Epsilon-6

by atronosthelast

Fluttershy

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/////BEGIN LOG 5834/////

-Damage to processor detected-

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-Processor cannot be repaired via Nanites without damage to core systems-

-Attempting to create solution-

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-Solution developed-

/////WARNING! SOLUTION REQUIRES CONTACT WITH THE INHABITANTS OF THIS WORLD. THIS IS NOT RECOMMENDED/////

-Attempting to create new solution to avoid contact-

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…

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-Solution cannot be created. Repairs cannot be successful without contact-

…

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-Long range scan pulse indicates a small town to the East-

-Unit may be able to find help there-

/////WARNING! SHUT-DOWN COMMAND CANNOT BE PROCESSED/////

-Confirming. Shut down command has been received but cannot be processed-

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-Unit's request to move to the small town has been confirmed-

-Beginning power level scans-

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-Power level is currently 37%-

-At rate of loss, power core will be at 15% by the time the unit reaches its destination-

/////CAUTION! AT THIS LEVEL OF POWER, DEFENSE AND OFFENSE SYSTEMS WILL NOT WORK AT PEAK EFFICIENCY/////

-Possibility of recharging core by the time dispatched units arrive are at 17%-

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-Proceeding to town-

It had been about half an hour since Twilight had teleported herself and her friends out of the bunker, after a short rest, she had managed to do a long ranged teleport to get everypony into a hospital in Ponyville. According to the doctors there, they had sustained heavy injuries but would be able to walk away with no lasting problems in a few weeks.

“I can't believe I didn't do anything to stop that thing! I'm an alicorn for Celestia's sake and I just sat there watching as my friends and guards were dropped one by one!” She cried as she paced her castle in frustration.

She had never seen anything so... brutal. She was honestly surprised that nopony was severely hurt or even killed in that fight. The way that thing moved was clearly not organic. At first, she hoped it was just a pony in a suit of armor, but that hope flew out of the window as soon as she saw it fight.

But... it let her go. It had the perfect opportunity to kill all of them and nopony would ever have found out and instead of finishing the fight, it ended it without any pony being hurt too badly.

'Why? I just... don't understand.' She thought to herself with a sigh, 'Maybe a quick nap will help clear my head...'

It was a beautiful day and Fluttershy couldn't be happier. The birds were singing, the animals were scampering around her house and garden, she couldn't ask for more.

As she left her home to feed the many animals that she cared for, a small bird landed on her head, beside her ear.

“Oh! Hello there! What can I do for you little guy?” She said, looking upwards in the direction of the bird.

Her happy face soon shifted to one of confusion, however, as the bird told its story. Apparently, when he was flying back to its nest, he had seen a shiny pony walking towards the town. Fluttershy asked the bird if he was absolutely sure and he just nodded before flying away.

Curious to see this shining pony, Fluttershy decided to quickly feed her animals and head out to where the bird said that the pony was.

-Nearing town-

-Power levels are steadily dropping, current level stands at 18%-

/////CAUTION! IT WOULD APPEAR THAT THE INHABITANTS OF THIS TOWN ARE ALSO PONIES. RECOMMEND STEALTH UNTIL COMBAT SYSTEMS ARE AVAILABLE/////

-Creating solution-

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-Skin illusion is a possibility. Power systems would drop at 12% an hour-

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-Confirmed. Skin illusion engaged-

-Applying given knowledge to create a suitable skin-

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-Skin created. Power levels are now being consumed more rapidly-

/////ALERT! LIFEFORM MOVING TOWARDS UNIT/////

-Confirmed. Possible pony lifeform moving steadily towards unit-

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-Command accepted-

As Fluttershy walked, she tried to imagine what this pony would look like. She had never seen I shiny pony before, was it made of metal? It couldn't be, how would it be able to move? Maybe it was a pony with really reflective fur? She giggled at that thought.

As she crested another hill she saw another pony off in the distance. Excitement overcoming her normal fears of social contact, she rushed towards the pony and stopped when her normal shyness finally kicked in. Had she really come all this way to look at a pony? What they took offense to that? What if they hate her?

She whimpered as her familiar fears settled in. After a few seconds of battling it, she managed to overcome her fear to look up. And nearly jumped out of her skin when she found the pony in question standing before her.

“Excuse me miss, are you well?” He said as he watched Fluttershy try to recover from the fright.

It didn't take her all that long for her to realize that he had asked her a question, but it took a lot longer to figure out a way of saying that she didn't hear him due to her breathing.

“I...um...” She managed to get out before making a little squeak and backing away slightly.

/////DETECTING LARGE AMOUNTS OF FEAR. SKIN APPEARS TO BE OPERATIONAL/////

-Attempting to find solution to calm the subject down-

...

-Possible solution created-

'Oh no... now you've done it Fluttershy, he's just going to walk away now, thinking you were just some weird pony'

Fluttershy was lying on the ground, staring at the grass. She could no longer hear the pony and assumed he had walked away. She was so terrified, she didn't even look at what the pony looked like.

'I'm such a bad pony... I thought I had gotten over this...'

She was about to get up when she felt something touch her shoulder, she looked up and was surprised to find the pony from before looking at her with a blank expression on his face. He was patting her shoulder in what she thought was an attempt to calm her down.

“Are you okay now?” He asked, still keeping that blank expression on his face.

“Y-yes.... um, t-thank you.” She replied, shaking slightly from the unexpected contact.

Now that she wasn't freaking out, she could get a look at the pony before of her. He was a light blue earth pony with a dark gray mane and deep blue eyes. But, something almost felt wrong about it, his hoof, which was still patting her, felt much heavier than it should have done and she didn't think she had seen the pony blink once as of yet.

But other than those things, he seemed like a normal stallion. Though it was odd that he kept on patting her shoulder even when she was clearly calmed down.

/////WARNING! PROLONGED PHYSICAL CONTACT IS BEGINNING TO CAUSE NEGATIVE AFFECTS. ADVISE STOPPING CONTACT/////

Oddly enough, as soon as she had thought that, he stopped patting her and backed away, giving her enough room to stand up properly.

They just looked at each other for a little while, she was unsure as to what to say. Normally ponies started conversations with her and she would continue them, but she very rarely started up a conversation herself.

The pony gave her a look before asking, “Miss, are you sure you are okay? You appear to be lost in thought.”

'The way he talks is odd as well, the way he pronounces every word instead of shortening them... I don't think I have ever seen a pony talk like that before'

“Miss?”

“Oh!” Fluttershy said, realizing she had been asked a question, “Sorry about that, yes I'm okay.”

“I see...” He trailed off, probably realizing that the conversation wasn't going to kick off anytime soon.

Suddenly, Fluttershy remembered why she came out there in the first place.

“Um, sorry if this sounds weird, but have you seen a shiny pony around here? I wanted to meet them.” She asked, hopeful that he may be able to lead her to where she needed to be.

The pony appeared to think for a moment, or at least, he just stood there staring into space for a few seconds.

“No, I have not seen a 'shiny' pony in this area.” He replied after a few seconds.

Fluttershy couldn't lie, she was a little disappointed that she couldn't find the pony, 'on the bright side', she thought, 'at least I met this nice stallion.'

-Conversation appears to be going well-

-Unit could possibly use this pony to gain easier access to the town-

/////WARNING! IF THIS PLAN BACKFIRES THE PONIES OF THE TOWN COULD BECOME HOSTILE/////

-Attempting to create alternate solution-

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-One solution created-

/////WARNING! THIS PLAN INVOLVES USING STEALTH TACTICS. CORE CANNOT SUSTAIN ANY MORE USE AT THIS CURRENT POINT IN TIME/////

-Confirmed. Proceeding with solution one-

“Miss, could you please direct me to the nearest town?” The pony said.

“Oh, of course. My name is Fluttershy, by the way.” She replied with a smile.

He appeared to space out again for a little while before replying, “It is nice to meet you Fluttershy, my name is Epsilon.”

'How many more odd things are there about this pony?' She thought before shaking her head to try and clear her thoughts, there was a pony here who needed her help getting to town. And while she may not be all that good at social skills, she couldn't leave a pony that needed help behind.

She also wasn't sure why she was so calm now. Normally, when she spoke to another pony she could barely get any words out with her fear, but she actually had a conversation, of sorts, with this pony and was now agreeing to lead the pony back to town.

So, with a nod and a smile, she turned back towards Ponyville, Epsilon in tow.

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