//------------------------------// // City Life // Story: Magic's Birth: The Sisters' Memories // by The Psychopath //------------------------------// "Why would you do that?!" Biddydee shouted in disbelief. She deactivated the lock on the entrance and pulled the massive agglomeration of metal open. "It was knocked out completely!" "Now we can gather the scales more easily," Celestia said as she floated downwards. The creatures in the cave sniffed and growled, trying to intimidate those invading their space, then Celestia looked right at them. They immediately scampered back to the furthest depths of the cave they could reach, piling atop each other if necessary. The white machine pointed to one of the creatures. "I want to throw a bigger rock at that one." "No!" the triangular machine protested. "No more. No more throwing rocks at anybody!" "What about a boulder?" Celestia asked. Biddy stared at her in disbelief. "What? But I just said--" "No no, she has a point," Luna spoke up. "Is that why your magic always imprisoned everyone in stone?" Twilight asked the princesses. "Unrelated," Luna answered in a suspiciously dismissive tone. Biddydee was grumbling and panicking at the same time while trying to ensure that the mantiflok wasn't too harmed. "What am I supposed to do?" she pondered nervously. The robot looked up to see Celestia miming picking up a boulder and smashing it on the creature again. "I'm going to the caretakers with this..." she said despondently. "Okay," Luna answered. The two followed the annoyed robot to the house while the other mantifloks slowly and hesitantly poked their heads out of their cave, worried that the crazy robots were still around. When the three finally entered the house, it looked like the interior had been flipped in every conceivable direction, plus some imperceptible ones. Luna checked her internal systems for how such a bizarre comparison came to. "What happened?!" Biddy screamed in horror. "Oh, you're back," Pa said. "We were just having a discussion on how to handle farms." He pointed to Galah. "The way the blues get their nourishment is hilariously outrageous." The robot was sitting on an overturned couch bent and broken in five different areas. Food had been plastered everywhere, the caretakers were wiping themselves clean, and Rahllup was angrily trying to reattach a severed arm. "Stop it," the male caretaker chided her. "We'll reattach it later." "But it's my arm!" Rahllup complained. The triangular machine stood straight and stepped in front of her comrade machine. "What happened to you?" "We got into a fight, and he tore my arm off!" She pointed at Galah. "That dunce's arm's and legs are made up of such a dense material that he's borderline a military-grade robot!" She grumbled angrily, looking at her arm. "Wasn't even flinching when I was hitting him," she whined. "Might as well give him heavy weaponry and he'd be wandering about using it like a spoon." Pa stared at her sideways. "That doesn't mean anything." "Exactly!" Rahllup responded. The robot angrily smashed a wall with the back of her hand after growing more upset at her inability to reconnect her arm. Annoyed, the male caretaker took her back outside to be fixed up and chided her for the damages. Luna noticed that the two infants were sitting in the middle of the carnage, eating what was left of the cake. Celestia stared at their tasty treat, much to the persistent confusion of her sister. Luna floated towards the two infants and knelt down, something she hadn't done in a very long time. Her bright, unblinking eyes were unnerving them the longer the children looked at Luna. "Wh-what do you want?" the young male asked. "You are infants." "I-infants?" the child repeated as he looked to his grandfather. He rolled his eyes. "Means kids, boy." "Oh, then yes." "I know of two as well," Luna said. "My owners have two infants." She paused a moment as she started to dig into her storage. "They are...as old as you? Older? Younger?" The machine was confused. "I shouldn't have gaps in my memory. I am...unsure how long I've been gone. I haven't been keeping track. Weeks? Months? A year?" Pa grunted in response, his hands tightening on his loose pants. "Looks like you're under the constraints of the Immortis Law." "The what?" Luna said plainly. "The longer a being has to live, the less time they can perceive," Pa answered. "Never thought that theory actually had credence." He scoffed. "Shows what I know." "Wouldn't the opposite be more appropriate?" Celestia asked. The caretaker grunted and put a hand to his head. "This is too much big brain stuff for me. I haven't needed to use it in so long that my cobwebs have cobwebs. Go ask someone more modern," he told her. Biddybee stepped forward. "I was thinking of taking them to the city, to see what life with the black energy is like compared to their home," she suggested. "Oh. Of course. Their precious blue," the caretaker spat. Galah pointed menacingly at him with a fully unfurled 'finger'. "Don't start again, old man," he threatened. Biddy grabbed the prototype and slung him under her arm. "We're off," she said exhausted. "Oh, I almost forgot." She gestured to Celestia with a head bop. "This one went and clonked the head of one of the mantifloks with a giant rock, and now the others won't come out of the cave and the victim is knocked out. Might need to call a veterinarian." Pa and the female both bounced to their feet. "What?!" they shouted in disbelief before rushing out of the house, much to the amusement of the children. "To the city!" Galah declared. Biddydee approached the two children first. "You two will stay here and behave yourselves." The male crossed his arms. "And what if I don't want to?" Biddy's limbs tensed. "Did you hear an upwards inflection implying I was asking a question?" she said more menacingly. The child started melting away. "N-no." The triangular machine jumped up and clapped. "Fantastic! Then let's go." The group were back in the bleakness outside, being bombarded by the black, ashy snow. Luna felt something straining her circuits and had to let it out. "You threaten the infants?" she asked. "They're not threats," Biddy said dismissively. "I tried being more friendly and caring with them, but they're too rambunctious for that." She slapped her 'bicep'. "The caretakers taught me the best way to keep them 'in line' and to behave themselves. Reward them for good behavior. Take everything away temporarily for bad." "That goes against the data I possess for infant care," Luna argued. "Well, your 'infants' are from the blue. One can assume that there might be some psychological differences between the two, especially concerning the area of growth," Biddy said somewhat irritated. Luna pondered the matter over, at first. "Logical." As the group stepped out, Biddy overheard Rahllup yelling angrily in the barn. "Consarn it! Now ma other arm fell off!" The group continued moving through the snowy landscape for a bit until Galah grew irritated. "How long is it going to take to reach the city. At this rate I'll dry out before we even discover other machines like us." "At our rate of travel we'll arrive in about an hour," Biddy answered. "And we aren't taking a vehicle why?" Biddy continued staring straight forward. "Because we usually use our full bodies for travel. More than capable of traveling across long distances and carrying all we purchase." "Well, it's too slow!" Galah whined. "I want to go faster." "Our flight capabilities could make traveling much faster," Celestia contemplated. "Then do you want to race?" Biddy asked. "What is a--" Luna was interrupted by her sister before she could finish. "A competition to see which individual or group of individuals can arrive at a set destination first," Celestia explained. "Are we starting?" Luna asked. "Not yet," Biddy interrupted. She rotated her arms and readied herself. "I have to warn you. I'm quite fast, but if you get there first, wait on the outskirts, alright?" she asked. "Okay," Luna answered. "Let's go!" Biddy shouted excitedly as she bounced from side-to-side. She bolted off, tearing much of the ground up. The sisters watched her and grabbed Galah from underneath his arms. They floated upwards then jettisoned themselves far away, leaving Biddy to stare at them and likely complain. About an hour or so later, Biddy arrived, slowing her sprint gradually in hops and bounces. The group were waiting on the outskirts of the city where a few rundown buildings were located. Several containers and other equipment were set up around the area. Celestia believed that it was to raze everything and rebuild in preparation for an expansion. The lack of foliage other than some types of grass supported her idea, at least to Luna. "If I was a human, I would definitely drop dead from this," Biddy complained. "I didn't know you could fly!" "We never do, normally, but the lack of flying vehicles in your airspace makes it far easier than in our city," Celestia responded. "Spend our time moving about by hovering over the ground," Luna stated as she pointed to her 'feet'. Biddy stared. "Don't you walk at any point?" The sisters shook their heads. "We weren't designed that way," Luna said. "I have feet," Galah declared. The three stared at him silently. "I recall I have a few things to get at the local market, and I need to refuel myself," Biddy realized. "Couldn't you refuel at your home?" Luna asked. The triangular machine shook her head. "No. That fuel is for the full bodies and other equipment. We're short the regular black energy used exclusively for the small things like us, but that is coming in a few days." Her internal engine revved up loudly. "Well then, let's go for-Wait!" She grabbed Galah. "What is it?" the prototype asked. "You almost stepped on that rodent," Biddy alerted. The three machines of the blue looked down and saw an almost canine-esque creature with a long, pink tail and several large, swollen limbs. It hissed loudly at them, its three eyes shooting lasers of anger. There was a ring with several colorful rocks embedded within its surface. A treasure that disappeared with it as it fled into the distance, disappearing over the ridge. "Well, time to let you see what our cities are like," Biddy sated proudly. "Just don't be surprised that we have so little compared to what I'm sure are vast, seemingly endless expanses of land for you." She scoffed. "We try to grow up and down," she specified by pointing. "We're more conservative of the space we use up." She giggled smugly. "Saves up on consumption of black energy, too." The three stared at each other, and Galah shrugged, prompting Celestia to attempt imitating the movement. The closer to the city they got, the cleaner and more advanced it became. Buildings became straighter, their forms stabilized by metal plates and stronger foundations and building materials. The cubic shapes started shifting into more cylindrical forms, and windows took on a gritted appearance, making it near impossible to see through them from the outside. Street lamps stood tall, their heads covered by a very shiny and polished cap that bathed a wide area in its bright, white light. Sounds of life started becoming more apparent, and the engines that the three heard from Biddy and Rahllup became louder and stronger, and cheering could be heard from time to time. Luna didn't have the time to continue taking in the details around here that the very air trembled with reverberations. The ground shook, and although only Biddy and Galah felt the tremors, their bodies didn't move at all. The sounds became louder and louder until a tremendously tall and wide figure came into view from around the corner. It was a machine at least fifty-five stories tall, with no head or neck. Its main body was clamped down into a tight, and armored rectangular shell of metal. From the shine of the light that crawled through the clouds, Luna could see many dents and trenches dug into the metal hide of this monstrosity. She had trouble seeing it, but it seemed to possess two arms that remained hidden by the smaller buildings it stood in front of. A bright array of green cones of light jutted forth from its 'torso', shining in many different directions at once, each scanning the surfaces of the land before it as it moved forward. It took another step forward, causing the streets and the trash cans to tremble even though they were held by metallic clamps into the ground. It made various sounds, again to the last breath of a dying creature and the screech of stress from overburdened steel beams. "What is that?" Luna asked as she pointed to the behemothic monstrosity. "Ignore it. It's not important," Biddy dismissed. Luna felt extremely uncomfortable seeing it. Her circuits were stressing and the flow of energy seemed to be straining and choking in many areas. She didn't like the uncomfortable, erratic pulse and flow of the energy within her at the sight of it. Galah and Celestia stared at it, and they seemed to reflect that sentiment. Biddydee stopped moving and called to them. "Are you coming over?" she asked. They were about to when a second popped up behind the first when it raised itself up and landed with a thundering 'thump' onto the ground. Twilight looked at the princesses stare at the images silently. The storytelling had ground to a sudden and abrupt stop. "Princesses?" Twilight called out. She stepped in front of them and realized that they had seized up when they saw the machines, even if it was from their own memories. Either they had something to do with what happened to the world, or it was an underlying case of phobia. At least, that's what Twilight thought to try and make sense of their reactions. "What is that thing?" Twilight wondered to herself.