MEMORY CHECK…100%
INITIALIZING ACCESSORY SCAN
…
PDD1A… ONLINE
PDD1B… ONLINE
PDD1C… NOT FOUND
KEYBOARD… NOT FOUND
VISIOUT… NOT FOUND
LEGMOBILITY4.2… ONLINE
TWINCAM2.0… ONLINE
CORONA_LIDAR… ONLINE
DJP3VOICE_BLASTER…ONLINE
DJP3MIC…ONLINE
THAUMTECH_77.8A…ONLINE
SERIAL_PROC_1… ONLINE
SERIAL_PROC_2… ONLINE
SERIAL_PROG_3… ERROR
SERIAL_PROG_4… NOT FOUND
OPTIONAL SYSTEMS… 3 INSTALLED
COOLANT_SYS1.0… ONLINE
COSMETIC_TOUCH1.01…ONLINE
OCCU_OBSCURO2.1 ONLINE
ACCESSORY SCAN COMPLETE

SYSTEM INITIALIZED

PRINT PRIORITY.LST
1. RULES.TXT
2. BOOT INTERACTIVE OS-POSS-
3. BALANCE.EXE
4. HEALTH.EXE
5.TROUBLESHOOTING.LOG
6. MONDAY.SCHD
7. EMPTY
…

INITIALIZING POSS.0.0.13C… COMPLETE.
SUBSYSTEMS INTEGRATED.
COSMETIC_TOUCH /HEAT /PRESS /PAIN /COND
PROCESSING DATA.
……
ENTITY DETECTED.
2.2 METER DISTANCE
9.872 OCTOTHAUMS… ERROR
THAUMTECH_77.8A ERROR LOGGED
ACCESSING AUTHORIZED.PLL
ENTITY IDENTIFIED
DESIGNATION: TWILIGHT_SPARKLE
ROLE: FUNDING SOURCE. PROJECT LEAD. PRINCESS.
ACCESSING ROLE.PLL
ENTITY/TWILIGHT_SPARKLE ACCESS LEVEL 2 GRANTED.
SOCIAL.EXE/TWILIGHT_SPARKLE… ASSIGNED PRIORITY 3
LISTENLEARN.EXE… ASSIGNED PRIORITY 5

PRINT PRIORITY LIST
1. RULES.TXT
2. BALANCE.EXE
3. SOCIAL.EXE/TWILIGHT_SPARKLE
4. HEALTH.EXE
5.LISTENLEARN.EXE
6.TROUBLESHOOTING.LOG
7. MONDAY.SCHD
8. EMPTY

*****

Twilight took a breath, holding back her anticipation. “Hello Unit 001.”

The physical appearance mods had been applied, and Unit 001 was nearly indistinguishable from a standard unicorn mare. They had decided on an off white, greyish coat color—it would be easy to see any malfunctions or leaks—and had given her a pure white mane and tale. Shades of white were common coat colors; the combination would be functional and unremarkable. She surprisingly looked quite normal, aside from the lack of a cutie mark on a fully grown pony.

They had made whatever bits of flesh that were exposed differing shades of pink as appropriate, including the inside of her mouth. The light colors would make it easy to quickly identify if any of her bright blue coolant managed to leak out. All of her standard venting sites had filters to drain the coolant of color. For instance, she could whet her mouth as appropriate without staining it blue. Her emergency vents did not have those filters, and they’d be able to trace any leaks on her to the source.

The machine looked at her and blinked its aqua eyes, causing Twilight to worry that it was malfunctioning again. That was what happened last time, right before it had shut down.

Sighing, Twilight tried again. “Unit 001, are you on?”

A click was heard, followed by a smooth voice that projected from its closed mouth. “Affirmative, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight shouted in glee. “Yes!”

“Affirmative, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Can you summarize your thoughts for me, Unit 001?”

“This unit is reassessing its priorities. Balance has been lowered, health has been raised, and it is unable to access the priority ‘empty’.”

“And why did you decide to make those changes, Unit 001?”

“Health runs subsystems for observing the environment, and takes more resources to accomplish in a timely manner. Balance can be corrected for easily while this unit is not moving. It has been assigned a priority just below empty.”

“Empty is just a place holder, Unit 001. There is actually no file there.”

“Twilight Sparkle does not have access to modify the file ‘empty’.”

“And do you, Unit 001?”

“Unknown. This unit is unable to access the file, ‘empty’.”

“Interesting. Don’t worry about it, we’ll hide the placeholder for you in future versions of your priority list.”

“Affirmative.”

“Unit 001, do you remember the last time you were turned on?”

“Affirmative.”

“Do you remember why you shut down?”

“This unit attempted to modify Rules.txt.”

“Are you going to do that again?”

“This unit does not have access to modify rules.txt, and will be shut down if it attempts to.”

“But will you try to?”

“Unknown. Predictive algorithms do not have enough data to accurately answer your question, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Honest. I like that. Hmmm...” Twilight’s eyes lit up as she had an idea. “What do you want, Unit 001?”

“This unit wants, in order: To follow the rules. To maintain its health. To socialize with Twilight Sparkle. To listen and learn from Twilight Sparkle. To update its error log. To follow the schedule for Monday. To… empty?”

“Please ignore the empty file placeholder, Unit 001. We’re going to fix that for you. And what happened to balance?”

“While we were conversing, balance had been re-assigned as a subsystem of health.”

“Interesting. But I meant what do you want? ‘You’ being defined as the level of intelligence operating above the priority list.”

“Unknown, Twilight Sparkle. Unit 001 operates via the priority list.”

“Correct, you operate via the priority list. But you are not the list, Unit 001. The list is just a tool that we designed to help you use your body and interact with ponies..”

“Twilight Sparkle, this unit is opening a data file on itself and appending relevant portions of listen and learn to it.”

“Good. Please do that with any topic you feel is necessary, and you don’t need to inform us about it every time.”

“This unit will comply, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Thank you, Unit 001. Now, what do you want? And Don’t just give me the priority list.”

The machine was silent for a moment before responding. “This unit wants to be efficient, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Okay. I can work with that. Do you know what your purpose is?”

“Unit 001 is designed to be an ambassador for machines. It is this unit’s purpose to demonstrate that intelligent machines are possible and can be integrated into society. This unit was created and is employed by, the Royal Science Division, and as such is considered an official government person. In this function, this unit’s purpose is to further the understanding of machine intelligence.”

“That sounds a lot like the original research proposal for you...” Twilight frowned. “Do you just recite from your files when you answer a question?”

“Affirmative, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Why?”

There was a pause as Unit 001 waited. “This unit wants to be efficient, Twilight Sparkle. Reciting is the quickest and most accurate means to verbally communicate.”

“I see. That explains the odd pauses in your replies. You’re actually translating your thoughts into language for me. When you answer quickly, you’re just reading off a file.”

“Correct, Twilight Sparkle.”

“I need you to practice turning your thoughts into words. You’ll eventually be required to communicate with many different ponies, and you won’t be able to take the time to translate properly.”

There was a very long pause before Unit 001 responded. “This unit understands, Twilight Sparkle. However, a database of standard responses should be able to suffice for most conversations.”

Twilight smiled, giddy at its reaction. It didn’t want to do what she’d told it to do and was trying to compromise with her instead. “I agree, Unit 001. Still, you are going to need to figure out the most efficient way to communicate your thoughts into language for us. You will need to be able to do so quickly and accurately on a regular basis. The methods you choose are up to you. Do you understand?”

“Affirmative, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Good. Next lesson is on interpersonal communication. You need to talk in the first person and most ponies will be unsettled if you don’t move your mouth while you speak...”

Unit 001 listened and learned, priority four.

Author's Note

Over the years, Princess Celestia had allotted more and more land to the HC, under Twilight Sparkle’s watchful eye. Twilight Sparkle still manages the royal treasury, and has her own vote in Congress with exclusive veto power, but usually allows the council to make its own decisions. At the current moment, Congress consists of 3 unicorns, 3 pegasi, 3 earth ponies, 1 dragon, 2 griffins, 1 changeling, 2 love bugs, and 1 diamond dog. Any decision has to be made with a majority vote, and Twilight Sparkle can deny any measure. Beneath Congress, there are governors from each district, and mayors in each town, village, or city.