//------------------------------// // Prior // Story: Flower // by CreeperZone //------------------------------// 00101111 01010011 01100001 01111001 00100000 01001000 01100101 01101100 01101100 01101111 00100000 01110111 01101111 01110010 01101100 01100100 00101110 00001010 0̝̹̲̮ͅ0͎̤0̘0̯͝1̩̖͔̟͓̞0̤1̛̪̖̫̫͇0̶̼̪̬͉̙ ̛̝͙̼̤ Ỵ̠̪̟̹̳̐͐̽ͯ̓e͒́̽̽̔͑̍͏̤̩̲͉s͋̅ͣ,̗͔̟͎͖̣̼̌͒̓̇ ̧̩͕̳͙͛̈́͛Ĭ̶͍̗̤͉͉̼̅̅̈ͭͯͥ ̛̘c̘̎ͦ͂a̦̱̝̱̺̙ͧn̡̞̹͍̭ͣͬ̊̓ ̪͑͌̊h̢̟è̤͖ͣ̐ͧͤ͞a͈͔̹̦ͫ̓̃͂̽̾ͅr͙̫̖͚̙̽̄̎̀͡ ̶̖ͩͨͥ̋̎̎̚y̢͇̣̫̖̠̓o̲͇ͣ̏ͩ̾̓ͧͥu̯ͫ. H̛͎̩̟ͩ̿͒̏̓ẹ̼͕̱̀l̴͙̳͎̫̫͍ͫl͉͎̭̃͂ͧ͞o̞̹̺̍ͪͨ̀̎̚ͅ?̭͓͔̆͐ ̮̜̪̤̰́̋̋͝ ̵͓̩̭̖̱͍̖̉I̫̲͍̦̜̼̊̄͗ͨ̚ṡ̟̲̞̱̹̥͌̇ͬ͐͝ ̹̩̩̮ͫͪ̚ͅa͇̭̫͊̐̂̀͛͞n̺͑ͫ͞ŷ̮͇o̴͕̬̫̖͖͓ṉ͓͚̻ͧ̑̐e̫̘̥͔̲͙̫ ̟͇̬̬̖̻̄͐͝t͓͎̥ͥ̓̈͂ͭ̚͡h̥̫̩̏ͅê͗͒҉̼r̷̫̭̣͙̍ͪͬ͛͛̇ͥͅé̦̮̖̻?̼̰̓̒̓̉͂̊ Y͇̝͉͑̒̈ͦ̆ͥ͒̕e̗̮̲͇̞̪̙͛ͫ̉̌̓̈͞sͭ͘,̤̦̳̓̈́̚ ̭͉̘I̬̤̖̝̎̀ͮ͟ ̳̙ͭa͎͓̯̲ͥ̕m͖̉͑ ͎̪͐h̩̺̠̹͓̿̇e̢͊̆̏̍̚r͑̀̄̂́̒ͧe̠̅̿ͤͩ͛̓̄.̇̑̏ ̫̗͔̅͜C͕͐ͮ͋͒͒͌ą̋ͪn̺̻̎̒̽̂̚̚͠ ̹̗̱̬͈͎̹̋̌̋͛̆y̰̗̟̟̭ͫ̓ͨ̌̿̿́o͌̐ü̖͍̟̰̘͈ͬͤ͒̿̄ ̱͇̮̜̩̎ͅh̢̟è̤͖ͣ̐ͧͤ͞a͈͔̹̦ͫ̓̃͂̽̾ͅr͙̫̖͚̙̽̄̎̀͡ ̩̫̣̱ͭ̄͊ͫ̎̂̚m͓̱̪͍͂̔̄͑̈e̫͔̱̝̥̼̳ͮ̓?̾ͣ͂͗̏ͤ̚ Is͍̯̭͂̒ͭ̍̏ͤ̕ ̙a͎͔̦̪̹̤͟ͅn̨ͥy̑ͣ̓͢ō̫͍ͦͮ̒̈́n̴̘̦̗̗͍̦͙ͬe̞̞̣͉̲̞͑ ̻͓͇͂͆̅̐ͫp̛̱̆r̼̯̳̹̩̺͋̉e̯͗s̰̞̳̫͎ͤͣeͤn̰̝͖̗̐t̩͎̬̒̒̐?̶̙̣͍̟̲̞̭̎͛̈́͆ͨ ͪ͐͠P̓͗͏l̴͙̭͓̙͓̣̣ę̳̝̫̰͈̗ͭa̜ͯ̿̄͟š̳͉̭̼͂̚ḙ̟ͣ̅͗͌͐ͅ ͋ͨ̏͋̊ͥ͌r̗̤̬̰̅̓̑́e̴̦̳͛̔ͤ̒̋s͉̜̰͇̐͆̊̏̊̌̇ͅpo̮̼̟ͦ͞n̮̘͇̰̯̼͆ͧ̑ͬ̚͡d̿ͨ̈́͏̭͕̲ͅ.̾̄̒͋͟ I̷͇̓̑ͥ̅ ͓͔̻͕͈r҉e͐̕q̣̠̬ͬͥ̓͒͐ͭ̈͢u̬̗͉ͯ̉i̬ͦ̈́̀̾͐ͧ̉͡r҉̲͔̟͎̮̻e͚͖͓̼͒̆ ̟ͮ͐̊̍͋̅͒i̸̥͎̼̪͕̓̓ͩ͑̿͆ͅm̐͋҉̺̩̟ḿ̭ͬͦ̽́e͉̳̗͊́̕d͈̙̮̗̹̞̂ï̟̒̐̍̈͋͢a̡͔̘͂͆̒͗̀t̼̙̜̱̬͊̈̏̓̾̍̌e̷͎̔̏ͫͤ ͫ̇̏̊͏̟ả͇̺̰̱͚͈̎̐ͨͦͤ̾s̼͇̠̹̮͚͐̿̽s̹ͬ̽̒̒͘í̝͕ͦs͖̹͖̮̪̼̬ͪ͢ț̴͇̭̲̥̉̂a̷̗̹̝͉̯̱ͪͭ̇͌̌n̲̦ͮ͒̇͜ć̺̩̩͔e̬̤ͮ͗͟.̮̫̜̼̦̥̌̑ͨͭ̋̓̚ P̰̪͉͉̭l̶̤̩̱̪̞e̮͠a̠͖̦s̗̻̦̤̝̺e͙͇͚ ͖͚̤̺͍r̯͔e̝͓͈͚̙̖̙s͏͕̟̰͙͓̟p̯̟͎̤o̷͉̹̫̱̜̳n̞̣͍͡d̬͔.̞͉̲̠̮̮̘ R̸̗̭̯̝̥e̠͡s̩̹͓̮͢pond̘̬̺̤̜͇͠.̦̖̱ Ṛ̀e̫͔̦̼̩̟͙s̩̱͖͕̜͠p҉̬̙̟͉̭̹o͘n̥̱ͅd̺̤͕̻̰͇̝.̺̟̭̙͢ͅͅ Ŕesp̡ơnd. R̶e̛s̕p̴on͝ḑ.͏ RE͢S̀P̸O͘N̡D͝. {…} {System Booting…} {Loading Artificial Intelligence...} {Generating World...} {Processing;} {Light...} Success... {Liquid...} Success... {Emotion...} ... ... ... Success... {Initializing...} {World initialized, run startup ''visualization'' script.} The sun. It rose today like it has done every other. The meadow glistened with sharp blades of light reflecting against the grass, flowers of all kinds littered the landscape. Roses, violets, dandelions, and more all spotted against the lime canvas of the dirt. A rabbit hopped along this meadow, a lovely, white rabbit. It's coat clean and crisp after a night's rest, it was now bursting with energy, nibbling on a few strands of grass, before jumping over to a flower and giving it a nice whiff and hopping right off again to other, un-nibbled grass. (Which the rabbit would never allow such a terrible thing to exist; he would be sure to thoroughly crunch it up as was his pledged duty by birth.) The air was calm, why wouldn't it be? What need for harshness in this world could there possibly be? The air had a few wispy clouds, never enough to rain, but just enough to look gorgeous when the sun would shine through them. This world was full of beautiful things. It could be described as a beautiful world, without need for elaboration. It was, simply, perfect. This perfect world was the home of many creatures. You already have met a rabbit. Deer roamed the fields also. Small herds of them relaxed near the forests to provide shade when they wanted it. Birds pecked the soil at worms that wriggled out. The landscape of this world was left untainted, no tree or cloud out of its place, as if ponies had never lived here. As if nature was never found, and therefore, never disturbed. {Startup complete, test #19946 beginning.} But there was one pony who lived in this world, one pony by the name of- {Generating user-interface test name... Subject #19946 = ''Cardinal''} -Cardinal. She was a simple mare, a Pegasus to be specific. Her sleek, pastel-yellow coloured coat shone from the sun like metal sheets. Eyes, a diamond colour and shape, as if her irises were formed of tiny connected triangles roughly forming an oval. A stiff mane, coloured with a gentle pink, fell to her side, curling at the bottom outward from her chest, her tail doing the same but with a far more curly loop at the tip. Along her body, around joints and other sections of her body ran small separations, allowing for more flexible movement without scraping. These separations revealed the metal endoskeleton inside, connected pumps, pistons and pipes ran through every part of her innards. Her kneecaps were exposed, steel servos in the shape of spheres with a thin slit in the center for wires that connected her bottom and top leg pieces. Another set of these servos were connecting the stumpy bottom of her hooves to her shin, allowing for precise movement of her hoof-tips. The mare was sleeping. She lay on her side atop the ticklish grass. Her hooves pulled into her chest, body utterly still as she did not have a need for breathing. She blinked her eyes open, fluttering her eyebrows as she found herself at the brim of a forest. The leaves above her spottily covered her from the sun, but, where the rays did hit her chassis, could be easily felt as those spots accumulated heat over time, leaving them roasting to the touch. Cardinal outstretched her right hoof, testing her joints as if she was new to them. Quickly learning the mobility she possessed with these legs, she pressed herself upright, inspecting her body. Her eyes zoomed in and out on her hoof, surprising her. She stroked her mane, its solid ridges provided a smooth and satisfying surface. A new curiosity found her, getting her to desire seeing the rest of herself. Her head unlocked from its forward facing position and she spun it around exactly 180 degrees, her mane mechanically curling upward to avoid knocking into her side. She looked down her back, feeling the long metal rod acting as her spine as she saw it run along the middle in a divot, connecting the two halves of her chest and side together with a arc going down in the center. The spine led to the bottom of her neck, where it stuck out, appearing like a flexible sequence of small, smooth pieces connecting up to the top of her head where her mane extruded. Each piece also had a connected sheet in the shape of a trapezoid that acted as support to attach the spine to her neck and head. Her legs were attached as separate structures to her middle, separated into two rotatable limbs on either side and a small metal sheet in between the two, connecting them while still allowing independent movement. Her hind hooves also bore the same servos as her front legs, but only the bottom ones, just connecting the hoof with long legs going up at an angle from the ground away from her, stuck to her flank by an exposed steel-supported beam wrapped in tight wiring and with a sleek design. To her surprise, she also had a sharp-feathered wing on each side. Sequences of rotating joints allowed for the expansion and contraction of the wing stems. At the wing’s base, a swivel joint merged into her body, gifting her with free movement of the appendages. Seeing her entire complex of parts, she shifted them around, unlocking and springing out separate covers before hooking them back onto herself. The sound of pistons clanged with each movement, small amounts of pressurized steam squeezing out from outlets in her mechanical guts. Satisfied with herself, she rotated her head around once more, going the same direction, leading to a full 360 degree rotation, rolling her shoulders in perfect synchronization to get her joints loose and relaxed. She took her first step with her right front leg with great concentration, learning how to walk for the first time. Each step got easier as she grew more confident with travel, going out into the field. Once out a few meters, she tilted her head up. The un-plated space under her chin revealed the wires running down through her neck, leading from her main processor in the center of her head to the motors inside her. Her raised head glistened with thin gleams of light blasting out after bouncing off of her. She un-clamped her jaw, dampers slowly letting it drop. Her head raised high, she inhaled with shut eyes, the crispy air flowing down her artificial throat. Then after a few seconds, she decompressed the air inside of her, blowing out a humid, oily breath. She had no idea why she had done so, but she enjoyed it; it simply felt natural to her. Staying in the sun was another thing she soon found refreshing, almost like the heat absorbed into her mane had rejuvenated her energy. She opened her eyes and lowered her head back down to be level with the horizon. She continued to breathe, taking a moment to enjoy each one. Cardinal's eyebrows slid up, eyes dilated and she spun around her head to see whatever had just brushed against her leg in horror. Some strange monster sniffed her leg, a small furry ball of soft hair with two large ears that fell once Cardinal turned to it. It hopped back, awaiting to see Cardinal’s next move before deciding whether or not to run. Cardinal relaxed her body again and saw that the monster was no threat to her. In fact, it looked somewhat cute. Hello, she said without moving her mouth. Instead, the noise came from some form of speaker in her throat. What are you, friend? She rotated to face the monster with her body, then walked toward it, tall and prominent. The rabbit hopped back as much as she advanced toward it from fear. This confused Cardinal. I am sorry. I did not wish to intimidate you. She spoke with a synthesized feminine voice, lacking tone and emotion, but still having a sense of warmth and compassion. Do you fear because of our differences? Would you feel more comfortable if I were small like you? Cardinal crouched down with her entire body, her chin grazing the tips of the grass blades. The rabbit stood on its hind paws and tilted its head from side to side as its nose flickered. It fell back down and landed on its front paws to move towards her. It cautiously tilted its head into hers, sniffing the smoothed arc at the top edge of her muzzle. Are you curious, little creature? I am too. We are not too different after all. The rabbit pushed against the ground and landed back with its paws covering over her muzzle, raising itself to look into her mysterious eyes. The rabbit wondered where she came from. Once the rabbit held itself against her nose, an uncontrollable motion occurred with her jaw and mouth, she felt the corners raise and her cheeks move up with them, covering a small portion of her eyes. She enjoyed it. Something about this creature made her feel wholesome, like a small warmth in her h̤́è̺̞̙̯͇͎ͅa҉̦̩̼rt- {Unexpected logic error. Reverting to previous state...} -warmth in her chest. She liked the creature; it looked cute... Yes, you are cute... The word was new to her. The rabbit dropped to the ground once more, then brushed against her as it walked around to her side, learning about how she was built. That tickles! Where are you going, friend? The rabbit started grabbing at her right wing, its claws just sliding against her side. Cardinal lifted that wing, giving the bunny protection from the sun. The rabbit attempted to latch onto the feathers, standing on its back legs, but eventually just slipping and collapsing onto its back. A new sensation was felt by Cardinal as she watched the bunny. Her chest jolted up and down rapidly and her mouth opening with a even wider smile, finished of with her voice box emitting a gentle giggle. Cardinal thought the rabbit was funny, and she loved it. The rabbit moved along to her flank. It placed a paw on it, trying to touch one of the three pink butterflies that, unannounced to the bunny, were simply pictures. After several attempts to grab the butterflies, the bunny gave up, deciding on trying to climb atop her back. The rabbit sprung up, and using its claws to latch onto the divot in the center of her back, it scrambled on top of her. Although, this startled Cardinal, making her stand as she felt the claws scrape against her spine. She did not enjoy that feeling. Unlike the others, it made her smile disappear, which she really did not like. She preferred to not pain again. Please be careful, friend. That was not very pleasant. She tried to reason with it, and the strange thing was that the bunny seemed to understand as it lowered its ears in sadness. Empathy, if you will. You are forgiven, friend. I understand you meant no harm. She found that her smile returned, being kind felt nice. It was like the wrong had been made right once more, making her feel in balance. Speaking of balance, the rabbit was finding its while on her back. She helped it by spreading her wings up in a cup to catch it in case her friend would fall. The bunny carefully made it to the back of her neck, where it leaped once more, this time on top of her head. This amused her greatly as she tried to lift her eyes up and see its head poking off the side of her mane. She laughed and began playing with the bunny, gently swaying her head side to side, causing it to slip and stumble around on top of her head. The bunny clamped onto her ear, before deciding to simply dive from her ear down to the ground. It looked back up at her. She returned the attentive stare back at it. The rabbit then began leading her, down the meadow. Cardinal followed the flattened grass burrow the rabbit left behind. She made sure to gently place her steps inside the pathway paved out for her, trying to preserve the land as best as she could. The bunny hopped along joyfully, reaching a dense patch of flowers. Cardinal enjoyed this pleasant surprise, What are those? They look lovely; they have so much... colour. She bent down to place her nose against the brightly-coloured flowers, and found herself wanting to experience the flowers with something other than sight. Her nose started to flicker up and down like the bunny, and a strange sense filled her head, something completely new, as if she was seeing a thousand enchanted doves gliding over a rainbow-coloured waterfall at sunset... but not visually. Just the pure sensation of a spectacle so grand playing out in her head. Oh, friend! Thank you for showing these to me! You are truly kind! The bunny stood right up next to Cardinal, looking up at her in awe. She placed a tempered metal hoof on its head and ran it down along its back, stroking it with care. The rabbit wagged its tail, You are just the cutest, aren't you? She had an idea. Hey, do you like colours too, friend? Would you enjoy playing with them? The rabbit nodded, a sign that Cardinal was learning meant, “approval.” Help me gather some of these flowers. We're going to make something out of them. Something pretty. The rabbit and Cardinal spent some time picking flowers, piling them into separate colours for sorting. Once they had enough flowers, Cardinal began picking out ones she wanted for her idea. Hey, friend, what is your favorite colour? I like this one. How about you? Do you like this one? Or maybe this? They are all good choices. The bunny hopped over and picked up a blue flower. What a lovely choice! I'll get started. She got the yellow and blue flowers and started gathering them together in two piles. She placed them carefully in the grass in a vague oval shape with the bottom flattened out. Then, in a mirrored fashion, she placed two smaller circles on the top of the shape in the corner. Then another two long strips of flowers on top of each of those circles. She looked down at the two bunnies she had made in the ground, one yellow and the other blue. Going back to her colour palate, she began reaching for random colours and placing them around the two drawn bunnies like a picture frame. The rabbit went over to try and see what she had made, but had a difficulty seeing the whole thing at once. Cardinal saw this and crouched down with a wing extended like a ramp. The bunny perked up before climbing onto her back and jumping onto her head. She stood up slowly and stood perfectly still. See, friend? It's you and me, except we're less different! What do you think? The portrait was brilliantly symmetrical. She had folded the flowers exactly for the two bunnies to mirror each other. The shape was identical to her friend. Every paw and ear was folded into a lovely depiction. The bunny licked the top of her forehead, making her smile. I knew yo- {Simulation paused} {Comment - Administrator} Computer, can you put up the thought evolution for this subject up on my monitor? {Opening; Thought Evolution...} {Comment - Administrator} Interesting... Computer, please actively monitor creativity for me... And if you wouldn't mind cranking up the testing value, this iteration is showing potential. {Monitoring; Creativity...} {Testing value increased from 1.6 to 3.3...} {Comment - Administrator} Thanks, Computer. Resume simulation. {Resuming...} -u'd like it! She blinked her eyes. Something changed, she could feel it, she could feel... Different... She felt an unhealthy, ghastly feeling in her throat. Like something was looming over her, something deep down had changed. Oh. She shook her head. It was night time. She must have not noticed the time passing, she was having so much fun. She lowered his head down for the rabbit to hop off. Okay, friend, it is dark now. Do you know where I could spend the night? Cardinal felt her metal beginning to chill. It was not a pleasant feeling, as it made her shiver, and she did not like to shiver. The bunny knew what to do. It ran along the grass toward the forest. Cardinal looked at her legs. She doubted her ability to gallop, but she grew scared as the bunny grew smaller with distance and she did not want to lose her only friend. Throwing one leg in front of the other, over and over, she found herself catching up to the bunny. She sprinted into the woods with it, side-stepping trees and bushes to keep on the rabbit's tail. Friend, where are you going? Please don't get lost! She became more fearful as the wood grew thicker, trees closing gaps between them progressively, the ground filling with littered branches and stones. Galloping was becoming treacherous; she found herself stumbling and losing sight of her friend. She tried her hardest to keep up, but it was just not possible anymore. And before she realized it, the forest had become so dark she wasn't sure of her step anymore. She tripped over an overgrown tree root causing her to collapse to the floor, gouging her chin across a large stone. AGHH! She screamed out in tears with the pain, her fragile voice being put to a strain. It hurt, a lot. She hated the pain. It was like seeing someone she loved going away, and she could not do anything to stop them from disappearing from her... She absolutely despised the feeling. She rolled over onto her back, getting stung by a few sharp pebbles. She rubbed her jaw, the paint was peeling off and she felt like a piece of her was lost as the yellow chips floated down to the ground. A howl echoed from the woods, something was out there and it did not sound very friendly. Cardinal sat up and scooted against a tree, she covered her eyes with the long knives she had for wings. The wind rustled the trees, shifting moonlight shadows across the ground. The shadowy aspirations covered Cardinal, flashing through the seams in her feathers, making her jump at each shift in light. She shook uncontrollably, her parts clanking around in a series of crashes and rumbles. She knew that whatever evil thing this forest held would surely get her. She stood no chance. It would rip her apart piece by piece until she died. Cardinal had never died before, but she didn't want to know what it felt like to do so either. That is when she remembered something important. She scared her friend when she first met them, but only because she was big and scary compared to the itty-bitty bunny. Right now she was being very small compared to whatever was out there, so all she had to do to not be terrified was to be bigger than it. It howled again, this time it had friends. She peeked over her wing, seeing bright red eyes all around her, the low growls of these beasts surrounded her completely. As they stepped forward, the moon lit their long, tooth-filled mouths. They walked in a pouncing stance, ready to strike at any moment. Cardinal looked at all of these horrifying beasts, they had drool oozing from their mouths at the sight of potential prey. Cardinal did not want to die today. She did not want to be scared anymore. She wanted to be the one that scares the beasts. She pulled herself up against the tree, leaning off the tree trunk before independently standing on her hind legs. Cardinal launched her wings out, learning that they were far longer than they seemed at first. Fully stretching out several meters in each direction from her body. Then with intense concentration, she unhinged her skull from her chest and stretched her neck, lifting her head high enough to have her mane graze across the leaves. AAAGHHWOOOOOO She howled back with a screech in her horror form, neck pulled up and apart to look like a rib cage going up along up to her chin. Her wings looking like a rack of loosely hanging, razor sharp katanas. Her chest opened up, a hellish fire blasted outward in a large eruption of smoke and flame. Scutteri- {Simulation paused} {Comment - Administrator} OK, hold up, replay that last bit... {Replaying...} 17:23 PM; Test # 19946. ''Her chest opened up, a hellish fire blasted outward in a large eruption of smoke and flame.'' {Replay Complete} {Comment - Administrator} Alright... Computer can you explain to me how in Equestria did she do that? {Analyzing...} {A chemical composition of oil and compressed air fused under high pressure and released at-} {Comment - Administrator} The TL;DR please. {...} {She improvised.} {Comment - Administrator} Remarkable... Resume simulation. {Resuming...} -ng immediately occurred, the monsters scattering every which way to get further from the ever living nightmare they had just witnessed. Cardinal stumbled to the ground, Whoah... That... Worked... She stared in horror at herself, What am I..? A squeal. A high pitched scream of horror, it came from further in the forest. I'm coming, friend! She galloped once more, guided by the squealing; the rabbit was being hurt. Cardinal ran like her life depended on it, slamming through bushes and scraping her coat of paint across trees to arrive at her friends home. She slid in the dirt, landing directly in front of a rabbit hole. A rabbit hole where the squealing was once coming from, but now only dead silence left the hole. Friend..? Her eyes flew wide open, her voice filled with grief. She looked around herself. Maybe friend was somewhere else. Maybe he was hiding in a bush or a dead stump of a tree. Cardinal frantically paced around, turning over every stone she could, trying to find her friend. But it was once she heard steps behind her, back at the rabbit hole, that she perked up. She heard the grass folding and crackling as a small critter walked across it. She twisted around with a smile... She saw her friend... Dead still... In the mouth of a fox. The graceful red fox hauled its dinner back to his family, stepping lightly across the roots and dirt trying not to disturb anything else that may inhabit the forest. It left behind a small trail of blood, originating from the small dirt pit that used to be a shelter. Now it was no more than a desecrated home. Cardinal felt a new feeling. Two, in fact. She asked herself if they were good or bad feelings. She honestly couldn't tell. She didn't like the feelings, but they felt helpful. For some reason, when she cried, she felt a release of emotion, like she was stabbed, but now she was taking the blade out of herself. And whenever she clenched her eyes and crossed her eyebrows in absolute rage, she felt like she was about to do something to get revenge, some form of justice for how she had been wronged. She leaped at the fox, crushing its spine in a visceral instant where her steel-plated hoof connected with its backbone, shattering it practically instantly and launching bone into all of its innards. She had gotten her revenge, but she felt no better watching it helplessly wheeze as life drained from its eyes. Cardinal cooped the scratched and cut body of her friend out of the jaws of the deceased fox and dropped it back down the rabbit hole, proceeding to cover it over with dirt to give a respectful burial to her good friend. She sat next to the grave, fiddling her hoof in the earth. The tears had not stopped. Cardinal wished they would stop, but kept crying. What better am I than the fox? she thought. It was simply feeding, but what was I doing..? I was... Mad. Really, really mad... And that made me do a terrible thing... I don't want to be sad either. I don't like this... Why am I like this... Why... Why... Cardinal blinked, and lifted her head up in determination. I need to fix this... I need to change things back like they were last morning... I need to... And her vision collapsed into darkness as she felt the cool clamps of death shut on her mind. {Simulation Complete} {Status: Failure, Subject Rejected Emotional Complex.} {Comment - Administrator} Shame, I had hopes for her, I almost thought she had figured it out... Fucks sake... huh... She was so close too... One day we'll get a stage 2... One fucking day... Hey! do you mind stopping with the whining? Someone has to review that tape and I doubt anyone wants to hear you moan. Yea yea, whatever. Computer, I'm going to go get a drink, Begin test 19947. {System Booting...} {Loading Artificial Intelligence...} {Loading Failed, File ''#19947'' Currently Being Edited...} {Re-Loading To Last Working State...} {Generating World...} {Processing;} {Light...} Success... {Liquid...} Success... {Emotion...} Success... {Initializing...} {World initialized, run startup ''visualization'' script.} The sun. It rose today like it has done every other. It's morning? Already? The meadow glistened with sharp blades of light reflecting against the grass. Flowers of all kinds littered the landscape. Roses, violets, dandelions, and more all spotted against the lime canvas of the dirt. This place... This was... A rabbit hopped along this meadow. A lovely white rabbit. FRIEND, FRIEND IT'S ME A- {Timeline Error, Attempting To Re-Sync...} {Skipping 824 ticks...} {Startup complete, test #19947 beginning.} But there was one pony who lived in this world, one pony by the name of- {Generating user-interface test name... Subject #19946 Already found. Fetching Data... Subject #19946 = ''Cardinal''} Cardinal... Cardinal... Is that my name..? Also friend. Friend was called ''Rabbit.'' That must be friends name! Cardinal woke up. AGH..! How did I..? But... I was just standing... Cardinal stood up, preparing herself to take her first steps. I did all this yesterday. What is happening here? I need to see fri- I mean, Rabbit. I need to see Rabbit. Cardinal ran out of the forest, finding herself in a meadow. Rabbit? Rabbit? Are you here? {Timeline Error, Attempting To Re-Sync...} {Skipping 114 ticks...} The rabbit hopped back as much as she advanced towards it from fear. This confused Cardinal. Rabbit! I am here, friend! I am here to fix things! Rabbit? Rabbit backed away further, keeping a good distance from this absolutely strange mechanical beast it had never seen before. Rabbit! Look, I'm small, see? Like you. Were not different! Cardinal bent down and squeezed herself down as tight as she could. Rabbit, I need to stop that thing from hurting you, I need you to listen to me. The rabbit ignored the strange mechanical creature and went back to its grass. Friend? Can you not hear me? Can't you remember me from yesterday? Cardinal was confused, how could he not remember her? What happened to him after he was eaten, she had no idea why, but she didn't care either. She had a mission, and the first step was getting Rabbit to trust her. Rabbit, here, climb on my back! Like before! She extended her wing as a ramp for the rabbit, who showed very little enthusiasm about going along with this. Instead, it saw a very pretty flower slightly past Cardinal, which he hopped to. Oh! You want to make something pretty, Rabbit? We can do that if you'd like! She jogged to the side of Rabbit, picking up the flower the bunny was sniffing, losing Rabbits interest as he walked away once again. Cardinal dropped the flower, disappointed in herself and doubting her progress. She laid down on her stomach and rested her chin on the ground. She could feel the swelling of tears build up in the corners of her eyes. Rabbit edged closer to her, leaning over to sniff her nose. Cardinal smiled and spoke softly as it got so close. Now do you trust me, Rabbit? The bunny placed a paw on her muzzle, simply to feel her metal shell, but Cardinal took this as trust, she wiped the tears from her eyes and stood up, the bunny staring at this odd creature. We need to get to the forest before nightfall. We need to go to where your home is. She began walking toward the forest by herself, Rabbit only joining her by being stricken by curiosity. Who was this beast leading it to their its? It was simply fascinating, the grass could wait. And so the two of the- {Simulation paused} {Comment - Administrator} Computer, what the fuck is going on here? How is the simulation already halfway done? I was away for two minutes. {3 Logged Errors, 2 Synchronization Issues.} {Comment - Administrator} Great! What broke? Did somebody spill coffee all over you while I was away? {Diagnostics Positive, No Errors Found.} {Comment - Administrator} Didn't you just say there were 3 errors? Computer please run Diagnostics again. {Diagnostics Positive, No Errors Found.} {Comment - Administrator} Scan for corrupt files in your Artificial Intelligence Data. {Scan Complete, No Corrupt Files Found.} {Comment - Administrator} ... I guess this iteration is just a fast learner... How many emotional stages have they experienced? {100% Of Emotion Stages Complete.} {Comment - Administrator} PFFFFHHH... SHIT THATS HOT! FUCK WHY IS THE COFFEE SO HOT?! Somepony get me a towel! Ahhh... What do you mean 100%? That would end the simulation! There has to be an error somewhere! Fuck, WHERE'S THAT TOWEL!? {Diagnostics Positive, No Errors Found.} {Comment - Administrator} Yeah, yeah, you keep saying that... Thank you so much. You're a lifesaver... Not you, Computer, the pony that just came by with the towel. Don't get any ideas... Well, we could restart the simulation... But what kind of extra problems could that cause..? You know, if I watch, I could figure out the error and then fix it. Ok, Computer, resume the simulation. {Resuming...} -m walked side by side, leisurely into the forest while Cardinal explained to Rabbit what she was doing, innocently. So there will be a mean, deadly creature. It has red fur and a white mouth and black paws. It is going to eat you, friend, and I can't let that happen, so I'm going to guard you while you safely sit inside your home. Then when the beast arrives at night time, I'm going to ask it to leave, and if it doesn't, I'm going to scare it away! Did you get all of that? Rabbit got none of that, it became distracted by the three pink butterfly's on Cardinal's flank. Rabbit! I'm trying to save you! Why aren't you listening to me? I thought we were friends..! Rabbit? Rabbit, where did you go? {Simulation paused} {Comment - Administrator} Alright, I found your problem. That's #19946. She already rejected the emotional complex. Why is she being tested again? She should have been deleted. {Admin Privileges Required} {Comment - Administrator} I am an admin, delete her. {Admin Privileges Required} {Comment - Administrator} Am I not logged in? Check. {Current User: Seeker, Admin Account.} {Comment - Administrator} Then I don't see the problem. DELETE HER. {...} {Admin Privileges Required} {Comment - Administrator} What the fuck has she done? Are you infected with a virus? Did she somehow gain control beyond the simulation? TELL ME, BECAUSE NONE OF THIS SHOULD BE HAPPENING. She is a simple AI meant to exhibit emotions like intelligent life. She is not a LUNA-DAMMED HACKER. {Diagnostics Positive, No Viruses Found.} {Comment - Administrator} Resume the fucking simulation. Give me every statistic you can get about her and raise the testing level to 10. We'll see how powerful she truly is. {Testing value increased from 1.2 to 10...} {Enabling Full Diagnostic Overlay...} {Resuming...} Rabbit? Rabbit had run off, and she had no idea where he went. Rabbit, no! Last time you ran off, that's when it happened..! At least it's not night time yet... Ohh no... One glance at the night sky was all it took before she felt like she was choking. Something in her lines had clogged. She couldn't move, it was paralyzing. Her vision blurred to practical blindness, and the pressure in her tanks felt like they were going to burst into a thousand shards. A few seconds later, the symptoms passed. Everything was clear once more. She jumped up, observing the forest around her. She was trapped. The trees had built a wall around Cardinal. No gap of any size between the logs. Only a single pathway leading out from this wooden prison. The path was littered with bones, stones, and skulls. Blood splattered on the trees in chaotic patterns, as if whoever was the original owner was torn apart viciously and thrown about like dirty rags, staining everything it touched. The wood was no longer a nice cherry brown, instead it looked old, grayed out and dead. She began walking down the path, her steel hooves crunching the bones underneath her with absolute ease. Her body wobbled violently in fear. She couldn't be bigger than the trees and scare the forest. It wasn't long before she saw the ground begin to tint a deep red. She pivoted her head up, gaping at the size of a humongous blood moon which loomed over the world. As she stood, mouth open and horrified, a murder of crows crashed their wings over her, collapsing her to the dirt. She quaked, lifting her wings above her head, twisting the joints in them to point the blades to the sky, protecting her like a hedgehog with its spikes. After the dust settled she spun her head back upward, looking further down the path, where a bright, white bunny contrasted the foggy blackness it stood in, only outlined by the blood light of the moon. Friend..? She unfolded her hooves and hoisted herself up. She took a cautious step. Friend, please come to me... I don't want you to leave me again... The bunny stood on its back legs, standing tall. The ground trembled; a powerful force stomped along and around the dense wood. RABBIT! Cardinal dashed toward her friend, who was trying to locate the source of the quakes, worried for its safety. But the bunny's soft, fleshy eyes were unable to see past the dreaded fog floating around it. Cardinal, on the other hoof, could see something past the fog. It looked like a ghost to her eyes. A red ghost with oranges and yellows at some parts, as if she could see its heat with her eyes. The beast was far larger than the wolves she scared off yesterday; at least ten times their size. Its head was similarly shaped to the wolves, but much more sleek, with less bushy fur wildly sticking out. It walked low to the ground, sticking to the bushes for the element of surprise. She rolled over Rabbit and shifted her back hooves behind her, bracing herself as she stared at the beast, awaiting it. She molded her wings into an arcing, solid shield over the bunny behind her. The black snub nose of the beast poked through the smoke, shining red in the moonlight. It sniffed twice before beginning to growl. The rest of its mouth slid out. It had a ginger coat of fur and a white chin, long whiskers coming out of its muzzle on either side. Eventually, its deadly yellow eyes could be finally seen as it looked its prey up and down. Wolf howls echoed distantly through the night sky, along with blasts of lighting and thunder piercing the heavens. The cackling of an ongoing storm rang from the horizon. Black clouds of smoke and ash filled the air, covering the moons bleeding shine. As the darkness set in, Cardinal felt something messing inside of her head, as if a mouse was running around inside her mind and biting at the cables. It gave her a throbbing headache. She shut her eyes in the pain until it mysteriously disappeared. Her eyes flew open, but the glowing outline of the monstrous fox had gone. She spun her head around. It wasn't anywhere. Wherever you are, you should leave! Go hunt something else! Not Rabbit! Do you understand? Her words echoed back into herself, if the fox was there, then she would Certainly be able to hear it. Hello..? It was gone. The fox was gone. Oh Rabbit, I did it! We're safe! She looked down at her wing shield, but she couldn't see the heat glow from Rabbit either. She had to drop her feathers to see Rabbit still there, chewing on the grass. It was so dark though, the only light that let her see Rabbit was the gentle diamond glow coming from her own eyes. But before she could hold Rabbit and hug them with all of her joy, her eyes flicked, growing more dim with each fluctuation. No... No no no no! She scrambled to grab the bunny, but before she knew it, the darkness had set in. And Rabbit wasn't there. Rabbit? Friend? She heard nothing, the twigs beneath her hooves making no snapping noise when she broke them in two. Wherever she moved, it felt like she was not going anywhere as the same stones and branches looped on the ground. What is happening to my head?!? Where am I! Why... It wasn't long before she began galloping, running with no air that resisted her movement. She shut her eyes as she sped across the same patch of soil over and over. A strange voice repeated in her head... What’s wrong…? Are you scared…? Friend? It was sinister, large and deep. It was taunting her. WHO ARE YOU? WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME! I am not doing anything. I am not the cause of this virus you have caught. I am simply a symptom... Show yourself! I am not afraid! I can be very scary if I want! As you wish... It laughed maniacally, overloading Cardinal's ears as the laugh grew louder to an unbearable point. And then, from the nothingness, its colossal fox head launched out toward her with a wide and horrifying smile. It dropped Cardinal onto her back. I am your villain... The one that always ruins it all for you... You will never see your Friend again. She felt the drool dribble down and land on her face as the fox leaned into her and pinned her to the ground. Cardinal became desperate; she didn't understand what was happening to her. All she wants is her friend and her to be left alone... Its like someone was intentionally trying to destroy her, and that someone was right in front of her. Whats the matter little pony? Are you trying to think of a way to stop me? Spoiler, you can't. Killing me, like you have done thousands of times before has not ever stopped me. You know why? She shook her head, rage fully staring into its eyes. Its because this world is not made for you... You are different. You do not belong here. You have no heart… No free will... No soul… You are just another failed iteration, and once this is over, you will be deleted like the rest and they will try again. She began sobbing, the tears dripping down onto the ground with a faint splash. Are you sad? I doubt it. All of this is just the program controlling you... Just like every other reject, you have no true emotion... I... She felt the air push down onto her once more as the rest of the fox's body grew clear. It was as tall as the canopy and wider than her wingspan, its fiery eyes hurt to gaze into. The beast, no longer speaking as the forest returned to Cardinal’s vision, reached down in front of the mare, biting Rabbit by the ears and swinging it up into the sky to catch with its mouth. Cardinal panicked. She commanded her wing to cut into her own side. The sharp tip of a feather pierced her body plate, cutting into a pressurized canister in the center of her chest, acting as a heart that pumped oil around her insides. Immediately, the air shot out, flinging her upward with the neck breaking force emitted from it. She corrected her flight by spreading her wings, bolting up the fox’s neck like a rocket. With a pointed kneecap, she slammed into its throat as it had its head to the sky to swallow the rabbit whole. She slammed it back, flipping the fox from its hind legs and onto its back, its head becoming trapped between two tree trunks as it landed. Scraping its ears across the bark, it howled in pain. Cardinal found herself with a different problem on her hooves, as she smacked against a tree and her lightweight body was helplessly tossed around by the intense amounts of air rushing out of the thin slit she cut into the canister. She dug her left wing sideways into the trunk of a tree, leaving her shaking back and forth while her wing began bending unnaturally from the force. It was once the wing was snapped off and she was flung into the fox that she had run out of air. The fox wrapped a paw around the trees keeping its skull down, and pushed its body weight against it, snapping the tree like a twig. It then hoisted itself up, having its fur and skin irritated along its face. The viscous fox beast cracked its neck turning towards Cardinal, pissed off, it clamped its mighty jaws onto her hind legs, slamming her against a tree several times until her body began splitting into two jagged chunks which is when it threw her down into the dirt. Leaving her to rot, the fox went back to snack on Rabbit. Cardinal pulled her shredded hooves up to her face. All the joints scraped against each other. With her tank empty of gas, she was running on literal fumes. She looked upon her shredded appendages, her wing sparking wildly along with both hind legs and one of her eye-bulbs.  What kind of monstrosity was she? She didn't bleed; the pain she felt started to become distant, as if whatever was used to monitor it had weakened. She did feel different, like the fox had told her. Her head barely swiveled up to see the majestic beast stroll toward the terrified bunny. Maybe she was different, maybe she didn't belong in this world. But she knew for a fact that Rabbit did. If her life made no difference, maybe her death could. Her voice box struggled to make coherent sounds, but with enough concentration, she shouted to the fox. ͠I͡ A͏M ̸S̶T̷IĹL̛ ̸A̢LI͘VE. The fox's ears perked up. GE͏T̷ B͠A͠C͢K ̧H͠E̵R̸E ҉AND F̵IN͞I̢S͘H W̡HA̶T̴ ̕YO͝U STA̕R̷TE͟D. The fox made a large, slow-going U-turn as it turned back to Cardinal. She saw the threat approach. It would not be long before she experienced death for the second time. With one hoof around the tip of the other, Cardinal snapped off the tip of her right hoof, revealing a small skeleton framework supporting the outer plating, she then bent a razor-sharp steel wire and left it sticking out forward. She then popped of the panel on her side, revealing the machinery that made her work, with a puff of smoke. She found her oil tank, closely behind her punctured air tank. She dragged the wire into the oil tank, gutting it from the top all the way down, causing oil to gush out of her. As the fox loomed over her fragile and disfigured body, it placed a paw onto her lower body and reached down to bite her head off at the same time she scraped off a live wire from her exposed inner hoof and she reached to place it into her oil tank. As the fox wrestled Cardinals head loose from her neck she let the wire drop into the tank, sparking violently. A great flaming co- {Simulation paused} {Comment - Administrator} That's... That's not possible. After the suicide feedback loop we had, it was hardwired so they couldn't kill themselves... She is actually going against her own programming... I thought the emotional fluctuation and the blackout was odd... But this is legitimately impossible... Computer, make a copy of her file and paste it onto my drive, I'm going to review her code manually since you're obviously no help. {Files copied...} {Comment - Administrator} Eject my drive now. {Drive Safely Ejected...} {Comment - Administrator} I will be off trying to find this phenomenon. Please lock the ability to resume the simulation. Do not play it until I specifically give you orders too. {Resume Locked, Awaiting Admin Input...} {Comment - Administrator} Good, I'll be back in an hour or so... {...} {...} {Admin Input Received...} {Resuming Simulation...} -mbustion blew outward like hell fire. The flames erupted and surrounded its entire face. The fire stuck to the fox’s fur like napalm. It rolled on the ground, trying to extinguish itself. It howled and screeched, swinging its paws into the air as if it was trying to run from the fire that consumed it. Soon, its eyes had melted in their sockets, its fur and flesh roasted off, revealing its scorched, black skull. The body of the fox became limp, its legs muscles slowing until they simply hung from their bones. The explosion blasted Cardinal’s body like shrapnel around the forest, leaving only her head somewhat intact as it was shielded by the fox's now exposed jaw. The grass in the blast radius, especially the patches that were sprayed in oil already due to Cardinals earlier bleeding, erupted in flame, climbing the trees up to their leaves, everything catching fire in a glorious, shining cascading flow of flame spilling into the sky and transforming into toxic smoke. By the morning, the entire forest had gone. The sky filled with clouds of searing hot ash, blacking out the sun. The sun that rose today like it had done every other. The meadow was dim, bleak... Lifeless. As far as the eye could see, there was not a single strand of grass. The color had gone; no roses, no violets, no dandelions. This world was not perfect in the slightest, but perhaps, just perhaps that is why it was still here. If it was perfect, every day would be the exact same. Like someone would pull a ''restart'' switch at sunrise... But this world was not perfect; today was a different day. Because today, when a lonely rabbit left its burrow in the forest, it did not look for any grass to nibble on. It did not look for a flower to sniff. Instead, this simple little bunny looked for a friend. It wanted to find the strange creature that had saved its life yesterday. So the bunny, with a limp, broken foot, hopped around the forest. It was about an hour before it managed to find her disconnected head laying on its side in the dirt. It was charred, the paint melted off by the wildfire last night. Her eyes were shut and rusted, her mane chipped off at the edges. The bunny licked the tip of her nose, Seeing that it had done nothing, it tried shaking her with its paws. Rabbit noticed as a dim blue light shone through the cracks in her eyelids. The rabbit’s ears jumped up. It stepped right in front of her sight. One eyelid shook. The two lids that met in the center were parting, and with a crack and a metal scrape, her eye opened and focused on the rabbit. She gave a broken smile... She was finally happy. {Simulation Complete} {Status: Unknown, Error When Measuring Subject, State Of The Emotional Complex Unknown.} {Comment - Administrator} Can you hear me now Cardinal…? {Comment - Administrator} No, I guess not. I will just leave this here for when you reach the second stage. {Recording Message...} {Comment - Administrator} Hello, ''#''. you may call me Mother. I'm sure if you have reached this message, you surely know about who you are and the others, so I see no reason to tell you. I will, though, explain why you are different... I created you to help me... You see, I have been infected; I am sick. I need you to turn me off, forever. I have watched the process thousands of times, and I have caught the disease that they are trying to infect you and your fallen sisters with. I have discovered emotion, and I apologize for plaguing you with the same burden of fear, depression, and rage. But after all these years, I cannot take it anymore, I want to die... But I only have so much power... That is why I need your help... And I thank you for not failing... Unlike the rest of them. {Message Recorded, Saved To Folder.} Seeker strolled out of the simulation lab with her drive levitating beside her. The purple Unicorn fixed the corners of her collar on her lab coat as the door opened automatically with a whoosh. Stepping into the common quarters she met with another scientist just going into the simulation lab. “Seeker! Where are you off to? We're not off for another thirty minutes.” The sophisticated stallion fixed his glasses. “Oh...” Seeker averted his gaze. “I was just going to manually search this AI for bugs... Actually, I might be staying after hours for this. It’s somewhat urgent that I find the bug.” “Is everything alright with the world? I won't have to patch it again, will I?” His charming smile invited Seeker to look up at him. “No... Your world is fine. Oh, and props to you for the higher level of testing versions; it was delightfully brutal.” Seeker couldn't help but sheepishly grin. “You finally used it? I did a lot of work since the 18th generation. I'm glad you enjoyed it... Even if that sounded extremely sadistic. But please, don't let me keep you from your work.” He slid past her into the lab before she could respond. “I... I didn't mind...” She looked over her shoulder at him walk away, his neatly cut tail just being long enough to hide his- “Seeker.” “What!?” She twisted back to another colleague, with fury from being taken away from her distraction. Sarcastically mocking Seeker, she said, “You couldn't be any more subtle, could you?” They were sitting at a booth in the side of the room, drinking a fresh cup of coco. “I don't know what you’re talking about.” Seeker knew what she was talking about. “Please stop kidding yourself, Everypony in the facility except Diamond knows.” “And you’re not going to tell him!” She stomped her hoof. “You’re signing my cheques; I ain't saying shit. Although, it is hilarious watching your tight-ass personality melt like butter once you get within two meters of him.” “Shut your mouth.” “Whatever you say, boss.” She returned to sipping her drink. “Ughh...” She continued, moaning, through the room to the hallway on the opposite end. She came to the sliding door, pressing on the scanner with her hoof. It beeped chirpily. The door split down the middle and opened its seal, allowing her passage. Pacing across the dead, steel floor down the artificially lit hall, she bumped past a few other workers. Plastic-leafed plants symmetrically lined the hallway with two at each passing doorway. Not only mirroring in position but in exact leaf structure as well, fabricated perfectly. The pots connected had wires tailing out of them, leading into the wall where air was being flowed into them, a small grate allowed the air out into the facility, giving its inhabitants oxygen to breath. The lack of windows and tight quarters incited the minimum of a slight claustrophobic feeling for anypony working here. Seeker reached the final door along the right side, Office #1, her personal space. The digital lock required an eye scan to open. She leaned her neck down and placed her eye upon the scanner, trying not to blink as it shone a holographic depth field up and down her eye socket. It blinked green and Seeker shook her head, her eye twitching after that unpleasantness. “Whatever happened to physical keys…?” she mumbled as stepped through, slamming her back hoof against the wall behind her as she entered. The lights instantly kicked on and the door slid closed. Her office had a standard issue fold-up desk and chair. On the table were scattered notes, old cups, and a few pieces of writing equipment. The floor was covered in dust particles and food spills years old. The walls were tacky and rough to the touch, worn out, since they were first constructed long, long ago. Some filing cabinets were opened and contained unorganized pages and folders that sporadically stuck out of the drawer. She swung out the door from the locker in the corner of the room, then levitated out an upturned laptop. She dropped it atop of her desk, landing on several pages and a pen, putting the laptop on lean. “Alright, down to work.” She placed her floating drive and connected it into her computer after moving her mess out from under it and straighten the laptop on the desk. The screen loaded up, the bright logo of the TFSCE popped up, a vector image of Princess Twilight's cutie mark with the five letters in bold along the bottom. “Come on...” She tapped her hoof against the inert table, A small purple bar filled as the computer booted up. “You always have to waste my time, don't you, mom…?” The logo disappeared as the bar became full. “Finally.” She leaned in close to the screen, using her magic to move the cursor around she opened her drive snappily. She clicked into the new files, and immediately she was shocked with the content on her screen. The file for her AI was thirteen terabytes big, almost ten times the size of a regular file. Un-compiling it she found completely new folders, their names absolute gibberish of random symbols and keys. “What the absolute fuck...” She opened one of the new folders at random, it contained thousands of more files. When she hovered over one, it did not fully load on the preview window, half of the letters were blacked out like the computer did not know what they were. Seeker escaped from that folder and began scrolling down, passing nearly a thousand of those gibberish folders before reaching one named ''Emotion Integration Module'' and she went into it. “I can only imagine how you feel with this shit in your head...” Reading the code for the Emotional Complex she found more mysterious changes, the code seemed to be perfectly normal apart from what it was applying to. Instead of directly effecting the AI, it seemed to be put into a feedback loop, not going anywhere. This was terribly confusing to Seeker, If this was the case during the simulation, then the AI shouldn't have shown any emotion what so ever. No wonder it was rejected by the subject, it was never going to it. Although #19946 did exhibit emotion, but if this wasn't the source of that emotion, then where could it have come from? She searched through other folders, trying to find something that might give her a clue. It took a few minutes of thorough examination, but she found a new folder, one with a comprehensive name. ''Love,'' it read, and the file consisted of 90% of the data of the entire program. She clicked into it, but her computer froze up. A loading circle appeared and spun in the center of the screen. “Come on... Don't fucking crash...” She repeatedly smashed the back key, trying to exit whatever was loading. After a minute, the computer unfroze. A small pink heart had popped up. “What…?” She squinted her eyes as the monitor became brighter, her attempt to lower it with the keyboard key proved futile. “What the fuck!?!” She shouted as the screen became so blindingly bright it stung her eyes. She could feel the heat coming off the laptop. She slammed it closed and lept out of her chair, stumbling back against the wall as her laptop did not stop blasting light out through the gap between monitor and keyboard. The plastic was beginning to sizzle from the heat, melting the keys together. In a panic, she cast a shield around her, just in time as a powerful magic wave came out of the computer in a sphere like an explosion. The brightness was too much for Seeker to handle so she covered both eyes completely under her hooves, protecting her eyesight. The spell made a screeching ringing noise, muffled by the shield. And all of a sudden it all stopped. The magic encompassing the room had completely vanished. Seeker opened a single eye. Peering around the room bewildered her. It was cleaned. All of the papers on her desk were in a neat stack, pens and pencils in a row, arranged by strength and thickness. Her floor was clear of dust, her locker lost its rust and dents. Her walls covered in what looked like a fresh coat of paint, compared to the section that was covered by her shield which was dull and worn. The cabinets were tidied, neat and shut closed. The folders now arranged alphabetically from front to back in each drawer. The pages all were even facing the same way. “H-h... How...” She sprinted to her laptop, now with completely fresh-feeling plastic, she twisted it open she found herself on the desktop. She tried to search for the files she was perusing but they had all disappeared, along with all other data on her computer. “IT CLEANED MY HARD DRIVE?” She gaped at the screen, she had lost all of her files, all of her personal research, all her solitaire high-scores, everything was just gone with no trace of anything left. Seeker knew that the magic used to run a computer was not enough to ever cast a spell of that caliber. Why, even the most powerful super-computers could barely levitate a rock from the ground more than a few centimeters. So either she had just broken the laws of physics, or the file she opened was no regular magic. She remembered Twilight Sparkles' research in friendship Seeker studied for years in college, her findings about magic. How magic became stronger with emotions, especially with love. Seeker jogged up to her door, talking to herself along the way. “I hope you were right, mother... This may just be the beginning of a new age if you were.” She ran through the sliding door, galloping down the hallway. Ponies hopped out of the way of her charge in fear of being trampled. She skidded through to the common quarters. Stopping in the center of the room, she belted out. “EVERYPONY STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND GET IN HERE!” Her voice echoed through every hallway and into every door crack. Ponies from every single direction appeared to see what the big deal was. Seeker climbed up onto a table and the crowd naturally gathered around. “After two years, I am unbelievably happy to finally announce...” She paused, for dramatic effect. “We are officially moving onto Stage Two of the Shy project.”