//------------------------------// // XXV. Reseize (unedited) // Story: Replicated Wanderer // by QuartzScale //------------------------------// System Repair… auto logging. Damage extreme… auto repair sequence cannot cope. Adjusting… system clear. Text kept scrolling through my mind forcing me to actually read through it while Nana, Harpuia and Fefnir checked out the damage to my system. In truth it was strange readings due to the magic that seemed to have awakened within my systems. Several parts were constructed within open sections of my body and seemed to be going through preliminary testing. The Thaumic Sensor received a large boost which jumped the range double what it was. At over one hundred and fifty meters originally I had a good sense all around me. With the three cyber elf personalities I had jumped from fifty meters to triple that range now I had doubled even that. ‘Systems are okay sir.’ Nana explained as several more graphs appeared within my mind. ‘We have seen to it that the parts are not dangerous and have integrated well with your current systems. We have no idea what they do at the moment but we shouldn't remain in sleep mode much longer. This has been the longest that you've been out.’ “What do you mean I've been out?” I mentally panicked since being asleep gave Discord more chances to try to do something to me. Even if we had made a deal I didn't expect him to keep it. Chaos thrived on unpredictability. ‘Internal clock readings state that you've been out for two days now.' Harpuia chimed in keeping his cool as he did so. Fefnir covered his ears as my entire system went into overdrive as I forced myself back awake. There was no time to check my systems for what the new parts would entail. “Star Swirl! He's coming around!” A female voice rang out from the haze. I opened my eyes only to see static. My entire system was still rebooting from the powered down mode. When my eyes came to I saw Meadowbrook standing next to me. There were no potions or medical equipment around me and I was glad for it. Nothing they had would have helped me. “What happened… did I die!?” I shot up nearly panicking… my emotion control was shot still and I was bleeding out my vulnerable side. I quickly shut up and placed that control under priority system repair. “Did you die? What's it like over there?” Meadowbrook interrupted my thought pattern and forced me to actually question what was going on. “What? No I didn't. I was asking you if it looked like I died.” I quietly groaned out as I looked over my body. I was no longer in the Light Armor and back in my original blue self. The only difference was the infinity symbol carved into my right forearm which was my primary buster arm. Even when it switched it to the buster the symbol remained. “Ah darn. Well I'm glad you're awake. To tell the truth we were uncertain what to do to help you. Even scanning spells had trouble figuring out if there was something wrong with you. Star Swirl assured us that he would figure out a way to figure out what was wrong with you but that was last evening.” Meadowbrook whispered keeping her voice down as a frantic Star Swirl came into the room. “Great Faust you're back. What happened to you?” Star Swirl called out as he galloped to my side. “System reboot… too much strain on my body and I conked out. How about you?” I nonchalantly answered as I stood up from the slab I was placed on. Apparently I was still in their secret chamber against the far eastern wall. “Is this one of those reploid things?” Star Swirl quirked an eyebrow at me trying to gauge my emotions. “Yeah. I guess you wanna talk about that a little more in depth now huh?” I raised a finger and started to tap it against my chest. I don't know where I picked up the habit but I noticed I was doing it again. The Emotional Control Core within the Suffering Circuit had apparently been knocked out for the moment. My nervous tics were starting to come out once again. “If you would kindly speak of them. I wish to jot them down… is that agreeable?” Star Swirl conjured a quill and inkwell and even a bound up book. “As long as the book remains relatively hidden or in my possession at a later date and my ramblings aren't found by an ambitious fool who wants to make more of me then yes it should be fine.” I belted out quickly running through my worries so candidly and being far too agreeable for my own tastes. “Agreed. I don't think this world is ready for more of you.” Star Swirl nodded as he trotted over to the table alongside Meadowbrook who showed genuine interest in what I was about to speak about. “What about the others?” I pointed out before sitting in the seat that was made to support my frame. “They are on business at the moment. Mistmane and Rockhoof are fortifying one of the cities a bit to the north while Somnambula returned to her hometown for the week. Magnus followed suit as well returning to Cloudsdale on order of Commander Hurricane to make sure that the elation of winning the war didn't go to their heads.” Star Swirl informed me as he checked over his quill making certain that it wasn't bent or leaking ink. I noted that he had more quills off to the side in case of breakage. “Right then… where to actually begin…” I pondered where to start at the moment. Reploids were replicated androids and the root of that word focused on humans in general. The other problem was that as X I actually wasn't a reploid. It was a common misconception and more of a blanket term for all robots created using X as a template. There were only two official androids created and I was in the body of one of them. “Start where you are most comfortable.” Star Swirl assured me waving off the tension I felt from having to explain what I was… in the simplest terms possible. “Well… I guess you could equate me to a golem in a sense but at the same time it's not so simple as that. Your golems are created through magic and have little to no sentience behind them. From what I could tell they couldn't do more than one task at a time.” I posited out hoping to keep this as a candid discussion rather than an interview. Bias could be formed without discussion on the semantics of things. “It's true. There was one prototype but Star Swirl had to destroy it before it could kill his apprentice. Complex thoughts can't be mapped by magic so easily without breaking into soul linking.” Meadowbrook explained as she pulled out a small book and flipped a few pages. The images she showed me were of totems or idols used like phylacteries. Lich hood seemed to be the only proven way to create a sentient golem. “A tragic day for the progression of magic but something that was necessary. I could not let my apprentice Clover die.” Star Swirl insisted though I held up my hand stopping his pity party from commencing. I already knew sometimes things were out of our control. “Even then soul linking is dangerous. It not only allows the user to take over other bodies subsuming the original soul but it could be misused to control multiple bodies. Only extreme personalities and strong souls can withstand the strain of another being trying to devour them entirely.” Meadowbrook muttered as her eyes darkened. Soul linking seemed like something Corundum would have tried to do… the fact that he wanted to die could have meant he was similar to a lich… as least superficially. The bodies equipped with crystals made more sense now… and if what Magnus said was true they had spread throughout the world because shipments were ‘stolen’ from the Crystal Empire. At this point it most likely wasn't a coincidence that those crystals had been loss… which meant Corundum had succeeded… I jumped from my seat in shock only for my emotion control core to restart and shut down my fear and shock. Star Swirl and Meadowbrook stood high on their chair as they lifted themselves up at my outburst. “X! What's wrong? You look as though you've seen a ghost.” Meadowbrook asked first while Star Swirl carefully examined my eyes. “Sorry… I was a little worried that because I've been asleep for so long that we should go after those shipments that were stolen from the Crystal Empire before they fall into the wrong hoofs… or hands or claws or paws.” I quickly deflected the conversation though with my tone back down to a controlled one Star Swirl seemed concerned. He didn't say anything at first and seemed to ponder what to do before he said anything. “We should but until we have leads on where they are we must be patient. Please continue about reploids… if you don't mind.” Star Swirl calmly mentioned though I could tell he was thinking the same thing as I was. Nervousness and dread came wafting off of him due to the readings from the Suffering Circuit. “Of course.” I replied keeping my mind focused on the task at hand. “We've surrounded the fortress Countess Primrose. Are you sure there can be no other course of action?” A stallion with a slate blue coat and dark blue wings questioned his leader. “Jet. Jet. Jet. What have I told you about thinking?” The Countess, Evening Primrose, lifted her head up raised her snout to her uppity soldier. Her ebony coat and brilliant royal purple wings flapped against the night sky as she focused her apricot colored eyes on Jet. “Don't.” Jet muttered as he braced himself. “Exactly.” Primrose replied before flicking her black mane back and smashing the back of her hoof against his face sending him sprawling through the air. “Any other questions you maggots?” The growl she sent out cajoled all her soldiers back into formation. With a wave of her hoof she sent them down towards the fortress picking key position for her plan to succeed. Idly she picked at the red crystal she had embedded on her left hoof dreaming of the possibilities it would allow them. Breaking out of her imagination she looked over her troops who would realize her plans. It would be simple and to the point. After all… they only needed one. “So you're saying that you were created from science and not magic. I don't quite follow what you mean by machines.” Star Swirl confessed as we continued going over concepts. “Think about it like this… in this world and every other for that matter there are six simple machines that occur regardless of magic. You know what a wheel and axle is right?” I added as I waited for their response which I did get a nod to. “Well that only works because the rod in the center keeps the wheel balance allowing for forward momentum. In my body are gears that are basically stylized wheels that allow me to move my internal systems.” “So we do have machines and are in the process of growing every time we think of a new use for them. Interesting… I would have never equated them in that way.” Star Swirl scrawled down a few more notes. We had talked at length about levers, pulleys, screws, inclined planes, wedges and finally we had reached the topic of wheels and axles. I equated each object with a part in my body though I had yet to talk about electrical processes… mostly because everything was done either through candle light or magical light. I needed to explain things in simpler terms if only to get my point across though I was slightly worried that I was giving them a slight advantage by explaining how these simple machines could be expanded to make more complex objects. “So all these make up the processes of your body then X?” Meadowbrook posited as she examined me a bit closer. She had gotten up during the discussion as I demonstrated which part did what. “Yes. Though the plane and wedge aren't used in my design… at least to my knowledge. This is the easiest way I can explain how my body works right now. At the very least it explains it mechanically on my movement. We'd have to go over more concepts to explain how my mind works and I'd have to figure out how best to word it in terms that wouldn't confuse either of us.” I quickly summarized. I was basically talking about robotics and electrical engineering trying my best to simplify it to the best terms I could find. Even then neither of those subjects were things I implicitly knew. Most of not all the terms I knew were being fed into me by Nana. An explosion rang out from somewhere in the fortress causing me to turn back to my sensor. I had ignored it since we started our conversation mostly to be polite and give my full attention to the pair. “We should go!” Star Swirl shouted as he magically stored the book and leapt from his chair to lead the way. Meadowbrook kept a good pace behind him while I brought up the rear… mostly because I was priming my buster. Long range was my specialty. As we raced through the fortress all the guards were following suit making their way towards the commotion. In the main hall acrid fumes wafted through the air as several ponies shadowed in the cloud struck and knocked the guards aside. They used their surroundings to the best of their abilities causing as much commotion as possible. Star Swirl launched a shield to keep the cloud of blinding smoke from coming any closer while Meadowbrook tended to the fallen soldiers. Luckily, most were only knocked unconscious which was slightly suspicious to me. Still I had no time to waste as I gave a small nod to Star Swirl and he opened a section of the shield up for me to jump through into the fray. As soon as I landed several shapes lunged for me. The first hit my chest sending me skid back into the shield but costing the enemy their consciousness as they fell to the floor. The second and third attempted to stop before they struck me but I managed to knock the higher one down with a quick left cross. The lower one fled back into the cloud as I switched over to my thaumic sensor. There were several targets flying around and without telemetry data I couldn't assign any Friend or Foe tags to each target. Not even a color coordination either due to the fact that those in the Aegis faction also appeared hostile to me. Thus began my pain staking trek through the smoke against enemies I could barely make out. Most of the time I could have sworn I was fighting pegasi but their wings were wrong. I couldn't make out what they were in the smoke and thermal visions were being led astray by the heat from the explosion that had occurred. It was as if they had found a dragon fire bomb somewhere. I threw out a quick cross counter as another foe flew down at me sending him back into the cloud. I had to readjust my eyes for a moment even though the cloud didn't affect my vision. I could've sworn I had just seen bat wings. Before I could process that I was kicked in the back of my head. It managed to knock me down but the kicker yelped in pain as their back legs seemed to crack from the strain. My gyroscopic stabilizers kicked in keeping me from hitting the floor as I turned and grabbed my assailant by the leg. She yelped in pain as I wrenched her back into my limited sight. She immediately tried to smack me with her hoof only to reel back in pain. I didn't have time to interrogate her at the moment so I did the next best thing. With a quick thwack of the back of my hand I smacked the back of her head as softly as I could. She conked out with a bad bump to the left side of her head and I slung her under my left arm. Part of me wanted to return to Star Swirl to show off the captured prisoner but I decided to push on through the hole that was created. Something was going on with how extreme that the bat winged ponies were charging into the fray. I hoped that the one I grabbed actually knew something otherwise this was going to be pointless. “Ah here we are… “ Primrose chuckled as she entered one of the conjoining rooms deeper in the fortress. Before her were several of her guards subduing their prey. She struggled valiantly but eventually the inhibition ring was placed on her horn and the sudden loss of magic knocked off the rhythm she had got going. “Unhand me knave! Think not that your heads will roll when I get my hooves on you!” The mare shouted as a muzzle was dragged against her mouth. “How many did we get?” Primrose questioned the largest thestral in the room. He had a light gray coat with lavender mane and wings. He was also twice as large as every other pony in the room. “Three. She is the last we've found. Opposition has been better than we expected. They really are riding their victory against Corundum now.” The stallion growled out causing the mare to shudder as ropes were tied around her barrel. “Excellent. We have what we wanted. Arum get the rest of them ready and let's head back for home.” Primrose chuckled as they broke the window and the lot of them flew back over the horizon with three ponies in tow. One was a stallion with a silver azure coat and several shades of gray mane who looked to be trying to grow a beard. Another was a filly with an ivory coat and dirty blonde mane. The third was too heavily bound to identify anymore and the three were whisked past the now full moon. I broke out of the smoke and sighted little over twenty of the bat winged ponies fluttering around striking back at the forces that were arraigned previously. Apparently in the day that my self repair systems were forced to work yesterday the platoons that were left at the fortress were diminished. Half of Hurricane’s forces were sent out to strengthen the borders to the south and create certain trade routes between the Principality and the Empire. Unfortunately Aegis’ troops had been composed mostly of earth ponies with only a few unicorns and pegasi to show some sort of diversity in the ranks. Being an earth pony himself I was certain bias were on display. I quickly shot out the closest of the bat ponies before they could realize what was going on. The guards incensed at the enemy finally losing their advantage pushed forward capturing whomever they could get their hooves on. The flying ones immediately signaled to each other and swooped down dodging my shots and using the regular soldiers as meat shields forcing me to shelf my buster. The mare slung beneath my arm stirred slightly but didn't struggle. I had made certain to keep my arm locked so she couldn't wiggle out of my grasp. The guards were flung back as the bat ponies seemed to meld in with the shadows and used it to their advantage to swing their wing blades wildly. The guards that had tackled the fallen were knocked back as a few pulled out their shields and the rest gathered their fallen taking off into the night sky. I focused charging my buster to its second stage shot which was a bright green plasma bolt. Each of those shots knocked the shields out of the bat ponies grip but as I followed up they would flap behind another of the shield wielders. As they continued to get out of range I tried to switch to the falcon armor… only to find that system down as well undergoing repairs. “God damnit…” I growled out as I looked down at the mare in my clutches. The smoked out entrance hall was cleared by the pegasi still standing while Meadowbrook ushered the injured out towards one of the wings made to hold patients. I noted that out of all the damage there had been no casualties but a lot of injured. Most of them had been part of Aegis’ troops. We had only captured six bat ponies which were all sprawled out under the layers of smoke that had been covering the hall. Star Swirl lifted them up and several unicorn guards summoned chains tying them up. One came up to me pointing at the mare in my arm but I shook my head. I had a plan to handle her when she woke up and I needed to make sure she knew there was no escape. “This was a smokescreen… “ Star Swirl muttered as he trotted up to me. “They weren't trying as hard as they could have.” “What are they?” I questioned as I finally looked over the mare in question. The bat wings were exactly as they were meant to be. Made of cartilage and flexible, the mare in question seemed to have a small opposable claw on her wing. It was something only she had while the other detainees didn't share the same characteristic. “Some call them thestrals… others strigoi… I prefer the former but that is me. There has always been bad blood between us and them. It shouldn't be that way since we are ponies… but of course this isn't a perfect world. There are three communes that they live in currently from our last census. One is in the Badlands. One is near the Smokey Mountains hidden in one of the closer valleys. The final is in Hollow Shades… a town that has two faces. The day had fallen there leaving only those of the night behind.” Star Swirl explained as he started to piece the doorway back together with his magic. “Well… we’ll have to coax which commune they live in. I'll probably have to handle that particular interrogation though.” I quietly stated while Star Swirl gave me that particular look. That look when someone is disappointed with your decision but has no alternative and reluctantly relents to the idea. “Star Swirl! It's terrible!” Second Stand came rushing from one of the stair cases. “What is it now?” Star Swir groaned and his age showed itself once again. Frustration poured from his eyes though I could tell he didn't want to deal with this in the slightest. “Clover the Clever was kidnapped! All of this was a ruse and they managed to take him away!” Stand hissed out clearly freaked out at the prospect. “He was what!? What!?” Star Swirl roared out as rage flowed down his neck and he nearly turned red. “We need to mount a rescue quickly sir! I volunteer for it.” Stand saluted as Star Swirl attempted to calm himself. Before we could answer his plea another figure walked from one of the halls. Flint Shard had stumbled through. His coat had been bloodied up and several gashes now adorned his side. He fell to the floor a couple times but forced himself back to his hooves. “X… !” Flint wheezed out as he harshly breathed in trying to regain his bearings. “They took her! They took Diamond Shard!” Flint fell to the ground coughing up blood and from the extent of his injuries he had barely survived. Whomever fought him made sure he paid for getting in their way. I rushed over to him checking over the extent of his injuries. Several of the guards wearing Hurricane’s mark, each unicorns, took one look at me and though reluctantly started to treat Flint right then and there. It was a sobering thought and I was more worried than I thought since I had saved him and her. I was glad that they were merely bandaging him up though I really wished I had Cinnamon active at this point. Her medical knowledge would be helpful at this point. “Star Swirl… we need to interrogate these thestrals. They are up to something and we need to figure out where they are going.” I growled out. As I figured strong emotions would break out even from my control and I caught myself squeezing the mare in my grip. She groaned in pain causing me to loosen my grip enough not to hurt her but strong enough that she couldn't escape. I carefully clenched my fingers around one of her hooves. She would break her hoof if she tried to escape though I hoped it didn't come to that. “Agreed. This travesty cannot go unanswered. I… Celestia… “ Star Swirl stopped forcing me to turn my attention in the direction he was facing. From the southwestern hall came a very distraught and frazzled alicorn. Celestia was a mess as her ruined pink mane and tear stricken eyes could attest. She took careful steps towards Star Swirl her gaze lost as if over a thousand miles away. “Celestia…” I muttered as she looked towards me. The fear was still present in her gaze… but it was not what she was truly feeling. The Suffering Circuit told me exactly how she felt. Hatred swirled in her heart and the need for retribution strongly flowed through her entire being. “Celestia… what is wrong? Where… where is Luna?” Star Swirl asked the question that broke the flood dams as a fresh wave of tears overtook her. “They took Luna!” Celestia sobbed as she fell to the ground completely broken. In the midst of a single night… thestrals had taken two of the rulers of ponykind and a sibling of a former enemy commander. Luna, Clover and Diamond Shard were all seized by a new threat… and I was preparing to get them back.