//------------------------------// // XXIX - A Living Memory // Story: The Distant Princess // by GMBlackjack //------------------------------// The MO robots are a series of advanced machines built by Moseph “Moe” Mastro Giovanni, with a myriad of different purposes. He labeled them with the letters of the alphabet, ranging from A to B to C to Z. A man with such genius should have been able to forsee the difficulty upon running out of letters, but he just kept building more robots until he got stumped, and then started using esoteric symbols for beings like *MO that make it really annoying to talk about them aloud. The MOs, as a whole, are effectively a machine race spread across Ooo. Many of them are wandering randomly, just exploring their digital lives and living alongside the other inhabitants of the world. Most, however, live in the MO factory where more of them are built every day. Each MO, of every letter and symbol, was made with some purpose in mind, though they certainly have the programming and awareness to break past this purpose. This is regularly accomplished, though usually by those MOs not living in the factory. But it’s a well known fact that MOs don’t have the same brain makeup as the more common organic beings, and thus have weird mental quirks that make them seem quite stupid at times. In the case of certain MOs, almost all the time. ~~~ Since night was falling and they didn’t want to set up camp, Jake had offered to ferry them all over to the Tree Fort “in style”, which meant he grew to the size of a small bus and stretched his legs to be taller than most trees. Finn, Jack, and Starlight sat on his back, the last of which seemed determined to stare at Jake’s fur and not look up. Rainbow and Lapis took to flying alongside Jake. Apparently, Lapis’ control over water allowed her to shape it into wings sprouting from her gemstone. “I’ve gotta race you sometime when we’re all rested,” Rainbow told her. “A race?” Lapis couldn’t remember the last time she’d been in an actual race. None of her friends could fly very easily, and she hadn’t exactly been on good terms with the other Lapis Gems. She wasn’t sure what to think of the offer. “Maybe.” “Yes, but later, we all require rest,” Jack said. “I don’t,” Lapis said. “Gems don’t need sleep. Though I was taught how. I still think it’s weird how you shut off your bodies for half the day to reorganize your minds. “ Finn looked to her with wide eyes. “Does this mean… you can adventure all the time? Every hour of every day? Nonstop?” “I still need rest, I can get exhausted. But I don’t have to turn off to do it. I just…” She stretched her fingers. “Recharge.” “It’s internal magic,” Starlight said, softly. She still refused to look up, but kept talking. “Magic reserves regenerate over time naturally. She’s a being of pure magic, so…” she fell silent, drooping lower than she had before. “That’s… right,” Lapis said, taking a moment to breathe in and out. Give her a chance, reach out. “You use magic?” Starlight nodded slowly. “Back in my time, only Gems could use magic reliably.” “You were before the Mushroom Bomb, then. It gave us arcane power.” Lapis grimaced. Again with that bomb… “Hey,” Rainbow called. “She doesn’t like thinking ab—” “SHUT IT!” Starlight shouted, stretching her neck to be sure Rainbow got the message. “I don’t want to hear you stupid little voice.” Rainbow was taken aback. “Wh—” “You know what you did to me.” Starlight returned to staring at Jake’s fur, though this time she was seething in rage rather than sorrow. “Geez, what did you do to her?” Jake asked. Rainbow rolled her eyes. “She was brainwashing a town in—” “I was showing them the truth,” Starlight spat. “Everypony was happy. We were all equal. And then you had to come around with your petty individualism an—” “You were lying to them about ever—” “I had to! Do you think I want this cutie mark? No, I—” “Oh give it a rest we all know you wanted power you li—” “Stop interrupting—” “I won’t st—” “Enough!” Jack declared, clapping his hands together. “I understand that you two have a sordid history. Please, for tonight, put it behind yourselves. We can discuss it in the morning, after we have rested.” Starlight and Rainbow had the decency to look sheepish. “Thank you,” Jack said, turning his gaze forward as Jake trundled on through the world. About a minute later, Starlight spoke up again. “You don’t have your sword, Samurai. He could kill you at any moment if he knew.” “He doesn't know,” Jack said, simply. Starlight nodded, looking off into the distance. The sun had already set and the light of dusk was dissipating. There was a single star in the distance. “And it will stay that way.” “Thank you.” After this, they rode in silence for some time. This suited Lapis just fine—sometimes she learned the most about people when she watched them in silence. She couldn’t read Jake, since he was the mount for this entire operation, but she didn’t exactly have a high opinion of him to begin with so she was glad she didn’t have to think too hard. Finn was unable to sit still, always adjusting his arms and legs. Impatient and uneasy, troubled and confused. He was just a boy in many ways, a boy being asked to think about too much in his life at once. In contrast, Jack was a man. Perfectly still—he might even have been meditating. Despite wearing almost nothing, the chill of the night did not bother him. He was a disciplined, honorable warrior, and Lapis couldn’t help but feel he had authority. Starlight, though… Starlight had power and drive, and a broken spirit. Lapis did not need to know the details to see the turmoil within the unicorn. That face was the face of someone who had just realized how terrible of a person they could be. And then there was Rainbow. Energetic, excited, flying—but clearly upset that she was injured. She glanced at her cracked hoof far too often, and every time it brought with it a new bout of frustration. Lapis wished she could help. If only Steven were here… Lapis clenched her fists and looked forward. He’s not here. You’ll have to find him. Until then, you do what would make him proud. Help these people. Get out of your cave and see the world. Don’t let sorrow control you. Looking away from her group, she took a moment to take in the night scenery of the Candy Kingdom. The cotton candy trees and normal trees were hard to tell apart in the lighting, but her eyes were sharp enough to tell the difference by shape alone. What did that bomb do? Lapis wondered, brow furrowing. Everything was wrong. The shapes were too round, the normal trees were too full, the scenery was too… bright, even under the darkening night. Only Gems were that bright. That… magical. Maybe it was a good thing. Maybe now that the rest of the universe had magic, things would be better. Maybe that was the soft buzzing she felt in the core of her gemstone, so soft she could barely feel it, only when she focused. It made her feel… energized. Her body felt better than it ever had. But her mind told her everything was wrong. “You okay over there?” Rainbow asked. “Just… thinking.” Lapis looked up at the moon. At least that was the same. “Everything’s different. I’m not sure where to start.” “Hey, wherever you need to go, we’ll help you get there.” “After you sleep?” “Well, yeah! Can’t go on a quest without it.” “We’re here!” Jake called, shrinking himself down to normal size and depositing his passengers on the ground in front of the Tree Fort. “Home sweet home!” “...You built your house in a tree,” Lapis deadpanned. “Okay.” “That’s not weird,” Rainbow said. “Twilight lives in a tree.” “Yeah, tree houses are perfectly normal,” Jake added. “The world really has changed…” Lapis walked up to the tree and laid a hand on its bark. “Hmm…” “What is it?” Finn asked. “Not sure.” With a shrug, Finn opened the door, letting them inside. It was a simple, if messy, living room with torn paintings, loose dishes, and a few dirty socks strewn about the ground. “Aight, Jake, let’s go set up the guest beds,” Finn rubbed his hands together. “We’ll need… three, and two fit for ponies.” Jake scratched his chin. “We have those extra soft couches we looted from the plush dungeon last month.” “Yeah!” Finn clapped his hands. “We do!” “What did I tell you?” Jake grinned, shaking his hips. “I told you hauling all of them back here would be totally worth it!” Rainbow yawned. “Plush couch treasure sounds great… I’m beat.” “Oh, and Lapis?” Finn turned to the Gem. “Yes?” “You’re not the only one who doesn’t need sleep. HEY! BMO!” A small, square robot poked his head out of the cabinet he was hiding in. “Yes, Finn?” He spoke with a digitized, mildly feminine voice. He was a metallic green color with numerous buttons and a screen on his front side, a simple, cheerful face currently displayed. Finn patted the robot on the head. “The rest of us are going to hit the hay, but Lapis doesn’t need to sleep. Think you can keep her company, show her some of your games, maybe?” BMO gasped. “I would love to! Hello Lapis!” “Uh… hi.” Lapis extended a tentative hand to the short robot. “...BMO?” “Yes! I am BMO!” “You seem familiar…” “Well, you don’t seem familiar at all!” BMO grinned innocently. “Sorry!” Lapis shrugged, taking a seat at the nearby table. “So, Finn said you had some games to show me…?” BMO hopped on top of the table and set his display to show a list of games. “Yes! I’ve got so many games, ancient games!” The text scrolled by slowly, and Lapis took it in one game at a time. Then she saw a title that made her catch her breath. Golf Quest Mini. “There. That one.” “Golf Quest Mini?” “Yes. Steven had that game.” A tear ran down her cheek. “I… Play it, please.” “Okay!” He reached under the table and pulled out a controller, plugging it into his side. “Who’s Steven?” “Steven…” Lapis grabbed the controller in her hands and sunk back into the chair, moving through Golf Quest Mini’s menu. “Steven was the kindest soul in the universe…” “I would love to hear about him, if you’d like to tell me.” Lapis thought for a moment while the game loaded. “...You know what, I have all night. Might as well tell you about Steven Universe.”