Chapter 2:
Analysis
A familiar chime reached Orisa's sensors as she rebooted, her vision filled with diagnostics and errors as her systems purged the hack methodically. After a moment she was finally in a good enough condition to take stock of her surroundings.
The first thing she noticed before even opening her apertures was that the rain had stopped, or that she had been moved somewhere sheltered.
The second thing she noticed was an absolutely tiny quadruped, too short and stocky and with too large a head and eyes to be any pony she had ever seen online or heard about, stranger still was the set of tiny wings on its back that could never wish to produce enough lift for flight. Yet there it was, hovering in front of her face, with soft features, a coat of warm yellow not unlike her face, and a mane of bright green also not unlike her horns.
"Error detected: Impossible anomaly." she said, her base programming taking control in her early moments of consciousness.
"Gah!" the small anomaly replied as its wings went stiff with fear and it fell out of the air with a thump. The anomaly then ...backpedaled away from the giant made of metal. "Don't hurt me!" it yelled in a high-pitched and squeaky voice as it tripped over itself and down the other side of a well worn ridge that was most likely a road.
The impossible anomaly was now talking to her in English, making havoc in her processing core as she tried to understand the situation through the remnants of Sombra's hack. After a moment she decided that figuring out the impossible anomaly can happen after she figured out where she was.
After a beat she recalled her memory prior to shutting down and rebooting, there are even more pressing matters at hand.
"Efi!" Orisa exclaimed and hopped to her hooves a bit sluggishly as hacked servos refused to move on their own. "I need to save Efi!" she looked down to the impossible anomaly "Little pony, can you point me to the nearest human city or town?"
The tiny quadruped was visibly shaken by Orisa's outburst but still managed to meekly reply "W-What's a human?"
"You do not know what a human is?" Orisa asked, tilting her head slightly in confusion.
"No... Sorry." the pony meekly replied, looking defeated. "Oh!" it suddenly exclaimed, "But my auntie Booky might know! She's smart! And she works at a library!" the pony said, looking much happier in only a second.
"Point where I need to go small pony." Orisa replied, Apertures moving to a scowl of steely determination as she picked up the little pony in her hand.
"My name is Dandelion, robot lady." the pony replied, furrowing its brow at Orisa as it squirmed in her massive hand, limbs dangling through her fingers.
"My name is Orisa." Orisa very simply replied, a bit tersely, not interested in small talk when she was needed elsewhere.
"Oh... Hello Orisa." Dandelion replied meekly, pulling back into herself after looking into Orisa's orange lenses and angled apertures. The young pony then looked ahead again and pointed north-east along the road.
"Hello." Orisa replied with a determined monotone as heavy stomps filled the air as Orisa began her march.
Orisa soon realized it wasn't a city. The one and two story houses with thatch roofs, reminiscent of historic German architecture told her as much. Also the fact that she could only see 62 homes or businesses from her vantage point and only saw 43 individual ponies moving between the buildings.
The little sign ahead of her that said "Welcome to Sydneigh!" was also very disconcerting for Orisa as she was either among some kind of mutated horses or ponies in the Australian wastes (with inexplicable German architecture) or she was experiencing firsthand the multiverse. She couldn't decide which would be worse for a robot like her. Since the pony new English, she is able to ask at least.
"Miss Dandelion," Orisa began
"Just Dandelion, Miss Dandelion is my granny." Dandelion said with an annoyed tone, cutting off Orisa.
"Affirmative..." Orisa began once again, "Dandelion, What country are we in?"
"Uhhh...." the little pony looked at her quizically, tilting her head, "Equestria, duh." she said.
"Understood. I am not familiar with anywhere called Equestria." Orisa replied with a semblance of melancholy coming through her robotic voice as she marched on towards the town, some ponies looking like they were scrambling for some reason.
"Umm, where are you from then?" Dandelion asked, tilting her head again.
Orisa looked down at the cute display and her gaze softened just slightly, "Very far away I am beginning to fear, Dandelion. But I must get home as soon as I can to help Efi."
"Is Efi your friend? Is she in trouble?" Dandelion asked, worry entering her voice and sadness entering her eyes.
"Efi is my dear friend and creator, and yes. She is very much in trouble, and to be the hero she made me to be I must save her." Orisa replied, her robotic voice sounding strained through her latter remark and her march slowing.
"Don't worry Orisa, you are big like a hero, and strong I think, and a robot mare, and you have extra legs! Efi is as good as saved!" Dandelion remarked with a broad smile on her face, looking into Orisa's lenses with no lingering fear, throwing her forelegs up in the air.
"Thank you Dandelion. Your kind words fill me with hope, but there is still a long distance for me to travel. Let us focus on this for now." Orisa replied, her voice losing its melancholy and resuming her pace with just a subtle bounce at the child's kind words.
A companionable silence fell over the pair after their conversation, Dandelion still smiling subtly after making the Robo-mare happy again and Orisa mulling over the pony's kind words.
Not too long after their conversation, as they drew close to the hamlet of Sydneigh two ponies could be seen exiting the now much quieter town. They had armor that shone like gold with green plumes on their helmets, and the pony approaching on the left had a ocean blue horn where the other did not. They stared at Orisa with steely determination but it started to break as they got closer.
When they were twenty meters away Orisa stopped and allowed the guards to approach her. She had her Fusion driver and protective barrier at the ready just in case they were hostile, she wasn't taking any chances with Efi in trouble.
When they were seven meters away they too halted their advance and looked up at her with strained faces and fear in their eyes as they noticed Dandelion.
The one without a horn let out a disdainful whinny and glared back up to Orisa with determination in their deep blue eyes.
"By the name of Celestia, unhand that filly you monster or there will be consequences!" he demanded in a deep and strained voice, meeting Orisa's eyes the entire time and crouching low in to a combat stance as his partner did the same.
Orisa's lenses shifted towards red and her apertures rotated into slits as she readied her fusion driver and held Dandelion close to her chest. "It is not polite to call someone a monster when they do not deserve it." She stated, meeting the guard's gaze with twice as much mettle.
The guards tensed and looked uneasily at each other at the obvious threat.
"Hey, stop!" Dandelion yelled, startling both parties. Then looked between Orisa and the guards during their standoff, head poking through Orisa's thumb and index. "Orisa! Don't threaten guards!" she yelled pointing a hoof at Orisa, "and you! Don't threaten my new robot friend! She is on a mission to save her creator!" The horned guard looked suitably confused but relieved. The horned guard quickly whispered something to his partner before he too visibly relaxed.
Orisa had a look of surprise after that. The guards were actually listening to the filly. Considering this Orisa recalculated their chance of being hostile.
"A robot?" the hornless one questioned aloud, turning his head and furrowing his brow. His partner shrugged.
"Orisa was it?" the horned one asked in a deep but much softer voice than his partner.
"Affirmative."
"We apologize for not being diplomatic and jumping to conclusions," the hornless one grunted at that, "aren't we!" the horned one said, jabbing his partner in the foreleg with a hoof.
"Yes." the hornless one relented with a sigh.
"Apology accepted." Orisa replied, her lenses fully softening to a warm yellow with a spin of her apertures, giving the hornless one a glare for good measure regardless.
"You said your creator was in trouble?" the horned one began, his expression even.
"Affirmative. My creator and friend Efi Oladele is in grave trouble and likely hostage to Talon, a terrorist organisation from my country," Orisa guessed the 'possibly from another planet and/or universe' bombshell should be dropped under better circumstances, "I must return home as soon as I can to help her." she replied, giving the guard a calculating gaze.
"By way of apology for a failure of diplomacy, that had to be dispersed by a cute filly," Dandelion sat up in Orisa's hand and had a smug look on her face, "the Equestrian Guard hereby promises to assist you in returning home and the saving of your friend in any way it can. You have my word Orisa." the hornless one gave his partner a sidelong glance and nodded then both guards looked up to Orisa with determined faces with soft smiles.
"That is generous of you sirs. With The Guard's help the chance of success increases immensely." Orisa said with a nod, 'if I can get home at all.' she thought to herself.
"Can we still go meet auntie Booky Orisa? Can we?" Dandelion asked, looking up at the robot with her oversized eyes, the cuteness even overwhelming the robot.
"Affirmative." Orisa replied with a nod and began walking towards the town. "I still have some questions and a library will likely be the best possible place for answers."
"Was that a yes?" Dandelion asked herself aloud as the guards pulled up beside Orisa.
"It is a yes, young one." the unhorned one replied, causing the filly to let out a little 'woot' and resume giving the robot directions.