"Another successful invention by our one and only, Haywire Hoofson!" The announcer said on the TV as a yellow unicorn walked across the stage.
The young pegasus watched as her dad walked up to the podium to give a speech. She lay on her stomach, eyes glued to the TV with awe, for she rarely saw her dad.
"Thank you, thank you! Now, I'm sure why you're all here today... And that's to unveil the new debut security system that MANECOM has announced!"
A round of applause and cheering followed.
"We've worked day and night to improve our systems, to tune our products to such fine quality. But this, this security mainframe we've created is entirely buck-proof; absolutely secured 100%."
More cheering followed.
"Sadly, however, the product isn't done. But, the work is coming quite fast and very efficiently. It should be in stores within... a week!"
A roar from the many ponies sounded as they all cheered for Haywire. The filly could see the joy in her dad's face, but was soon covered with all of the ponies shooting confetti in the air. Her dad walked off of the stage.
"8-Bit, it's time for bed." Her mom, Applebit, came into her room.
"I know, mom, I was just watching my dad's announcement. I can't wait to go see him tomorrow!"
"I know you're excited, dear, but you'll need sleep if you're ever going to endure the surprise your dad has for you."
"I'll try."
8-Bit jumped into bed and her mom tucked her in. She gave her a good night kiss and 8-Bit soon drifted off to sleep.
~~~
8-Bit woke up with energy, happy that the next day had arrived. She cleaned herself and dressed herself, ready to go to Fillydelphia to see her dad. She grabbed the small suitcase her mom had packed yesterday and headed off outside, where a carriage waited for her.
Applebit stood next to the carriage, "Bye, sweetie. I hope you'll have a nice time with your father." She hugged her.
"Bye mom!" She threw the bag into the back and hopped in. The carriage began to move and a journey to Fillydelphia began.
"Be safe!" Her mom called, waving at 8-Bit.
8-Bit's birthday was today, so, the trip to Fillydelphia to see her dad was Applebit's present to her; it was the best thing she'd ever gotten. And, since she was off for the summer, she could even stay with her dad for half the summer, that is, if her mom would let her. However, she knew the trip would last a little while, so, she took a little nap.
Some time later, the driver's voice woke her, "We're here, Ms. Hoofson."
"Already?" Yawning and rubbing her eyes.
"Actually, it was an hour's drive, but yes, we are here." He grabbed her bags and placed them beside him, "And I do believe somepony is here to see you." He gestured behind him to a familiar yellow unicorn.
Her eyes opened and squealed with joy, "DADDY!" She jumped out of the carriage and sprinted towards him. She basically tackled him to the ground and Haywire couldn't help but laugh.
"How's my little kilobyte doing?" He hugged her.
"I'm doing great!"
They both got up and Haywire dusted himself off, "Well, that's good! Now, come, I've got something amazing to show you!"
They both walked inside MANECOM. 8-Bit's jaw dropped in awe to see the huge ultra dome that was the lounge. The floors were so clean, she was actually afraid of dirtying the floor. But, Haywire insisted that they weren't going to scratch. They walked across the glossed floors and over her dad's Cutie Mark, which was a microchip and MANECOM's logo.
"You're going to love what I've done, 8-Bit." Haywire said with joy and anticipation.
"What is it, the security program that you announced?"
"Even better."
Haywire opened an elevator and pressed a button to the testing room.
"I've worked day and night, creating one of the best breaks in technology," Haywire explained, "Everyday, I've added more and more to it and everyday it gets improved on its own; even the programs inside are flawless!"
"What is it?"
"A new world, 8-Bit, an entire world created by me! For years, I've dreamed of creating such a world where I can do anything, work with beings that knew what I liked and everything in between!"
The elevator door opened and 8-Bit was blinded by a light that was brighter than Celestia's presence. They stepped inside a narrow, snow white room, where the walls were lined with suits made out of some digitalized cloth.
"What are these?"
"Hoof Suits; you'll need those to get into the world, otherwise, you're just watching TV."
At the end of the room, 8-Bit noticed 2 suits that were unique from the rest of them. One of them was yellow, which was obviously her dad's, and was lined with blue stripes that pulsed with energy. The other had the same design, only, it was black.
"I took the liberty of making one for you." Haywire, told her.
"Awesome!"
Haywire's horn began to glow with magic. As he hovered his card next to the lock, the glass opened and a mechanized voice greeted her father. He grabbed the suits and both of them slipped their suits on. They stepped into the next room, which was just a very small grey room lined with dim lights.
"Uhmm... Why are we in here? It's kind of small."
"Just you wait, you silly little filly."
A sudden humming began to fill the room. 8-Bit cowered and hugged her father. The humming grew louder and the room began spin. Soon enough, the room began to spin even faster. So fast, that even though she held onto her dad, she felt as if she were going to fly into the chaotic madness. She closed her eyes and hugged tighter.
Eventually, the humming ceased and 8-Bit opened her eyes to see that the room had stopped spinning. However, the room looked like an actual room; it wasn't the small grey room they entered. The room was about the size of a small gym and she could see that there were multiple rooms that lead off to different places of the room she was in. Next to her was a small stand with chrome apples and blue beverage that she had no idea of what it could be. Near her dad was a TV and a couch in front of it. In the center of the room was a huge round table with hovering pillows orbiting around it. Behind that, was a window that revealed an entire city before her.
"Wow... What is this place?"
"This... This is another world. This is The Hoof."
"'The Hoof'?" 8-Bit asked, walking up to the window before her and staring out at the city.
"Yes. An entire world created by me and only me; no help from others, whatsoever." Haywire explained, "I created this world as an experiment, to increase the capabilities of programs everywhere and to work inside the network itself."
"Why would you need to work inside when you can just do it from outside?"
"That's what I asked myself: Why would I need to waste my time making another world when I can do the same without it? Well, I realized that it wasn't going to work out as I thought it would. Think of it as a store: You see the outside and you know how everything works; everypony asks what they want and they trot out of the store, with their desired item. But, if you went in as a worker, then you'd see how everything works in detail, what goes into getting that mare or stallion's item. If I do the same thing with a computer, I'll know how everything works, I'll know exactly what's going on and where."
"That's so cool! What do you when you're not working?" 8-Bit took a pillow from the orbit and sat down.
"Hmm... Well, I suppose I could take you down to The Games, but I'm not sure you'd like it..." Haywire went up to the window and stared at the city. 8-Bit could see her dad smirking in the reflection.
She got up from the pillow and bounced up and down, begging her dad, "Ooh, ooh, please, can we go?"
"Sure, why not, it is your birthday."
"Yay!" She jumped excitedly.
"Come, 8-Bit, I'll show you how we'll get there."
He waved his key card in front of a scanner that opened a door into a reflective room. Inside that room were multiple doors that had a pixelized haze blocking each door. In the middle was a blue power core that pulsed with each step they took. 8-Bit took amusement to it and started to play around with it, jumping side to side.
"8-Bit," Her dad called, "This way." He nodded towards a door labeled 'The Arena'.
They both stepped through the door and walked through a hallway of scripts. Letters and numbers floated around the 2 ponies, taking a slow walk through the digital space. A string of coding wrapped itself around 8-Bit, making her giggle as it unraveled itself in front of her and shot back into the digital walls. In front of her, she saw a doorway of pure light that her dad disappeared into. Soon, she could hear a faint noise of cheering. As she stepped closer and closer, the cheering grew louder and louder. Then, when she stepped through the door, she found her dad standing in the middle of a glass box. When she looked down, her mouth dropped in awe as a dark reflective arena suddenly surrounded her. The box she stood in hovered precariously in the middle of the arena. 8-Bit could see that there were millions of ponies cheering and hooting.
"Wow..." She whispered, still taking in the sight of the arena.
"Amazing, isn't it?" Haywire smiled.
She looked down at another glass box off in the distance. "What is that, daddy?"
"Ah, Disc Wars. That's quite a fun game."
In the box, 2 ponies were fighting with, what looked like glowing frisbees. The first pony, a red unicorn, took the disc off with his horn and levitated it in front of him. The second one, an orange pegasus, held the disc in his mouth. Both of them charged each other. As the unicorn charged the pegasus, the pegasus jumped into the air, landing upside down in the glass box. He threw the disc, but missed, making it bounce off the other walls before catching it back in his mouth. The unicorn jumped up to join his advisory. He charged the pegasus, but he jumped back down onto the normal flooring. The unicorn followed. Then, the pegasus charged him, but he tripped. The unicorn jumped in the air, disc ready to strike him.
8-Bit turned away, scared to see what was about to happen. Haywire chuckled, "Don't worry, honey, nopony gets hurt in here." He aimed her head back at the battle.
The unicorn tagged him on his back, making the pegasus' vest emit a pulsing red light. The unicorn placed the disc on his back and smiled as a roar of cheers sounded off. The pegasus got up and gave him a congratulatory hoof-shake.
She turned back to her dad to see him with a light blue unicorn standing next to him. He must have noticed her because he made his way over to her.
"Why hello there, you adorable little filly!" He said, bending down to get a closer look at her. She went behind her dad, cowering and hiding her face.
"Ah, don't be afraid, 8-Bit, this is ViTUS; my management program that runs and watches The Hoof when I'm not here. Say hello!"
She slowly came out from behind her dad. "Hi, I'm 8-Bit." She quietly greeted.
"Well, hello, 8-Bit! I'm ViTUS, a great friend of your dad and the management program that runs this place! Your father was the one that created me."
Her eyes opened, "My dad created you?"
"Of course! He created everything around us."
"Awesome!"
ViTUS chuckled, "Indeed it is! Well, everything is all set, Haywire."
"Thank you, ViTUS."
"Ready? Ready for what?" 8-Bit asked.
"For the Light Bike Races." He pointed down at the arena where 2 teams of ponies lined up with their corresponding colors.
Soon, a series of pixelated tones sounded. All the ponies sprinted and jumped in the air as a bike began to load itself around each of the ponies. Then, all of them shot off in a race around the arena, going faster than anypony had seen. It was really intense to see the digital ponies fight for the lead. Eventually, a blue pony took the lead and ran his first lap, scoring 1 point for blue. However, the next lap, a red pony took the lead and scored a point for red team. The race lasted on for several intense minutes before blue won the game 7-6.
"That was cool!" 8-Bit shouted, face pressed up against the glass.
"I'm glad you liked it!" Haywire chuckled. "C'mon, it's time I take you to lunch."
"Ooh!" 8-Bit groaned, "Why can't we eat here?" She pouted.
"Because the food in here will only affect you in here. If you left after you ate in here, you'd be hungry on the outside."
"Oh... Can we at least come back in after we eat?"
"No, I'm afraid not... I actually have to work on updating the hardware for The Hoof. ViTUS tells me there are a couple of glitches he's seen around the city. Plus, you're going to have to go home; your mother had baked you a wondrous apple pie for your birthday."
"Aw!"
"Don't worry, it'll be done by next week and you can come back to play a little bit longer."
~~~
After they left The Hoof, Haywire had gotten her a couple of pieces of hay for the trip back home. He waved a hoof good-bye as the carriage took off for Buckingham. She returned the wave back and dug into her small stash of hay her dad had given her. After she ate half of the bag, she put it away and went to sleep again, knowing the length of the trip. She arrived home at night and her mom greeted her with the apple pie she'd made, but 8-Bit was still asleep. She smiled and nudged her awake. She escorted the tired filly to bed and kissed her good night.
