Lost World: Lost Memories

All was darkness. It wasn’t an experience TS-5453 wasn’t familiar with, but something seemed different. There were…pictures? No, pictures didn’t move…were these memories?

They were short, but she was able to pick out certain things. A tree…a castle…a large explosion with mountains and a town in the background. She wasn’t sure what to make of these things. But at the same time, it all felt…familiar…

TS-5453 could only go back a few days to the beginning of her origin. She had no recollection of when she was built, but going online for the first time could, in a sense, be when she was “born” into this world. These events never took place in her short lifetime…or did they? Dreams are strange, but they’re also something only organic beings experience…and she was clearly not organic.

Perhaps my memory banks were wiped at some point and somehow my CPU managed to copy backup files…but these dreams are from long ago, long before Sunfall…so why am I experiencing them? And why do I get the sense that I…used to interact with these ponies? What aren’t you telling me Sunfall?

Systems Rebooting…

TS-5453’s eyes started to flicker open and she started to quickly scan the area. She appeared to be in a containment field and, due to her incapacity to move any of her limbs, strapped to the wall. It had only been an hour since her shutdown but her weapon systems seemed to be operational along with some of her sensors. The armor would have to be fixed manually of course, but there was no way she could make it back to Neo Canterlot with the reserves she had.

“Ah, so you’re finally awake.” She glanced to her right and saw two pegasi walking into the room. After getting a good look of the area, judging by the mold and discoloration of the walls, she had to be in the castle.

“I’m assuming you can understand us?” It was the brown and tan pegasus that was speaking to her. Judging by his size and demeanor, TS-5453 had to presume he was the leader of this group.

“Yes.” She could’ve stayed silent but what was the point? If she didn’t talk, they’d probably resort to more…unpleasant methods. As a machine, she didn’t feel pain the same way as ponies did, although electric shocks were a different story. She rather not get shocked.

“She sounds more Equestrian than I thought,” the blue pegasus said.

“Do you have a name?” the male pegasus asked.

“I am a SRC (Special Reconnaissance and Combat) android, model number TS-5453.”

“Well that’s a mouthful,” the blue pegasus rolled her eyes.

“My name is Commander Silverhoof and this is Lieutenant Night Breeze,” the male pegasus said. “But you probably already knew that didn’t you?”

“Actually no, I do not have all the files of ponies that were born at or after the war first began.”

“I see…so TS-I’m sorry, are you sure you don’t have another name that you use?” Silverhoof asked.

Another name… She thought about it for a moment. Her model number was the only form of address she got from her creators. “Twilight,” she suddenly said, pausing in confusion.

“Excuse me?”

TS-5453 could not comprehend this sudden outburst. She never heard the name Twilight before and yet…it was hard to explain but it was a word that she knew somehow. “You may call me Twilight if you please.”

“Twilight…that’s an interesting name for a machine,” Silverhoof said. “Now that I think about it, I’m kind of confused as to why you resemble an alicorn.”

“Alicorns were believed to be the most powerful beings of your kind,” Twilight said. “As such, Sunfall decided to use that knowledge against you, to strike fear.”

“Nice to see the ol’ AI has a twisted sense of humor,” Breeze muttered. “So, that’s what this is about? You were ordered to go around and kill all of us to strike fear into the Resistance?”

“Correct,” Twilight said. “Though that was only through protocol. I did not act on free will alone.”

“Bullshit!” Breeze snapped. “Machines don’t have free will.”

“Incorrect. If I was acting on orders alone, I would’ve already attempted to free myself instead of conversing with you two. There is a small chance I could break out but it would leave my energy reserves almost depleted.”

“But that’s just thinking logically,” Silverhoof pointed out.

“Hm…perhaps. But I also would have no reason to speak to you, considering you consider me a…monster. However, I chose to speak with you. No orders, no protocol. Free will.”

“This is a waste of time Commander,” Breeze said. “Let’s just be rid of the thing already. It won’t tell us anything important anyway.”

“Breeze, aren’t you curious?” Silverhoof asked.

“About what?”

“Why her design is like that?”

“It’s design, and it already said-”

“I know, but if that were the case, why not Celestia, or Luna?”

“Maybe there’s already some Celestia model…rest her soul I really truly hope not.”

“Well maybe you’re right but what other alicorn princesses do we know?”

“Well there’s Celestia, Luna, Cadance, you know who and…wait…you don’t mean-”

“That’s right. There was a fourth. Princess Twilight Sparkle. That’s why she came up with the name.” He looked back to Twilight. “Surely you have information on her.

Twilight ran through her data banks…and found nothing. That was strange, surely there had to be some information on the subject. But it wasn’t there, almost as if… “I’m afraid I don’t have that information…I’m merely hypothesizing at this point but I believe it may have been…erased.”

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Breeze said. “How could you not know about yourself, or who you’re based off of? Or better yet, why didn’t Sunfall tell you?”

“I…don’t know.”

“I was only a colt when the war started, and you were still an infant,” Silverhoof said. “We all knew Celestia and Luna based on what we read…in fact a lot of what was mentioned was either in books or old data banks. Twilight Sparkle at the time was still rather young, well compared to the other two at least. It was a name that was easily recognized but no one really knows what happened to her. We’ve never seen her so we have to assume the worst…”

It was those last words that caused an involuntary jump from Twilight. Princess…Alicorn…so her design was based on an alicorn princess long ago named Twilight Sparkle…so why didn’t she have all the information? Was it possible that these dreams she experienced were connected to her? Her memories? Twilight decided to keep quiet about that for now.

“If I may ask…what do you plan on doing to me?” The question caused both pegasi to glance at one another. “I’m afraid aside from parts I’m useless, even with information. Based on all that’s happened…I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to scrap me.”

“Oh we’re going to scrap you alright,” Breeze growled. “A machine, even with a cute voice and just happens to look like a former princess, is still a machine and you’re all hellbent on destroying us so of course we’re going to do it.”

“I have no personal opinion on the matter and if you want to know why Sunfall is doing this, I honestly cannot say. I just follow commands.”

Silverhoof sighed slightly. “For now, you’re staying where you are until we ultimately decide what to do with you.” He looked to Breeze. “I’m going to go check outside to see if our friends have shown up yet. You mind watching her?”

“Sure, why not?” Breeze shrugged. “But if it starts annoying me don’t blame me if you come back to a pile of scrap.”

Silverhoof just shook his head as he went outside. The castle itself has been around for at least a few couple centuries or so, that much he knew, but upon looking inside the first time, it looked as if it had been slightly renovated within the last century which seemed off. Either way, it only had two points of entry and despite the look, the infrastructure was still holding strong.

He went up to one of the guard posts and saw Private Nox standing nearby. “Private,” he nodded towards the unicorn. “That was some impressive shooting earlier.”

“Thank you sir,” Nox replied. “Although I have to admit it was all about timing. I didn’t exactly blow up that machine the way I wanted to.”

Silverhoof contained a small smile. “Perhaps so, but you did what you could and we’re all thankful.”

“Sir if I may ask…what are we going to do with it?”

Silverhoof wasn’t sure how to respond. He knew he had been speaking with a machine, a machine that would’ve already killed him if it had the opportunity. And yet, it showed no signs of hostility. It was definitely more intelligent than most machines he’d seen but it showed no bloodlust, for lack of a better term. Even more so, it seemed…vulnerable, as if it was already accepting its fate for failure.

Part of him knew that there was the possibility this was part of Sunfall’s plan. Use a machine with the ability to generate sympathy, perhaps enough to keep its captors from destroying it, and in that hesitation, break itself free and finish its mission. Breeze certainly would have agreed with that idea. But as for him, he just wasn’t sure.

“Right now, I don’t know,” he said. “It’s certainly valuable, that’s for sure. But enough about that, what’s the situation out here?”

“That’s the thing sir, nothing’s happening,” Nox said. “It’s been over an hour and we haven’t seen anything, not even those carriers. It’s like they’re waiting for something…”

Silverhoof had an idea about that. Sunfall had total control over all of it’s units no matter the distance. Sunfall was also an intelligent machine that understood ponykind, probably more than they did themselves. It could’ve rushed in while they were retreating and laid waste to the area. But it was allowing them a reprieve, one that would probably be the last for many.

“Just keep your eyes open and make sure everything is ready to fire when necessary,” Silverhoof said. “But don’t try to be a damn hero either…that goes for everyone.”

“Yes sir.” Nox saluted and returned to his post as Silverhoof continued his rounds.

Meanwhile, Night Breeze was keeping an eye on the machine, making sure it didn’t try anything funny. That was the thing about machines, they had no emotions and therefore were unpredictable. Breeze’s hatred of them wasn’t unprecedented of course, she had seen first hoof just what they were capable of.

As a young filly, Breeze wasn’t yet a soldier but the war reared its ugly head at her and her family. Her parents used to live in Cloudsdale, a place that all pegasi were proud to live in. But after the war began, it was just another reminder of terrible memories. Her mother and father didn’t go into details, but they explained that Cloudsdale was among the first to be hit, and it was hit hard with drone strikes. Nothing was left standing.

As for her own experience, Breeze and her family headed north to seek shelter in the Crystal Empire. But the peace didn’t last long as Sunfall’s army moved in all directions. Even the Imperial Guard, perhaps the strongest army in the world, couldn’t ultimately repel its attacks. Breeze could remember being put on a ship as the machines laid waste to the capital. Her parents never joined her. The only good thing from that experience was that she never knew who or how they were killed but whenever she thought about it, it was enough to drive her to push through another day, hoping one day she herself would be the one to pull the plug on Sunfall for good.

“Can I ask you something?” Breeze was so deep in thought that the question almost startled her. The machine stared at her and for a moment she wondered if it could read her thoughts.

“Sure…whatever,” Breeze replied.

“I am aware that living beings are able to dream while they are in REM sleep. But…is it possible for a machine to have…dreams?”

The question certainly caught her off guard. Breeze was starting to wonder if this machine was starting to malfunction. Not that she cared. “I don’t know…I always figured machines just…turn off I guess? It’s like…they’re aware that they’re off but…no I don’t think they have dreams.”

“Hmm…” Twilight was deep in thought, which made Breeze slightly more curious. Since when do machines “hmm”? “You may not believe me but…when I was shot down, there were…pictures in my head. Memories actually. I wonder…if these are memories are her memories…Twilight Sparkle’s.”

“That’s impossible,” Breeze said. “You can’t put memories into a machine. To you, its all code and such, kind of like how you can program emotions. They’re not real, at least not to you.”

Maybe she was right, Twilight wondered. It couldn’t be real…but what she experienced did feel real and nothing, no code, no programs, could replicate that. It still bothered her that she had no information on this pony…but what she could guess what that since she was a princess, she must’ve been a good pony.

Would Princess Twilight want her people getting killed? It was a dangerous thought and she should know better. Why does it matter…you may look like Twilight Sparkle but you are not Twilight Sparkle, you are TS-5453 and your mission is to-

Twilight stopped and looked down to where she was strapped in. Hooves and legs that looked real, but was merely metal and wiring instead of flesh and blood. Why…why do I look like this? She never thought about it before. In fact, there was a lot of things she didn’t think about before now, before she noticed the changes happening to her. She always acted without question. In her training sessions, she was given orders and followed them. But now…

Now she was the one with questions, many that she couldn’t answer. Why kill the ponies in the first place? Were they really a threat? Before it was nothing to her, but now that she recalled all that killing…

Suddenly, the walls started to shake. “Looks like your friends are finally here,” Breeze said as she shot up and got her weapon, an M14 rifle. Suddenly, Silverhoof burst through the door. “We got company?”

“Yeah, it seems like they’ve regrouped and going for an all out assault, and the bombardment is going to be plan B if that fails,” Silverhoof said. “We gotta hold this fort at all costs cause we got nowhere else to go.”

"And her?" Breeze asked.

Silverhoof looked grim. "She'll get to experience again first hoof what the Resistance is made of."