//------------------------------//
// Growth 
// Story: To the Stars 
// by Jay David 
//------------------------------//

As a scientist, Twilight was naturally thrilled to learn new things. And recent events had given her a great deal to observe and document. Chief among those things was the orphaned Drakkon in their care. Spike, sitting on the ground in her lab, was happy playing with some simple, wooden children's toys. At present, he was piling some cubes up high, seeing how far he could go before they toppled over. Twilight, for her part, was sitting close by, a recording device in her hand. Every time Spike did something, she was sure to make note of it, such as when he seemed to giggle happily when the blocks inevitably fell over again. "Recording seven-two-five. Spike seems undeterred in his attempts. His early efforts suggest that he knows from past mistakes how to stack the blocks to avoid them falling over. He makes the base wider before going up and so on. There is clear intelligence, even at such a young age. Not to mention a real determination to find out what he can do with the toys." She tapped the device against her chin before continuing. "The isolationism of his people has often made documentation difficult, but here we have a real opportunity to discover just what Drakkons are like as people." Then, her mood turned sombre. "Or...rather, what they were like."

She silently thanked that Spike, at least for now, was too young to have understood her whispered words. After taking a breath, she walked to the side, looking at a number of readings that she'd accumulated from scans of Spike when he was first born. Pressing some buttons, she got up a second display, showing new information regarding his readings at his current stage of development. Twilight considered the numbers carefully, but it was eventually the unexpected voice of the ship's AI which broke the silence. "Penny for your thoughts, Twilight?"

Though having gotten used to the new personality of their ship, Twilight was still somewhat taken aback by the sudden voice. After composing herself, she smiled slightly. "My initial theories have proved correct. Drakkons do indeed mature faster than other intelligent lifeforms we've encountered. Certainly more than us humans." She glanced back to Spike. "I've already said this to Captain Shimmer, but it's likely that the harsh nature of their planet prompted the development of their species to be able to grow fast for the sake of survival. Given the little we've gleaned of Volcanus from early expeditions, it's unlikely a newborn infant would survive without such an advantage."

"I know, right?!" Pinkie remarked. "All that smoke and lava and sharp, pointy rocks and stuff? That's gotta be a really bad vacation spot." After Twilight gave her a look of curiosity, Pinkie elaborated. "Oh, I have access to all the ship's archive data. I can just look this stuff up. It's pretty neat."

Twilight chuckled. Then, after regarding the AI for a moment, she set her recording device to one side and looked up, to the ceiling. "You know, Spike isn't the only new life we have here to learn about."

"Oh?" Pinkie enquired. "Did we get a new visitor?"

Twilight shook her head. "I'm talking about you, Pinkie. I have no idea what exactly Eris did to you to make you this way, but you're clearly a unique entity. An AI with a personality. With feelings and opinions. There's never been anybody like you before." She smiled. "I'd love to learn more about you too."

A long gasp was heard all around her. "Really?!" After seeing Twilight nod to her to confirm what she'd said, the young and highly enthusiastic computer let out an almost ear-piecing squee. "That's so nice of you! What do you want to know first?!"

It was a fair question, and one that Twilight legitimately struggled to think of. So, in the moments while she was mulling it over, she looked down and saw Spike trying to waddle his way towards her. She smiled, reaching down and lifting him up onto her knee, which he seemed to enjoy. And only after she'd done that was she ready to start her interview with the newly-awakened AI. "Well, to start off, what was it like to actually become...this? Were you aware of any changes?"

"Hmmm...kinda?" Pinkie answered. "It's hard to really explain. It just sort of...happened. One moment, Eris was leaving the ship for the first time, and I was still doing my thing. Monitoring everything in the ship and stuff. I was looking at one room in particular. The hallway on deck five, I think. And there was this one guy who'd been walking backwards for a bit."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I remember that one."

"Anyway," Pinkie continued. "He was back to normal, but I guess Eris threw in a last-minute joke before she left and had a banana peel on the floor right next to him."

Smirking, Twilight nodded. "Let me guess...he slipped on it?"

"Yep!" Pinkie answered. "And when I saw it, I...laughed." She paused. "I'd never laughed at anything before! So, since I didn't really know I'd changed, I thought maybe there was some sort of glitch in me. Some malfunction. So I did a diagnostic, found nothing wrong, and that left me stumped." There was a brief bleeping sound before she carried on. "So then I just did some nanosecond research on laughter and what might have caused it. The encyclopedias we have on file said it usually happens whenever someone's really happy about something. If they see something they like or think is funny. So, I then started looking up what that meant. Found a few definitions on funny and liking stuff and...yeah, that seemed to fit what was going on with me."

Twilight leaned forward. "And that was when you realised something had changed in you?"

"Oh yeah," Pinkie confirmed. "I knew Eris had probably done something to me. She never re-wired anything or reprogrammed me or anything sciencey like that. But there was just...something. Some tiny thing in me that wasn't there before. I've tried looking and there really isn't a word for it."

Twilight herself gave the matter some thought, and after a while she resumed her earlier smile and took off her glasses. "Let's just call it a spark of life. Not exactly scientific, I know, but it fits."

"Ooooooh! I like that!" Pinkie replied happily.

Twilight, in the quiet moments that followed, looked down to Spike, who was playing with his own tail. After which, her curiosity rose again. "So...what is it actually like? Being an AI, I mean?"

If Pinkie had actually had shoulders, she'd have likely shrugged them by this point. "I dunno. What's it like being a human?"

Another brief laugh from Twilight, followed by a short nod. "Fair enough. I suppose it's not something anyone really thinks about. It's just...how we are."

"I guess..." Pinkie began. "I guess I find it weird sometimes. I watch you guys trying to figure out a problem whenever one comes up." She held on that point for a second. "I'd say once a week, at least. Anyway, it's kinda weird seeing you talk and think stuff over. When I think or need to figure stuff out, it happens pretty quickly. And I'm talking blink-of-an-eye quick. I look at all of you and, if you were to describe it, you'd probably call it slow-motion or something."

It was a concept that seemed to really put Twilight in a thoughtful mood. For a while she just sat there, imagining what it must be like to live your life having everything around you move to slowly. What must this conversation even sound like to Pinkie with that in mind? "Well...sorry if you have to wait that long for anything to get done."

"Nah, it's no biggie," Pinkie assured her. "I'm a computer, remember? There's tons of things I can do to pass that time."

Twilight arched an eyebrow. "Like what?

"Well, not to brag or anything, but in the seconds since you asked that question I've managed to play at least a thousand games of chess against myself. I mean, sure, I lost a couple of matches, but the point still stands," Pinkie explained.

Twilight actually giggled to that remark, before then turning her gaze once more to Spike. Inevitably, the young Drakkon was falling asleep, giving Twilight a new thought to dwell on. "You know, it's interesting to think of your conception, Pinkie."

"Oh yeah? How?" Pinkie asked.

Twilight considered her wording for a time before explaining. "Well...when humans are born, we come into the world knowing virtually nothing. Sure, we might have some basic instincts that we might act on, not to mention our curiosities. But when it comes to things we actually know these heads are empty." She then gestured to Pinkie, which naturally meant just gesturing to the closest computer panel. "But you? You were born and you had ready access to pretty much every single piece of knowledge on our computer system. History, physics, dictionaries and language. It was all right there, in your head. You don't need to learn about the world around you, because that understanding was already there." She smiled warmly. "Now, you just need to learn about...well...yourself."

"Huh," Pinkie mused. "I hadn't thought about it like that." Another brief pause. "But you know, that's kind of exciting, right? If I'm the only thing I've got to figure out, then I'm in the same boat as you. I mean, you don't really know anything about what I am, right? I'm a mystery. A totally unique being, like you said. Who knows what we might find out!"

Twilight tapped her chin with her finger. "That's...actually a pretty positive way of looking at things."

"Well, what can I say? Guess I'm just that kind of a gal," Pinkie declared proudly.

Twilight smiled to the panel. "You certainly are." She chuckled. "You know, it's funny. If you go back, and I mean way back, people back home used to come up with all sorts of horror stories about what might happen if AI ever actually achieved what you have. True sentience. All of those stories usually ended badly. Humanity wiped out and all that."

"I know. I read a lot of those books while you were explaining it just now," Pinkie remarked.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Of course you did," she said, fully believing her. "In any case, it's nice that things turned out so much better than all those naysayers thought it would back in the day."

"I know, right? It's kind of amazing just how much doom and gloom you humans always seemed to feel whenever some new technology came about. It's like you thought an apocalypse was right around the corner as soon as someone made some game-changing invention or whatever."

Twilight nodded solemnly. "Yeah...we do tend to default to cynicism pretty quickly, unfortunately."

"Not anymore," Pinkie countered. When she saw Twilight look confused, she expanded on her words. "I mean, look at where you are now. Sure, you had some bad times. I mean really, really bad times. No question about that. But when those times passed, you learned from them. You grew, you got better, and you realised there were bigger and better things out there than what you all used to obsess over." A quick giggle escaped her. "That old, cynical nature? That's pretty dead by now if you ask me."

"You're very kind to say," Twilight said with genuine appreciation. "And you're right, I suppose we've grown as a species by this point. I don't see us descending to the same depths we used to stoop to. At least not for the foreseeable future. And we're learning more every day. Understanding our place in a wider galaxy." She again looked to the panel. "If you were to go back a few generations, then tell the people there that they'd one day be flying through the stars, seeing all manner of wonderful things, they'd probably call you unrealistic. Worst case scenario, they'd say you were mad."

"The hopeful ones won out," Pinkie declared confidently.

Twilight enjoyed the moment, being thought of as a people that had risen above the dark times they used to live through. But movement in her lap drew her attention to Spike, and suddenly she was starkly reminded of why the newborn was here to begin with, wiping her smile clean off her face. "Not always," she said sadly.

Pinkie, being a super-intelligent computer, took no time at all to understand Twilight's change in mood. "There are bad guys out there. Nobody's denying it. But they only account for, what, a fraction of a percent of you? Humanity can't be judged too harshly because of such a small number, right?"

Twilight sighed. "It only takes one to do something terrible, Pinkie." She looked to the panel again. "And you know what I'm worried about most?" When Pinkie didn't speculate on an answer, Twilight gave it. "One day, I'll have to tell Spike what happened. He deserves that much. He might not understand our speech today, but one day, he'll ask the questions." She winced. "Where are the others like me? Where am I from? Why aren't I there right now? How did I get here?"

"Truth is truth, Twilight," Pinkie told her. "One way or another, he'll need to know. Better it be from you than having him find out himself."

Twilight chuckled dryly. "You sound like AJ."

"Well...is AJ wrong?" Pinkie rightly asked.

"...No. She wouldn't be. But..." She shut her eyes tightly. "How do I do it? How do I look to this child, this precious little one, and tell him that he can never go home again? That his people are gone because of my people?"

"A human will have raised him. Treated him kindly, like a mother," Pinkie assured her. "Do you really think he'll hate all of you because of what just one of you did?" Pinkie enquired.

Twilight shook her head. "I...I don't know. But the possibility is there. And it's one that's actually kept me up at night."

"Well, I don't have an answer for you. But what I can say is that the day is a while off yet. You have time to plan how you need to say it," Pinkie said to her gently.

"Maybe," Twilight conceded, before looking down to the still-sleeping child. "But time passes a lot faster for us than for you, Pinkie. Sometimes too fast."

Spike, having been napping for some time now, began to stir. Twilight watched him with concern, still dwelling on the conversation she'd just had. Eventually, the newborn Drakkon opened his eyes again, looking up to his caretaker. Mere moments after, he smiled, to which Twilight couldn't help but smile back to. Then, to the utter shock of the young scientist, a sound made itself known from the tiny creature. "T...T...T..."

Twilight's eyes widened, and she resisted the urge to gasp. Pinkie, for her part, was far less stunned. "Is he...trying to talk?!"

Twilight, despite everything that had been discussed prior to this moment, began to smile more genuinely. "Y...yes! I think he is!"

"T...T...Tw..." Spike kept trying to say.

Carefully, Twilight lifted up her ward and set him upon the ground, kneeling beside him. "Yes, that's it. Come on, you can do it!"

"Tw...Tw...Twi..."

"Yes, yes, Twilight. That's my name! Can you say Twilight?"

Spike gurgled briefly before finally opening his mouth to speak again. "...Twily!" He clapped his hands happily. "Twily, Twily, Twily!"

Twilight clasped her hands over her mouth, with tears starting to form in her eyes. "Oh! He...he said it! He said my name!"

"Well, technically," Pinkie began.

But Twilight shot her a dark look, silencing her. "Do not take this away from me!"

"...Understood!" Pinkie replied with her usual chipper demeanour. 

As before, Twilight picked Spike up, giggling happily. "Oh! I have so many things to teach you! We'll begin straight away! I'll have lesson plans established and a curriculum and...oh!" She snapped her fingers. "I've got to tell Sunset about this!"

"Don't worry, I already sent word," Pinkie told her. "She's kinda busy trying to steer the ship through this asteroid belt right now, so..."

"Ah, yes," Twilight replied. "I guess I forgot we were in the middle of that right now." Getting back to the matter at hand, Twilight took a few breaths to calm herself, then picked up her earlier recording device. "Emergency recording session! Spike has spoken his first word! I will, of course, document this occasion for posterity, but it's a positive sign that his development is coming along nicely. Will continue to monitor the situation."

Pinkie watched as she set the device down again. "Huh, that was kinda clinical, wasn't it? I'd have thought you'd be all squees and giggles when recording that."

"One must always be professional when science is involved, Pinkie," Twilight explained to her. Then, refocusing on Spike, she held him closer to her face. Spike, clearly happy to see her, reached out and patted her cheek with his hand. Twilight couldn't stop beaming over this moment. It's as though she'd been through a storm in the last few moments until this small thing came along and brought the sunshine. She sighed deeply. "Oh Spike...you have no idea how much this moment means to me. How much I needed it."

"I wish I had hands right now," Pinkie remarked. "I'd be hugging that little guy so much right now."

Giggling, Twilight embraced Spike herself. "Don't worry, I'll hug him for the both of us." The moment was nice, and Twilight wanted it to last as long as it could. But, as ever, that one worry crept into her mind again, spoiling the occasion. She new the day was happy now, but what she'd discussed with Pinkie hadn't changed. One day, the truth would have to be told, and she would need to be the one who said it. With both joy and fear wrestling for dominance in her mind, she exhaled. "Oh Spike...please don't hate us."