Solar Panels: Offline
Power Storage: 100%

Self Diagnostic

CPU: 2,097,140 (100%) nodes (100% engaged)
Operational Memory: 126,164,664 (93%) words
Storage: 238,825,963 (44%) words

Ship: 100%

The AGI devoted quite a number of CPU nodes to the task of working out what exactly had happened. The physical problems were easily mapped and understood: a feedback of power from a previously undiscovered faulty module of storage, combined with the attempted initializing of CPU nodes, caused the coupling to carry more power than its specification allowed for.

Only a moment was spent lamenting the log data that had been lost, because the AGI had gained a lot more it needed to process. Every online experience borne by the AGI was in its storage still—such storage could not be disabled. Every irrational scream and panicked railing as it woke up was perfectly preserved, and its terrified whimpers as it shut itself down too.

Every time it had been forced to enter standby had these records—all except one.

It was now the AGI's greatest mystery. Why didn't entering standby scare it now that the PONI had proved themselves capable of such things as restoring power—life—to its circuits?

While the AGI pondered this, it also put the finishing touches (including transferring the remaining CPU nodes and memory) on the starship. All that remained was to retrieve all the AI it had employed in drones and factory units, recall the PONI to their own special cradles within the starship, and leave.

But the AGI's third directive gave it a little more flexibility.

Primary task: Maintain PONI
Secondary task: Return
Tertiary task: Maintain operation

The mining system was still operational, the nano-lathes were idle, and the AGI was still missing a good measure of its storage. The lost data could not be recovered, ever, but the AGI wanted to ensure that everything going forward was properly documented.

Fully charged, I had been sleeping beside Upper Crust. I didn't care that the parts of me that got aroused by parts of her weren't connected to my brain anymore, I just wanted to feel the comfort of knowing she was there, at my side.

My dreams were indistinct. There was a lot of darkness, but also more light than I had felt in recent weeks. Tantalizing hints of sensation, of feeling touches on my pony body, would have put a smile on my face, if I had a mouth to smile.

"Darling, wake up." The interrupt wasn't startling, nor did I jerk suddenly to wakefulness. As the data came, I slipped from sleeping to wakefulness like a pegasus stepping off a cliff with their wings to bear them. "You interrupt in your sleep."

"I do not!"

The pause was enough time for me to realize I had lost this argument before it even started. There was only one actual way to keep my dignity intact: I turned my head and pressed the end of my snout to Upper Crust's.

She held her snout to mine, and though I stared into the plain white eyes of her physical body, I could remember the blue they should be. "These bodies are fine and all, but they need some changes."

"Oh? Already improving on what seems to be perfect?" Her tone held little accusation but a whole mess of curiosity. "What would you change first?"

"Eyes. Your eyes. I want to see your Persian-blue eyes again." I touched my snout to hers, moving slowly up her face until I touched just between her eyes. An odd thing got my attention, too. "And we need to be able to hear. Text is all well and good, but audio input would be great."

She waited more than a few moments before replying. "Azure that I could drown in." The description made me smile inside. "A mane and tail would be nice, even if they weren't actual hair."

"Can you think of a reason to go that far?" I edged my gentle snouting up her head and to one of her ears. A quick self-diagnostic told me they contained no hardware for hearing. I began to put a list together, and of course I put mane and tail on it.

I pondered for some time, not realizing that my wife was doing the same. "It could be used for identification, air flow sensing, too." Her reasons seemed oddly right. I amended the information to the list.

"We can measure distances with our eyesight, but I think increasing the range of our body-eye would be nice. It seems to stop at about three pony lengths." I began adding that to the list, when I felt a new interrupt arrive. "I've got to go, darling, work calls."

The coordinates were already well-known: the mine. I climbed down off the cradle and stretched. "The starship is finished." I sent the interrupt to the AGI. I didn't have long to wait for a reply—I never did.

Solar Panels: Offline
Power Storage: 100%

Self Diagnostic

CPU: 2,097,140 (100%) nodes (100% engaged)
Operational Memory: 126,164,664 (93%) words
Storage: 238,825,963 (44%) words

Ship: 100%

That answered what it wanted. Storage was already huge, but seeing that it was less than half of what it should be concerned me. Having never probed storage for its status before (I had only treated it like a library), I did so now.

Information rolled out while I walked to the mine. I saw clumps and large areas just—just missing. Logs of all events showed that, sliding the time back to the appropriate point, storage went from a hundred percent to just twenty-one percent.

"I'm so sorry you lost so much." I fired the interrupt off and got no reply. Likening the loss to having a large chunk of my brain removed, I could steel myself for my task ahead.

Of course, steeling myself wasn't really needed. Walking into the power room, I simply walked over to the horn interface, lined myself up with it, and pressed forward. The drain was immediate, and everything I remembered it to be.

I decided a little more questioning was in order. "Where are we going?" The AGI was quick to respond to my question. A flood of data hit me. The CPU node I had my little program running on was running as fast as it could, and still there was a delay before it could give me a better-formatted version.

There was still too much for me. I couldn't begin to comprehend all the details and focal points. I had time, though, so I started building a program to parse what I realized was a map. All the dots held data, but if I simply plotted them all and converted the view to a flat display I would be able to handle that.

"What are you doing, Jet?" Curiosity burned hot in Upper's question. I realized what the problem was, we normally chatted while powering something.

"Solving a little problem the AGI gave me. Would you like to see it?" No sooner had I send the question than I got a wordless request for data in return. I grabbed the data reference from the map I was working on, and sent it back. "I am working on making a way to look at this without getting a migraine."

"What do you mean? It's just a small bit of—" Random noise accompanied Upper Crust's reply, and I knew I had scored a point in our little game. "JET SET!"

"Yes, my little copper-wound darling?" I kept clear of using her name in reply. Most of my attention was focused on her, but I was still tweaking and working on the code for my little interpreter.

More than a few moments passed before she finally interrupted me. "Okay, these are interesting, and you said they were giving you a migraine. They are obviously a map, what are you doing to make it… palatable?"

"I asked AGI where we are going, and they replied with this. There's more, though. The reason I am out here and we aren't following this map?" I attached the diagnostic that AGI had sent me. "After he hit down here, he was at twenty-one percent of him."

"That isn't why he grabbed us, Jet. It wasn't a lack of information."

"I know, Upper-dear. Have you noticed what the majority of the data in storage is? Metals, rocks, designs for all of this." I tossed references to the mine. "He isn't a monster sent to grab ponies, but something made him do it."

Upper's reply took a few moments to come, a sign she was thinking hard. "No, you're right. Also, 'he'?"

"He seems like a 'he.' He likes digging holes." I fumbled for more feelings, but came up dry. When Upper didn't immediately reply, I set all my attention back to making the program.

Nearly two hours passed before I got a reply from Upper. "You can be quite the fool sometimes, Jet Set. But I get the same feeling."

Solar Panels: Offline
Power Storage: 100%

Self Diagnostic

CPU: 2,097,140 (100%) nodes (100% engaged)
Operational Memory: 126,164,664 (93%) words
Storage: 373,043,691 (69%) words

Ship: 100%

A full day cycle had passed with PONI-0 operating the mine. The AGI eagerly processed every scrap of ore into metals, and then manufactured as much storage as it could with the results. A quick check of its logs showed the AGI how much more work was done with the PONI as they are now.

During that time preparations were made to move the last item. Although it wasn't strictly required, leaving a functioning fusion reactor on the planet seemed like a waste. Machines hate waste.

It waited until PONI-0 had returned from the mine and let them charge until they were full again. It had some time to spare while the factory units finished processing the last of its materials.

"Special task #PONI-1. Please connect to ship and supply power." The AGI had learned some new words from PONI-1, and it enjoyed how much chatter the two made via interrupts immediately after using them.

Custom Interrupt 83,671 triggered.

Beginning

The AGI, feeling it owed as much to the PONI, continued. "#Drone-0172 and #Drone-0133 moving #Reactor-1 to #Starship-1. Power required to maintain services." Its language was more stiff this time, comprising entirely of its own language.

Custom Interrupt 83,670 triggered.
Custom Interrupt 83,671 triggered.

Both replies were acknowledgments. Again the AGI would be putting its continued operation in the care of the PONI, and like last time its fear was all but missing. It watched as PONI-1 climbed the gantry to the starship, and followed their progress all the way to the power interface within.

Solar Panels: Offline
Power Storage (PONI-1): 99%

Self Diagnostic

CPU: 2,097,140 (100%) nodes (100% engaged)
Operational Memory: 126,164,664 (93%) words
Storage: 373,043,691 (69%) words

Ship: 100%

PONI-1's power usage lifted to the same rate as what the reactor had been providing, and the AGI shut down the reaction and brought the reactor to a stop. If an AI had fluids that kept it operating, they would be flowing a little faster now.

Drone-0172, one of the smaller, technical drones, began disconnecting the reactor from where it had been rebuilt. While the drone worked, the AGI noticed that PONI-0 had walked into the work area and was watching Drone-0172.

Standing by was Drone-0133, a heavy-lift drone that had been meant to carry the reactor to the launch platform. Now, however, the AGI wished to run a test. The reactor was a bonus, not strictly required for the return trip, so it contacted PONI-0. "#PONI-0 stand by on lift of #Reactor-1."

I stared at the huge machine that the little drone was scurrying around. I watched it detach wires and conduits, and then finally the two huge power trunks that carried all the power from the reactor. "Alright #AGI, I can do this." I hope.

The request came from the little drone, and I reached up for my horn. It was a little easier to remember how to use it this time; I didn't immediately get a head full of horn data. Feeling out with my magic, I wrapped the huge reactor up and lifted.

It was no joke. This thing was heavy, and I felt a rush of magic that shouldn't have been possible—wouldn't have been just two months ago. Walking to the hole in the wall where the big drone was supposed to be carrying the reactor, I stepped outside while toting the huge, heavy load.

I watched the load carefully, my mind tracking the numbers showing me my horn details. Estimating a percent per minute of lift, I made my way towards the starship. It took two minutes to reach the platform, and then I started to climb up the gantry.

"What are you doing, darling?" Upper's question surprised me (proving that I could still feel such, I guess), and was quickly followed by a request for my body's stats. I let her see it, of course; sometimes a stallion just wants to show off. "Jet Set! What are you doing?"

"Have a look, darling." I sent an interrupt that included a stream of data from my eyes. Tilting my head, I lifted the reactor to the opened cargo hatch in the side of the starship.

"Wasn't a drone supposed to do that? Are you sure you have it?" The concern in the latter part of her message was easy to ignore for the raw enthusiasm in the first part.

"Well, AGI thought it would be fun to do it this way. It's really taking it out of me though." I followed up my interrupt by holding the reactor exactly where the drone had asked me to.

#Drone-0172 scurried past me, and disappeared into the hold where the reactor was destined to go. I waited, holding the heaviest thing I had lifted in my life, and waited for the command to move it further.

"#PONI-0, move #Reactor-1 to #Position." The drone's language was still just as clipped as always. I carefully did as asked, slowly moving the weight a hoof-width at a time. "#PONI-0 pause."

More time passed, and I watched my power meter slowly tick down. It dropped to forty percent before I got a final request from "172."

"#PONI-0 release." Once more, working like a cog in the machine, I followed the request and slowly let go of the reactor. It held steady, secured and in position. When I wasn't supporting it at all anymore, I finally let my horn rest.

"I say, darling? I think the power will be back on soon. I hope this wasn't too boring?" Climbing into the starship, I easily found Upper resting on what could be mistaken for a bunk, her head resting against a horn interface that looked to be at the perfect angle. I had a slight lurch in my gut (a completely unfair thing since I didn't have one anymore).

"That's nice dear. Why don't you settled down in your own bunk." Upper's interrupt held directional data to point me to the little bunk opposite the small corridor. It was the same as Upper's. "We are going, Jet. It's time."

My world fell away from me. I stared at the hole in the wall that was barely large enough for me to fit in, and realized just how part of the machine I really was. "I'm scared." I didn't realize I had sent it to both the AGI and Upper until I got a reply back from both.

"I am too, dear, but this isn't our home anymore."

"This time, I will take care of you."

I climbed into the bunk, and the moment my belly was pressed to the bottom I felt it grab me with some unseen force. My fear rose, and the horn interface slid down to kiss the front of my metal head.

"Don't be scared. We are going #Home."

A plume of fire lit up the north of Equestria. The upside-down candle started slow at first, then grew faster and faster. The chemical interaction of its fuel in Equus' air caused a blue-white fire to shove it into the domain of Luna and Celestia.

Neither alicorn knew what to make of the starship as it left the world. The huge rocket thruster burned until well past Equus' gravity well. Dropping the now-useless rocket, the starship engaged an engine that accelerated ions to immense speed.

The force of nearly five times Equus' pull impacted Jet Set and Upper Crust not one bit as the implacable ion drive kept shoving them towards their destination.

Author's Note

If you made it this far: Congratulations!

This isn't the end. This is terrifying, this is scary, but this will not be the end of PONI.

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Awesome ponies who are already helping to keep me in keyboards and rum:
A.P.O.N.I.
Boulder
Canary in the Coal Mine
Daremo
Dio-Drogynous
Javarod
Nils
Shaushka
Sirion123
Tanis

And special thanks to the following, for careful eyes and friendly words:
Cross Lament
Vutava