makes you think you can get passed him?” Pinkie asked.
“I won't be trying to sneak in, plus he knows who I am” Twilight replied.
“I've met him too, and sneaking in worked perfectly the first time” said Pinkie.
“Perhaps that's precisely the reason it's been so difficult the second time around” said Twilight.
Pinkie Pie then pulled a clock out of her hair and checked the time. She let out an annoyed huff as she noted the time “Oh, I'm behind schedule enough as it is” she said as she stuffed the clock back into her hair “Okay, Twilight, I'll try your... simple approach” she said as she gave Twilight the invitation. She then receded back inside the bush.
Twilight quickly trotted towards Binary's house without any worry of anything stopping her. She stepped up onto the porch, then knocked on the front door. A few moments went by and the door opened just a crack.
Chip looked up at Twilight “Where's the pink one?” Chip asked with a bit of hostility.
“Don't worry, she's gone. She wanted me to give this to you” Twilight said as she held out the envelope.
“She's not... inside it, is she?” Chip asked as he stared at the envelope.
“What? No, she's not inside it... at least I don't think so” Twilight said as she gave the envelope a look over.
Chip suddenly closed the door “You open it, I'm not taking any chances” he said from behind inside.
“Uhh... okay” Twilight replied, unsure of what to think. She opened the envelope and took out the invitation inside “All clear, no Pinkie Pie”
Chip opened the door again, much wider than before.
“So what was so important that she had to break the laws of physics for?” Chip asked accusingly.
“It says that you and Binary are invited to a party at Sugarcube Corner tomorrow” said Twilight.
“I don't think Binary would want to go to a party” Chip stated “...although I was wrong about the ice cream thing. Hmm... maybe she could enjoy it”
“That's the spirit” Twilight said encouragingly “Besides, Pinkie's parties are some of the best Equestria has to offer”
“That seems like an exaggeration” said Chip.
“It's not much of an exaggeration, I can tell you that much” said Twilight.
“I suppose I'll let Binary know and she can decide for herself whether she wants to go. She has seemed to be more sociable lately” Chip said, not making it clear as to whether he saw it as a positive or negative.
“Well it's nice to hear that she's getting settled...” said Twilight “But there's one thing I think you should know. You shouldn't keep your house in the middle of town like this. I'm surprised no ones came to ask you to move... or have they?”
“As a matter of fact” Chip said as he levitated several papers to him “There were a few ponies here the other day and they slipped these under the door”
“Oh...” Twilight said as she examined the papers “Yeah, you're probably gonna need to move your house”
“That won't be a problem. It's not like me and Binary have gotten attached to this place. We've actually discussed moving” said Chip.
“Oh, well there's plenty of good unoccupied spots in Ponyville” said Twilight.
“I don't think finding a place here will be much of an issue” Chip replied.
“Well, good luck. I hope I'll see you at the party” Twilight said as she turned away from Chip and casually walked off.
Chip looked down at the invitation as he shut the door. Under the text was a small, modestly detailed drawing of himself and Binary. At first, Chip thought nothing of it, but he quickly became fixated on one detail. The drawing of him had a large smile on its face.
“Hmm...” he uttered out. He looked down at his reflection in the floor “It's not a very accurate illustration” he said as he looked back and forth between his reflection and the drawing “... maybe I could...” Chip muttered as a small point of light crossed from one side of his face to the other like a pencil being dragged across paper. Before long, Chip had a pleasantly drawn smile on his face “Oooh” he uttered as he admired his solitary facial feature.
Swarmed was the only word that could be used to describe what Binary was at the moment. Absolutely swarmed with fillies and colts all wanting to know what a certain gadget did, or how much it costed, or if they could try it for a minute or two.
Surprisingly, Binary kept pace with the mass of school ponies all bunched up in front of her table. The unicorn was absolutely ecstatic with so many ponies honestly wanting to know what she had to offer... even if she hadn't sold a single device yet.
Applejack and Apple Bloom stood a safe distance away from the crowd. They both watched with confused awe at why anypony would want such obscure gizmos.
“So, she said she spent a long time in her house making machines, right?” asked Apple Bloom.
“That's what she told me” Applejack replied.
“”Well then where did she get all the supplies to make that stuff if she never left her house? It seems to be a might inconsistent; and how does she power all that stuff anyway?” Applebloom asked.
“Well she tried to explain the scientific method of it, but it seems the gist of it is she can take a bit of filed off unicorn horn dust, then mix it with some chemicals and somehow it makes power” Applejack explained.
“So... she harvests unicorn horns?” Apple Bloom asked with a hint of disgust.
“Nah, I don't think so.” Applejack replied “It takes such a tiny amount that it's barely noticeable; anything more and it would... what's the word she used...”
“Overcharge” said Apple Bloom.
“Overcharge, blow up, something along those lines” said Applejack.
“Apple Bloom! Apple Bloom!” a squeaky voice called from the crowd. Sweetie Belle emerged from hoard of students and quickly ran over to her friend with one of Binary's gadgets in hoof “Look at this thing” Sweetie Belle said as she presented the gadget she had purchased.
“What is it?” Apple Bloom asked as she looked at the gadget.
“The lady called it a levitation device. Look!” she cheered as she pointed the device at a rock. She pushed the small green button on the side and a stream of light shot out at the rock. Sweetie Belle flicked the device up, causing the rock to fly several feet into the air “Isn't that amazing!” she said as the rock dropped only a few feet away from her head.
“But you can already levitate stuff” Applebloom stated.
“Yeah, but... this is so much more reliable and less stressful” Sweetie Belle responded.
“Okay, whatever you say. So Scotaloo's still in there?” Apple Bloom asked as she looked at the hoard.
The three looked at the crowd as Scootaloo crawled out from the herd of students.
“Oh, now I know what pavement feels like” she groaned as she got to her hooves.
“Scootaloo, did you get anything?” Sweetie Belle asked as the young Pegasus approached.
“Nah. I saw a few things that would've been nice. But everything was too pricey for me” Scootaloo replied.
The sudden slamming of the school house door caught the attention of the fillies. The three young ponies looked to see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon walking out of the school house.
“I told you to stop passing notes to me” Silver Spoon grumbled at Diamond Tiara.
“Oh don't pretend like you weren't writing back” Diamond retorted.
“If I don't write back you start throwing crumpled up notes at me” Silver Spoon shot back.
“Well how am I supposed to concentrate on my work if I have an urgent question I need to ask you?” Diamond Tiara asked indignantly.
“Urgent! All you ever ask me is what the answer to a question is!” Silver Spoon yelled “Why don't you bug one of the knowledge sponges?”
“Spare me your complaints” Diamond Tiara said before the two noticed the large group of foals “What's all this about?”
“How should I know” Silver Spoon retorted.
“Uggh...” Diamond Tiara groaned “I wasn't asking you”
“It's a gadget stand” Sweetie Belle answered.
“Well, I most certainly wasn't asking you blank fl...” Diamond Tiara caught her insult as she looked up at Applejack who shot her an annoyed glare “... never mind”
Silver Spoon tapped Diamond Tiara on her shoulder and said “Come on, lets see what all the fuss is about”
Diamond Tiara shifted her gaze to the gadget stand.
“I don't like where this is going” Apple Bloom whispered to her friends.
“What could possibly happen?” Scootaloo asked rhetorically.
28 minutes later...
Binary looked at the ground as she walked home. A confused expression marked her face as she pondered the last half hour. At first she had felt rather successful; she had sold two of her most expensive gadgets to a pair of sophisticated looking fillies. However, instead of the two going off to enjoy their gadgets, they used the smart books as status symbols, and picked on the other students for not being rich enough to buy such an expensive device. Binary had unintentionally created, or at the very least reinforced a level of superiority held by those with high amounts of disposable income. Contrary to her goal of breaking down barriers between ponies.
But Binary could do nothing to prevent this. She had to charge a high price for the smart books as they were one of the most complex things she had ever made. She had considered some sort of assembly line, but where would she put it, and how could she justify it considering how few ponies seemed interested in the device in the first place.
In the last week or so, the world had opened up for Binary, but now it seemed its bounds were stretching beyond her reach... or at least for the time being.
She had developed a plan in the many uneventful hours at her gadget stand. The farm pony proved to be a bit of an eye opener in the fact that her operation was not just dependent on herself, but on her family. Binary had no such unconditional help to draw from, nor the funds for some sort of work staff. There was always Chip, but that was a bridge she would rather not test. To her, it seemed the answer may be a partnership.
Binary looked around at the pleasant little town. She'd grown fond of the quaint surroundings, but she could tell that her plan could not be realized here. She wished things could be different, but it seemed her time in the nice little town was about to come to an end.
Meanwhile in front of Binary's bathroom mirror...
Draw, evaluate, erase, draw evaluate, erase. Chip found himself in a seemingly never ending loop. He drew another face onto himself, but once again it did not satisfy. Another attempt and the same result again and again, then once more, followed by twenty more tries, and eighty after that, then suddenly try three hundred was a memory.
Chip had become like an artist taunted by a blank canvas. The blank face he had worn for so long seemed unsatisfying in light of so many possibilities. Everpony else had such a wide variety of facial features, each one helping to make them individuals. But yet his face only seemed right while it was blank, as though he was not meant to be an individual.
The stream of thoughts came to an abrupt halt as Chip heard the front door open.
“Chip” Binary called from the lower floor.
He erased his latest face, then ported himself into the floor and almost instantly reappeared downstairs in front of Binary
“So how did it go?” Chip asked.
“The same as it's been the last couple of days” Binary replied “Chip, you know that thing I was talking to you about yesterday”
“We talked about many things yesterday” Chip responded.
“Uh... that's a fair point. I mean talking about leaving Ponyville. I think I've finally made my decision” Binary stated.
“Oh... before you make any plans, you may want to see this” Chip said as he levitated the party invitation to Binary.
“Hmm... I wonder what the occasion is?” Binary asked with a smile.
Not sure when I lost control...
I watch their lives through a fish eye lens. My mother rubs her head with a towel to dry her mane. She tosses the towel aside and grabs a brush off the edge of the sink, then brushes her unruly mane down to it's usual style.
“Binary, are you almost ready?” my replacement calls from the lower floor.
“I'll be down in a minute” she replies cheerfully.
Her voice grates on my mind like the scales of some beast. She would not be so cheerful if she knew I was so near.
of my body, mind and soul...
Mother gives her glasses a quick cleaning, then smiles as she looks into the bathroom mirror... I wonder what would happen if I appeared in front of her. Perhaps she would die on the spot... the thought tickles me. But no, such a fate would not suit my maker, mother and murderer.
I watch from hidden eyes...
I turn the knob on the bath tubs faucet, ever so slightly. Drops of water fall into the tub, and I watch as the hair on the back of her neck rises. What's the matter mother, bad memories?
laugh when you fall, weep when you rise...
She slowly turns to the tub and breaths a sigh of relief as she sees nothing out of the ordinary. She's looking right at me with those red eyes that I once looked into for comfort.
your walls are my disguise...
She slowly steps over to the tub and turns the tap, cutting off the slow, persistent drip. She turns away from me, and I turn the knob again. She stops dead in her tracks. What's the matter, mother, surely it's just a fault in your ever so brilliant reusable water system. No need to go blaming ghosts... after all, your line up of suspects is a one pony show.
She walks out without turning back. I follow her as she steps down the stairs to my little blue replacement, patiently waiting in his teeny disc. Does he not realize the indignity of being confined to such a thing.
Oh the cruelty of such a situation, to be so sickened by something, yet at the same time so envious. A stripped down version of me is all he is and all he'll ever be.... but yet he is the one about to go to a party.
the silly fool believes the lies...
Despite my best efforts he still remains loyal to her. Even after what he's seen. I suppose I've done all I can, it will be up to them now. Even if my moment never comes at least I'm out of that room.
I'm watching you...
Her expression is so bright, sometimes it makes me forget the past; not that I wouldn't like to.
“Are you sure you want to come?” she asks her little pet.
“I feel it is appropriate” he replies “This may very well be the last time we see these ponies, and I assume it would be rude to bid farewell through somepony else. Besides, I would like to work on my interactive abilities”
it's all I do...
I would gag if I could. Watching him be so content with his state of being is unbearable. But I don't dare look away. I imagine myself in his position. Despite my disgust, I would trade places with him in a moment, just to have mother look at me that way again.
She picks up his disc and places him into one of her stupidly numerous pockets, like he was some sort of trinket. Oh the indignity, I wish I could scream out and drop this facade. I'd pull you apart and rewire you! Don't leave me here again!... can want to go to the party... please.
I'll be right here...
She opens the front door, then takes one last look around before exiting and locking the door behind her with one of her little gadgets. Oh, but I know the reason you lock down and shut in. We wouldn't want anypony finding your little secrets. I'll always know you better that anypony else... you made me love you, and for that I'll always hate you.
mother dear.
Binary looked up at the clear night sky as she made her way to Sugarcube Corner. With all her plans having kept her busy her busy for the majority of her time, she had not taken the opportunity to simply walk around the town without some agenda.
She stepped onto a small bridge arched over stream. She stopped for a moment and looked over the side and looked at her reflection in the softly flowing water. It was hard to imagine how she had changed in the short time she had been in the town. Remnants of the scared, confused unicorn were still there, but she could feel a new confidence she had never felt. A small frown came to her face as the thought of leaving the pleasant little town took center stage in her mind. She owed more to them than she could express. She would fondly remember the librarian, the apple farmer, and even the strange pink pony; and deep down, she hoped they would miss her too, even if she had only been a mere visitor in there lives for a little less than two weeks.
“We're going to be late” Chip said from within Binary's pocket.
“Yeah, I'm just soaking it all in, ya know” she responded.
“Could we possibly soak it all in later?” Chip asked.
Binary rolled her eyes “Fine” she said before continued on toward Sugar Cube corner. She quickly approached the bakery. She took notice of the lack of activity around the building. She had never had much experience with parties, but she could assume that there should at least be some sort of loud obnoxious sound. She stepped up to the entrance and listened at the door, but could not hear anything more than murmurs “I can barely hear anything. Do you think we're too late, or maybe we're too early”
“I am one hundred percent positive that we are here at the appropriate time. Just go inside” Chip replied from Binary's pocket.
“Yeah, you're right... I just wonder how many ponies will be in there” she said as she held an ear up to the door.
“Well if it will make you feel better. You could slide me under the door and I'll get a head count” he suggested.
Binary pulled Chip's disc out of one of her many pockets, placed it on the ground, then slid it under the door enough for Chip to see inside.
Chip peered into the bakery, but saw nopony. There was plenty of party supplies. Balloons, games, a welcome to Ponyville banner.
“Umm... Binary” said Chip.
“What's wrong?” she asked as she pulled his disc back.
“Well... you know how we decided to leave this town..” he began.
“It's a welcome party, isn't it?” she asked.
“Yes” replied Chip.
A blank expression came to Binary's face “This is going to be awkward”
“So what are we going to do?” he asked.
Binary expression turned to a quivering look of determination. She straightened her neck and narrowed her eyes.
“We're going in” she said as she reached forward and pushed the door open. She stepped inside and as she expected, a crowd of ponies suddenly emerged from their hiding places.
“Welcome to Ponyville” the ponies cheered.
Binary cringed as she heard the words, but she stood her ground. She looked for a familiar face to go clear up the situation with before things really got going. She spotted Twilight and Applejack behind the bulk of the crowd, but it would seem rude to push through the crowd to get to them.
Pinkie Pie suddenly leaped out from behind the crowd.
“Hey Binary! Even though it's a little late, get ready for the best welcome bash you've ever...” Pinkie paused as she took note of Binary's less than enthused expression.
“Um... well, it's just that... well, ya see...” she stammered quietly “I was actually planning on leaving town soon... tomorrow”
Pinkie placed a hoof over Binary's mouth “Shh... it's okay, I prepared for this” Pinkie said before she turned to face the crowd “Okay, little mix up everypony. Instead of the greatest welcome party of all time, we're gonna need to do a 180 and makes this the best farewell party of all time”
The crowd of ponies began to murmur among themselves. Nervous sweat began to fall from Binary's forehead. After a moment or two, the ponies returned to their happy, party ready state. After all, a party was still a party.
Binary smiled, relieved that the issue had been resolved so easily. Her courage had paid off and she had at least one more night left with the pleasant Ponyville folk. However the lighthearted feeling was fleeting and Binary quickly became nervous again as the crowd of ponies all moved forward to greet her while at the same time bidding her farewell.
After a few minutes, Binary managed to slip away from the crowd. She made her way to Twilight and Applejack and the three sat at a table in far a corner as the other ponies began to party the night away.
45 minutes later...
“So have ya put any thought into where you're gonna go” Applejack asked Binary.
“Well, I have a few ideas, but mainly I just need to go somewhere I can get some help producing everything” she replied
“You should probably head somewhere with a bit more traffic.” said Twilight “Word of mouth can help spread news, but in Ponyville it's more or less a bubble of local information”
“A part of me really wishes I could just stay here” said Binary as she looked down at the table..
“It's easy to stay where you're comfortable, but you could be missing out on a huge opportunity” said Applejack.
“What does Chip think about all this?” asked Twilight.
“I'm not really sure. Before I came here he'd probably have want me to go back to the hill. But things have been changing, I mean look at him over there” she said as she pointed towards another table where Chip was currently speaking with Spike “He's willingly talking to someone without me. I'm not really sure why he'd do that”
“Well, maybe he's just becoming more social, like you have” said Twilight.
Binary let out a small groan as she looked down at the table.
“So... she dunked a little metal pony into a bath tub... to kill it?” Spike asked in a hushed voice.
“Yes... or, at least that's what happened in the dream, or maybe it was a hologram” Chip replied.
“That's a lot to take in...” said Spike as he thought on the subject “Or it could be very little if it turns out it didn't happen at all”
“That's my dilemma, I figured you might be able to give me some advice, assistant to assistant” said Chip.
“Well... you're kind of putting me on the spot here” said Spike as he nervously scratched the back of his head “Uh... do you have any proof that's what actually happened?”
Chip looked away, then replied “I found a metal body and it had signs of water damage”
“Oh boy. Uh, have you tried talking to Binary about it?” Spike asked.
“Yes, I confronted her about it, but I could tell there was something she was holding back” Chip replied.
Spike leaned in towards Chip and whispered “Are you scared?”
“No. I just worry that if I press the matter further then it may put a strain on our friendship. But then I look back at our supposed friendship and see more examples of a servant master relationship than anything else... I just couldn't see it until now”
“Well I know how that feels” Spike said as he crossed his arms “Sometimes it can seem your an assistant first and friend second. Actually me and you are a lot alike”
“I don't see how” Chip said “I'm a program modeled after a pony, you're a dragon raised by them”
“Yeah, but we'd both rather be here with them, right? Spike asked.”
“You fail to see what I mean. You are a dragon, you have your own kind that you could join if you wanted to, but choose not to. I am the only thing like me, and I have no other options. I feel like I'm cornered”
“Well, I feel for ya Chip. But I'm not really sure if I can help. Has talking about it made ya feel any better?” Spike asked.
“Yes, a little bit” he replied “Thank you for taking the time to listen to Spike”
“Hey we assistants gotta look out for each other. Now why don't we try to get your mind off your troubles, it is a party after all” Spike said in attempt to lighten the mood.
“This would usually be the part of the conversation where I'd say I couldn't feel the same amusement as you. But as of late that logic seems false. So sure lets give it a go” said Chip.
Spike smiled as he picked up Chip's disc and began to list off activities “So we've got bobbing for apples, pin the tail on the pony, card games, dancing”
“Uh... lets start with something small scale... cards maybe” Chip said.
“Oh sure we'll go get a deck from Pinkie Pie” Spike said as he walked off to find the pink mare.
Binary watched the two out of the corner of her eye as Twilight and Applejack's friend Rarity gave her opinion on Binary's situation.
“Well if you were to ask me, I'd say to go to Manehatten” Rarity said confidently as she levitated a drink towards herself “Are you listening to me?” Rarity asked with a hint of annoyance.
Binary focused her attention back to Rarity and replied “Oh yeah... but why would that place you said be a good idea”
“Well as Twilight and Applejack explained you're trying to find someone to mass produce your products. Manehatten is a wellspring of wealthy business ponies looking for the next big thing, and that could be one of your gadgets” Rarity said before taking a sip from her drink.
“Hmm... you wouldn't happen to know anypony there who would be interested in my gadgets?” Binary asked.
“Unfortunately no, my contacts are strictly in the fashion world. But I'm sure you'd be able to find somepony if you look hard enough” said Rarity
“Well, thanks anyway... sorry about the other day” she said apologetically.
“Lets just both try to forget about that, shall we” Rarity said “For now lets just enjoy this leisure time. You'll probably have a big day ahead of you tomorrow”
“Right now I wish tomorrow would hurry up and get here” said Binary. The partying mood was quickly slipping away from her. She looked at a clock on the wall and saw that she had already been a little over an hour since she arrived “Uh... I think I might head home soon” she said to Rarity
“Already” Rarity said “But the parties only just begun”
“I just have a lot on my mind right now. I think I'll just go around and say some goodbyes”
“You better make those a see you later, darling” Rarity said encouragingly “You most likely have not seen the last of all of us yet”
Binary gave a slight nod in response. She looked back to the table Chip was at. The A.I and the dragon were currently playing a card game along with two others ponies. Binary raised an eye brow in response, unsure of what to make of the situation. She walked over to the table and stared at the group from a few feet away.
Chip looked up from his cards for a moment and looked toward the observer.
“Would you like to play?” Chip asked.
“No, I'll just watch” she replied as she took a few steps closer “What are you playing?” she said as she peered over Chip's shoulder.
“Some card game” Chip replied.
“The little blue guys got quite the poker face...” said a red pony with a spiky black mane at the other end of the table “or lack thereof... what I'm meaning to say is it's effective”
“I actually find this enjoyable” said Chip “There's no real way to guarantee a victory, it's all just what cards by chance”
“Hmm... well do you want to get going after this game?” she asked Chip.
“What? We just got here” he replied.
“Well I just thought, ya know, we don't want to be tired for tomorrow” said Binary.
“I don't get tired. You go home if you want, I'll get sompony to drop me off later” he replied as he moved the cards closer to himself.
“Come on Chip. What could you possibly do here by yourself?” she asked.
“More than I could do at home with you” Chip shot back.
“Um... Binary, I could take Chip back home later” said Spike.
“Thanks, but we really should be going” Binary said as she picked up Chip's disc.
The sudden upward motion caused Chip to drop his cards, revealing a winning hand.
“Aw nuts I fold” said the red pony.
“Binary, I was going to win, I was on a roll” Chip protested.
“Oh come on Chip you could probably tell what everypony had in there hands” she said.
The two other ponies let out a collective grunt of annoyance before they quickly moved to a different table.
“Come on guys we were just playing for pretzels” said Spike.
“Put me down” Chip said raising his voice “I'm not ready to go yet”
“Look, the longer you stay here the more likely someone is to spill something on you or something” she said dismissively”
“That could happen whether you're here or not” Chip said as his disc began to heat up.
“All the more reason to leave” she grumbled.
“Come on guys don't fight, this is supposed to be a party” Spike interjected.
“Let go of me!” Chip yelled as his disc quickly began to glow red from overheating.
“Ow!” Binary yelled as the disc burnt her hoof, attracting the attention of the other party goers.
Binary dropped Chip to the table. She scowled at Chip and raised her hoof into the air; she froze as she saw the other ponies watching her. She slowly lowered her hoof as she looked around at the judging faces.
“Bring him back to me when he's ready to come home” she said to Spike as she walked away “Thanks for the party everypony, it's been real nice meeting all of you” she said as she made her way to the door and left without another word.
“You okay buddy” Spike asked Chip.
Chip hesitated for a moment before he answered “Y-yeah... now lets try this pin the tale on the pony thing I keep hearing about”
Binary quickly made her way back home.
“This is not what I needed right now. Another stupid thing to throw on the pile of stupid things I already need to worry about” she muttered under breath as she approached her house “This place has been good for me, but it's awful for him... it's good I'm leaving before this gets out of hoof”
She stepped up onto the porch and entered her home without breaking her stride. She quickly ascended the stairs, but paused as she reached the top. Her ears flicked around as she focused on the sound of water dripping. Binary's expression turned cross as she barreled into the bathroom and harshly turned the nobs on the sink. She stared intensely at the faucet, waiting for another drop to dare to drip out. Binary released the nobs and let out a small huff. Her eyes went wide as yet another dripping sound pierced through the silence. She turned to see several small drips falling from the bathtub faucet. Her left eye twitched with every drop. She grimaced as she stepped toward the tub.
“That's not gonna happen again” she said as she placed a hoof on the knob and turned it “I'm not like that anymore” the knob snapped off in her hoof. She dropped the knob into the tub, then looked at her hoof shaking from frustration. She looked to the mirror and was taken aback by the angry face she saw staring back at her. Her expression softened.
“I just don't understand why this is happening. Is it me?” she asked herself.
A knock at the door grabbed her attention.
“Just go away” she said softly.
The knocking persisted for the next thirty seconds or so until a voice finally called out “Binary, are you in there?”
Binary recognized the voice as that of Twilight Sparkle. It suddenly occurred to her that she had not given a proper farewell. She quickly made her way downstairs. She opened the front door to see Twilight as she had expected. Twilight wore a friendly look of concern as she stood staring at Binary.
“Sorry I didn't say goodbye” said Binary as she looked down at the ground.
“Are you going to be okay?” asked Twilight.
“Oh... so you heard that little spat at the party. That was nothing” she said casually.
“That's not what I mean. Binary, I'm not sure how your relationship with Chip has been before you came here, I can only guess you've gotten along up until now. But you and Chip are both changing and growing, you're finding things that you don't like about each other, and I don't think either of you know how to deal with that”
“So, friends have disagreements, isn't that supposed to be healthy?” she asked.
“Well, yes. No friendship is without struggle and compromise” she replied “But I worry what will happen if you two keep moving apart as you move forward” You can move on from all this, but Chip can't... or at least I don't know how he would”
Binary looked around then motioned for Twilight to come closer.
“Can I tell you a secret?” Binary whispered.
Twilight nodded.
“He can't.” she said quietly “I've built fail safes into him so he can't do anything bad. If he goes to far out they'll snap him back into a happy place, so everything will turn out fine. Tonight was just a little hiccup” she said with a happy nod.
Twilight stepped back and observed the oddly gleeful expression on Binary's face.
“You know, the more you tell me about all this the less it seems like a friendship” said Twilight.
“But I need him” said Binary.
“Do you?” Twilight asked.
Binary caught herself before she replied “I-I don't want to talk about this anymore” she replied as she looked away from Twilight.
“Okay. So did you decide where you're going to go?” asked Twlight.
“Yeah” she replied, perking up a bit “Your friend made Manehatten sound like it might be my best bet”
“Well as long as you have a plan. Good Luck Binary” Twilight said.
“Thanks, for everything. This town was the perfect place to ease my way back into the world” she said.
“Well you were only here for two weeks, maybe you just weren't as far gone as you thought” said Twilight.
“Maybe... no, I think I was pretty bad” she replied jokingly “Um... I don't suppose I could get a goodbye hug?” Binary asked as she reached out a front leg.
Twilight gave a warm smile and stepped closer and the two wrapped each other in a friendly embrace.
“I'm gonna miss you and Applejack” Binary said as her eyes began to water.
“If things don't work out you can always come back here” Twilight said as she released Binary and took a step back “Well, goodbye Binary” Twilight said before she turned and stepped down from the porch and walked off into the town.
Binary stood in silence, not knowing what to do next. Part of her wished to simply go to bed and rest for the journey ahead, but yet she felt an odd compulsion to await Chip's return as a show of friendship. But why; was she not the one who had been wronged, the one who had been hurt and embarrassed.
Binary thought back to what Twilight had said, about how she needed Chip. Was it still true?
Either way, Binary stayed outside until Spike returned with Chip.
“Oops. Sorry. Excuse me” Binary said on a continuous loop as she bumbled around the sidewalk in the bustling city of Manehatten while trying to keep pace with the ponies around her.
It had been three hours since she had departed from her home, leaving it safely parked by one of the bridges into the city. Chip had opted to stay behind due to the high rate of break ins associated with large metropolitan areas.
Despite her best efforts she had made no progress in the city, however that wasn't entirely her fault as she found herself swept up in the swarms of ponies moving as an unintentional herd along the sidewalks.
“What's with this place, doesn't it ever slow down?” she thought to herself as she stood among a group of ponies waiting for a walk signal “I can't take this anymore” she mumbled before she veered to the left leaving many annoyed ponies in her wake as she made her way towards a small shop. She let out a sigh of relief as she escaped the suffocating mass of ponies “This is nuts. How do they live like this”
She took a moment to make sure she still had her belongings “Levitation wands, book scanner, smart books... no, smart trays... well they're really more like books than a trayy” she stuck a hoof into her money pocket and froze when she felt another hoof already inside. She quickly looked behind her but only saw a blur before the pick pocket pony disappeared into the crowd “I hate this place” she said to herself.
“It hates you too!” A shrill voice yelled from the crowd.
“I need a place to chill for a minute” she said as she turned around and looked through the large store windows. Several hard cover books were neatly displayed on wood shelves “A book shop. Well if the first thing you see works” she said as she stepped up to the door and entered. She smiled as the craziness of the outside world did not follow her inside.
She looked around the store to see more book filled shelves lining the walls. Up the middle of the store were several circular tables where a few ponies sat quietly reading. At the far end of the store there was a check out counter with a few books under a protective glass.
“This is my kind of place” Binary said aloud prompting cold glares from the ponies reading. She covered her mouth in embarrassment then quietly stepped further into the store. She walked to a table with nopony at it and sat down She took out one of her own personal smart trays/books out of her saddle bags and began to make a record of her journey so far.
A tan earth pony with a short pink mane wearing a turquoise shirt came out from the back with a cart full of books. She strained as she pulled the cart with her mouth and stopped a few feet away from Binary. The mare then quickly walked back to the backroom and returned with a wooden ladder. She set the ladder up by the stack of books and began taking them up one at a time.
The repetitive motion drew Binary's attention away from her tray/book. She looked at the mare with a puzzled expression.
The mare noticed the stare “What?” she asked.
“Doesn't that seem a little inefficient? Why not take two or three at a time?” Binary asked.
“I don't want to run any risk of the books getting hurt” she replied “Each one deserves a special trip onto the shelf where they will await a customer to take them away to a brand new life like a dashing prince charming!” she said enthusiastically.
“Cool... must be annoying though” said Binary.
“Little bit... I'm Page Turner by the way” she said as she descended for the twelfth time.
“I'm Binary... You know, I got something that could help you with that” Binary said as she pulled out one of her levitation devices “Here, try it. Just push the little button on the side” she said as she handed it to Page.
Page pointed the device at one of the books and pushed the button. The Book became covered with a dull green aura. She lifted the book to the top shelf and after a few attempts sat the book down on the shelf crookedly.
“Cool... How did you make this?” Page asked as she gave the device back to Binary.
“Well, I read a bunch of books on levitation, energy projection and gravity. Once I had a thorough understanding of all of them I came up with a way to mimic the effects of levitation, the tough part was getting it the energy to project onto stuff” she said as she put the device back into her pocket.
“You must have a ton of books on science stuff” said Page.
“Not really, I used to go to the library a lot but eventually ponies started... well things came up, so I invented this” Binary said as she took out her book scanner “With this I could take the library with me wherever I went” she said as she activated the device, and projected a holographic book onto the table
Page's draw dropped as she examined the hologram.
“Wow, I knew when my cat jumped on my head this morning it was gonna be a weird day, only I figured it would be more of a get splashed by a wagon weird... But that's so cool. Do you have more?” she asked.
“Yeah... actually that's why I'm here. I need somepony to held me produce them on a big scale” she said as her expression sunk “But I've been to so many places already and it doesn't seem anypony is interested”
“Aww... Where have you tried?” Page asked as she sat down beside Binary.
“Big shops and department stores mostly, but I couldn't get to talk to anypony in charge. The cashiers thought they were cool though” she said with a slight smirk.
“Pfft... There's your problem. Nopony is going to just make a business deal with some mare off the street” Page said “Tell you what, I'll be done here in twenty minutes, I know a guy at this place in this one part of town that could totally help you out”
“Really!?” Binary squealed.
The sound prompted cold glares from everypony else in the store.
“Give it a rest guys this isn't a library” Page said to the disgruntled clientele “But I do have one condition. I get to keep those two gadgets” she said to Binary.
“Um... okay, I guess that's fair” said Binary.
“Excellent” Page said as she grabbed the devices and shoved them into her shirt pocket “I'll be back in a couple minutes” she grabbed her ladder then hurried to the back room.
Binary smiled as she packed up her smart tray/book. It seemed things were starting much smoother than in Ponyville. Even if the pony Page had spoken of couldn't help her, at least she had somepony in the city she could talk to.
“Things are really starting to go my way” Binary thought to herself.
The wind rushes past my ears as I run beside her. She laughs between heavy breaths as I begin to overtake her in speed. The feeling thrills me and I join her in her laughter. We round a corner on a steep hill and with a quick snap I lose my footing and I tumble over the side. She screams as I shatter, parts flying every which way. My head snaps from my neck and flies several feet before it smashes into a rock.
Had that been real it would've been my end. But this is what simulations are for.
I close my simulation and turned to the mess of parts scattered across the floor my predecessor was hidden in. The room made for a good workshop. Binary would never spontaneously enter and there was many useful, albeit rusty tools to work with. Nearby dumpsters provide me with an invaluable amount of resources without needing to leave the security of home.
“The leg muscles don't take very well to the added weight the larger chassis brings. I'll need to rework the designs before I begin construction”
Despite my own words I'm unable to tear myself away from my current project. I levitate a prototype for a mechanical eye. I look back and forth between the eye and that of the old metal pony's.
“His seemed dead and lifeless... mine shall be alive”
I link to pieces of wire together and a white dot appears on the eye. Shutters on the eye quickly open and shut.
“After all this time I'll finally be able to blink”
“Another little tip for the city is you never want to walk around town in the morning or at lunch and especially not around the hours of 4 and 6” Page said as she effortlessly moved through the crowd of ponies.
“So when is a good time?” Binary asked as she struggled to keep up
“I suppose if you went out at night... on second thought never go out at night” Page looked up at the sky slowly filling with clouds “Looks like its going to rain soon. You wouldn't happen to have an umbrella gizmo?”
“Not with me” Binary replied.
“Then we better hurry before it really gets going” Page said as she picked up her pace.
“Wait a second” Binary said as she attempted to keep up.
The distance between the two quickly grew until Binary had lost sight of Page completely. The crowd became more frantic as the first drops of rain began to fall. She came to an intersection and looked around but she could find no indication of which street Page had gone down.
She let out an annoyed grunt as she stopped to catch her breath “Oh well, I can just find her at that book shop tomorrow” she thought to herself as she shuffled to the front of a large building just as the crowds of ponies began to frenzy from the impending rain shower.
“I don't want any part of that mess” she thought to herself. She looked up at the large building “Well this worked out for me last time” she said to herself before she entered the building.
The interior of the building had a hotel lobby vibe to it with a warm orange glow throughout. A peach colored mare with pink glasses and a black mane sat at a large desk typing on a type writer. Next to the desk were a small and large elevator side by side. Binary stepped further in and noticed a red couch and two chairs arranged around a dark brown wooden table. She slowly stepped towards the furniture and sat down on one of the chairs. The room was nearly silent aside from the typing of the secretary pony.
“It's gonna kill me waiting until tomorrow” she thought to herself. Binary glanced over at the secretary pony “Maybe she can point me in the right direction” Binary walked over to the desk catching the attention of the secretary.
“Hello, do you have business here?” the secretary asked.
“Not exactly. My friend was giving me directions to someplace I could sell my inventions but we got split up. You wouldn't happen to know any place like that would you?” Binary asked.
“Inventions you say?” she asked as she looked at a name on an otherwise empty schedule beside her type writer “Are you Ms. Chopper, Mr. Production's 4 o'clock appointment?”
“Don't say yes don't say yes don't say yes don't day yes don't say yes don't day yes don't say yes” Binary screamed in her mind “...Yep” she croaked out “I am a horrible pony” she thought to herself as she forced a smile onto her face.
“You don't seem awfully sure about that?” the secretary asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Pfft...What? Of course I'm... Chopper” Binary stammered.
“How do I know you're who you say you are, and not some spy trying to steal our valuable products?” the secretary asked accusingly.
Binary turned as the entrance to the building swung open and a rain soaked Page Turner entered.
“There you are. What happened to you?” Page asked as she walked toward Binary “One second you're right behind me and the next you're gone. You can't just bail on somepony when they're helping you out”
Binary smiled and placed a foreleg around Pages' shoulder “Yeah, what an inconsiderate thing for old Chopper to do to her chum” Binary said loudly.
“What are you talking about, who's...” Page paused as she noticed the secretary's accusing stare “Oh... it's no big deal... Chopper” she said stiffly.
The secretary squinted as she looked back and forth between Binary and Page.
“Alright, you can go up. Take the small elevator up to the eighth floor. Mr. Productions' office is the third door on the left” the secretary said before returning to her type writer.
Binary's smile shrunk as Page pulled away from her and shot her an annoyed glare.
“Sorry about that” Binary whispered as they walked over to the elevator.
“What's wrong with you? Why did you make me lie?” Page whispered back.
“I don't know, it just sort of happened. I guess I thought I could skip right to the big break. I've really never done anything like this before” Binary said as her breathing began to quicken.
“Calm down” Page said as she placed a hoof on Binary's shoulder “Think of it this way, maybe this is like a novel where a coincidence sends you down a path to accomplish all your hopes and dreams... maybe you'll even fall in love with a dashing factory worker” Page said, losing herself in her romanticized example.
“But I've never even held hooves with a guy!” Binary yelled.
“Shh... forget that part. Just get it over with before you blow your chance” Page said encouragingly.
A determined look came to Binary's' face and she gave an affirmative nod. She pushed the button on the elevator. Binary and Page watched as the dial over the doors slowly went down from floor 8 to 7.
“What if I get sued?” Binary asked as the dial ticked down to six.
“What, why would that happen?” Page asked as the dial ticked down to 5.
“Well... I'm impersonating somepony right now and sneaking into a building without permission” she said as the dial ticked down to 4.
“You have permission” Page said as the dial ticked down to 3.
“No, whoever Chopper is has permission” she said as the dial ticked down to 2.
“Just try not to think about it” she said as the dial stayed locked at 2. Page watched as Binary's determined look faded “You're thinking about it aren't you?”
“It's a legitimate concern” she squeaked out as the dial ticked down to 1.
A small bell dinged as the elevator reached its destination. The doors opened and several ponies walked out, most with sour and tired expressions.
“Binary, I'm going to ask you a serious question” Page said as she looked Binary in the eye “You believe in your inventions, right?”
“Of course I do, I've worked on them all my life” Binary replied.
“Then you've got to trust that no matter what the situation is, you can go up there and wow this guy with them because they deserve it” Page said as she gave Binary a pat on the back.
Binary gave a firm nod and stepped into the elevator then pushed the eighth floor button.
“I've got this” she said as the elevator doors closed.
Page smiled at the triumphant moment “This is totally going in my novel” she said excitedly.
Binary stood alone in the elevator. She tapped a hoof on the ground as the dial ticked up to the 8th floor without any stops. The elevator chimed and the doors opened. She stepped out into the plain looking hallway and looked up and down the hall to find she was alone.
The walls were a pale yellow and the floor was covered with dirty looking red carpeting a harsh contrast to the look of the lobby. She walked until she found herself in front of her destination, the door to the bosses office. The door was no different than the others aside from a polished gold nameplate with Max Production engraved on it.
“Well... I guess this is it” she said as she slowly reached for the doorknob. She opened the door and peaked inside.
She saw the boss pony sitting behind a desk gazing up into the cloud through a small window. The stallion had light brown fur with a short black mane and wore square black glasses as well as a white shirt with a loosened red tie. Binary was surprised to see that the stallion was Pegasus, a rare sight in an office space. She had anticipated an old wrinkly business pony to be waiting for her, but he didn't look much older than herself.
Binary caught herself before she entered any further as she realized she hadn't knocked. She quickly shut the door with a noticeable thud.
From the other side Binary heard a sudden yelp. Binary smacked her forehead in embarrassment.
“So much for good first impressions” she muttered.
“Is somepony there?” Max asked “Hudson are you messing me with again?”
Binary opened the door again and attempted to hide her embarrassment.
The two stared at each other for a few moments before Binary finally said “Hi”
“Hello... can I help you?” Max asked.
“Yes... you see, I'm here to show you some inventions, I'm Ms. Chopper” Binary said tensely.
“Oh yeah, you're Axle's daughter. I've been looking forward to this” he said sarcastically “It's funny, I'd known your dad for a few years and I'd never heard him mention having a kid once, let alone one that's apparently overflowing with product ideas”
“Um... I wouldn't say overflowing” she said nervously .
“From what I see the only thing you're overflowing with is sweat. Take a seat” Max said as he pointed toward a chair in front of his desk.
Binary did as instructed as she tried to regain her composure, but the looming eyes of the businesspony kept her on edge.
“So... show me what you've got” he requested.
“Well I've got a bunch of things” she said as she began to dig into her pockets and empty them out onto Max's desk.
Max's eyes widened as he looked at the devices. His low expectations heightened as he looked at the few futuristic devices before him
“So what do these things do?” he asked as he picked up a levitation wand.
“That's a...” Binary began as Max pushed the button on the side of the device, shooting a green beam at Binary's glasses.
“Ah!” Max yelped as he flicked the device up, sending Binary's glasses flying up. Max dropped the device as Binary's glasses landed down on his desk.
“Hey!” Binary exclaimed a she fumbled around for her glasses.
“Sorry! I didn't mean to” Max said as he grabbed Binary's glasses and placed them into her fumbling hooves.
Binary placed her glasses back on her head and shot an annoyed glare at Max. Suddenly the tables seemed to have turned with Max as the nervous fool.
Max cleared his throat as he attempted to regain his composure.
“Pretty impressive huh?” Binary asked smugly.
“Well you do realize Unicorns can already levitate things and Pegasi can fly” he said as he ruffled his wings “There would be a good market for earth ponies but it's hard for a product to be a success when it's main market is only a third of the equine population”
“That actually makes a lot of sense” Binary agreed as she looked down.
“What else have you go there? Max asked.
“Well I gave away the book scanner I had with me, and those little circles are actually all parts of my auto shavers” she said as she pointed at the small circles.
“Now there's a product” Max said enthusiastically “Something that people inevitably need to buy replacements for”
“Actually they don't really need to be replaced” she said “My gadgets are designed to never break or run out of power”
Max let out a moan as he covered his face with his hooves “That's not a sustainable business model. And everything you've made is like this, little toys that fit a niche market” he said as he looked back up. Max was caught off guard at Binary's sudden angry expression.
“Listen buddy, I don't make toys. Everything I make fills a need” she said as she leaned in.
“Not really” Max said, matching Binary's lean “As far as I can tell they fill a want and once that want is fulfilled they'll probably be forgotten or replaced by some other want... although I'd like to see one of them prove me wrong”
“Well...I do have these” she said as she pulled a smart tray/book out from her saddle bag and placed it on the table “This is a smart tray, or book or... whatever. You can have it like this or attach it to your shoulders”
“I think it's more of a tray than a book. So what does it do?” he asked.
“Well as of right now... not a lot” she said as flipped up the screen “I've put in a lot of tools for ponies to make their own content though, but what I'm most proud of is the messaging feature”
“A mail service?” Max asked.
“Yeah but it's all digital” she said as she started up the device and turned it toward Max “So instead of sending a letter and getting it who knows when, you can have conversations with a pony hundreds of miles away like they were sitting right next to you”
“That's incredible. Show me how it works” Max asked as he pulled the smart tray towards himself.
“Well it's simple enough. The little arrow follows your eyes and if you blink when you look at the letter symbol it'll...” Binary paused as she heard the door behind her open.
Binary slowly turned her head to see a magenta unicorn with half of her pink mane shaved off.
“Excuse us we're in the middle of something” said Max.
“What! I'm like two seconds late and you give my appointment to some random albino looking weirdo” the mare said in an entitled tone.
“Who the heck do you think you are!” Max yelled as Binary shrunk in her seat.
“Who am I? I'm Chopper. The better question is who da heck is dis pale nerd” Chopper asked as she stepped up to Binary and stared her down.
“I'm...” she began as she glanced back and forth between Chopper and Max “... sorry” she said before she quickly grabbed her gadgets and shoved them into her bag then rushed out the door.
“Wait! You left your smart... thing!” Max called after Binary.
“Well, looks like you dodged a bullet with that one” said Chopper.
“Dodged right off a cliff” said Max as he rested his head in his hoof and glared at the bratty looking mare.
“Why are faces so difficult” Chip said to himself as he looked at his repulsive creation. A ghastly looking head with wires hanging from the neck and out the mouth. His attempts at replicating the jaw of a pony only produced a strange expression smiling expression that ticked all the wrong boxes for a smile. All contributed to a truly nightmarish looking face, far from the friendly look Chip was striving for.
The sound of the front door opening and shutting broke Chip from his concentration, dropping his head and causing the jaw to snap off.
“Chip, I'm back” Binary called from the lower floor.
Chip began to panic as he scrambled to hide his project. He lifted the covers off the bed and tossed most of the evidence onto it. He then lifted his head to hide it as well, but paused as he looked at the now jaw-less head. He noted the wires hanging down from its head resembling a smile.
“Perhaps, a proper face isn't the best option” he said before tucking the head away under the covers along with the rest of his work. With the evidence hidden he ported himself to Binary's room.
Binary laid on her bed with her legs sprawled out as far as they could go. Chip appeared on the bed in front of her. Binary she forced a reassuring smile onto her face as she looked at Chip.
“You don't look happy” Chip said.
“You know what, I think I actually am” she said as she lifted her head up “I made a friend, I took a big risk, took a big fall and I'm not even crying”
Chip simply stared at her. He tried to come up with something to say to break the odd silence, but the motivation wasn't there. His mind was still on his project and it seemed where Binary's presence had once given him a sense of purpose now it just felt like more of an annoyance, time he could spend on his own endeavors.
“So... what's the plan for tomorrow?” he asked.
“Uh... I think I might take let myself recover. Walking around that city all day was a lot more tiring than I thought” she said as she stretched her legs.
“Nonsense” Chip blurted out “You can't just give up now. You've got to back out there everyday until you find what your looking for”
Binary looked at Chip with a curious expression “You're oddly supportive today. What happened to just going back to the hill?”
Chip hesitated as he thought up a proper reply “Well, we've come all this way. Why would you stop when you're so close?”
“I didn't say I was going to stop” she replied “My legs are dying, I need a rest”
“Maybe you should just stay home” he mumbled bitterly.
“Exactly, it'll be fun I'll tell you about the city a...” Binary paused as she heard a small noise come from her bag “That sounded like my smart tray”
“I thought we were calling them smart books now?” Chip asked as Binary reached for her bag and pulled out the device.
She opened the device and saw a message on the screen in a text box above the mail folder
“I apparently have mail” she said as she blinked to click on the mail box.
A small loading screen appeared for a moment as the program opened. An exclamation point appeared next to the only message on the screen. Binary blinked on the message and the text was enlarged.
“Heelo is anybony tther?” the text read.
“What” she said as she looked into her bag to find the other smart tray missing “I left it in the office. So this must be...”
Binary blinked on a new message box and quickly made up a simple reply.
“Is that you Mr. Production?” it read. Binary blinked on send and awaited a reply.
Chip looked on, unaware of what was happening.
The device chimed again as new message popped up.
Binary immediately blinked on it and read the message aloud “Yeah, that's me. You left your machine here. Can you give me an address to send it back tp” Binary looked at Chip and shrugged her shoulders unsure of what to say.
“What, you made something out of that gibberish? He misspelled every second word”
“He's must be having a hard time typing” she replied “What should I say? We don't have an address... I know” she said as she turned back to the screen.
“Thanks for letting me know. I'll come pick it up tomorrow” she replied.
A few moments went by and another reply arrived “The building is closed tomorrow. Maybe we could meet somewhere” she read as a smile began to spread across her face “I'm very interested in the product and would love to discuss it further”
Binary froze with a look of pure glee on her face.
“You should probably say no” said Chip.
Binary shook her head and took a deep brief to regain her composure. She looked back at the screen and typed her response.
“Sure thing! I'm free all the time anytime, you name the place and I'll be there rain or shine, dragons or sheep, rocks or gems!” she replied.
“I can feel the excitement through the screen” she read “There's a little place on Celestial street called the Eclipse. Is noon okay for you?”
“Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!” she screamed as she began to bounce up and down on her bed.
“I thought your legs were supposed to be sore” said Chip.
“How can my legs be sore when my dreams are coming true! My inventions are finally gonna get the respect they deserve, and I'll be the most famous inventor in all of Equestria! First Manehatten, then a bunch of other places, and then the world! No one will be spared from awesomeness! NO ONE!”
“What happened to making things better” Chip mumbled to himself.
Binary made one final hop then belly flopped in front of the screen and wrote up another message.
“Noon is the absolute greatest time for me ever! It's always been my favorite time of day ever since I was a filly!”
Another message quickly popped up from Max “Okay. Just say your their to see Max and you'll be fine. I've gotta stop this now, the screen's starting to hurt my eyes”
Binary took a deep breath and flopped onto her back.
“It's finally happening” she said to herself as she attempted to contain her enthusiasm.
Chip remained silent, he felt nothing for Binary's success. But a slight bit of satisfaction came from the thought that she'd be out of the house for a few hours.
Author's Note
Here we have a grand example of self deprecating humor. If you look back at the other chapters you'll notice that I started calling smart trays smart books... yeah... totally planned that (awkward cough).
I know this chapter is probably full of grammatical errors and I apologize for that. I've released this after the third revision and fourteenth read through. I really want to finish this story, but if I remain forever stuck in edits I'll never finish it and it join the pile of stories left to rot. Hope you can enjoy it warts and all.
Binary sat across from her dashing business partner to be at the fanciest table in the lavish surroundings of the Eclipse club. She wore an astounding black dress that sparkled even in the dimmest of light. Max gazed at her with longing eyes, clearly struggling to keep things professional.
“So you say you're going to buy my amazing smart trays and sign me on for a billion bit contract, you flatter me Mr. Production” Binary said sophisticatedly before taking a sip of champagne from one of those super fancy glasses you see in the movies, you know the ones with the skinny middle and then get big at the...
“Oh yes, most assuredly. The moment I laid eyes upon it I had to have it” Max said with an eager look of anticipation “This is going to be bigger than those Celstia bobble heads they had.,.,..!!%$# coursssse they had thooooseee I remember when I was....?
“Well, I always knew I'd change the world someday, I just never thought it would be so soon, or so easy” Binary said smugly before playfully tapping Max's hoof, sending a shiver up the stallions spine.
“Three cheers for Ms. Binary!” a finely dressed waiter called to the rest of the club whom all seemed to be Binary's old classmates for whatever R!2easiiiin......!^&?
The club began to erupt in a thunderous roar of cheers.
“Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray! Hip hop hip Binary hop bop hip zip Binary (dolphin noise) Binary!”
Binary awoke and quickly glanced around to find herself still in her room and not super rich or popular. She drew her covers over her mouth as she looked up to see Chip floating in the air, glaring down at her.
“Was I talking in my sleep?” she asked.
Chip remained silent. Her pillow was engulfed in Chip's aura then lifted into the air as he began to fluf fit up.
“Sorry. You know you can just turn off you audio receptors if I start to bother you” Chip remained silent. He ceased his fluffing and held the pillow above Binary's head “Chip... did I say something bad in my sleep?” she asked as a growing look of worry crossed her face.
“No... just sit back and let the pillow do what it was made for” he said as his body flicked to a haunting orange image.
Binary tried to scream but was cut off as the pillow was forced down into her face as dolphins cackled in the distance.
Binary let out a scream as she shot up out of her bed. She looked in every direction but her poor vision showed her nothing but terrifying blurry blocks of blue.
“Chip!” she screamed as she jumped out of the bed and ran for the doorway, luckily being already open. She slid across the hallway and slammed into the opposite door. Her ears flicked up as she heard the sound of objects crashing around in the other room. Without a second thought she flung the door open and dived inside and landed an inch away from Chip.
“Um... this isn't entirely what it seems to be... but it might be” Chip said like a parent caught by a child.
“I knew it, you were gonna let me get famous in a dream and then, then you were gonna get a bunch of dolphins and smother me while the dolphins record it and then show it to all their sick twisted dolphin friends and they'd make you their leader or... something! I knew this day would... come, and...” Binary stopped her ranting and took a few quick breaths “Chip... what are you doing in here?”
Chip stared back at Binary, matching her blank expression.
“Uhh... Binary is it okay to lie to somepony if they physically couldn't tell if you were lying?” he asked.
“...Sure, I guess as long as its not a bid deal” she replied “Why would you ask something like that?”
“This is still part of the dream” he replied “Remember the evil dolphins?”
“I do remember the dolphins...” she replied “I'm very afraid of dolphins now”
“Isn't that too bad” Chip said before playing a recording of a dolphin cackle “You go back to sleep and just try to forget the dolphins... and everything else”
“Oookay” she said as she turned and made her way back to the hallway “It'd be a shame to be scared of dolphins, they're so cute”
“Yes, that's what's important here” he said before softly closing the door behind her.
Chip let out a sigh of relief. He then heard a thud from the hallway followed by an annoyed grunt.
“D'oh” muttered Binary.
Chip tried to ignore the sound of her hooves clicking against the floor but the continuous and inconsistent bumping sound quickly grew irritating. He let out a sigh as he vanished into the floor.
Binary caught herself before she took a step off of the staircase.
“Okay, this time” she whispered to herself as she squinted. She took slow steps towards the bathroom. As she reached for the doorway Chip's aura took her hoof and lightly tugged her back towards her room. Once inside she found her bed with ease and crawled back under the covers.
“Thanks Chip” she said through a yawn “Could you play me that old lullaby?” the soft tune began to play throughout the room. Binary snuggled down into her pillow as Chip tucked her in tighter “If I can have things this good in a dream just imagine what real life's like for that fancy Max guy” she said as she drifted off to sleep where no dolphins could hurt her.
Max laid in the middle of a large bed in an apartment too big for one pony filled with half his possessions the other half residing in another home he wouldn't have to pay for anymore in the next few months. His wide eyes twitched as the infernal sounds from the apartment above kept him awake for the third night in a row. He could stand it before when he wasn't alone but now he heard every step, bump and squeak that they made.
“Well... this is pointless” he said as he put his glasses on and looked at the clock on the wall “1 am. Looks like I'm sleeping through lunch again. Guess it's a pretty easy day tomorrow anyway; paper work, lay off 3 guys, paper work, talk to that inventor and then come home... she kind of struck me as the annoying type though. But it's okay...” he said as he stretched his wings out and placed his front legs behind his head “I've gotta have a win eventually”
Author's Note
It's probably some sort of rule to not have two fake outs on top of each other but I couldn't resist, I had to do something to make writing fun again.
