‘As I climbed out of the rubble, I felt a nagging pain in my front hooves, for it was with them that I rammed into several rooms, instinctively covering my head.’

Twilight stared upwards and concluded that the interior space seemed much larger than the outer frame and didn't look so white anymore. There was text on the plaques, the language of which she didn't know and didn't understand the structure of it to make even the slightest approximate transcription. The thought or memory came to mind that the droids spoke Equestrian, her native tongue with a slight variation in a couple of unknown dialects. So perhaps these very creators were either older or younger than the droids.

"Very strange... I bet I was literally gulping for air on the street, trying not to choke, and here my lungs have no trouble breathing in fully. I still don't understand the point of these buildings, but I'm inside and I'm safe. So I have nothing to complain about. Healing!" Twilight cast a spell to regenerate her bruises and minor cuts left behind after a rough break through a few rooms.

‘The amount of dust on the floor, directly tells me that no one has been in this place for a long time... And in so many years, no, probably decades, I'm the first visitor.’

Twilight walked down corridor after corridor, scrutinising the different rooms, but the dim light from the long-ago lamps carefully obscured the veil of many artefacts and details. Soon she found a very warehouse-like room and curiously, without remorse, began rummaging through old papers, but unfortunately to no avail. The language in which all the documents and studies were written was unfortunately not available to her at the moment.

"Can I have a translator?!" Twilight shouted loudly, passing the seventh room with the same result.

With nothing but dust and unknown signs everywhere, a door appeared before the alicorn's gaze. A door that was closed tightly with a thickness of multi-ton metal, nothing remarkable on the door, not counting a couple of centimetres of iron frames, padded around the perimeter.

"Hmmm... if there's a thick heavy door, does that mean there's something carefully hidden behind the door? And if it's kept forbidden in a locked room, that means it's something very important and necessary. And if it's something necessary, then I could use it too?" Twilight smirked at her amusing childish monologue, sometimes you still need to take your mind off your problems and relax, if only for a little while.

"Twilight, Twilight, it must suck not having a companion... Why, must it? It really sucks. You're sitting there on the crab right now, wondering whether or not you should try to open that door. What if I teleport in there and there's a cryo-freezing chamber? Or a fully stocked room of concentrated sulfuric acid? Or worse, it's all made of a substance that doesn't let magic through, and I'll never get back out again... Let's be logical. The second option with liquids is out, usually such experiments involve a tank, not a room. Then a cryo-freezing room? But... I don't know... I'd keep gold or other valuables in such a place. And why the hell would they freeze anything? Noooo..." Twilight continued her monologue thoughtfully. Perhaps she was soothed by the echoes echoing off the nearest wall in response, or maybe she just wanted to hear her own voice.

* * *

It had been about an hour since Twilight had been paranoid about the door. Teleporting at random is dangerous, because when you know where you want to go and you've been there before, it's no big deal. If there's even someone inside, you'll be moved a bit sideways or, at worst, the spell won't work. If, on the other hand, you're literally trying to get into a place you've never been, a few things can happen. You'll probably get stuck in a wall, and if your panicked mind doesn't ‘invent a bicycle’ at that point, die rather quickly. The second option is that you could kill someone with this action, and the responsibility falls entirely on the caster.

* * *

It was the third hour of pondering, only this time in experienced ways. Tapping on the door with her hoof, she tried to calculate the thickness of the door by echolocation, but that method was probably considered artisanal. There were attempts to open the door with various spells. It was possible to scratch it, though the recoil was hard on the mistress' body with fatigue. The experiments even prompted the alicorn to do the most idiotic thing: lick the material.

"Yeah, well... What did I expect? Although, knowing some people, I realise that they first lick and stick their noses into a vial of different liquids, and then think about whether or not it was wise to do such a thing." Letting out a heavy sigh, she looked at the monolith. "Why doesn't this thing have a trivial handle?"

Abandoning her futile attempts to open the door, Twilight decided to get some rest. Four hours of brainstorming and the interrupted sleep of the flying glands had yielded nothing but drowsiness and migraines. For better or worse, it was a relief. Twilight found a rest room or, more likely, someone's office, and most importantly, a soft bed. She plumped herself down and willingly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

‘Sleep... I haven't had a dream in a while. It could mean something important! Perhaps I'm being contacted?’

"Princess Luna! Are you here?! Luna!" Twilight shouted loudly, hoping to be heard.

Surprisingly, someone answered her call. She spotted a pony walking towards her amidst the dark haze.

"Princess Luna! You've finally come for me! Princess!" Twilight's tears flowed with happiness at the sight of the nearby pony. Seeing the familiar figure in good health and throwing herself at her with hugs, she felt only coldness and something else foreign. Pulling away and hearing no word or reciprocation of the hug, she looked up at her, again trying to assess the situation sensibly.

"You're not Luna?"

Her lips trembled treacherously, and the tears came with renewed vigour. But not from happiness and relief, but from dashed hope and growing cold. Twilight lowered her head, bad thoughts crowding her and seeming to put her master into an apathetic, depressed state almost instantly.

"Tarwitseme Apuasi."

Twilight raised her head, looking at her questioningly. She clearly didn't understand what her interlocutor had just said. A second glance, more sober, made it clear that it was not Luna, but most likely someone very similar in appearance. She didn't immediately realise that the copy was slightly shorter than her, though it had the same body shape as Luna. Purple coloured fur and a blue mane, while the cutiemark was in the shape of a full moon resting on the scales of Themis. Also, she wasn't an alicorn, lacking wings. Though she was surprised that Twilight herself was an alicorn.

"I don't understand... Say that again..." Twilight tried to listen to her interlocutor, while the interlocutor tried to ask her for something.

After some attempts, she sat down on her croup and began to explain her thoughts with her hooves in sign language. The first thing she did was to press both hooves against her, implying the word ‘Nam’. The second action, she kind of beckoned with her hooves, meaning ‘Need’. The third action, pointed a hoof at Twilight, emphasising the word ‘Yours’ with it. The fourth gesture indicated the crosshairs of her hooves on her chest. ‘Help.’

"You need my help..."

Twilight's emotional breakdown was now replaced by seriousness, and she nodded silently. She couldn't leave someone in distress, especially now. With her next gesture, Twilight raised one eyebrow. Asking, ‘What needs to be done?’

The interlocutor diligently showed a square and asked her to open it, and Twilight realised that it was the very door she had never been able to get in through. The next body movement involved her pointing at herself.

"You are behind that door, and you need my help. Understood. I'll do my best to get you out."

The interlocutor smiled, nodding at her:

"Ki-itos!" More emotionally responded with the word. It probably meant ‘Thank you.’

* * *

‘My awakening was rather sudden. I realised I was lying on the floor, my hooves awkwardly tangled by the blanket and sheet. Feeling a nasty mark on my face, I touched it. Turns out I'd been crying in my sleep. It was silly to think that they could find me and bring me home so easily... But still, hope springs last. I still really hope that they are looking for me... No... They are definitely looking for me! It would be a crime to think they aren't! They are my friends.

"Help... She needs my help!" Jumping up from her nest, Twilight shook her head, trying to tidy up her dishevelled mane. "The door... Now I'm pretty sure there's no poisonous liquids or anything like that behind it. Teleport!"

Instantly at the door, she made another leap through space, but inside. Clamping her eyes shut, Twilight strained her ears, trying to listen.

‘Water gurgling...’ - Finally daring to, she cautiously opened her eyes and saw several flasks. Cryogenic chambers of grey hues stood along a wall three metres high.

"They are in anabiosis after all" Twilight needed to build up a little more confidence to approach one of them. "It's not grey, it's a layer of dust. And it's probably glass? Do I need to break the capsules? No... there would probably have to be another way to get them out of there."

Wiping one pane of glass with her hoof, she peered inside, trying to see something through the murky blue water, but nothing came out. Repeating the same action with the second capsule, she saw a completely clear liquid, and inside was a unicorn sleeping. Judging by its build, appearance, and beard, it was a stallion, and a mature one at that. The third flask. A yellow coloured mare, a unicorn.

"I think they preserved only unicorns on purpose." Looking at the fourth capsule threw her into a slight stupor... "It's you, it's you I dreamt about!" A smile stretched across her face for a moment and then slid off. "I'm talking to myself again. Sometimes you have to be more patient and try to look at yourself."

She didn't look at the other three flasks.

Her attention was drawn to the table with the buttons, which also had a brief instruction on how to use them in the form of pictures, so meticulous that it seemed that even the dumbest person could figure out what was what.

"So, press the red button, wait for the water to pump out."

Twilight pressed the tight button, waiting for the machine humming nearby to pump out the water. Indeed, a little while later, all the pods were empty, and there was even a clattering sound from the inside of one of them. Twilight didn't bother to check what it was and followed the instructions further.

"The blue button is responsible for the gas exchange in the capsule. Press it and after ten minutes, lower the lever all the way down."

Twilight even laughed a little at the number of down arrows on the instructions. Pressing the blue button, there was a prolonged hissing sound. The capsules were filled with some sort of vapour.

‘I think it's disinfecting or supplying oxygen.’

"So, all that was left was the lever!"

Pulling the lever handle down as far as it would go, Twilight froze in anticipation of the result. Steam rushed into the room, and the capsules opened their lids with the sound of a pressurised gas bottle being opened. The ventilation immediately hummed, causing the fog in the room to become clearer and clearer. Turning to the capsules, Twilight smelled a foul odour and only cast a sympathetic glance at the capsule on the left.

"Rest in harmony..."

That capsule contained only the skeleton of a pony. Apparently its hardware had malfunctioned in the meantime, and the pony in it had died... But the others were alive, and right now the alicorn was concerned about the condition of the others. They were breathing, but they didn't open their eyes, they were still asleep.

"We should get you into your wards."

Which the alicorn did. Holding one of the ponies with her telekinesis, she teleported out the door and placed one by one into the wards.

"I guess it should be automatic, or the very droids should be doing it. But something has clearly gone wrong since I'm doing it... I'm not complaining! Honestly. I just feel like a babysitter right now. I hope I don't have to put them in a chair to go to the toilet..." Twilight continued her one-sided monologue, and eventually she entered the room where her companion was sleeping. After a while, the one began to open her eyes, coughing. Lavender immediately ran over to help her catch her breath, lifting her up and helping her into a sitting position.

"Healing!" Twilight immediately realised what the problem was: it was residual fluid in her lungs, and she had successfully rid the pony of it.

"Kitos..." breathing deeply, she said “Thank you” again in her own language. Blinking, she looked around the room, and then her gaze focused on Twilight. "Mika woosi nut he? [What year is it?]

"I don't understand your language..." Twilight said guiltily and gestured near her head and shook it.

"Oh-ooh..." came from her interlocutor, and she immediately brightened up, indicating for her to get a paper and pen out of her drawers. Twilight did so, and soon she had a piece of paper and pen on her hooves. Twilight thought for a moment, looked at the sheet of paper with the faded text, and began to draw numbers. ‘00.00.0000?’

"Date? I don't know that one, sorry..." Twilight took the sheet and began drawing and trying to explain that she was an alien to this world.

Again drawings from her where there was a drawn pony, an arrow and apparently their headquarters in question.

After a few drawings a bit of important information was revealed. Three of them are scientists and the other ponies are reserves. Then the unicorn had questions about how Twilight could have a horn and wings at the same time, which was answered with an explanation that she is from another world by origin and is an alicorn. A couple more questions regarding the droids, followed by the news that they had to wake them up.

The following dialogue is done with drawings.

‘Droids? Attacking you, led by a droid that looks like you?’ - The unicorn looked at the one again surprised, explaining that they weren't supposed to attack her.

‘Yeah... They were trying to catch me and disassemble me... They said something about the creators and that maybe if I was disassembled it would wake you up.’

Again the surprise on the unicorn's face, Twilight on the other hand was too exhausted to show any emotion.

‘Those are our droids... They're supposed to wake us up after a hundred years, but why aren't they here?’ - Eyes like sapphires darted into the blank sheets beside Twilight, waiting for an answer. A little while later, she had already taken a pen to her mouth and began drawing with her mouth. Magic was too tedious to work with.

‘I don't know... explain to me what happened to the world? Why is it so dangerous outside?’ - Having finished the drawing of a planet, a question and a skull and bones behind it, she now awaited a response from her interlocutor.

‘Have you been there?’

‘Yes... And there's a very heightened level of hostility and danger there, but your droids have apparently adapted. The 113th told me it can't wake you up.’

‘113th?’

‘TWI-00113.’

Her expression was filled with delight, to which Twilight couldn't sincerely support her interlocutor and was simply already bowing her head in a half-smile.

‘?’ - question mark, the only thing Twilight left, tired of drawing.

‘This is our first sample with advanced AI. We had no idea they would be able to function for so long.’

‘That's why it looks older than its subordinates then.’

‘Subordinates? We've been making a dozen of them to beautify our headquarters.’

‘The last number I heard was a 12,000 batch.’

‘No way... They weren't supposed to create their own kind, much less command their troops...’

‘The AI exceeded your expectations?’

‘Even too much... This could turn out to be a disaster for the world!’

Twilight sighed heavily, peering at her spitefully.

‘Can you explain to me why there's snow, anti-magic rain, and killer drones outside the acid environment?’

‘I don't understand...’

Twilight sighed again, soon turning her head towards the exit before drawing the next large building and an arrow outwards.

‘I'll show you, follow me,’ Twilight helped her new friend up on all four hooves. She was shaking like an aspen leaf. Twilight supported her with magic to steady her on her hooves. She walked towards the dusty rubble of drywall, and after noting the distance, Twilight enveloped them both in a sphere, lifting herself and the filly into the air.

"Teleport!"

There was a blizzard in the outside world and the situation was even sadder than before. It was a habit for Twilight, but the expression on her face left a lot to be desired. She was confused, and her emotions showed endless, immense sadness and grief.

"Miten se Tapahtoi?" [How did this happen?]

"I don't know how it happened. When I got here, it was already like this" Twilight almost knew what she was talking about, and the logical undertones did a good job of it.

"Onko Se Totta?" She turned her head towards her, but Twilight ignored her, unable to hear her. Her gaze fell to the foot of the tower, where in a small snowy gap she could see the hooves of the androids that were following her. She ducked lower, telekinesis pulling them out of the snow.

"There, they were trying to catch me..."

Now it was the unicorn's turn to be silent and uncomprehending.

Soon both were caught back at the headquarters with the wreckage of the droids. Twilight immediately warned them not to touch the remains, it could be dangerous due to chemical burns. Leaving her stock of parts in the warehouse, she turned to Luna.

"I'm Twilight. And you are?" She wanted to know the name of the person she was talking to after all. It would be easier to communicate.

"Amanda" she pronounced and looked around her curiously again. "Alicorn... Luna?"

Twilight nodded silently.

"Olen Jaikelainen" [I am her descendant!]

Twilight was starting to get annoyed with the language barrier, and she glared at her interlocutor, raising an eyebrow and frowning slightly.

"Ahh..." she nodded understandingly, drawing a family tree and indicating that she was a tenth generation descendant. Luna is her great-great-great... great-great-grandmother.

‘Now it's clear to me why she looks so much like a princess. I hope she didn't think anything unnecessary when I hugged her... then that explains it all, no... Why do the droids understand me and they don't? She already said they created those droids, so why don't they know my language? Am I just going to communicate with her on hooves and paper?!’

* * *

It's been twenty-four hours. Many of the scientists had already recovered, and Twilight was asked to explain how she was able to get in without opening the door. She replied that she had simply teleported in, and then used the same method to get them out. As luck would have it, they wouldn't let her sleep or even rest, yanking her back and forth. She answered them patiently. But the questions got weirder and weirder. ‘Have you come to capture us?’, “Why didn't you prepare the headquarters before we woke up?”, “Who sent you?”. Amanda tried her best to calm them down and told them she was their friend.

‘What is this strange suspicion of me? I didn't hurt you and I'm not trying to do so! That's enough!’

"THAT'S ENOUGH! What is wrong with you?! Why are you trying to accuse me of something?! I got you out of there! And instead of saying, ‘Thank you,’ you're blaming me!"

The sudden surge of emotion and fatigue had taken its toll on Twilight's appearance. And really, all day long only to questions like ‘explain’ and ‘show me’, ‘what's going on’, to everyone. Someone can not understand you, and you have to explain yourself with rock methods, drawings and gestures. Amanda immediately noticed Twilight's emotions and gave everyone a siege look, already swearing at them in her own language.

* * *

A while later, they seemed to realise that they were clearly demanding their own off-topic somewhere. If it wasn't for her, they could have rotted in those pods for the rest of their lives. Twilight nodded in agreement, but her desire to help them was noticeably diminished. Soon they were able to open the door, it opened with difficulty under the unicorns' pressure, Twilight had to help them because she could no longer hear the nasty scraping of the metal hinges, welded shut by rust and an unknown oxide mixture of metal and oxygen. Again that unpleasant smell hit the noses of everyone already gathered. The alicorn wanted to leave the place and finally go to bed, but Amanda asked her to stay.

‘It wasn't long before they spotted the first pod and there was a heavy cry from one of the green coloured ponies. It pained me to see it, maybe it was her lover or a close friend, relative, I don't know. There's nothing I can do to help.’

"Veli! Veli! Hey! Mixie?!" [Brother! Brother! No! Why?!]

Twilight couldn't make out the speech of the unicorn, who went into a stupor. But when she almost jumped at her, wanting to pick a fight, the two stallions stopped her at once. Her eyes were filled with anger mixed with tears. How much pain sparkled in those eyes....

"Se he shinun Shiutashi!" [It's all your fault! Argh!!!]

' She literally growled those words to me. I raised an eyebrow and wanted to say something back, but her sudden action beat me to it, she just spat in my face. Needless to say, my patience broke at that moment? I had to muster up the will not to retaliate with something, like punching her in the face with a hoof,’ the alicorn gritted her teeth in anger and realised that the room was silent, only Amanda's frightened guilty glance at Twilight giving her more or less enough time to recover from the mess she had made. Heavy breathing accompanied the alicorn as she walked away from them.

Wiping her face with the sheet, Twilight threw it off on the floor and just lay back in bed.

"That's it... That's enough... Just a little more and I can't take it anymore..."

Twilight threw the pillow over her head, trying to induce sleep. Many thoughts raced through her mind, but right now she wanted one thing: to hear the rhythmic pounding of her heart. It was the one rhythm that more often than not could soothe Twilight in her time of need.

"I guess I'm just tired..."

There was a knock on the door after a while, but they couldn't open it. Alicorn had purposely padlocked the door to give her a break from the people around her, so she wouldn't be barged in for anything frivolous.

"Tivailleit!" came Amanda's voice with a funny accent, as she too had a hard time with the language barrier. But she was trying hard.

"Amanda, go away! I want to rest!" came a tired voice from under the pillow. "I'm not in the mood to talk to you right now!"

"Ssiory! Twilight!"

‘'Ssiory? Ahh... ‘sorry?’ I don't think I said that word in front of her, how did she know?"

Twilight exhaled and walked over, opening the door. Behind Amanda stood the figure that had been crying over the skeleton today. Twilight's facial expression immediately melted into a disgruntled and unfriendly grimace.

"What, have you come to spit in my face again? No need, I've already showered!"

"I don't underestdand!" She tried to justify herself. She looked guilty.

"I don't understand you either! I brought you out at Amanda's request! And what do I get?! A lot of disgruntled ponies and a spit in my face! It's great, isn't it?! If I'd known, I would have left you there and tried to find my own way out! Amanda, huh?! That's enough! I will not stand for any more of your misunderstandings and humiliating behaviour!" Twilight continued to yell at them, both of them watching her with their heads down.

"T is tireeds..." Amanda looked at Twilight sympathetically. Her bags under her eyes and whites poured with blood clearly made it clear that she had worked hard today and without a break.

"I'm tired, right. Look, Amanda. I'm resting tonight, and tomorrow I'm out of here! I'm gonna find another place to stay! Since I'm not welcome here!"

"Pliiase! Don't go!" Amanda begged, clutching Twilight tightly in her arms.

Something clicked in her head. She had hugged Amanda in her sleep in hysterics and tears just like that, but she had destroyed her hope with her ignoring her. Now she and the others were in the opposite situation and, at worst, they were going to starve to death. Twilight looked up, covering her eyes, and exhaled, hugging the one with one hoof.

"Good. I'm not leaving" Twilight looked at the other one, the one that was guiltily and persistently drilling the floor with her gaze.

‘Losing someone is hard, losing your own family members is very painful... They're probably emotional and very scared. Amanda on the other hand, by virtue of her genetic capabilities, was able to penetrate my dream by asking for help. I can't abandon those in need, and I think I know something will clearly please them.’

"Amanda, would you like a snack?"

"What?.. " Amanda pulled away from Twilight, asking her, not understanding.

"Eat, yum yum."

The latter lowered her head guiltily, shaking her head.

She lowered her head guiltily, shaking her head.

"syorrys, no there is..." They were clearly having a few problems learning Twilight's native tongue, and the first was the problem with provisions.

"You don't get it."

‘From my second bag I pulled out my stash. It is commonly said that the way to a stallion's heart is through the stomach, but in this analogy, the way of the world to a pony is through supplies.’

"Let's go eat" Twilight smiled at Amanda and the one behind her. "You too, let's go. Let's eat and calm down."

All three of them walked towards the dining room, where a heated argument could be heard, which stopped as soon as Twilight entered. Only the laziest of eyes widened as Twilight's supplies were poured onto the table. At least for once, there was enough for everyone to eat.

"Bon appetit!" Twilight nodded and turned around to go to her room. But Amanda stopped her and dragged her back.

Everyone bowed their heads and chorused:

"Twilight! Forgive us! And thank you! For saving us!"

Now it was time for Twilight to be surprised, for they all said it in a language she knew. And she smiled, her face softening.

"These are apples, eat them. You were out of spirits because you were hungry. I forgive you. Eat up, I need to rest."

My heart was thumping in my head, a symptom of high blood pressure from sleep deprivation and nerves, and my eyes were stinging.

"What about you?"

Twilight wasn't really hungry, she never kept much food, like a squirrel. So she calmly gave them her supply of provisions.

"I'm fine. I've already eaten today."

Amanda was still struggling to overcome the language barrier, but she understood Twilight perfectly.

‘Actually, I wouldn't mind some fruit salads at that tourist resort.’

Chunks of fried changelings immediately appeared in her mind.

"Ugh... Brrrrr..." she shook her head.

Truth be told, right now Twilight really just wanted to rest. Let the brainy ponies do the brainy activities, and Twilight just needed to sleep.

Just when her face touched the pillow, there was an immediate knock on the room.

"You've got to be kidding me...? Mggh! Come in!"

She was already too lazy to get up, so she just continued to lie face down in the pillow. Someone came into the room and quietly snuck in.

"I haven't slept in twenty-seven hours... Can I get some rest? The questions can wait until tomorrow, Amanda..." the same muffled voice from under the pillow.

"syorry. We don't need your help."

"I need to sleep" Twilight snapped at Amanda's request.

"Help us get in touch with TWI-00113, please! She can help us with the pyrovision, and she can explain to us what happened on that planet! That's very important. You-"

"Can't it wait till tomorrow? I'll honestly be very angry if you don't let me rest" Twilight asked more insistently.

"Yes... We understand that you're very tired. And we're sorry to ask you to do this."

"Amanda! Two hours, let me sleep for two hours! Just long enough to build up a steady supply of magical energy. I've used the teleport seventeen times today. I used transmutation a couple of times. I used shield, telekinesis. And I haven't slept in 28 hours! You apologised and I think you understood me. So what the hell was supposed to happen, since only your elite and most intelligent assassin droid can help you?"

"She's a computer... And if she doesn't restart the batteries using her system, we'll probably never be able to shut down the station! We've got three hours. That's why we're asking you to help us..."

‘Three hours... Considering I have almost no energy left... I still have to contact that murderer, and we don't have much time...’

"Oh... Will this help you with provisions?"

"Yes! We can recreate the DNA of your appeles[apple] and begin accelerating the growth of appiles on our lower tier plantations." It was amazing how quickly the current pony got rid of her alien accent. It was as if she had a local analogue of the AI built into her head.

"You owe me provisions, which means a hot bath. I'm really looking forward to a bath."

"Okay, no problem. And we're sorry about what happened."

"Eh... Back to work again..." Twilight reluctantly got up from the bed and followed to the place where it all started. "Amanda, what if 113 doesn't listen to me?"

"Give her my name, she'll have to stop."

"And if she doesn't?" Twilight, unfortunately, didn't hear the answer and exhaled worriedly. "And if she doesn't, she'll kill me... Well... Break a leg..." Twilight teleported outside the building.

"Save magic to the max... Just wings and only a breathing helmet. I should be good for the next three hours." Twilight purposely sent a bright beam of magical light into the sky as a beacon to find her. Twenty minutes had passed since she saw the rainbow-headed bolides already hurtling towards her. "If I surrender to them. Would they bring the 113 faster?"

Twilight waited for both droids and stopped them with a barrier, preventing them from getting unsafely close.

"Droids! I will surrender to you if you summon TWI-00113. Without a fight!" Twilight had actually taken a risky step at this point, however she needed to hurry. Double or nothing.

"Transmitting TWI-00113. This is DSH-12000. Subject Twilight Sparkle is willing to surrender, provided TWI-00113 is present. Acknowledged. Going into standby mode."

Both hovered in place, exerting little to no effort to maintain flight. After a while, a bunch of moving dots also appeared in the distance. Ten, twenty, thirty dots, all flying towards Twilight. Apparently, the slowest of them all was TWI-00113. Because it was flying ballast attached to one of the droids.

"Twilight's subject. TWI-00113 has arrived. Now surrender to us so we can take you apart!"

"I will surrender. But I have something to report to you."

Twilight removed the barrier, letting them grab herself. Immediately, one droid disintegrated, transforming into something like a wide two by three metre platform, immediately chaining her to it. Apparently droids are strangers to the concept of sterility in this regard.

"Disassemble Twilight and hand over her samples for analysis!" commanded 113.

"One hundred and thirteen! We need to talk! I found your makers! And they need you!"

' I had to plead, as being crucified on a platform is not a very promising idea, two of them even already prepared to saw me off.

"STOP!"

"Negative, our sensors have not detected any living organisms!" The 113 was unsteady and didn't give Twilight a chance to stop the autopsy.

"They're out there in those buildings!" Shouted Twilight as the small saws with the sound of a dentist's apparatus approached her chest.

"Impossible. Scans are inconclusive!" Parried the 113 again.

"The scan doesn't go through these things! You'll just have to take my word for it!" Twilight was already panicking and squeezing her eyes shut, she had no way to escape, nor the strength to break free.

"Attention! Disassemble the object Twilight!" 113 commanded loudly.

"No! Amanda will be mad at you!!!" remembering Amanda's words very, very timely, Twilight felt a faint cut on her chest.

"Stop the operation! Amanda?" The robot immediately pulled away, and 113 began to operate under a different mode for the first time, you could tell by her thinking? Robots can't think... They calculate... But now it was as if she had come to life. Her robotic voice changed to an almost normal voice, without those metallic notes, from the speaker.

"Yes! She's waiting for you!" Twilight felt the blood silently flowing from the wound. The droids had managed to hurt her a little, but luckily 113 had stopped them.

"I'm coming with you. Show me where Amanda is!"

‘My hooves were untied, and I exhaled. Already I thought I was finished. It scared me a lot... Shocked me, even. Being gutted alive didn't bode well.’

"They need to restore the base's generator" she sighed as she felt free. But she'd better hurry, in case she changed her mind. "One hundred and thirteen, get over here. They're inside this building. I'll teleport us both there."

"Kidnap threat!" shouted one of the droids.

"Deny the threat! I trust those who know Amanda!"

'She trusts those who know Amanda? That's a very weak defence she has. I guess that's how the other droids died.’

"Teleport!"

‘I nearly passed out from the exhaustion of the magic, and when I arrived inside I was literally lying on the floor, barely able to get words out of my tired throat.’

"Amanda! We're back!"

"Tivylight!" The filly happily ran up to them both and saw TWI-00113.

"Subject Twilight no longer needs to be disassembled for DNA! Operation cancelled! The creators have returned!" The android turned around, not understanding why there was no response.

"Wait! They can't hear you from the walls of the building! Perform a restart of the lab's generator, and please tell us how much time has passed since our anabiosis."

The android hummed, fishing for information from the database, connecting to the lab's computer in the process. Soon the light from the lamps began to burn much brighter, and now the base resembled the brightly lit rooms of a hospital.

"Attention! It is now the 18th of November in the year 3125 of the Equestrian era! 1117 years have passed! The generator has been rebooted! No damage!"

"How come we've been asleep for so long?"

"Attention! Protocol 84 has been executed. Technogenic disaster! All androids are withdrawing from the buildings and attempting to locate survivors. At this time, 23 of the 635 labs and anabiosis chambers are still intact. The rest are currently non-functional!"

"This is terrible! Out of three thousand six hundred, there are only about one hundred and twenty ponies left alive, and that's at best! What if there's only six of us left? That's the death of an entire civilisation..." Amanda lowered her ears, not knowing what to say. "Twilight! Do you have any ideas..." she only now noticed that Twilight was already sleeping right on the floor and couldn't hear her voice.

"Oh..." Amanda tried to lift her up, but couldn't.

"Attention! Vital signs are normal! There's medium magical exhaustion!"

"It's okay, TWI. She'll wake up soon, we had to ask her for a lot of things and so she's exhausted. Although, you probably don't realise..."

"I do! I've been looking for ways! To wake you up!"

Amanda telekinesis lifted Twilight, carrying her into the room. She noticed a small bloodstain on her chest.

"I don't remember us planting a message like that."

"Warning! Data is missing! This message is generated from ancient letters."

"I didn't realise your AI would become so advanced. I'm actually surprised you've kept it running for so many years."

"Attention! I have developed a self-repair algorithm and optimised the maximum longevity of my resources."

"Amazing. You were created by our Chief Engineer for a reason."

* * *

It's been a few days. Thanks to the transmutation, Twilight was given the fruits of various fruits. And the alicorn herself got a well-deserved rest in the form of a hot bath and full bags full of fruit. As Amanda explained, the fruit grown on the lower tiers sprouted at an amazing rate. The replicator chambers had also been restored. There, embryos of new foals created from DNA would be grown. Unfortunately, the survival rate of such foetuses would be around 10-15%.

The crown soon appeared by itself, and Twilight was ready to use it.

"Twilight! Please, before you go... Let us take your DNA" the stallion scientist hurriedly approached her.

"Why?"

"We want to rebuild the population."

Twilight blushed, not sure what he meant. Like a schoolgirl who'd been asked out on a date for the first time, and after a year of a relationship had suggested having a foal.

"Wh-what?" she stuttered.

"No, no, no, no! You misunderstand us. We want to take some tissue samples and combine with our DNA data to produce offspring and increase survival rates! If we're lucky, a few alicorns will be born and we can rebuild the population of our own world and save it. You see, your species is long extinct, as are the pegasi. Perhaps if we could crossbreed your DNA with ours."

I-- Okay. You can have a drop of my blood. But please hurry."

"Of course."

Stan stepped closer to Twilight and with a maniacal look, anaesthetised her quite professionally. Afterwards, an impressive cut of meat weighing about two hundred grams fell into the bowl. Twilight grimaced and didn't let him start sewing the skin back on.

"Healing!" The wound healed almost instantly and she looked up at him, exhaling in relief.

‘Don't think of future foals as your children, they're just bred clones with your DNA. Brrrrr... No... I won't think about that.’

"Twilight! Before you go, we'd like to tell you that we treated you inappropriately at first... And we're really sorry... We'd like to apologise to you and..." the green pony's speech was immediately interrupted.

"No need... Say thank you to Amanda. Without her, I would have just walked away, leaving you to fend for yourselves." Yeah, that was pretty much rude to them at that point.

"Subject Twilight, wait."

' 113 approached me on her own and held out something strange.

"What is it?"

‘An oblong object made of the same white material with a button on top, like a pill jar.’

"A stimulant, or whatever you think it is... Doping! Use as needed! Replenished with magic!"

‘He explains it to me so calmly. It would be a lot easier to see her as alive if her face was distorted in the emotion she's expressing.’

"Thank you. I'll be sure to use it as needed."

‘And even now, looking at 113, I'm already having strong doubts, is it really a robot? ‘It's too illogical by the standards of a soulless machine.

"Goodbye."

The crown shone brightly, opening a new portal, and all would have been fine, but the colour of the vortex was now not just alarming, it was downright frightening. A black substance twisted in thin threads near the centre. Twilight's lowered ears and wide-open eyes made it clear that she was, to put it mildly, frightened and didn't want to go in there.

"Twilight, is everything okay?" Amanda put her hoof on her shoulder.

"Yes... It's just that this is the first time I've seen a portal of such a dark repulsive colour. On your world, the portal was a shade of grey, and the environment here is extremely negative. I can't imagine what's going on out there..."

"Maybe we should help you." Amanda suddenly suggested it.

"No! You can't... If you go out there, you'll never come back... Don't make my mistakes. I'm in my third month... Struggling and trying to survive, and I'll tell you this: don't ever try to travel between worlds. Appreciate what you have and explore what's near you. Because even space will be closer to you than what I have to wade through..."

Twilight took one last look around and plunged into the darkness of the portal. With a burst of magic, it disappeared from the sight of the inhabitants.

Author's Note

it was very hard...