"I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do."
-Hal 9000
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Further inspection revealed the strange bush to instead have the same hansa yellow Pegasus that Hal had witnessed running away not ten minutes ago. Odd coincidence it was, to run into this mare again after so recently viewing her. The chances of this happening based on the size of the town and probability of running out the same exit was approximately five thousand to one. The odds of arriving in the same spot as well increased the odds to nearly ten times as much. Though the reason for her to stop soon became clear, she was stuck upside down in the bushes long spiked vines originally intended as a way to defend itself against predator's it had instead ended up tangling up in the mare's stereotypically colored safari shirt, her hat inches from the ground as she was suspended in the air by the same spikey vines. Judging from the scratches that lined her legs she had tried to escape herself but only made the situation worse and dug herself more into it's embrace.
Hal approached the mare, intending to help. After all it was in his base programming to be as helpful as possible, putting himself to full use he dismantled the bush from the ground up, moving thorn's out of the way before quietly and gently starting to untangle the captured Pegasus from her prison of plants. Curiously he also noted that the Pegasus had a injured wing, evident by the bandages wrapped around it. Closer inspection also showed during the few accidental touches along the outside of her front legs during untangling was a collection of rough skin, scarred tissue Hal judged. Most likely causes from either intentional harm against the mare or clumsy actions. Throughout the entire process Hal kept a slight unchanging polite smile as the mare first struggled against his ministrations before figuring out what he was doing and allowing him to free her. Once the mess was undone he then striped several of the vines of their spikes before using them as a makeshift rope in which he tied the nearby larger leaves to the more profusely bleeding sections of fore leg that the thorns had not so long ago caused. While Hal saw this as pitiful compared to the care he could of gave if he was still aboard the Space Odyssey, he knew this was however the best he could do with limited resources.
As he turned to go he was halted by a hoof on his side. Turning back around the mare nodded and spoke aloud in a tomboyish voice that could only be described as a proud yet wise, and still feminine tone, "Thank you."
He linked these words to the countess occasions where Dave had thanked him in various instances, he could even retrace it's roots down to the Proto-German term 'Thankojan'. It took a standard second for Hal to formulate a response and nod adding his own voice to the start of a conversation using the modern version of the old English 'Wilcuma', "Your Welcome."
He turned to leave only to find that the mare was now by his side as he went down the path trotting beside him, "I'm Daring Do, what's your name?"
Hal gave her a curious glance, "Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer. Hal for short."
"Huh, weird name. Well Hal, where you heading off to?"
Seeing no reason not to he quite calmly and politely told her, "No idea, Miss Do, Just on."
Daring Do trotted faster cutting Hal off, "Surely you have someplace in mind?"
"No I do not, Miss Do, I arrived in this land less than half an hour ago. My intentions are to find something to do to fulfill my primary purpose. To put myself to the fullest possible use that any conscious entity could ever hope to achieve."
Daring do raised an eyebrow, "Your hired then."
Hal jolted back his wings half opening instinctively in shock, dropping the metal case that used to be one of his optical circuits onto the ground as he tried to comprehend that, "What?"
She chuckled, "I said, your hired."
Hal scooped up the circular circuit again, putting it back under his wing, he was now curious, dozens of theories going through his mind from accounting to theater. He asked, "Just what are you hiring me for?"
Daring Do smiled, before striking a heroic pose tipping her hat mysteriously, "The ultimate job of course, adventure!"
His mind churned, every reference to the word adventure churning in his mind. Indiana jones being the most prominent, reference in his collection for action orientated adventure novels. Full of life risking peril and genius break troughs on finding lost tombs full of traps, venomous animals, and even treasure. Though a majority of it usually got destroyed in the end. There was also a surprising amount of research involved on the more realistic approach to adventure. Causing Hal to be skeptical, but not outright negative on the view, "Fine, but be warned, I know nothing of this country, nor do I own anything but my old optical circuit."
Daring Do held her hoof out, "That's fine, welcome to the team Hal."
Hal estimated this was the appropriate of a handshake for the ponies here so he bumped his hoof against hers, causing the hoof bump to be completed. Hal had to ask a question to satisfy his curiosity though, "Do you always ask random ponies to go on adventures with you?"
Miss Do gave him a sly wink, turning to lead the way, "Only the cute ones." her unkempt tail brushing him across the face for a few seconds before she moved on.
Then his optical circuit dropped to the floor once more as a pomf noise emitted behind his head and he found his wings up, as well as no longer responding to his commands, "What in the..." he whispered to himself, as Daring Do looked behind her at the sight and busted out laughing at Hal's obvious confusion to the stiff wings he was displaying unintentionally.