//------------------------------// // ~ 02 ~ The Passage Behind the Painting (SigmasonicX) // Story: The Enchanted Computer: A RariTwi Exquisite Corpse // by SigmasonicX //------------------------------// With the cave having been sealed for Celestia-knows how long, Twilight expected the air inside to be cool, but it was instead surprisingly warm. Not to mention there was a dull humming noise coming from inside. What was that? She took a quick glance toward her necklace, and Rarity’s for good measure. Still no sign of chaos magic. Twilight prepared a light spell as they exited the passage, but it turned out to be unnecessary. The humming she heard grew in intensity as various objects around them lit up, both on the floor and on the ceiling. The room brightened up slowly, allowing the ponies’ eyes to easily adjust, but they blinked anyway. In many ways, Twilight’s experiences with modern devices prepared her for the oddities before her. She recognized power cords and the idea of machines that used them, but she could not understand the purpose of the humming gray towers filling the room, each twice the height of an average pony. Twilight noticed Rarity backing away, not so much in fear, but as to take the full scope of what she was seeing. “Twilight, what are these?” Twilight looked around more. After her initial shock, she realized that this wasn’t quite as unfamiliar as she thought. In fact… “I couldn’t tell from outside the cave, but I think these devices, whatever they are, are using Princess Celestia’s magic.” Rarity’s eyes widened. “Using her magic? What do you mean?” Twilight scrunched her brows, struggling to remember. “It’s like electricity for your sewing machine. I actually worked on a project like that for the princess once.” Her eyes widened and she looked around. Some of the gray towers had glass panels and she glanced inside. “Wait, that’s a transistor board! I worked on that too!” Rarity narrowed her eyes. “Darling, don’t tell me you made all this and you forgot.” Twilight shook her head. “No, I mean, I worked on a lot of these components, but there are lots I don’t recognize, and I can’t even begin to understand what they can do when connected like this. There’s no question, this is one of Celestia’s inventions.” Rarity’s face brightened up. “How remarkable! While I doubt we’ll find Princess Celestia among these boxes, it’s wonderful that you found something of hers.” Twilight giggled. “Can you believe it? One of Celestia’s inventions and I get to study it!” Rarity gave her a look and Twilight quickly added. “But of course, finding Celestia is our priority. Let’s look for hints.” “Um,” said a quiet voice barely audible over the hums of the machines. Twilight and Rarity found Marble Pie standing at the far wall in front of one of the strange devices. This adventure’s Fluttershy, as Pinkie put it, awkwardly stepped to the side, the broom she had latched on her back bumping against a tower. She mumbled something and waved her hoof at a device displaying text, with what appeared to be a hoof typewriter below and a stool below that. Twilight grew a glowing smile. “An interface! I remember when Moon Dancer worked on this! Oh wow, so that means Princess Celestia has been using everyone’s inventions.” She suddenly squealed loudly. “Darling!” Rarity said, pinning her ears against her head. “We already have a Pinkie on this adventure, we don’t need you to stand in for her.” “Sorry! I’m excited because this must be a database! Like a big library, but all contained in machines. Theoretically, a system of machines this large could carry more books than all of Canterlot Library!” Seeing Rarity’s expression, Twilight continued, “But we don’t have to look at all that. Celestia likely left some information we could use inside of this.” Rarity furrowed her eyebrows. “Inside?” Twilight giggled. “Let me show you.” She sat at the stool and looked at the interface. > Boot system? (Y/N) Twilight looked at the keys as she continued speaking. “I discussed this kind of interface back at Magic School. You see, you use the typewriter to respond to this question with either ‘yes’ or ‘no’. I’ll type in ‘Y’ for ‘yes’.” She did so and pressed another key to confirm the response. At this, a new line of text appeared. > Authentication required “Good heavens,” Rarity said. “It says something else now.” Twilight hummed. “Yes, but this is going to be a problem. It’s asking for authentication—like a key that will prove I’m allowed to use this machine.” “A key? Do you think we’d find it in this room?” Twilight shook her head. “It isn’t a physical key. It’s more a password or a—” Her eyes darted to a device on the side of the screen, which she recognized all too well. “Or a magical signature. Look, Rarity, that’s a magic-identification tool. I remember working on one as a student.” Rarity caught on with speed that surprised the alicorn. “So Celestia used that to identify her magic, meaning only she can use this device.” Twilight nodded. “Yes. Well, that was the idea at least. I only got as far as making it distinguish pony magic from other forms of magic, but I’m sure she made her own advances.” Rarity fluttered her lips. “That means we’ll need Celestia to use this machine, thus we can’t use it to find her. How inconvenient.” Twilight sighed. All this information right in front of her but completely inaccessible. “Well, it’s not like we came here expecting to find her right away. This was just a fun bonus, and we have plenty of other leads.” “It’s best that we don't linger, regardless,” Rarity said, glancing at Marble, who warily sweeped the polished but dust-covered floor. “I’m sure the local tour group would love to bring ponies in here, so we need Cadance to restrict this area as soon as possible.” Twilight desperately looked around. Was there really nothing else to do here? Ultimately, Rarity’s logic won out. Groaning, she stepped off the stool, knocking it over. She considered setting it upright, but decided to leave it as a way of getting back at the machine. “Marble, we’re leaving.” The tour group custodian looked up with a start, then nodded with a, “Mm-hmm.” Rarity looked at the stool with a smile and righted it herself with magic. “It’s a shame Pinkie took so long to find those mares—Lightning Dust and Fiddlesticks, was it? She missed the whole—” All of a sudden, Pinkie was there right next to her. “Rarity! There you are!” she shouted. “Gyah!” Rarity flung the stool up and into the side of the interface. Right into the magic-identification tool. Twilight’s eyes widened as she heard the machines whir loudly. She ran to the screen. > Authentication accepted. Now signing into eQuestria Twilight smiled. “Oh, it does just check for pony magic of any kind. That’s great!” However, as the whirring grew more intense and the lights around them grew brighter, Twilight’s smile quickly faded. Before anyone could act, white light engulfed them all. Twilight opened her eyes. No, that wasn’t right. Her eyes suddenly came into existence, along with the world around her. The princess spun around. Where was she? Still in the cave? No, this looked like… Canterlot. She was just outside Canterlot, perhaps half a mile from the city gates. Except she wasn’t. This wasn’t the Canterlot she saw when she visited Cadance with Rarity. The castle, the waterfall, the sounds, the smells—it was the Canterlot of her youth. The Canterlot of a thousand years ago. Ripping her thoughts away from where she was, before she got lost in nostalgia, she instead focused on how. Was that machine for time travel? No, that was impossible. Suddenly, it all connected. This was a simulation. An advanced illusion spell, one not bound by the dimensions of the room it was cast in. It was only theoretical, but she had already seen many things she thought only theoretical. Now the next most pressing matter consumed her. Her eyes widened, she called out, “Rarity! Rarity, where are you?” How many ponies were in the room? Herself, Rarity, Marble, Pinkie… maybe others? It was hard to tell. Were all of them in this simulation? On the nearby road, several ponies—or simulated ponies—looked at her with surprise, including, to Twilight’s own astonishment, Princess Cadance, younger and wearing her ponytail from when Twilight was a filly. She filed that thought for later. “Rarity!” she continued calling out. “Pinkie! Marble!” Still no response. While turning, she saw her necklace fly up in the corner of her eye and a cold sweat broke out. Hesitantly, she lifted it for a closer look. It was glowing. The light was dull, but there was no mistake. There was chaos magic here.