Cyberpony Y2K

Octavia wondered how much ponies really needed to live a comfortable life.

Her early years had been in her family's manor in Canterlot. She had had numerous rooms to herself, servants to coddle her, and just about any physical object she could ask for. However, her parents had been strict and demanding, and had plotted the course of her life for her. They had wanted her to lead their company, and maneuver through countless circles of high society with people she could not be happy with. She had lacked freedom, and had not been happy.

When she had started upon her musical career, she had finally had freedom, but had to give up many of her physical possessions. Her parents had threatened to cut off her allowance, and kick her out. She had finally found freedom, at the cost of physical possessions, and had been happy.

Of course, that had failed, inevitably. Her last bit of freedom was to not go crying back to her mother. She refused to be the cold, callous thing they had wanted her to be. Octavia had found a job at a florist, with little payment and a rude boss who was not someone she had wanted to be alone with. She had not had physical possessions, and had had very little freedom. She had, conversely, also not been happy.

When Fancy had finally walked into that shop, he had been as surprised to see her as she had been to see him. They hadn't met too often, of course, but she had always called him a friend. Fancy had set her up to meet Goldbricker, and she had become his groundskeeper. She hadn't had many possessions, but she had also had much more freedom and...friends. She had been very happy.

Upon joining up with Discord, she'd lacked most possessions and quite a bit of freedom. She'd had a few friends, such as Rarity and Applejack, but hadn't ever thought much about them. She hadn't been unhappy. But then again, they were at war. It was an extended period of strife.

Now, sitting in a shower about the size of her house, she could conclusively say that physical possessions did not make one happy...but they didn't really hurt anything, either.

The door clicked shut. She opened her eyes, snapping out of her thoughts, and looked to the foggy mirror. In it she saw a large puff of orange by the door, leaning against the wall in purple.

"Is something the matter?" Octavia asked.

"Nothing much," Adagio answered.

Octavia froze. It was a real voice, not even a recording of one.

She turned, getting a good look at Adagio. The Siren stood tall, like her sisters, with the great big mass of orange curls cascading down her back, letting her tail curl across the floor in front of her.

Octavia forced her attention back to her reflection. "I wish I could say it was a pleasure to meet you, Adagio, but you did invite yourself into my shower without asking. Which begs the question, how did you get in?"

"I told Seven to let met in," Adagio answered.

"Great," Octavia muttered. "What do you want?"

"You to do something for me. We can discuss it when you're dressed."

A number of indignant responses flitted through her mind, but she chose to ignore them, in favor of saying, "Is it something that can be discussed in the room?"

"No."

Octavia sighed as Adagio left the room. Then, properly disgruntled, she picked up her clothing.

It didn't take her long before she was standing back in the...living room of the suite, staring down Adagio.

Adagio wore a violet crop top, dragonscale overcoat, and elegant silk pants. Her high-heeled boots were propped on the small table in front of the couch, and she peered over the boots, and past her nails, to look at Octavia as she came back into the room.

Octavia first turned her gaze to Seven, who stood in the corner, looking down at her shoes and refusing to meet Octavia's gaze.

Octavia picked up her jacket, slinging it on and covering her pistol, and the specialty ammo she was carrying. "Well?" she asked.

"You know engineering?" Adagio asked.

"Some."

"Android engineering?"

"Yes...?"

"Good. This way."

In a jerky, sudden motion, Adagio swivelled and jumped to her feet, then strode for the door. It was not a movement ponies had enough joints for.

Octavia cursed under her breath, following her out the door. Seven moved to follow, but Octavia stopped, waiting for her. As Seven tried to pass, Octavia put a hand on her shoulder.

Seven stopped moving, finally looking up into Octavia's eyes again. "It's alright," Octavia said. "She's not hurting you anymore."

"I'm sorry," Seven muttered. "She...she ordered me to let her in, I--"

"It's alright," Octavia repeated. "Do you have any idea what this is about?"

"N-no. She...she never does this, she never, ever goes out of her way to talk to ponies. Not since..."

"Since...'Foxtrot'?"

Seven nodded. "She...I...I'm not supposed to talk about it."

"It's fine. You don't have to." Octavia let go, moving off to catch up with the clearly impatient Adagio.

"Can I..."

She stopped, turning back to Seven.

Seven fidgeted, arms folded over her chest. "Can I come back to Discord with you?"

"Yes. Don't worry, I'll clear it with Adagio," Octavia said. She continued moving again, catching up with Adagio. Adagio didn't comment on the quiet conversation between them, instead heading for a door clearly labeled, "EMPLOYEES ONLY."

The door opened for Adagio, but Octavia saw no sign of a key or card reader. She chose to ignore it for now, however, as Adagio lead through several important looking rooms.

Adagio finally pushed open the door into a room. Octavia knew an android maintenance room when she saw one, and was surprised to see that their Discord base was almost as well stocked as the Dazzling's.

There weren't any technicians in the room; its solitary occupant, lying with crossed arms on the operating table, was one of the Adagio androids. Upon closer look, it was Adagio Five.

"Great," the android muttered. "Just f-f-fucking w-wonderful." Her voice echoed, the speakers crackling and whining in a way that grated on Octavia's ears.

"Fix her voice," Adagio ordered, standing to the side.

"Didn't Fluttershy fix it?" Octavia asked, stepping in and moving close to the table.

"Y-yes!"

"Apparently not," Adagio growled, tail swiping side to side.

"I don't even know what was wrong with her," Octavia said. "What is wrong with her."

"I am perfectly f-fine!" Five shouted, throwing her hands into the air. "F-f-f-fuck this, Ad-dagio-o. I'm j-just gonna--"

"You sit down," Adagio snarled, baring her fangs.

Five hesitated. Octavia put a firm hand on her shoulder, pushing her back into her chair. "Adagio," she said, "what damaged her voice box? She said something about stray programming bugs?"

Adagio snorted. "No. It was Happy Time."

Octavia grimaced. "I see." Happy Time. A program designed to artificially induce happiness in androids. And like a drug used by flesh and blood ponies, it caused damage. "And Fluttershy fixed all the parts it damaged, I assume?"

"So she claimed, but the voice box still isn't working," Adagio said.

"Adagio, that can't be fixed."

"What?" Adagio's eyes narrowed. "Sure it can. Just replace it."

"You could do that as many times as you could afford. It wouldn't fix anything." Octavia stepped away from Five, closer to Adagio. "The probably is with her mind. Not her voice."

"But—"

"It's a result of mental trauma," Octavia said. "How long was she using Happy Time?"

Adagio paused before she answered. "I didn't ask. The moment I found she was using it, I told her to stop. The voice box was what I noticed."

"It's a scar. It will never, ever heal," Octavia said.

"No! It has to! You have—you have to fix her!" Adagio glared Octavia down.

Octavia met her gaze, unyielding. Adagio faltered, hesitating. "Surely there's something that can be done."

"I'm sorry. There really isn't," Octavia said.

Adagio stood there, and then...wilted. She stepped back, looking to Five, then down to the floor. Her shoulders slumped.

Octavia put a hand on her shoulder. "Adagio. I'm sorry. But the only thing to do now is prevent your other androids from doing this."

"How? I send them to the far corners of Equestria! The reason we have them in the first place is to manage everything I can't manage myself! How could I possibly--"

Octavia put her finger to Adagio's lip, shushing her. Adagio bristled, but fell silent. "Why do you think she used it in the first place?"

Adagio considered it carefully. "I suppose to forget," she said finally.

"Forget what?"

"How we treat them, perhaps?" Adagio looked over to Five.

"Can you b-blame me?" Five said sourly. "You called me disposable. Threatened to m-melt me dow-own and re-replace me. I lived MY life as...as...as a f-fucking spa-are part! I was nothing to you!"

"You've never been nothing to me!" Adagio shouted. "If you were nothing to me, I wouldn't have risked it sending you out to Discord to repair! I'd have just replaced you!" Adagio blinked away tears, then wiped on her sleeve. She glared at them, then focused her attention back on Five. "I care for you lot. I really do."

"You should t-tell that to Adagio Eleven," Five snapped.

Adagio breathed in sharply, teeth bared briefly.

"Adagio," Octavia said, interrupting everything. Adagio looked to her. Octavia took in a deep breath, then continued. "If you care for them, you need to show it. They are terrified of you."

"No they're not," Adagio snapped.

"Then just look at her." Octavia pointed at Seven. Adagio turned to the android, who stood to the side. As conversation fell silent, Seven briefly looked up from the floor and met their gazes. She stiffened, optics flicking back and forth to see everyone.

"I've seen from day one how terrified she is of you three," Octavia said. "You've hurt them, haven't you?"

"No! I never...I mean...they can't..." Adagio looked to Seven, then back to Octavia. "They're...they're like my children, Octavia."

Five let out a derisive snort. "I-I'd hate to be y-your ch-child, then."

Adagio winced. Pain flashed across her face, and her shoulders tensed.

Let's see if she really believes that. "Seven asked me to take her back to Discord with me," Octavia said.

Adagio jerked her head, turning from Five to Octavia, eyes wide. Octavia nodded slowly. The siren considered it for a moment, then turned towards Seven. Octavia hesitated, but hung back, watching.

Adagio looked down at Seven for a long moment. Then, she threw her arms around her, hugging tightly.

"Please don't go," she whispered. "It can be better around here. I...I'll be better. Just...please...don't leave..."

"I'll believe it when I see it," Seven replied, hugging Adagio back. "If...if you do get better, I'll come back and visit, okay?"

Adagio sobbed quietly. Octavia felt her sympathy rise for her. Maybe she wasn't as bad as I had thought, if there was something redeemable in her.

Adagio finally let go of Seven, then turned to Octavia, fire in her eyes. "Don't you dare let anything happen to her," she snarled, "before she comes back home. Got it?"

"I'll do my best, Adagio," Octavia said. "You do your best to become somepony worth coming home to."

Adagio nodded slowly. Then she looked up, staring deep into Octavia's eyes.

Octavia frowned. "Is something wrong?"

"No...things are...more right than they've been in quite some time," Adagio replied slowly.

"Why are you looking at my eyes like that?"

Adagio looked very much like she was considering telling the truth. Instead, what she said was, "Maybe my idiot sisters have rubbed off on me a little too much."

"If you say so," Octavia said, looking into Adagio's eyes in turn. Her expression was one of thinly masked surprise and shock.

"Normal" my flank, she thought. Aloud, she said, "I'm sorry I couldn't help Five more."

"I'll...keep looking," Adagio said. She looked to where Five lay. adding, "I'll find something to help you. I don't care if takes me several hundred years. I'll find something."

"And if I d-die before then?" Five asked.

"Then it'll be for...somepony else." Adagio smiled. "If there's one thing I've learned after a thousand years with you lot, it's that when someone gives you a stupid choice, someone will always choose the stupid one." She turned, then hugged Octavia. "Thank you," she said.

"I'm just doing my job."

"If you were just doing what Sunset had told you, you'd have already tried to assassinate me," Adagio said. She lifted up a hand, holding up a small cartridge. "You didn't bring the diamond bullets for shits and giggles, I assume?"

Octavia's hand shot to her side, into her pocket. Then she paused, finding the ammo cartridge exactly where she left it. "Wait, but--"

"You've got a lot of work you need to prepare for the Inquisitors," Adagio tutted. "Come along. I'll help you work that out." She put down what Octavia now recognized as a spare part that happened to look like an ammo cartridge.

Octavia grimaced. "Alright. I'll be right along." She turned to Five, saying, "I can give you another check-over, if you desire, but I guarantee I won't find anything that Fluttershy didn't."

"That's eg-xactly what shhhh-e said," Five said. "I j-just nee-eed to boot off for a little while. It'll resolve itself. I-it usually does."

"Alright," Adagio said. "I'll meet you back in your room, then." She turned, stepping out the door. Octavia put a hand on Seven's shoulder. "You alright?"

"I guess?" Seven said slowly. "I'd have appreciated it if you didn't put me on the spot like that, Melody."

"Sorry. I needed to make my point clear," Octavia apologized. "One last thing. What was Adagio looking at a minute ago?"

"Weird optical illusion, I think," Seven said. "It just liked like your eyes were...well, a rainbow for a second. It must be a result of the light levels in this room, I suppose."

"Unless there's another explanation?"

Seven shrugged. "What could it possibly be?"

Octavia could say nothing for certain. But she knew, she just knew, that it had something to do with why Sunset came up to her on the balcony.

But she had no idea what it could possibly be. After all, as Sunset said, she was absolutely, perfectly normal.

Wasn't she?