Population 1

"PROXIMITY ALERT, QUANTUM SLEEP CHARGE INTERRUPTED."

The lights to a small room flicked on as the door to a large bay opened. White steam hissed from the vents as it slowly swung open, revealing a pony. The pony was connected to various cords and tubes. Next to the pony was a monitor. As the screen flickered on, a loud beeping could be heard as an automated voice spoke over a loudspeaker.

"INITIATING START UP SEQUENCE... BAY 12
ELM-581"

The cords and tubes that were attached to the pony, softly clicked and detached themselves, slithering away into their proper storage compartments. The beeping that had started moments ago, stopped suddenly as a green light appeared on the pony's chest. He was completely white with a brown mane. Tucked and folded on his back were a pair of large feathery white wings and atop his head rose a long unicorn horn.

"ELM-581, START UP SEQUENCE SUCCESSFULL."

~~~~~~

Winter rubbed his head as he sat up in the charging bay.

"Ughhh... Baxter.. what is the meaning of this? I asked to not be interrupted during my charge," said the stallion, blinking slowly to make sure his optical sensors were calibrated properly.

"MY APOLOGIES ELM-581, BUT I HAVE DETECTED A PROXIMITY ALERT ON THE OUTERMOST BORDER OF THE FACILITY."

As Winter stood up, he stretched his legs and extended his wings, the quiet sounds of pistons and mechanized joints being the only noise now in the small room.

"Proximity alert? Baxter it's probably just another deer or rabbit. Adjust your sensors," said Winter yawning.

"I CAN ASSURE YOU SIR, MY SENSORS ARE IN NOMINAL CONDITION. PONY LIFE SIGNS WERE DETECTED AT 13:45 HOURS, BEARING 381 MARK 290. RANGE: 3 KILOMETERS."

Winter stopped mid-yawn and stared straight ahead.

"Pony life signs?"

"AFFIRMATIVE"

The white stallion trotted forward, his hooves making soft clinking sounds on the steel floor. Hitting a button to open the door to the room, a red light flashed on the door panels screen with the words "Access Denied".

"Ughhhhh, Baxterrrr!!" Winter shouted.

"SORRY SIR, BUT YOU KNOW THE RULES. PROTOCOL MANDATES THAT I RECEIVE YOUR FUNTIONALITY CODES FOR SAFETY PURPOSES."

Taking a deep breath, Winter looked up at the camera in the corner of the room watching him.

"Functionality codes, Equestrian Labs Model 581. Papa, Zulu, Zero, Niner, Niner, Romeo, Five, Seven, Nine, Tango."

"CODES ACCEPTED, GOOD MORNING ELM-581. PLEASANT DREAMS I HOPE?"

Winter opened the door to the charging room and stepped into the hall, sealing it behind him.

"They were, until I was woken up by you. Now what do you mean pony life signs?" Asked Winter, going to a panel on the wall across from him and tapping the screen with his hooves.

"PONY LIFE SIGNS WERE DETECTED AT 13:45 HOURS BEARING-"

"Yeah yeah, I know all that. You already told me Baxter. I mean, I thought Wingtip Cove was supposed to be deserted."

"WINGTIP COVE IS ABANDONED SIR. IS HAS BEEN FOR 450 YEARS. THESE ARE MORE THAN LIKELY EXPLORERS."

Winter turned and gave the camera above the door he just exited from, a look of confusion.

"Explorers? But nopony could travel this far without magic or-" he stopped short however as loud red alert alarm began blaring.

"WARNING: FACILITY BREACH. LOCKDOWN PROTOCOL INITIATED."

"Son of a bitch Baxter, I thought you said they were 3 kilometers out!?" Winter yelled over the blaring alarm, turning and galloping down the glistening white hallway.

"AFFIRMATIVE SIR. HOWEVER YOU DID NOT LET ME FINISH MY SENTENCE. THEY WERE MOVING AT A SPEED OF 560 MILES PER HOUR."

Winter huffed and charged into the armory, punching in his access codes. Going over to a panel on the wall of the moderately sized room, the stallion typed in his codes again and opened two compartments on his back.

"Computer begin loading sequence," he said. The computer chirped back at him as two large mini guns descended from the ceiling and onto his back.

"CHAIN GUNS SECURED. HAPPY HUNTING SIR."

"Thanks Baxter."

~~~~~

"Sunny I think we tripped an alarm of some kind." Said Hitch, covering his ears and looking around at the hallway they were in. "Are you sure this is such a good idea?"

Sunny turned and looked back at her best friend.

"Winter may be the only chance we have at finding Twilight Sparkle," she said, trotting forward. Hitch followed her the rest of the way in. The pulsing red lights running along the walls remained flashing slowly as they made their way along the corridor.

"So what is this place? Some sort of underground lab?" Hitch asked, looking at the various doors.

"Yeah, it was a project started about 70 years ago by my Grandfather. He was head of research and robotics until his heart attack." Sunny explained.

"Oh.. I'm sorry Sunny," Hitch said quietly. Sunny waved a hoof dismissively.

"Nah it's okay. It's been a while since he passed."

The two continued down the hallway toward a door at the end. On it were markings and the words "Control Room".

"Come on, the control room is just ahead. It'll give us access to the mainframe," Sunny said. However just as they reached the door, a voice behind them made them stop.

"HALT. Who are you? What are you doing in my facility?"

Sunny and Hitch turned around to see Winter staring at them, chain guns spinning in preparation for a fight.

"Woah woah woah there, easy. We're not looking for a fight," Sunny said, raising her hooves in the air. Winter didn't back down.

"Then who are you and how did you get here?"

Sunny stepped forward and showed him a map.

"My grandfather founded this research lab a long time ago. We came seeking help from a pony named Winter."

Winter looked at the map, then at her, then back at the map. Sighing, he put his mini guns away.

"Stand down Baxter, they are friendlies," he said.

"UNDERSTOOD SIR, CANCELING LOCKDOWN."

The alarm that had been blaring shut off and the regular white lighting returned.

"You're Winter?" Sunny asked, as the white stallion turned and trotted away slowly, sighing to himself.

"Yes. Winter Gust, Equestrian Labs Model 581. Combat Defense Cyborg."

Sunny and Hitch followed him down the now quiet hallway, he seemed annoyed at their presence.

"So then you can help us right?" Hitch asked.

"With what?" Winter answered dryly.

Sunny trotted up beside him and pulled out a drawing of Twilights cutie mark.

"To bring back Twilight, we heard her disappearance was linked to this lab and-" But Sunny was cut short. The cyborg turned and looked at both of them, a frown on his face.

"OH NO. I don't mess with time displacement technology anymore. That shit is too dangerous to be used by ANYPONY. Especially an earth pony and.. whatever the hell you are," Winter said, pointing a hoof at Sunny and glancing at her wings and horn. Sunny frowned.

"An alicorn. I'm an alicorn." She said bitterly. Turning towards the exit, the alicorn beckoned for Hitch.

"Come on Hitch, let's go. It's obvious this robot can't help us. Nor will he ever want Snowdrop back."

Hitch looked at Sunny then back at Winter who was staring at them, the frown slowly disappearing from his face.

"Wait."

Sunny turned back around and looked Winter. The cyborg sighed and closed his eyes.

"Fine. I'll help you find Twilight. BUT. You have to help me find the last part for Snowdrop." Sunny smiled.

"Its a deal then," she said, shaking Winter's hoof.

"Wait a minute wait a minute.. what are you talking about?" Asked Hitch, confused.

Sunny took out a blueprint from her saddlebag of a cyborg that looked almost identical to Winter, except it was a female with a different mane style and fur color.

"Snowdrop, she was a female counterpart created by my Grandfather for Winter to have. But a while ago, a piece of her broke. A piece that modern day technology cannot create. The-"

"Exnos M98 Microchip." Winter finished her sentence quietly as he tapped the glowing green part of his chest. "Only 2 were ever successfully made in our timeline. Mine, and hers." The white stallions ears folded down with a sad sounding mechanical whir.

"Hers was broken by a system failure in the mainframe during a charging session. The ion cells overloaded and caused it to fry her chip immediately."

A quiet silence fell over the group as Sunny and Hitch searched for the right words to comfort the cyborg.

"I'm sorry Winter. It... must have been tough," said Hitch quietly.

The white stallion nodded and sighed.

"It was. I had gotten so used to feeling her by my side every night while we slept, I couldn't sleep for weeks."

"How could you haven't slept for weeks? Can cyborgs sleep at all?" Sunny asked. Winter started trotting once more, heading in the direction of the the control room.

"Technically, we can. Although it's probably like turning your cell phone off during a movie." Hitch and Sunny followed.

"Alright.. so do you dream?" The alicorn asked.

"Sometimes, I don't have a pony brain. My speech patterns and behavior learning skills are all programmed into me. My Microchip is what allows me to create my own identity and unique consciousness." Winter said, typing in a code next to the door and watching it slide open.

"So... you're able to learn and adapt?" Hitch asked, following Winter inside. Winter nodded.

"Yes, it's what also allows me to feel love, sympathy, and an array of other emotions."

The trio trotted over to a huge computer terminal. It had an array of touchscreen panels and diagnostic readings. Sunny and Hitch watched as a cable slithered out of the console and plugged into Winters chest. Closing his eyes, the cyborg began running diagnostics on the equipment centered in a large room beyond. It was hard to see through the glass with no lights on, but detailed displays and 3D images began popping up on the view screens in front of them. The main one centered a large cylindrical device. Large tubes and cables ran this way and that along the device. It was obvious this was the time displacement technology.

"RUNNING LEVEL 12 DIAGNOSTIC..."

"Cool.." Sunny whispered, watching the screen in amazement as a percentage bar appeared and began filling rapidly. When it reached 100%, the light inside the room where it was housed flashed on.

"LEVEL 12 DIAGNOSTIC COMPLETE. TIME DISPLACEMENT UNIT FULLY FUNCTIONAL."

Winter then unplugged himself from the computer, looking at Sunny and Hitch.

"Well, it looks like it's still working. Surprisingly..." he uttered the last word under his breath in an annoyed way. "Follow me, I'll have to run a few more physical tests, but you can look around if you want." The white stallion opened the door to the large storage room and entered. Sunny and Hitch followed as their hoofsteps echoed off the tall and bare walls. The only thing in the room was the time displacement device and a large mechanical arm that remained stationary above the device. However at the end of the arm, was a head. A robotic head. Clearly it was powered off but unlike Winter, you could easily tell it was a robot. The cyborg noticed Hitchs discomfort as they walked underneath it.

"Relax, that's just Baxter. He's the Artificial Intelligence that helps me run this place. The robot allows him to meet with ponies physically."

As if on cue, the robots eyes opened and began to shine blue. Sunny and Hitch watched as the arm moved downward toward them and positioned its head close to theirs.

"These are our guests? They looked bigger on the cameras Winter," said Baxter, studying the earth pony and alicorn.

"Hey, how come hes talking different?" Asked Hitch. Winter turned from a small computer panel on the devices wall, and looked at them.

"The subroutines that control the camera and PA systems restricts Baxter from using his personality software for anywhere but here." He explained. Both ponies "ohhhhed" and looked at Baxter.

"My names Sunny, nice to meet you Baxter," said Sunny.

"And I'm Hitch, Sheriff Hitch," he said with pride. Sunny rolled her eyes.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance Sunny, Sheriff Hitch. I do hope old Winter here didn't scare you too badly with his chain guns." The A.I. let out a mechanical chuckle.

"Old?" The cyborg scoffed, "you're one to talk you rusting calculator. I could probably scrap you as an universal TV remote."

Sunny giggled softly at the two of them.

"Rusting calculator? Universal TV remote? I'll have you know I am a state of the art, artificial intelligence built to withstand-"

"A direct nuclear strike. I know, I know. Cool your circuits Baxter, we don't need the whole speech."

The robot "hmphed" and hovered away to the other side of the room.

"Will he be okay?" Sunny asked.

"Baxter? Oh yeah. He's programed to not be able to take jokes, and his uh.. CPU could use a thorough cleaning. He'll be fine in a minute or two. Now come over here and we'll discuss the plan."