Shadow powered up the next morning and looked around the library, his optics taking in the sun shafts as they illuminated particles of dust that fluttered through the air while the soft sounds of birdsong filtered in through the open window to his left. Standing and hopping off of the couch that had been his resting place, Shadow walked over to one of the many bookshelves that lined the walls and picked up a book that he had been planning on reading but had been unable to up until now. While he had already gone over much of the biology and psychology of the pony races, he had not had time to look into the other sapient species of this world before he had been interrupted by Twilight and the others. Thus, the large textbook in his mouth would begin his second round of studying with what he hoped was reliable information concerning the gryphon and dragon races.
The next hour and a half was spent cataloguing the data provided by the tome before him, although about halfway into the large text he heard one of the library’s other occupants moving about in the living area. Given it sounded like hooves on the wood and the steps were of a quadrupedal pattern, Shadow surmised that it was Twilight getting up and preparing for the day. He ignored the soft scratching of quill on paper and focused on the words before him, although he did look up when he caught muttered utterings coming from directly behind him. His optics landed on the purple unicorn as she inspected the mechanisms visible between the plates of his back, a scroll and quill held in her ‘magic’ as she whispered technical terminology under her breath.
“What are you doing?” Shadow inquired, even though he had a pretty good idea already from what little of Twilight’s mutterings he could make out.
The unicorn seemed to jerk in surprise as her gaze jumped to his, the quill and scroll nearly falling to the floor before she caught them once more, “Oh! Shadow, I was, umm, just taking some, notes to, uh,” she let out a sigh as the quill and scroll floated over to the table as she averted her gaze, “I’m sorry. I just really wanted to learn more about you so we could improve our own technology. I know you and Princess Celestia came to an understanding and I’m not supposed to pry information out of you concerning your home, but I just couldn’t resist when you are a literal repository of unknown sciences and cultures that are centuries ahead of any race on Equis.” She lifted her head to meet his gaze once more, her eyes wide and her lower lip trembling as her tone took on a pathetic timbre, “Can you forgive me?”
While Shadow was familiar with the concept of ‘puppy eyes’, that did not mean he was affected by them. Yet he also knew that working with the local life forms would be more to his benefit than working against them, so he nodded once to Twilight’s inquiry, causing the pouting unicorn to spring to her hooves in joy.
“Oh, I’m so glad you forgive me!” She danced in place for a moment before pulling the scroll and quill back to her side, “So, if I can’t ask you about your own world, why don’t you tell me about what you think of ours? I’ve never had the chance to interview an extraterrestrial about our own world, so I’d be a fool not to take the chance while I can.”
Shadow leaned back slightly as the manic expression Twilight sported drew well within his personal space, a loop of code running around in his processors that caught his attention for a moment before it vanished. Pulling his attention back to the excited mare before him, he let out a puff of air that could have counted as a sigh if he was an organic.
“I will allow you to interview me,” he stated slowly, “but I will not go into detail beyond my own experiences due to the security requirements placed on my creators and their worlds. Do not ask me about those topics or I will terminate the conversation immediately. Are we clear?”
Twilight’s grin didn’t falter as she nodded ecstatically, “Oh course! I know all that already, I just want to know what you think about our world, not the worlds the humans call home. So,” she lifted the scroll and quill before her, dipping the feather in a nearby pot of ink without taking her eyes off of Shadow, “when you first arrived on Equis, what were your immediate thoughts?”
It took less than half a second for Shadow’s processors to bring up the relevant information, and he replied with smooth precision as Twilight recorded with rapid strokes of her quill, “The first thing I was aware of was that your planet has a lot in common with other life-supporting worlds I have visited in the past, such that your biology is centered around carbon-based information strands, classified as DNA. Another is that your atmosphere is comprised of mostly oxygen and nitrogen, elements that are also very common on life-supporting planets. While the presence of liquid water is not a requirement for life, it has been shown to help it to develop beyond simple single-cellular forms, and the fact that your star is of a class-K stellar model helps to keep your climate stable. There are many other observations I could share, but the majority of them would be information that you are most likely already familiar with, such as the strength of your gravity and other such data.”
Shadow paused for a moment as Twilight caught up with him, “Does that satisfy your initial inquiry?”
Twilight nodded swiftly, her smile wide as she poured over her notes with abandon, “It’s more than I could have ever dreamed, and all of it came from just your initial observations of our world. Data on other planets that can support life and direct comparisons to our own world. It’s a scientist’s dream come true!” She turned her attention back to Shadow as the slightly manic expression came back to her face, “I must know more.”
Another loop of code sprang into being in Shadow’s processor, and this time he was able to isolate it before it could disperse. His attention on the unicorn was shifted for a moment as he analyzed the seemingly random stream of code, although he was pulled out of his introspection when he registered a hoof being placed against his chest. The instant he lost focus, the code vanished as if it had never existed, and Shadow’s processor nearly went into overdrive trying to locate it again as he turned his optics back to Twilight. The mare was standing before him with a hoof against his plating, her eyes worried as she looked up at him.
“Shadow?” She asked with an uncertain tone, “Are you alright? You spaced out for a minute there. Is everything okay?”
While Shadow was calculating the chances of the mare understanding even half of what he had experienced if he did choose to tell her, he also realized that there was very little of the local culture that he understood. He knew a lot of the world at large from the books he had read, but if he was going to get a more in-depth look at the customs and mannerisms of the local life forms, he would need to be out and about to interact directly. There were a lot of parallels to human culture from what he did know, but he would need to get more data if he was going to present a cohesive report to his creators once he returned to Earth.
“I am fully functional if that is what you were implying,” Shadow stated, “but I have been made aware of a lack in my knowledge base of this planet. I have a multitude of scientific data concerning your species, along with a general history of the pony races, but I have next to no current data on the customs and day to day practices of pony kind.” He glanced over his shoulder at the door, “Perhaps it would be better if I gathered more up to date information, corresponding with a walk around the town?”
Twilight’s face narrowed slightly, “I’m not sure, Princess Celestia was pretty clear that you stay within the town limits, and I’m not certain that having you walk around by yourself would be such a good idea. Pinkie’s party might have made some ponies less fearful of you, but you are still an unknown and most of the townsfolk are pretty skittish of newcomers.” Her eyes lit up as she floated the quill and scroll over to the deck against the far wall, “How about I go with you? That way you’re supervised by somepony and I can ask more questions on the way about your adventures. It’s a win-win for both of us!”
Shadow considered the options for a second before replying, “Very well, I will accompany you through town while answering what questions I can. In return I request that you answer any questions of mine that pertain to your local customs and traditions.”
A large set of saddlebags found there way onto Twilight’s back as she walked over to the door, swinging open the portal before turning to look back at the cybernetic hound, “Well if you want to learn more about us, then the best place to go would be the schoolhouse. I know Miss Cheerilee would be able to answer a lot of your questions better than I can, and you could share your stories with the students if you want.”
Shadow followed the purple mare into the open, the morning starlight glaring in his optics for a moment before they adjusted, revealing a bustling street as ponies of all shapes and sizes moved about their business. Most cast glances at the duo as Twilight led Shadow through the mass of bodies, ponies shifting out of the way but not overtly avoiding them as Shadow’s sensors picked up increased heart rates and accelerated breathing. They weren’t terrified of him, but they were still exhibiting classic fight or flight reactions that told Shadow he was still a long way from casual interaction.
It wasn’t a long walk before the strange pair approached a small red building near the northern edge of town, a large playground off to one side and a painted sign out front that stated in plain lettering that they had arrived at the ‘Ponyville Schoolhouse’. Even from a distance, Shadow could detect the loud chattering of foals within the walls, although the noise quickly subsided when Twilight knocked on the door with a hoof.
A mulberry earth pony opened the door with a slightly confused expression, her eyes flickering from Twilight and then to Shadow as she spoke, “Oh, Twilight, I wasn’t expecting you here today. Is there something I can help you with?”
Shadow could pick up the micromovements of the mare’s eyes as they subconsciously shifted back into the room, and he realized that the mare was concerned about the children in her care and the large mechanical wolf standing outside the door. Running through dozens of solutions in his processors in a matter of milliseconds, he decided that alleviating her fears would be the quickest way to get the information he required.
Shadow bowed his head and replied in a low tone, “Forgive us for interrupting your class, but I have come to the realization that I am lacking in basic knowledge pertaining to your local customs and culture, something that I will need if I am going to return to my creators and give them a proper report on my experiences here. Twilight spoke highly of a Miss Cheerilee, who would be able to answer my questions in exchange for sharing my own experiences.”
Even under her dark coat Shadow could spot the blush that adorned the mare’s cheeks as she glanced at Twilight, “Well that was very nice of her to say, and I guess it would be alright if you sat in with the class. We were going to cover some of Equestria’s history today, but I think this might be more interesting for the foals to hear.” The mare offered her hoof to Shadow, her lips parting in a soft smile, “My name is Cheerilee, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Shadow. I’ve heard about you from the ponies that showed up to Pinkie’s party, even though I couldn’t attend myself, so I hope you will be on your best behavior around the little ones.” Her eyes took on a hard light as his paw reached out and touched hers, her grip tightening on his digits as she leaned in close and whispered, “You make any moves to harm my students and I promise it will be the last thing you do before I cave your plating in like tinfoil.”
Judging by the grip on his paw, Shadow highly doubted the mare was capable of even scratching his armor, let alone damaging it, but he understood the message behind the threat, “I understand. I will not threaten your students in any way while I am here. I only wish to learn more about your kind and in return I shall share some of my own experiences. Is that acceptable?”
Cheerilee’s eyes softened as she nodded, releasing his paw before stepping aside, “Just let me introduce you to the class. We can figure out what you need to learn once the initial chaos has calmed down.”
Twilight and Shadow nodded as the mare closed the door again, leaving them alone on the steps as Cheerilee’s voice could be heard from within. After waiting for a few moments, Twilight nodded to the mechanical wolf beside her, opening the door with a flare of her ‘magic’ and leading Shadow into the schoolhouse proper.
Shadow’s optics took in the layout of the room in a split second, and the parallels to human teaching facilities were uncanny to say the least. The foals were all seated at small desks that faced the front of the room, pieces of paper and pencils present at every station while Cheerilee stood at the front of the group with a chalkboard and larger desk for her own use. Diagrams of different subjects littered the walls on every side, and there was even a small bookshelf against the left wall that had almost thirty books of various sizes for the foals to read.
Speaking of the foals, there were several that Shadow recognized from the party, including the light lavender unicorn filly that had saved the group from getting blasted to pieces. Said filly was sitting towards the front of the class, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open as she openly started at Shadow. It only took a moment for Shadow to pull up the foal’s name from his memory, and he nodded to her as he walked up in front of the class.
“Hello again, Dinky.” He said in a low voice, hoping not to scare the other children, “Did you have fun at the party Pinkie put on for me?”
All eyes turned to the filly as her jaw clicked shut, her lips parting in a wide smile as she nodded, “Oh yes, Mister Shadow. It was a lot of fun. Mama told me that I shouldn’t bother you while you were busy talking to other ponies, but I still think you’re really nice for saying what you did about me. It made me feel all warm and happy because I made you realize how silly we were all being when you were scared of your surprise.” She giggled, a soft tinkling noise that stirred another code loop in Shadow’s processors for a split second before it vanished once again. “For a big scary machine, you seemed awfully scared of a little confetti and streamers. Are you allergic to confetti?”
Twilight tried and failed to stifle a laugh behind her hoof as Cheerilee rolled her eyes, the other foals watching Shadow like hawks as they waited for his reply.
Shadow ignored the code loop for the moment and turned his attention back to the filly before him, “No I am not allergic to confetti, I cannot be harmed by the same things that ponies can be, although it would be very bothersome to get it out of my inner components if they got into the open sections of my armor. Think of it like having a stick stuck in your mane, and you cannot reach it no matter how hard you try to pull or twist.”
Dinky winced in a sympathetic manner, “That doesn’t sound very fun.” Her expression immediately brightened as she sat up straight in her seat, “Oh! Are you going to tell us about your home, Mister Shadow? I’d really like to hear about where you come from and what it’s like there.”
The rest of the class echoed her statement in a chorus of questions that even his advanced audio receptors couldn’t decipher, only to be silenced by a hoof tapping against the desktop.
“Quiet down and let Mister Shadow speak, please.” Cheerilee called out from behind her desk, “He can’t answer your questions if you don’t let him get a word in. Now, raise your hooves and Mister Shadow will call on you one at a time.” A forest of limbs sprouted from the foals as Cheerilee turned her attention back to Shadow, “You don’t need to answer every question if you don’t want to, but it would be much better for the students if you kept your replies to more simple terms. They’re still learning more advanced vocabulary.”
Shadow nodded before turning back to the foals, scanning over them before picking out a slightly chubby colt in the back with a green coat, “The colt with the green coat and orange mane, what would you like to know?”
He dropped his leg and replied, “Um, my name is Snips, Mister Shadow, and I wanted to know if you’re going to fry our brains with laser beams like in the comic books? I read about some freaky robots from space and they were really dangerous because they could blast a pony to pieces without even trying.”
“Snips!” Cheerilee yelled as the colt cowered under her scrutiny, “That was a very rude thing to say! Apologize to Shadow immediately!” She turned to face Shadow with an apologetic expression, “I’m sorry for that, the colts and fillies these days get warped views of the world because of the stuff they print in those graphic novels. You don’t need to answer that question.”
“Actually,” Shadow replied, much to Twilight’s instant dismay, “he wasn’t completely wrong.” The class watched in fascination and slight fear as the plating of Shadow’s shoulders and chest shifted until his plasma cannons were visible. They were inactive and undeployed, but they were visible none the less before his plating shifted back where it belonged.
“I am armed with several offensive armaments in case the local life proves to be hostile, but I have not had any reason to use it against ponies because it would violate my basic programming. I cannot harm a sapient lifeform unless it proves to be a direct threat to my own survival, and from what I have gathered about the races of this planet, nothing short of a dragon would be able to do sufficient harm to my armor, let alone my internal systems.”
There was a collection of ‘Ooh’s’ and ‘Aah’s’ as the class raised their hooves again, either ignoring or not seeing the nervous look Cheerilee cast towards Twilight over Shadow’s shoulders. Shadow chose to ignore the interaction between the two adults, instead pointing towards a filly with a small tiara sitting across her brow.
“The filly with the tiara in her mane, what is your question?” Shadow could tell from the light reflecting off the gemstones that they were real diamonds, so this filly had to come from a wealthy family to have such expensive belongings, if the local geology was similar to that of Earth.
“Diamond Tiara,” she stated in a haughty tone, “and I want to know what exactly your purpose is. It was never brought up at the party and I want to know why a machine suddenly showed up in town that is so advanced it could supposedly take on a dragon. Are you a spy sent here to gather secrets for some other race? Are you planning on fighting us with the weapons you just showed everypony?”
“Hey! Lay off Mister Shadow,” a distinctly southern accent cut across the room, and Shadow’s optics narrowed in on the yellow filly with a bright pink bow seated a few rows over from Diamond Tiara, “he saved mah sister from a big ol’ hydra when she and Miss Twilight were attacked in the Everfree. She told me herself that if he hadn’t been there, none of them would’ve gotten out alive.”
“Yeah,” a white unicorn seated next to the earth pony filly added in, “my sister was there too. She said that it was a huge monster that could have leveled the whole town and he took it out with only his cannons and a little robotic bird.”
“He’s almost as amazing as Rainbow Dash,” a burnt orange pegasus filly piped up from behind the first two, “she told me it was like watching something out of one of those new action movies, only instead of black and white it was real life and twenty times cooler.”
“Alright, that’s enough class,” Cheerilee called out before the argument could get any worse, “I appreciate your enthusiasm when it comes to this topic, but keep in mind that Shadow is a guest in our town and should be treated with respect at all times. He’s no different than any other non-pony and does not deserve to have his name dragged in the dirt because somepony doesn’t think he belongs. We can all remember the Zecora incident, right?” She sent a pointed look Diamond Tiara’s way that made the little earth pony cower in her seat, although the dirty look she sent Shadow seemed to go unnoticed by the teacher as she turned her attention back to Shadow, “Feel free to ignore that last comment, Shadow. The little fillies and colts can sometimes say things that they don’t really understand.”
While Shadow knew that the little rich filly understood fully what she had been asking, and had done so with most likely malicious intent, he also understood that some beings were more likely to act out in a threat when frightened, as given away by the light pink filly’s accelerated heart rate. Taking a moment to restructure the data in his processors that he was going to share with the class, Shadow turned his attention to the group as a whole, another random string of code zipping through his processor before he could catch it.
“Who here would like to hear a story about other planets?” Shadow took in the confused looks shared between the foals and took that as his initiative to clarify, “Because even though Snips was incorrect in asking if I would harm ponies, he was correct about another detail. I am from another planet, and I have been to many worlds filled with life that you most likely could never imagine in your wildest dreams. So, I ask again, who would like to hear a story about other planets?”
The forest of hooves sprouted once more and Shadow caught Cheerilee whispering to Twilight behind him as he began his tales, “You know we’ll never hear the end of this if the foals start sharing stories about outer space and wild planets with their parents once they go home, right?”
Paying half a processor towards the class and focusing on the conversation behind him, Shadow picked up Twilight’s reply as she whispered back, “Well, given he is from another planet and was sent here to look for a life-supporting environment, I don’t think we have to worry too much about ponies not believing what the colts and fillies are saying.”
Shadow detected another loop of code shooting through his processor as Cheerilee sputtered in shock, and he turned his full attention back to the class as a little pegasus filly in the back raised her hoof. Letting the code loop vanish but cataloguing its existence for later review, Shadow paused for a moment to answer the filly’s question before continuing on with his tale.
It was several hours later that Shadow and Twilight left the schoolhouse, the foals racing off to their respective homes as the adult ponies escorted the mechanical hound out of the door.
“That was very informative, Shadow.” Cheerilee stated with a smile as she closed the door behind the trio, “I never knew there were so many things about our world that are shared by others out there in the vastness of space. Ponies have been asking themselves for centuries if there are other worlds out there that can support life, and with you here we finally have our answer.” She turned her gaze up to look him in the optics, “So thank you for sharing your experiences with us, even though we must seem so ignorant compared to your creators.”
“That is not completely true,” Shadow countered as they began walking down the road back towards the town center, “mostly because ponies have mastered an energy field that seems to be unique to your planet, at least from what I understand of the universe and the planets humanity has discovered. What you call magic is something that is completely unknown to the human race and I would wager that even if you were to travel beyond your home system, you would be hard pressed to find anything like it anywhere else.”
Both ponies shivered as they glanced at each other, Twilight voicing their most likely shared thoughts as they entered Ponyville proper, “I’m not sure if I like the idea of there not being any magic out there, all of that wild power and destructive force and nothing to bring it into balance.” The fur on her shoulders stood on end as she shook her body like a dog ridding itself of water, “Of all the things that could be unique to our world, why did it have to be magic? I feel like my talent is now lesser because it wouldn’t be any use if ponies ever left Equis.”
“And yet using that same talent, you can warp the fabric of reality to your whims,” Shadow countered, “allowing you to transport yourself instantly from one place to another, travel through time, and even reverse gravity. Imagine what would happen to the delicate balance of the universe if that power was applied on a more massive scale? From what I understand it is the rarity of your powers that makes them extraordinary, not lesser. After all, a diamond wouldn’t be worth much if it were as common as the rocks we walk on. It is because they are so rare that they are worth so much.”
Twilight’s glum expression shifted back towards happiness as she and Cheerilee shared a look, “I never thought of it that way. Thank you, Shadow. That really made me feel better.”
Shadow was about to reply, when all of a sudden, he was impacted from behind by a large object, driving him to dig in his claws and cut thin lines into the dirt below him as a trio of screams echoed through his audio receptors. Spinning in place to address the assault on his chassis, Shadow spotted the trio of fillies that had stood up for him in the classroom, their forms tangled together next to a slightly dented scooter and small red wagon. Their eyes were spinning in their heads and it looked like they had been going at a decent speed to knock Shadow so far forward upon impact, yet a quick scan showed that the three little ponies were mostly unharmed, save for having their clocks cleaned by the brute force stop.
“Are you alright?” Twilight asked as she lifted the fillies up and deposited them on their hooves, “You were going pretty fast when you ran into Shadow. You didn’t hurt anything did you?”
The earth pony was the first to gather her bearings, her bright amber eyes moving between the adult ponies before turning to Shadow, “Oh! Mister Shadow, we were lookin’ for you! We want you ta help us earn our cutie marks!”
“Cutie marks?” Shadow asked, his databanks coming up blank on the term as another code loop presented itself in his processor. “What are those?”
While the fillies gaped at him like he had grown a second head, Twilight answered in a tone that sounded like it had been recited many times before, “A cutie mark is a magical mark that appears on a pony’s flank when they realize their destined path or purpose in life. It usually appears when a young filly or colt discovers what they want to be or have a great desire to accomplish in their lives and is a common sign that the respective pony is beginning to grow into adulthood. Although there are other factors that may or may not play a part in the appearance of one’s cutie mark, that is the most commonly accepted reason.”
“These three have been looking for their cutie marks for a while now,” Cheerilee added, indicating the trio of fillies with a hoof, “although we have told them many times that their marks will come when they come, they insist in searching for their destinies while performing crazy antics after school most days.”
“But we want our marks now!” The white unicorn stated in a whining tone, “Everypony in our class already has their marks. It’s not fair that all of them know what their destiny is while we’re still stuck as blank flanks.”
“Blank flanks?” Shadow echoed.
Cheerilee rolled her eyes, “A term that foals use to make fun of fillies and colts that don’t yet have their marks. I’ve tried to stop that kind of name-calling, but there are some things that just can’t be completely stopped no matter how hard we try.”
All three fillies dropped their heads and folded their ears, their bodies rising and falling in synch as they breathed a somber sigh. “Maybe we’ll never get our marks.” The pegasus muttered, “We’ve been trying to get them for almost a year now and still nothing.”
Ah jes’ don’t know what we’ve ben doin’ wrong.” The earth pony added, scuffing the dirt with a forehoof as she turned her head to look up at Shadow, “We’ve ben tryin’ fer so long and still nothin’.”
Taking in the sad looks of the adults and fillies around him, Shadow made a decision on his next actions, a loop of code running through his processor that seemed to last longer than the previous ones as he lowered his head to look the little earth pony in the eyes.
“What is your name little one?” He asked, keeping his voice low.
The filly seemed to perk up a bit as she wiped her eyes, “Ah’m, Applebloom, Mister Shadow.” She indicated the other fillies with a hoof, “These are my friends and Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, and together we are…”
Shadow noticed the adults covering their ears a moment too late and was nearly deafened as the little trio screamed out at the top of their lungs, “The Cutie Mark Crusaders!”
Shadow took a moment to readjust once his processors were no longer running in overdrive and looked back at the newly named trio as they beamed up at him with wide eyes.
“So, can you help us earn our cutie marks?” Scootaloo asked, her tiny wings buzzing in excitement as she bounced on her hooves, “If you came here from another world then you must have all kinds of ideas that we’d never think of.”
“Ooh, like space ship pilots!” Sweetie Belle piped up.
“Or maybe robot designers!” Applebloom countered.
“Now children, we can’t bother Shadow with your antics while he’s trying to learn about our world. He’s only got so much time and a lot to learn.” Cheerilee said as the Crusader’s expressions fell, “He’s going to be very busy and I doubt he’s going to have time to do much else before he has to go home.”
Twilight and Shadow shared a glance, the purple mare’s eyes flicking towards the fillies in a silent question as she waited for Shadow’s decision.
After a moment of deliberation, Shadow came to the conclusion that learning about how a pony earned their cutie mark might be to his benefit, plus being trusted to look after the local’s young would make a wonderful impression if he could handle it. Then again, as long as he followed the general safety protocols programmed into him, he didn’t see any way this could possibly go wrong.
He turned his head back to look at the fillies, his head bobbing in a nod as he spoke, “I think I could learn a bit about your culture from these fillies right now. After all, if I help them earn their marks, I could document the event and offer assistance in planning a proper course of action.”
The adults shared a look before Twilight nodded, seeming to placate the nervous teacher, “Alright, but I think it would be best if you did this someplace outside of town. No offence children, but your antics have caused enough property damage as it is.”
Property damage? The very idea of such little creatures causing that level of destruction was a bit much for Shadow to process, but if the sheepish expressions of the fillies were anything to go by, it wasn’t an exaggeration.
“I’ll be sure to keep an eye on them.” Shadow assured the mares, “And I know the perfect place to do it. Because Princess Celestia doesn’t want me to leave the town itself, I propose that the Crusaders and I perform our little adventure in the orchards of Sweet Apple Acres. It’s far enough from the town to avoid any unforeseen incidents and is still technically within the town limits.”
Twilight’s eyes lit up, “Shadow, that’s brilliant! Why didn’t I think of that? Anyways,” she turned her attention to the Crusaders, “be on your best behavior for Shadow, and make sure to tell Applejack or Big Mac where you’re going before you get into the middle of another adventure.”
Cheerilee seemed a bit more hesitant to let the fillies go galivanting off to do who-knew-what with Shadow, but held her tongue in favor of a shake of her head, “Just promise me you’ll try to not come back covered in tree sap again?”
“Yes Miss Cheerilee.” The Crusaders chorused, once again catching Shadow’s interest with what exactly these little ponies got up to on their adventures.
With the plan set and a destination in mind, the fillies gathered themselves into order and raced off into the distance, Scootaloo’s wings buzzing at a blinding pace as she dragged the others behind her scooter in their little wagon. Shadow and the adults were quickly left behind, although Shadow didn’t need to leave right at the moment to catch up with them. At top speed he could overtake the little scooter without any effort, so he took a moment to nod to either mare before chasing after the speeding fillies, his powerful servos hissing as his paws dug into the dirt and kicked up clumps in his wake.
It only took them a minute and ten seconds to reach the orchard, Shadow having fallen in alongside the fillies barely a hundred yards from edge of town and matching their pace for the rest of the journey. Shadow slowed to a walk as the fillies barreled into the barn and back out again, Applejack sticking her head out and waving to them as they passed before ducking back into the building. Shadow picked up the pace once again to catch up with the fillies, following them into the evenly-spaced apple trees of the orchard and up to a modest treehouse, the structure hanging from the lower branches of one of the elder trees and designed with a ramp in the front to allow easy access for the small fillies.
Scootaloo came to a stop and the others climbed out of the wagon as Shadow slowed to a halt, their faces wide with beaming smiles as they turned to look at him with expectant expressions.
“So, what are we goin’ ta do ta earn our cutie marks?” Applebloom asked as she and Sweetie Belle fell in line with Scootaloo, “Any ideas Crusaders?”
The other fillies shrugged, their eyes locked on Shadow as he took a moment to look around. For a moment Shadow was distracted by a flicker of movement at the edge of his visual field but dismissed it as nothing when he didn’t see anything further. Turning his full attention back to the fillies, he stated, “I do not have much data when it comes to the activities that a pony could earn their cutie mark performing, although I do know that there is not much that could be done here in the orchard that wouldn’t involve some form of risk. What exactly did you have in mind to try and earn your marks?”
“Well, we could try bucking apples like your family does, AB,” Scootaloo suggested, “I don’t think we’ve tried that yet.”
“Nah,” Sweetie said as she stuck her tongue out at the idea, “I’d rather not get covered in tree sap again or have a bee’s nest drop on our heads. You remember that little mistake, right?”
All three fillies shivered at the memory before turning back to Shadow, “Well if you don’t have any ideas, then what are we supposed to do?” Scootaloo asked.
“Ah know!” Applebloom cried as she jumped off the ground, “How about we try being Cutie Mark Mechanics? We’ve never tried fixing a machine as advanced as Shadow before.”
Shadow immediately shook his head, another loop of code running through his processor as his machinery began to heat up slightly, “I don’t think so. I know for a fact you are not qualified to perform diagnostic maintenance on even my most basic parts. So no, you cannot take me apart and try to put me back together.”
The fillies pouted for a moment before all three suddenly took several sniffs of the air. Their heads jerked up and they looked around with wide-eyed fear in their eyes, their hearts racing and their breathing shallow as they began to back towards the treehouse.
Shadow knew immediately that something wasn’t right, so he scanned around the nearby trees, picking up several large life signals as he spotted movement shifting between the trunks just at the edge of his visual range.
“We need to go, right now.” Scootaloo whispered as she picked up the scooter and turned it to face towards the farm, “Maybe we can get back to the house before they catch us.”
“What are they?” Shadow asked as he deployed his cannons, the hiss of the hydraulics catching the filly’s attention as he tried again to get a solid read on his foes. Whatever they were, they were fast enough to avoid his scanners and his optics were unable to get a clean shot as they moved between the trees’ shadows.
“Timberwolves,” Sweetie Belle said through a whimper, “monsters from the Everfree Forest that eat ponies that get too far from town. But they’ve never come out into the orchard before. What are they doing this far from the Everfree?”
“Doesn’t matter none,” Applebloom said as her ears flicked back and forth, her eyes scanning the orchard alongside Shadow, “we’re not fast enough to get away, and Ah can tell they’ve got us surrounded. Their stink is comin’ in from e’ery direction.”
Just as Shadow was about to suggest hiding within the treehouse, one of the blurs sprinted from the cover of the trees, headed straight for Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo as Applebloom cried out a warning.
Acting before his processors could react, Shadow charged up his cannons and fired, the plasma blasts impacting the large lupin form as it lunged at the fillies. The twigs and vines that made up the monster splintered and fell apart as the duo cowered under the rain of plant matter. They had a moment to take in their near brush with death before a chorus of howls echoed from the trees around them, and over a dozen more of the massive creatures coming into view as the fillies shifted to hide between Shadow’s legs.
His cannons charged and ready, Shadow fired at one of the wooden wolves, although the monster was quick to jump out of the way as the plasma bursts impacted a tree trunk instead. Bark flew in all directions as the plasma exploded behind the wolves, knocking down the tree and casting their menacing forms in shadow as they stalked towards the trio of quivering fillies and their cybernetic guardian. Knowing fully well that his weapons wouldn’t help him in this situation, Shadow retracted his cannons and faced off against the pack, his ears swiveling to catch every sound as they stalked around the group in a circle of death.
“Crusaders,” Shadow whispered, “when I say so, run for the treehouse and hide inside while I deal with these creatures. No matter what, don’t come out until I tell you it’s safe and keep the door latched so they can’t get in. I’m going to have to break them apart one at a time so this might take a while.”
Any further words were interrupted when one of the wolves charged forward, its massive bulk knocking Shadow to the side and revealing the fillies before he could react. The massive wolf bit into his neck plating but was unable to force its wooden teeth past the superior metal, although that was the least of Shadow’s worries at the moment. The rest of the wolves had started towards the fillies, and without Shadow there to protect them, they were too scared to make a break for the treehouse.
Thinking quickly, Shadow ripped his neck from the wolf’s teeth and returned with a bite of his own, crushing the monster’s skull with his teeth before the rest of its body fell apart. Leaping to his paws, Shadow charged the nearest wolf as it and its fellows closed in on the fillies, his claws biting into the bark on its back as his jaws closed around the back of its neck. Using his momentum as leverage, Shadow twisted his body up and over the wolf, the sound of splintering wood and snapping vines echoing around the clearing as the beast’s head was forcibly removed from its neck.
Shadow spit out the bits of wood that had gotten stuck in his jaws, his legs once again protecting the fillies from harm as the nearing wolves paused in their advance. For a second it looked like they might quit in the face of superior power, but then the fillies gasped, drawing Shadow’s attention to the bundles of sticks and vines that had once been the wolves he had already destroyed. Dark green surges of ‘magic’ were drawing the bundles back together, forming into legs and bodies before Shadow’s disbelieving optics as the wolves reconstructed themselves. In a matter of seconds, the three wolves he had defeated were back in one piece and seemed no worse for the wear, spurring their companions to greater courage as the pack advanced as one. Even the one he had blasted to pieces with his cannons was back for more, albeit with a few scorch marks on its flanks for its trouble.
Just as the pack looked ready to pounce, Shadow heard the loud cry of a familiar mare, the Stetson-wearing earth pony charging in and spinning on her front hooves before impacting the nearest wolf with her hind legs. The wolf didn’t so much break as explode from the force imparted by the furious mare’s hooves, and in an instant the other wolves were drawn out of their circle as Applejack charged the next one in line, her forehoof pulled back for a devastating right hook to the beast’s jaw.
Taking the momentary distraction as a chance to act, Shadow picked up Scootaloo in his teeth and threw her onto the ramp of the treehouse, the little pegasus flopping onto the wooden ramp before quickly racing into the structure. Sweetie Belle was quick to follow as the Timberwolves were distracted by the one-mare army, but at the last second everything went horribly wrong.
One of the wolves had managed to sneak up behind Applejack, its jaws catching her on one of her hind legs as she reared up to stomp down on another wolf’s head. Her head flung back as she cried out in pain, and in that second of advantage, the battle swung once more in favor of the wolves. Shadow watched as two more charged in and knocked Applejack to the ground, her hooves striking everything in reach as blood ran down her hind leg from the deep puncture wounds the wolf had inflicted, although for the moment it seemed she was holding her own, even wounded.
Such was not the case for Applebloom, who had gotten separated from Shadow when one of the other wolves had tackled him and pinned him to the ground while two others cornered the filly against one of the apple trees. The poor foal was shaking like a leaf, and there was nothing Shadow could do with three more of the monsters pinning him to the ground. Applejack was similarly occupied, although she caught sight of her sister just as one of the wolves lunged in and flung the filly into the air.
“APPLEBLOOM, NOOOOO!!” The cry of anguish was matched by the filly’s scream of terror as she flailed her hooves, her body tilting back just at the right angle for her head to land straight in the wolf’s jaws.
With a single gulp, Applebloom was swallowed and the wolf’s neck bulged out as the screaming filly was dragged into the body of the monster, its companion stalking back towards Applejack now that its meal had been claimed by another of its brothers.
A loop of code sprang into being as Applejack began crying in sorrow, Shadow’s processors locked on the wolf that had eaten one of his charges as a red light began to seep into his vision around the edges. All rational processes were shut down as a single command began playing through his processors, his body moving seemingly on its own as the wolves pinning him began to back away in fear.
Override command 001 activated.
Priority target located.
Lethal action authorized.
Destroy all hostile lifeforms.
Shadow snarled as a killer instinct began to take over his systems, his vision going completely red as he charged at the wolf that had eaten Applebloom. His jaws closed around its neck as he flung himself into a front flip, twisting the wood and snapping vines as the wolf was dragged off of its paws and onto its back by his superior strength. The crack of the beast’s neck breaking echoed around the clearing as Shadow came down on his paws again, his legs moving at blinding speeds as he began clawing at the wolf’s belly, his scanners locked on the fading life signal coming from within as wood and sap flung about like shrapnel.
Just as the heartbeat faded to nothing, Shadow broke through the creature’s stomach, the sap-covered body of Applebloom sliding from within the monster as the beast finally succumbed to its injuries and fell apart. Shadow turned around and snarled at the rest of the pack, his voice carrying such menace and fury that their tails folded as one before the pack raced out of the orchard and back into the woods.
Yet even in the haze of his cooling fury, Shadow could hear the cry of sorrow as Applejack raced to her sister’s side, her hooves moving quickly but gently as she pressed her ear to her sister’s chest.
“She’s not breathing!” The farm mare cried as she turned her tear-stained eyes towards Shadow, “I can’t hear her heartbeat!”
His processor operating at full speed and his hypercore activating to speed his processing power even further, Shadow was able to run through over a hundred different scenarios in a matter of milliseconds. He knew that there was only a two-point-three percent chance of Applebloom surviving, but it was that or let her die right here and now.
“Give her to me.” He commanded in a firm tone, “I’m faster and stronger than you. She needs to get to the hospital immediately or she won’t make it.”
Applejack didn’t hesitate, her eyes streaming with tears as Shadow gently took the filly by her scruff, “Please, save her. I can’t lose another family member, not like this.”
Shadow nodded as much as his payload would allow, before turning and sprinting from the orchard as fast as his servos would take him. He made sure to jostle the filly in his jaws as little as possible, not that she could feel it, and locked his optics on the approaching buildings of Ponyville, his internal compass directing him through the crowded streets and up to the hospital doors in a matter of minutes. Yet even with that record speed aiding him, he knew that every second mattered and Applebloom had very little to spare.
Shadow charged through the double doors and set the filly on the floor, “We need a doctor here right now! This filly is dying and needs immediate medical attention!”
In a matter of seconds, the front lobby was awash with medical personnel, Shadow being pushed aside as they rushed Applebloom into the ER for immediate treatment. Given he knew only rudimentary medical knowledge on the pony races, Shadow stayed in the lobby and waited, his processors running over every possible way this could go wrong. Loops of code nearly overrode his ability to think, and in that instant, he came to a realization as he finally managed to isolate and analyze one of the code loops.
He was worried.
The realization nearly shocked Shadow into shutdown, but at the same time, he realized that he wasn’t just feeling worry. He was angry at the Timberwolves for doing this, he was scared for Applejack, having left her in the orchard with severe injuries of her own, and he was nervous for what could possibly happen to him or the mission he had been tasked with now that these events had occurred.
In that moment, Shadow did something that he never imagined he would do, let alone could believe in. Yet he did it all the same as ponies began flooding into the lobby, including a large red stallion with a sobbing Applejack slung over his withers. As Applejack was taken away to be treated for her own injuries, Shadow bowed his head and powered down his optics in a facsimile of closing his eyes.
And he prayed.
He didn’t care to who, or to what, but he prayed all the same for the life of the filly he had been tasked with protecting, and for the mare he had abandoned to be rescued by another in his haste to save her sister.
Shadow was aware of the clock running against them as the doctors tried their best to save Applebloom’s life, and Shadow was acutely aware of the clock placed upon him as his internal chronometer reminded him of the time left until his dictated return to the Gateway Project labs. And yet in that moment, it felt more like a clock leading to his doom than a triumphant return, given what had happened to him.
Shadow had gained emotions, and every one of them were screaming in his mind that this was far from over.
…Power Core: 68%...
…Portal Recharge Time: 05:06:43:20…19…18…17…16…