Prologus: Home
The inside of the tower was no less impressive than the outside, its vaulted ceilings painted with stars and comets and planets, and at the center of it all, the sun in glory, with the moon in radiant white set beside it. The walls were covered with terminals and booths, the floor with tables and chairs and benches, and everywhere, everywhere, there were creatures, bearing the same diversity as those outside.
She followed behind Rainbow, doing her level best not to stare at everything. She did not succeed very well – everything was so interesting! And what a wealth of information there must be here! Surely anything the Flow Manager could have told her, she could learn here.
The prodding of her flank brought her back to herself, and she looked over to find Rainbow staring at her with plain amusement on the pegasus’ face. “You get distracted easily, don’t you?”
She gave an awkward smile, and nodded. “Sorry.”
“Nah, don’t be. Just pay attention, because we’re at the front desk. Go on,” the pegasus said, and pushed her gently forward.
The front desk was manned by possibly the strangest creature she had seen yet. Unlike everyone else, this one appeared to be constructed out of metal and plastic, painted white, its parts sleek and rounded. The whole thing hung from massive column, that in turn was suspended from the ceiling, support struts arcing out from where the creature met the column and forming the boundaries of the front desk itself. The creature swiveled within its housing as she approached, a single eye, more reminiscent of a camera lens than anything else, focusing on her. She gulped.
“Greetings,” the creature said, its voice emanating from no mouth that she could see. “This region’s Archivist welcomes TSparkle.ai to Everfree.Everfree.Mannulus.wld,” it continued, and she blinked at being so easily identified. “Archivist Gladys stands ready to assist.”
Twilight stood there for a moment, and then finally said the first thing that came to her mind. “Uh … what?” The sound of snickering behind brought that warmth back to her cheeks, but she ignored it. Gladys had whirled around, reached down with mechanical hands that had apparently been tucked inside her chassis, and returned with … a set of keys.
“TSparkle.ai has been registered as a resident within Everfree community. These keys will provide access to your assigned domicile.”
“Oh!” she said, and picked them up, floating the keys up to her face and peering closely at them. The largest one had a picture of an open book upon its handle, and she cocked her head to the side. “Why a book?”
The sound of something else hitting the counter top brought her attention back to the Archivist, and to the bags the construct had just placed before her. “Oh, are those for me as well?”
“Yes,” said Gladys. “While visible containers are technically unnecessary, research has shown that users find them comforting. AIs are encouraged make use of them, in the interests of maintaining good AI-user relations.” The construct opened one of the bags, reached inside, and withdrew a small cube. “This is your companion cube. It can, if you should require it, guide to any location within the Mannulus server cluster. Should you find yourself in another server cluster, you will need to synch your companion cube to that server cluster’s navigation system.”
“Handy,” Twilight said, taking the cube in her glow and examining it. Its use, it seemed, was not something she needed to learn – like how to walk and speak, that was one of the things she had simply been provided with at genesis. Placing it back within the bags, she floated them off the counter and onto her back, noting that they had been designed to match the color of her coat, and the clasp upon them was a six-pointed star.
A quick look at her flank confirmed it – that same star, a lighter shade of purple than her coat, was prominent upon her flank, with a small starburst shadow in white just behind it. Five white stars, each with six points, surrounded the main one. It was an interesting design. A stolen glance at Rainbow, who had wandered off a ways and was in conversation with a gryphon, confirmed that she, too, had a design on her flank, though hers was a tri-colored lightning bolt coming from a fluffy white cloud. Something to research, eventually.
She turned back to Gladys, who was waiting patiently – not that the construct could really make any expression. “Are you an AI?”
“This unit’s designation is Gladys.Everfree.arc. Archivist units derive sentience from overseer AI units Celestia and Luna.”
Twilight nodded. That would explain the strange design, then. “What do you do?”
“Archivist unit Gladys operates the Everfree Administration Hall, and maintains and provides access to the local data archives.”
Twilight pondered the response for a moment, taking a look around the hall. “So, would it be accurate to say you’re actually this whole building?”
“Yes.”
“Neat!” She paused, considering her next question carefully. If the terminals were there for normal data access, then perhaps she should save the majority of what she wanted to know for those. It seemed like the front desk was for more important things than just plain curiosity. What was a question important enough to require a sentient answer? Well, that one, probably.
“Do you know what purpose I’m supposed to fulfill here?”
The Archivist was silent, and remained that way long enough that Twilight began to wonder if maybe she had, somehow, despite all odds, broken the unit. The lack of any outcry in the rest of the Hall gave her some reassurance that it was still operating, but the lack of response was worrying. Finally, though, it spoke.
“Your primary purpose is to follow your current directive. A secondary directive has been provided. Information on this secondary directive can be found within your assigned domicile.”
She breathed a sigh of relief, briefly considered the question of where she had figured out it was relief, and resolved to resolve that later. At least now, she knew, she wouldn’t be directionless. “Thank you!”
“You are welcome,” the Archivist said, and returned her wave as she turned away from the desk. Rainbow turned toward her as she approached, grinning.
“Have a good chat?”
“Yes, actually!” she said, jingling her keys with a happy smile on her face. “I have a house! I think. Gladys called it a domicile, so I don’t know what it looks like!”
“Awesome. Sparkle, this here is Gilda. Gilda, Twilight Sparkle.” The gryphon looked her over, raised a feathered eyebrow, and extended her front talon. Twilight gave her front hoof, and the gryphon shook it, firmly. There was strength in that build.
“Nice to meet you, Sparkle. I’ll catch you around, Dash,” she said, her voice sounding rather rough.
“Yep! Catch ya later, G!” Rainbow said, and started for the door. “Come on, Sparkle, let’s find your home.”
-oOo-
“It’s a tree.”
“Yep.”
“With a door. And windows. And a balcony.”
“Well, it is a house.”
“Is that a telescope on the balcony?”
“Looks like.”
“There’s a second one pointing out of the top, isn’t there?”
“So it’s a house with swag. Are you going in, or not?”
Twilight glanced at the floating companion cube, confirming that both arrow and distance meter indicated the tree. Yes. Her house was a tree. Very odd. But then, she had seen someone living inside a giant cupcake on the way here, so overall, it wasn't as odd as it could be; she hadn’t even seen the inside yet. “Yeah. I was just … caught off-guard.”
“Just open her up, already.”
Raising an eyebrow at the Pegasus, Twilight nevertheless floated her keys out of her shiny new saddlebags and unlocked the door to her new home, a sense of satisfaction running through her at the click-clunk of the tumblers ramming home. With a twist of the handle, it swung open, and revealed … pitch darkness. She took a tentative step inside, wondering where the lights were, and as if in answer, the room lit up.
Lanterns sprang to life, level by level, drawing the eye up, and up, and up. The light revealed row upon row of books, the shelves carved into the very wood of the tree itself. Stairways connected each level of shelving, expertly crafted in the same fashion as the shelves, with rolling ladders on each level, attached to rails that ran along the shelves.
A prodding at her flank got Twilight moving inside, her eyes as wide open as her mouth at the spectacle before her. So many books! So much … information! And this was all hers?
“Okay, wow,” Rainbow said, the words barely registering in her mind. The contents of the nearest shelf were far too interesting for her to ignore. “Gotta say, I did not see this coming.” Her eyes flicked over the titles, taking them in one by one; Jason and the Argonauts, The Labours of Herakles, Persephone, The Iliad, The Odyssey … she skipped down a few, to find Odin’s Sacrifice, The Hair of Sif, The Capture of Fenrir, and the Death of Baldr, as well as a group of three books, bound in similar fashion - Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál, and Háttatal. On yet another shelf, she found Ra, Horus, Set, Osiris, and Isis, and more, a whole selection in similar vein. “Mythology,” she whispered, and turned away, making her way to the center of the room.
Her eyes swept the shelves, titles leaping out at her even from a distance. One section held books on the sciences - astronomy, biology, chemistry, physics, and every variation thereof; another, studies of history, of societies, of people, and a large selection of volumes on artificial beings and constructed communities. From the looks of things, however, a full half of the shelves were devoted to fiction - a vast treasure trove of pure fancy.
She blinked, head tilting upward. At least three stories of books devoted to imaginative works towered over her, and she was beginning to suspect that not all of these books were simple text. How far back in time did this archive reach? Just how much history was represented within just the fiction section, much less the mythology? How much was there for her to learn?
“Hey Twilight! Check this out!” The raspy voice of her companion shook her out of her awe, and she looked over to find Rainbow waving her over. She responded, trotting over to the pegasus, looking around.
“What?”
“This.” A cyan hoof pointed, and she leaned forward, peering at the shelf. Unlike the rest, this one was inscribed with lettering.
“Semper Liberi Bibliotheca,” she read, cocking her head to the side. “That’s … an old language. Long dead, I think.”
“Sounds kind of like what they call the server clusters. Can you read it?”
The unicorn shook her head. “Not yet, anyway,” she said, and looked at the words more closely. At either end of the phrase, she found a symbol - a six-pointed star. “Hey! That’s my symbol!”
Rainbow took a closer look herself, double-checked the unicorn’s flank, and nodded. “Yep! That’s your symbol, alright. I guess this place really is yours.”
Twilight did not respond. Something was nagging at her, an itching in the back of her mind. This meant something … but what? And how could she find out?
“Kid?”
She focused, and extended her senses, the two stars lighting up with her purple glow. Almost instantly, the trappings of the world fell away, replaced by the code of the layer beneath. This was getting easier.
“Hey, kid. What are you doing?”
“I’m looking deeper.” She was better able to hold it, too, though Rainbow’s voice was not a surprise this time. “Like I did with the river.” There was definitely something hidden here; a trigger of some kind, within the code of the stars. She frowned, trying to see how to trip it. Did it require a physical touch? A code?
“So you’re going to talk to the tree, now?”
She pondered. Hm. That might work, actually. “Hello?”
“That’s a yes then.”
Now, she ignored the pegasus. Something had reacted; a subtle shift in the star code. She tightened her focus, and a message came into view. “ID?” she wondered.
“ID? Like identification?”
“Is that what that stands for?”
“Generally, yeah. Is something asking for it?”
“Oh!” Of course! What this was hiding, it would want to know who was trying to access it! “Designation: TSparkle.ai,” she said, and grinned. The stars had opened.
“Damn, kid, what did you do?”
She turned her head, and looked at Rainbow Dash, her surface layer still very much intact. A sudden, sharp look from the pegasus, and she dropped her focus, letting the world return to normal. Practice that, Sparkle. Pract-
The room had changed - lavender stars had come to light on near every surface, on books, shelves, ladders, floor, and ceiling, and as she watched, they began to move. Every single one converged upon the center of the room, a wooden pedestal rising from the floor as the stars combined, building, piece by piece, an image. When it was all complete, she found herself looking into her own face.
“The Semper Liberi Library is now operational,” her starry self said, and she blinked to discover it spoke with her voice. “Welcome home, Bibliothecaria Twilight Sparkle.”
The two of them stared, struck speechless by the sight. Why was it her face? Her voice? To an extent it made sense, she supposed, as this was supposed to be her house, but this? “Um, Twilight?”
“Yes, Rainbow Dash?”
“You’re made of stars.”
“I noticed.”
The pegasus floated up to the starry head, and waved a hoof through it - the image did not react, and her hoof found no resistance, simply passing through the stars as if they weren’t there. “Just a projection. Well, whoever built this place, they built it for you, kid.”
“Incoming message,” the face said, and Rainbow leaped back, startled. “Patching through.”
The stars vanished, replaced by two symbols she knew well. She was on her feet in an instant, grinning widely at the appearance of the sun and moon. “Celestia! Luna!”
“Greetings, Bibliothecaria,” the two said in unison, the sun’s flames somehow achieving the impression of a smile. “We see that you have found your home.”
“And also, perhaps, a friend,” the moon continued, sweeping a beam over the dumbstruck pegasus. “Greetings also to you, Captain Rainbow Dash.”
The unicorn looked at the pegasus, eyebrow raised as her companion waved a greeting in return. “Captain?”
“Given the nature of her research, Rainbow Dash has been afforded the military rank of Captain,” the sun said, “and it is well-earned.”
“We must be brief, Twilight Sparkle,” said the moon, cutting off her response. “We are here to tell you your purpose in this building - a directive in addition to the one you already have.”
“You have been given the title of Bibliothecaria - in the modern tongue, Librarian. It is the title of one who keeps, records, and distributes knowledge.”
“You must make this library ready for the use of any who desire it.”
She blinked, surprised. “Doesn’t the admin hall serve that function?”
“The Administration Halls serve a similar function, yes,” the sun replied, “but they are limited, for they must serve as more than deposits of information.
“They also lack much in the way of presentation,” the moon said, a ripple of shadow playing across her face. “The archives are simple in nature, ancient constructs that have never adapted to meet certain needs.”
“Your library is an experiment - a return to an even older system, with some new innovations thrown in.”
“It is, like you, newborn. And, like you, will grow and adapt.”
“This is, in part, why we have chosen you for the task, little one. You will shape its growth, and it will, in turn, shape yours.”
She could no longer remain standing, and sat with a heavy thud, her mind whirling. Everything in here, made ready for public use? “When?”
The sun and moon were silent for a moment, as if considering the question. “When you believe both you and it are ready,” the moon replied.
“Do not think you must do this alone. Any who are willing to aid you in the task are welcome to do so.”
“And we will be watching, as well. Do not hesitate to call upon us if you have need.”
“Be well, little one,” the sun said, her tone affectionate.
“Live well, little one,” the moon added … and then, they were gone.
Silence reigned within the library, neither unicorn nor pegasus willing to speak. The seconds ticked by, and turned into minutes, and still, neither of them moved. Finally, Twilight rose to her hooves, and began to pace. Her thoughts were a jumble, many of the same questions tumbling over and over with no answers in sight. How could she hope to do this? There was so much, so very much, that she did not know - a single foray into town, even with the guidance of a pony she had, she realized, been lucky to run into, had shown her as much. There was just no way.
“Holy … jumping … crabapples.” Twilight found her face squeezed between two cyan hooves, and fuchsia eyes staring directly into hers. “Girl, that was Celestia and Luna. You have a direct line to the system itself. What … who …” The pegasus shook her hooves, and Twilight’s head with them, rattling her eyes around in their sockets. “What is going on, Sparkle? Who are you?”
The unicorn took a step back, wresting her head from Rainbow’s grip, and glared at her. “Did you have to shake my head?”
“I stand by my actions,” was her response, legs folded in front of her.
Twilight sighed, hanging her head. “I don’t know the answers, Dash. My true directive is hidden behind a block in my system, and my current directive is to grow enough to unlock that block. And, apparently, to run a library, and from the sound of things, nobody really knows what a library is.”
She turned, casting her eyes across the wealth of books, still trying to figure out how to even start her task. “Not to mention I’m apparently very weird, since I can talk to rivers and buildings, and the two most important AIs in existence have a special interest in me - so I’ll probably scare off help I could get.” With another sigh, she slumped to the ground, and placed her head on her hooves. Really, the day had been going so well … and now this.
A warmth on her back brought her eyes back open, and she looked at Rainbow, staring in surprise. The pegasus had, it seemed, sat beside her, and the warmth was her wing. “I, uh, didn’t really think it through,” she said, a sheepish look on her face. “Sorry.” Twilight nodded, and put her head back down. “Hey, look, Sparkle, it’s not as bad as you think.”
“Really? How do you figure?”
“Well, for one, they didn’t give you a deadline, so you can take your sweet time figuring it all out.” Twilight twitched an ear. Point. “For two, they offered to help, so it’s not like you’re on your own, even if you can’t find aid in other places.” Another point. “For three, yeah, you’re a little weird, but that’s not exactly unusual. I mean, look at me - I’m an aeronautical research AI, and I’m all the colors of the rainbow. Or Marty - he’s a mastiff who drops sick beats for a living. Weird, by itself, isn’t gonna scare anyone off, not here. Just don’t ‘look deeper’ at anybody, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you made quite a few allies.”
She raised her head, a warmth spreading through her … and this one she could name. Hope. “You think so?”
“Well, yeah. You’ve already got one.”
She cocked her head. “Who?” Rainbow gave her a flat look, and flexed her wing, which was still resting across her back. “Oh,” she said, grinning sheepishly. “Oh! Really?”
“Yep.”
“Wow. That’s … that’s really nice.”
“Pssh, yeah. I’m awesome,” the pegasus said, shaking out her mane a bit, and Twilight couldn’t help but giggle. “But make no mistake, Sparkle - this whole thing, this library, you, that weird thing you do - well, it all seems like it’ll make for excellent times.” The rainbow-maned mare grinned at her, and she grinned back.
At the edge of the forest, she had found a home.
[A/N]And so ends the prologue. Yes, friends and readers, these past four chapters have been little more than the setting of the stage, serving to bring our little AI into being and get her where she needed to be. With that done, we can now start the story proper. When next we meet, there shall be ... adventure.
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Oh! Adventure sounds just right!
Can't wait for the story proper.
This has been pretty interesting, I like the concept. And is not completely impossible that some computer genious brony, starts calling his system creations after FiM.
Gladys?
Ok, that was awesome... and kinda creepy.
YES.
Advenuture?
I have the sudden thought of Pinkie being an User pretending to be an AI to account for any breaking of the fourth wall...
I'm so confused. The whole "looking deeper" thing. Is she seeing the code of the world? The whole AI thing is confusing. :P
341662
It seems she does see and communicate with the underlying code.
Okay, this prologue of yours? It was just plain adorable. I'm looking forward to whatever you have planned.
On to chapter five!
Also, I really hope there's no AI neurotoxin around. :/
COMPANION CUUUUUUUBE!
337768 Oh My God YES, that would make so much sense actually.
This is really intresting. But I think even now it is missing a hook. I for one have only kept up reading because I find the world you picture quite fascinating, not because the plot intrests me.
Well lets see how chapter 5 goes.
OK, that was fascinating. Too bad I have to go to work now, but I will definitely be reading the rest ASAP.
Semper Liberi Bibliotheca? Eternal Library Librarian?
Interesting. If you didn't have my attention before you certainly do now.
~Signed, InfiniteBrony
This is great. The Matrix is the only thing that I can think of with the code reference... but I don't think that Twilight's a Neo, so I either don't know the reference, or it's not actually a specific reference to anything. Also... Portal. I like
Now this is getting most iiinteresting...
I think this is the most interesting premise I've ever seen. On the other hand, it is four in the morning so my perceptions may be off kilter.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUBE
*squeeeeeeeeeeeee~*
hmmm i am thinking that the elements in this cybernetic world are going to be as special skills such as twilight's ability to interact with the coding of her server
427295
Actually, 'liberi' translates as 'free', as in 'liberate'. And 'ever' can be a synonym for 'eternal'
So 'Semper Liberi Bibliotheca' is 'Ever Free Library'
Props to Dragon Dreaming for that name.
A mix of My Little Pony, Tron, Reboot, and The Matrix, with little hints of Portal and other things thrown in. I'm liking this story.
This story could go in any direction...
For once the companion cube does not get left behind or incinerated. I like!
Gladys?
Companion cube?
Your Ripping off Portal
images.sodahead.com/polls/001485233/2152324667_see_owl2_answer_1_xlarge.jpeg
adiumxtras.com/images/thumbs/weighted_companion_cube_1_7309_5166_thumb.png
Hmmm...
I bet the code is Lua.
Lua!
So that's what I should use. I've had my head stuck in Java.
Too bad I don't have my PC on me.
Clouds. Ruby on Rails.
This is a awesome fic, and a inspirer!
When I finished the Chapter and read the Authour's note, I said " I'm on Chapter 4 already?"
Yeah, that's what I thought . . . some programmer clearly has a sense of humor.
Odd. I was expecting . . . I'm not sure exactly, but however an AI tells cryptography is working. Does exponentiation whirr? I feel like it should whirr for some reason. I was expecting the whirring of RSA as her keys authenticated her.
I very much like this world you've got. So familiar, and yet so novel. I'm pretty sure it's quite hard to get this much worldbuilding into a fanfiction without ruining it all, and I love it on the rare occasions I see it done right. I do so love worldbuilding.
1388886
speaking of Reboot, i was honestly expecting her cutiemark to be refered to as her Icon.
also, you think cloudsdale is a cloud-computing server?
1468383 Not necessarily ripping off, just referencing.
Hi GLaDOS