Twilight was going over the sudden missive from Luna. It was an emergency visit of sorts, and that worried Twilight immensely. Luna rarely left the castle lately, absorbed in her mission to rescue her sister. Twilight was devoted as well, but made a special effort to continue her daily life as much as possible. It’s what Celestia would have wanted. But Luna only left her castle when she was on a mission, usually when one of her dreamers called for help. Most of the time she could handle things in the dream world, but rarely there was a situation that required a more direct approach.

It seemed that today was one of those times.

Twilight tapped her hoof nervously as she waited. She was worried that something terrible was happening in her Combine. It was her responsibility, after all. All she could do was wait for Luna and prepare her morning tea. Maybe she’d look up Dr. Dolphin and check his progress today. Hopefully he’d found something helpful for Unit 001.

The door was opened, and Lily, a maid, let in Princess Luna.

Twilight nodded to the princess and smiled. “Pleasure to see you, Luna.”

Luna curtly nodded and did the same. She wasn’t big on formalities, but would always return whatever greeting Twilight gave her. “It’s a pleasure as well. I wish it was under better circumstances, Twilight.”

“That is always the case lately, isn’t it? By the way, how’s project Sunscope going?”

Luna frowned, clearly displeased. “I’m afraid I’m not having much success. Wherever that bastard is keeping her, he either doesn’t let her sleep or has her under some very powerful protective magics.”

“We know where she sleeps, Luna. The problem is getting to her.” Twilight’s face firmed up as well.

“It’s not the same on the dreamscape Twilight. I can not find her star at all, and it should be shamelessly bright. Heavens knows she was never discrete. Still, I fear what I will find if I do find her. The stories are harrowing.”

“They can’t all be true, Luna. We both know it.” Twilight put a reassuring hoof on Luna’s shoulder.

Luna didn’t look so sure. “Speaking of the shifting dreamscape, Twilight, I found something strange last night.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. Luna likely didn’t visit just because of an oddity. There was more, but she’d let Luna tell her. “What do you mean strange?”

“I found a scared and lonely heart. More strange, it was like no creature I’ve ever seen.”

That bothered Twilight. “I don’t mean to seem dismissive, but dreams are where fears roam, Luna. What made this strange enough to leave your search?”

Luna sighed, seemingly exasperated. “A creature is suffering, Twilight. A creature the likes of which I’ve never seen. It’s held captive and it’s crying out in pain, misery and utter despair. The poor thing was contemplating suicide.” She continued, speaking calmly. “It’s intelligent, and could hear my voice. It wished to communicate with me, but for some reason refused to talk, seemingly from fear. Even more disturbing is where I located it.”

Twilight closed her eyes and accepted the inevitable before Luna said it. There was only one reason she would come directly to Twilight with this problem. It had happened before, and it would happen again.

She missed her old friends, the girls. Other ponies weren’t as strong as they were. They tried, but inevitably some of them failed. She had to forgive them, but still. It hurt when one of her friends betrayed her. “Where… Where in the Combine is it being held?”

Luna didn’t pause to soften the blow. “In the Harmony Combine labs. I think it’s in Lab Facility 42, but I couldn’t get a perfect fix. It’s… a strange thing, whatever it is.”

Twilight held back her tears as best she could. “I was going to visit Dr. Dolphin today. He’s the main researcher at Facility 42. The project they are working on is Machine Intelligence. I believe that he will… be able to answer our questions satisfactorily. I’ll bring the lab security to escort him out once we… know.”

Luna glared calmly at Twilight. “Security will not be necessary, Twilight. He will not be leaving. That creature has been tortured, terribly, and I will invoke my title.”

“Luna, he is a Harmony Combine member and he will be given the benefit of the doubt until all facts are presented. I do not rule here; we have a court. Unless he confesses to my face to torture, he will be tried properly.” Twilight kept her voice from cracking. She hated defending them like this, when she knew they were wrong.

She could already see what had happened, it was becoming clear to her why Unit 001 was behaving so different. She desperately hoped it was a misunderstanding, but she knew better. This had started after she’d talked to Dr. Dolphin about his sleep habits. She didn’t know what he’d done, but he’d done something. And she’d missed it some how.

“Twilight, I promised that nothing would stop me. I will save it.” Luna glared dangerously.

“And I will help you, Luna. But the situation is more complicated than you realize. If Dr. Dolphin… is unavailable… you may never be able to save her. Please do not hurt him.”

Luna sighed looking angrily at Twilight. “‘She,’ then?”

“Yes, ‘She.’ You might want to read through this.” Twilight opened up her desk and quickly pulled out File E.I. 001 from her neatly organized drawer. She knew Luna wasn’t very good with any sort of technology, but the file summary should be simple enough.

Luna scowled. “I unfortunately do not have time to read your arcane tomes, Twilight. Tell me what I must know as we make our way to your laboratory. Bring your guards if you must, but do not dally.”

Author's Note

Computers come in many forms for the Combine. The simplest way to describe them is through their generations.

Gen 1 computers are capable of math, have an input output device, and can communicate with other computers. They are often used as ledgers, or communication devices. P-pads are considered Gen 1.1, they can communicate, store data, and allow ponies to vote, but not much else. They are intentionally not able to run unauthorized programming.