G.I.T.P Ghost in the Ponyby ExMedalChaptersChapter 2 The Story BeginsChapter 3 The EverfreeChapter 4 The TankChapter 5 The EscapeChapter 6 The First TasteChapter 6.5 Out of CharacterChapter 7 Welcome to PonyvillChapter 8 The Crystal CastleChapter 1 The Gig EndsChapter 2 The Story BeginsEverything was black again. Motoko was starting to get tired of this cycle. Then things started to happen. A small screen came out in the middle of the blackness. =Begin Cyber-Pony Start Up sequence = The Screen disappeared and was follower by a number of other messages… =Life Functions Operational= =Data Liberty Operational= =Weapons Systems Operational= =Communications Systems Operational= =Defense Systems Operational= =Energy Output Operational= =Power at 100%= =Body Functions at 100%= =Memory Recall at 86%= =Personality Functions at 53%= =Releasing Limb Servos= =Activating Exterior Senses= =Finishing Boot Up Sequence= =Start Up Sequence Finished= The screen came up again =Welcome Back Online User Motoko Kusanagi= Motoko could finally open her eyes. At first everything was white, typical of just wakening up. But then her eyes finally adjusted to the light, and she found herself in a strange forest. Something was off about it thought. She looked around for anything out of the ordinary, the trees looked fine, and so did the bushes, the grass was normal, the clouds above where fine and the sky was so blue that…that was it! Everything was wrong, the clouds, trees and grass where too colorful, too smooth, too coordinated. Everything looked like something from a children’s book. Motoko walked up to the closest tree to take a closer look at it. It was a real tree, organic, wooded, living; she was expecting it to be artificial. Something else felt wrong, not with the scenery, but her body. She only just noticed wile walking up to the tree but she was on all four’s, and very comfortable with it. Motoko noticed a river nearby; it would do for a way to see just what’s wrong with body. She noted that the water was to pure blue, but she let that slide for the moment so that she could see herself in the reflection, it was easy since the river was so pristine, she wishes she could say the same about accepting what she saw in the water. It was her, sort of anyway. It had the same hair, the same eyes. But everything else was wrong; her body wasn’t a human, but a small purple horse, at least it faintly resembled a horse. The head was completely wrong, the legs where to thick and smooth with no visible way of tearing apart the leg from the hoof. It was like the kind of thing shown on a little girls show. Motoko recalled the strange loading sequence from earlier, One word in particular. Cyber-Pony, Motoko looked closely at her limbs and sure enough above what she might consider the solder or knee where separation lines, and after feeling the back of her neck, she found her Data Ports. Motoko relaxed a little, it was still a Prosthetic Body. Motoko thought back to the moment before she blacked out, she decided to check if she could contact anyone… [This is Major Motoko Kusanagi of Public Security Section 9, please responded] There was nothing, no response. In fact there didn’t seem to be any wireless network anywhere. Could she be in some sort of blind spot in the system, well it narrowed down where in the world she was at least. Motoko tried again, but this time she used the network used only by her and her teammates. She had theory she wanted to test… [Section 9, this is Motoko Kusanagi reporting, Responded] At first there was nothing, but then… [Major! Is that you?] It was Batou, She was right he was alive. She couldn’t remember the last time she was this happy to here someone else’s voice. [Batou, you alive!] There was a brief pause… [You sound happier then normal] […Well when you see someone die on your lap you tend to be a little more cheerful to here from them again] [nooo you died before me, I felt your hand on my solder] [No I’m sure you died before me, I felt you slip away] [I was just resting my eyes, you died the moment you…] Motoko interrupted him. [Are we really arguing about who died first?] Batou was silent for a moment… [Well it’s not something you get to talk about often] Motoko decided to try and move the conversation on. [Where are you now?] [As much as I hate to say this, I’m stuck in tree, hanging like a freaking marionette] [I will follow your signal just hang in there] [ha ha very funny…errr I think there’s something you should know] Motoko was making her way to Batou when she responded. [Does it have anything to do with wakening up in a new horse like Prosthetic Body, or a Cyber-Pony body] […You too huh] [Yes! I think I see you] It was another pony; it was hanging a few feet over the ground tangled on the hanging vines of a rather large tree. Jugging by the larger build of its body Motoko guessed it was male. It was a pale color with white hair tied in a pony tale, the same separation lines as she did, but it also had something on its flank. The mark was all black like a stencil; it was a picture of a fist with a wrench at an angle behind it. “Batou?” It felt kind of strange to speak again after so long. The Tangled Stallion turned its head to look at her. It’s eyes where relatively normal, other than the fact that they where completely silver, not just the irises but the whites and pupils as well. It was like someone looked at his old eyes and wanted to make something look more normal but keep there old charm…did she really just use the word charm? “Major…you look ridiculous” Motoko looked up and smiled slightly. “Well I think it’s a good look for you, especially the eyes, much more…expressive than your usual models” “Speak for yourself, I think my old eyes where very expressive…can you get me down now little miss Pegasus?” “…Pegasus?” Motoko turned her head to look back at her self. Sure enough their where wings. She shook herself a little and stretched them out to there full length. That’s when she noticed that she had something on her flank too; it was the Section 9 insignia, a round circle with squared shapes coming from it. She turned back to Batou hanging in the tree, surly these where just for show, there’s no way that wings this small could lift her off the ground. That’s what she thought as she was becoming air born to untangle Batou from the vines resulting in him falling to the ground with a resounding thud. “Just what is this thing made of?” Batou was picking himself up when Motoko landed right beside him. He looked at her for a moment before rising up on his hind legs and picking her up, he put her down seconds later and then scratched his chin. “Well you not light as a feather that’s for sure…where are we anyway?” Motoko tucked back her new fully functional wings. “Not sure, but wherever we are there’s no Network connection, were on our own” “Grate…so now where do we go” Motoko started to walk past the tree… “Well this way’s as good as any” The pair began to go deeper into the forest. Chapter 3 The EverfreeMotoko and Batou had been walking though the woods for about five minuets. She had paid note that the deeper they went into this place, the darker and more…dangerous it felt. Batou was more concerned with their situation more than the change of scenery… “So far all I have gathered is that someone had taken our Cyber-Brains out, put us in these…pony things, and then threw us in this freaky place” Motoko turned her head slightly to face him wile they walked. “I doubt it’s as simple as that Batou. Even if the plant life is the result of some sort of genetic engineering, it still wouldn’t explain the clouds and sky. I have checked several times and these eyes aren’t changing the environments image, they really look like that” “Well Major that said these Prosthetic body’s aren’t the worst I’ve seen, remember the one that CEO Jameson had, I would rather this than a little grey box with legs thank you…plus I have to admit despite how stupid it looks this thing is well built, I haven’t felt this comfortable in a new body since…” Batou was cut of by Motoko stopping suddenly followed by her jumping up and down cursing loudly. “Major what the Hell” Motoko stopped and rubbed her right front hoof. “I think I…knocked my hoof on something…it hurt” Batou looked at her, slightly amused. “This coming from the same woman who once had both of her arms ripped off wile trying to take out a think tank?” “This is different, I haven’t felt pain in…” She stopped. She just realized something, ever since she became a Cyborg wile still a child she could only feel a limited amount of sensations. They would get sharper and more defined with the more advanced bodies, but she always thought that they could be better. This just know was the first time she felt pain, real pain since…that day when her old life ended. She was just thinking about a way to stop feeling pain when another screen showed up… =Cyber-Pony Scenery Adjustment Option Activated= The screen had an array of scroller’s, each one with a deferent sense labeled above it. There was smell, sound, taste, touch, and temperature, all of them set at 50%. Motoko silently examined the screen, dubious if this was real or just some sort of joke. Deciding to test just what it was she looked up at the sky and turned to the sight option up to 100% and…she could see every star in the sky, every galaxy every stream of energy, she could see everything, she could…could…could. Motoko turned the option back to 50% and then closed her eyes. It was just too much for her to cope. Motoko decided to try it again, but this time she selected the hearing option and turned it down to 0%, and then…there was nothing. Perfect silence. No even perfect silence had some noise; this was as if sound had just left the world. That’s when she noticed Batou moving his mouth at her. He was trying to talk to her. Motoko raised her hoof to quiet him and turned her hearing back to 50, she didn’t want to get her hearing back to someone shouting at her. “Sorry about that I was…did you know these bodies had adjustable senses?” “Maybe we should talk about it after we get out of here” Motoko raised an eyebrow at him. He was holding the same piece of wood she had knocked herself on earlier. She looked at it closely; it was the chewed up and battered remains of an old sign that read… Warning! Everfree Forest! Do Not Enter! Motoko looked at the bottom of the sign. It was smaller and slightly smeared, like whoever was writing it suddenly ran off wile finishing. It said… Beware the Timberwolves! Motoko looked up at Batou. He looked concerned. “Thanks to that little song and dance you did earlier we probably have attracted something unfriendly” Motoko wanted to object but she knew he was right. That’s when she first saw it… “Batou…what do you think that sign means by Timberwolves” “Well Any of several subspecies of Canis lupus which inhabits forested areas, especially The Eastern Timber Wolf, also known as the Eastern wolf or the Canadian Timber Wolf, also known as the Mackenzie Valley wolf. Jugging by the trees of this place I would think that…” “Doesn’t Timber also mean wood?” “Well yes but that doesn’t mean that Timberwolves are made out of it if that’s what you mean” “…Maybe you should tell them that!” Batou turned his head around slowly, and sure enough behind him was a pack of six or seven large wolfs, all with glowing green eyes, sharp claws and teeth, and made entirely out of wood, and they where all growling at them. Batou’s ears dropped down and the sign fell from his grasp making a small thud noise as it hit the ground. “Now this is just getting retarded!” And the two of them fled. Chapter 4 The TankMotoko and Batou where running at full speed. They where just ahead of the wooden creatures that where steadily gaining them. Batou was calling out to her. “OK what the F%$! is going on!? Why are we being chased by walking fire wood!? Are they robots or something!?” “I don’t think so! I can’t imagine anyone making robots with wooden exoskeletons! Besides even the most complex AI’s couldn’t mimic an animals persona so precisely!” “Speaking of AI I really wish we had a Tachikoma with us right now!” “Agreed! I know they often irritate me but a Mini Walker Tank would really be useful right now!” The Wolfs where almost upon them now… “And I also have to admit that I’m actually missing their childish banter, it somehow always made me feel a little at ease when one of them was around!” Just as the wolfs where about to bite down at them, something large and bright blue crashed though the trees and caused the monsters to break apart into pieces of wood. “Do you really mean that miss Major!?” The two of them suddenly stopped and turned to look behind them. Surrounded by broken branches and scattered wood, was a single Tachikoma. It looked a little different than normal however, more simplistic and, Motoko decided, cartoonish. She also guessed that this was the same one that was destroyed along with them before she…blacked out. The machine zoomed to the pair and grabbed them, hugging them in a strong embrace. “YAAAAAY! You have no idea how worried I have been, when I shut down I thought it was all over because I got disconnected from the main server, but then everything went white and I was all scribbly, then a funny drawing horse thingy came and said ‘I am all, yet I am nothing, I am everywhere, yet I am nowhere, I live, yet I have never been born’ and that I would have a new life, then I reactivated in a new body, and I was in a forest, then I started looking around, then I heard you screaming then…” Motoko pulled herself out of the Mini Tanks grasp and moved to the debris. She picked up a piece of wood that had once been a part of one of the wolf’s legs, ignoring the fact that she didn’t have fingers to hold it with anymore. “Just as I thought. There’s no metal in this, no signs of any circuitry or Nano mechanical influences. Its just normal, everyday wood!” Tachikoma let go of Batou and turned slightly to face Motoko. “Right! I don’t detect any inorganic materials or electrical energy signatures coming off any of the wood those wolfs where made from. In fact I don’t detect any metals or energy masses within a hundred miles of the area!” “I was afraid you would say…” Motoko suddenly jolted upright as she recalled what Tachikoma had said earlier. “Waite a minuet! You saw the strange winged horse in the white world too?” Tachikoma lent sideways a little. “Yep…is that strange?” Batou looked at her with raised eyebrows. “Wait that was real? I thought I was just hilusinating!” Motoko looked at the wood in her hoof again. This was reassuring her idea that this wasn’t the world that they knew, but how could she be sure. But just as her mind was trying to figure things out, the wood began to glow a bright shade of green, before flying right from her grip along with the other pieces of wood, even the branches that Tachikoma had broken started to float towards the growing mass. The wood began to form a shape, fit into place, become limbs and fangs. The glowing had stopped, replaced by a pair of glowing green eyes. It was bigger than the others, and appeared to have a crown of green leafs, but it was un-mistakenly another Timberwolf. Was this normal for these creatures? The grate beast roared at them, making the ground shake. It was angry with them, and it wanted payback. Then suddelny… =High Danger Levels Detected= =Thermo-Optical Camouflage Activated= Motoko looked at her hoof in surprise, it disappeared right in front of her face, only for a few seconded later for a faint black outline to appear around it. Motoko realized that her eyes were generating the black line as a way to see herself, she was completely invisible otherwise. She looked back at Batou and Tachikoma, there Camouflage had also activated. She looked back at the giant wolf that was looking around confused and to her surprise actually scratching its head. Motoko motioned her hoof to move away, preferably as far away as possible. The three of them moved very slowly at first, but the moment they where out of earshot they made a brake for it. They ran as fast as they could, always keeping their eyes on the Wolf. That was a mistake because if they had been looking, they would have seen the rather steep and rather large slope right in front of them. If anyone was there at that moment they would have heard something that sounded like a large hunk of metal and two squishy thinks bouncing and rolling down a slope hitting everything on the way down culminating in a dust cloud appearing at the bottom of the slope accompanied by a loud crunching crashing sound, and two ponies under an upside down blue spider suddenly appearing from thin air. Batou groaned… “Now I remember what pain feels like! Did we really just do something so remarkably stupid like Saturday morning cartoon characters?” Motoko squirmed under the Walker. “At least our camouflage saved us from the TimberWolf” Tachikoma waved its legs. “Yep, shame it turned off in front of the Lion!” And sure enough Motoko and Batou could see the Lion right in front of them. And that it had large bat wings and a scorpion’s tale. Batou’s head fell face first to the ground. “You know what…death doesn’t seem so bad anymore” Chapter 5 The EscapeThe Lion creature growled at them, slowly prowling towards them, licking its large sharp teeth. Motoko and Batou both pushed at the ground to get Tachikoma off their backs and back on his four feet, with a resounding clank. Motoko looked at the Tank with worried eyes. “Tachikoma, this creature…” “One hundred percent organic Miss Major, and from the way he’s looking at us very hungry, not to smart either since we collectively have less organic material than a lions recommended nutritional needs and...” “OK I only needed to know the first part, this is really enforcing my theory but right now I think we need now is a miracle” Just as the monster pounced on them aiming for the kill, the Timberwolf burst out of the trees, hitting the Beast in midair causing them to crash into the near by cliff. “Or a angry wood monster bent on revenge will do” Motoko helped Batou up and watched at the two creatures scrapped with each other. They needed to use this opportunity to escape, now! “Tachikoma! Can you use your wheels” “Yes Major, all-terrain systems are fully operational” “Good, then open up, where leavening before these two settle there little differences” Tachikoma opened up the cockpit in its abdomen and Motoko jumped right in. Batou ran up to the side of Tachikoma. “Guess I’m riding you cowboy stile” “Why don’t you use the front driving seat mister Batou?” A round door at the top of the tanks main body opened up revealing a seat with a set of controls and a steering wheel. “How long have, oh never mind I’ll ask later…” Batou jumped in and fascine the belt. “Lets ride!” Tachikoma’s feet changed into wheels and he zipped of like a racecar. The trees looked like green and brown blurs as they speed past them. Motoko could see outside though the eye monitor; the forest was thinning out now, Trees where getting farther apart, and the sky was shining though more brightly. She took this moment to inspect the Tachikoma’s controls inside the cockpit. It was a lot more comfortable for one thing, and all the usual controls where there, although the where all seemingly remodeled to be used by a Pony instead of a person. Motoko thought she just needed one more thing before confirming her theory about where they where when a loud roar from behind them. The Lion creature was now air born, and was catching up to them. Batou was the first to respond. “S$%£! That thing must have finish sparing with the wolf!” Tachikoma was now moving on a long flat slope… “What do we do Mr Batou? None of my weapons can shoot backwards and if I try to turn around we’ll loos enough speed for it to catch us, and that’s if we don’t crash into something wile facing the wrong way!” “In other words where up s$%£ creek without a paddle! Major any ideas” Motoko looked at the rest of the cockpit. Although it had everything it used to have, it had many new features too, and one of them at near her left hoof was labeled ‘Abdomen Cannon’. There was no time to think about what it did, so she just pushed the button and hoped. Outside of Tachikoma a grey cylinder had just come out of the top of the abdomen brushing the top of Batou’s head. “What the! Did you do that Major?” Motoko could just here him though the metal shell. The screen now had crosshairs on it. She decided to use her Communicator. [I think we might just get out of this one] Motoko took the controls in both hoofs and watched the monitor. Outside the top of the Abdomen swung round to the back of Tachikoma. The barrel raised itself, and then fired a single black ball, hitting the Lion right in the head. The beast was sent hurtling to the ground and crashed in a quickly shrinking cloud of dust. “ha HA! That got him! Hay Major, next time I get to drive the cockpit alright!” [No problem Batou] A few minuets later they had left the dark foliage of the Everfree Forest, and where now driving in a bright green plane. The three of them agreed that it was safe it slowdown, and then finally come to a complete stop. Motoko came out of the cockpit. “I think I see a road up ahead” And sure enough a few feet away was a long, sand colored that split into several directions. The trio walked up to the place where the road splits off and found a tall wooden sign that pointed into four different directions. The signs read ‘Ponyvill’ ‘Everfree Forest’ ‘Sweet Apple Acer’s’ and ‘Canterlot’. Batou looked at the sigh. “I’m starting to get this ‘little kids show vibe’ from this place” Motoko looked at her friend with a hint of sarcasm. “Yes with large wooden wolfs and blood thirsty beast in its forest, its positively fairyland” Motoko’s ears shot up. “Someone’s coming! Time to disappear!” The three of them activated there camouflage and jumped of the road going at the side of the sign. Seconds later, three small ponies ran down the road. One of them, a white pony with a horn and curly pink and purple hair, stopped near the sign. It looked up into empty space, or at least empty space if not for the fact that Motoko was standing right in front of it. “Sweetie Belle? Why are ya looking at?” The White Filly jumped slightly. “Sorry guys I…thought I saw something…hay wait up!” When the three little ponies’s where out of sight, the team became visible again. Batou kept his eyes fixed on the point where they had vanished. “Unicorns…of corse Unicorns why am I surprised that there are Unicorns…those weren’t Prosthetic body’s where they…” Motoko looked down at her two hoofs, raised to her face. “Batou. Tachikoma. I don’t really have any strong beliefs in an afterlife. Or to be more accurate I never had the opportunity to really consider it. But when three people, or two people and one mini tank with artificial intelligent’s, die, see the same white plane and then wake up in a world with completely different rules and creatures, I rather think the answer is obvious…” She turned to face her two companions… “we don’t look like this because of some sick joke, where like this because it’s the normal appearance of the people who live here…I also don’t think this is the afterlife, I think that somehow something took us from the afterlife and brought us back to life, with new bodies” Batou looked away uneasy. He wanted to argue but a part of him knew she was probably right. “I guess that means where stuck here then. We can’t go back to a place where already dead, not without answering a whole lot of questions” There was a moment of silence… “So where do we go now?” Motoko looked at the road, and then picked up a stick that had fallen out of Tachikoma’s joints, a memento of there little ride earlier. “Since fate took us here, lets let fate show us the way” She threw the stick in the air. It landed in the middle of the road pointing towards the direction of Sweet Apple Acers. The three looked at each other and nodded. They went back on the road and began to walk down the path. Chapter 6 The First TasteA few minuets later, the three arrived at a vine-covered arch with a sign hanging from it with the shape of an apple cut out from it. Batou cracked a small smile… “Well this place is ether a farm, or Apple has gone O-Natural” The Three looked around. There was nobody to be seen. Motoko raised her hoof at Tachikoman” “I think it would be a good idea for you to go T.O.C mode for a wile. If anyone see’s you they might be alarmed” “Oh alright” Tachikoma vanished from sight and continued to follow them. Batou walked up to Motoko’s side. “You know if what you said is true, it implies that Tachikoma is just as much a person as us, can’t pass on without a soul” “Guess it’s not really that surprising, I have seen plenty of programs ascend into the levels of sentient, just not many that ended happily” She stopped. She could feel something, something inside of her. It was like her stomach was vibrating. Then came the noise, it was a low growling like roar. Suddenly her body felt…empty. Batou stared at her. “Hungry are we…” He blinked and raised an eyebrow… “Wait a minuet…since when do you get hungry…or have a growling stomac?” Motoko though about it. Feeling hungry. She had completely forgotten how it felt. Her old body only needed very little nurturance and could store it inside of her so she only needed to ‘eat’ a few times a week or even months. This new body was more like a normal organic one than she though…could that mean… “This is an apple farm right. That means there are apple trees.” Motoko rushed to what looked like an apple tree orchid. “Lets go! I have something I want to test!” They walked deep into the orchid, they where all full of large, ripe, shiny, impossibly red apples. Batou was especially impressed. “Do they go and polish these things or something?” Motoko found a tree with partially enticing apples growing from it. “How do I get one of those things?” “…Why don’t you just fly up” Motoko stood motionlessly for a moment and then looked at her unfolded, and then turned bright red. “R…right…” Motoko jumped up into the air and hovered in front of the greenery of the tree. She picked on of the shining apples, noting that she could see herself in it, and gently went back to the ground. She looked at the glistening fruit in her hands. Surly this wouldn’t work, her body may be the most advanced one she has ever had, and may have senses identical or better than organic ones, and a stomach that growls when it needs protein, but even the most advanced cyborgs couldn’t use real food as a fuel source, let alone taste them. She swallowed half expecting not to feel anything, and bit into the juicy flesh of the apple. She could feel the sweet juice pass by her tong and flow down her throat, the crunch of the apples skin with the softness of the fruits flesh…the…of the… “Major? MAJOR!...MOTOKO!!!” Motoko shook herself. The apple with a large bite mark was still in her hoofs, and juice was coming out of the corners of her mouth. “Geez what happened, you looked like you just took an entire bag of meth!” Motoko just slowly turned her head to face him. Her mouth slightly open, and her eyes open wide and alert. Without any warning she shoved the apple into Batou’s mouth and zipped past him. Batou let the apple stay in his mouth for a moment before gently taking it out and looking at it. “WOW! I tasted that! So where able to taste as well as…” He stopped when he noticed that there was the sound of crunching behind him. “Tachikoma…where’s the Major?” “She’s over by those wooden boxes full of…half full of Apples” Batou turned his head to find a purple Pegasus with its head in a crate that was home to an assortment of crunching sounds. He rushed over to Motoko before she got to deep in the box. “WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING! WHERE SUPOST TO BE STELFY HERE! THIS ISN’T STELFY!” “What in tarnation are ya two doing!” The two of them stopped and turned around slowly. In front of them was an orange pony with blond hair, green eyes and a cowboy hat. There was a brief moment of awkward silence before Motoko turned invisible, leaving Batou alone. “REALY!?” Then he vanished to. Applejack walked over to where the two strange pony’s had been. Then as she was wondering how many apples that purple one ate, a strong gust of wind zipped past her causing her hat to fly off, as if something had just sped past her. Applejack walked over and picked up her hat, and saw the two strait lines that had suddenly appeared on the ground, like small wagon treks. “What the heck is going on today?” A few miles away outside of the farm, two ponies appeared out of thin air. Batou was the first to speak. “What was that? Since when do you go crazy and then run off!” “Sorry, Sorry, I know it was stupid and unprofessional. It’s just been a lifetime since I have really tasted anything that strong. All those flavors, the texture, I couldn’t help myself” Motoko looked at the ground, embarrass. “I…feel alive in this body…since I became a Cyborg, I have questioned about how real I was, if I was even still a person. But this body, this one makes me feel real, like I was if I never was turned into a Cyborg…for the first time since I was a child…with my parent’s…I feel…Hole” She fell silent for a moment and looked at Batou. She smiled slightly. “Also after that business in the forest I felt really hungry” There was another brief pause before the two erupted in laughter. Motoko couldn’t remember the last time she laughed so much. It felt good. Motoko calmed down just as Tachikoma finally reached them. “are you two OK?” Motoko wiped her eyes. “Where fine Tachikoma, just fine” Batou walked over to Motoko’s side. “So where to now oh grate apple thief” Motoko smiled. “well as long as we don’t, check that, I don’t attract any attention, we should probably explore the nearby town. Tachikoma, you’re going to have to stay like that for a little wile longer” “Okey Dokey” And so they made there way to the main road. “Hay Major, what was the name of the town again?” She turned her head to Batou. “I believe it was called Ponyvill” Batou sighed. “Of corse it is” A few minuets later, they arrived at the edge of town. Chapter 6.5 Out of Character(this chapter isn't critical to the story its just a way to clear some things up, you can skip it if you want) The three of them looked at the town ahead of them. It looked peaceful and for the most part relatively normal, even if a little old fashioned, the only oddity was the large crystal building that loomed above all else like a centerpiece of a dinner table. Motoko had been quiet for a wile now. She had been…thinking of things. Batou had picked up on this; he had a few thoughts he wanted to shear as well. “About earlier, what you said about the apple, I mean I know its amazing to be able to eat and taste anything that isn’t just reshaped glucose and whatever but you have to admit it didn’t actually taste any different then the fake stuff, maybe even a little bit…you know…not as good?” Motoko said nothing and looked ahead at nothing, Batou looked down at his hoofs for a moment and then up to the sky. “I’ve been thinking. How do we know we are really in new body’s, wouldn’t it make more sense to think that our minds where just plugged into some sort of virtual simulation wile someone is trying to hack into our heads, to try and get secrets about section nine? Well?” Motoko said nothing. Batou was right of coarse. If this world was a simulation it would explain everything, but there was more than that, she was also different. The reaction she had with the apple was just an example of how much she had changed since she woke up. When she saw the Timber Wolf, she should have just acted immediately; instead she acted like comic character. She was different, even Batou seemed a little bit off, Tachikoma was however the same but that wasn’t saying much since they where very simple. One of the only things Motoko really feared was being hacked, her mind was the only thing that was truly her own, the idea that someone had changed it somehow always made her feel violated. But she had been hacked before; she knows the signs, the subtle differences that separated her true self from someone’s meddling. She could tell when something was changed. But this felt different, organic, like she was still the same person as before the black out. She could tear apart gut instanced from pre-programed thoughts, and her gut was saying that this world was very much real. But another thought had crossed her mind. She raised her head to see the clouds above. “Batou…” she said to get his attention. “Do you remember that incident with the man calling himself the ‘Mind Printer’?” “Yeah I remember, the sick bustard kidnaped people, copied there ghosts and put them into exact replacers of there body’s, in the end we couldn’t tell who was the real ones and who where the copies, boy that was a mess” “They couldn’t tell if they where clones or the original, the perp copied them wile they where out cold so there where no clues to who was who, he may have even killed the originals and no one would noticed” “What are you saying?” She looked down and closed her eyes trying to arrange the words in her head. “Do you feel…off…like you’re an interpretation of yourself that someone else has made based on what they have seen of you, like a…a parody or a story character based off someone…” She looked at him with worried eyes. “That’s what I feel like! I’m not comical or emotional, even now I feel out of character, ever since I first became a Cyborg I have worried that someone will change me, get into my head and make me into something else, but I’ve trained myself, worked to fight that kind of attack, but now I feel like…like…” Motoko turned her head away from Batou and clenched her teeth. “Like a comedic Caricature” Motoko didn’t look up; she hated showing weakness to her teammates. “I always wondered how much different I am from the little girl who was critically injured, how much was left of her when she became a Cyborg, did they change anything when I was under the knife and just not know it, I just don’t know” Batou waited for a moment and then put his hoof under her chin to raise her head to eye level. “Say your right, say we are just copies, or AI’s made to think like us…or them. What the hell does that matter now, where still us, and where still in a world we aren’t sure is real with monsters trying to eat us and, are you crying?” Motoko looked at him in sudden shock for a moment, then she wiped under her eyes and sure enough their where tears. She smirked a little, was she always this easy to make cry and not realize it or just another defect to her character. She finished wiping her eyes and shook off the drought in her mind. “There are only two things I can say for sure. I don’t think where in a Simulation, and no one is hacking us, like I said, I’ve trained myself to fight such things, and my gut says wherever we are its real” She strained up to her full height. “I’m not a religious person, I don’t believe in God or an Afterlife. I don’t know what happened, where we are, or why this is happening, but I want to know, even if the truth is something I will hate, and I think that large building in that town might have some answers in it” Motoko walked forward “come on you two, real or copy I’m still your superior officer, so lets get going” Batou smiled “now that’s the Major I know and love” and walked behind her with Tachikoma in tow. Motoko thought back to the white figure before she woke up as a Pony, I don’t know who you are she thought, but I will find you, and when I do, you and I will have a very, very long talk. This might or might not be the story of Motoko Kasanagi, but it was her story, and that’s all she needed to know. Hello Everybody, or Everypony I’m not sure what I should say right now I’m Motoko Kasanagi of the Ghost in the Pony Series This mini chapter was written as a way to try and make sense of any character differences you or any hard-core anime nerds might find in this story We know that the writer may not be good at making the characters or any previous lore to there original anime series just the way you remember it, or in some cases anything like you remember, but I’m here to say that we are aware of it and apologies for any toes we have stepped on wile making this In the end this IS only a fanfiction, made to entertain the writer and reader, the thing you should try to do is not think about it as a direct connected story to any of the original media but as a fun little tale to read wile your board and need something to enjoy your free time with, I mean if fanfiction was going to be one hundred percent accurate all the time we wouldn’t have even a fourth of all the story’s on the internet we have today I hope this has cleared up some things and left you a clear head to enjoy the story Now if you excuse me I’m going to go kill a certain rainbow haired pony because I just realized that this char pillow is full of red paint, good buy and enjoy the rest of the story NOW WHERE ARE YOU DASH!!! Chapter 7 Welcome to PonyvillThe three of them finally reached the small town. The place was full of many multicolored ponies, Unicorns, Pegasus and normal Ponies (as normal as they can be in this place anyway) all of them seemed to be busy shopping, talking to each other and generally acting like normal people. Motoko took note that the technology in this world was as of now seemingly early 20th century, she would have gest medieval but she remembered seeing a tractor at the farm, plus she just saw a white Unicorn with sunglasses dragging a large loud speaker out of a shop door. After a wile of observing them Motoko came to the only logical concusion. “there technology is all over the place!” Batou nodded in agreement. “I know, some have pocket watches wile others have digital watches, iron radiators and loudspeakers, its like someone put a bunch of inventions in a had and…” Motoko put her hoof up to stop him. She tuned around, looked down, and looked up again where the still invisible Tachikoma was. Motoko opened up her Communications link so no one would here her talking to thin air. [Tachikoma. I think I may have discovered a flaw in you Camouflage] [WHAT! But I’m invisible to all sight, I can’t be seen by heat or inferred sensors, my movements make no sound…] [Yes, yes I know but there is one think you can’t hide, look behind you] The Mini Tank turned slightly to see two state lines in the ground. [Oh] [Yes, although your appearance is hidden you weight is enough to make tracks in the ground] [I’m sorry Major but I wasn’t designed to redistribute myself so as not to leave any trails in the area of…] [Stop, its alright, it was my fault for not considering this outcome] Batou connected to the Commutation. [You think anyone will notice?] [I’m not sure if…wait, that looks familiar] Off in the distance was an orange figure with a brown hat face down to the ground following the two strait tracks like a hunting dog. [Hide!] The three quickly jumped behind a nearby building out of sight. Motoko and Batou looked over the side of the wall to see the Orange Mare standing where they just where. As the pony looked at the track veer off to the building, a bright streak of rainbow color zipped past her before twisting in the sky and landing right in front of the Apple Farmer. The Pegasus was bright blue with rainbow colored hair and a prideful air around her that was noticeable even from a distance. “Yo AJ! Watch you doing?” “oh! Howdy Rainbow Dash, Ay was just following these tracks hopping to find some apple poachers is all” “apple poachers?” “well it were only half a barrel but this purple mare just gulped them down faster than a pig in a swill trough, and ay aim to have her pay fer every one!” “and these tracks will help you because…” “well sugar, it’s a long story, you see…” As the two talked about the events that happened back on the farm, Motoko turned back to her allies. Batou was the first to speak up. “So you think that’s her girlfriend or something?” Motoko gave him a dark look. “Sorry, its just with hair like that I couldn’t resist…you think its natural or…” “This is not the time or place to disguise this, the farm girl will be here any minuet and I don’t feel like explaining our disappearing act or our giant metal friend here” “Or working at a farm to pay off the all fruit salad you ate” Motoko closed her eyes for a moment. She needed to think of a plan. All sounds and distractions where seemingly turned off, it was just her in an empty void, free to think of a plan. Motoko opened her eyes back into the world with a strategy in her head. “OK! Tachikoma! You go around town leading the orange and blue ponies away, I and Batou will head to the objective, is that understood!?” “Yes Major! Right Away Major!” Tachikoma zoomed down the ally at high speed. At that moment the two ponies where coming up to the building, Motoko & Batou switch to T.O.C mode just as they went around the corner. They waited until they where out of eyeshot before becoming visible again. “ok, that gave up some time” “You always think best when in a tight situation don’t you” “I wasn’t made a Major just because I was a full bodied cyborg at a young age” “Didn’t hurt though, so what now” “We continue with our original plan, the large crystal building looks like the most important place in this town, it’s the most likely place to find the information we want in it” “Right! In retrospect maybe it’s a good think that Tachikoma is sitting this one out, places like that are likely to have guards and tight areas that a Mini Tank wouldn’t fit it” “Agreed! Lets go before anyone notices us” As the two rushed towards the crystal centerpiece of the town, Batou couldn’t help but ask a question. “So how much do you think this place would cost to build, I mean if it’s made out of crystal then…” “Does it really matter?” “…Guess not” “But I did once spend a night at a place made out of solid gold” “Seriously!” “Oh grow up” Chapter 8 The Crystal CastleMotoko and Batou had reached the base of the Building. On closer inspection the pare saw that the building was more like a tree house on a crystal tree rather than being completely made of the element. Motoko and Batou turned on T.O.C mode and carefully opened the large front door. The building was full of long standing hallways with pillars, windows and doors along the walls. The whole inside of the building looked and felt impossible, almost ten times bigger than the outside appearance. The two silently went from room to room, first a large tall roofed with a round table with six chars around it and a chandelier made of wood at the top. Then a highly decorated room that was supposedly used as a dining room, a large bed room with what looked like a child’s room not too far by, and finally an enormous library with books all along the walls and up to the ceiling. Batou was about to speak when Motoko put her hoof up in warning. In the middle of the room was a table where a purple pony with both wings and a horn was totally engrossed with a red book in both her hoofs. “aaah, that makes 35 volumes of Equestrian History for the Inquisitive Mind I’ve read, now for number 36” The pony closed the book and reached to her side to nothing. “Oh that’s right I left the other volumes in my room” The pony jumped of her seat and made her way to the door. “I should bring them here so I don’t have to go back and forth all the time” The two waited until the sound of her hoof steps disappeared until they reappeared next to the door. Batou just kept looked at the door. “Ok I’m just going to say it what the heck is up with this place! A million rooms and only one person actually live here!” “Didn’t you notice she had both wings and a horn, her legs looked strong too, it’s most likely she is someone of importance in this world” Motoko walked up to the table where the 35 volumes of this worlds history where neatly stacked up. “Then why no guards? No security? She didn’t even lock the front door!” Motoko awkwardly adjusted herself on the seat, unsure of how to sit in her new form and picked up the book that the pony was just reading, and began to look through the pages. “Right now our priority is to gather the information we came here for, we can worry about the hierarchy of this place later” Batou sighed and walked to the table and picked up the book on the top of the pile. “This is going to take forever you know that right?” “Just look up anything that we could use, locations, city’s, people of importance, anything that you think can aid us” “So what are we looking for, a way to go home or a way to live here?” Motoko was silent, that was enough of an answer for him. Motoko looked at the writing on the yellowing pages. Equestria, so that’s what this place was called, this place where they went to when they died. Going home she though, what would they do if they did? Would they still be in these bodies? Would they even be able to go back to there old lives? Deep down she new there was no going back, but she was used to situations like that, she lived events like that her whole life, this was different, in a different way. Motoko looked though the pages; some of the things seemingly impossible like immortal rulers that would move the sun and moon, magic that could travel though time, and creatures that could turn others to stone. She remembered the creatures back in the forest, just what else is in this world? “MAJOR! MAJOR!!!” The pare jumped as Tachikoma appeared fully visible behind them. “Tachikoma! What are you doing here!?” “I was doing as you said and leading the two ponies away but then they started to catch up and the orange one broke off and headed here I came here to tell you because I knew you would be here and…” “You did take care to cover your tracks coming here right?” “…I think I saw a pink pony with fuzzy hair meet up with the orange one on the way too…” “Tachikoma!” “I WAS IN A HURRY” Motoko was about to reply when the sound of voices came from the other side of the door, quickly the three of them jumped away from the table to the side of the room activating there T.O.C, just in time to see the Orange, Purple and the new Pink ponies enter the room. The Purple one was speaking to her companions. “Well there are certainly spells for turning invisible, but what your describing isn’t in any book I’ve read, for a non Unicorn to do something like that they would need a magic item like a ring or amulet, are you sure they just disappeared and not said or did anything?” “Positive Twilight. That purple mare just took one look at me an vanished with her buddy following after, and then there are those tracks” “Yes, I…” The Purple pony was broken off when another two ponies came trough the door. One was a white Unicorn with a purple main and make up wile the other was a meek look yellow Pegasus with pink hair. The White pony walked over to the farm pony. “Applejack darling you look positively exhausted” “Well after chasing vanishing apple rustlers and invisible monsters I should hope so” “Yes I heard about it from Rainbow Dash, honestly some pony’s these days just don’t have any respect” Batou looked over at Motoko, she just looked away pursing her lips. “You have any idea who they where Twilight?” “Sorry Rarity, I’m more concerned with how they could have disappeared without any magic items or potions” The Pink Pony was looking at the stack of books on the table. “oooooo, watch you reading Twilight” “Oh just though I would try to see if I could learn something new from…” The Winged Unicorn walked over to the table looking at the books in front of her. “That’s not right?” “Yeah your right, if that’s true then all the birdies would get cold in the winter” “No not what’s written in the books, the book was closed when I…” The pony had stopped the moment her seat met the char. “Who sat in my char…who moved that seat…who took that book of the top of the stack…and who soiled my taible!?” Batou and Motoko looked at each other, how could they have been so slopy? The Orange pony walked over to her friend. “Maybe it was Spike or Starlight?” “No there still at Zecora’s hut getting potion ingredients for me. Who could have been in here while I was gone?” Just then a familiar rainbow streak flew though the door turning into the blue Pegasus from before. “Guys! I followed the track like you said and…they led hear! The invisible track thing in HERE!!!” “And that might mean that the two ponies from Apple Acer’s are here two” The Pink pony started jumping up and down happily. “Yippee, that means we can have a welcome to ponyvill Party” The pony then quickly took out a blue cannon from behind her back and fired it letting out a large bang of confetti. The Purple pony rubbed her ears. “I think you used a little too much gunpowder this time” “Yeah I may have overdone it this time, at least I didn’t point it at anybody, eh Dashi…Rainbow Dash?” The Pegasus was silent, along with the others as they where staring at the black blast mark on the wall, that seemed to have two of its sides separated from it, hanging in mid air, in the shape of a pony and a large spider like creature. The middle of the black soot covered wall seemed to peal off in the shape of a pony and fall strait onto the floor. There was a flicker on the ground and the black silhouette was suddenly attached to a purple Pegasus, out cold and moaning. The midair silhouette of the pony slapped its hoof to his face “Well this is a fine kettle of fish” Chapter 1 The Gig Ends[Major! Come in Major! Major Motoko Kusanagi!] Motoko weakly opened her eyes. Everything was white from the dust from the…strange…she couldn’t remember what happened. She could see blood flowing down her eyes, since she was a cyborg it didn’t hurt at all; it just made things look fuzzier. She guessed that her brain case was damaged. All she could remember is that if she had failed the world would have gone to war because of someone’s selfishness. She looked down to her lap. Her ally Batou’s head was resting there. He wasn’t moving, and his Prosthetic body was nearly 86% ruined. Beyond them were the remains of a Tachikoma AI Walker Tank; it was just half of the front pod with only one arm still attached. Motoko looked down at her own body. Sure enough it was damaged well beyond repair. [MAJOR RESPONED!!!] Someone was calling her wirelessly. She responded likewise. [Yes chef] [Thank god! For a moment there I thought that…well enough of that now, what happened] Her memory’s where still fuzzy, but she knew they had done what they needed to do. [Mission accomplished] [Grate! Where are you, tell us your location so we can pick you up] Motoko’s eyes where failing. The image of the world was becoming pixelated and shaky. [I don’t think you need to rush things chef…I also think you can forget about my job payment] [Major what are you…] [Tell everyone…it was an honor…and a privilege to work with them…all of them] [Waite Major Moto…] The communicator in her body finally failed. She could feel her body slowly shutting down. She raised her hand just in time for it to fall on Batou’s back. She looked up at the sky and used the last of her strength to smile. “Saving the world from the threat of world war five, not a bad way to go out is it Batou” That was the last thought she had, before her eyes closed, and the world turned black. It was black at first. Black, numb, without sound or heat. That’s when Motoko realized that she couldn’t be dead. If she were then she wouldn’t be able to think of such things. Motoko wasn’t a religious person, or to be more accurate she just never had the time or patience to consider the idea of an afterlife, she had enough philosophical questions to answer about the world she lived in without what would happen after she died, but she was sure enough that this wouldn’t be anyone’s vision of the world of the dead. After getting that little thought out of the way Motoko noticed that the world was changing. Well not changing so much as becoming brighter. The black of the empty space was changing to grey, and then into white, an impossibly bright white that in any other circumstance would probably have blinded her. Motoko looked around. At least she thinks she was, in this emptiness it was impossible to tell. When Motoko looked down she saw that her body was also impossibly white, with only a light purple edge to it, and she didn’t cast a shadow. It was almost like she was a line drawing on a sheet of paper. “Miss Kusanagi” Motoko flinched. Slowly she raised her head from looking at her outlined hand to the one who had just appeared in front of her. What had spoken wasn’t a person, or anything like she had ever seen. It looked at first like a swarm of light blue lines with two bright blue eyes in the muddle, but after looking for a moment she could recognize legs and wings on the strange creature. It was almost too much for her to admit it to herself but it looked like a cave painting of a horse come to life, a horse with big eyes, wings and a horn. Motoko hesitated for a moment before responding. “Who…or what are you?” The drawing like thing bowed its head… “I am all, yet I am nothing, I am everywhere, yet I am nowhere, I live, yet I have never been born” Motoko said nothing as the horse like entity spoke. She talked in a calm motherly voice, at least she thought it was female, it had the voice of one. “You and you loved ones have past on from your world, but you will not die today” Motoko looked at the creature. “What?” Motoko tried to clench her hands, but something felt off. Was it just her imagination or where her fingers shrinking? The creature spoke again… “Fate has decided that you will live on, different, and far away, but free of the destiny that you have lived up until now” Motoko tried to lift her left leg, but it felt wrong. The joint’s felt like they where to close to each other, and her toes didn’t feel like they where even there… “You are being given a new life. What you and your friends do with it, is all up to you” Motoko tried to move her fingers, but they weren’t there anymore. Her feet felt wrong, her body felt wrong, she was changing… “May you find happiness” Then in a blink of an eye, everything went black.
Chapter 2 The Story BeginsEverything was black again. Motoko was starting to get tired of this cycle. Then things started to happen. A small screen came out in the middle of the blackness. =Begin Cyber-Pony Start Up sequence = The Screen disappeared and was follower by a number of other messages… =Life Functions Operational= =Data Liberty Operational= =Weapons Systems Operational= =Communications Systems Operational= =Defense Systems Operational= =Energy Output Operational= =Power at 100%= =Body Functions at 100%= =Memory Recall at 86%= =Personality Functions at 53%= =Releasing Limb Servos= =Activating Exterior Senses= =Finishing Boot Up Sequence= =Start Up Sequence Finished= The screen came up again =Welcome Back Online User Motoko Kusanagi= Motoko could finally open her eyes. At first everything was white, typical of just wakening up. But then her eyes finally adjusted to the light, and she found herself in a strange forest. Something was off about it thought. She looked around for anything out of the ordinary, the trees looked fine, and so did the bushes, the grass was normal, the clouds above where fine and the sky was so blue that…that was it! Everything was wrong, the clouds, trees and grass where too colorful, too smooth, too coordinated. Everything looked like something from a children’s book. Motoko walked up to the closest tree to take a closer look at it. It was a real tree, organic, wooded, living; she was expecting it to be artificial. Something else felt wrong, not with the scenery, but her body. She only just noticed wile walking up to the tree but she was on all four’s, and very comfortable with it. Motoko noticed a river nearby; it would do for a way to see just what’s wrong with body. She noted that the water was to pure blue, but she let that slide for the moment so that she could see herself in the reflection, it was easy since the river was so pristine, she wishes she could say the same about accepting what she saw in the water. It was her, sort of anyway. It had the same hair, the same eyes. But everything else was wrong; her body wasn’t a human, but a small purple horse, at least it faintly resembled a horse. The head was completely wrong, the legs where to thick and smooth with no visible way of tearing apart the leg from the hoof. It was like the kind of thing shown on a little girls show. Motoko recalled the strange loading sequence from earlier, One word in particular. Cyber-Pony, Motoko looked closely at her limbs and sure enough above what she might consider the solder or knee where separation lines, and after feeling the back of her neck, she found her Data Ports. Motoko relaxed a little, it was still a Prosthetic Body. Motoko thought back to the moment before she blacked out, she decided to check if she could contact anyone… [This is Major Motoko Kusanagi of Public Security Section 9, please responded] There was nothing, no response. In fact there didn’t seem to be any wireless network anywhere. Could she be in some sort of blind spot in the system, well it narrowed down where in the world she was at least. Motoko tried again, but this time she used the network used only by her and her teammates. She had theory she wanted to test… [Section 9, this is Motoko Kusanagi reporting, Responded] At first there was nothing, but then… [Major! Is that you?] It was Batou, She was right he was alive. She couldn’t remember the last time she was this happy to here someone else’s voice. [Batou, you alive!] There was a brief pause… [You sound happier then normal] […Well when you see someone die on your lap you tend to be a little more cheerful to here from them again] [nooo you died before me, I felt your hand on my solder] [No I’m sure you died before me, I felt you slip away] [I was just resting my eyes, you died the moment you…] Motoko interrupted him. [Are we really arguing about who died first?] Batou was silent for a moment… [Well it’s not something you get to talk about often] Motoko decided to try and move the conversation on. [Where are you now?] [As much as I hate to say this, I’m stuck in tree, hanging like a freaking marionette] [I will follow your signal just hang in there] [ha ha very funny…errr I think there’s something you should know] Motoko was making her way to Batou when she responded. [Does it have anything to do with wakening up in a new horse like Prosthetic Body, or a Cyber-Pony body] […You too huh] [Yes! I think I see you] It was another pony; it was hanging a few feet over the ground tangled on the hanging vines of a rather large tree. Jugging by the larger build of its body Motoko guessed it was male. It was a pale color with white hair tied in a pony tale, the same separation lines as she did, but it also had something on its flank. The mark was all black like a stencil; it was a picture of a fist with a wrench at an angle behind it. “Batou?” It felt kind of strange to speak again after so long. The Tangled Stallion turned its head to look at her. It’s eyes where relatively normal, other than the fact that they where completely silver, not just the irises but the whites and pupils as well. It was like someone looked at his old eyes and wanted to make something look more normal but keep there old charm…did she really just use the word charm? “Major…you look ridiculous” Motoko looked up and smiled slightly. “Well I think it’s a good look for you, especially the eyes, much more…expressive than your usual models” “Speak for yourself, I think my old eyes where very expressive…can you get me down now little miss Pegasus?” “…Pegasus?” Motoko turned her head to look back at her self. Sure enough their where wings. She shook herself a little and stretched them out to there full length. That’s when she noticed that she had something on her flank too; it was the Section 9 insignia, a round circle with squared shapes coming from it. She turned back to Batou hanging in the tree, surly these where just for show, there’s no way that wings this small could lift her off the ground. That’s what she thought as she was becoming air born to untangle Batou from the vines resulting in him falling to the ground with a resounding thud. “Just what is this thing made of?” Batou was picking himself up when Motoko landed right beside him. He looked at her for a moment before rising up on his hind legs and picking her up, he put her down seconds later and then scratched his chin. “Well you not light as a feather that’s for sure…where are we anyway?” Motoko tucked back her new fully functional wings. “Not sure, but wherever we are there’s no Network connection, were on our own” “Grate…so now where do we go” Motoko started to walk past the tree… “Well this way’s as good as any” The pair began to go deeper into the forest.
Chapter 3 The EverfreeMotoko and Batou had been walking though the woods for about five minuets. She had paid note that the deeper they went into this place, the darker and more…dangerous it felt. Batou was more concerned with their situation more than the change of scenery… “So far all I have gathered is that someone had taken our Cyber-Brains out, put us in these…pony things, and then threw us in this freaky place” Motoko turned her head slightly to face him wile they walked. “I doubt it’s as simple as that Batou. Even if the plant life is the result of some sort of genetic engineering, it still wouldn’t explain the clouds and sky. I have checked several times and these eyes aren’t changing the environments image, they really look like that” “Well Major that said these Prosthetic body’s aren’t the worst I’ve seen, remember the one that CEO Jameson had, I would rather this than a little grey box with legs thank you…plus I have to admit despite how stupid it looks this thing is well built, I haven’t felt this comfortable in a new body since…” Batou was cut of by Motoko stopping suddenly followed by her jumping up and down cursing loudly. “Major what the Hell” Motoko stopped and rubbed her right front hoof. “I think I…knocked my hoof on something…it hurt” Batou looked at her, slightly amused. “This coming from the same woman who once had both of her arms ripped off wile trying to take out a think tank?” “This is different, I haven’t felt pain in…” She stopped. She just realized something, ever since she became a Cyborg wile still a child she could only feel a limited amount of sensations. They would get sharper and more defined with the more advanced bodies, but she always thought that they could be better. This just know was the first time she felt pain, real pain since…that day when her old life ended. She was just thinking about a way to stop feeling pain when another screen showed up… =Cyber-Pony Scenery Adjustment Option Activated= The screen had an array of scroller’s, each one with a deferent sense labeled above it. There was smell, sound, taste, touch, and temperature, all of them set at 50%. Motoko silently examined the screen, dubious if this was real or just some sort of joke. Deciding to test just what it was she looked up at the sky and turned to the sight option up to 100% and…she could see every star in the sky, every galaxy every stream of energy, she could see everything, she could…could…could. Motoko turned the option back to 50% and then closed her eyes. It was just too much for her to cope. Motoko decided to try it again, but this time she selected the hearing option and turned it down to 0%, and then…there was nothing. Perfect silence. No even perfect silence had some noise; this was as if sound had just left the world. That’s when she noticed Batou moving his mouth at her. He was trying to talk to her. Motoko raised her hoof to quiet him and turned her hearing back to 50, she didn’t want to get her hearing back to someone shouting at her. “Sorry about that I was…did you know these bodies had adjustable senses?” “Maybe we should talk about it after we get out of here” Motoko raised an eyebrow at him. He was holding the same piece of wood she had knocked herself on earlier. She looked at it closely; it was the chewed up and battered remains of an old sign that read… Warning! Everfree Forest! Do Not Enter! Motoko looked at the bottom of the sign. It was smaller and slightly smeared, like whoever was writing it suddenly ran off wile finishing. It said… Beware the Timberwolves! Motoko looked up at Batou. He looked concerned. “Thanks to that little song and dance you did earlier we probably have attracted something unfriendly” Motoko wanted to object but she knew he was right. That’s when she first saw it… “Batou…what do you think that sign means by Timberwolves” “Well Any of several subspecies of Canis lupus which inhabits forested areas, especially The Eastern Timber Wolf, also known as the Eastern wolf or the Canadian Timber Wolf, also known as the Mackenzie Valley wolf. Jugging by the trees of this place I would think that…” “Doesn’t Timber also mean wood?” “Well yes but that doesn’t mean that Timberwolves are made out of it if that’s what you mean” “…Maybe you should tell them that!” Batou turned his head around slowly, and sure enough behind him was a pack of six or seven large wolfs, all with glowing green eyes, sharp claws and teeth, and made entirely out of wood, and they where all growling at them. Batou’s ears dropped down and the sign fell from his grasp making a small thud noise as it hit the ground. “Now this is just getting retarded!” And the two of them fled.
Chapter 4 The TankMotoko and Batou where running at full speed. They where just ahead of the wooden creatures that where steadily gaining them. Batou was calling out to her. “OK what the F%$! is going on!? Why are we being chased by walking fire wood!? Are they robots or something!?” “I don’t think so! I can’t imagine anyone making robots with wooden exoskeletons! Besides even the most complex AI’s couldn’t mimic an animals persona so precisely!” “Speaking of AI I really wish we had a Tachikoma with us right now!” “Agreed! I know they often irritate me but a Mini Walker Tank would really be useful right now!” The Wolfs where almost upon them now… “And I also have to admit that I’m actually missing their childish banter, it somehow always made me feel a little at ease when one of them was around!” Just as the wolfs where about to bite down at them, something large and bright blue crashed though the trees and caused the monsters to break apart into pieces of wood. “Do you really mean that miss Major!?” The two of them suddenly stopped and turned to look behind them. Surrounded by broken branches and scattered wood, was a single Tachikoma. It looked a little different than normal however, more simplistic and, Motoko decided, cartoonish. She also guessed that this was the same one that was destroyed along with them before she…blacked out. The machine zoomed to the pair and grabbed them, hugging them in a strong embrace. “YAAAAAY! You have no idea how worried I have been, when I shut down I thought it was all over because I got disconnected from the main server, but then everything went white and I was all scribbly, then a funny drawing horse thingy came and said ‘I am all, yet I am nothing, I am everywhere, yet I am nowhere, I live, yet I have never been born’ and that I would have a new life, then I reactivated in a new body, and I was in a forest, then I started looking around, then I heard you screaming then…” Motoko pulled herself out of the Mini Tanks grasp and moved to the debris. She picked up a piece of wood that had once been a part of one of the wolf’s legs, ignoring the fact that she didn’t have fingers to hold it with anymore. “Just as I thought. There’s no metal in this, no signs of any circuitry or Nano mechanical influences. Its just normal, everyday wood!” Tachikoma let go of Batou and turned slightly to face Motoko. “Right! I don’t detect any inorganic materials or electrical energy signatures coming off any of the wood those wolfs where made from. In fact I don’t detect any metals or energy masses within a hundred miles of the area!” “I was afraid you would say…” Motoko suddenly jolted upright as she recalled what Tachikoma had said earlier. “Waite a minuet! You saw the strange winged horse in the white world too?” Tachikoma lent sideways a little. “Yep…is that strange?” Batou looked at her with raised eyebrows. “Wait that was real? I thought I was just hilusinating!” Motoko looked at the wood in her hoof again. This was reassuring her idea that this wasn’t the world that they knew, but how could she be sure. But just as her mind was trying to figure things out, the wood began to glow a bright shade of green, before flying right from her grip along with the other pieces of wood, even the branches that Tachikoma had broken started to float towards the growing mass. The wood began to form a shape, fit into place, become limbs and fangs. The glowing had stopped, replaced by a pair of glowing green eyes. It was bigger than the others, and appeared to have a crown of green leafs, but it was un-mistakenly another Timberwolf. Was this normal for these creatures? The grate beast roared at them, making the ground shake. It was angry with them, and it wanted payback. Then suddelny… =High Danger Levels Detected= =Thermo-Optical Camouflage Activated= Motoko looked at her hoof in surprise, it disappeared right in front of her face, only for a few seconded later for a faint black outline to appear around it. Motoko realized that her eyes were generating the black line as a way to see herself, she was completely invisible otherwise. She looked back at Batou and Tachikoma, there Camouflage had also activated. She looked back at the giant wolf that was looking around confused and to her surprise actually scratching its head. Motoko motioned her hoof to move away, preferably as far away as possible. The three of them moved very slowly at first, but the moment they where out of earshot they made a brake for it. They ran as fast as they could, always keeping their eyes on the Wolf. That was a mistake because if they had been looking, they would have seen the rather steep and rather large slope right in front of them. If anyone was there at that moment they would have heard something that sounded like a large hunk of metal and two squishy thinks bouncing and rolling down a slope hitting everything on the way down culminating in a dust cloud appearing at the bottom of the slope accompanied by a loud crunching crashing sound, and two ponies under an upside down blue spider suddenly appearing from thin air. Batou groaned… “Now I remember what pain feels like! Did we really just do something so remarkably stupid like Saturday morning cartoon characters?” Motoko squirmed under the Walker. “At least our camouflage saved us from the TimberWolf” Tachikoma waved its legs. “Yep, shame it turned off in front of the Lion!” And sure enough Motoko and Batou could see the Lion right in front of them. And that it had large bat wings and a scorpion’s tale. Batou’s head fell face first to the ground. “You know what…death doesn’t seem so bad anymore”
Chapter 5 The EscapeThe Lion creature growled at them, slowly prowling towards them, licking its large sharp teeth. Motoko and Batou both pushed at the ground to get Tachikoma off their backs and back on his four feet, with a resounding clank. Motoko looked at the Tank with worried eyes. “Tachikoma, this creature…” “One hundred percent organic Miss Major, and from the way he’s looking at us very hungry, not to smart either since we collectively have less organic material than a lions recommended nutritional needs and...” “OK I only needed to know the first part, this is really enforcing my theory but right now I think we need now is a miracle” Just as the monster pounced on them aiming for the kill, the Timberwolf burst out of the trees, hitting the Beast in midair causing them to crash into the near by cliff. “Or a angry wood monster bent on revenge will do” Motoko helped Batou up and watched at the two creatures scrapped with each other. They needed to use this opportunity to escape, now! “Tachikoma! Can you use your wheels” “Yes Major, all-terrain systems are fully operational” “Good, then open up, where leavening before these two settle there little differences” Tachikoma opened up the cockpit in its abdomen and Motoko jumped right in. Batou ran up to the side of Tachikoma. “Guess I’m riding you cowboy stile” “Why don’t you use the front driving seat mister Batou?” A round door at the top of the tanks main body opened up revealing a seat with a set of controls and a steering wheel. “How long have, oh never mind I’ll ask later…” Batou jumped in and fascine the belt. “Lets ride!” Tachikoma’s feet changed into wheels and he zipped of like a racecar. The trees looked like green and brown blurs as they speed past them. Motoko could see outside though the eye monitor; the forest was thinning out now, Trees where getting farther apart, and the sky was shining though more brightly. She took this moment to inspect the Tachikoma’s controls inside the cockpit. It was a lot more comfortable for one thing, and all the usual controls where there, although the where all seemingly remodeled to be used by a Pony instead of a person. Motoko thought she just needed one more thing before confirming her theory about where they where when a loud roar from behind them. The Lion creature was now air born, and was catching up to them. Batou was the first to respond. “S$%£! That thing must have finish sparing with the wolf!” Tachikoma was now moving on a long flat slope… “What do we do Mr Batou? None of my weapons can shoot backwards and if I try to turn around we’ll loos enough speed for it to catch us, and that’s if we don’t crash into something wile facing the wrong way!” “In other words where up s$%£ creek without a paddle! Major any ideas” Motoko looked at the rest of the cockpit. Although it had everything it used to have, it had many new features too, and one of them at near her left hoof was labeled ‘Abdomen Cannon’. There was no time to think about what it did, so she just pushed the button and hoped. Outside of Tachikoma a grey cylinder had just come out of the top of the abdomen brushing the top of Batou’s head. “What the! Did you do that Major?” Motoko could just here him though the metal shell. The screen now had crosshairs on it. She decided to use her Communicator. [I think we might just get out of this one] Motoko took the controls in both hoofs and watched the monitor. Outside the top of the Abdomen swung round to the back of Tachikoma. The barrel raised itself, and then fired a single black ball, hitting the Lion right in the head. The beast was sent hurtling to the ground and crashed in a quickly shrinking cloud of dust. “ha HA! That got him! Hay Major, next time I get to drive the cockpit alright!” [No problem Batou] A few minuets later they had left the dark foliage of the Everfree Forest, and where now driving in a bright green plane. The three of them agreed that it was safe it slowdown, and then finally come to a complete stop. Motoko came out of the cockpit. “I think I see a road up ahead” And sure enough a few feet away was a long, sand colored that split into several directions. The trio walked up to the place where the road splits off and found a tall wooden sign that pointed into four different directions. The signs read ‘Ponyvill’ ‘Everfree Forest’ ‘Sweet Apple Acer’s’ and ‘Canterlot’. Batou looked at the sigh. “I’m starting to get this ‘little kids show vibe’ from this place” Motoko looked at her friend with a hint of sarcasm. “Yes with large wooden wolfs and blood thirsty beast in its forest, its positively fairyland” Motoko’s ears shot up. “Someone’s coming! Time to disappear!” The three of them activated there camouflage and jumped of the road going at the side of the sign. Seconds later, three small ponies ran down the road. One of them, a white pony with a horn and curly pink and purple hair, stopped near the sign. It looked up into empty space, or at least empty space if not for the fact that Motoko was standing right in front of it. “Sweetie Belle? Why are ya looking at?” The White Filly jumped slightly. “Sorry guys I…thought I saw something…hay wait up!” When the three little ponies’s where out of sight, the team became visible again. Batou kept his eyes fixed on the point where they had vanished. “Unicorns…of corse Unicorns why am I surprised that there are Unicorns…those weren’t Prosthetic body’s where they…” Motoko looked down at her two hoofs, raised to her face. “Batou. Tachikoma. I don’t really have any strong beliefs in an afterlife. Or to be more accurate I never had the opportunity to really consider it. But when three people, or two people and one mini tank with artificial intelligent’s, die, see the same white plane and then wake up in a world with completely different rules and creatures, I rather think the answer is obvious…” She turned to face her two companions… “we don’t look like this because of some sick joke, where like this because it’s the normal appearance of the people who live here…I also don’t think this is the afterlife, I think that somehow something took us from the afterlife and brought us back to life, with new bodies” Batou looked away uneasy. He wanted to argue but a part of him knew she was probably right. “I guess that means where stuck here then. We can’t go back to a place where already dead, not without answering a whole lot of questions” There was a moment of silence… “So where do we go now?” Motoko looked at the road, and then picked up a stick that had fallen out of Tachikoma’s joints, a memento of there little ride earlier. “Since fate took us here, lets let fate show us the way” She threw the stick in the air. It landed in the middle of the road pointing towards the direction of Sweet Apple Acers. The three looked at each other and nodded. They went back on the road and began to walk down the path.
Chapter 6 The First TasteA few minuets later, the three arrived at a vine-covered arch with a sign hanging from it with the shape of an apple cut out from it. Batou cracked a small smile… “Well this place is ether a farm, or Apple has gone O-Natural” The Three looked around. There was nobody to be seen. Motoko raised her hoof at Tachikoman” “I think it would be a good idea for you to go T.O.C mode for a wile. If anyone see’s you they might be alarmed” “Oh alright” Tachikoma vanished from sight and continued to follow them. Batou walked up to Motoko’s side. “You know if what you said is true, it implies that Tachikoma is just as much a person as us, can’t pass on without a soul” “Guess it’s not really that surprising, I have seen plenty of programs ascend into the levels of sentient, just not many that ended happily” She stopped. She could feel something, something inside of her. It was like her stomach was vibrating. Then came the noise, it was a low growling like roar. Suddenly her body felt…empty. Batou stared at her. “Hungry are we…” He blinked and raised an eyebrow… “Wait a minuet…since when do you get hungry…or have a growling stomac?” Motoko though about it. Feeling hungry. She had completely forgotten how it felt. Her old body only needed very little nurturance and could store it inside of her so she only needed to ‘eat’ a few times a week or even months. This new body was more like a normal organic one than she though…could that mean… “This is an apple farm right. That means there are apple trees.” Motoko rushed to what looked like an apple tree orchid. “Lets go! I have something I want to test!” They walked deep into the orchid, they where all full of large, ripe, shiny, impossibly red apples. Batou was especially impressed. “Do they go and polish these things or something?” Motoko found a tree with partially enticing apples growing from it. “How do I get one of those things?” “…Why don’t you just fly up” Motoko stood motionlessly for a moment and then looked at her unfolded, and then turned bright red. “R…right…” Motoko jumped up into the air and hovered in front of the greenery of the tree. She picked on of the shining apples, noting that she could see herself in it, and gently went back to the ground. She looked at the glistening fruit in her hands. Surly this wouldn’t work, her body may be the most advanced one she has ever had, and may have senses identical or better than organic ones, and a stomach that growls when it needs protein, but even the most advanced cyborgs couldn’t use real food as a fuel source, let alone taste them. She swallowed half expecting not to feel anything, and bit into the juicy flesh of the apple. She could feel the sweet juice pass by her tong and flow down her throat, the crunch of the apples skin with the softness of the fruits flesh…the…of the… “Major? MAJOR!...MOTOKO!!!” Motoko shook herself. The apple with a large bite mark was still in her hoofs, and juice was coming out of the corners of her mouth. “Geez what happened, you looked like you just took an entire bag of meth!” Motoko just slowly turned her head to face him. Her mouth slightly open, and her eyes open wide and alert. Without any warning she shoved the apple into Batou’s mouth and zipped past him. Batou let the apple stay in his mouth for a moment before gently taking it out and looking at it. “WOW! I tasted that! So where able to taste as well as…” He stopped when he noticed that there was the sound of crunching behind him. “Tachikoma…where’s the Major?” “She’s over by those wooden boxes full of…half full of Apples” Batou turned his head to find a purple Pegasus with its head in a crate that was home to an assortment of crunching sounds. He rushed over to Motoko before she got to deep in the box. “WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING! WHERE SUPOST TO BE STELFY HERE! THIS ISN’T STELFY!” “What in tarnation are ya two doing!” The two of them stopped and turned around slowly. In front of them was an orange pony with blond hair, green eyes and a cowboy hat. There was a brief moment of awkward silence before Motoko turned invisible, leaving Batou alone. “REALY!?” Then he vanished to. Applejack walked over to where the two strange pony’s had been. Then as she was wondering how many apples that purple one ate, a strong gust of wind zipped past her causing her hat to fly off, as if something had just sped past her. Applejack walked over and picked up her hat, and saw the two strait lines that had suddenly appeared on the ground, like small wagon treks. “What the heck is going on today?” A few miles away outside of the farm, two ponies appeared out of thin air. Batou was the first to speak. “What was that? Since when do you go crazy and then run off!” “Sorry, Sorry, I know it was stupid and unprofessional. It’s just been a lifetime since I have really tasted anything that strong. All those flavors, the texture, I couldn’t help myself” Motoko looked at the ground, embarrass. “I…feel alive in this body…since I became a Cyborg, I have questioned about how real I was, if I was even still a person. But this body, this one makes me feel real, like I was if I never was turned into a Cyborg…for the first time since I was a child…with my parent’s…I feel…Hole” She fell silent for a moment and looked at Batou. She smiled slightly. “Also after that business in the forest I felt really hungry” There was another brief pause before the two erupted in laughter. Motoko couldn’t remember the last time she laughed so much. It felt good. Motoko calmed down just as Tachikoma finally reached them. “are you two OK?” Motoko wiped her eyes. “Where fine Tachikoma, just fine” Batou walked over to Motoko’s side. “So where to now oh grate apple thief” Motoko smiled. “well as long as we don’t, check that, I don’t attract any attention, we should probably explore the nearby town. Tachikoma, you’re going to have to stay like that for a little wile longer” “Okey Dokey” And so they made there way to the main road. “Hay Major, what was the name of the town again?” She turned her head to Batou. “I believe it was called Ponyvill” Batou sighed. “Of corse it is” A few minuets later, they arrived at the edge of town.
Chapter 6.5 Out of Character(this chapter isn't critical to the story its just a way to clear some things up, you can skip it if you want) The three of them looked at the town ahead of them. It looked peaceful and for the most part relatively normal, even if a little old fashioned, the only oddity was the large crystal building that loomed above all else like a centerpiece of a dinner table. Motoko had been quiet for a wile now. She had been…thinking of things. Batou had picked up on this; he had a few thoughts he wanted to shear as well. “About earlier, what you said about the apple, I mean I know its amazing to be able to eat and taste anything that isn’t just reshaped glucose and whatever but you have to admit it didn’t actually taste any different then the fake stuff, maybe even a little bit…you know…not as good?” Motoko said nothing and looked ahead at nothing, Batou looked down at his hoofs for a moment and then up to the sky. “I’ve been thinking. How do we know we are really in new body’s, wouldn’t it make more sense to think that our minds where just plugged into some sort of virtual simulation wile someone is trying to hack into our heads, to try and get secrets about section nine? Well?” Motoko said nothing. Batou was right of coarse. If this world was a simulation it would explain everything, but there was more than that, she was also different. The reaction she had with the apple was just an example of how much she had changed since she woke up. When she saw the Timber Wolf, she should have just acted immediately; instead she acted like comic character. She was different, even Batou seemed a little bit off, Tachikoma was however the same but that wasn’t saying much since they where very simple. One of the only things Motoko really feared was being hacked, her mind was the only thing that was truly her own, the idea that someone had changed it somehow always made her feel violated. But she had been hacked before; she knows the signs, the subtle differences that separated her true self from someone’s meddling. She could tell when something was changed. But this felt different, organic, like she was still the same person as before the black out. She could tear apart gut instanced from pre-programed thoughts, and her gut was saying that this world was very much real. But another thought had crossed her mind. She raised her head to see the clouds above. “Batou…” she said to get his attention. “Do you remember that incident with the man calling himself the ‘Mind Printer’?” “Yeah I remember, the sick bustard kidnaped people, copied there ghosts and put them into exact replacers of there body’s, in the end we couldn’t tell who was the real ones and who where the copies, boy that was a mess” “They couldn’t tell if they where clones or the original, the perp copied them wile they where out cold so there where no clues to who was who, he may have even killed the originals and no one would noticed” “What are you saying?” She looked down and closed her eyes trying to arrange the words in her head. “Do you feel…off…like you’re an interpretation of yourself that someone else has made based on what they have seen of you, like a…a parody or a story character based off someone…” She looked at him with worried eyes. “That’s what I feel like! I’m not comical or emotional, even now I feel out of character, ever since I first became a Cyborg I have worried that someone will change me, get into my head and make me into something else, but I’ve trained myself, worked to fight that kind of attack, but now I feel like…like…” Motoko turned her head away from Batou and clenched her teeth. “Like a comedic Caricature” Motoko didn’t look up; she hated showing weakness to her teammates. “I always wondered how much different I am from the little girl who was critically injured, how much was left of her when she became a Cyborg, did they change anything when I was under the knife and just not know it, I just don’t know” Batou waited for a moment and then put his hoof under her chin to raise her head to eye level. “Say your right, say we are just copies, or AI’s made to think like us…or them. What the hell does that matter now, where still us, and where still in a world we aren’t sure is real with monsters trying to eat us and, are you crying?” Motoko looked at him in sudden shock for a moment, then she wiped under her eyes and sure enough their where tears. She smirked a little, was she always this easy to make cry and not realize it or just another defect to her character. She finished wiping her eyes and shook off the drought in her mind. “There are only two things I can say for sure. I don’t think where in a Simulation, and no one is hacking us, like I said, I’ve trained myself to fight such things, and my gut says wherever we are its real” She strained up to her full height. “I’m not a religious person, I don’t believe in God or an Afterlife. I don’t know what happened, where we are, or why this is happening, but I want to know, even if the truth is something I will hate, and I think that large building in that town might have some answers in it” Motoko walked forward “come on you two, real or copy I’m still your superior officer, so lets get going” Batou smiled “now that’s the Major I know and love” and walked behind her with Tachikoma in tow. Motoko thought back to the white figure before she woke up as a Pony, I don’t know who you are she thought, but I will find you, and when I do, you and I will have a very, very long talk. This might or might not be the story of Motoko Kasanagi, but it was her story, and that’s all she needed to know. Hello Everybody, or Everypony I’m not sure what I should say right now I’m Motoko Kasanagi of the Ghost in the Pony Series This mini chapter was written as a way to try and make sense of any character differences you or any hard-core anime nerds might find in this story We know that the writer may not be good at making the characters or any previous lore to there original anime series just the way you remember it, or in some cases anything like you remember, but I’m here to say that we are aware of it and apologies for any toes we have stepped on wile making this In the end this IS only a fanfiction, made to entertain the writer and reader, the thing you should try to do is not think about it as a direct connected story to any of the original media but as a fun little tale to read wile your board and need something to enjoy your free time with, I mean if fanfiction was going to be one hundred percent accurate all the time we wouldn’t have even a fourth of all the story’s on the internet we have today I hope this has cleared up some things and left you a clear head to enjoy the story Now if you excuse me I’m going to go kill a certain rainbow haired pony because I just realized that this char pillow is full of red paint, good buy and enjoy the rest of the story NOW WHERE ARE YOU DASH!!!
Chapter 7 Welcome to PonyvillThe three of them finally reached the small town. The place was full of many multicolored ponies, Unicorns, Pegasus and normal Ponies (as normal as they can be in this place anyway) all of them seemed to be busy shopping, talking to each other and generally acting like normal people. Motoko took note that the technology in this world was as of now seemingly early 20th century, she would have gest medieval but she remembered seeing a tractor at the farm, plus she just saw a white Unicorn with sunglasses dragging a large loud speaker out of a shop door. After a wile of observing them Motoko came to the only logical concusion. “there technology is all over the place!” Batou nodded in agreement. “I know, some have pocket watches wile others have digital watches, iron radiators and loudspeakers, its like someone put a bunch of inventions in a had and…” Motoko put her hoof up to stop him. She tuned around, looked down, and looked up again where the still invisible Tachikoma was. Motoko opened up her Communications link so no one would here her talking to thin air. [Tachikoma. I think I may have discovered a flaw in you Camouflage] [WHAT! But I’m invisible to all sight, I can’t be seen by heat or inferred sensors, my movements make no sound…] [Yes, yes I know but there is one think you can’t hide, look behind you] The Mini Tank turned slightly to see two state lines in the ground. [Oh] [Yes, although your appearance is hidden you weight is enough to make tracks in the ground] [I’m sorry Major but I wasn’t designed to redistribute myself so as not to leave any trails in the area of…] [Stop, its alright, it was my fault for not considering this outcome] Batou connected to the Commutation. [You think anyone will notice?] [I’m not sure if…wait, that looks familiar] Off in the distance was an orange figure with a brown hat face down to the ground following the two strait tracks like a hunting dog. [Hide!] The three quickly jumped behind a nearby building out of sight. Motoko and Batou looked over the side of the wall to see the Orange Mare standing where they just where. As the pony looked at the track veer off to the building, a bright streak of rainbow color zipped past her before twisting in the sky and landing right in front of the Apple Farmer. The Pegasus was bright blue with rainbow colored hair and a prideful air around her that was noticeable even from a distance. “Yo AJ! Watch you doing?” “oh! Howdy Rainbow Dash, Ay was just following these tracks hopping to find some apple poachers is all” “apple poachers?” “well it were only half a barrel but this purple mare just gulped them down faster than a pig in a swill trough, and ay aim to have her pay fer every one!” “and these tracks will help you because…” “well sugar, it’s a long story, you see…” As the two talked about the events that happened back on the farm, Motoko turned back to her allies. Batou was the first to speak up. “So you think that’s her girlfriend or something?” Motoko gave him a dark look. “Sorry, its just with hair like that I couldn’t resist…you think its natural or…” “This is not the time or place to disguise this, the farm girl will be here any minuet and I don’t feel like explaining our disappearing act or our giant metal friend here” “Or working at a farm to pay off the all fruit salad you ate” Motoko closed her eyes for a moment. She needed to think of a plan. All sounds and distractions where seemingly turned off, it was just her in an empty void, free to think of a plan. Motoko opened her eyes back into the world with a strategy in her head. “OK! Tachikoma! You go around town leading the orange and blue ponies away, I and Batou will head to the objective, is that understood!?” “Yes Major! Right Away Major!” Tachikoma zoomed down the ally at high speed. At that moment the two ponies where coming up to the building, Motoko & Batou switch to T.O.C mode just as they went around the corner. They waited until they where out of eyeshot before becoming visible again. “ok, that gave up some time” “You always think best when in a tight situation don’t you” “I wasn’t made a Major just because I was a full bodied cyborg at a young age” “Didn’t hurt though, so what now” “We continue with our original plan, the large crystal building looks like the most important place in this town, it’s the most likely place to find the information we want in it” “Right! In retrospect maybe it’s a good think that Tachikoma is sitting this one out, places like that are likely to have guards and tight areas that a Mini Tank wouldn’t fit it” “Agreed! Lets go before anyone notices us” As the two rushed towards the crystal centerpiece of the town, Batou couldn’t help but ask a question. “So how much do you think this place would cost to build, I mean if it’s made out of crystal then…” “Does it really matter?” “…Guess not” “But I did once spend a night at a place made out of solid gold” “Seriously!” “Oh grow up”
Chapter 8 The Crystal CastleMotoko and Batou had reached the base of the Building. On closer inspection the pare saw that the building was more like a tree house on a crystal tree rather than being completely made of the element. Motoko and Batou turned on T.O.C mode and carefully opened the large front door. The building was full of long standing hallways with pillars, windows and doors along the walls. The whole inside of the building looked and felt impossible, almost ten times bigger than the outside appearance. The two silently went from room to room, first a large tall roofed with a round table with six chars around it and a chandelier made of wood at the top. Then a highly decorated room that was supposedly used as a dining room, a large bed room with what looked like a child’s room not too far by, and finally an enormous library with books all along the walls and up to the ceiling. Batou was about to speak when Motoko put her hoof up in warning. In the middle of the room was a table where a purple pony with both wings and a horn was totally engrossed with a red book in both her hoofs. “aaah, that makes 35 volumes of Equestrian History for the Inquisitive Mind I’ve read, now for number 36” The pony closed the book and reached to her side to nothing. “Oh that’s right I left the other volumes in my room” The pony jumped of her seat and made her way to the door. “I should bring them here so I don’t have to go back and forth all the time” The two waited until the sound of her hoof steps disappeared until they reappeared next to the door. Batou just kept looked at the door. “Ok I’m just going to say it what the heck is up with this place! A million rooms and only one person actually live here!” “Didn’t you notice she had both wings and a horn, her legs looked strong too, it’s most likely she is someone of importance in this world” Motoko walked up to the table where the 35 volumes of this worlds history where neatly stacked up. “Then why no guards? No security? She didn’t even lock the front door!” Motoko awkwardly adjusted herself on the seat, unsure of how to sit in her new form and picked up the book that the pony was just reading, and began to look through the pages. “Right now our priority is to gather the information we came here for, we can worry about the hierarchy of this place later” Batou sighed and walked to the table and picked up the book on the top of the pile. “This is going to take forever you know that right?” “Just look up anything that we could use, locations, city’s, people of importance, anything that you think can aid us” “So what are we looking for, a way to go home or a way to live here?” Motoko was silent, that was enough of an answer for him. Motoko looked at the writing on the yellowing pages. Equestria, so that’s what this place was called, this place where they went to when they died. Going home she though, what would they do if they did? Would they still be in these bodies? Would they even be able to go back to there old lives? Deep down she new there was no going back, but she was used to situations like that, she lived events like that her whole life, this was different, in a different way. Motoko looked though the pages; some of the things seemingly impossible like immortal rulers that would move the sun and moon, magic that could travel though time, and creatures that could turn others to stone. She remembered the creatures back in the forest, just what else is in this world? “MAJOR! MAJOR!!!” The pare jumped as Tachikoma appeared fully visible behind them. “Tachikoma! What are you doing here!?” “I was doing as you said and leading the two ponies away but then they started to catch up and the orange one broke off and headed here I came here to tell you because I knew you would be here and…” “You did take care to cover your tracks coming here right?” “…I think I saw a pink pony with fuzzy hair meet up with the orange one on the way too…” “Tachikoma!” “I WAS IN A HURRY” Motoko was about to reply when the sound of voices came from the other side of the door, quickly the three of them jumped away from the table to the side of the room activating there T.O.C, just in time to see the Orange, Purple and the new Pink ponies enter the room. The Purple one was speaking to her companions. “Well there are certainly spells for turning invisible, but what your describing isn’t in any book I’ve read, for a non Unicorn to do something like that they would need a magic item like a ring or amulet, are you sure they just disappeared and not said or did anything?” “Positive Twilight. That purple mare just took one look at me an vanished with her buddy following after, and then there are those tracks” “Yes, I…” The Purple pony was broken off when another two ponies came trough the door. One was a white Unicorn with a purple main and make up wile the other was a meek look yellow Pegasus with pink hair. The White pony walked over to the farm pony. “Applejack darling you look positively exhausted” “Well after chasing vanishing apple rustlers and invisible monsters I should hope so” “Yes I heard about it from Rainbow Dash, honestly some pony’s these days just don’t have any respect” Batou looked over at Motoko, she just looked away pursing her lips. “You have any idea who they where Twilight?” “Sorry Rarity, I’m more concerned with how they could have disappeared without any magic items or potions” The Pink Pony was looking at the stack of books on the table. “oooooo, watch you reading Twilight” “Oh just though I would try to see if I could learn something new from…” The Winged Unicorn walked over to the table looking at the books in front of her. “That’s not right?” “Yeah your right, if that’s true then all the birdies would get cold in the winter” “No not what’s written in the books, the book was closed when I…” The pony had stopped the moment her seat met the char. “Who sat in my char…who moved that seat…who took that book of the top of the stack…and who soiled my taible!?” Batou and Motoko looked at each other, how could they have been so slopy? The Orange pony walked over to her friend. “Maybe it was Spike or Starlight?” “No there still at Zecora’s hut getting potion ingredients for me. Who could have been in here while I was gone?” Just then a familiar rainbow streak flew though the door turning into the blue Pegasus from before. “Guys! I followed the track like you said and…they led hear! The invisible track thing in HERE!!!” “And that might mean that the two ponies from Apple Acer’s are here two” The Pink pony started jumping up and down happily. “Yippee, that means we can have a welcome to ponyvill Party” The pony then quickly took out a blue cannon from behind her back and fired it letting out a large bang of confetti. The Purple pony rubbed her ears. “I think you used a little too much gunpowder this time” “Yeah I may have overdone it this time, at least I didn’t point it at anybody, eh Dashi…Rainbow Dash?” The Pegasus was silent, along with the others as they where staring at the black blast mark on the wall, that seemed to have two of its sides separated from it, hanging in mid air, in the shape of a pony and a large spider like creature. The middle of the black soot covered wall seemed to peal off in the shape of a pony and fall strait onto the floor. There was a flicker on the ground and the black silhouette was suddenly attached to a purple Pegasus, out cold and moaning. The midair silhouette of the pony slapped its hoof to his face “Well this is a fine kettle of fish”
Chapter 1 The Gig Ends[Major! Come in Major! Major Motoko Kusanagi!] Motoko weakly opened her eyes. Everything was white from the dust from the…strange…she couldn’t remember what happened. She could see blood flowing down her eyes, since she was a cyborg it didn’t hurt at all; it just made things look fuzzier. She guessed that her brain case was damaged. All she could remember is that if she had failed the world would have gone to war because of someone’s selfishness. She looked down to her lap. Her ally Batou’s head was resting there. He wasn’t moving, and his Prosthetic body was nearly 86% ruined. Beyond them were the remains of a Tachikoma AI Walker Tank; it was just half of the front pod with only one arm still attached. Motoko looked down at her own body. Sure enough it was damaged well beyond repair. [MAJOR RESPONED!!!] Someone was calling her wirelessly. She responded likewise. [Yes chef] [Thank god! For a moment there I thought that…well enough of that now, what happened] Her memory’s where still fuzzy, but she knew they had done what they needed to do. [Mission accomplished] [Grate! Where are you, tell us your location so we can pick you up] Motoko’s eyes where failing. The image of the world was becoming pixelated and shaky. [I don’t think you need to rush things chef…I also think you can forget about my job payment] [Major what are you…] [Tell everyone…it was an honor…and a privilege to work with them…all of them] [Waite Major Moto…] The communicator in her body finally failed. She could feel her body slowly shutting down. She raised her hand just in time for it to fall on Batou’s back. She looked up at the sky and used the last of her strength to smile. “Saving the world from the threat of world war five, not a bad way to go out is it Batou” That was the last thought she had, before her eyes closed, and the world turned black. It was black at first. Black, numb, without sound or heat. That’s when Motoko realized that she couldn’t be dead. If she were then she wouldn’t be able to think of such things. Motoko wasn’t a religious person, or to be more accurate she just never had the time or patience to consider the idea of an afterlife, she had enough philosophical questions to answer about the world she lived in without what would happen after she died, but she was sure enough that this wouldn’t be anyone’s vision of the world of the dead. After getting that little thought out of the way Motoko noticed that the world was changing. Well not changing so much as becoming brighter. The black of the empty space was changing to grey, and then into white, an impossibly bright white that in any other circumstance would probably have blinded her. Motoko looked around. At least she thinks she was, in this emptiness it was impossible to tell. When Motoko looked down she saw that her body was also impossibly white, with only a light purple edge to it, and she didn’t cast a shadow. It was almost like she was a line drawing on a sheet of paper. “Miss Kusanagi” Motoko flinched. Slowly she raised her head from looking at her outlined hand to the one who had just appeared in front of her. What had spoken wasn’t a person, or anything like she had ever seen. It looked at first like a swarm of light blue lines with two bright blue eyes in the muddle, but after looking for a moment she could recognize legs and wings on the strange creature. It was almost too much for her to admit it to herself but it looked like a cave painting of a horse come to life, a horse with big eyes, wings and a horn. Motoko hesitated for a moment before responding. “Who…or what are you?” The drawing like thing bowed its head… “I am all, yet I am nothing, I am everywhere, yet I am nowhere, I live, yet I have never been born” Motoko said nothing as the horse like entity spoke. She talked in a calm motherly voice, at least she thought it was female, it had the voice of one. “You and you loved ones have past on from your world, but you will not die today” Motoko looked at the creature. “What?” Motoko tried to clench her hands, but something felt off. Was it just her imagination or where her fingers shrinking? The creature spoke again… “Fate has decided that you will live on, different, and far away, but free of the destiny that you have lived up until now” Motoko tried to lift her left leg, but it felt wrong. The joint’s felt like they where to close to each other, and her toes didn’t feel like they where even there… “You are being given a new life. What you and your friends do with it, is all up to you” Motoko tried to move her fingers, but they weren’t there anymore. Her feet felt wrong, her body felt wrong, she was changing… “May you find happiness” Then in a blink of an eye, everything went black.
