"And here we are!" Princess Twilight shouted down the hall at Cozy Glow, who was struggling to keep up with the alicorn's long legs. It certainly didn't help that it felt like they had trekked the whole way across the castle to reach... wherever they were. When Cozy finally caught up, she found them standing in front of an ordinary looking door at the end of an ordinary looking hallway. "Give me a second while I disable the lock." Twilight's horn lit up, though what exactly she was doing was unclear. It certainly didn't look like she was disabling a seal like the one that had been on Cozy's room.
"Couldn't..." the filly panted, trying to catch her breath. "Couldn't you have just teleported us here?"
"I would be extremely out of shape if I had just spent the last few centuries teleporting everywhere I wanted to go," the princess explained. "A nice trot here and there does wonders for your health!" After a few more seconds, a loud series of clicks and whirs sounded from the door, and it slowly swung inward. Peering inside, Cozy only saw darkness, but that was quickly rectified as extremely bright lights flickered into existence across the ceiling, forcing her to shield her eyes. "Sorry, the lights in here default to being a bit on the bright side. I can turn them down if you'd like."
"I'll... adjust," Cozy said, following Twilight into the room. "What is 'here,' anyway?"
"Oh, just my workshop."
"What kind of princess needs a workshop?"
"Everypony needs a hobby, and I maaaay have run out of good books to read after about a hundred years. On the bright side, it turns out that when you can commit a few extra lifetimes to creative pursuits, you can achieve some rather impressive results."
How very Twilight of you, Cozy remarked silently as her eyes finally adjusted to the room's lighting. "Seems kinda... empty in here." Even after taking to the air to see over the high table and countertops, all she could see was a clean, plain room with minimal furniture beyond the aforementioned table and a few cabinets.
"Oh, everything's just neatly tucked away. It's pretty easy to stay organized when you can just-" Twilight's horn lit up and a microscope flashed into existence on the table for a moment before similarly disappearing, "-summon whatever you need and send it back when you're done."
"Really," Cozy Glow said flatly, her aches from the trip over here feeling all the more obvious. "How convenient."
"It really is!" Twilight said with pride, ignoring the sarcasm. "I invented the catalog and tagging system myself!"
"Good for you."
"Now then, let's get things started." The princess cast her spell again, summoning...
"...A muffin." Cozy stared blankly at the baked good. "What, am I going to be serving your food?"
"Oh, it's not for me. I've actually had a meal in the last four hundred years." Twilight levitated the muffin into Cozy's hooves, whose growling stomach returned the sentiment.
"...Thanks?" Cozy Glow tried to eat the muffin as casually as possible. It was actually quite good, but she wasn't about to compliment the royal baker.
"Anyway, while I said 'tools of the trade' before, what you'll actually be working with is more of a singular, multipurpose tool." The next item Twilight summoned was a simple pendant. Not much more than a polished, red, teardrop shaped gemstone on a string, really. Cozy Glow had seen enough enchanted objects in her life to know not to jump to any conclusions, though.
"I'm guessing this is some sort of magical artifact?"
"Not technically an artifact, no, considering that I just finished this prototype last week. Definitely magical, though." Twilight lifted the pendant, which began to emit its own soft, red glow as it came into contact with her magic. She then cleared her throat. "Auto Spell Zero-Two, run activation sequence."
"Who are you talking-" Cozy's question was cut off by another voice, seemingly coming from the pendant.
"Activation sequence successful," the pendant said in a stilted, tinny voice. Its glow briefly intensified in rhythm with each word it spoke. "Greetings, Princess Twilight Sparkle."
"Auto Spell, status report."
"This unit's systems are operating within provided parameters. Magical battery reserves at fifty two percent, charging. Estimated battery life if disconnected: three hours, twenty four minutes, thirteen seconds."
"Are you... talking to that thing?" Cozy asked, struggling to comprehend all the technical jargon the pendant was spouting off.
"Giving it commands, yes," Twilight said. "The Auto Spell is essentially a very complex and layered enchantment, woven into the gemstone on this pendant. It took me decades of research and development to figure out how to make it work. Most enchanted objects act in very simple terms. Enhance the user's spells with dark magic, make the bearer always tell the truth, turn the wearer invisible, those kinds of things. One function, straightforward and predictable results. What I set out to do here is to create an enchantment that could respond to stimuli with various, albeit pre-programmed results."
"So, it's jewelry that talks back." Cozy said after she swallowed the last bite of her muffin. "What's that use of that?"
"I was hoping you'd ask," Twilight said with a smile. "Auto Spell, display the floor plan for this floor of the castle." The gem glowed brightly once again before emitting a cone of light downwards. After a moment a red-tinted ghostly image appeared floating in the cone of light, which Cozy quickly realized was the floor plan, just as the princess had requested. "Display our current position." A white dot appeared in a room in the far corner of the floor plan, which made sense, considering how far they had traveled to get there. "You can ask it questions, too. Auto Spell, who are the current Rulers of Equestria?"
"The current Rulers of Equestria are: Princess Twilight Sparkle of Canterlot, and Princess Flurry Heart of the Crystal Empire."
"You have no idea how hard it is to design an enchantment matrix that can store information. Currently, though, the matrix contains the entirety of the contents of the castle's library, and still has plenty of room to spare. It's like having an encyclopedia on you all the time!"
"That's neat, I guess," Cozy said, doing a very bad job at hiding how impressed she was. "Did you say that this is a tool for me to use?"
"Indeed! It'll help you take notes, find your way around, learn about the state of the world, and just about anything else you can think of. Perfect for a pony plucked out of time and on the go! Here, try it out!" Twilight hovered the pendant over to Cozy and slipped it over her neck. "Auto Spell, register new user."
"Is the new user in contact with this unit?" the pendant asked. Its glow was actually warm enough for Cozy to feel through her coat. It wasn't uncomfortable, but rather somewhat soothing.
"Yes."
"Scanning. Please wait." The pendant glowed even brighter than before, and Cozy Glow felt the fur on her back stand on end as whatever the Auto Spell was doing sent a shiver down her spine. After about five seconds of this, the glow faded. "Magical signature registered. Link established."
"Link?" Cozy asked. "This thing isn't going to be reading my thoughts, is it?"
"Nothing like that, no," Twilight said. "Every creature has its own unique magical signature. The Auto Spell recognizes the signatures of its users, and draws a small amount of energy from them to power its operations. You probably won't even notice it."
"Probably" probably isn't the most reassuring word to use there, princess, Cozy thought.
"New user, please register your name," the Auto Spell requested before the filly could worry any further.
"Cozy Glow."
"Data registered. Greetings, User Cozy Glow."
"Auto Spell, assign Cozy Glow as your primary user," the princess said. "Assist her in any way she needs."
"Assignment complete."
"Now there's just one more thing left to do," Twilight said, her horn lighting up once more. Cozy felt an odd prickling sensation on the back of neck, right where the pendant's cord met her coat.
"Hey! Watch it!" Cozy shouted. Things were already weird enough without having more spells cast on her.
"That was just a simple Spell of Binding," the princess said. "Can't have you accidentally losing or throwing away such a valuable device, now can we?" It was at that point that a loud ringing sound echoed down the hallway, practically causing Twilight to jump out of her skin. "Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no! I took too long!" She darted out into the hallway, trotting in tight, panicked circles. "I pushed all my appointments to the afternoon to deal with you and now they're all happening and I'll be busy 'til dinner and I can't finish here!" Twilight paused and took a deep breath to calm herself, though another ring of the alarm bell still made her flinch. "Okay, here's the plan. You're on your own until dinner. Just head outside, explore the city, meet the locals, that sort of thing. Think of it as... your first assignment! Okaygottagoseeyalaterhavefunbye!" Before Cozy Glow could even get in a single word, Twilight had already vanished in a flash of her teleportation spell.
"Well, that just happened," Cozy said to the empty air. Now what? Just.. go outside and look around? How would I even find... She quickly realized that this shouldn't be much of a problem. "Uh, Auto Spell? Please give me directions to the castle's front gate."
"Calculating route. Make a right turn going out of this room, then proceed down the hall thirty meters."
"Alright, then! Seems like I've got things perfectly under control." With that, Cozy Glow made her way down the hall at a relaxed pace, confident that she'd be able to figure this whole bizarre situation out.
Exiting the castle was easy enough. Cozy got plenty of suspicious side-eyes from various guards of various species, but they seemed to have been informed of her presence and allowed her to pass without incident. It looked like the courtyard and front gate of the castle hadn't changed much in the last few centuries, but the city skyline beyond that? That would take some time getting used to.
"Auto Spell, display a picture of modern Canterlot," Cozy Glow requested while standing at the open gate. Might as well get a better look at what I'm dealing with, here. The pendant projected the image in front of her, and the filly was quite taken aback by what she saw. Canterlot had apparently expanded over the years, with sleek, yet boxy towers now dug into the cliff face the original city was built on. The pearly-white aesthetic of the old spires remained, but the only traces of the softer, curved architecture that remained was the castle itself, preserved and cordoned off to the side of the bulk of the city like the relic it was. The sight kinda made Cozy feel... sad. Not that she had any fondness for the old city, of course. Just the idea that so much of what she knew was gone, lost to time. Just like I should be... The pegasus shook her head and dismissed the thought. Sentiment was a weakness, after all. She still had to plan her next move. I still can't believe that the old fool just let me walk out like that! She said that I'd be supervised if I turned down her offer and left, so it made sense to stick around and earn her trust, but now... Cozy took off into the sky, taking in the arial view of the new city. I have the Auto Spell, and nobody to watch me! I can go anywhere, see anything, and I have the knowledge of the ages at my disposal! Just me and... Then it dawned on her. "Auto Spell, you're supposed to answer any question I ask, right?"
"This unit is programmed to respond truthfully to any and all queries."
"Right. So, is Twilight capable of tracking you?"
"That data is privileged."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Privileged data can only be accessed by admin-level users."
"And who are these 'admin-level users'?"
"That data is privileged."
That's... She... Cozy was about ready to scream. If the answer to a simple question like that was "privileged," then obviously the answer wasn't just "no." And on top of that, this meant that any useful data for her plans would likely be locked off from her as well. "If you're the one 'supervising' me... then you're just useless!" Cozy shouted at the top of her lungs as she pulled the pendant off her neck, ready to send it plummeting into the streets below. Only... it wouldn't come off. No matter how hard she pulled, the pendant's cord was stuck to her neck.
"That was just a simple Spell of Binding." Princess Twilight's words echoed in her mind. The final insult. She could move, but at that moment Cozy Glow felt that she might as well be made of stone again. The filly settled on a nearby cloud, tears in her eyes.
"She always wins! Every time I try, every time anycreature tries, she always comes out on top! But this time, she's alone! No 'power of friendship' in sight! What could somepony like me ever hope to do against a united Equestria when I can't even outsmart a single pony! That's supposed to be the one thing I'm actually good at!" After spending a few moments watching her tears drop through the clouds like ordinary rain, Cozy was startled by a familiar tinny voice piping up.
"User Cozy Glow, you appear to be in distress over your current course of action," the Auto Spell said, completely unprompted. "May this unit offer an alternative?"
"Oh?" Cozy sniffled. "What might that be, o glorified tracking device?"
"Princess Twilight Sparkle has given User Cozy Glow instructions to follow for the day. They need not be followed to the letter, but their premise is sound. Learning more about the environment and its inhabitants would be vital in formulating any further course of action. In addition, Princess Twilight Sparkle is not currently a hostile entity. Continued completion of tasks assigned by her would accrue additional privileges and currency over time, adding to your available resources."
"That... actually makes some sense," Cozy said as she wiped the last tears from her eyes, though she didn't care for the fact that she'd just have to swallow her pride for the time being. "Why are you helping me?"
"This unit's function is to assist User Cozy Glow. Elevated distress levels indicated a need for immediate assistance."
"Okay, but my goals don't exactly... align with Twilight's. Why help further them?"
"This unit's function is to assist User Cozy Glow. This directive was assigned by Princess Twilight Sparkle. Therefore this unit has concluded that furthering User Cozy Glow's goals is derivative of that directive."
"You're kidding."
"This unit cannot state falsehoods."
"You know what? You're okay, Auto Spell." Cozy smiled. And this means that our pretty princess isn't perfect, either. "Say, 'Auto Spell' is quite the mouthful to say every time I want to ask you something. Can I call you something else?"
"Do you wish to change this unit's designation?"
"Yeah, let's go with that."
"Please state new unit designation."
"Hmm..." Cozy thought for a moment, but one idea immediately leapt to mind. "How about 'Sparky'? That has a nice, snappy sound to it."
"Unit designation 'Sparky' registered. Updating databanks."
"You ready, Sparky? Let's hit the town and see just what we've got to work with."
"Affirmative."