Hooves of Iron

Chapters

Chapter 1 part 1
Chapter 1 part 2
Chapter 2 part 1

Chapter 1 part 1

“On which field that we should see the first applications of true AI, you say? Well, discounting the military and academic, my guess would be in the entertainment industry. Video games, toys, shows and more. The audience of that industry is constantly demanding more than the stimulus-response pull string dolls of yesteryear. It shouldn’t surprise any of you considering human beings are a race of dreamers and in the coming years, we will see the covert become vulgar. The imagined made real. Let's only hope we are ready for it”

-Professor Kim Musashi, 2016 conference on AI
“You will soon have your God, and you will make it with your own hands”

-Morpheus, Deus Ex

Sparks hit the metallic limb of the toy maker as he made minute cuts into the metal, but he paid no mind to it; His mind was too absorbed with the task at hand to process a simple thing like pain. His glass green eyes whirled as he continued to use his Vulcan augmentation limb to both hold and work on his project.

The monitors above him flashed and dimmed as they displayed the charts and loading bars of the algorithm they were nursing. One of the two largest displayed a series of flickering videos with the bar “compiling” below them. Its brother displayed the 3D image of a human brain, bits of lights scanning the neurons as it continued.

With a final snap of metal and plastic, a faint smile appeared on the toy maker's face. Just need to install this last holographic bulb in and I should be fine for today. With quick precision, his metallic hand flipped inward as the metal casing opened and was soon replaced by a series of clamps, screwdrivers and various other instruments of creation.

With delicate care, he used two micro limbs to slowly open the socket while a third screwed in the delicate cargo that it carried. His eyes whined softly as he magnified his vision from x2 to x6. With a final twist and push, the bulb fell into place. The toy maker quickly turned the bulb slight to the right and was rewarded with a satisfying click. Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, he retracted his micro limbs back and wiped the sweat from his brow with his newly returned hand. The oak chair squeaked as he laid back in it, hands outstretched, as if to catch an unseen breeze.

He relaxed for a moment then proceeded to grab a nearby power cord and plug it into an outlet as he used his augment to open a compartment on his project. With one swift motion, he plugged the other end into his creation and was rewarded with a bright light. The toy maker's eyes strained as they compensated to take the new amount of light but adjusted after a second. When his vision cleared, a little purple foal lay before him on his workbench.

The foal had large animated eyes that were closed to give the appearance of sleep and a series of stars on her left leg. Purple hair from her mane and tail covered the fiber optic structure beneath. A proportional sized horn completed her features. Before him, clothed in metal and light, lay Twilight Sparkle.

The workbench rocked and caused the toy maker to jump. He quickly turned to the source of the disturbance. A white feline was perched on the side of the bench and was sniffing the horn of the offline foal. Its hind legs staged like springs, ready to pounce or run.

“Relax, this is just a diagnostics check. I haven't even installed her yet.”

The feline ignored him and continued to sniff suspiciously.

The toy maker let out a light laugh “Fine, have it your way, cat, but you better get used to her, She's going to be with us for a long time.”

He turned to one of the screens and smiled as the compiling rate started reaching into the 90s. He turned to the opposite screen that displayed the brain mapping process.

Tenderly, he touched the display, as if to somehow reach through it and into some unseen realm. His fleshy pointer finger traced the curves of the image and after awhile, pulled it back. He turned his head towards one of the three pictures that he always kept by his workbench and picked the first one up. The image of a little girl smiled back at him. She was at a party, having the time of her life. Several people surrounded the girl; her mother, her friends, all of which made the absence of one figure all the more noticeable.

“I'm sorry Jen but you know how it is, if we don't get this merger..”

The look on his wife's face was palpable “You're missing her life, every day you’re spending all your time working on the company, for the company, can't you call in sick or something?”

His face remained still as stone as his mind worked. “Jarod called in sick and unless we get this, we simply aren't going to get the project to work and we won't have a product to sell.”

His wife's face turned from anger mixed with concern to pity and self realization. “This has become a pattern with you.” She looked up, too tired to bring forth the emotion to bare. “You become so single minded and obsessed that you can't focus on anything else.” She let out an audible sigh. “When we were dating, it amazed me how attentive and caring you were and how it continued after we got married, but since you got project lead...”

The toy maker got down his knees and held his wife's hands “Look, I'm sorry. I know I haven't been there for you as much as I want to be. But I promise that I will make it up to you.” He looked back at his daughter, flying a kite in the bright sun before turning back. “To both of you.”

As he got up, his wife looked at him, those natural blue eyes that he fell in love with years ago. “She won't stay young forever,” she said prophetically.

He turned back to those blue eyes, and said, “I'll make it up to her,” before heading out the door.

Without looking, he then set the first frame back in its place and picked up the third. The image of the girl was pale white; the effects of fighting the disease that afflicted on her was wearing her down then, but still she smiled. It was the last week of her life and yet she still smiled.

“What do you mean she has leukemia?” He boomed, not caring if the consultants outside could hear him. “She is twelve for Christ sake!”

“Cancer doesn't discriminate” the monotone voice said flatly on the other end of the line. “Since she's been admitted, the growth has moved from her lymph nodes to her spleen, liver, and lungs. Does she have any other parent or guardian?”

The toy maker was still processing the previous facts when the question registered. “No, my wife was killed. The bus carrying her was blown up when one of the separatists groups set off those bombs.”

“Then I suggest you hurry, she doesn't have much time left.”

No wonder they hire bastards to do this job. The toy maker left the phone off the hook and ran out of his office, hoping it wasn't too late.

“Daddy?” she smiled weakly as he entered the room and he did his best to return it. The room was filled with colorful animals and toys. A few of them he recognized -- he designed them himself -- but all of them seem to contrast against the pale shadow of the child among them.

He moved slowly, as if the motion of the air itself might break her fragile frame until he was at her bedside. “Hey, how's it going?”

She gave a light smile and shrugged. Those beautiful blue eyes greeted him again. “Alright, I suppose. The doctors made me take a few tests but they won't tell me anything” she looked up at him “Am I going to be ok?”

The toy maker couldn't bear to give her the answer, so instead gave his own question. “How about you find your favorite toy and tell me about it?”

She paused, thought for a moment, she picked up one of the nearby toys, one of the latest brands and threw it aside. The toy maker let out a sigh of relief; he didn't design that one. She continued to root around the room until at last grasping a toy plushie. It had a small horn and a series of stars on it's hind leg. She lightly blew the little bit of dust off it and gave a series of small petite coughs before returning to sit down on the bed.

Puzzlement and confusion was apparent on the toy maker's face. “Why that one? It's a little old and bits of it are falling out.” he said, noting the hair and stuffing falling out of the doll.

“I like this one, she has heart.” She turned back towards him. “Can you make her talk like the others? I know you can do it”.

The toy maker paused for a moment, his brain coming up with plans, theories, and schematics, running through the possibilities, until reaching the solo conclusion. It was, unfortunately for him, a sad one.

“I don't think I can do that in such short amount of time,” he said, the words spilling oil slick of shame. His daughter's eyes dropped with disappointment.

“However, I’ll see what I can do.” he said, eying the plush doll. The smile returned.

“And if...” the girl looked down at the floor then at the toy again “if I go away like mom did, will you have her tell me good bye”.

Again, the question hit him like a punch in the jaw. Minutes passed that became hours until he gave his answer. He turned to the sleeping child and said, “I'll make it up to you, I promise.” She stirred in her sleep as she dreamed.

The toy maker wiped the moisture from his eyes and flicked it across the room. He still felt the dampness in his metal hand however, and tried his best to ignore it. He returned the third picture and picked up the second. The now fragile frame of the girl was set in a black metal casket. It pained the toy maker just to look at it as the memories came flooding back...

“I'm sorry sir but she isn't responding to any of our treatments,” the doctor in the white coat said coolly. “We pronounced her dead three minutes ago.”

The shock made the toy maker's head spin and he had to sit down. The doctor then continued.

“I would suggest you make family preparations and funeral arrangements, now if you excuse me.”

The doctor left the room, leaving the toy maker to fend for himself in the labyrinthine maze of the hospital. The toy maker wandered the halls, more like a specter or a ghost than a being made of flesh and metal.

“Yes, I know it's experimental but if you would just let me do it, just one map and we can have true AI!”

The voice and its content rang in the toy master's ear, bringing him out of the fog of his stupor.

“I'm sorry sir but unless you can get a family member to sign off on it, we can't do anything and I'm not going to allow the reputation of this hospital be jeopardized by some medical industry quack!”

The toy master turned towards the source of the argument. His electronic eyes twisting as they tried to recognize and then went wide as they did.

“Charles? From R&D?”

The younger of the two men turned towards the toy master. “Stephen?”

The toy master gave a light smile and stuck out his hand, Charles returned it with a friendly but firm grip. The toy master was the first to speak.

“I haven't seen you since you were quit R&D and started working on that start up of yours, How's it going?”

Charles pushed up his glasses sheepishly “Could be better, could be worse. I'm trying out a new project that involves brain mapping and applying it toward creating an AI, but so far I can't get the brain map that I need to get started.”

The fog in the toy master's brain started to lift. “AI? But everyone uses SI when it became apparent that the Turing test wouldn't solved by a machine for at least a few more decades. Hell, we even use SI in our products.”

Charles eyes lit up. “True but most AI research is on building a thinking machine from the ground up. Purely from a mathematical and formalistic programming approach. What mine does is simply bypass that by visualizing the brain via scanning the neural connections within it, effectively putting an image of the human brain within the context of a computer.”

The toy maker's mind was fully attentive now, the fog of a few minutes ago a distant memory. “So what's stopping you?”

Again, Charles pushed up his glasses “Well, the process can't be done on a living person as it causes the brain tissue to deteriorate at an extremely fast rate. It's a bug that I am currently working out, but as of right now, it can only work on corpses and can't seem record memories at all. Although, I see that more as a plus than a bug.”

The toy maker cocked his head to the side. “And why would that be a plus?”

“Well, when designing an AI, you don't want any variables that can influence the process, and memory is certainly one of them. Now this isn't usually a problem considering that the first thing to go in a dead brain is the memories. Granted, if we wanted to add memories we certainly do that. Certainly, you've heard of the forgotten soldiers?”

The toy maker frowned. “Yes, but I don't see how they have any to do with this.”

Charles gave a smirk. “Altering memories of GIs coming back from duty to help with their adjustment in the real world. Much less stress, cut the total of mental illness by three-fourths, gave them custom made memories that would make them employable in the real world.”

“And as past history has shown, very open for abuse.”

Charles gave a dismissive gesture. “Not my point. My point is we already have the technology; the code is open source, as your friend Lauren can tell you. It's there for anyone who wants it.”

Charles then looked back and forth. “Stephen, where's your daughter?"

“She's dead, Charles.” The coldness of the statement surprised even the toy maker.

Charles looked back up at him, the smugness quickly evaporating into pity.

“Stephen, I'm sorry.”

The toy maker was going to snap something back but a thought held his tongue.

“You think you will be able to use the brain map on her?”

Shock, bewilderment, and finally realization flashed across Charles's face.

“Your allowing me to…”

The toy maker nodded.

“Sure, just let me get my things. Thank you Stephen, I can't express how much this means to me”.

“Just one request.”

Charles turned back at the toy maker

“Give me the original brain map after you’re done with it.”

Charles's brow narrowed. “What are you planning on doing with it?”

The toy maker pulled out a toy that he was carrying. It wasn't his and it was old. Bits and pieces were falling out and there was a series of stars on one of the legs, but he held it tenderly in his hands before looking back up at Charles.

“Keeping a promise.”

The toy maker put the picture back on the shelf and picked up the nearby plush doll. It was nearly deflated and the cat had tried to get at it may times, but he held it in his hands for a bit before returning it to the shelf. His gaze then turned back towards the sleeping Twilight. He lean forward and put his augmented hand up to pet her limp form. His metal hand pierced the holographic shroud with ease and touched the metallic form beneath. He felt the thrumming of the power being exchanged and the computer systems humming as they finished their checks. He heard the light buzzing off the holographic emitters, projecting like they were supposed to. He smelled the faint whiff of ozone from when the holographic projection first engaged and he tasted the metallic particles still in the air.

He pulled back. So close... so close. He turned toward the screens above. He nodded as the computers were showing green across the board on system checks. He smiled as the screens show 100% compiled, and let out a good chuckle as one of the nearby consoles spat out both the original and the newly made copy of the brain map. He took the original and quickly pocketed it. He then lightly picked up the second one. His sight magnified to x2, x6 and lastly x12 before returning to their original setting.

“So this is what a soul feels like,” he muttered.

A nearby console started beeping, alerting him. He frowned and turned it on.

“Breaking news, entrepreneur Charles Savoyard has found dead in his home and his place of business burnt to the ground. Metro Police have announced that the group behind this attack is called the Vanguard. Proclaiming themselves as protecting humanity from encroachment from AI and other sources, they have put out several videos telling their followers to defend humanity through extreme action." The newswomen continued, blanked eyed as she continued with her script. "Blue Arms Protection Corporation have yet to comment on the matter beyond that as the investigation is still underway.” the camera moved out, revealing a roundtable with several people on the sites. “Here in the news room, we have a round table discussion on the topic on the explosion of paramilitary groups and what should be done about them."

The toy maker turned off the screen and absorbed what just happened. Why would anyone attack Charles? He was no threat to anyone. True, he was an ass, but there was still no reason to kill him. He slowly walked over to his bed, passed the entrance to his library and game room, and flipped over the underside. Below it was a hand print which he pressed his flesh hand against. The latch opened, revealing a selection of pistols and side arms. He took one out and checked the barrel. Satisfied that it was unloaded and clean, he took out a magazine from the box and propped it up on the table in the center of the room. He took the pistol with one hand and closed the container with the other. The computer beeped as it locked and he dropped the rest of the bed, hiding it completely. He stayed there for a good while, staring at the door. Expecting anyone to come barging in, guns blazing. On the table also sat the brain map copy. The ghost of his daughter and the “soul” of Twilight Sparkle.
This is ridiculous, I am leaping at ghosts, he thought after awhile. After the four hour mark, he put the gun in storage and the magazine within the casing of one of the many consoles in the room and he upgraded his security system to alarm him if anyone came within five meters of his door. Without any farther distractions, he picked up the brain map copy and walked closer to the sleeping Sparkle. The covert will become vulgar, the imagined made real. The thought came unbidden to the toy maker's mind and he quickly dismissed it.

“So what do you think Gepetto?” He asked the white ball of fluff perched on the one of the many shelves, “Am I Frankenstein creating his own monster? Prometheus bringing forth fire to humanity? Or just simply some loon who is going to learn the hard realities of life?”

The cat simply yawned and watched him with sleepy eyes.

“Eh, I thought you'd say that.”

He sat down and began his work. Disabling the holographic shield, he quickly pried up the compartment on the back of the head on the pony. For the first time on this project, his heart began to race. His naturally steady hands began to shake as he inserted the disk. It slid into place and was accepted a second later. The compartment door slammed shut, sealing it in place. The toy maker laughed; in a few seconds, his hard work would pay off.

“Warning! Power surged detected!”

The toy maker turned to see the cable still plugged into the sleeping Twilight. With quickness he didn't know he still had, he dove and pulled out the cable. As he did, the lights went out and there was a mighty crash as he collided with the wall of computers. He briefly dodged the onslaught of falling modems and desktops before the crash settled down and he let out a groan.

“Spike? Is that you?” a voice called out from the darkness.

Chapter 1 part 2

“Where are you Spike? I can't see anything in this darkness.”

The pain in the toy maker's ribs was turning into a dull throb that sent spider webs of pain up his side. He caught his breath for a couple of seconds before moving again.

“I'm going to find the li-AHHH!”

Fresh adrenaline shot through his body as the toy maker made another dive at the sound. He landed on the floor in front of the bench and was rewarded a second later when the heavy mass fell on top of him.

He let out an “oof!” as the wind was knocked out of him. Why did I have to use so much metal? he thought. I'll be lucky if she doesn't break my spine.

“Spike, I think I landed on something soft. Hold on while I use a light spell.”

“Just use the light I installed on your horn,” the toy maker muttered.

“Whhaaa!” The toy maker could feel Twilight get up on her legs and circle around defensively.

“Who's there! Come out where I can see you!”

Great, she's taking her first steps and they just so happen to be on my back.

“You are on me, and I would greatly appreciate it if you would get off my back.”

“Oh,” she said as the realization hit her and she jumped off. “Sorry about that, but where is Spike? Where are my friends? And who are you?”

The toy maker ignored the pain continuing to pulse down his sides and back and stood up. He blindly reached for the oak chair, found it, and sat down in it a second later.

A bright light blinded his electronic eyes, not so much different from a search light. They whined as they attempted to adjust to the gloom.

“Or I should say what are you?”

The toy maker's mouth went dry for a second as he tried to form words that would answer the questions that this filly had. In the months that he planned the project, he had always pictured what would happen when the filly awoke. The questions that it would ask, the bewilderment it would have, and the sense of loss it would feel. But the idea of being interrogated by his own creation never crossed his mind. Such is life I suppose.

“I am a human and my name is Stephen.” The toy maker thought about adding “and I built you,” but thought better of it. This filly can only take so many mental bombshells at a time. All the better to space them out.

“A human? What's a human? I've read all the books in the Canterlot Archives and I've never heard of such a being. Are there more humans around? Are they big like you or are they small? Why haven't we seen any books on humans in Equestria?”

The light moved off his face and towards his metallic limb “And what is this? Is this a natural part of you?” the light moved towards his other, natural arm. “Comparing this arm to the other, it would seem that this arm is natural extension while the other is an artificial construction but that's....”

The light flashed again in his face, “How is this possible? Did you suffer some kind of accident? Did it hurt? Do humans feel pain? And where are my friends?”
Well, at least her powers of deduction are intact. Let's see about how she will continue to hold up.

“One question at a time and in order.” The toy master readied himself, tailoring the next couple of words to leave the softest impact.

“A human is a member of a race of intelligent ape and the reason why you haven't heard about us is that we don't live in Equestria. We live on a planet called Earth.”

He paused to let her digest the statement.

“So if you don't live in Equestria, then that means you are aliens and therefore have abducted me! I demand to be taken back home!”

The toy maker sighed “That is simply not possible.”

“Why not!?” she asked in an accusatory tone.

“Power Restored!” a mechanical voice interrupted.

The amber florescent lights activated and slowly revealed the source of the voice that was hiding in the darkness. The purple foal that was previously sleeping on his desk was now standing in the center of his work room, its eyes taking their gaze off him to scan the room. As she busied herself, the toy maker turned his gaze toward the photos of his daughter. He frowned as they weren't in their expected place and turned his eyes down towards the floor.

There, among the shattered glass, lay the pictures of his beloved. Tenderly, he picked them up with his metallic hand and placed them back on the shelf. The images of his love cracked and shredded, making a mockery of the current situation.
This is not going well, he thought and felt a blade of anger well up within him only to be cooled into nothingness as his emotional stabilizer implant activated. He could not allow himself to get angry, not now. Even so, he thought it was time he dropped one of the bombshells that he was carrying and let the pieces fall where they may.

“You can't return because the place you remember never truly existed” The toy maker said bluntly. “It only existed in the minds of creative people and children. The same as your friends. You were the same until a few minutes ago.”

Twilight's eyes returned instantly to his and he recognized the emotions projected on her holographic face. Fear, anxiety, the feeling of having the rug of reality pulled out from under you, grasping at anything to stand your ground only to find out that it too was being swept away. The toy maker felt his innards take a knife of solid ice of remorse. The emotional stabilizer did not turn on. He needed to feel this. He needed to feel human.

Twilight gave a light nervous laugh. “Oh, I get it. This is some trick that some pony is playing on me.” She took her eyes off the toy maker and scanned the room again “Okay, the fun is over, you can stop joking with me” she trotted off towards the living room. The toy maker got up and followed her. He toyed with the idea of taking one of his smoke pipes while watching the pony, but thought against it.

He leaned against the doorway, his metal limb crossed with his natural one as he watched the purple pony turn over his furniture, throw his books off the shelves after looking through them, and pick up items to look under them before leaving them on the floor. He observed the look of keen determination in her eyes and sense of purpose. I wonder if she is going to find any bugs that Lauren leaves in here occasionally, he thought as the little filly continued to tear apart his home.

She didn't find any bugs (the toy maker didn't know to credit Lauren's ability to hide bugs or the Twilight's determination) and he watched in amusement as the pony tried to open the compartment under his bed. She turned toward him after a while

“Are you going to help me open this?” Her voice was bordering outright frustration.

The toy maker shrugged his shoulders and the pony gave an explosive sigh. She gave up and continued to tear the living room apart before moving on. The toy maker watched as she moved into the library, working her ways up the shelves as she flipped each book open and slammed it shut. The toy maker also caught slight grumblings about someone called spike not being here to help her.

This continued on for a while until at last, sitting in a pile of toss furniture and discarded items, did Twilight stop, a look of sheer exhaustion upon her face.

“Find what you were looking for?” The toy maker finally asked.

The exhausted pony moved looked at him with her eyes; she was too tired to move her head.

“No, no thanks to you,” she muttered.

“Well, if that's the case, I'm sure you'll have no problem picking this mess up,” the toy maker said with a bemused smile.

The pony let explosive sigh, causing a few papers to fly up and the toy maker gave a light laugh. He then moved towards the exhausted filly and sat down.

“What were you looking for?” he asked.

“My friends,” she replied, her voice edging close to tears.

The toy maker's eyes softened as much as they could. “What makes you think that anything in here would give you any idea where to find them?”

“I don't know. I thought this was all was just a trick that some pony put on to teach me a lesson. Something to show that this isn't really happening” moisture started to build up in her eyes.

The toy maker struggled to find the correct words to say. “Twilight, I'm sorry,” was all that he could manage.

Her previous energy returned to instantly. She turned to him, fear gone now replace with anger. “You took me away from them! You brought me here!”
Good thing I didn't install lasers in that horn of hers yet.

Before the toy maker could respond, she got up and ran out the door.

“Twilight! Wait!” he said with his hand, outstretched as if to beckon her back to him.

He heard the exterior door slide back into place and his heart sank.

“I never should have done this.. I never should...”

A feeling of loss hit him again and even with the emotional stabilizer activated it could only blunt most of the blow. The overall feeling left him with emptiness and apathy. He broke his promise. He failed.

He sat there for a while, ignoring the alarms Twilight set off as she raced down the hall until he at last got up and went to the security console. He reset the alarms and stared briefly at the exterior door.
Time to see if she is still around. If not... He couldn't finish the thought; it pained him too much.

The toy maker grabbed several series of clothing from the coat rack before approaching the door. He then turned to the feline hiding under the coach.

“Gepetto, keep a good eye and watch the place will ya?”

The feline let out a hiss of disapproval at the destruction around it.

“That's good, keep that attitude. Keeps them on their toes.” With that, he ran out the door.

He ran down the red carpet hallway, dodging maids, other owners, and the occasional dog. He eventually reached the end of the hallway that ended in an open air sky way. Before him lay the city itself, clothed in golden light and metal. The toy maker heard subtle sobbing and he turned to see Twilight, leaning against the railing, tear drops trailing from her eyes before vanishing outside the range of the emitters. He slowly walked over to her and leaned against the railing. Long minutes passed before any of them spoke.

“I'm not in Equestria anymore, am I?”

The toy maker put down the extra layers of clothes next to him and turned his gaze towards the golden vestige of the city that dominated the scene. The distant buildings lifted up like massive pillars to support the overhead canopy. Nearby buildings were nearly stacked on top of each other, like a madman's jigsaw puzzle. Lights the color of emeralds, rubies, diamonds, and topaz littered and flashed in and out of existence on the floor as the machinery that supported them came and went. At the top lay the canopy itself. Covering the sky like a blanket, it reflected the golden light back at the buildings, giving them look as if a miner had discovered some treasure in a cave.

“No, you are not,” the toy maker said simply.

Twilight looked longingly at the city, her eyes mirroring her mind.

“Twilight, I never did answer why I brought you here.”

She turned towards him, still teary eyed. “No, you didn't”.

The toy maker let out a sigh of his own and rubbed his hands together, flesh with metal.

“I created you to keep a promise. Years ago, my daughter died, but before she did, she made me swear to make her favorite character come to life and wish her goodbye. That character was you”.

“So what? I was just character in a girl's mind, just a plaything?” More sorrow than anger this time.

“No.” The toy maker fought his own rush of emotion. “You are more than just a plaything. You gave my daughter something to hold on to during her final hours; someone she could relate to. You gave her hope.”

The toy maker's eyes whirled again as he called up a local internet access point and pulled up Twilight's wiki. He started to skim through it.

“Why do you think that Celestia asked you to write all those messages?”

Twilight wiped her eyes clean “To show the value of friendship.”

“Yes and what did you learn from all those letters?”

“That friendship transcends boundaries. It is the thing that holds us up when we feel down. It's the thing that glues us together when we feel like falling apart. It makes people do strange things, crazy things even, but it always works out in the end.”

She again turned towards the city. “But all that didn't really happen did it?”

The toy maker continued to read through her file, his green glass pupils dancing as he read.

“I'm not in a position to say whether you were really there or not,” he said. “However, I can see the effect of the love that my daughter had for you. She loved how you talked, the way you walked, the funny look on your face when something you planned went awry. She loved you when you were still just an idea and it gave her a few more days of hope. A few more days of life. That's already more than I could ask of you right now. You gave her life, I just returned the favor.”

With a thought, the toy maker closed the file. “Do you think you can stay here for a little while? This world has a lot to explore, tons to discover.”

A brief smile came across Twilight's lips and her ears perked up “Discover?”

The toy maker let out a smile, “Oh yes. The universe is a puzzle box, its secrets waiting for the right person to unveil them, To seek them out and build off them.”

He turned toward the pony, “Are you ready to be that person?”

Twilight turned towards him, her sadness fading like fog in the morning sky. “I think so.”

The toy maker looked at her with a quizzical look “ Are you sure? Our discoveries take a bit more effort than the ones in Equestria.”

The sadness that was on Twilight's face was now one replaced with eagerness and curiosity “You can be rest assured that I am the right pony for the job.”

“Great” The toy maker said. “But I think we've had enough fun for tonight. What do you say we head back inside and clean up the mess?”

“Sure, I'll be right there.” The toy maker let out a sigh of relief. That could have gone much worse. At least we didn't have a repeat of Lesson Zero, he thought.

“But what about my friends? I just can't forget about them!”

The toy maker turned to her “Don't worry, you'll see them soon enough.”

He gathered the pile of excess clothes that he dropped and used them to pick up the pony.
Lift with your knees! Lift with your knees! He thought as he strained to bare the weight of the metallic unicorn. With a series of maneuvers, he wrapped the pony in a blanket.

“Any reason why you are doing this?” said the voice in the muffled covers.

“Yes” Whispered the toy maker. “The last thing we need to have is people asking why I have a miniature holographic pony in my home. Those people start to talk to other people who then get certain ideas which I don't like to discuss.”

“Is this world that dangerous?”

The toy maker tried his best to shrug.

“Depends on who's after you and what they want.”

The toy maker felt a light shake come through the layers.

“Do you think that they will be after me?”

The toy maker repositioned so that most of the weight was on his metallic limb. He then used the natural limb to pat the unicorn’s head.

“They'll have to get through me first, and I can be dangerous when I need to be.”

A slight laugh came from the pile “Oh, I'm sure you are.”

The toy maker joined in. “You have no idea.”

The toy maker put the pony down as he entered the door. Like a butterfly from a chrysalis, she erupted and quickly removed the shirt that was still attached to her head.

They both examined the carnage of earlier and Twilight turned to him sheepishly

“Sorry about wrecking your home. I was just...”

“Confused? Desperate? Alone?”

Confusion ran across her face, “Yeah, how did you know?.”

The toy maker leaned over to pick up a book and put it on the shelf as he juggled a few other things. “I’ve had to deal with a lot of death in my time and those are the emotions that are the first to come up.”

Twilight cocked her head in a curious pose. “How can you deal with so much hurt and still be up and going?”

“One day at a time, one day at a time.”

A hissing broke the conversation as they both looked up to see the white cat perched it's self upon one of the upper shelves. Its green eyes were lasers of hatred focused on Twilight.

“You might want to consider making friends with that cat,” the toy maker observed. “Otherwise we are both going to be in trouble.”

Twilight gave a gentle wave of her front hoof and smiled nervously at the feline.

Gepetto simply hissed and continued to stare at the pony intruder.

“You mentioned that you wanted to know about how I got my augments?”

Twilight's eyes turned away from the cat and lit up, previously held curiosity returning.

“Yes, how do you manage to retain feeling in such a contraption? Everything that I know about science tells me that this isn't possible, but yet it is!”

“Well,” the toy maker started. “It takes a long physical process. One does not simply cut off an arm and attach a new one overnight.” He paused for a second. “Well, a healthy person that is.”

A puzzled look came over Twilight's face “How long?”

“Oh usually three to four months of disconnecting nerve tissue from the joint that you want to remove and at the same time boosting your immune system to fight off infection when they actually cut. From there, it's another three months of bed rest as the body recovers from the shock of having a limb removed and another one put in its place.”

Twilight gave a face of awe. “Humans can do that? Most other animals wouldn't be able to deal with such trauma.”

The toy maker glanced at a statue of a mechanical clock on a pedestal in the corner of the room. “Normally, you would be right, but due to our advances in technology and science, we are able to go beyond the limits that nature has placed on us and are at the verge of becoming something more.” He looked glanced over at Twilight. “Are you just going to stand there all night?”

Twilight shook her head as she snapped out of her daydream. “Oh right, sorry,” The toy maker watched as a purple glow came across a book and lifted it back into its place.
Ah, the nanobots are working. It's about time they did something useful for a change.

“Anyways,” the toy maker continued, “This puts has put a lot of people on edge and has thrown our society into a crucible of sorts.”

“Why would it do that?” Twilight replied as she put tablet back on an office desk.

“Because it scares a lot of people. It takes their view of the world and turns it inside out. Much like what happened to you, but to a lesser extent,” the toy maker stated, his words becoming hard like granite. “They do not understand what is happening in the world and, therefore, fear it.” He drew a deep breath for the next statement.

“Fear is the mind killer. It makes friends become enemies, and enemies become friends. It makes the most illogical thoughts seem like the right ones and obscures the truth that we dare not face. It has caused nations to revolt and others to bare the burdens of a harsh regime, lest they replaced by more savage one. It turns brother against brother and the most sane mind to insanity.”

A moment of silence passed within the room during which neither of them spoke. The only sound was the slight shuffling noise of things being put back in their places. It was the toy maker that broke the spell.

“But then again, there is always hope. The thing that drives people to do impossible things, to dream for a better life, the thing that gets a person out of bed after everything they know falls apart. The hope to rebuild. Sometimes that is all we need.”

He turned towards the pony, rubbing his tired glass eyes. “It's getting late and we both need to rest. Do you have any more questions in the meantime?”

Twilight looked around the room and pointed at a tablet.

“What is this? What is it a writing machine? A weapon? A portal to the unknown?”

“All of the above and more. It's a computer.”

Twilight looked at it and tapped the screen inquisitively.

“It's not really doing anything.”

“Well, that's because...” the toy maker looked at the screen. The background had a blue color to it and on it was listed some technical details. The words “fatal error, press any key to reboot” were displayed at the bottom of the screen.

“...it's not working correctly,” The toy maker sighed. “I'll have to get this fixed and show you in the morning.”

Twilight looked around, “Where I am supposed to sleep?”

The toy maker thought for a minute “I have a spare bed in the library, I'm sure you’ll find yourself quite at home there”.

Twilight trotted off without any complaint and soon had discovered the sofa in the library. She jumped up and spread herself on it. A purple aura covered a blanket lying in the floor and it soon covered her. Before she closed her eyes, she looked around. A massive holographic globe dominated the center of the library and several desks displaying various books surrounded it. The Republic, The Art of War, Principia Mathematica, and various other titles lay upon them. Twilight let out a slight smile. It wasn't home, but it was close enough.

The toy maker took off his shirt, and fiddled with one of the sockets that bolted the metal to his flesh. He winced as he turned it and outstretched his metal arm. There was a low audible crack and the pain that he was feeling went away. He sat on the edge of his bed. “Well, that could have gone worse,” he admitted out loud. A slight meow answered him somewhere in the room.

“She's asleep, Gepetto. You can come out now.”

The cat bolted from its hiding place and jumped onto the bed. A low purring emitted from it.

“Yeah, Yeah, I know. You two don't get along, but you're going to have to deal with it. She's here to stay and she's bringing a few of her friends in the next couple of months, so you’re going to have to get used to that fact, cat.”

The cat continued to purr and dove in and around his metallic limb, demanding to be petted.

“Fine, have it your way,” the toy maker said as he reached up and stroked the back of the feline.

He moved himself to a more comfortable position on his bed and picked up the book that he left on the stand next to it with his natural hand.

“Funny how few people bother to read these any more,” he muttered. He turned to see the title.
Do Androids Dream of Electronic Sheep? Asked the title.

The toy maker gave a grin.

“We are fixing to find out,” he said as he turned the page.

Chapter 2 part 1

Twilight squinted as she eyed an appropriate place to thread the lace for the doll. The needle trembled as she concentrated upon the gray patchwork. Sweat dripped from her brow. It was now or never.

With quickness she didn't know she had, she sewed the two pieces and tightened the lace, thus closing the last gaping wound that the doll had. She breathed a sigh a relief as the tension left her.

“You've been working on that thing for few days now,” Spike said as he popped another ruby into his mouth. “I would've thought it would be done by now.”

Twilight turned her head toward him. “I did too, but this project is turning out long than I thought.” She looked down at the doll. “The spell requires that caster construct this thing by hand, so I can't pass it off to another pony or use magic to construct this thing.”

Spike gave her a concerned look before shrugging his shoulders. “Well, I hope Fluttershy likes it. What does she plan on using it for anyways?”

Twilight paused for a moment, hoof in midair, as she searched her memories. Was it really that long that I've been working on this? she thought as she retrieved her answer.

“One of the monkeys that she was caring for had its child pass away and was extremely upset. She asked me to make a doll to help make it feel better. To help ease the grief,” she said.

Spike arched an eyebrow and titled his head at an angle “Hum..” He said with a suspicious tone of voice. “And what type of spell are you using?”

“Oh, just one I researched to other day from the Canterlot Archives.” A purple haze covered one of the nearby books as she brought it forward to her. “One of Star Swirl’s personal favorites.” She cracked the book open and flipped a few pages at a frenzied pace. “Come on, I know it's here.. ah ha!” She grinned in triumph, like a hunter who just brought down a big game animal. She shoved to the book into Spike's face, knocking him off the brown wooden stool that he had been sitting on. “See, it's just right.” She lowered the book and saw the prone dragon lying on the floor. “Sorry,” she admitted sheepishly.

A low groan emerged from Spike as he brought himself back up. “You really need to stop doing that,” He said as he struggled to stand. “Anyways, what does the spell do exactly?”

“Oh,” Twilight flipped the book to her. “It brings the element of life from the recently departed and channels it through a doll. Fluttershy didn't ask for this, but I thought I might as well go the extra mile to make her happy.”

Spike sat back down on his stool, his sense of balance returning slowly. “A spell that returns a recently dead thing into a body of a doll? No offense, Twilight, but that is creepy.”

Twilight put the book back on the display. “Well, Star Swirl was known for his somewhat strange sense of humor, but it's not like Celestia restricted it or anything, so it should be a fine for me to use.”

“Could be,” Spike shrugged and jumped off the stool. “But anyways, it's up to you. As for me,” he said as he walked briefly out of sight and back again with a backpack in hand. “I need to help our Rarity today.” He grinned smugly. “She asked me to help her out with moving some stuff and being the strong dragon that I am,” He flexed is tiny arms, showing a pair of bumps, one for each arm, “I gladly accepted.”

Twilight put her hoof up to her mouth to hide her laughter. “Yep, but before you go, did you get all your chores done?”

Spike turned to her and pulled a yellow parchment from the backpack. He quickly unrolled it and read it out loud. “Cleaned the library, check. Feed Peewee,” He turned to the sleeping Phoenix and nodded as he noted the food still in the bowl. “Check.”

“Make your bed? Clean the dishes? And sweep the balcony?”

“Check, check, and check.”

Twilight smiled. “I guess you’re free to go.”

Spike gave a military style salute and marched out the door. Upon exiting the house, he ran off. Twilight thought she heard the word “Freedom!” off in the distance but paid no mind to it. Without any further distractions, she returned to her work.

The doll was taking on a peculiar shape, one that she never really intended at all. Unlike the species it was supposed to be model after, it had no tail. Its eyes were the best sapphire gemstones that Rarity could come up with. The fingers were also longer than she had expected or designed for and the feet were a completely different shape. Its hair was a collection of discarded mane hair that the nearby barbershop allowed her to take and had taken on a dark color.

She gave a puzzled expression. “Just what did I make?” she said, noting the aberration before her. Maybe Spike was right. This is pretty creepy. The thought crept into her head like a snake in the grass but discarded it a second later. “I've come too far to just give up now,” she admitted openly, her words echoing off the silence of her home, reaffirming her. “I guess I’ve got to find Fluttershy and see how she likes it.”

She turned towards the door and trotted off into the noonday sun. She's probably in her cottage. I'll just go get her and bring her back. She'll be so happy when she sees this.

The door shut behind her, leaving the discarded doll on the table. Its vacant eyes staring at the ceiling. Its body limp like a sleeper ready to awaken. Its empty mind hungering for dreams.

“I do appreciate what you’re doing, Twilight,” Fluttershy said with a faint smile. “I do hope that it make him happier; he has been most upset since his daughter passed way.” Fluttershy looked sadly at the ground. “He won't even talk to me anymore, and that's very unlike him.”

Twilight beamed with pride “No need to thank me, it's what I am here for.” She smiled, “It was a bit challenging, but I know it will be worth it.”

“From the way it sounds, it will.”

The door creaked and its sound echoed off the halls of the library softly, as if the silence was envious and struggled to reclaim what it had lost.

“Well, home sweet home.” Twilight said as she moved towards the bench. Hoof beats echoed as the two moved. Fluttershy examined the doll and turned back to Twilight with a worried expression on her face. “Do you think he will like it?”

“He should,” Twilight paused for a second as she realized the tone that she used. “I mean, it should bring some comfort once we get it over to him.”

Fluttershy glanced at the doll again. “I hope so.”

“I do too, now could you please step back while I make this spell work? I don't know what exactly it will do but it's always best to be safe.”

“Oh yes!” Fluttershy ran behind one of the nearby tables and hid under it, her yellow arms covering the top of her head.

A purple haze covered the book and it was briefly brought to Twilight.

“Ready!” said a meek voice.

As Twilight concentrated, a white bluish ball of energy the size of a golf ball formed on her horn and grew as she gave focus to the image that she had in her mind. She strained, sweat appearing down her brow. A subtle wind circled her, picking up loose bits of debris as they twisted around her. Fluttershy jumped as she heard pens and paper scrape the top of the desk that she was hiding under, worried that any second from now, it too would be airborne.

The ball of lightning was now the size of a softball, and still the wind picked up. Twilight continued to focus; she needed only a little more. She heard Fluttershy say something, but the message was lost to the wind. The books themselves started to fly off the shelves and Fluttershy held tight to the vibrating desk as it took the brunt of the onslaught of airborne literature and supplies.

At last, with a herculean effort, the electric ball was hurled from Twilight and at the doll. A white light blinded Twilight a second later as it made contact. The wind died down as the remaining energy burned itself to a standstill.

“Fluttershy?” Twilight called out blindly, her eyes still adjusting. “You still here?”

“Yes,” said a soft voice turning over a table. “But please don't bring me here the next time you do this.”

Twilight's eyes saw Fluttershy's color, her shape, and finally her vision sharpened enough to see the mess around her. She gasped.

“I didn't know it would cause this much damage,” she admitted, looking over mess of supplies, books, and other stuff spread across the floor. Twilight sighed, “Well, it's just another thing for me and Spike to clean up.” She turned back towards Fluttershy, “I hope it didn't scare you too bad.”

Fluttershy gave a smile. “Well, compared to the adventures we've had already, this is pretty mild, but still, I don't like being scared.”

The sound of shattering glass grabbed both their attention. They turned towards the source to see the doll getting upright, its sapphire eyes searched the room wildly, it's long fingers twitching with new life.

Twilight turned to Fluttershy. “It's alive! It's ALIVE!” she yelled in triumph before turning back to her creation.

With barely contained excitement, she lifted a small mirror off the floor and brought it up to the doll. The doll took reluctantly with its copper fingers. It looked into it for a while, touching it and itself. It then looked at Twilight, then at Fluttershy. Both of them smiled at it.

The doll then threw down the mirror, shattering its image into shards, and screamed as it tore itself apart.

Twilight awoke, panting like she had run a marathon with Applejack. She looked around to get a sense of where she was. A series of desks surrounded a holographic globe, shelves of books flanked both the right and left of them as they sat on massive bookcases. Bars of amber fluorescent lights dominated the ceiling. For a moment, Twilight thought she had awaken from one nightmare into another, but the memories of the previous day trickled back in, reminding her of the strange dream that had become her new reality. With a thought, she pulled off the blanket that she was using and trotted off towards the entrance of the main room, her mind still reeling from the trauma of the night.

The door made a hissing sound as it slid out of place as she approached it. “Whoa!” she said as she paused, hoof in midair. She took a few steps back and watched it slide into place again. She approached it again to watch as it opened to let her pass. She sighed and shook her head. “Come on, Twilight, get a grip. It's just a door after all.” She walked through it and into the gloom. The door let out a hiss as it closed behind her.

Twilight looked around the room that she was now in. To the left of her was the workbench that she had entered into this world from. An overhead light gave it a golden glow. On top of it were several screens that had cables and wires pulled back into one central mass. It reminded Twilight of a hydra, the cold dead screens its eyes, the cables its body. She shook her head to rid herself of the image and her gaze moved on.

To the right of the work bench lay a pile of modems and computers stacked haphazardly, like toys that a kid started to build but then left midway through her project. The green, amber, and red lights flicked on and off while a gentle hum emerged from the pile.

To the left of the wooden bench was a massive red tool chest that reached up to the height of the work bench. Above it lay a shelf filled with a series of pictures. She squinted to see what they were but couldn't get a good image. She quickly turned her attention elsewhere.

Beyond the work area lay two massive bookcases that dominated the room like guards of stone, unwavering in their watch. A series of manuals, written inscriptions, and paper books filled the shelves. A vermilion aura collected around one of the books as she yanked it out of its place and read the cover.
2037 Journal of robotic engineering and motion. Featured essay: Emulating motion from quadrupeds to SI.

She put the book back up on the shelf, making a mental note to check on it later. She continued her examination of the room. Beyond the bookcases, to the left lay a small kitchen. A few bowls stacked in the sink and one on the metal table gave her familiarity that she did not expect. She smiled faintly.

Well, at least they eat the same way we do.

The sense of familiarity, however, was dashed when she saw the machine’s devices and machines in the background. Compact and boxed, they seem to go with the overall style of the place, but in Twilight's mind, they might as well stick out like grown dragons in Ponyville.

Her gaze continued to see the nearby coat rack by the door. Its contents hung limply, like a puppet without its strings. They swayed softly as the nearby ventilation shaft rumbled and blew cool air into the room.

She moved her line of vision to the full sized mirror that lay beside the external door. She paused as she caught the reflection staring back at her. Her animated form seemed so out of place in the gloom, as if a mad artist started on one style of reality just to finish on another. Her animated eyes looked back at her with a worried expression on her face. Her emotion made public to her. She lifted her hoof to touch the mirror, to see if she could press through it.

A light growl stopped her, she turned towards the source, horn glowing.

Two eyes of emerald green glared at her. Their gazed fixed upon her. She sighed.

“Just leave me alone.” She turned her head to see what lay beyond the white hostile feline.

A space that looked like it was cut out of a pillar opened up. On the outskirts of the space lay books, discarded food, and a few pictures. They almost seem to orbit the oval shaped bed in the middle and, on it, lay the toy maker.

His eyes shut as if dead, a gray wire snaked behind his head. As if a viper was attached to his skull. He breathed softly as one of his metallic fingers twitched. There he lay, undisturbed and unspeaking.

Twilight trotted towards him, passing the entertainment center as she did. She got up on her hind legs and faced the feline. The cat glared at her for a moment, but made no noise as it quickly hopped down and trotted off to another room. Finally alone, she looked down at the sleeping form of her maker, her holographic eyes projecting sorrow as best they could.

The gray wire coiled out of the man's head and into a box. The words “Advanced Learning Assistant” proclaimed it's self in blood red colors. A slight vein of rust seem to snake up one of the sides on an otherwise perfectly chrome colored box. With careful precision, she picked up the box and floated it to her.

She looked for a description but could not find any. She quickly returned it to its place.

“It's funny,” she admitted to the sleeping man, “I worked my entire life working on discoveries. Advancing, plotting, experimenting” She turned around to the room. “But this is overwhelming! Everything that I thought I knew is being turned inside out. I know nothing of this world and while some part of me is excited about it, another just wants to go home.”

Her gaze move to one of the nearby books. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? it asked.

“I don't know, but I think they must feel pretty lonely at times. I know I do.” she replied.

The man remained motionless, his mind still wandering the worlds beyond his own.

Twilight sighed. “You did promise to bring my friends here, but what if they have the same problems I do or worse? What if they hate it here? What if..”

A metallic hand reached over and brushed her cheek. The toy maker's eyes whizzed as they opened. His back let out a pop as he leaned forward. He turned and smiled weakly at Twilight. “Nice to see that you're up.”

Twilight gave a nervous smile. “Yeah, I got up awhile ago and didn't really know what to do. Everything is so new here”.

He winced as he got up, his side aching dully from the events of the previous night.

“What is old is new again, I suppose.” Twilight moved aside as he pulled himself out of bed and walked to the kitchen. She watched with keen interest as he opened one of the machines, slid a colorful cartridge into it, and set the timer.

“You going to spend the entire time watching me cook breakfast?”

“Sorry, but I'm curious,” Twilight said bluntly. “Are you human’s herbivores like us or omnivores?”

The toy maker's body shook as he chuckled. “Back to playing a million questions, aren't we?” He paused thoughtfully for a moment, stroking his gray stubble. “Well, if it gets you out of future shock faster, I'll play along.” He turned toward her. “We are omnivores with heavy emphasis on the plants, nuts, and other various foliage”. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. At least she wasn't surrounded by a race of savages.

“However,” The Toy maker continued, “We do eat meat from time to time but the ethics about that became redundant once we started growing our meat in vats, same with our plants.”

Twilight paused for a moment to process this information. “Wait.. you grow your meat like plants?” The concept both amazed and horrified her.

“Yep, don't ask me about the entire process, but it involves hooking up cells and growing them via proteins vats. Tastes just like the real thing.”

For the first time in Twilight's life, she began to wonder if it was possible to take science too far. Back in Ponyville, it was hard enough to find anyone with an interest in her academic studies, let alone actually help her with them. But here, these creatures that called themselves humans took technology and seemed to be obsessed with it. It invaded every part of their life to an almost absurd degree. They even applied it on themselves, resulting in new shapes and functions. It was almost like a virus, infesting everything within its reach without heed or caution.

“You alright? You seem a little out of it.”

Twilight shook her head quickly to clear her mind. “Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little freaked out that you grow meat like plants.”

“Well, it's certainly better than cutting it off the cow.” He turned to grab his cup of coffee and sipped on it while Twilight perched on one of the nearby chairs. “Funny thing about those cows, when we decided we didn't need that many, we just got rid of them.”

“Got rid of?”

The toy maker shrugged. “Sold the majority of the meat cattle to the third world and to people who couldn't quite get the hang of vat grown meat. There are a few cattle pastures here and there, but those are used for dairy cattle now.”

The toy maker then looked her in the eye. “By the way, you're not going to be able to eat anything.”

Twilight's eyes grew big. “Why, is the stuff here poisonous to me?”

Again he shrugged, “In a way.” He leaned forward and causally grabbed a blue cable on the bar.

“Now Twilight, I want you to look in the mirror over there” he said, pointing to the full scale mirror in the corner, ”and I want you to think one phrase. 'Hologram off'.”

Twilight looked at him with a worried expression. “Why? What would that do?”

“You'll see.”

Twilight thought for a moment and the toy maker smiled as the holographic projection covering her body fell away. What was now in its place was the metallic body that he had spent so much time working on.

“You can open your eyes now Twilight.”

Twilight did and gasped. Her mechanical optics went wide as she processed the image looking back at her. Her mane and tail were strings of white wire. Her eyes were cut gemstones of amethyst interlocking with rotating circuits. They whined softly as they twisted themselves to focus better.

Her legs were pillars of black metal interwoven with servos at the joints. Her horn was pulsing a dull violet as it captured data from the air. She turned to see if she still had her cutie mark. It had disappeared and its place was a small flap where a socket lay.

“I'm not...This is not...”

The toy maker sighed. This was the final bombshell that she had to deal with. It was time to see her through.

“Remember how I told you that I created you?”

Twilight looked at him, her mechanical eyes mirroring his own. “Yes but not like this! I expected to be normal! I didn't think that I would be a machine!”

The words hit the toy maker like a punch to the gut. “Twilight, I'm sorry but it was the only way.”

Twilight examined herself in the mirror, her metallic hooves touching the glass surface. She did this for awhile, until at last she spoke. “I'm not really Twilight am I?” she said softly. “I'm just something that looks like her.”

The toy maker grabbed a bagel from one of the cabinet as she was looking over herself. “That's the question most of our species is asking ourselves nowadays.” He bit a piece off as he walked over to her and sat down.

“You see this arm?” Twilight looked at it reluctantly and mournfully, her purple eyes whirling in their sockets. “Yes? What about it?”

“Did I stop becoming human when I decide to get this new one?”

“No” she replied, a puzzled expression came upon her robotic face.

“Suppose I suffered some kind of accident and had a new leg attached to me. Have I stopped being human?”

“No.”

The toy maker continued to bite into his bagel, “And let's say that I was inflicted with some terrible flesh eating disease that reduced my midsection to slime and to live, I have to completely overhaul it. Have I stopped being human yet?”

“No, what is your point?” Twilight asked bluntly.

“Answer one more question and I'll tell you. Suppose I was to die but before I did, I decide to have all my memories and personality backed up to the point of death. I return to life in a robotic form.” The toymaker peered at Twilight with an inquisitive look in his eye, “At what point do I stop being who I am?”

“I... I don't know.”

The toy maker stared into the mirror. The reflection of him and the robotic mare beside him reminded him of the reality of which he was dealing with. His metallic arm a crude analog to her features.

“My point is that we are who we are no matter what form we take. Metal, flesh, it doesn't matter other than one has a few advantages over the other.” He turned his head toward her reflection in the mirror. “At what point did you stop being Twilight?”

A long paused floated between them as if a funeral procession was walking by.

“I.. I guess I never stopped,” she finally answered. “It's just that...” she sighed. “I need time to think about this. This is too much for me to handle right now.”

The toy maker let out a light chuckle. “Take all the time you need.”

He got up and continued with his breakfast. “You know,” he said in between bites, “I have a few errands to run today, you can tag along if you feel up to it.”

Twilight smiled softly, her robotic features doing their best to show the emotion. “I think I'll be able to come.” she turned looked around the room. “It would be nice to see the world beyond these walls.”

The toy maker paused as realization flashed across his face. He quickly got up and came over to twilight and plugged the outlet side of the blue cable that he had left over by the mirror into a nearby wall plug.

“Twilight, this may feel a bit weird but trust me, your going to have to do this” He said, showing her the socket end.

She looked over the socket quizzically. “What is it?”

“It's a power cord” he replied. “Instead of eating, you'll be using this from now on to keep yourself alive. Now if you could just stretch that leg.” He pointed to the now blank flank that had a socket in the place of the cutie mark, “I can give you a demonstration. Would you like me to?”

Twilight gave a worried expression then sighed. “I suppose so”. She watched as the toy maker carefully stretched her hind leg and inserted the cable into the socket. There was a leap of bluish white electricity and then it connected.

A rush of energy hit Twilight like a runner's high. She felt like she was awakening from a long slumber, able to focus. Her mind sharper, clearer, her limbs ready for motion.

“Figured you would like that.”

She turned to him and grinned. The river of power flowed through her and she reveled in it. As she got up, a series of translucent images came across her sight with words like “Battery level” and “Data readouts”.

“What you're seeing now is the heads up display. Almost all optical implants have it installed. It tells you important information such as your battery level, functionality of body parts, information about the world, and some other software packages that I thought would be good to put in there as well.”

A series of green bars lit up the right side of the display, showing things like heat level, CPU usage, and various other graphics and outputs. On the left there was a series of tabs that had such things listed as Recon, Defense, and Exploitation. She shook her head. “Thanks, I guess?”

“Just think of 'HUD off' if you want to turn it back off.” he said frankly, his voice betraying the great expertise behind it. “Also to turn the holographic cover back on, just think 'hologram on'. Simple as that.”

She did closed her eyes and did both. When she opened them again, she was rewarded with her sight clear and her normal self looking back at her. The plug in the center of her cutie mark was the only indication of her robotic self.

The toy maker pulled himself back up. “If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.”

Twilight looked in the mirror and frowned. “This is going to take some getting used to,” she muttered. “I wish Spike was here.”

The toy maker stabbed one of the pieces of fruit with his fork and examined it. “That can be arranged,” he said softly.