Epilogue Part 1: Always Choose to Continue
He opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the small, clean room that surrounded him. Looking around, he noticed the computers with flashing lights and various pieces of lab equipment. He pieced together that he was back in Doctor Light’s lab.
He attempted to stand up, trying to get his motor skills working. As soon as he was standing upright, he began to examine his body. He noticed his cyan colored coat, in perfect condition. He also noticed that he was back to his old lab assistant attire, no longer wearing his Mega Stallion armor. I guess that makes me nothing more than Rock once again.
Despite what he was seeing, what he was feeling, he still wasn’t able to process one simple fact. “I’m alive. Somehow, I faced death and survived. It shouldn’t be possible. I died in the Chaos Realm. Even if I didn’t, who brought me back? I should have been stuck.”
The door to the room opened, and his sister immediately ran in to hug him. She was close to tears, exclaiming, “Rock, you’re okay! You’re alive!”
Rock hugged her back. “I know, Roll. I’m having a hard time believing it myself.” He looked over at Doctor Light, who had also entered the room. “Doctor Light, how did I survive? How did I get back here?”
“I’m not sure, Rock. Hours after you had left for Canterlot, we found you unconscious outside the building. We brought you inside and repaired you. Your damages were severe, but you seem to be in perfect working order. I also removed your armor, since reports are indicating that you succeeded in your task.”
Rock laughed a little. “Well, sort of. I did save Equestria, but things were a lot different than any of us imagined.” He went on to explain about his fights against the Mega Stallion Killers, the Captain of the Guard, and the two Princesses. He told of how Discord was the one behind the whole disaster, and how he had gone into the Chaos Realm to stop him.
Once his story was finished, Doctor Light was even more confused. “If you had gone into an entirely different dimension, it only raises further questions as to how you got back. Was it one of the products of the chaos? Perhaps somepony followed you in? Nevertheless, we are both proud of you, Rock. You took the odds of fighting the Lord of Chaos, and still risked it for the good of the country. You’ve done far more than I expected when I built you.”
“Yeah…the first time me and Roll went down to Maresteropolis, she told me that I was destined for greatness. You built me to help you around here, but you knew I would be doing so much more. I didn’t understand what she had meant at the time, but now I see. I was a true advancement in robotics, and now it seems I’m an advancement in all of ponykind. I wanted to do something nopony else could, and I proved myself. I’m a true hero now, a pony who understands what it means to be free.”
“Yes, you’ve grown into far more than either of us had expected. You’re not just a robot that stopped Discord. You’re a symbol now, an icon of the brave.”
Roll chipped in. “Someday, parents will be telling their foals the story of the brave blue robot who only wanted to do what’s right. And the kids will say, ‘That’s the pony I want to grow up to be like.’”
“I suppose it’s good that I’m admirable, but I hope the kids leave out the whole killing part of the job. That’s a part of history that never needs to be repeated.”
Once the conversation had finished, all three of them went out to the main room of the lab, where they began looking at the current news. Unsurprisingly, nearly every single piece of news was about the blue pony that had reportedly saved Equestria. The princesses were to hold a conference about what had truly happened over the past few days, as the actual facts were few and far between.
Rock and Doctor Light stepped outside to watch the sun set over the horizon. “This is just like the day I was activated. We stepped out here, watched the sun set, and you explained everything I needed to know about Equestria. It wasn’t even a month ago, and yet it feels like a year. Everything was just so different back then. I was just a barely existing robot built to be a lab assistant, and I’m already the robot that took the responsibility of Equestria onto his shoulders, and somehow survived.”
“Rock, I understand that you’re still concerned about how you made it back here. It’s a sign of the curious nature that science requires. But the truth is, it doesn’t matter. You made it back to us, that’s all I care about.”
“Thank you, Doctor Light. I guess we’ll never know the truth to this story.” Once he had finished talking, the two of them heard something off in the distance. Focusing on the sound, they realized it was whistling. “That’s the same whistle that blue stranger made.” He looked over at Doctor Light, who was looking for the source of the sound. “Doctor Light, what is it?”
“That whistle, that blue stranger…it must have been Blues!” He looked back at Rock, who clearly didn’t understand what he was talking about. Doctor Light ran back inside, and came back out a minute later carrying a dusty old journal with his magic. “All the information you need to know is in here.”
Rock opened up the journal, trying to find something about this ‘Blues’. He flipped to a page, dated April 8, 198X.
So far, experiments are going well. Chemicals are combining to properly carry both energy and oil, essentially creating robot blood. This is the sort of problems that have plagued other scientists in attempting to create artificial life. Of course, I couldn’t have done this without the help of my colleague and best friend, Wily. He’s been a great help in all of my work, and I hope that we will be a great scientific pair in the future.
Rock turned to another page, this one from February 16, 199X.
The artificial intelligence is still causing problems, but the proper mechanics for the physical body of a robot are complete. They are sturdy and durable, proper materials for the heavy physical labor they will be doing. They will become trusted allies of ponies, doing the work that would be too dangerous for living creatures. Still, I can’t help but feel a pang of guilt knowing the robots are being built to be disposable. They are my creations, and I wouldn’t feel right sending them to die.
Just watch, Emily. Someday, these robots will become big. They will become a part of common Equestrian life, and we can live a perfect life together.
Doctor Light had long since walked back inside, and Rock was looking at a journal entry from June 4, 200X, approximately 10 years ago.
The simple AI is now complete. The robots can now perform basic tasks, without thinking. It’s enough for labor, but I would prefer that the robots be equals. But I suppose that’s only wishful thinking. Programming a proper brain would be nearly impossible. Doesn’t mean I’ll stop trying, though.
Emily, I know you can’t read this, but I just want to say that I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I couldn’t have done something to help you. So just know that I’m doing all of this for you, in your honor.
Rock wanted to stop reading and ask who Emily was, but he knew that it was something that he had no business knowing. It wouldn’t be right to try and learn about something that could only be painful to Doctor Light. He instead turned to the page dated January 3, 20XX, only about 2 years ago.
Success! I’ve finally done it! I’ve finally created the perfect robot! His design is perfect and his programming is fully functional. If I wasn’t his creator, I would swear he was a real pony. I’ve named him Blues, as I have quite a soft spot for music. Unfortunately, he seems to suffer from a fatal problem. His solar core has a defect, which will eventually kill him. I’m not entirely sure if I can fix it, but it doesn’t seem to bother Blues. He’s living his life as a simple assistant. It’s too bad I could only make him an earth pony, but pegasi and unicorns are too difficult to properly emulate. Maybe someday in the future. But for now, this prototype robot is a milestone in the field of robotics, and I consider him to be my son.
“So, Blues was the first living robot that Doctor Light created. That makes him my older brother, I suppose. So why haven’t I heard of him before now?” He turned to the last page in the journal, May 16, 20XX, only 5 months after Blues’ creation.
I can’t believe it. After all of my research, Blues ran off. I had finally figured out how to repair his solar core, but he refused. As it turns out, his defect was interfering with his programming, removing his compliance to the Three Laws of Robotics. He has true free will now, and I fear what he could do with that kind of freedom. He said that he would rather die than give up his free will, and left. Not only that, he stole some parts for military projects I had abandoned long ago. It seems that he installed them into his own body, implying he plans to go into fighting. I fear I may never see him again, and he will break down somewhere far off, all alone, without anypony who cares about him like I do. Even if I make other robots that I could call my children, they will never truly replace Blues.
Rock looked up at the night sky, up at the full moon. “Blues, you’re still alive out there. How did you know who I was? How did you know I needed help? And why won’t you come back to be repaired? Free will is a beautiful thing, but is it worth death? I don’t want to lose a brother I barely knew I had.”
He closed the journal and walked back inside the lab, placing the book on a table next to Doctor Light, who was already busy at work drawing the schematics for a hypothetical upgrade to Rock, one who would be a true equal to ponies. The top of the page labeled the project as “X”. Neither of them said a word as Rock walked out of the room to think about everything that had happened to him, and everything he knew. He could only hope that things would make sense, and soon.