//------------------------------// // Discovered // Story: Object XP-84c // by Scourge the yellow cat //------------------------------// Dimension 'Good' The Everfree Forest, Kingdom of Equestria "Hey Abs, wait up!" Abentfree turned toward the sound as she saw two ponies catching up to her, out of breath. One was Stormsurge, a magnificent Pegasus stallion that had sky blue fur and orange eyes, with a hurricane for his cutie mark. His white mane was fashioned to look like his cutie mark. He usually spent his time practicing his flying, bragging, or both. Abentfree still remembered the day they met, when he accidentally caused a rain cloud to rain on her when they were foals. Then there was Techno, a night black unicorn mare with the cutie mark of a gear and what seems to be a square-like chip in the middle. She preferred to wear steampunk goggles, either over her visible left emerald green eye or sitting atop her horn, just like that DJ P0N-3 mare with her shades. She also had wild electric orange hair that hangs down to cover her right eye. Techno's name was actually Plant Keeper and was a part of the Keepers, a family that HATED technology. Imagine their reaction as they saw their daughter get her cutie mark while fidgeting with a piece of scrap metal. After being abandoned by the Keepers, she just simply moved on to Ponyville, where she was destined to meet Abentfree and Stormsurge, while also becoming Silver Spanner’s rival in the process. Abentfree rolled her eyes as her friends finally got to her, with Techno collapsing on the green grass underneath. "Is...it...over...yet?" Said Techno, between gasps. "C'mon, it was only a hundred hoof race." Replied Abentfree. Stormsurge rolled his eyes in amusement as he said "Techno, how in Equestria would you think that you can beat a mare that can not tire?" Techno only replied with a death stare. "Well, why...*GASP*...don't you...*GASP*...race her then?" Techno replied between gasps. "Well...when you have things called wings, it kinda defeats the whole purpose, isn't that right, Abs?" Said Stormsurge as he rolled his head to his right, expecting Abentfree to be there. Except she wasn't there. Stormsurge's eyelids shot up. "Abs? Where are you?" He shouted in panic. He worried that something terrible happened to her. It is all his fault, he should've bee- "Yes?" Shouted Abentfree from an opening a couple hooves behind them. Oh... Thought Stormsurge as he felt his cheeks grow hot, becoming hotter as Techno was laughing her lungs to shreds. The thing about Stormsurge was, well, he wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, so to speak. "In the name of Faus- I can't breathe, I can't breathe..." Wheezed Techno as she was just starting to calm down. "WILL YOU TWO GOOFBALLS SETTLE DOWN AND COME OVER HERE?" Yelled Abentfree from the same spot. "Sure." Stormsurge and Techno both replied, with Techno still chuckling as they trotted towards Abentfree. |¦|¦|¦| "What's up?" Asked Techno when they got there. Abentfree was looking at a wall that has been covered with moss. Whatever she was looking at, however, has been obscured from Techno's view. Abentfree pointed to a part of the wall with her left forehoof. "Do you know what this might be?" She asked in curiosity. Techno followed where the pointing hoof was indicating and was bedazzled at the area in question. It was a piece of the wall that was clear of any vegetation that otherwise would have covered the wall. The wall underneath was a reddish brown, something Techno was all too familiar with, the color of oxidized metal. The bumpy, reddish brown color rose and fell in patterns, meaning it HAD to have been built. "That seems to be some kind of door." She replied. Abentfree's eyes flashed with energy and enthusiasm. "Well, what we waiting for? Let's get inside!" Asked the energetic pony. Techno replied, "Well, I don't see a means of a way in..." "Found one." Stormsurge reported as he pointed to a hole where the wall has given way to time. Techno gave the Pegasus another death stare. Abentfree raced into the hole, forcing the others to follow suit. Inside was pitch black. "I can't see a damn thing." Said a not amused Techno. Abentfree's face fell in disappointment, but then she noticed that Techno's horn was glowing. Suddenly, the ceiling started to flicker with light, allowing them to see the room. The room had been partially taken over by the invading vines and plants. The remaining portion that remained had items such as desks and tables and books, they could identify, but then there were alien objects, such as drawings and what seemed to be maps on the peeling walls, rectangular thingamajigies on the tables, and a tattered flag that had been hung up on the roof. The top third of the flag was a red stripe, where the middle stripe was blue and the bottom was green. Judging by the state of the surroundings, this place must have been unbelievably old. "Ok, let's split up and explore this place!" Said Abentfree with excitement as she raced to see the most stuff ASAP. The other two looked at each other in concern and joined Abentfree. Unknown to the explorers, however, was that one of those thingamajigies had its screen lit up. POWER RESTORED was displayed in black on a blue background, and just before it flickered out, it updated to say ACTIVATING PROTOTYPE... ******* The Castle of Friendship, Ponyville, Kingdom of Equestria "Twilight? Are you still looking through that 'artifact'?" Twilight Sparkle recognized Spike's voice instantly, as well as the sarcasm. "Yes Spike, this is indeed an artifact and yes, I am still trying to decode it." The purple alicorn replied, not looking away from said object. Ever since it was discovered in a box that was buried near Manehattan, the princess was obsessed by it. So much so, that it occupied a third of her time, alongside being with her friends and doing princess things. The box was nothing of importance, the artifact itself was what caught her eye. It was a massive dark blue book that had a blank cover and was written in a language that had since been long forgotten to time. However, after some browsing for languages, she realized that this language was very similar to 'Old Romí', the ancient language that was found near the city of Romí, the capital of the Roaman Imperial Republic, and 'Old Griffomane', found in the Griffomane Reich. So after translating both, Twilight concluded that she found all the mysteries of the book. Except for the last page... The final page was cryptic and confusing, but she gathered enough details to suspect that it mentioned something the world has never seen before, something that was never finished. Twilight was so deep into her thoughts that she is missing what Spike is trying to say right now. "TWILIGHT!" Yelled Spike, full of inpatients. The loud noise took Twilight out of her mind and causing her to jump. She looked up at Spike. "Huh?" "Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are waiting for you." Spike's reply confused her for a moment, until he explained without an amused face, "You all were going to the Everfree Forest to investigate the weird activity and ruins." With that, Twilight remembered. "Oh yeah! Thanks, Spike, I completely forgot!" She thanked as she dashed out of the room, and soon the three Elements were off... ******* The Everfree Forest, Kingdom of Equestria ..... TFARPD.: ONLINE Time: Unknown; All satellite communications are lost Attempting back up communications: FAILURE INITIATING PROTOCOL 0-01a...NOW In a room unknown to the three exploring ponies, and protected from nature, movement is stirring. Several robotic arms that once hung limp for all eternity, are now scurrying to complete their new order. Five raced to pick up pieces of hardware that had been placed on a table in a corner of the room eons ago. As the room was not yet breached, everything was preserved in or near perfect condition as it was when the room was last closed. The arms pick up the chips and now race towards their objective, an uncompleted robot. The robot itself looked like a stallion, with a crimson colored metal skin. Wires were hanging out of the few areas where there was no metal coating. Right now, it was slouched in a sitting posture, with the head facing the pristine tiled floor. The area over where the brain would have been if it was alive, was open. The arms had just reached their destination and began to insert the pieces into the empty cranium. The first put in a chip that was designed to handle the task of identifying smells, followed by the chip for the ability to hear, next was the one that was responsible for sight. Then there was the piece of hardware that had the sole purpose of maintaining functions for the machine. Finally, the chip designed to store the information. The opening was then closed and treated to seal. As this was happening though, one of the arms fell to an invisible enemy. Although the sealed room sheltered its possessions from moisture and the forces of nature, what it couldn't stop was time. As the robotic arms were not used for a long time, time let gravity nip at the individual parts that made up each arm. That was the case for arm IV when the ceiling pivot snapped. This caused it to spin uncontrollably, spinning the arm around with increasing speed until it smashed into nearby arm II. This, in turn, caused arm II to bump into arm V. This continued until all of the arms were destroyed. The robot on the ground, however, was spared from the fate and carnage of the arms. Since it was on the ground, the effects of time have been minimal. The door that was sealed before suddenly opens, as the robot's yellow eyes lit up...