Level 1 energy report:
Array 1: <1%
Array 2: <1%
Array 3: <1%
Array 4: <1%
Array 5: 2.4%
Array 6: <1%
Array 7: 14.7%
Threshold reached. Initiate level 2...
Level 2 status report:
Battery Level: 0.07% + .00063% per min.
Cooling system: minimally functional
Core function: minimally functional
Stage 1 memory: 27% intact
startup v*memory_fix_1 at high priority
Evaluation: Stable.
Initiate level 3...
###>--------------------------------------------------<###
So many years ago, that great war. Ponies, realizing the power of coal, started down the road of industrial revolution with a fury. To feed the growing demands, made a pact with the zebra tribes to the south. Coal for jewels was the agreement and with that trade both prospered. Convenience and innovation became the key points of the new societies. New and bigger, the ponies and zebra pushed their respective sciences to their limits, and when they reached those limits, they invented new ones.
But not all that is new is good. So high did they climb with their technology and advancement that they left their old morals behind. Soon the push for more and better became to great, the demand outstripping supply for both civilizations. And when peaceful methods failed, the new concept of war was employed. At first limited, with the tragedy of Shattered Hoof neither side wished for peace. The war became a good thing, something to be continued, a unifying beacon by which progress was spurred and advancement directed.
And in the end, their advancement did save some of them from the destruction they had created. The mutual destruction which was sure to come fell most heavily on Equestria, but the ponies had prepared. A small number escaped total annihilation by hiding in Stables, beneath the now scorched land. For a time, Equestrian soil lay empty, only the wayward ghoul able to live on.
The Equestrian Waste was a desolate place. What few towns existed were spread distant from one another. Barely traveled roads spanned the distances between them, bisecting the burnt face of the once green countryside. Between these lanes laid lawless expanses of irradiated fields and blasted crags. What animal life remained became mutated beyond previous recognition.
It was in this land that Ru57 spent his first two decades. A lonely robot, made for a battle that ended without him. His programming did not allow him to stop with it, so he hunted on. When zebra proved to be in short supply, new targets were found: rad-roachs, mmmmm, and zombies. It was a long time before he could tell ghouls and zombies apart; one ran away from him, the other toward. The wastelands emptied around him, either by his gun or their own will. Still, Ru57 walked on, through mud and dirt and snow.
###>--------------------------------------------------<###
Level 3 report:
RFleg: immobile.
LFleg: immobile.
RBleg: immobile
LBleg: 10% mobility.
Attempting motion in LBleg...
Level 1 reports array 7 @ 23% power. Repeating.
Level 1 reports array 7 @ 25% power and array 5 @ 3% power. Repeating...
Level 3 report cont.:
Core function @ 13%.
Stage 1 memory: 47% intact. Pending v*memory_fix_1...
Primary motherboard integrity... confirmed
Initiate Level 4.
Level 4 report:
Primary sensor grid: 10% intact
Secondary sensor grid: 17% intact.
Stage 2 memory: 10% intact.
startup v*memory_fix_2 at high priority
Internal generator: nonfunctional
Secondary generator: nonfunctional
Evaluating options ... ... ... ... ...
Conclusion reached.
Initiate level 2 internal clock, 100 tick timer.
Starting internal repair talisman on battery power... pulse power as per counter.
Level 2 report battery holding stable over time... continuing.
Initiate Level 5.
###>--------------------------------------------------<###
As all machines do, Ru57 began to wear down. An internal repair talisman cannot fix everything. Nor did his programming require he power it for the long period that would have been required. Ru57 learned slowly, when at all, and it wasn't something he noticed. After all, with his kill count it was expected to have some damage. In fact, his kill count was far beyond his programmed expectations, a success, to be sure.
Eventually, though, even he was forced to admit a need for help. His solar cells had become covered in dust, not something the talisman could fix. Normal wear and tear were fine, but near constant sand scouring and intermittent rain were damaging things that could not be repaired. He had been made for sun and battle, not the hard conditions that existed then.
It took a while for Ru57 to locate a suitable site. My ponies simply ran if he approached their town. Other began firing on him, which usually ended with them dead and him continuing to break. Eventually, fed up with so much failure, he began attempting other variations of the situation. Once, he shot first, while asking for help. Another time he sneaked into town at night, and waited in the center to ask. But it wasn't until, running short of ideas, he came to a giant city and just refused to leave.
He asked the guard, who wouldn't let him in, for help, but was told no. So he sat in front of the guard office asking for help once every day. Then once an hour, and then once a minute. They tried to push him, but they could not move something of his weight. When they brought ropes, he very precisely shot them to pieces. Then they tried at night, no knowing, perhaps, that he stored solar power in a battery for night work. They tried shooting him in the end, but he simply ignored the bullets. It was unlikely he would make it to another town anyway. Finally, the guard brought the mayor. After a very careful discussion about times of departure and costs for support given, a bargin was struck and Ru57 was brought to the best mechanic in the area. Eighty years of dust and carbon scoring were removed, a nice oil bath taken, and he was let on his way.
Ru57's portion of the bargain was twofold. First, to clear out a nearly Stable which had been troubling the townsfolk. Secondly, he was to leave to immediate area, not to return for fifty years. This seemed fair to him. He was, no doubt, the best fighter in the area, so the clearance should naturally fall to him. It was unlikely he would need another maintenance in the next fifty years, so the option of returning was not removed either.
###>--------------------------------------------------<###
Level 5 final report:
Level 1 through 4 operating correctly.
Core functional
Memory Stages 1 and 2 functional
Memory Stage 3 attempting recovery
Sensors minimally functional
Internal generators, nonfunctional
Solar panel dependance cleared
Memory Stage 1 and 2 backed up onto Stage 3.
Memory Stages 1 and 2 cleared
All systems ready for Core boot.
Initiate stage 6.
Level 6 initiated successfully.
Activating sensor banks.
High pressure along front, side, and top sensors. Zero pressure along rear sensors.
Slight motion noted along back left flank, pattern matches wind.
Medium temperature along all sensors.
Noise levels at -10 deci-Bucks.
Air composition shows large deviation from norms:
+2% Rust
-.3% Oxygen
-1.7% Nitrogen
Electrical field minimal.
Magnetic field nominal. North located.
Magical field minimal.
Pressure readings suggest potential urgency...
Initiate Level 7.
###>--------------------------------------------------<###
The Stable was numbered 24. Stable-Tec records listed it as an 'experimental' Stable, which could mean anything. Most Stables were labeled experimental, only a few labeled control instead. Further information was classified.
Ru57 noted the motions in the ventilation, the slight sounds only audible do to the silence they interrupted. He continued deeper into the Stable, looking for an access point. He located multiple. At each one he followed the same procedure. Open and spray in both direction before the abominations could run. He left the covers off, in the hopes that a few stupid individuals might exit the vents.
Eventually he came to the atrium. Rotten flash covered the ponies along the floor, holes blown out along their bodies. At first Ru57 suspected large caliber weaponry, but it proved to by some sort of biological problem.
More importantly, the small beasts were starting to gather. Where as he'd seen a few previously, now a population of forty seven grouped. Smart enough for a combined assault? Indeed, they came forward en mass. His energy rifle opened up, splitting scaly bodies left and right. Plenty made it to him, but their fangs and claws had no effect on his metal body. Accurately and efficiently, he dispatched the rest.
As he left, Ru57 closed the door to the Stable. Even the few left would die from starvation, assuming nopony opened the door again. He considered informing the mayor, but kept to the contract. Again he was off, looking for new enemies.
###>--------------------------------------------------<###
Level 7 initialized.
Weapon status, in-operational.
Visual status, low operational.
Combat status, low. Avoid combat of danger 2 or greater
Visual analysis begun...
Zero light conditions noted, Visual analysis ended.
Minor neck motion has not cleared vision.
Initiate Level 8 for further instructions.
Level 8 initiated successfully, starting new log.
Internal clock mistake (beyond bounds) noted, restarting.
Log Date: 00000000y:000000000d:00000h:000000m:000010s
Warning: Massive memory loss due to oxidation.
Warning: Large amounts of data lost during reboot.
Log: All operation critical data saved, most operation dependent data saved.
Warning: Nearly all non-essential data lost or dropped during reboot.
Warning: sensors reporting failure.
Danger: generators reported as failing.
Warning: potential danger in area.
Log: All systems clear for high-level restart.
Initiate Level 9.
###>--------------------------------------------------<###
Ru57 wandered for another forty years, now much more careful about his own maintenance. He collected a set of saddlebags, in which he began to carry extra components, stripped from defeated mechanical targets. One of his eyes went out, and he spent a full month attempting to make another. Later, a knee servo snapped. Unable to find a suitable replacement, he modified both his rear legs to take a more severe model he could find. No as efficient, but undoubtedly more powerful.
He spent those years skirting the edge of the Mojave, eventually coming to the western edge. Here he reached the edge of his map. Attempts to access the central database were unsuccessful; the local radio towers had decayed as well. He chose to go South, rather than continue without or return the way he'd come. Into the Mojave the lone robot walked.
His end came suddenly. Walking along the base of a canyon, a rock wall gave way. Ru57 dodged the first boulder, and the second, but the continued barrage forced him to toward the crumbling cliff. Eventually he could dodge no longer and was caught beneath a way of rock and silt. When his attempts at movement proved ineffective, the robot closed down, leaving only his lowest process monitoring incoming energy. He hoped that the panels might one day be uncovered and power restored, allowing him to walk the Wasteland once more.
###>--------------------------------------------------<###
Level Nine active.
Checking logs... come to alert. Potential danger. Sensors indicate high pressure. Low power noted. Attempting to back into clear area. Activate rear leg servos at full. Checking... increased movement achieved. Reversing... Pressure dropping along front sensors. Continue... Pressure dropped to reasonable on front and side sensors, top sensors still report high pressure. Activate visual and scan. Rubble obstructions present. Attempt climbing pattern...
Immediate danger averted. Initiate Level Ten.
###>--------------------------------------------------<###
A rock drops from the canyon wall, taking a layer of sand with it. In the sliding sand, a metal surface gleams. It protrudes of the hill slightly, the sand settling around it. Then a shaking and the sand picks up speed again. More and more of the surface is revealed, the plated rear end of a pony-shaped robot. Noses begin to sound within, electric crackle and magical powering.
Suddenly, the legs kick and sand is thrown in every direction. More and more, the mound slides down. Then the metal disappears, sliding further into the sand. For minutes, nothing. Then the metal head appears, now much higher, coming from between two rocks. The body follows soon after. Rust orange, sand still sliding from its metal hide, the pony survey the surroundings. The last of the sand finally slips off, revealing the engraving that stood in place of a cutie mark. Ru57 finally stands again.
###>--------------------------------------------------<###
Level Ten Initialized.
Welcome back, Ru57.
Log Date: 0000y:000000000d:00000h:110011m:100110s
Location: Unknown (map corrupted)
Objective: Unknown (memory corrupted). Defaulting to 'Discover Previous Objective'.
I looked across the desert waste to the North. I couldn't remember much... I'd taken heavy damage to long-term memory. But I thought I'd come from the desert. I had plenty of memory space purportedly allocated to those memories.
The path went North-South, with a mountain to the east and the canyon to the west. I turned South and considered. It looked similar to the north, but less sand and more dried dirt. I couldn't see far due to the path's curve and the intervening mountains.
I needed repairs. I added that to my Objective list. I also needed weapons, now the third objective. The desert to the north had been... empty? My map was nonfunctional... I had no way to be sure. Just the corrupted shadows of memories hinting Not worth returning to. Better to head South.
I took one last scan of the area, charting the geography add mapping it to my memory. Better to have a local scan than nothing at all. Content, I proceeded South, determined to get in a few miles before the sun set and I was forced to stop. Once more for the Princess and Equestria's honor.
###>--------------------------------------------------<###
Eventually the sun dropped behind the mountains and I was forced to battery power. I put in another 3 miles before that had reached dangerously low levels. Having little other choice, I set myself down on the far East edge of the trail and shut down, waiting for the morning sun.
It was with much surprise that I reawakened. My lower levels had been perturbed by something. Level 7 report: Danger: Magical field approaching. Magical Power: low-grade megaspell. Well, that would do it. A Zebra superweapon tends to override anypony's idea of 'safe'.
I lit my eyes and stared at the path. A white figure, pony sized, approached. My eyes were malfunctioning... I could not determine much about it. Probably carrying the megaspell. I checked my power (Battery Level: 0.57). Enough for maybe one good applebuck off the edge. I'd have to be careful about power use though. I turned off my eyes, relying on my field detector to keep tabs on the ponies location.
It stopped a few feet in front of me. Damn, I'd hope to attack when the pony was forced to pass between me and the canyon drop. Other options...
“Not be alarmed, my good robot. I mean you no harm.” The light, lilting voice was... comforting? Vocal analysis needed a Serious retune if it thought a megaspell-carrying pony was trying to be comforting.
I replied from where I lay. “I doubt your words. Please, citizen, maintain a twenty foot distance while I decide upon a course of action.”
The white pony backed up. Damn, what did I say! Somewhere between my thoughts and my speech centers a wire or two was crossed. My speech processing units duly informed me that I was speaking unintelligible gibberish. From her new position, the pony began again.
“I will need your help soon. If you continue along this path, you meet a strange little pony. Help her, and she will help you find repairs. Once you are ready, look for my symbol. I have a great deal for you to do.”
I began again. “I fear I cannot aid you, my lady, for by my oath to Equestria I must defeat all those found carrying megaspells. Prepare yourself.”
Again, she was backing up! I would have to do this quickly. I got to my feet and ran at her full tilt. With a leap, my servoes screeching, I tackled... thin air. I was so surprised I quit paying attension to my landing, but level 9 took over at the last second to keep me from falling off the cliff. Now below minimum power, I shut down all systems accept for auditory. I set it to record and dropped to level 4. I'd hear the words when the sun rose. Assuming I was still intact...
Level 4 routing all audio to Level 8 logging buffer.
Level 2 reports battery at: 0.22% -.00002%/minute
Forced shutdown of Level 4 in 3 hours...