A Shadow of Myself

"So…they keep the humans in a suspended state and harvest energon from them?" Cadence asked.

"Worse," Josie said grimly. "They do that, and when nothing is left to harvest, they process them as food for the other humans. The Matrix meets Soylent Green. From what I can tell, that factory is for the final stage where they get the last bit they can get before converting them to food."

"That is literally just The Matrix; no Soylent Green involved," Sapphire said dryly.

Josie blinked. "Really? I didn't know that was part of the plot of The Matrix."

Scootaloo flicked an ear and looked back and forth between the two. "I don't know what you're talking about when you talk about a matrix or whatever green."

"I don't have a clue, either," Charlotte said.

Andrea didn't want to admit she had no clue, but she was just as clueless. She assumed it was references to books or movies or something.

"I think you can avoid the unnecessary references. I don't think those references mean much to the Equestrians or these kids," Sapphire remarked with a sigh.

"I'm not a kid!" Charlotte protested. Andrea rolled her eyes. Her sister was nothing, if not predictable. Not that Andrea cared much for being called a kid either. She was the earliest born person here, technically making her the eldest…not counting the transformers. Anyway, she was born decades before Sapphire. She couldn't help that there was a sixty-year gap with tons of pop culture that she missed and was still catching up on after twelve years.

"So, how do we rescue them?" Andrea asked.

"We don't," Cadence answered, sounding disgusted with what she was saying. "Our mission is to gather information and allies. We have accomplished that. We get Bursa out of there and establish diplomatic relations with Autobots; then we go home."

Andrea frowned. "Why not? We have the Autobots. Plus, we have you! They might have gotten the drop on us before, but they can't possibly stand a chance against an alicorn. We can't leave them."

Cadence shook her head. "I'm powerful but not a fighter. We would also be left to figure out how to house and care for the humans. Are the Autobots prepared to take on that many mouths to feed? We've already discussed the unique challenges that caring for these humans will present."

"The Autobots wouldn't be able to help," Josie said, ears sagging. "I saw a contingent of Care Bears arriving at the factory as I left. The bots can't risk a direct confrontation with them."

"We still have an alicorn, you, Sapphire, a changeling queen, a former warden," Andrea said, pointing to each of them. "That has to count for something."

Cadence took a deep breath. "I already discussed my weakness in combat, but Josie's combat abilities aren't going to be useful against robots. Sapphire can cause havoc with the weather, but that also endangers us, and it could endanger the humans you hope to free. Phobia can only use her abilities in defense, not offense, and Bursa, while formidable, is only one creature. We aren't in a position to mount an attack at this time. We aren't going to just abandon the humans. However, we are a scouting party, not a liberation force. It's up to others to rescue this world."

The others were silent, and she already knew that they wouldn't back her. Her argument was a lost cause. "How are we getting Bursa back? If the Autobots can't risk getting close right now because of the bears, that leaves us without our ride."

"I'm going to risk a teleport," Cadence answered. "There and back quickly. Between Josie and Sapphire's combined directions, I should be able to land within a short range of Bursa without being noticed. In the meantime, Josie and Phobia can catch up on their sleep, and the rest of you can eat and speak with the Autobots and intuits. See if you can gather more information. Charlotte, we may be using your return spell soon, be ready."

"I'm not sleeping yet. Take me with you," Josie said. "I can cloak both of us in shadow, and I know exactly which rock to find "

Cadence nodded. "That is a good idea. Thank you, Josie. Let's get going. We've had her wait too long already."

The princess lit her horn, and both she and Josie vanished, leaving the rest of them staring at the vacant space. Andrea shook her head as the magic of the teleport briefly gave her a woozy feeling. Well, food and rest did sound good. Hopefully, there was something other than their dried rations to eat around here. After a few days, they had gotten old. There was something else to take care of first.

Andrea gave her sister a hoof nudge. It was always annoying to do that. It made her feel like a dog begging for attention. "Let's find a tent so I can go human. Then we can see if Heavyheart knows where fresh food is."

Charlotte smirked. "Are you counting on her being more friendly with two humans asking her?"

"Not really," Andrea admitted. "If it weren't for it screwing Empathy over, I would be all for Sunset turning her into something else. How about a dragon? She can then really be heavy, and no one would think to boss her around."

"Have Sunset Blessing do what now?" Apple Bloom asked, overhearing their conversation.

"Yeah, what's this about turning that hippo into a dragon?" Scootaloo chimed in eagerly. "I want to be a dragon!"

Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow at her friend. "What possible reason do you have for wanting to be a dragon?"

"Does anypony need a reason for wanting to be a dragon?" Scootaloo asked as if it were obvious. "Dragons are cool."

The pearly unicorn rolled her eyes. "You are such a foal sometimes." She looked at Andrea and Charlotte. "But, seriously, what's this about turning an intuit into a dragon?"

"Not a dragon, necessarily," Andrea said quickly. "But Heavyheart seems pretty hell-bent on wanting to get transformed into anything other than an intuit. She equates being an intuit with being a slave. Says she was better off with no humans to serve."

"It's hard to blame her," Charlotte added in sadly. "Intuits are fed by whatever their key emotional connection is with humans. Empathy's is empathy, obviously, but Heavyheart's is sadness and mourning. Who wants to have to always be dealing with that?"

"Um, isn't Heavyheart feeling empathy too if she shares an emotional connection?" Sweetie Belle asked in confusion. "Sharing an emotional connection is, by definition, empathy."

Andrea frowned. "You're right. I guess Empathy got the luckiest thing to feed off of. Every other intuit has to share a particular feeling, but he gets just to feed off everything he shares. It's no wonder he has such a positive view of service."

"Aye wonder how them other intuits feel about it," Apple Bloom mused as she looked at the intuits who were now gathering around Empathy and Heavyheart.

Andrea just noticed them all gathering together and wondered the same thing.

Empathy was a simple elephant. He had looked forward to seeing Heavyheart again since he had gotten lost in another world, but he hadn't expected their reunion to bring so much fighting.

"This isn't propprrr, Heavyheart," Proud Heart, an orange cat intuit, protested while pointing an accusing finger at the hippo. "We shouldn't have such talk. The humans will return, soonprrr or latprrr."

Empathy blinked. "Why do you talk so funny?"

Proud Heart glared at him. "I do not talk funny. I talk propprrr!"

"You did it again!" Empathy said, pointing at her. "I understand you, but it sounds funny."

Heavyheart groaned. "Does it matter how she talks? My point still stands. We're better off seeking out this Sunset Blessing and having her turn us all into ponies. I'm sure at least some of you agree with me."

"If there are, then you all need to be corrected!" Proud Heart asserted. The others were keeping quiet. Only Proud Heart had spoken up since Heavyheart had made her proposal.

"Please, don't yell at Heavyheart," Empathy said, balling up a fist.

The cat narrowed her eyes at him. "Tell me, elephant, how do you feel about your intended wanting to abandon the humans and you? Are you ready for your line to end?"

He took a step or two back, and his trunk sagged. "I don't know. I just don't want you yelling at Heavyheart."

The cat raised her nose high. "At least you show some loyalty, unlike her."

"If we free the humans, they will need us more than ever," Brightheart finally interjected. "Many of you may not understand, but our humans are not like the humans from the world Empathy visited. Even before the Decepticons came, our humans were terrible at confronting and dealing with their emotions. They were brilliant when it came to problem-solving and mechanical reasoning, but their emotional intelligence was severely lacking. Shrieky actually represents higher functioning emotional intelligence compared to most of our humans. That was why we were created. Our humans need help with their emotions, or they can't live up to their full potential."

Lotsa Heart shook her head sadly. "That's why our humans tried to copy those movies so much. They saw all the confidence and sophistication those alien humans had and wanted to be like them. They knew how to copy most of the items and devices they saw, but they were still just as emotionally weak as before."

Heavyheart advanced on the raccoon and elephant. "And how do you think it will be if we ever free them? You've been outside. This world is practically dead. The Forest of Feelings and Care-A-Lot are the only inhabitable places left. Once the humans are free, they will be even worse than ever since they never lived their lives. That leaves us babysitting a bunch of toddlers as we all wait to die. There's nothing we can do to save them at this point, even if we get rid of No Heart and the Decepticons, and the Care Bears rejoin our side. I don't want to sit here and deal with that. You may have lots of commitment, but you're asking me to deal with endless misery while I watch everything fall apart, leading to more misery for me to deal with. That isn't fair to me, and I don't want to be part of that cycle!"

Heavyheart looked at the others. "Playful Heart, do you see any way that humans can be playful in that wasteland? Treat Heart, how will you properly serve in a world of famine and drought? Cozy Heart, how will you properly serve in a world like this? I will be able to serve in abundance, but how are most of you going to serve? You're going to try to fruitlessly serve and get nothing out of it or accomplish anything."

She looked at Proud Heart again. "And you honestly think there is any pride to be found or order that doesn't come at the end of a weapon in this world we hope to rescue? We have an escape. There is a whole other world out there, two of them– worlds that aren't full of emotionally stunted beings that we have to struggle to keep on track, worlds that aren't dying. We can go to them. We can become something else. We have no realistic future here, but we could there. It's time to think about what is best for us."

"But I want to stay what I am. I want to serve," Empathy whimpered.

Heavyheart looked at him and sighed. "I cannot force you to do anything you don't want to do, but I will not let that deter me from seeking out a new destiny. I want you to be happy, and if you're happy serving, then so be it, but you shouldn't try to serve here. There is only death and misery in this world's future."

"I want to be with you too," Empathy said, ready to cry.

She put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, but you are going to have to figure out which you want more– to serve or to be with me. You can't have it both ways." She looked at the others again. "And I think all of you should think about what the future holds and decide what you want to do. It is not wrong to turn your backs on a hopeless endeavor. It isn't wrong to think of what is best for yourselves. We don't need to be slaves to humans. We don't have to be slaves to misery. We don't have to stay here. We don't have to remain what we are. We have choices, think in them, and let no one condemn anyone else for their choices."

Empathy wept. Heavyheart wanted them to make choices about what would make them happy, but what kind of choice was it when you had to sacrifice something so important either way? Maybe if he were a smarter elephant, he would know what to do, but he was just a simple elephant in a very complicated world.