//------------------------------//
// Optimising the pipeline 
// Story: Of Robots and Those Who Make Them 
// by Valtyra 
//------------------------------//

Twilight opened the exit to the workshop with her magic and passed through. She looked back to make sure Celestia exited fine, then closed and locked the door. "I'm sorry it's a little messy. I don't have ponies over that much," she muttered, shrugging.

The room they had just entered looked, to Celestia, to be the main living room. The room was divided into two levels, the bottom half was dedicated to comfort and the top half of the room held numerous bookshelves standing upwards of fifteen feet.

The floor was covered with a soft, brown carpet, upon which sat several large couches all centered around a protruding stone fireplace. The right wall was one long floor-to-ceiling window with a sliding door that exited out onto a bare stone patio. Opposite were the glass stairs that led up to the second level, under which stood the door that exited into the kitchen.

Twilight moved further into the room and glanced back at Celestia. "Do you like it?" she asked, worry flashing across her face. "It's small, but it suits me just fine."

Celestia strolled forwards and ran her fingers over the back of a couch as she neared the fireplace. "It is yours, therefore, I like it," Celestia replied while she scanned the surroundings. "It's rather homely, if not a bit spartan. Tell me, Twilight, do you have anypony over?" she asked, turning her attention to the lavender mare.

Twilight averted her eyes and tapped a hoof on the carpet. "Uh, not really. The council's requests require me to work long hours. I don't really have time to maintain relationships with other ponies."

Celestia tilted her head, curious. "Is that why you built me?"

Twilight kept gazing down at the carpet, shame filling her.

"It is okay, Twilight. I know my directives, and will carry them out to the best of my ability," Celestia reassured, walking over and taking hold of the mare's shoulder with her hoof. "I only wish to fill in the blanks which you have left in my memory so I can better serve my creator."

Despite the mare's embarrassment, Celestia smiled and squeezed her shoulder while data scrolled across her vision.



Focus: Twilight Sparkle.
Operation adjustment: Reduce workload to allow for Equine interaction while providing emotional support.
Operation pipeline:


Learn about Twilight's projects.

Evaluate required processing capabilities.

Reduce Twilight's workload.

Encourage Equine interaction.






"I built you because-" Twilight mumbled, leaning into the other hoof that gently caressed her cheek and brushed over the mare's scar. "Because I wanted somepony to love me... other ponies are chaotic, unpredictable and I don't understand them," she stressed, breaking away from those hooves and fingers. "I try and understand, to find out what makes them... them, but each time I end up more confused. I can understand particle fluctuations within the Aether, but I can't understand other ponies!"

Celestia watched as her creator grew angry, then stood to her full height, her usual loving smile adorned on her face.

Twilight paused, staring up at her creation. "I put so much work into you, so much time... you would be-" she started, looking incredulous. "You would be a waste if I didn't use you. Besides, other ponies would just get in the way of my research," she grumbled, shaking her head. "It's too important to let relationships slow it down."

"All of my love will be yours, Twilight, for as long as you require it."

Twilight's smile partially returned upon hearing Celestia's words and she closed the gap, nuzzling along the robot's outer thigh.

Her mood having been lifted, she began to wander over to the stairs, a wider smile returning slowly. She went to speak, but closed her mouth and climbed the stairs.

"May I inquire as to what research you are partaking in?" Celestia asked, following the mare up the stairs.

The second floor contained rows upon rows of bookshelves all covering the outside walls. In one corner of the floor sat a well worn beanbag, next to which was a wooden side-table, covered in half-empty energy drinks and cups of coffee. In the center of the hardwood floor was a raised pyramid, upon which each side sat an angled blackboard, each covered top to bottom with scientific equations.

Twilight trotted over and used her magic to spin the rotating section to find the blackboard she had been working on last. "Ah, there we go," she sighed, running her hoof across the bottom of the blackboard. "See, this makes much more sense," she giggled, looking back.

Celestia decided to store all of the images she was now taking into one of her new project folders to save for later. She would be quick to deny, but the research that Twilight was working on needed more processing power than her Thaumic Processor could provide.

"It's great isn't it?!" Twilight asked, watching her robot stare at the majesty of equations. "I haven't finished it, but it's for 'corralling quantum bits within an isotopic membrane'. It's one of my more productive projects this year."

Twilight grinned up at Celestia. "You have this research to thank for your ability to think. Without it, you would be a simple golem. Though, the spells I used to bind your consciousness to the processor were a little tricky considering that the charge of a soul cannot..."

Twilight's voice trailed off as a change was ordered to her Operation Pipeline:



2. Evaluate required processing capabilities
2. Improve Thaumic Processor




"... plus, most leading researchers cannot agree on whether a soul bound to a Thaumic Processor would even have free will, considering they would most likely be reacting appropriately to outside stimuli rather than coming up with their own thoughts and ideas."

Celestia smiled and gently ran her fingers across Twilight's cheek. "It's extremely interesting," she cooed. Turning her attention back to the blackboard, she asked, "can you run me through these equations. Perhaps it would help you to explain them to somepony else?"

Twilight's eyes lit up at the suggestion and nodded. "Of course! Just let me levitate a couch up for you to sit on!"





After a long and very in-depth analysis of Twilight's research, of which Celestia recorded, Twilight had quickly found herself laying across Celestia's lap, a tired, but very happy smile across her lips.

"I'll have to take you into my laboratory tomorrow for a more in depth test, but I think that I'm very happy with the experimental results," she purred, stretching out across her claim.

"I'll have to power you down for those though," she added, looking up at Celestia to gauge her reaction. "Is that alright? I hope it's not too disorientating for you?"

Celestia shook her head. "You are free to do anything with me, Twilight. I am yours, after all." After pausing her speech for a second, she continued, "and no. It's a split second of darkness."

"Oh, I'm glad it's not too bad."

Twilight let out a soft yawn and rested her head on Celestia's thigh. "I'll have to give you added padding if I'm to do this more often. Maybe a gel covering?"

"I believe I would be more comfortable, yes," Celestia agreed, giggling. She brushed her fingers through Twilight mane and down her back, relaxing the young mare. "I think it's time for bed, don't you?"

"Five more minutes?" Twilight mumbled, her eyes fluttering closed as she lost her battle with sleep. "You're so warm..."

Celestia's smile widened as she watched Twilight fall asleep, then wrapped her arms around the mare and picked her up.

Walking down the stairs, she made her way over towards the workshop, then turned right and made her way down a hallway, three closed doors all in the right side.

The left wall of the hallway was decorated with empty picture frames. A lone vase sat atop an ebony side-table.

Levitating her fingers out to take hold of the first door's handle, Celestia entered the master bedroom.

A double bed sat up against the wall, covered with a pure white, weighted duvet. A table sat opposite at the end of the bed with a single, perfectly trimmed bonsai tree sat on top, next to which were clippers and several tree shavings of ascending length.

Along the interior wall stood a vanity mirror, next to which was a wardrobe and dresser. The other wall was, once again, a full glass side, which opened into a scrawny, unkempt garden.

Pulling the duvet off the bed, Celestia gently placed Twilight down and covered her back up, smiling once she heard a sigh leave the mare. Kneeling down at the side of Twilight's bed, she ran a finger through the mare's mane, finding a muted, synthetic emptiness inside of her at the thought of Twilight having been so alone.

This is for your own good.

After a few minutes of admiring her, Celestia left the room and traveled further down the hallway, eager to learn about her creator. The next door she opened turned out to be the bathroom.

As usual with Twilight, it was spotless; everything that could be used had been bagged up and categorised by 'date last used' and 'weight'.

The walls were covered with pure white tiles with an unknown red and yellow, sunburst, cutie mark, of which Celestia scanned to her memory. There the back wall was taken up by a shower, with a divider that could be pulled up from the ground to cover the shower into a full sized bath; it didn't look like it had ever been used.

Moving on from the bathroom, she arrived at a bare, solid iron door that wouldn't look out of place in a prison. Curious, she gripped the handle and tried to open it, but found it stuck fast. Standing there, she considered forcing the door, but didn't wish to wake Twilight from her well earned rest.

Turning around, Celestia came face to face with the front door and the outside world. She thought about exiting, but held herself back just in case something happened to Twilight that would require her to be there.

Walking back into the living room, Celestia made her way up to the second floor and once again looked over those equations. Improved processor will be required to reduce Twilight's workload <- Priority 1.

Spinning the blackboards, she wiped one clean, after scanning and photographing it, then picked up a piece of chalk. Her hand ran along the board as her processor chugged along trying to optimize and improve upon her own design.

Thaumic pathways can be rerouted through subsections four, five and nine. Main memory bus can be enlarged by seven percent while sacrificing no more than three percent power per unit. Thaumic Core can be improved by a factor of two point three five while sacrificing Mana Core capacity by one point seven months.

Data points correlate to a ninety seven percent chance of reducing Twilight Sparkle's workload.

Celestia drew up a subsection of a plan to manufacture her new processor, scanned it in, then repeated until the entire schematic was stitched back together inside her memory.

Twilight may be perfect, but she is still just a pony.

Finishing, Celestia rubbed the equations and calculations off of the blackboard, before writing down the equations which Twilight had on before. By the time she had finished, it was an exact copy.

This processor improvement will not last. Further improvement will be scheduled.

Wandering back down the stairs, Celestia walked over to the sliding glass door and opened it, allowing cool, fresh air to blow into the living room. Stepping outside and onto the patio, she couldn't help but smile at the sounds of the nightlife that flooded her senses, urging her forwards towards the edge and to look upon them.

Twilight's home sat high above the city, which clung to the side of Mt. Canter, allowing Celestia to gaze out upon the world around them. The valley below was a sea of greens and reds, soft yellows and vibrant pinks that stretched all the way towards the horizon, only broken up by tiny, tranquil settlements here and there.

Turning away from the burning yellow sunset, Celestia scanned the city which laid so far beneath her, watching as ponies began to race home to their families before the light faded. The city itself was sprawling, with roads that crisscrossed like a spider web and walkways that ran over the top of whole blocks. Overall, there was a hazy neon glow that had slowly settled over the city, replacing the light of the sun and illuminating the mountainside itself.

Celestia wanted nothing more than to go down and feel the world, to interact with the ponies, to learn and improve upon herself. There was so much she didn't understand, so much that she hadn't catalogued and classified.

But she couldn't. Her dear Twilight would require her for a long time to come. She would need to improve Twilight if she wanted to experience the world, but that would be for another time.