//------------------------------// // Telepathic // Story: My Little Cyborg // by Ignimbrite //------------------------------// Well, that was exhausting. How many questions can one person have? Shadowpiercer looked around for a shelter for the night. Once again, it had gotten late enough that checking into a hotel or finding an apartment was out of the question. As inviting as the tree on the edge of the forest was, he didn't want to waste processing power on running the pathfinder again to get up and down. Twilight had made him promise to show her whatever he could of his other abilities tomorrow, so he would need to conserve the battery as best as he could. Besides, considering the exact promise she forced him to make, he would have to ensure that he had enough battery for everything as doing otherwise would provoke the wrath of the pink extradimensional anomaly. "Foreeeeeeeevvvvvvvveeeeeerrrrr..." He shuddered briefly. He did not want to find a spot in the town, as his goal was to avoid suspicion. Besides, staying on a park bench would make him look homeless. The fact that he technically was homeless was irrelevant. He ended up going back to that stupid thorn bush at the base of the tree. There were enough of those scattered around that, with a little searching, he found an almost-complete ring of bushes. He jumped over the nearest bush and settled down in the clearing inside the ring. Before he went to sleep, he wondered how much he should reveal during those research sessions. Part of him hoped that perhaps she might help him find a way back home. The other part worried that she might see him as a threat. After all, the only reason he has agreed to these was because everyone already did see him that way. Who's to say she wasn't simply looking for a weakness to exploit? Then again, she was, in a way, already exploiting a weakness. He sighed. Blackmail... I hate blackmail... Dear Princess Celestia. I met a new pony the other day. His mannerisms were a bit suspicious at first, but none of us wanted to repeat the Zecora incident, so we watched him from a distance without telling anypony else about our suspicions. Upon finding out who he really was, I was finally able to blackmail him into... Twilight crumpled up the paper and threw it in the trash... Shadowpiercer woke up the next morning and looked around, glad that the bushes provided some concealment. He peeked through the branches to be sure no one would see him emerge from his strange hiding spot and, when the coast seemed clear, jumped out and began walking to town. As he was leaving the Everfree, he saw Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy talking to each other. Naturally, they saw him right as he was about to sneak back. Dash spoke up first, "What are you doing in the Everfree?" "Just enjoying a stroll. Have a good day." He trotted off and pretended he couldn't hear anything else from them. Rainbow looked over to Fluttershy, "I'm beginning to think your idea about him was right." "So, you don't think he's an assassin anymore?" "Nah, I still think he is. He's got the mark for it. Besides, it's not like he can't be both. I'll find out." "Oh, okay, but if he is one of those things, you're not gonna hurt him, are you?" Rainbow smiled. Same old Flutters. "No, I won't. I'm just gonna talk." For now... "EX-TER-MIN-ATE!!!" "AAAAAGH! CLOSE THE PORTAL! CLOSE THE PORTAL!..." Shadowpiercer was about to reach Rough and Tumble's Delivery Service when, out of nowhere, his path was blocked by a blue pegasus. "Yikes." He realized it was Rainbow Dash. "What are you doing here?" "I was gonna ask you the same thing." "Uhhhhh..." "Who are you really, and what are you doing here?" Not this again. "I don't know what you're talking about." "Don't give me that, of course you do. Now what's your game? What are you trying to pull?" Here it goes... "I'm a cyborg from another planet who doesn't know how he got here and just wants to get home. There, happy?" She blinked a moment. "Fine, have it your way, but I'll find out what you're really up to soon enough." She gave an "I'm watching you" gesture and took off. "Great..." After the workday was over, Shadowpiercer was back at the library wearing a strange helmet covered in colored lights while answering complex math questions, rattling off whatever nonclassified data he had compiled, and running some of his background subroutines. When that was over, they went back up to the main room to go outside where Twilight had apparently been planning to use tests for the motion prediction system. However, before they could go outside, there was a knock at the door. Spike answered. "Hey Twi, Fluttershy's at the door. She wants to know if you have a book on how to care for water moccasins." "I think I have a book on reptile care somewhere around here." She turned back to Shadowpiercer. "Would you wait here a moment?" She then turned to go visit her friend. Shadowpiercer, meanwhile, decided to have a bit of fun. He had his processor running most of the time he was there anyway, so he had several recordings of Twilight making her notes and asking questions. All it needed was a quick analysis, a bit of processing, and some voiceprint synthesis. Besides, she did say she wanted to see as many of his tricks as possible. He snuck over to the radio and turned up the volume. Twilight was just finishing up visiting with Fluttershy and had just closed the door when she heard herself calling from the other room. "Hey Spike, could you help me move these books?" She ran to the other room to find Spike looking around confusedly. At the moment, his back was to her. "Where are you?" She and the radio answered at the same time, "I'm right here." "Huh?" He looked around and, seeing her, he made his way over to her. "Careful Spike," the radio warned, "I heard there might be changelings in town." His eyes went wide. "What!?" Twilight, the real one, frowned and walked over to the radio to turn it off. As she did, she heard muffled snickering from behind the door. "Alright, the joke's over, so come on out now." Shadowpiercer emerged from his hiding spot trying not to laugh. "Sorry, it's... it's been a while since I got to pull a trick like that. Your faces were great by the way." With that, he stopped trying not to laugh. Twilight, meanwhile, gave a nonlethal but still annoyed glare, and Spike simply remained confused. "What just happened?" "I'll explain later."