//------------------------------//
// B3. Autopsy Report 
// Story: Geoverse Part Six: A Season Of Adventure 
// by GeodesicDragon 
//------------------------------//

Twilight sat at her desk reading a book and scribbling various notes onto a piece of parchment. The only noises in the room were the ticking of the clock and the soft snoring of two foals who lay in a cot near the desk. Twilight yawned and put her quill to one side before getting up and stretching. She looked into the cot, a goofy smile appearing on her face, and trotted into the kitchen.

Moments later she re-entered the living room, chewing quietly on a daisy sandwich and sipping at a cup of tea. As she prepared to park herself at her desk again, there was a knock at the door. A knock which seemed to echo throughout the quiet library. Azure and Evening woke up and started bawling.

"The doors open!" Twilight called as she picked them up from the cot, "So just come in!"

The door opened and John entered carrying a box. He placed it on the couch and went over to Twilight, who nodded in greeting.

"Sorry Twilight." John whispered, "I didn't know they were asleep."

"It's all right," Twilight assured him, "they're due for a changing. Anyway, what brings you here... and what's in the box?"

John grinned and went over to the box as Twilight began the less-than-enviable process of nappy changing. He opened the flaps and reached inside.

"Well," he said, "you know how you were curious as to how Ace's BIRDs worked?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow as she finished her task. She levitated two bottles into a warmer and trotted towards John.

"Yes," she replied, "but he wouldn't give me one to study. I've always wanted to study new technology and he won't indulge me."

"Well how about I indulge you?" John said, "With this?"

He removed his hands from the crate to reveal that he was holding a small metal object. It closely resembled one of the many birds which dotted Equestria's sky, but had a camera instead of a beak. Twilight squealed with glee and gave the foals their bottles before rushing over to John and taking the object from him.

"How did you get him to give you one?" she asked.

John chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head before coughing nervously.

"He didn't give me it per se..." he muttered, "I kinda took it."

Twilight dropped the BIRD back on the couch with a gasp.

"You mean you stole it?!" she snapped, "How could you?!"

"Wait a minute," John said defensively, "and let me explain. I took it from the place where I found it."

Twilight furrowed her brow and sat on her haunches. She crossed her forelegs and stared intently at John.

"I'm listening," she said, "so start explaining."

John sat down opposite Twilight and sighed.

"Remember a couple of days ago," he said, "when Trixie was here and took out Ace's Doc-bots with that EMP?"

Twilight nodded.

"Well," John pointed at the BIRD on the table, "it looks like this bot was also affected. Ace must have forgotten about it. Though I suppose getting turned to stone and then getting whacked upside the head with a large hammer would have an adverse effect on your memories."

Twilight giggled.

"But if you don't want to study it," John said as he reached for the bot, "I can always take it back to Ace."

Twilight's horn glowed and John's hand was slapped away from the BIRD by an invisible force. 

"This is my only chance," Twilight muttered, "so I'd be a fool not to take it. I'll take it back to Ace when I'm done."

John stood up and nodded.

"All right," he said, "have fun. Oh, and Twilight?"

Twilight cocked her head at him.

"You didn't get this from me," he said sternly, "understood?"

Twilight nodded and picked the BIRD up before heading into the basement, making sure to take the foals as well. John looked around shiftily for a moment before opening the library door and sprinting down the road back towards Sweet Apple Acres.


***


Twilight closed the basement door and trotted back towards the BIRD lying on her desk, looking over it eagerly. A stack of parchment, several quills and lots more ink bottles were levitated onto the workbench.

"Finally," Twilight said eagerly, "I get to study technology from a whole new world. This will go down as one of the best, if not the best, scientific studies in Equestrian history. But the thing is... where do I start?"

She glanced over the object again and came across a compartment labelled 'Power Core'. A small smile came to her lips.

"I guess I could start with where the energy comes from." she said, "It will be interesting to see how this device is powered, given the fact that humans don't use magic and therefore would not have access to mana batteries."

Her horn glowed and the power compartment of the BIRD glowed with it. A small pop filled the basement as the compartment came off to reveal the circuitry beneath. She put the piece to one side and peered in for a closer look.

"Hmm," she muttered, "it looks like the device is powered by solar energy, though some of these parts are burned. Must be the result of the spell Trixie used."

She put a forehoof to her chin in thought.

"Wait a minute, I've seen Ace using these during the night. But solar power doesn't work at night, so how is that possible? Ugh, I've only been doing this for a few minutes and already I've got more questions than answers!"

She let out a snort of displeasure before looking at the BIRD again. She furrowed her brow for a moment before an idea came to her.

"Wait a minute," she said, "I know a spell to generate artificial sunlight! If I use that on the device, then I'll be able to use a power sensor to see where the energy is going and how it is used. Ooh, I'm so clever!"

She clopped her forehooves together in delight before stopping suddenly and looking around, thankful that only Azure and Evening had seen what she did. The two foals studied their mother with curiosity before laughing at her antics.

"Mummy silly!" Azure said.

"Silly mummy!" Evening added.

Twilight giggled and blew a raspberry at the two of them before turning her attention back to what she was doing. She looked closer at the bot and saw a red wire which wasn't connected to anything.

"That must go somewhere," she mused, "and I'm going to assume it goes into that red socket there. Because it's red... as is the wire. At least, I hope Ace colour co-ordinates everything."

She charged her horn and gingerly connected the loose wire. When nothing exploded, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew," she sighed, "now to get this thing started."

She charged another spell and a small glowing orb appeared at the tip of her horn. It was a much smaller version of Celestia's sun, but provided the same amount of light, some of which was flooding into the BIRD's exposed solar collector.

A series of beeps came from the device and Twilight stopped channelling the spell. She looked on in wonder as a small red light appeared on the bot's camera. The camera began whirling around rapidly as the bot slowly lifted off from the table.

"It worked!" Twilight cheered, "Now I can study it prop—"

Her words were cut off as the BIRD let out a loud beep. Twilight gasped in fright as the bot suddenly lunged forward, unleashing a  surge of electricity which rendered the unicorn unable to move. The bot then flew towards the basement door, smashing a hole clean through it, before flying out of the library through an open window.

Azure and Evening were clearly distressed at what had happened and started crying again. Loud footsteps were heard on the floorboards above before the basement door was kicked open, revealing a very concerned human.


***


I had just arrived back from work when a loud smash scared the crap out of me. Looking around I saw one of Ace's BIRDs flying out of the basement. The device paid no attention to me as it flew out the open window.

Just as I was wondering what the hell was going on I heard crying coming from the basement. Panicking I ran over and kicked the door clean off its hinges. The door landed at the bottom of the stairs, which I ran down three at a time. I saw Azure and Evening in their cot bawling their eyes out. As they saw me they stopped and then pointed at something across the room. I looked to where the were pointing at... and saw Twilight lying motionless.

"Holy—" I cut myself off before I swore and ran over to her, "Twilight? Twilight! Wake up!"

I took hold of her and gently shook her in an attempt to rouse her. When that failed I simply held her close, running my fingers through her mane while I wept pitifully. With Spike gone and me not wanting to leave her or the kids, I had to wait for her to wake up. Which, thankfully, didn't take long.

The first I knew of her being awake was when I felt her nuzzling my chest. I looked down to see her looking up at me with bleary eyes.

"Oh thank Celestia you're all right." I whispered, "But what the fuck happened here? Why was a BIRD in here?"

Twilight explained everything to me: how John found the robot and brought it to her, and what she had done prior to being shocked.

"It must have been the Taser." I mused, "The bot must have seen you as a threat and acted accordingly. But the fact remains that I'm gonna talk to Ace about this and remind him who his friends are."

"No don't," Twilight pleaded, "I think that'll just make things worse. It was my own fault anyway, I didn't think about what those bots were capable of. Sure I read the stories in the paper after the Diamond Dog incident, but to experience it first-hoof is surreal."

I nodded and relinquished my hold on her, allowing her to slowly get to her hooves. She wobbled slightly but managed to get to the cot where Azure and Evening were. Both foals looked at their mother warily.

"It's okay," she said as she nuzzled, "mummy's fine. She just got a bit of a shock from that little robot."

"Are you sure you're all right?" I asked, "Do you want to go to the hospital, get yourself checked out?"

Twilight shook her head before picking up the cot and walking upstairs with it. I watched her go before sighing and leaving the basement, picking up the door and placing it against the frame.