42

Chapter Three

"I like trains!"

Canterlot, Equestria
Canterlot Castle
15 Twilights Rule (TR)(15 years after the fall of Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow)

So as you may have read already my dear I got Byte. Yay! Now I hope his robotic ass doesn't stab me in the back. I'm expecting a double cross at some point don't think I'm naive enough to think otherwise I do have a plan for that eventuality.
Oh, what's the big plan you ask?
You will find out when it happens.
Or not.
It's my life so, you know. Expect fuckery.
As we made our way out of the castle Byte asked, "So, how exactly are we getting to the Wasteland?" We continued trotting out the door when I replied, "Well we can just hop a train to Manehattan and take one of the pre:arranged portals used for quick travel between the time periods. Or we can do this the hard way and go to my apartment building at the outskirts of Ponyville go through the portal there and walk to Manehattan."
Byte considered this for a moment, "So it's not going to be some Draconequus time travel snap your stupid claw kind of deal? It is literally an independent portal we can go to? How did you correct for variance of time unraveling when Blackjack changed the past to allow this timeline to exist? It would take massive amounts of power to sustain another timeline like that without the waveforms collapsing."
I turned my head to look at him in the red sensors, "No, yes, ask Momma." I replied smoothly.
His cat like robotic head turned back to watch were he was going as we exited the castle grounds to the shopping district of Canterlot where ponies, griffons, hippogriffs, and other beings watched us as we made our way through the district.
"I hate it when people stare." Byte said as we got closer to the train station. His robotic ears lay back. "That happens when you look different from everypony." I reply. "Isn't that why you made your body like that? So you could stand out and be feared?" I asked.
He took a few moments to reply as he noticed several colts shrink under his robotic gaze and run back into a house near the edge of the housing district on the way to the train station.
"Being a cat taught me something's that I miss about being flesh and blood. Breathing, a heart beat, eating. I do miss those things now that I got to experience them again. I think while I was this thing I forgot what life was like and how to enjoy it. It was just nothing but data to me. Ones and zeros. Quickest means to an end. I never thought about the things I'd given up when I went full synthetic after cyberization. Being back in this body feels, cold now." He analyzed it.
This surprised me and made me wonder if Sweetie ever felt the same way about his cybernetics. "No Boo, that's silly, he still had an organic brain and his senses. It's completely different than being a full robot. But it must be damn close." A voice said in the back of my mind. "Huh?" I thought back at the voice, "Hello?" The thought echoed in my skull. I got no reply to this. Before I could puzzle it out what that voice was I bumped into someone at the train station.
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry!" I said automatically letting a smile bloom on my face as my eyes connected with the cyan blue familiar orbs of an orange bat pony Alicorn.
"Phoenix!" I say a smile growing across my face. His features darkened.
"Oh, it's you." He said with an edge of anger to his voice.
My ears laid back, "I suppose, I deserve that." I thought.
"No that bitch Boo Prime does." The voice in the back of head said with anger, and my face screwed up in pain as something felt like it was pulsing at the back of my head and the voice was quiet again.
I shake my head and reply, "Pheonix I'm not the Boo you know. I'm…"
"Boo Clone number 42." Another voice in my head says and I say that out loud to him.
He looked a little skeptical. "What are you doing here and who is this robot cat thing?"
"You don't recognize Byte?" I asked confused.
"Should I?" He asked raising an eyebrow.
"Uh… yeah." I nod.
I looked to Byte, "You remember him right?" Byte looks at him. "He is the one I pulled his wings off in the Wasteland just to examine how they were attached to a bat pony differently than a pegasus since they are rare. His genetic deformity of being an Alicorn is natural mistake rather than mystical in nature. From the file of Subject P-469259-BPA first encountered 2 years after the fall of the Grand Pegasus Enclave."
Phoenix leaned away from the robot.
"I do recall the pain of that but not what caused it. And I still have the scars." He said looking disturbed at the robot.
Wait, wait, wait! I hear you again. Who wouldn't remember the person who injured them like that? I hear you ask. Well, that's the mystery. Why doesn't he remember Byte. He fought him with me and Flutterstay a lot.
How does he still have his wings? This was one of those incidents that Flutterstay was there for. He damaged Byte enough to make him retreat and was able to administer a hydra and a healing potion to Phoenix just in time to regenerate the damage to his flesh.
Oh, a hydra? It's made of that Flux stuff I told you about last chapter and goo from a hydra, the creature. It has a regenerative ability but it's effect works less and less the more of it you use. It can also cause you to become "tainted" with biological flux contamination.
Remember what I said about Draconequus blood being extracted to make something called Flux. Yeah, it is that stuff.
So hydra is a powerful magical healing item with diminishing returns the more you use it the less able your body is to recover even from small wounds.
"Well let's add this mystery to the list of what happened to Flutterstay." I said sighing.
"Flutterstay? You mean Fluttershy right?" He asked.
I looked at him.
"My husband… Flutterstay?" I ask looking at him.
"You two were best friends? He saved you from Byte here." I stated.
I didn't think it was possible for his frown to deepen but he somehow pulled it off.
"Boo, I don't have time for your horse apples. I'm going to see my sister in Appleloosa." He said annoyed now.
"Byte here's some bits can you buy our tickets? I need to speak with Luc… I mean Phoenix alone for a moment." I say making a stack of bits appear in mid air floating.
"Yes I will do that. This conversation is making my processor hurt." He grabbed the bits out of the air with his mouth and walked over to the counter.
As Byte walked away I turned to Phoenix, "Listen dude. You know the wacky shit I get up to. Is it so hard to believe there is something missing from your memories and how some memories don't make sense now?" I asked with my serious face on. He looked skeptical at me and thought for a moment then his accented voice said, "There are some things that I question now. Like how did you get pregnant with no stallion? Or how did we end up winning that dance off against those space things on Benar VII after you totally blew that contest. Or, how about the time you got us all stuck in a trap room with starmetal that was slowly sucking the life out of us but got us out while you were passed out?"
All very good questions. It was Flutterstay who saved our bacon all three times, I said as much to him.
He seemed to consider this then said, "So how much do you trust that machine?"
I looked back at Byte who was still talking with the Ticket Griffon. "On a scale of 1 to 10, negative 10 billion." I said flatly.
He sighed. "I guess my sister will have to wait a few more days."
"I promise I'll send you directly there once all is said and done. Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!" Pinkie promised him, making the movements with my pony arms.
Byte returned with the tickets.
"I have procured the required tickets the train leaves in a few minutes. I assumed we were going to Manehattan." He said holding three tickets in his robot mouth.
"Yes, good job Byte. Shall we boys?" I asked as I pulled my ticket from Byte's mouth gently with magic. I approached the ticket pony wearing the conductor's hat and he looked a little alarmed when he saw me floating the ticket in the air like a unicorn. Then he saw Byte, blinked and rubbed his eyes. He seemed to be nearly having a stroke when he saw the orange Alicorn bat pony. He used his magic and took out tickets, ripping the stub off and floating them back to each of us.
"Welcome aboard." Was all he said as we entered the train and found our seats in a relatively empty train car.
"Should be about 5 hours to Manehattan." I said looking over a sign on the wall about travel times from canterlot to various destinations across Equestria.
"Well, did you bring a deck of cards?" Byte asked Phoenix. This caused my mouth to turn up on a grin.
"Byte, did you just make a joke?" I asked.
His photoreceptors looked at me.
"I was merely curious if we could play a card game. It has been ages since I played one and I can't exactly experiment on anyone here without you getting upset. So, cards seemed like a logical choice of activities as I would beat you at chess hooves down." He stated.
"No." Phoenix said flatly.
I smiled.

***

Several hours later.

"I can't believe I lost to a tin can!" Phoenix stated angrily as the train departed Appleloosa on its way to Manehattan next. He looked at the now gigantic pile of chips on Byte's side of the table. Phoenix looked at me, "He has to be cheating!" He stated. I looked at my own meager pile of chips, "No, I think he's just good at cards." I said shuffling the deck. I dealt him two cards and myself two cards. I got an Ace and Queen of Spades. I nearly burst out laughing at that. "Blackjacks cutie mark." I thought. "Too bad this isn't blackjack I would win with the unbeatable pair." I thought.
I felt brave at that moment and looked at my chips. "100 left…" I thought then pushed 50 into the pot with the blinds.
"Bet." I said simply. Byte looked at the pile then called my bet.
I flipped over three cards from the deck and came up with:

Queen of Hearts
Jack of Spades
2 of Spades

It went to Byte. He looked at his chips and mine and bet 50. "Well shit." I thought, then gave a moment to act like I was considering the bet.
"You're move meat bag." Byte said.
"I'm thinking don't rush me tin can." I bit back.
"Ah what the hell you only live once." I said as I pushed the last of my chips in. "All in."
I flipped the last two cards out of the deck.

King of Spades
10 of Spades

"Show 'em meat sack." Byte said flipping his cards.

Ace of Hearts
Jack of Hearts

I laughed. Byte cocked his head questioningly at me as I placed down the cards in my hooves.

"Read 'em and weep bot brains." I said smirking.
He looked at the cards and nodded. "That was definitely a good move. Your mother would be proud." Byte said as he reached for the cards and began to shuffle them. I pulled back the 245 chips I won that hand but byte still had the majority of chips in front of him.
I tossed a hundred to Phoenix and we played again, Phoenix went in and cleaned me out this time I raised a hoof to the pony at the bar I had materialized here for our poker game and got him to float me over a root beer float. I wrapped my lips around the straw as I watched the boys go back and fourth with them finally declaring a tie as the train approached Manehattan's Grand Central Station. I made the table and the train car go back to normal after the train stopped moving. The other passengers looked confused as they appeared in the train car like they couldn't believe that three people appeared out of thin air, and they had already arrived in Manehattan.
I looked to the guys and we got up heading to the door, ponies stayed out of our way seeing the weird mix of us.
We took in the majestic train station and Byte asked, "Where is the portal to the Wasteland?"
I smiled, "it's this way." I led the way toward the front doors out on to the night time streets of Manehattan and we made our way toward Tenpony Tower. As we got closer I smiled at them both. "Get ready boys the portal is right…here." I stopped in front of a fire hydrant.
"That is the portal?" Phoenix asked, looking skeptical at the fire safety device. I smirked. "What did you expect it to be a big archway with a sign that said 'mystical portal to a future time that shouldn't exist anymore!'"
"I did expect something to that effect knowing you Boo." Phoenix said dryly.
I rolled my eyes and transformed into my Draconequus form and with a flourish snapped a claw at the fire hydrant and it stretched into an archway.
"Is that better?" I asked.
He nodded and we entered the portal, it shifted back into a normal fire hydrant after we went through.