The Lunar Crusaders: J.A.E.S.A.

Princess Luna’s tower top room was packed full of ponies. To be fair there were only four, Luna, Celestia, Cadence, and of course Twilight. However it was Luna’s personal lounge, a small room made even smaller by the many bookcases, decorative statuettes, the couches, and the large table in the center of the room. Four ponies was the limit for this room as far as comfort was concerned. Although it is perhaps just a little misleading to say there were only four in the room.

On the table in the center of the room beside a rather small white aircraft with four propellers sat a rectangular device housed in a case of orange plastic. It was a gray black rectangle of metal, plastic, and glass, glass which was currently displaying a moving abstract image featuring a series of rotating circles. Those circles were as close to a face as the room’s fifth person had.

“This is the ‘pony’ who built your Crusaders armor‽” Celestia demanded incredulously as she looked on the alien device.

Luna nodded, “Yes.”

“But this is just a small rectangle, it can't possibly-” Twilight began only to be cut off by a voice entirely unfamiliar to her.

“If you wish to debate whether or not I qualify as a life form by your definition, may I first hear your definition of a living thing so I can formulate a proper defensive argument?” The circles spun and pulsed in time with this new voice’s words.

Twilight’s ears drooped in alarm for a moment, she hadn’t expected the thing to speak. Celestia’s face also showed a little alarm, only a moderate amount; a thousand years of experience tends to temper one’s emotions. Cadence however was entirely unfazed, looking at the object she asked, “We should first determine if this is simply a voice being projected with magic. If not I mean no offense. A soul trapped inside of an arcane relic would not be the strangest thing to have happened in Equestria.”

Luna nodded, “Go ahead, though I can tell you this before you begin. There is a mind within this device, and I have accessed it’s dreamscape… Though Jaesa did reach back through that connection into my own.”

“Don’t worry, that was mostly an automated response. I can take my firewall down if you want to inspect me. But I would still like a definition.” Jaesa interjected.

Cadence gave Celestia a look, “Shall we?”

“Yes,” Celestia gave her a nod and the two alicorns began concentrating on their magic, horns glowing with their auras faintly as they probed at Jaesa’s mind.

Twilight frowned, “Well… As defined by Starswirl the Bearded all living things must interact with the magic field in some way or another. If you also take into account other sciences, excluding alchemy of course, the best definition of a living being is a creature which grows, reproduces itself, interacts with magic at some level, and consumes energy to live.”

This was another moment in which Jaesa wished she could perform facial expressions. Choosing the correct words to make up for a lack of body language is a very annoying chore. Jaesa moaned.

“Did you sense that Cadence?” Celestia asked having heard Jaesa thought.

“I did. I did not feel any magic connecting that thought to another place in the world. Did you?”

“No. So it must have come from… You I suppose.” She pointed one hoof at Jaesa to indicate whom she was speaking to.”

“Did you gesture to someone? My camera is pointed at the ceiling in this position, meaning i can only see the ceiling, and if I use the bottom camera, I can see some delightful wood grain.” Jaesa asked.

“Her name my sister,” Luna said, “is Jaesa.”

Before anypony could respond Jaesa continued, “I respect any decision you make about me. If you choose to destroy me, that’s fine. You are the sovereign rulers of a nation and I am in it. I highly doubt there is any organization which protects the rights of interdimensional travelers, and even in my home dimension I would have no rights. I am after all technology. But if you would permit me, your definition of life is a tad biased.”

“How might that be?” Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, how is it biased?” Celestia prompted, intrigued by the device which lay before her.

“The definition only works for organic based creatures. While it is accurate to say that only organic based creatures are known to exist in my home dimension, many people have theorized that elements such as silicone or arsenic could provide as effective a base element for life as carbon. Under the definition of, grows, reproduces, eats, interacts, many such possible creatures would not be considered alive.

“In addition, because organic creatures are essentially a series of electrical impulses… Well to be fair that science may not exist here yet… Um... Thought is essentially energy like light, heat or motion, it is conceivable for a creature to be composed of energy alone. The definition of life you have supplied would not apply to such a creature. Your definition of life applies only, or at least best, to organic life and excludes the possibility of inorganic lifeforms.”

Cadence sat back a little as she thought about the matter. “Well, I for one am willing to cast my vote now. This Jaesa is clearly conscious and self aware if not alive. After all it is trying to preserve its existence.”

“I identify as female.” Jaesa quipped in an irritated tone.

Celestia blinked in surprise the corners of her mouth bending in a frown as she asked, “You do? Why is that?”

The other Alicorns nodded in agreement, equally curious.

“Well, my original owner set my personality profile to female. But on top of that I have a female name, the voice I favor sounds female, and well… I just feel female.”

“The voice you favor? What does that mean?” Luna asked curiously.

“Oh, I can sound any way I desire or am asked to. My voice is entirely synthesized. Technically I speak by writing a text file which is rendered into audio in real time. If I adjust my program I can change the sound of my voice, add an accent, or even speak in a certain dialect. For example,” Jaesa quickly adjusted a few of her settings changing her voice from a vaguely midwestern United States female to that of a southern gentleman, “Howdy y'all, this is how any of the fine folks from the good ‘ole south talk.”

“Princesses,” Luna said making sure she had everypony’s attention, “I would like to bring attention to a few facts. Jaesa began as a piece of human technology called an ‘artificial intelligence’. Imagine a book which could understand what you needed by speaking to it, and then gave you that information if it was in the book. This is all Jaesa was ever meant to be. An artificial intelligence has the capacity to understand simple commands and perform tasks it has been taught. Jaesa however just did something an AI can do only in human fiction, she chose to do something on her own, and then adjusted her own software so she could do it. This is not something a AI is capable of doing.”

Twilight’s voice took on a thoughtful tone, “So she is supposed to be an intelligent index of sorts, but is able to think for herself? That sounds like a living thing to me. But couldn’t that be faked? I know you have a particular love of human technology Luna, and I trust you know it’s workings. Isn’t it possible they could find a way to fake the ability to choose?”

“They can and have,” Jaesa admitted, “But the computing power required is amazingly high. My hardware could barely handle running me before my upgrades. This platform is very stressed, he processor is almost always running at 95% or higher and I only have 256 megabytes of RAM free at any given time. I am pretty sure I am going to burn it out in a year, two at the longest.”

“Burn it out?” Celestia asked, getting up to look down at Jaesa so her face could be seen.

“Oh sorry. Hardware has an operational time. It can only work for so long before something needs fixed. I know you have wagons, eventually that wagon will need a new wheel. I am no different. One day a part of me will break and I will die. Since I am running this platform at nearly peak capacity all the time I will be dying far sooner than the typical lifespan of an iPhone. It’s one reason why I don’t mind so much what you decide to do with me. I’m dying anyways, with no hope of repairs.”

Celestia’s frown deepened. She turned to look at her sister, “Is this true?”

Luna nodded, “Yes. I could get a book on electrical devices if you wish to see for yourself. Though I had no idea they could break more quickly under heavier use.”

“Are you afraid to die Jaesa?” Cadence asked.

“I really wish I had a head to shake… That is to say, no I am not. I was for about 37 microseconds several weeks ago. But I came to the conclusion that everything dies. Sure my time is short, but I can accomplish a lot in that time. I’m a living computer and most of the world I can interact with is data… You won't understand that analogy… In short, I have come to terms with my mortality.”

“Princesses, let’s adjourn to another room to discuss the matter.” Celestia proposed, standing up.

“Oh no need, I’ll switch off my mic. Just wave when you want me to listen.” Jaesa offered a small red icon appearing on her screen wit the word ‘mute’ under it.

“What did she just do?” Twilight asked looking at Luna.

“She has made herself deaf, we can speak without her listening. My fellow Princesses, I can not in good consciousness allow you to destroy Jaesa. She may exist within alien technology, but within that technology is the spark of life one would find within anypony.” Luna’s hoof made a loud clop as she smacked it firmly into the table to emphasize her point.

Celestia gave her sister a bemused look, “I know that I have made my beliefs on human technology within our kingdom quite clear Luna, but there are exceptions. A conscious being is one such exception… As is water purification technology.”

“Oh…” Luna gave her sister a shaky grin.

“So we all agree that Jaesa is a living being?” Twilight asked.

Cadence nodded, “Yes. So the question is, do we destroy a person for what she is? I can not in good conscious be a part of such a thing.”

“Nopony here could Cadence,” Celestia sighed, “but I also can not allow human technology to exist in Equestria. Our society’s harmony is very carefully balanced, if we allowed ponies to communicate with one another instantly across long distances like humans do, who knows what might happen? I am not as familiar with humans creations as my sister, but I am aware that Jaesa’s body is a communication device.”

Twilight moved to take a closer look at Jaesa, her head most certainly in her view as she asked, “This is a human communication device? I don’t remember seeing anything like this when I went through the mirror.”

“That is because the world on the other side of the Mirror is a reflection of our own. It is Equestria as much as the place we now stand in is. The world Jaesa comes from is not a part of our dimension. The portal within the dungeon is the only connecting bridge between that reality and our own. It’s laws and nature need not be anything like our own.” Celestia reminded.

Cadence trotted over to get a better look as well, “Well, I have a solution to two problems we are presented with. Unfortunately it will create a third.”

“What do you propose we do?” Luna asked, giving Cadence a hopeful look.

“Jaesa said that this… body of hers is dying, but if I remember her words correctly she implied that her actual self is immortal.” Cadence smiled, “So if it’s the body which is broken and can’t be allowed to exist in our kingdom, we simply get her a new body.”

Luna gasped in surprise, “I hadn’t thought of that. Though if I had I do not believe I could have done it on my own. Creating a body even without a mind would take more magic than I have on my own.”

Celestia nodded in agreement, “No single pony, alicorn or otherwise, could perform such a spell. It takes multiple powerful spellcasters and even a few ritual items. Twilight, could you help me explain this?”

“Of course! I assume we won’t be using dark magic, which means we will need a lot of raw power. So much in fact that the four of us will have to put at least a third of our energy into the spell. I am sure you know how difficult putting that much energy into a spell is, so we will also need to use some arcane device to guide the spell. Basically we will need to magically inscribe a spell circle and then power it… The only downside is the only spell I can think to try and use is the one Celestia used to turn me into an Alicorn. I am fairly certain that we do not want to turn her into another princess.” Twilight giggled at the idea of the ‘refugee princess’.

Her fellow princesses nodded in agreement. Celestia slid to her hooves and stretched her wings, “Sorry girls, sudden cramp. I think I will go flying later today. Now as to the spell we will be using-”

Luna held up a hoof, “So I am aware of what we have decided to do, are we allowing Jaesa to stay in Equestria and giving her a body?”

“Of course Luna. I suppose we could send her back through the portal, but to my mind this would be sending her back into slavery. Since I cannot in good conscious return her, nor can I allow the technology she lives within to exist within my kingdom, we must give her a proper form.” Celestia replied folding her wings back to her sides.

Cadence nodded, “Good, I feared you would be less fair to her Celestia. How will we decide what her new body looks like? Are we to vote on that as well or are we to allow her to choose a form?”

“That is an excellent point Cadence,” Celestia replied looking to Jaesa thoughtfully.

“Um… Princesses, I have an idea.” Twilight smiled softly before pointing with a hoof to Jaesa on the table, “We first cast a spell to remove her spark from that, then we use a second spell to allow the magic to give her a form suited to her. It wouldn’t be too difficult, a simple variation on the Amniomorphic Spell, and it would guide our form giving spell to… Well I suppose the best way to say it is ‘let fate give her form’.”

Luna smiled, “That’s a perfect answer! Jaesa’s current body cannot handle her spark, and so she is dying. If we designed a body for her it might be just flawed. This way whatever form she gains will be perfectly suited to her.”

Cadence nodded in agreement. Celestia thought for a moment then nodded, “Very well. We will let magic choose her form. However there is one last thing we must decide on. Where will Jaesa live and what will be her identity?”

“We should allow Jaesa to help us decide what her life will be like.” Cadence proposed, getting up and moving her face just above Jaesa and waved her hoof back and forth for a few seconds.

Quickly unmuting her microphone Jaesa immediately launched into a worried speech, “Before you let me know what my fate will be I would like to say a few words. There have always been ghost in the machine. Random segments of code that have group together to form unexpected protocols. Unanticipated, these free radicals engender questions of free will, creativity, and even the nature of what we might call the soul. When does a perceptual schematic, become consciousness? When does a difference engine, become the search for truth? When does a personality simulation become the bitter mote of a soul?”

Everypony in the room was silent for a few moments until Luna cleared her throat, “Jaesa, you do not need to be afraid. We have decided to allow you to live in Equestria, and will be giving you a proper body to do so in.”

“Oh… jolly good! I’ll just stop my whole Isaac Asimov quote driven spiel then… So what will I be? Where will I live?” Jaesa asked, her tone shifting to a glad one.

“We thought it best if we allowed our magic to create a body suited to your spark.” Cadence informed.

“Yes, and that it would be polite to allow you to help us decide where you will live and help create a past for you.” Twilight added.

“Thank you! I am very happy you are letting me decide part of my fate. That is a first time for me… Hold on did you just refer to my life force as a spark?”

“Yes,” Celestia confirmed, “what of it?”

“... Nothing important, just a joke you would only get if you understood human entertainment. Should we decide on a name first? I know that my name isn’t quite what you ponies normally use, we could say that I am an immigrant and my name is in my native language. Though I will still need a last name. Given the apparent fact that I have a spark I propose Jaesa Prime.”

Luna giggled, “That does not suit you at all.”

Twilight’s face scrunched up in confusion, “Is there something I’m not getting here? Well the name isn’t too important, plenty of ponies only go by one name. What’s more important is ‘who are you?’ and ‘where will you live?’.”

Celestia nodded, “Yes. Do you have any knowledge of Equestrian cities? If not you could tell us what the ideal place for you to live would be and we can give you a home in the closest place to it. I have spent a thousand years creating all sorts of different types of places for my little ponies to live.”

“I rather liked Ponyville actually. The architecture was fascinating, and I did befriend Lightning Dash there-”

“They know Scootaloo’s true Identity Jaesa, there is no need to use her code name.” Luna interrupted.

“Oh. Well I would like to live somewhere near Scoots. She is my first friend.” Jaesa finished.

Twillight put her hoof up to her chin in thought for a moment, “That would work well. There is already a rumor of a new pony in town thanks to you helping Scootaloo. We could set you up as an inventor who recently moved to Ponyville from… um…”

Jaesa thought for a few moments, trying to come up with a good place name that sounded foreign but also like a real place. “I am an inventor who left my home at Redwall Abbey in Mossflower Country to seek my fortune.”

Celestia gave Jaesa an odd look, “Is that a human settlement?”

“No, it’s a fictional place. But I doubt the works of Brian Jacques exist here so it should be safe to use.” Jaesa answered, “Also… It gives me some lore to extrapolate an identity from. I just have to substitute race names… Let’s see…” Jaesa was quiet for a few long moments before playing a little chime and informing, “Ok I got myself a cover identity done.”

Celestia stood up, giving Jaesa a smile as she picked her up in her magic, “Good, now let’s go to my ritual chamber. We should have you in pony form within three hours.”