//------------------------------// // 2: Learning... // Story: Julia, the metal wolf. // by Thesciencefanficwriter //------------------------------// “The group of seven worked their way up the ramp and towards the door, watching me intently. Their eyes were incredibly vibrant, checking around themselves as they steadily walked aboard…” “They were terrified, and rightly so. Any other alien we know of would have already killed them before they even got this far. My plan was to learn their language as they spoke to each other, while I played charades with them.” When they reached the top, they were surprised to see the door close behind them, and feel the pressure of the air change slightly, as the outside air was filtered out for air from within the ship… Air quality also increased, as the air humans were used to at this point, was almost 40% oxygen. This resulted in a few odd side effects, such as a slight ringing in their ears. Their bodies weren’t used to this much oxygen, and too much time spent here would prove detrimental to their health. Twilight’s eyes widened in wonder as the inner door of the airlock opened, revealing Peter’s form to them. He was clad in a white HEV suit, covering every inch of his body. A thin plastic sheet allowed them to view his face, and that may have been what sparked her interest the most. His face was completely unlike theirs in almost every way. Despite the forward-facing eyes they possessed, necessary for precise actions in front of the body and ultimately the development of their intelligence, He looked nothing like they did. His face was flat, possessing a short nose that was separated from his mouth, and some… rather small ears. Every other creature on this planet possessed a snout, a conjoined protrusion from the scull housing both the mouth and nose. Humans were different… They never possessed a snout during any point of their development into the humans they are today… This meant that they had atrocious sense of smell. It absolutely had to be impaired by lack of surface area. Twilight finally spoke up, pressing a hoof to her chest, and looking up to the two human figures… “Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle, and these are my friends.” Rarity was next to introduce herself, pressing a hoof to her own chest. “Hello, my name is Rarity” Then Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Spike, and Fluttershy introduced themselves in a similar manner, giving the AI plenty of concurrent data to process. Obviously, the set of syllables at the end of the sentence was the name of the individual who had introduced themselves. The sentence structure was similar to that of English, making future translation software a bit simpler to implement… After a few moments of agonizing silence, Peter, surprisingly, was the first to make the move… “Hello, my name is Peter Pax.” “My master, ever the bold one, made his move, and the eyes of the ponies before him lit up. They’d communicated with an alien! Albeit, a very simple communication that even a child could accomplish, but what made this significant was the fact that it was between two races that had never seen each other before.” “This encouragement was enough to make Twilight give a little victory dance. She would be the first mare in history to talk to an alien successfully. Her chance to be known, not for saving the world, but for diplomacy.” Next, Julia spoke, putting a simulated hand to her chest, and closing her eyes… As she spoke, her form dissolved from the bottom up, her voice coming from the very walls of the ship… “Hello, my name is Julia.” This display shocked the ponies, who all took a few steps back on reflex… This ship wasn’t just alien in nature, but in concept too. They came to realize, that this ship was alive. The concept alone was terrifying, a race so advanced that they could create machines with their own minds, and then to trust those machines with enough power to level a city if they really wanted to… Twilight looked about the room, trying to locate where the sound was coming from… maybe she was wrong, maybe this ship wasn’t alive… maybe… A hologram came up in front of the group, clearly representing a glass of water… The voice of the ship rang out around them, making them cower a little… “Water.” At first, they didn’t get it… but then… Twilight’s face began to beam, ideas flashing through her head… She drew a river on a sheet of paper, before turning it towards the human standing before her… “Water!” That was it, the start to a long and arduous process, of learning each other’s language. Hours passed by in what seemed only like minutes to the more astute of both groups, the others engaging in the act of comparing each other’s societies. Scans had finished on the ponies, showing no harmful bacteria or viruses, so of course, Peter was able to remove his HEV suit… His arm was a shock to those not currently focused on learning language, Fluttershy taking a particular interest on the injuries that necessitated this prosthetic… She seemed compassionate that he’d endured such pain and grievous injury, but was impressed with how articulate it was. Rainbow Dash, on the other hand, was tugging at it rather ferociously, Ranting about how cool it was that he had a robot arm. Catching her as the more rambunctious type, he reached up to his shoulder, and disconnected the arm from its socket, allowing it to come free in her hooves… She, of course, was first shocked at how easily had done that… Then after letting it sink in, was horrified at the prospect of holding someone’s dismembered limb in her hooves, discarding it quickly… Just because she was the tougher of the group, did not mean she was better acclimated to disturbing imagery, in fact it may have contributed more towards the opposite effect. The human set the dismembered limb on his lap, turning his head to gauge the other’s reactions. Fluttershy was busy inspecting the socket of his shoulder, so he looked over to the dragon. He’d received very little attention during this time, and probably needed some cheering up… so, the human nudged him with a foot, holding out the robotic limb… His eyes lit up with wonder, and his claws delicately wrapped around the limb like it was the most precious thing he’s ever held, and started taking in details. Every seam in the metallic surface, every joint, and every locking mechanism. It was an extremely complicated piece of machinery. When he was done, Rarity took the opportunity to take a look at it. Rarity used her magic to manipulate the object before her, looking at colors, materials, and the surprising lack of dirt and grime that would otherwise indicate daily use. It was spotless, save for some fading color around the fingers… When she was done, she politely handed it over to Applejack. Applejack had only one interest in it, and that was to see how strong it was. She carried it over to the human, before getting down on the ground, and putting her front hoof up in an arm-wrestling pose… It seemed to be a universal sport… She was rewarded by a grin from the human, who reattached the arm, getting into the same position, locking arms with her. After they began to push against each other, the human had to admit that she was probably stronger than he would have been naturally. Even now he was having trouble keeping his whole body from being turned over. He strained against the force of her arm, before finally deciding he’d had enough, and finished the match. He brought his arm down, winning it, before switching arms, chuckling. He watched her expression go from mildly annoyed, to interested… “Didn’t quite seem fair to you, let me make it up.” She grinned back, letting out a small chuckle of her own, before locking arms and starting to push. This time, he went down without too much of a fight, at least not more than Rainbow could put up… “The day passed all too quickly, we only got a few dozen words down, before I thought they should return to their homes. I gave Twilight some basic instructions to return the next day to resume learning, and she indicated that she agreed.” Twilight and her friends left the ship rather tired, and with varying degrees of headaches. Oxygen supersaturation is quite dangerous, and would prove to be a problem in the coming weeks… but for now, it increased mental capacity, and was worth ignoring until all the basics were covered… As they left, Rainbow Dash piped up, doing a little loop in the air to express her excitement. “That place was so cool! Did you see that super advanced robot arm that he had? It even beat AJ in hoof-wrestling!” Applejack was having none of it, kicking her hoof in the dirt path as she walked. “Darn machines. That’s cheatin’ in mah books. I beat him when he used his real arm ya know.” Twilight was disappointed in herself, she had no chance to observe the human’s prosthetic, as she was too absorbed in learning language. “I can’t believe I messed that! It sounds incredibly fascinating… Imagine the potential implementations in the medical field!” Fluttershy shuffled her hooves a bit as she remembered the arm. “The poor thing looked like it had been in a terrible accident, but I’ve never seen scars so clean looking before. Usually there’s some tearing… Unless maybe it was a controlled cut.” Pinkie bounced alongside them, beaming with happiness despite being just as tired as the rest of them. “Maybe we should throw him a… ‘Glad You Got Better From Whatever Hurt You and Hopefully You Won’t Get Hurt Again’ party!” Twilight decided to change the subject, rolling her eyes at her pink friend’s antics, despite the rather morbid topic. “That ship was amazing! The level of control it had over the images it showed us was beyond even what talented mages can produce… And it could learn on its own, despite not having a real pony controlling it! I’d never even dreamed of such a thing, but now it’s all I can think of! Machines don’t make mistakes, they’d be perfect for making high stakes decisions, or even marketing!” Rarity butted in, putting her own spin on the concept. “Imagine all the intricate clothes they could create without need for inspiration… Oh what I would give to have that kind of muse…” Applejack was still indignant, machines had almost ruined her livelihood before, and the arm wrestling match before didn’t help reassure her about machines… “Ah know machines and such can work harder than us pony folk, but ah still think there are some things ponies should keep doin’.” This single statement opened their eyes to just how dangerous it could be. Machines don’t make mistakes, but ponies do. If a machine saw fit to optimize things by removing the biological factors, it might have sufficient reasoning to simply get rid of the ponies that once controlled it… “Despite their sudden concern for caution, our language lessons continued. After day three, I was able to convey that I wished to be given a record of phonemes, and written examples of their language. Spoken and written language is simply a complex logic problem, designed with the express purpose of conveying concepts and information.” “They returned the next day with four books: one dictionary, and three encyclopedias, consisting of basic knowledge of their culture and world. This proved to be immensely helpful, and within two days, I had perfected the translation matrix, applying it to both myself, and my master.” The group of six ponies had been accompanied this time by four guards, who had escorted them through the dangerous forest… They had been making the trip alone far too long, and as the newly anointed rulers of Equestria, it would be a disaster if something were to happen to them. As prepared as they were for a monster attack, they were not prepared in the slightest for the Admiral to greet them, outside, without a suit, and speaking their own language. His arms were extended in a welcoming fashion, calling to them as they approached the ship. He was currently wearing a one-piece flight suit, all parts of his body covered, except his prosthetic, and his head. He gave them a smile, waving them up towards the airlock, where they had been meeting every time before. “I can’t begin to explain how excited I’ve been to finally hold a conversation with you. Those books you left the other day really helped us grasp your language. The grammar is really similar to English…” “Oh, now that I can actually speak to you, I can finally show you around the ship… maybe I can lay out a deal for some land… I understand you six oversee this country.” The airlock closed behind everyone and pressurized, most experiencing an uncomfortable popping sensation in their ears before Twilight spoke up. “Wh… Why yes… yes, we do. What kind of deal do you have in mind?” The inner airlock doors opened, and the group was led further into the ship than they had ever been. They boarded a small floating platform parallel to the corridors, which then launched them deeper into the structure as the human spoke… “As you can see, humanity has plenty to offer, our technology surpasses yours in every way, and you’ve only seen transportation and information categories. Though I cannot simply give you advanced technology just like that, I can give you… a push in the right direction, if you will.” At those words, Twilight whipped out a notebook and quill, ready to scribble down notes at the slightest hint of information. He lifted an arm, summoning a hologram of some early coal generators, similar to the ones seen by the surveillance sweeps. “Fossil fuels are an inefficient and dirty step in the progression of an industrious race, but a clean and renewable alternative would be the harvesting of geothermal heat. You could likely make a pact with the dragons, giving them technology in return for geothermal heat. Alternatively, a hydroelectric dam is even easier to manage.” She immediately began her furious writing, and as he spoke of the different technologies, images were displayed of some of the more impressive examples of humanity’s creations in those departments. Geothermal plants on Vulcan V, and hydroelectric on Terra prime… These creations awed even the stoic guards, which prompted Applejack to speak up. “And, pardon me for askin', but what exactly's gonna happen to the ponies workin' at our power plants and coal mines?” He smiled at her before making a “zoom in” motion with both hands, making a cross section of coal and geothermal power plants appear. “I’m glad you asked, you’re a working mare I assume, you’ve got your heart out to the average Joe… Many of the mechanisms in a coal generator are used in both geothermal and hydroelectric. Those that worked at coal plants can go right to working at the new ones. Power will become cheaper, lower maintenance, and higher yield, all with zero new technologies.” Rainbow Dash butted in at this point idly hovering over the platform as it came to a stop near a junction. Here, there were several bulkheads with open blast doors, ready to close at a moment’s notice… “Wait-wait-wait. Are you trying to say you won’t be doing anything but coaching us like we’re foals?” He waved them along, through one of the doors into a recreation and food center. It was a wide-open space, with a food court on one side, and a holodeck on the other… The vast number of seats gave the girls the impression that this ship was meant to house hundreds, if not thousands of people… But there was no sign of life, the floors were spotless, with no sign of wear on the powder coating… To the ponies, something seemed wrong on a whole other level… “Of course not. You do not have nearly the level of infrastructure required to complete a hydroelectric dam. I on the other hand could have it done in just a few days. Plus, I can install monitoring hardware just for myself and Julia to Access, so we can make sure nothing catastrophic happens.” Pinkie had preoccupied herself with setting up party decorations in the food court, somehow managing to smuggle a whole cake and punch bowl onto the ship. This prompted the onboard AI to pay closer attention to her, as she continued to pull decorations out of seemingly nowhere… Of course, she wouldn’t be a danger to the ship if left unattended, and she didn’t seem to be the sharpest tool in the shed, all things considered, so the tour was allowed to continue while she and a single guard busied themselves about the tables. As the captain continued towards the holodeck, he kept his explanation going. “Now, if you allow me a section of land, say… the badlands… (nobody lives there anyway)… I could use it to set up my own infrastructure, metal and mineral refineries, power stations, hydroponics… And soon enough, the badlands will disappear, plant life will retake the area, as I release water into the area for rain clouds to form. I can stay here while I complete my mission, you’ll have a powerful ally, and some nice gifts every now and again, be it medicine, weapons, or technology.” "And so stood my master’s offer. The beginning of a symbiotic relationship between the caretaker of an endangered race, his companion, and a then primitive race of equinoids. A relationship that would soon become fruitful and grow beyond a simple coexistence."