Circuit could not identify the lens through which it currently saw. A glitch perhaps? It ran a brief diagnostic. Nothing out of the ordinary presented itself. What was it, then? Something had changed. Where before there was the drive to acquire information there was now...

Pride. Yes, that was it. Something told it that it was the correct name for itself, and yet...

How could "Circuit" be the correct name? It had not been correct before, so why now? Had its original name been overwritten? Had it always been there? Why could it not remember? It was certain it had not been, but it was certain that it was now.

And Circuit was proud of its new name.

"I, am... Circuit," it stated, taking a step towards Rarity, who by now was trembling as if in severe cold.

She took a deep breath as she stared into Circuit's ocular units.

"C- Circuit?" she stammered out. Then, regaining her composure, "Y-yes. Yes! Good heavens I can't believe I didn't think of it myself. Yes, Circuit is a perfect name for you, darling!" A wide smile spread across her face from ear to ear. However, it gradually faded as she turned for contemplative. "An inspired name, dare I say, but..."

"What, is, 'inspired?'"

Rarity raised her eyebrows. "I suppose Twilight would give you the dictionary definition, but I would say it is the sudden realization of a new idea." She studied Circuit closely, eyeing him up and down. "Not something I would expect... well, from something like you. No offense, darling."

Circuit tilted its head, struggling to comprehend the meaning of those words in that order. "It, is, correct. I, do, not, under, stand, the, discrepancy."

"Well, it's just... Circuit," her face hardened as she took a step forward. "Do you know what you are?"

"I, do, not, under, stand, the, premise, of, the, inquiry."

Rarity sighed. "Okay, how about this then: What am I?"

"The, owner, and, proprietress, of, Carousel, Boutique."

"That would be my title, yes, but I'm thinking more generally, darling."

Circuit's head tilted in the opposite direction. Generally?

"A... unicorn."

She motioned with her hoof for Circuit to continue.

"A, pony."

"There we go. Yes, I am a pony. So now what are you?"

Circuit froze. No word was coming to it that could adequately answer Rarity's prompt. Circuit's head dipped down as it looked at the floor.

"I, do, not... know."

A white hoof was placed on its shoulder as Rarity said, "There, there, darling, I'm sure we'll figure it out." For some reason, the gesture compelled Circuit to straighten up a little. "Although, I do think I have some idea if you would indulge me for a moment."

She trotted over to a desk and picked a small, gold framed mirror off her desk with... Magic. Again, Circuit was met with instant recognition, though it was certain it had never seen such a thing done before. It eyed the floating mirror as it followed Rarity towards the large mirror and she waved him over. Circuit complied, still focusing primarily on the floating mirror.

Once Circuit stood in front of the full-body mirror, Rarity levitated the desk mirror under its barrel, forcing it to look down between its forelegs to keep it in view. Outside its field of view, Rarity stifled a laugh.

"N-No, darling, look in the big one."

Switching its gaze to its reflection, Circuit saw that the desk mirror was angled in such a way that it was looking at what was directly on its underbelly. Incongruent with the rest of Circuit's gray plates was a small black square with white markings. It zoomed in its field of view to assess what was inscribed.

According to the plate, the XRCT painted on its flank was evidently Circuit's... model? Of which it was the... second variant, but also the first one? The information refused to register anything within Circuit.

"I, am, an, X, R, C, T. I, do, not, know, this, acronym. What, is, a, model?"

"Well, in the fashion business, a model would be somepony who wears and displays clothes." Circuit was about to interrupt, but Rarity continued, fixing it with a serious look. "It also refers to a specific product line that a company might manufacture on an assembly line."

"I, was, constructed?"

"Indeed, from metal and machinery. Or that's my working theory, at least. That little plate looks an awful lot like the one on my furnace - even made by the same company albeit a different branch I think." Rarity angled the mirror so that she could look at the data plate again. "Does 'Royal Dynamics Land Systems' mean anything to you?"

"It, was, the, first, line, to, appear, in, my, commands, when, I, came, online."

Rarity nodded. "I don't suppose you know anything about them, do you?"

Circuit scanned its data banks, searching for whatever might be associated with its presumed creators. It expected to find nothing just as it had for so many other things, but something - useless, but something - appeared.

"Record, deleted, by, unknown, user."

That seemed to catch Rarity by surprise. Her eyes shot wide as she recoiled. "Record... deleted? So then somepony deliberately erased your memories, if only partially..." She fell into a contemplative silence.

They both stood there, quietly considering the implications of what little they'd learned about Circuit. The sound of the back door opening brought them out of their reverie as Sweetie Belle entered the main showroom of the boutique, a silver tray with porcelain teapot and pair of cups floating alongside her.

"Okay, Rarity, tea's- ... Woah," was her reaction when she locked "eyes" with Circuit. "He's big."

"Oh goodness!" Rarity said with a start. "I almost forgot, although I suspect that second cup would be yours, Sweetie."

"Um... why?"

"Well, if I'm not mistaken, I don't believe Mister Circuit here is interested."

"'Circuit?'" Sweetie Belle echoed as she stared up at Circuit, who seemed especially interested in the floating tea.

"Yes, this is Circuit," Rarity said as she gestured to it. "He is... from out of town and appears to have a severe case of amnesia." She waved her hoof to get its attention and said, "Circuit, this is Sweetie Belle, my little sister."

Circuit's massive head swung towards Sweetie Belle, who was nearly frozen in shock. It took a few steps towards her and it realized just how much larger it was than the filly. Just one of its hooves was nearly the size of her entire body.

"Hello, Sweetie, Belle," it said, unsure if that was the proper greeting.

"H-Hi..." she stammered out. Turning to her sister she asked, "So... uh... is this who was outside?"

"So it would seem, yes. I'm trying to help him get his bearings, but he unfortunately doesn't have much to work with. Perhaps we could take this conversation to the couch? Heavens, I could certainly use the tea..."

Rarity guided her sister and Circuit to a couch in the main showroom. Normally she would use this for discussions with clients that were requesting more custom orders, so a quill and pad of paper was always present on the coffee table. She took a seat on the couch and retrieved the pad, already jotting down everything they'd determined. The remarkably short list troubled her. Sweetie Belle had placed the tray down and taken a seat next to her, intentionally putting her big sister between herself and Circuit. As she did, Rarity poured herself a cup of tea and took a long draw.

Circuit, however, took one look at the couch, then at its own bulk and sat back on its haunches on the far side of the table saying, "High, probability, of, exceeding, weight, limit. I, will, remain, on, the, floor."

Following its train of thought, Rarity agreed. "That would... probably be best. I'm almost surprised the floorboards can handle it themselves." She took another look at the meager list and sighed. "So... Royal Dynamics Land Systems... I know the Royal Dynamics company a little bit, but this particular branch doesn't seem to be ringing any bells."

"What's 'Royal Dynamics?'" Sweetie Belle asked after reading Rarity's list.

Rarity hummed. "They used to mostly make industrial machines and appliances and things such as. The building's furnace was actually made by their consumer goods branch, and you can still find their products all over the place."

Tilting its head, Circuit asked, "Still?"

"They went bankrupt about twenty years ago. To be honest, I was too young to really remember any of it, but some of the older folks around town used to work in their old factory. Supposedly there was a huge court case against them, and the throne wound up seizing all of their assets."

"What, was, the, nature, of, the, case?"

She shrugged. "Nopony knows, not even the old workers. There's a few different rumors, but for some reason none of the court documents were ever released to the public. It's not even confirmed that the case was against them at all."

"What's that mean?" Sweetie Belle asked, clearly having trouble following the conversation.

"It means that whatever they did is being kept secret, which is something that almost never happens," she explained.

"Oh... They must have done something really bad then."

As she said that, the sisters turned to face Circuit with looks of growing dread.

"Circuit..." Rarity said hesitantly, "Do you know how long ago you were built?"

Recalling the lines of script that formed Circuit's first memory it said, "Last, power, cycle, recorded, twenty, years, two, hours, thirty, one, minutes, ago."

Rarity's magical hold on her teacup faltered for a brief moment as her eyes shot wide in shock. "Um... I think I need to go run by the library... and do some research."

She gently placed the teacup on the table and then frantically bolted to the door with her notepad in tow without another word. Circuit and Sweetie Belle watched the boutique's door slam behind her, then turned and looked at each other in mutual confusion. There was then an audible smack as Sweetie Belle facehooved.

"Guess I'd better close up shop..."

"Does, this, sort, of, event, happen, frequently?"

"Just about every Friday, yeah."

"How, uncanny."

Twilight happily unwrapped a package that had been delivered earlier in the morning. Within was her shipment of new books to add to the library's shelves: a collection older books that she'd special ordered, a few that were out of print and somewhat rare, as well as a number of new ones sent by publishers the library had partnered with. She picked up and read the cover of one of the newly published books.

"Hmm... 'Blinded Justice: Details, Discussions, and Theories of Equestria's Hidden Court Cases,'" she read. Intrigued, she opened it and read the first paragraph of the introductory chapter.

In over one thousand years since the formation if Her Majesty's Royal Court, virtually all cases and hearings held have been available on the public record. Transcripts, evidence, and rulings alike are immortalized in the Royal Archives for all to see, with some of the oldest records dating back to the imprisonment of Discord himself. On rare occasion, however, some cases have been hidden from the public eye with no available knowledge as to their rulings, evidence, claims, even the identity of the defendants themselves. All we are left with is the knowledge that sometimes the doors of the courts are closed and locked for a period of time, and, more often than not, major changes that affect the whole of Equestria ensue.

"Interesting. I wonder if there's anything about Nightmare Moon in here? One would think there was some kind of trial," she surmised as she placed the book back in the box, making a mental note to pick it up later. She was just about to reach for the next when a frantic knocking came from the front door.

"I got it, Twi!" she heard Spike call out as he opened the door. "Oh! Uh, hi, Rarity, what's going on?"

Twilight's ear perked as she heard Rarity's winded voice. "Oh, hello Spike. Is Twilight busy? I need to ask her something important."

"Yeah, she's over at the tables. You... okay? Looks like you ran the whole way here."

His voice grew louder as Spike led Rarity to where Twilight was inventorying the books. When they were in view, Twilight saw what Spike apparently did. Rarity's mane was disheveled and hanging limply, sweat dripped from her face, and she was audibly struggling to catch her breath as her breath came in deep heaves. A large notepad was curiously held in her magic grasp alongside her.

"Well, you certainly aren't wrong," Rarity gasped as she wiped her brow and attempted to compose herself. "But yes, I'm fine, though I am starting to regret not taking Rainbow up on her offer to be my personal trainer." With one overly dramatic deep breath, she gave Twilight a smile. "Oh, good afternoon Twilight, I hope I'm not interrupting something important."

Twilight chuckled and pushed the package to the side of the table. "Oh, it's fine, really. Just got a new shipment of books and was taking inventory." She pulled out the stool next to her and invited her to take a seat. "So what's up? Something happen?"

Taking her spot next to Twilight, Rarity said, "Well, it is Friday."

"Oh no..."

"But other than everypony hiding in their homes, it would seem to be relatively tame compared to the nonsense that normally goes on around here."

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Twilight groaned, "So on a scale of one to Discord, what kind of damage are we looking at?"

Rarity guffawed and said, "Probably a Zecora."

"Phew, okay, so as long the Crusader's don't get any wild ideas we should be fine."

The fashionista's eyes shot wide open as if she suddenly remembered something. Then she shook her head, mumbling to herself, "No, no, she'll be fine..."

"Rarity...?" Twilight was suddenly very concerned.

Tapping her hoof on the table, Rarity thought about where to start. Eventually she asked, "Have you ever heard about Royal Dynamics?"

Twilight blinked in confusion. That was... a remarkably un-Rarity-ish topic for her to bring up. "The old appliance company? A little bit I guess, but admittedly it's not something I've ever read much into." Then, against her better judgement, she asked, "Why?"

"Mmm... I was hoping you might have had something about them, specifically about why they went bankrupt."

"I don't exactly have business records in here, Rarity. Besides, you aren't really going to hear much about them other than conspiracy... theories..." Twilight trailed off as she looked at the package on the table. "Actually, I might something."

She pulled the box back towards her and pulled out the "Blinded Justice" book. What were the odds that the book might have the right information in it? Twilight cracked it open and flipped to a random chapter.

Though this collection consists of Equestrian court cases exclusively, it should be noted that global politics can, on rare occasions, result in Her Majesty's Court taking cases that revolve around international events and the peoples involved in them. Everything from terrorists and saboteurs to asylum seekers mean that Equestria may find such foreigners in our justice system. It is exceptionally rare for such cases to be sealed from the public eye, as multiple nations will have their attention drawn to them and deliberate obfuscation would very likely result in international incidents. However, in this chapter we will be discussing one of the rare instances of this exact phenomenon occurring as it pertains to the Griffin Civil War and the concurrent sealed court case of 678.

678? Twilight thought. That's over three hundred years ago! How often does this happen?

"When did they go under, again? About twenty years ago?"

"I believe so, yes."

"Hm... let's see." Twilight flipped to the last chapter, hoping it was written in chronological order. Sure enough, the second to last chapter was dated about then. "Here we go, it looks like there was a sealed court case in 982. That looks right. Aaand... Yes! The first thing it mentions is that it coincided with the bankruptcy and seizure of Royal Dynamics. Oh, wow, were they really the third largest company in the world?"

"Focus, darling."

"Right, sorry. So, details about them going bankrupt, right?"

"Yes, but see if you can find anything about their 'Land Systems' branch."

"'Land Systems?' I've... never heard of that, but sure let's see." Twilight scanned through the chapter, skipping over admittedly intriguing details about the fallen monolith of a company. "Let's see, first founded in 952, multiple subsidiaries including Consumer Products, Industrial Solutions, and... Railhead Transport? Didn't know they made trains... And... Oh! Here we go, 'Land Systems.'"

Rarity perked up. "Well? Don't keep me in suspense, darling."

Twilight furrowed her brow, disappointed at the evident dearth of information available. "It... says that nopony could ever figure out what they made. While all the other branch companies were incredibly profitable, they were all meticulous in their record keeping when it came to revenue and shipments. Land Systems apparently never made anything, and were only established in 980."

"So they were only around for two years? Do you think they were why they went bankrupt?"

"Its possible, but what could they have possibly done in two years that could result in the world's third largest company going under?"

Pursing her lips, Rarity hesitantly said, "I... might have figured out what they made, darling."

"Does it have anything to do with what's going on outside right now?"

"Unfortunately."

"... And you left it alone with Sweetie Belle?"

"I'm... sure she's fine," Rarity attempted to force a smile, but only succeeded in making a pained grimace. "Oh, who am I kidding, Twilight, we need to go!"

"Okay, just let me- HEY!" she was unceremoniously yanked by her hoof and dragged after Rarity, the book flying out of her grip onto the table. "I guess this is my life now. Spike! Watch the library!"

Spike, who by now had slinked off to a bean bag chair to read a comic book while the mares talked, glanced up momentarily to see the minor chaos unfolding. With a roll of his eyes he licked a claw and turned a page as the library door slammed shut, eyes glazed.

"If I die, I die," he muttered to himself dismissively. He really should ask Twilight for an advance on his allowance.

As the two mares arrived at the door of Carousel Boutique, Rarity slammed the door open in a panic as she feared the worst. The reality of what she saw in front of her was almost more absurd than anything she had seen today as Circuit and Sweetie Belle were casually sitting on opposite sides of the coffee table where she'd left them. They'd evidently chosen to occupy themselves with a simple chess game while Rarity had gone to fetch Twilight.

Amusingly, Circuit was losing quite badly.

"Checkmate," Sweetie Belle said as she moved a rook.

Circuit stared at the chess board for a moment, then said in its usual halting monotone, "Best, three, out, of, five."

Sweetie Belle giggled as she reset the pieces. "Just be glad you're not playing against Big Mac. You wouldn't know it by looking at him, but he's won at least three tournaments in a row now."

Rarity looked between them, eyes darting back and forth.

"Well, it could be worse," she finally said in relief.

Her words seemed to have gotten Circuit's attention as it swung its armored head around to face her. "Hello, Rarity. Did, you, acquire, any, information?"

It could have just been her imagination, but Rarity could have sworn Circuit was starting to sound more... normal, if not in its speech patterns, but its word choice. Perhaps it was gradually learning how ponies talked regularly? At least Sweetie Belle was something resembling a good example. Rarity shuddered at the thought of Rainbow Dash or Applejack "teaching" the machine how to talk.

"Not as much as I'd like, but I have somepony here I'd like you to meet." She stepped inside in ushered a winded Twilight inside. "Circuit, this is Twilight Sparkle. She is our resident librarian and protege of Princess Celestia."

Twilight flopped on the floor, gasping for breath. "Let me know when you go to the gym with Rainbow, I'm coming too."

"If you insist, darling. Anyway, this is Circuit. He's what's caused all this commotion today."

From the floor, Twilight craned her neck as the enormous armored stallion stood up and approached her. It held out a polite hoof.

"Do, you, require, assistance, Twilight, Sparkle?"

She looked from the glossy black visor down to Circuit's armored hoof, realizing that it was easily the size of her head. Twilight took it hesitantly as she was helped up, noting that it didn't so much as budge when she put her weight on it.

"Um, yes, thank you Mister Circuit. Where exactly did you say he came from, Rarity?"

Rarity chewed the inside of her cheek as she thought about the best way to put it, then shrugged in resignation.

"As best I can tell, Circuit is a machine made by this 'Land Systems' branch, and he says he was built almost exactly twenty years ago so..." she trailed off, letting Twilight fill in the blanks.

Twilight stared into Circuit's visor wide-eyed as she processed what she'd seen and heard. Rarity had called it a machine and while it certainly looked the part, it spoke and acted as if it were a truly sapient being, minus the odd cadence to its speech. Suddenly it clicked. She was looking at the physical manifestation of billions - tens, even - of bits in research and development, so much so that the price tag made an entire corporation collapse under its weight in under two years.

Circuit tilted its head, waiting for some kind of response.

With all that time and money poured into one machine, Twilight was very likely looking at one of the most - if not the most - advanced pieces of technology Equestria had ever seen.

And it couldn't even beat a filly at chess.

Author's Note

Well, better late than never. At least I wasn't gone for 10 years this time.