Act II - 15 - Testing, 1, 2, 3
Act II:
“Who Are You?”
Chapter Fifteen:
“Testing, 1, 2, 3”
As the hours passed, Rarity was beginning to think that building the suit was going to be more difficult than expected. She and Sweetie (who was far more proficient at computers than either one of them had expected) had managed to make significant progress, but it seemed that every two steps forward was followed by one step back, and a healthy dousing of foam from the sprinklers.
“You know,” she said, toweling off after another foam bath, glaring up at the sprinkler system. “I’m probably going to blast that thing into next week if it keeps that up.”
“Why don’t you just set up a forcefield over it?” Sweetie asked, aggressively rubbing a towel in her ear in an attempt to get the excessive amounts of foam that were now filling it. Rarity shook her head, motioning towards her horn.
“Mostly because we’re both using quite a bit of magic to power everything in this room, so I don’t want either of us to drain ourselves.”
Sweetie raised an eyebrow. “That can happen?”
Rarity nodded. “In extreme situations yes, usually if a pony is too focused on different stimuli or is impaired in some way. Again, I wouldn’t want to risk it.”
Sweetie shrugged slightly. “Nopony ever told me about that one. How did you find that out?”
Rarity opened her mouth to answer, but hesitated. A particularly colorful and rather unpleasant memory came to her mind.
“My magiksh no’ working...” Rarity slurred before downing another can of Pabst, letting out a loud burp and wiping her lips with a silly grin plastered on her face.
“C’mon Rares!” her sorority sister hollered, jumping up and down in front of the keg. “We need t’ do ‘nother keg shtand!”
Rarity pointed at her horn slopply. “But my magiksh no’ working...”
“KEG SHTAND NAOW!!!” The sorority sister practically shrieked, grabbing Rarity by the foreleg and dragging her to the keg.
Memories of her quickly losing her grip on the keg and sprawling forward ended with her writhing on the floor with a bleeding nose. Rarity blinked and shook her head to dispel the memory, moving to rub her nose.
“Um… mother told me,” she said, giving Sweetie a smile that she knew probably looked as confident as an origami swan in a hurricane. “I suppose it was one of the few things she told me that actually mattered in life.”
Sweetie nodded slightly. “Oh. I see.” She then looked over towards the worktables, which contained various pieces of the suit. "Do you want to try… actually assemble the suit now, see if everything clicks, or do you want to take a lunch break or something?"
Rarity looked over towards the pieces of the suit, furrowing her brow slightly. "Oh..." She groaned, leaning back in her chair and rubbing her tired eyes. "I suppose a lunch break is in order. Celestia knows I need the break. We've been working since what? Ten in the morning?"
Sweetie shrugged. "I guess. I haven't really been keeping track." Rarity could not blame her; with Fancy Pants’ sudden arrival and the excitement of actually producing something useful filling her mind, something as minor as time had fallen by the wayside.
“Let’s just do one small test, just to see if it’s working,” Rarity said before tossing the towel aside and moving to the suit. “Then we’ll get some lunch. How’s that sound?”
“Okay.” Sweetie answered, hopping off her chair and joining Rarity in assembling the suit. Most of the components were still in various states of disassembly, so it was a rather frustrating processes that resembled assembling a Lego kit with no directions. Several times they had to start over when one or the other set the wrong piece in place, their frustration mounting.
“Why can’t this just magica-” Rarity halted mid sentence, her eyes darting up at her horn. She let out a groan, her palm slapping against her forehead. “Damnit I’m such a…” she trailed off, her horn lighting up and enveloping the dozens of random metallic pieces in a halo of turquoise magic. The pieces all floated into the air, spinning around Rarity and assembling in a random pattern. Within a few moments, the suit was finally assembled, the last piece clicking into place.
“Well. There we go.” Rarity said, the suit’s intercom amplifying her voice slightly. “Can’t believe we didn’t try that half-an-hour ago. Anyways,” she cleared her throat. “Get the camera ready. Let’s see if this tin-can can actually fly, right?”
Sweetie blinked, her face having been frozen in awe at Rarity’s magical show, quickly nodded and scampered over to the camera, quickly setting it up. “Alright, the camera’s ready!” she called out.
Rarity smiled beneath her helmet, walking in front of the camera. There were mechanical whirrs as the complex power system helped move the suit forward much smoother than before, but Rarity still didn’t wish to risk any avoidable injuries by rushing forward, so her steps were steady. She stood in front of the camera, giving it a waive.
“Alright then! Here we go again, another test. We’ll be testing the full suit at... let’s just say 5% capacity for now,” Rarity stated for the camera as Sweetie Belle nodded, Rarity already making some final preparations. She took a breath, mentally preparing herself.
“Alright, now time to power up the suit’s internal computer in three… two… one.” There was a sharp beep as the computer systems sprung to life, flooding the head’s up display with dozens and dozens of holographic images along the inside of Rarity’s helmet. Rarity blinked harshly, trying to process the terabytes of information that now came flooding over her eyes.
“Whoa! Wait-I mean-slow-AAIIIIIIIIII!” she shouted, shaking her head in an attempt to clear it. However, that only caused the neural control system to set the rockets into launch mode. With a roar, the suit was sent flying wildly around the room, Rarity’s voice coming out in a stream of shrieks, screams and expletives as she tried to gain control.
With a thunderous crash, Rarity slammed into the far wall. Sweetie ran over to her, grabbing a flathead screwdriver and attempting to pry open the helmet. Rarity however, lifted a hoof, brushing Sweetie’s hoof aside. She pushed a button on the side of the helmet, flipping the face plate up. Rarity blinked several times, her eyes trying to adjust to the sudden lack of hundreds of ultra bright holograms flying in front of her face. “... that didn't work,” she finally said, shaking her head.
Her observation was answered by a massive torrent of foam from the fire extinguishers, coating the duo in a thick covering of white foam.
Sweetie let out a sigh. “So… I guess that means we take a lunch break huh?”
/////////////////////////////
Sweetie and Rarity now sat the dinner table, eating lunch. It had taken two high pressure showers to strip away the impromptu foam coating, but they’d managed.
“Well, it seems that our main issue is seems to be that the suit has no information filter,” Rarity said, taking a bite out of her pizza. “We need to figure out a way to filter the information I receive, or else my brain won’t be able to process enough of it and it’ll be completely impossible for me to control the suit,” she took another bite, chewing with a thoughtful expression on her face. “Something like an artificial intelligence system.”
“You mean like the one I was working on?”
Rarity’s eyes widened at Sweetie’s observation. “Yes! Yes exactly like the one you were designing!” she stood up all of a sudden, walking towards the laboratory briskly. “Do you know what this means, Sweetie?”
Sweetie arched an eyebrow, giving her pizza a somewhat forlorn glance before turning and following. “What? What does it mean?” she asked, trying to keep pace with Rarity.
“This means I get to design an entirely new artificial intelligence system! Think of the possibilities! We could apply this to aviation, maritime -- all sorts of technology! A whole new world of advancement is opening before us!”
Sweetie honestly had never seen Rarity looking so ecstatic over anything, and it felt especially awkward considering how placid she’d been a few moments ago. “Uh, Rarity, don’t you think you’re moving a little fast? I mean, we haven’t even tested it.”
“Frontiers need to be expanded, Sweetie. It’s not like they expand themselves. Anyways,” she paused, opening the door to the laboratory and starting down the steps. “It finally means we can do some experimenting without fear of foam bath! Surely that’s a bonus, yes?”
Sweetie blinked, her eyebrows furrowing slightly. “Uh, yeah, I guess--”
“Excellent! Now, where do you store your work? I trust that you’ve been keeping your notes in order?” Rarity said, cutting Sweetie off as she clapped her hooves together. Sweetie pointed towards her worktable, which had several piles of paper and a laptop, which had been left open. Rarity walked over, pressing the power button on the laptop, magically rolling a chair over and sitting down.
“Hmmm…” she hummed, her hooves typing away at the keyboard, carefully scanning the complex control prompt display through her reading glasses. “This looks like a nice foundation for the AI. Stable…” she trailed off, her eyes narrowing slightly. “Wait a second… this is Katy isn’t it?” she spun her chair around, giving Sweetie an inquisitive look. “You used Katy’s software for this? From your phone?”
“Katy?” Sweetie asked, tilting her head. “You mean the thing I use to find restaurants and stuff?”
Rarity nodded. “Yes that. She’s that little assistant program that I developed for the smart phones. Katy. You used her for the foundation for the AI?”
Sweetie bell shrugged. “Uh, yeah, I guess. I just figured it’d be easier to start with her then from scratch,” she then rubbed her arm. “You’re not mad are you?”
Rarity shook her head. “No, no! I’m just surprised you thought of that. I was assuming you’d started from scratch, but no, you worked smarter. Not harder. Excellent work,” she then spun her chair around, hunching over the laptop and beginning to aggressively type and click away. Her horn flared and Sweetie’s ears shot back against her head as the music started to play over the speakers.
“Uh, do you need my help?” Sweetie asked over the music, walking up to Rarity and looking over her shoulder to watch her pump out line after line of computer programming code. Rarity shook her head slightly.
“No, no, you can take a break. Go, watch television or something. I’d like to handle this myself. You’ve been really busy.” she answered, giving Sweetie a slight smile.
“You sure? Because I’d really love to help out a little more.”
Rarity stopped typing, turning to face Sweetie. “Sweetie, I appreciate the help, I really do, but honestly, I feel that I should handle this myself. After all, I’m going to be the one using the AI most often. I have to personalize it. Secondly, I just feel I’ve been very hooves off. So, I wish to be hooves on right now. Don’t worry though, you’ll get to help soon enough.”
Sweetie sighed, letting her shoulders sag slightly. “Oh, alright then. Do I get to name it?”
Rarity shrugged. “If I can’t come up with a proper name, then sure you can.”
Sweetie gave Rarity a smile. “Okay then. Thanks a bunch.” she then turned and headed out of the lab, the music increasing in volume as Rarity returned to work.
/////////////////////////////
"No matter how many weapons you have, no matter how great your technology might be, the world cannot--”
“Oh Sweetie Belle!” came Rarity’s voice, causing Sweetie to turn away from the movie, and peer over the side of the couch. She simultaneously turned the volume down, her ears pricking to attention.
“Yeah? What is it?” she called back, glancing back towards the television as the movie continued to run.
“I want you to meet TOM!”
Sweetie blinked. “Who?”
“TOM! Come and meet TOM!” Rarity replied, her voice sounding proud.
Sweetie blinked again, looking asides towards nowhere in particular. Who the heck is Tom? she wondered, before pressing the pause button and getting off the couch.
She walked over to the lab, seeing that the door was already open, with Rarity standing proudly in the doorway.
“Come, Sweetie! Meet our new friend.” She motioned for Sweetie to follow, spinning on her heels and briskly walking down the stairs, with Sweetie following behind. They entered the lab, and Rarity motioned towards one of the computers; in the middle of the screen, was what looked like a floating diamond.
“Uh… where is he? I don’t see anypony?” Sweetie said rather bluntly, causing Rarity to let out a slight huff.
“He’s right there.” She pointed to the monitor. “TOM is our new AI. Aren’t you, TOM?”
The diamond glowed, and a deep, smooth male voice emitted from the speakers. “Yes I am, Miss Belle,” the diamond shifted slightly, it’s path followed by a small webcam mounted atop the computer screen. “And hello, Sweetie Belle. It’s very nice to meet you.”
Sweetie’s mouth dropped open. “Oh. My. Gosh…” she said slowly, her eyes widening. “He talks?!” she looked up at Rarity, who nodded.
“Why of course. What use is a mute AI? What do you think of the voice? Too deep?”
Sweetie stammered. “Wha? No I think it’s awesome! He sounds like--”
“One of your anime characters?” TOM interjected, causing Sweetie look at him with wide eyes. “Yes, it is intentional. Miss Belle felt that a familiar voice would be more assuring than a foreign one.”
Rarity let out a slight scoff. “Oh, TOM, stop calling me ‘Miss’. Just call me Rarity. I’m not some old maid you know.” She then looked down at Sweetie. “By the way, I programmed him to recognize you as an admin. That way we don’t have to worry about you being locked out or anything. Nifty eh?”
Sweetie nodded. “This is so incredibly awesome! Can we test him out?”
“I suppose so. Sound fun TOM?” Rarity answered, looking towards the computer.
“I suppose so,” there was a pause as the sound of computer processing filled the room. “Do you wish me to integrate to the home mainframe? It will improve my performance by 87%."
Rarity rubbed her chin. "Well, I think we should take baby steps. We only just got you up and running, so let’s focus on our first flight, and if that goes over well, we’ll then see about integration.”
“As you wish.” TOM replied flatly, and Rarity motioned for Sweetie to sit down in front of the computer that Sweetie assumed was TOM’s central hub.
“You’re going to try flying now?” Sweetie asked, looking up at Rarity. Rarity shrugged.
“Well, maybe not a full fledged test flight, but at least let’s see if TOM will be of help. That way, we can work out any bugs.” She walked over to where the suit was, placed on a rack in order to keep it’s myriad of parts together. She reached for a few of the half dozen cables before reaching down and plugging them into several spots along the body of the suit. “There we go,” she muttered, standing back up. “Now TOM can interface directly with the suit. TOM, you may install yourself.”
"As you wish," the on screen diamond glowed brightly, before dissolving into the bottom right corner of the screen, with a cascade of musical tones. The eye-slots of the suit meanwhile, briefly glowed white, before dimming slightly. "Fully integrated into suit. Currently running diagnostics." Tom stated flatly, and Rarity moved to remove the cables tethering the suit to the computer.
“I have fully integrated into the suit, ma’am.” TOM then said, and Rarity nodded with a pleased expression on her face.
“Excellent, now, let’s see if everything works out then. Sweetie, go set up the camera,” she said, and Sweetie nodded, turning the camera on. Rarity meanwhile lit her horn, causing the suit’s pieces of surround her and then they one by one they layered on top of her. The holograms inside the helmet then lit up. Now she could actually see.
“Okay, commence flight in five… four… three… two… one.” Rarity said.
And then faster then it took to write the suit’s rocket’s ignited and she began to levitate above the ground generating clouds of smoke. There was a slight blue glow as Rarity channeled her magic, steering the suit and keeping it from drifting. Sweetie Belle laughed with delight.
“This is so cool!” she squeaked.
“Yes, indeed.” Rarity said “Now, please stay here and for the love of Celestia, don’t break the camera.”
“Okay.” Sweetie Belle replied before stopping. “Wait, ‘stay here’? What do you mean by-”
“I mean you’re going to be Mission Control, like I said,” Rarity replied, her flight pattern wavering slightly.
“Mission Control? Wait, does that mean you’re--”
“Having a full fledged test flight? Exactly!” Rarity replied, her giggle audible over the intercom. “Did you get that TOM? Let’s see what this can do!”
Sweetie just blinked in befuddlement as she heard Tom’s response.
“Calibrating flight systems… flight systems calibrated. Launching into proper flight in three… two… one…”
There was an explosion of noise as the rockets holding Rarity aloft surged to life again, sending her flying upwards.
“No wait! The roo-” Rarity’s shout was cut off by the suit going clean through the roof of the lab and up out of the house, leaving a deeply baffled Sweetie Belle staring at the new skylight.
/////////////////////////////
Well... I always wanted a skylight. Rarity thought, glancing down at the ground as she surged skyward. Of course, home improvement quickly fell to the back of her mind as she fully realized what she was doing.
She was flying. It was not the same as riding around on some airship, this was actual, honest to Celestia flying. At first she was silent, taking in everything as she zoomed through the air, but then a girlish giggle slipped past her lips as she dove for the ground, pulling up just before impact and shooting forward with unprecedented speed. With TOM handling most of the heavy functions, all Rarity had to do was adjust her stabilizing jets every now and then, weaving around obstacles with expert adjility
Why didn’t I think of this sooner? Flying is Fantastic! she adjusted once again, rising up and surveying the ground below. She could make out the small outlines of ponies on the move, most too focused on where they were going to notice her flight. A younger part of her, one firmly entrenched into her college years, felt tempted to dive down low and buzz a random clutch of ponies.
A high pitched shriek however, caught her ears, and she felt herself lurching to the right, narrowly missing a rather frazzling looking mail pony, who spewed a long series of incredibly harsh expletives. That was quickly greeted by her narrowly clipping a building, sending her crashing towards another one. Rarity concentrated, using her magic to steer the armor out of the way and stabilize her course.
Better get some altitude between me and these buildings, she thought worriedly, pointing herself skywards and roaring upwards. As she did so, the suit began to vibrate violently, and Rarity felt her heart rate leap and bound erratically.
“TOM? What’s going on?” she called out, and the hud lit up, displaying her speed.
“You are nearing the speed of sound. Analysis shows a 70% chance of surpassing it”
“Seventy percent?” Rarity asked, a sly grin growing across her face. “Well, I suppose those odds are good enough for me. Let’s break that barrier then!”
“Affirmative. Increasing thrust,” TOM replied flatly, and Rarity felt the rockets in her suit once more kick her forwards. The vibrating increased in severity, and Rarity could see a cone of white water droplets forming in front of her.
Come on… come on… it’s been done before… she thought, pushing herself harder and harder, the vibrating making her feel as if she were locked inside a giant paint can being shaken. The white field of water droplets now completely filled her vision, when, with a loud crack, it suddenly evaporated and the vibrations came to a sudden halt.
“BINGO!” Rarity practically shouted for joy, glancing behind her as best she could to see a brillant silver ring of light forming behind her. Her eyes widened.
Is that a… sonic rainboom?! she thought, her mouth breaking into a massive smile.
“Wha-ha-ha-ha!” she cheered, doing a quick loop-de-loop for joy. “TOM do you see that?! Do you know what this means?!”
“I see it ma’am,” TOM replied. “It is quite impressive.”
“‘Impressive’?” Rarity shook her head. “TOM, I’ve just created the first ever artificial rainboom! This is record making!”
“Again, most impressive,” Tom replied, and Rarity simply rolled her eyes, before taking notice of how stunningly smooth her flying was now. It felt as if she were flying on silk, soaring above the cloud layer, just her and the setting sun. It was like something out of a movie, so calm and serene. Rarity gave a pensive sound, her eyes looking skyward, focusing on the moon, which had risen early today and could be seen faintly floating above her head and to the east, nicely complimenting the very top of Canterlot Mountain, which peaked just above the cloud cover, capped in a small layer of snow.
“Uh, TOM, might I ask you a question?” Rarity asked, her eyes focusing on the moon. The hud lit up, sliding to show the glowing diamond in the upper right corner.
“Your request is my command, Rarity,” he answered. “How may I assist you?”
“What’s the world altitude record, perchance?” she asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.
“The world altitude record for unassisted flight is 37,000 feet.”
A sly smile spread across Rarity’s face. “And the record for assisted flight?”
“85,069”
Rarity grinned. “Ah, then we can do better! Let’s go for the gold then!” With that, she aimed skywards, and with a roar, soared upwards. The altimeter rapidly climbed, the numbers jumping and climbing rapidly. First twenty thousand, then twenty-five thousand, then thirty thousand, thirty-five thousand and so on and so on.
Rarity could feel the temperature inside the suit drop slightly, and she could have sworn she caught sight of some frost building on the outmost edge of the eye slots. She furrowed her eyebrows slightly, glancing towards the altimeter. It read sixty thousand feet, and a quick look outside revealed the curve of the earth was beginning to be apparent.
Probably just condensation, she thought, pushing the worrisome thoughts out of her mind. Now wasn’t the time for fear. She was on the cusp of making history, and history wasn’t made by fearful ponies. At least, that’s what mother always used to say.
Huh, that’s two pieces of advice she’s given that are actually useful, she thought, rolling her eyes slightly. A quick glance at the altimeter read seventy-seven thousand feet. Her eyes widened slightly.
“We’re almost there!” she giggled, resisting the urge to clap her hooves together, mostly because they were pointed behind her and serving as her stabilizers. There was a brief sputter in her rockets, causing her to briefly tense up and her excitement was cut short when she heard a loud klaxon go off in her ear. The hud went red, and large white letters appeared on the screen.
“Warning: Dangerous levels of ice buildup on exterior surface,” TOM’s voice repeated above the sound of the alarm.
“Ice? What ice?” she asked, her eyes darting about. she tried to crane her head around to check herself, but suddenly everything went dark, her rockets shutting off abruptly. For a brief moment, she continued upwards, before she felt gravity take hold of her, yanking her towards the ground at a nearly absurd rate. She tumbled about wildly, letting out a loud cry of panic.
“TOM?! TOM what happened?!” she panicked, her eyes darting about in wild panic as she tumbled end over end, the curve of the earth flickering in and out of her line of sight, bouncing between the lights of Canterlot below with the stars above. Inside the suit, everything was completely black, the hud display having vanished with her rockets. She could hear the air outside rushing by, growing louder and louder as it grew thicker and denser the closer she got to the surface. Every few seconds, there was a burst of static, and Sweetie’s garbled, yet noticeably panicked voice shouting her name.
“Sweetie?! Sweetie you there?!?!?! Can anypony hear me?!” Rarity cried out, her arms now flailing wildly. She heard a loud cracking sound and caught a glimpse of what looked like a chunk of ice spiraling away from her.
Ice?! Was her first thought, and she shook her head. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! The suit’s systems must have frozen when I climbed too high! she let out another panicked cry. Not like this, please no not like this. Don’t let me die like this!
She desperately tried to reactivate the systems, going as far as to actively slap her gloves against her suit as hard as possible. As abruptly as they’d vanished, the displays exploded to life and the rockets kicked in, sending her wildly spirling form into a wild corkscrew.
“GAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!” Rarity screamed at the top of her lungs, desperately trying to regain control of the now wildly spinning suit. There was a slurred series of beeps and the bright white diamond reappeared in the upper right of her display.
“My apologies, Rarity, but I seem to have taken an unexpected leave of absence,” came the voice of the AI, it’s utterly impassive tone of voice contrasting sharply with Rarity’s panicked gasps and grunts.
“HOW DO YOU STOP THIS CRAZY THING?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!” Rarity wailed, trying her best to keep her arms and legs steady. There was a series of beeps and chimes, now sounding noticeably clearer and crisp.
“Processing request. Restoring flight control systems…” There was a bright ping, and the suit practically snapped mid-roll into a perfectly straight line. “Flight systems restored. Apologies for the inconvenience.”
Rarity opened her mouth to berate TOM when another burst of static assaulted her ears.
“Rarity?! Rarity are you okay?!” came Sweetie’s voice, and Rarity blinked.
“Wha? Sweetie?” she stammered, shaking her head to try to calm herself down. “I-*gasp*-I’m okay! I’m alive!” she answered, her breath coming out in heavy pants. She heard Sweetie let out a massive sigh of relief.
“Oh thank Celestia! TOM must have froze up at the high altitude! I had to take over!” she said, herself sounding equally stressed.
“Can you get him fully back online?” Rarity asked, letting herself relax somewhat now that she wasn’t wildly spirling to her death. She heard the keyboard typing away wildly in the background, and Sweetie giving a vague sound of frustration.
“Maybe two minutes? One if we’re lucky.”
Rarity let out a grumble. “Can I land this, or am I stuck up here?” She looked around, noticing she was about to dive into the clouds below again.
“I think you might be able to land, but it’ll probably be best to stay airborne until I get TOM back up,” Sweetie replied, still typing away. Rarity pursed her lips, glancing down at the clouds. A quick flash of white and a loud roll of thunder greeted her eyes and ears.
“Um… I’m going to risk it. Looks like these clouds beneath me are getting nasty, and I don’t want to have to fly into a storm if I don’t have to… especially after what just happened.” She banked left, heading towards Canterlot Mountain, which was now behind her.
Sweetie’s response was worrisome. “Okay then. Good luck.”
Rarity took a breath, pursing her lips together. “Here goes nothing,” she muttered, dropping down into the cloud layer, which was noticeably damper and thicker than before. Water droplets splashed against her helmet, making sharp splatting sounds as they did so. The sound of thunder in the background only made her more stressed, but luckily enough for her, she was able to make it through the cloud relatively easily, dropping underneath to be greeted by a noticeable lack of rain. the city below her was lit up brightly, a sea of golden lamps and white lights, and she could see her neighborhood perched above the castle. she flew in, giving the castle spire a quick glance as she passed, making a beeline for her home.
“Alright, here I come,” she called to Sweetie, spotting the giant gaping hole she’d made not half an hour before. She carefully positioned herself as best she could, before mentally signaling the propulsion systems to power down.
She promptly crashed through the hole she had made, accidently clipping the side and widening it. She hit the ground hard, letting out a sharp grunt, the force driving her to one knee.
“Rarity!" Sweetie exclaimed, running from her makeshift mission control to Rarity's side. “Are you all right?”
"Yeah, I'm--" Rarity halted, a mechanical whirr catching her ears. She glanced over her shoulder, catching a glimpse of the fire extinguisher. She spun around, her gloved hoof shooting a bolt of energy towards the foam-spraying menace, causing it to be blown back, the nozzle blasted clean off.
"I hate that stupid thing," she muttered, standing up with a slight grunt. Her horn glowed, the suit disassembling and reassembling itself on the mannequin. She glanced down at Sweetie, who looked at the remains of the fire extinguisher. "And to answer your question, yes, I'm fine." She let out a grunt, stretching in an attempt to get her rather sore frame to loosen up. "A little frazzled but fine." She looked over at the computer, where it seemed like a program was being installed. "Is that TOM?"
Sweetie blinked, turning to look over her shoulder at the computer. "Oh yeah, it is. You sure you want to keep him? I mean, he broke down right?"
"Oh don't worry, that's alright. It’s a learning process. We'll get there." She rubbed her sister's head, giving her a confident grin. She then walked over to a nearby chair, flopping down and letting out a content sigh.
"But all in all, I'd say that flight was rather good… minus the near-death by ice."
Sweetie nodded. "Yeah. I suppose. Why do you think that happened?
Rarity shrugged. "The alloy we used, probably. We'll need something that won't freeze… like silver..." she trailed off, grabbing a pen and starting to draft up some sketches. She glanced towards Sweetie, motioning for the rather silent filly to come over. "Come on now, don't leave your big sister alone here. I do need your insight after all."
Sweetie gave her a smile, walking over and taking a seat next to her, and picking up her own pen and mirroring Rarity's actions, as the duo returned to work on the suit.
Yeah I know that meme is really old and tacky now but I love it so sue me.
Not like that show ever produced anything of real quality beyond shock value right?
Anyways, huzzah for a chapter that takes almost two weeks to write and then only three things happen. Yay.
The movie Sweetie is watching when Rarity calls her is Laputa: Castle in the Sky, since I've recently seen it for the first time, and Sweetie is an anime fan anyways, so it made sense she'd watch lots of Miyazaki. TOM's voice is that of Spike Spiegel, main hero from the revolutionary anime Cowboy Bebop. Spiegel was voiced by EPICALLY AWESOME voice actor Steve Blum, who, ironically, also voiced the Green Goblin in Spectacular Spider-Man and Amon in the first season of Avatar: The Legend of Korra. So yeah, bonus points for a shout-out.
Everything else is rather straightforward, a note being that the music Rarity was playing in her lab was Daft Punk's first album, Homework.
Also, the number 37,000 feet has is there because the Rüppell's vulture is able to fly that high. The 85,027 foot altitude is that of the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird spy-plane, which was the fastest, highest flying jet aircraft of all time. And kicks all sorts of ass.
But that's it. I'm thinking of actually redeeming Pearl Belle here, since really, why keep her a psycho-bitch for all my stories? Figure I can have something akin to a proper heel-face turn for her in the next chapter. Maybe her just meditating on her daughter's condition and how terrible of mother she's been, since, in her own, ultra-warped way, she does care for her children. I don't know, I'm just spitballin' to be honest.
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Steve Blum also did the voice of T.O.M. 2.0 on Toonami
OK, if she hadn't thought of simply putting it together magically, she really needs that lunch break. Ouch. Sweetie Belle's creating an A.I.? She's a smart filly, especially using Katy as a base. Nice reference to the main show there with the name TOM for the A.I. Wow, an artificial sonic-rainboom! Well, if Pearl Belle can at least be civil with her daughters, that's fine by me!
4740242 Now see I didn't know that
4740257 Dude. Steve Blum is EVERYWHERE.
Check out his resume.
So Rarity's AI assistant is also the voice of someone called Spike? How appropriate.
And so, the seeds for Ultron have been planted.
Also, it's a pity that Sweetie Belle didn't get to name the AI.
Oh, well.
The chapter was good, well done.
4740257 So TOM is JARVIS and that would mean TOM is going to be the Vision too.
4740599 Maybe, maybe not.
We'll see.
Hmmm... First off not bad. I'd save Pearl's redemption for another story though. If you just threw it in now it would seem kind of tacked on. If you think you can pull it off go for it, but it seems like it would be a pretty big deal and it deserves time to actually develope.
Also Silver is typically used in combination with Titanium in tooth fillings because it's resistant to corrosion. While silver might be somewhat malleable like gold that's not really it's defining characteristic. I'd suggest using White Gold, which highly resembles silver, but has the advantage of remaining mobile even in cold climates.
4740734 huh, never knew about white gold
4740868 Neither did I until a friend showed me some he had. I thought it was silver, but I looked it up. It's a combination of gold and other lighter colored metals that kind of melded together in nature.
Interesting; what led to using Steve Blum's voice instead of Paul Bettany?
Breaks my SOD a bit that Rarity managed to create an A.I. in only a few hours. Even a few weeks would be pushing it.
4741002 rule of cool
4741160 well, yeah
Acceptable break from reality i suppose (do we really want another six chapters detailing how to make an ai?)
4741236 Ah. Means he's probably not going to become the Vision, then; the voice probably wouldn't fit him well.
4741240
Timeskip/montage is your friend. There are acceptable breaks from reality, then there is breaking suspension of disbelief.
SON of a Shenlong, I should of seen that pun coming a mile away. T.O.M is Tom of Toonami fame. And Spike Spiegel. And Wolverine. And Roger Smith from Big O. And you made the TOM/T.O.M pun without realizing it. Awesome.
You are offically a bro to me (the first guy I ever declared a bro too. Aren't you lucky).
Okay, hearing Spike Spiegel assisting Rarity in her suit is pretty cool.
By the way, I know this might seem a bit early, but what do you think of Guardians of the Galaxy so far? How does it look?
4742220 It's looking good.
It's got an 8.2 on IMDb from the preview screenings so that's a good sign....
Hopefully I'll see it opening day
Okay, here's a list of things I need to say about this story.
1: I love your version of Rarity. She's a perfect fusion of canon Rarity and Tony Stark, and I love reading her lines out loud. I also like how she does things just like Tony did, but then will subvert them later on (like destroying the fire extinguisher instead of getting sprayed again like Tony did, oh and let's not forget sticking the landing in the end. She almost makes a better Iron Man than Tony Stark). Overall, I love her, as she's sympathetic like canon Rarity, yet still a bitch compared to how much of a bastard Tony is.
2: Thank GOD you gave Sweetie Belle such a big role! At first I thought she was going to just be a foil to Rarity's bitchiness, but you actually gave her a serious role, and best of all SHE'S USEFUL! If not Rarity, then Sweetie Belle is becoming my favorite character.
3: Finally, I love the relationship between Rarity and Sweetie Belle. It's truly evolved to something much more equal. The fact that they're working together to make the suit is an added bonus. I find myself wondering though, is Sweetie Belle the Pepper of the story, or is she the future War Machine? Either way, keep up the great work.
4740377
4740257
Now we have to make Sweetie Belle make TOM sound like as many different Steven Blum characters as possible.
Especially Wolverine. That guy nailed wolverine.
Well, as long as he isn't Eliphas!Steve Blum I'm okay with this.
adjility should be agility.
Excellent chapter. I can't see softening Pearl too much without changing the charecter completely.
Very nice chapter my man! Loving the callbacks to the original movie, plus Rarity and Sweetie Belle are proving to be quite a fun duo to follow. Keep up the great work!
4740377
I clicked the link and my eyes nearly bugged out of my head! That guy has quite the impressive resume indeed.
To Avenging-Hobbits: really liked this chapter. I will have to see how Spike Spiegel sounds so I can get an idea of how the A.I. sounds in my head, but after clicking that link on Ether Space's comment, I see that you picked a great one. I love T.O.M. from Toonami. I also see that the interaction between Rarity and Sweetie Belle keeps improving by the minute. Very happy to see that.
All in all, another excellent chapter, and I look forward to the next one.
~ Super-Brony12
4747484 well, I figured he's kinda like Blueblood here.
But yeah, i see your point
That...was pure fucking GOLD. Excellent!
4748028 here's a hug bro.
Well the flight test is done. I forgot what else Tony goes over with the suit that Rarity has to do. I'm guessing that Rarity going to spend some more time with Sweetie and you might tell us more about what Fancy Pants is up too. Good chapter by the way.
4769527 Welcome.
And yeah, if anything, next chapter is just cutting to the chase as it where with tying everything together.
4769565 OK, Brony Hoof?
4769608 *bronyhoof*
4581803
2 months later as I see this....I have no idea lol
90% chance it was something from the Gabriel era though
4882215 It's weird how the comment section is isn't it?
And I love both the Peter and Phil periods. I'll admit that, as of right now, my favorite album is A Trick of the Tale. It has the prog of the Gabriel era, but in a lighter, easier to digest format of the Collins era. It's kinda like ice cream vs. cake (cake being Gabriel and ice cream being Collins).
I have no idea if that made sense or not.
I like that analogy!
If I want prog I'll generally go to Lamb or listen to Supper's Ready on repeat or something. If I want to rock out to early stuff I'll hit somewhere around Nursery Cryme
And if I want the poppier stuff I'll go to something (really anywhere) way post gabriel (although self-titled is a really unique experience that doesn't fit with the rest of their stuff imo)
I generally (unconsciously) avoid Trick because I don't think of either when I look at it and maybe that's a deficiency - time to fix that!
4882285
Oh Lamb is an amazing album. I prefer Selling England by the Pound a little more though, since it's shorter and more to the point (I feel LP 2 of Lamb rambles a bit compared to LP 1). Supper's Ready is pure art that's for sure, and Nursery Cryme has some great rock numbers.
Yeah that is true, the self-titled album is a bit of a red headed step-child. It's an almost exact middle point between the art rock of Duke and Abacab, and the pop of Invisible Touch.
Oh trust me, Trick is totally worth it. I like to call that and Wind and Wuthering the quartet albums, since they still had Hackett (I feel Trick has more punch then Wuthering though, but Wuthering is growing on me)
Selling England is solid, I agree
4882325 Let's move this to the PMs because damn I never get to talk about Genesis
4955335 because she can.
( and because I think smoking is cool...at least from a visual standpoint )
Also, its to show she has a bad habit. Tony has drinking, Rarity smokes.
Anthro? Pinkamina!
Kill her.
Wait I was kidding!
my pinkamina have mercy on the authors soul.
4996778 Actually, I'm a he.
Secondly, my apologies for your distaste for anthro.
I still hope you'll be able to enjoy the story nonetheless.
5004060 sorry female pic and I automatically assume GIRL
5004273 nah that's okay.
Its 'anime' Hitler
5004060 You, sir need to post more chapters. I am starting to like anthro because of this. Don't blow it with once-every-8-weeks-updates.
5036195 well, first off, yay for being able to like the story.
Second, I do try to update as much as I can, and as reguarly as I can, its just that I also have Captain Equestria and Spider-Colt to write as well, and I've been having some writers block as of late
So yeah.
But trust me, as soon as I get those two updated, i can update this one
5036229 Wellll....I'm possesed by the devil soooooooooooooo. ya.
5036229 I'm gonna go read captain equestria now.
Kaythanksbye.
5037104 word!
Hope you get to read Soar and Flutterhulk too.
5037119 It's gonna take me some time to accept soar because in my friends commic she made my oc superhero and my "mystical powers" teacher issue Thor. Soooooooooooo yea. P.s. kindle typeiing without commas is hard.