Alex scrambled for as many items as he possibly could. He wasn’t exactly sure what he’d need, but he grabbed whatever he felt he might need, as well as some other, more pointless doo-dads. The ground vibrated as the sound of an explosion entered his ears.
“Rose, what the hell is going on out there?” Alex said into his ear piece while absent-mindedly grabbing his phone off his old personal desk, which he used surprisingly rarely.
“The intruders have breached the elevator shaft and the security bots are engaging them. They have sustained heavy casualties but more keep coming and more bots are requesting repair,” the synthetic, yet clearly feminine voice of his AI chimed into his ear.
“How many more…?” he asked non-specifically as the reality of the situation started to dawn on him.
“Either way, too many.”
Alex took a fruitless moment to try to calm himself down. This is bad, he thought. This is very, VERY bad. He pressed the button on his ear piece once more. “What are our options looking like?”
“Honestly, we don’t have very many. If this keeps up, escape doesn’t look possible.”
Well gee, that sure as hell helps…
Alex’s mind raced through all possible manners of getting himself out. Fact of the matter is, he had worked tirelessly to put together a secret underground research facility for him to work on whatever he wanted undisturbed. Or rather, he built a few mining and construction bots to work tirelessly for him. The entire laboratory was a simple design: A single elevator shaft led from the surface to the main entrance hall which connected to the large central chamber that housed countless terminals, holographic projectors, and manufacturing stations. Hanging from center of the room was the large chassis that was his super computer and AI, Rose.
Alex continued to weigh his options, realizing that simply walking out of the one and only entrance wasn’t one of them. Double checking to make sure he didn’t forget any knickknacks, he grabbed his Go-Bag next to the door of his private quarters and ran up the stairs to the central chamber above.
His Go-Bag contained what he thought were the most important things he would need if he had to bug out, such as well-preserved food and water, a few crucial electronics such as a solar-powered laptop of his own design, and more importantly: a Link Gun with plenty of spare ammo, the same kind his security bots used. The gun was, for all intents and purposes, a rapid-fire plasma rifle. Almost a meter in length, the barrel of the gun was composed of four white plates that protected the mechanism inside and automatically parted just enough to allow it to fire properly when needed. He never thought he would actually have to use the weapon, but he was glad he prepared one anyway.
Alex entered the central chamber, where the vague sound of plasma gunfire was coming from behind a blast door on the other side of the room. What in the hell are these things, anyway?
Rose's titanic chassis pivoted from looking at the blast door to looking at him. Her body was composed of three different segments which could largely be considered a head, torso, and abdomen. Her "abdomen" was connected to a large mechanism in the ceiling and her head hung the lowest, possessing a single glowing blue eye with a large metal iris. Each part was connected by a series of wiring and hydraulics, giving the AI a much more animated presence. Although Rose didn’t actually display emotion, Alex could tell that she was just as worried as he was.
“Do you have a plan?” she said using her own voice instead of speaking through the ear-piece.
Alex let out a breath and rubbed his chin in thought. There’s only one way out…
“Yeah… Rose…” he started saying, walking over to a nearby terminal. “I want you to power up the teleporter, and… and…” He was caught on his own words. He breathed deeply to try to calm himself. “…and… initiate the Omega protocol.”
Rose’s iris shrunk. “Alex, you know the teleporter is only a prototype! We still haven’t had a chance to test it! And the Omega protocol…” Rose, to Alex’s surprise, was unable to finish her sentence. An explosion from behind the blast door caught their attention.
“Rose, we don’t exactly have a choice here! Also…” he paused, making sure he had her attention. “I want to make a change to the protocol. Once you’re done everything, I want you to transfer all our data, and then yourself onto this drive,” he finished as he began plugging in a specialized hard drive he had snagged from downstairs.
Alex was proud of his inventions and his ability with technology. He designed virtually everything in his lab which was quite possibly a century before its time. It was one of the reasons he kept it underground and hidden. At least, it used to be hidden.
“A hard drive?!” Rose exclaimed. “Alex, you know how much I hate tho-”
“Now REALLY isn’t the time to complain, Rose!” he barked. “We need to get the hell out of here, and honestly, I don’t want to leave you. I don’t even want to think about it!” A mixture of fear and sadness shook his voice, almost to cracking.
Neither said a word for a moment until Rose finally spoke. “Beginning transfer.”
“Thank you.” Alex was relieved, but sentimental relief only went so far when death was practically beating down your door. “I’m gonna go check on the teleporter, see if I can get it to put us somewhere that won’t kill us.”
“I’m still skeptical of that thing. For all I know we’re jumping out of the pan and into the fire.”
“Tell me, Rose, would you rather stay in the pan and burn or take a chance and live to continue our work?” Technically, it was his work, but he always saw Rose as his assistant, or even his equal.
She briefly turned to face the blast door, the fight on the other side still raging on. She knew the numbers, and she knew they were losing. “I see your point.”
“Good. Glad we see eye to eye on this. Anyway, fire it up, I’ll see what I can manage with it. In the meantime, you know what to do.”
“Of course.”
Alex left the console and turned to enter a nearby door. The teleporter room was sizable, but not overly large and complicated. The control console was close to the door with the teleporter itself some distance on the other side of the room. An assortment of pointed devices composed the entirety of the wall on the opposite side.
The way it worked was that they were all pointed at a single point in space: the focus. Once powered and tuned, it would create a portal that the user simply had to jump through. At least, that was the idea. Alex didn’t know if it would actually work, but it was the only chance he had. He also had no idea of where to go.
This “invasion” had come out of nowhere. Humanity didn’t see it coming and he had no idea if anywhere was safe. Here clearly wasn’t, so anywhere was better in his mind. Alex programmed it to teleport him to the other side of the country in a more or less remote location. At least, that’s what he thought he did. For the first time in a long time, he admittedly knew that he didn’t know what he was doing. Just as Rose promised, the device began to activate as the wormhole slowly began to open. What he did know, however, was that it would be a while until it was actually safe to enter.
Alex returned to the central chamber. “How’s the transfer coming along?”
“Almost done. I’m surprised that it’s going so quickly despite the amount of information I need to transfer.”
“Made it myself a while back. You’re welcome.”
“And you didn’t hurt yourself doing it? I’m even more surprised now!” Rose mused, seemingly forgetting the looming threat.
“Actually, I did, but that’s not the point!”
“Of course it’s not…” Rose poked. “But on a more serious note, are you sure you want to initiate the Omega protocol and abandon everything? We could be losing everything for nothing!”
Alex hung his head. “Rose, this isn't a fight that we're winning. You know the protocol; it has to be done.”
“You’re absolutely positive?” she asked again, obviously hesitant.
Alex slammed his fist against the terminal. “Dammit, Rose, you’re not some copy of Windows 98! Yes I’m sure!”
“Alright, alright. No need to get angry.”
“Sorry, but I’m really stressed right now!”
“And I completely understand that, but I think self-control is important at a time like this. Oh! The transfer’s done.”
Alex breathed a sigh of relief. He sped to the entrance of the teleporter room and looked inside. Still not ready…
“You’ve automated the teleporter, right?”
“Everything is in place.”
“Good. Initiate the protocol, transfer yourself and let’s get the hell out of here.”
Almost instantly, the lights dimmed and a deep red light filled the room. An alarm began to ring and an automated voice, distinctly different from that of Rose, boomed throughout the entire room: WARNING: POWER-CORE OVERLOAD IN TEN MINUTES. EVACUATE THE PREMISIS AND ATTAIN A MINIMUM DISTANCE OF SEVENTY KILOMETERS.
Alex walked back to the hard drive and started to wait until the data transfer light on it stopped blinking.
*BANG*
He immediately turned towards the source of the noise: The blast door. Oh shit, they’re starting to beat down the door! Meanwhile, Rose’s chassis hung limply from the ceiling. Without her voice or the security bots, Alex started to notice just how alone he really was.
*BANG*
Shit, shit, SHIT! He hopped from one foot to the other impatiently. Come on you stupid light, hurry up!
*BANG*
The light continued blinking. Oh no, it’s ok, just keep taking your SWEET. FUCKING. TIME.
*BAANG*
The last bang was even louder than the others. Something big must have been pounding on the blast door now and it was starting to show large dents.
*BAANG*
Alex unslung his Go-Bag from his back and removed his Link Gun, making sure it was loaded.
*BAANG*
He quickly re-strapped his Go-Bag onto his back.
*BAANG*
The dents in the door became more prominent with each strike. Staying behind the terminal, he pointed his gun at it, anticipating whatever monstrosity was coming after him.
*BAANG*
A section of the door ruptured, a monstrous roar snaking its way through it. Alex glanced at the hard drive again. It had stopped blinking. Well about fucking time!
*BAANG*
Alex pocketed the hard drive and ran towards the teleporter room, taking a brief glance at the blast door. A large, bony horn had pierced through brutally dented blast door. Alex was able to hear the grunts of whatever creature it belonged to as it tried to pry its horn free. He rushed into the room and locked the bulkhead behind him. It isn’t a blast door, but at least it’ll buy me a bit of time.
He ran to the middle of the room between the opening portal and the door. The portal, looking like a glowing orange ball of light and electricity, still didn’t look safe to go through. Pleaseworkpleaseworkpleaseworkpleaseworkpleaseworkpleaseworkpleaseworkpleasework-
“WARNING: CORE OVERLOAD IN NINE MINUTES.” Alex never imagined that a single minute could feel like forever.
He heard a final bang and crash from the main chamber as whatever it was that was in there finally broke down the blast door and started stampeding through all his hardware. He cringed at the mental image of all of his stuff getting destroyed by that… thing.
He held the gun up at shoulder height and aimed at the door. Maybe it didn’t see me come in? Maybe it doesn’t know I’m in here?
The thought was ripped from his mind as a large dent was produced in the door in front of him. Oh come the fuck on! He glanced back at the portal. Still orange, though slightly greenish. HURRY THE FUCK UP!
The sound of bending and creaking metal drew his attention back to the door. Some sort of large and brutish humanoid was trying to pry the door open, although the dent that was already in it made the endeavor difficult. Without a second thought, Alex began shooting at it. Bolts of bright green plasma began shooting out the end of the Link Gun. He wasn’t sure if he was hurting the intruder, but he definitely wasn’t going to make its job any easier.
He stopped shooting, seeing that the creature had backed off. At least I bought myself some time. Looking back at the portal, he saw that it had become slightly greener.
Bringing his attention back to the door, he realized he didn’t hear a single thing coming from the other side. The silence was brutally unnerving. At least until the floor suddenly began to tremble. What the hell…?
Before he was able to comprehend what he was experiencing, a large horned creature, whose head more closely resembled a giant shield made of bone, crashed through the teleporter room door, demolishing it with a deafening roar.
“OH FUCK!” Alex yelled involuntarily before turning and running towards the now pure green portal. I don’t know if green means go, but I sure hope it does!
Gripping his weapon as tight as he could, he sprinted towards his only hope. With a final leap of faith, the supposed portal consumed him before disappearing without a trace.
The trotting sound of a concerned and confused Twilight Sparkle could be heard throughout the Ponyville library as she paced back and forth. It wasn’t long before the front door swung open.
“Twilight?” called Spike. “I got Fluttershy for you.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Spike. Could you, uhh… occupy yourself for a little bit? I kinda need to talk to Fluttershy alone. I don’t wanna include you in this until we know what’s going on. Maybe you can visit Rarity, see if she needs help with anything?” She smiled hopefully.
“Huh? Are you sure?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes, Spike. I just want to get things sorted out, and I promise, you’ll know as soon as they are.”
“Alright, if you say so,” he finished as he hopped out the door.
Once the door was closed, the Fluttershy turned towards Twilight. “What’s going on? Is something wrong?” The concern of her friend was clearly rubbing off on her.
Twilight shook her head. “Honestly, I don’t know. I think it’ll be easier if I just show you,” she said as she led Fluttershy up the stairs to her bedroom. When they entered her room, she simply pointed at something sleeping in her bed. “That.”
Fluttershy carefully walked up to the sleeping mass to get a closer look. “Huh… I’ve never seen anything like it…” It was an animal alright, but she couldn’t identify it for the life of her.
“Really?” asked Twilight. “But I thought you knew all sorts of different kinds of animals.”
“Well… um… I do. It’s just… I’ve never seen something like this,” she whispered carefully. “How did you find him?”
“I heard something in the basement this morning. When I went to go see what it was, I found this. From the looks of things, it looked like it fell down the stairs.”
“Oh no!” Fluttershy’s maternal instincts suddenly kicked into overdrive. “Was he hurt? Bruises? Sprains? Broken bones?”
“I haven’t the slightest idea. I didn’t know what to do since I’ve never seen anything like this before, myself, so I just asked Spike to go get you right away. I was hoping you’d know something.”
“Oh… I’m sorry I couldn’t be more helpful, Twilight…”
“It’s ok, Fluttershy,” Twilight said, waving a hoof to dispel any potential disappointment her friend may have felt from her. “But since you’re here, maybe you might want to see if it is injured?”
“Oh, of course!” Fluttershy exclaimed, picking up her original train of thought.
Fluttershy tip-hoofed to the dormant visitor to get a better look at him. Ever so gently, she removed the bed sheet but stopped once she saw that the unknown creature was clothed. However it didn’t look like it was wearing any dress Twilight owned. It immediately puzzled her.
“He has clothes…” she whispered.
“Yeah…” Twilight responded, keeping her own voice low for fear of waking up her 'house guest.' “It also had a big bag on its back and some sort of weird object next to it.” She pointed towards said objects leaning against a nearby wall.
“That’s strange… Twilight, I think this might be a civilized creature. Oh! Not that I think that critters can’t be civilized, but… um… you know…”
The unicorn nodded. “I was thinking the same thing. If it came from some kind of civilization, it would explain why it has all this stuff with it. But I wanted you here since I couldn’t discount it being dressed up by somepony else. I also have no idea if it’s dangerous or not.”
Fluttershy flinched at the word. “D-d-dangerous? D-do you think we should get Rainbow Dash?”
“Don’t worry, Fluttershy,” Twilight comforted her friend. “It’s asleep. And hey, I’m here in case things get out of hoof.”
“O-okay…”
Fluttershy moved the bed sheet further back to get a better view. She had to remove his clothing to check for any injuries, but there was only one problem: she didn’t know how. She leaned over him to get a better look at the cloth that covered his chest. Making sure he was still asleep, she nudged him a little bit with her hoof. Her eyes grew wide and she froze when he inhaled sharply through his nose and mumbled incoherently to himself. She glanced at her friend, eyes pleading for help. Twilight only indicated with her hoof to keep going. Holding her breath, Fluttershy decided to go for broke. She grabbed his clothing in her mouth and tugged.
Originally feeling warm, Alex suddenly started to feel a draft. He didn’t care, though. He was still sleeping comfortably. He felt a slight nudge to his shoulder. Dammit, Rose, not yet… I’m still asleep…
He woke with a start when he suddenly felt a sharp tug on his shirt and his eyes automatically sprung open, only to be met with an equally startled azure gaze.
“AAHHH!” He threw himself back and off the bed, landing flat on his back. “Uuurrrgghhh… dammit…” he wheezed.
“Eeep!” squeaked Fluttershy as she bolted behind Twilight with lightning speed.
Alex groaned in pain as he held his now very sore back. Painful bruises introduced themselves and made his rude awakening even more unpleasant. Fighting through the pain, he grabbed the edge of the small bed to lift himself, hoping to see whatever it was that woke him up.
Twilight placed herself between her friend and the unknown animal. Hearing his groans and pained effort to lift himself up, she started to dismiss the “dangerous” theory.
When he finally managed to lift the upper half of his body above the bed, Alex only stared at the two colorfully odd looking individuals across from him. He had never seen anything quite like them and wasn’t quite sure how to react. He quickly eyed his surroundings and, based on the decorum, concluded that he wasn’t under any immediate threat.
After several uncomfortable seconds of awkward silence, Twilight cleared her throat. “Um… hello there?”
Alex blinked at her for several seconds. He wasn't quite sure what to make of the purple alien-horse-looking-thing speaking pure and plain English to him, but the pain wracking his body refused to let his brain think further on it. Eventually, he groaned out a response. “Well hello to you too…”
Twilight’s interest suddenly grew. “Wait, you can speak Equestrian?”
“If by Equestrian, you mean English, then yeah, it seems we speak the same language,” he replied, hoisting himself back onto the bed with a great deal of effort. “Which is actually pretty convenient, all things considered…”
This was so exciting! Twilight had absolutely no idea where to start! So many questions to ask, so many potentially mind blowing answers, so many-
“How did I get here?” Alex beat her to it.
“Oh! I, uh... found you in my basement,” she said, thrown a little off guard by the sudden question.
“In your basement?” he asked with genuine confusion in his voice.
“Yeah, it looked like you fell down the stairs.”
“Fell down the stairs? But how would I… wait…” Alex trailed off as he tried to remember what happened right after he went through the portal. The only memories he could draw up involved darkness, falling, lots of sharp edges, and pain. “Huh… that actually explains a lot…”
“Ok, but that’s where I found you. How did you get in my basement in the first place?
Memories of the destruction of his laboratory suddenly began to fill his mind. He clenched his eyes, trying to will the images and sound away. The ponies, seeing his distress, preserved the silence. He took his time, but he finally responded.
“There was… some kind of attack on my home… I tried to fight them back, but it was a losing fight… I realized that the only way out was with a… a teleporter I had recently built, but… I had no idea if it would work or not. Seems like it did…” He paused and let out a light chuckle. “I’m actually surprised I’m still alive.”
“An attack? What do you mean? Who attacked you?” She rattled out, temporarily overlooking the mention of a teleporter.
“Aliens, monsters, I have no idea. All I know is… they destroyed everything…”
“I’m so sorry.” Fluttershy finally said, coming out from behind Twilight.
Alex looked up to see the same azure eyes that stared straight at him the moment he woke up. His ears welcomed the kind and gentle voice.
“Did they hurt you?” She continued.
“They didn’t hurt me, no,” he said, his mood audibly picking up. “But my back hurts like hell, I have a monster head-ache, and I feel bruised nine ways to Sunday. Nothing feels broken, though, so I guess I have that…”
“I can take a look at your injuries if you want…”
Something about the yellow horse-thing’s voice calmed him. He could even swear he felt the pain numb a little. “Um… sure… I guess I wouldn’t mind that…”
Fluttershy walked nervously over to the bed. “Could you… um… remove your clothing? If you want to, that is…”
“Yeah, sure… here…” After unbuttoning and opening his shirt, everyone finally got a good look at what was causing most of his pain: a massive bruise on his left side that spread halfway across his chest.
Fluttershy gasped. “Oh my! You stay right here, I’m going to be right back with something to help!” The kind natured pony bolted out of Twilight’s room with a surprising sense of urgency.
Alex looked after her in slight confusion before turning to Twilight. “She is gonna come back with something to help, right?”
“Knowing her, yeah. I wouldn’t worry about it. By the way…” Twilight walked up to the bed, feeling much more at ease with her visitor. “I don’t mean to be rude, but what are you? Do you have a name? I’ve never seen anything like you before.”
He chuckled, but instantly regretted the decision when his bruise reminded him of its presence. “My name’s Alexander Laythem, though most people just call me Alex. I’m a human. What about you?”
Twilight’s face lit up with the opportunity to fully introduce herself to a complete stranger, an opportunity which didn’t present itself often. “My name is Twilight Sparkle, faithful student of Princess Celestia and resident librarian here at Ponyville’s library! I’m a pony, but more specifically, a unicorn!” She ended with a smile.
Alex squinted as he tried to wrap his head around this information. He knew what ponies and unicorns were, but to his knowledge, ponies certainly didn’t talk and unicorns definitely didn’t exist. To find himself in a conversation with a talking unicorn pony was… unorthodox, to say the least, but her appearance seemed to back up her claim if nothing else. She looked something like a pony and the horn on her head pointed towards “unicorn,” but the fact that she was purple was a little more than confusing. And her name… Twilight Sparkle? He wanted to ask her a few questions about that, but figured that now probably wasn't the best time.
“And what about her?” He pointed towards the door.
“Oh! Her name is Fluttershy. She’s a pegasus who takes care of wild animals, and a very good friend of mine.”
Fluttershy? Alex’s confusion only grew. First Twilight Sparkle, now Fluttershy? What the hell kind of names are these? And she’s a pegasus? The more he thought about it, the more this new place seemed like very a twisted version of Earth. At this point, he had already thrown out the idea that he was still on his original planet, or maybe even dimension. “I see…”
He paused his original thoughts. Wait a second… Ponies…? Unicorns…? Pegasi…? Princesses…? Ponyville…? Alex tried to remember something from own world, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Something about all this seems vaguely familiar…
“So, umm…” Twilight started, snapping Alex back to reality. “Could I get you something to eat? You must be starving after everything that’s happened to you.”
“Oh, uhh… yeah, please, thank you…” he sputtered after she derailed his train of thought.
“Ok, I’ll be back in a few minutes. Just relax for a bit,” Twilight reassured Alex as she left the room.
Alex took a moment to take in his surroundings. He peered outside the window as the light shone beautifully onto the floor. Well this is a much needed change in scenery. Can’t say I don’t appreciate it. He sighed. At least I’m in a position where I can probably continue my work. Wait a minute...
His heart skipped a beat as a sudden sense of panic overcame him. He quickly reached for his pocket, and, feeling a rectangular lump, breathed an immense sigh of relief. Good, I still have the hard drive. Now where is my bag…? He briefly looked around and found it, and his Link Gun, propped up against the wall some distance from the bed. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself from the bed and wobbled over to his bag.
He fished out his laptop and slowly made his way back to his spot on the bed. Flipping the computer over, Alex quickly installed the hard drive and fired up the laptop. Rose wasted no time. Her computerized, colorless, yet distinctly female face quickly appeared on the screen.
“Ooooohhhhh, you have no idea how good it feels to finally be out of that box,” Rose’s synthesized voice emitted in a rather pleased tone.
Alex smirked. “Probably feels like a genie getting out of a lamp if I had to hazard a guess.”
“Mmmmmm, better! So, it seems the teleporter worked. Where are we?”
“I don’t exactly know yet, but I do know this: We sure as hell aren’t in Kansas anymore.”
“We weren't in Kansas to begin with.”
“I mean that we don’t seem to be on Earth right now. I don’t know if it’s another planet or different dimension or whatever. I just know it isn’t Earth. The natives seem friendly, though.”
“Judging by the fact that you’re on a bed, I would assume so. For your sake, I just hope they aren’t too friendly.”
Alex squinted at her. “What do you mean by that?”
“Oh nothing.” Rose suddenly noticed a portion of his bruised chest poking from around his shirt. “Alex, are you injured?”
“Yeah…” he said, removing the bit of shirt that was obstructing the view of the rest of his bruise. “Turns out I fell down some stairs after I came through the portal.”
“So that makes how many days without a workplace accident…?” Rose poked.
Alex frowned. “Don’t.”
“Okay, fine, I won’t." Rose gave him a malicious grin nonetheless.
“Good.”
“So, how long do you think it’ll take before we can establish another research facility?”
“One step at a time, Rose. For now, I think we should work on familiarizing ourselves with this place.”
She scoffed. “Easy for you to say. You’re not stuck in a sub-par computing device with no means of transporting itself while having to feed off a solar charger.”
“Alex?” Twilight suddenly walked in, levitating a generic looking salad encased in a purple aura next to her. The levitating act caught Alex’s attention more than her voice did. “Who are you talking to? Is somepony else in here?”
“What? Oh! Uh…” Alex didn’t want to let Twilight know about his AI just yet. Unfortunately, coming up with excuses on the spot was never his strong suit. He sighed. “Alright… Twilight, come over here.”
“Okay then…” She trotted over to the bed, placing the salad bowl next to him before eyeing his computer. Oooooo! What’s that? Darn, focus, Twilight! One question at a time! “So who were you just talking to?”
Alex glanced at the bowl of leafy greens she had gotten for him. He was a meat lover, with bacon being one of his absolute favorites, and while he wasn’t very picky when it came to what he ate, there was a fact that was always true: he hated salads. At least, not unless they were drenched in dressing. At the risk of sounding rude, however, he let it slide. He also figured that since they were ponies, they were probably herbivores just like on Earth, so meat stuffs were probably going to be off the menu for a long time.
Alex turned the computer towards Twilight. “Rose, this is Twilight Sparkle. She's the one whose bed I'm sitting in. Twilight, this is Rose, my AI, assistant, and, for all intents and purposes, my best friend.”
Twilight’s eyes widened. “A-An AI? Does that mean what I think it means?” she said with growing wonder.
“If you’re thinking ‘Artificial Intelligence,’ then you’d be right,” Rose droned.
Twilight gasped. “Oh my gosh! A real live Artificial Intelligence!?” she squealed, pressing her face uncomfortably close to the screen. Even though Rose couldn’t physically move, her virtual face seemed to back off.
“If I had a soul, you’d probably be staring right through to it,” Rose said, hoping Twilight would take the hint. She did, and backed away, blushing.
“Sorry, I’ve just never met a real AI before! I mean, there have been theories about AIs and a few ponies have tried making artificial life before – though it never really worked – and most ponies didn’t even have the slightest idea of how to even start thinking about making an artificial intelligence, and here you are, talking to me about–”
“Yes! I get it!” Rose cut her off, irritation seeping into her words.
Alex, more amused by the discussion than anything else, snickered as silently as possible. He grabbed a few pieces of salad and nibbled on them. To him, they were bland and stuck in his mouth, but he couldn’t deny how hungry he was.
Twilight giggled embarrassingly. “Sorry, I just never thought I’d ever have an opportunity like this!”
“Rose is the only genuine AI I know of,” Alex interjected. “Some humans like myself have made programs that respond to voice commands and certain inputs and called them AIs, but they’re really just cop-outs. Of all the things I made, Rose is easily my pride and joy.”
“Why thank you, Alex,” Rose chimed, appreciating his words.
“Hold on a minute…” Twilight said pensively. “You made this AI yourself? Rose, I believe you called it?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“And if I recall, I think you said earlier that you made a... teleporter? Did you do that with, or without magic?”
Alex cocked an eyebrow. “I guess some would consider it magic, but it’s hardly that at all. Why?”
Twilights eyes grew wide. “And I’m assuming you've made other things like Rose or this teleporter? Without magic?”
“Yes…” He spoke in a low voice, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable in the hot seat. Plus, what was all this talk about magic? “Science and technology is my expertise, actually. I'm an engineer...”
As if they weren’t already big enough, Twilight's already wide eyes widened even more. In a fit of excitement, she raised her front hooves on the bed and got uncomfortably close to Alex, a giant grin plastered across her face. “I have SO many questions!”
Oh dear…
After playing 20 questions with Twilight, which was mostly related to humans and their relationship with technology, Alex felt immensely relieved when Fluttershy finally came back with what looked like an overly-stocked first aid kit.
“Ok, I’m back,” she began. “And I have everything I need to help make you feel better.”
Fluttershy walked up to the bed confidently and lay her first aid kit on the ground next to it. She popped it open and began sorting through what she needed.
Damn... Alex thought. This pony’s on a mission.
Fluttershy started taking out assorted bottles of pills and bandages. “Here’s something for the pain… Here’s something for the healing… Oh! Twilight, could you go get him a glass of water, please?”
Twilight stared at her blankly. “Oh! Yeah, sure!” she said, walking back to the kitchen, still trying to figure out the surge of confidence that had overtaken her friend.
“Now, could you sit up straight so I can wrap these bandages around you?”
Alex complied, deciding to give the surrogate doctor the benefit of the doubt. “Sure. Oh, by the way, my name’s Alex.”
“Alex? Oh, what a nice name! My name’s Fluttershy. Nice to meet you!” She smiled warmly.
“Likewise. You know, based on your name and your behavior earlier, I thought you’d be a bit more… uh… shy, than this.”
Fluttershy began wrapping the bandages around his chest to apply slight pressure to the bruise. It made Alex sore to no end, but he tried to ignore it.
“Oh, I am, but when somepony needs me, I have to do everything I can to help,” she said matter-of-factly.
Alex winced in pain as she applied a bit too much pressure. “Ah!”
“Oh no! I’m sorry! Here, I won’t make them as tight…”
“No no, it’s fine.”
Twilight walked back in levitating a glass of water. “Everything okay in here?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine. She’s just doing her thing, I guess.” Alex answered, eyeing the floating glass of water curiously.
“You know, Fluttershy, you seem much more comfortable around him now,” Twilight pointed out, placing the glass next to the bed.
“Didn’t you see how hurt he was? I couldn’t just sit by and do nothing…”
“You know, you really remind me of his mother,” Rose said suddenly.
With a yelp, Fluttershy dropped the roll of bandages, shot straight up into the air, and somehow latched onto the ceiling. Everyone stared at her incredulously. Alex didn't really know how to react to that.
Fluttershy looked around frantically. “W-who said that? Where a-are you?”
“Fluttershy, it’s ok! It’s just…” Twilight began. She wasn’t exactly sure how to tell her about Rose since Fluttershy probably didn’t know what an AI even was. “…his computer… thingy.”
“Well thanks, I’m flattered…” Rose deadpanned.
“It’s alright, it’s just a friend of mine!" Alex tried to reassure her. "Don’t worry, she’s not gonna hurt you,”
“W-where is she?”
Alex pointed to the computer next to him on the bed. Fluttershy realized that she didn’t even notice that was there until now. “She’s right here. It’s ok, you can come down.”
Reluctantly, she slowly hovered back to the ground and eyed the computer cautiously. “H-h-hello?”
“Hello there, Fluttershy. My name is Rose. Well met,” the AI stated, calmly and evenly.
“Wh-wh-what are you…?”
“Rose is an Artificial Intelligence!” Twilight piped up, eagerly snatching away the opportunity to explain it. “She’s a form of artificial life that is so complex that she can think just like we can entirely on her own!”
“Yes, I suppose that is me in a nut-shell,” Rose said flatly. It was obvious to her that Twilight was going to hound her as long as she was around, and she sure wasn’t going to make it easy on the purple fan-girl if that was going to be the case.
“Oh… I… think I understand…?” Fluttershy responded.
“It’s okay if you don’t,” Rose reassured her. “Alex is the only one that truly understands how I think. Most people couldn’t even begin to comprehend it.” Alex smirked at this. “Now, weren’t you in the middle of doing something before I interrupted you?”
“Oh, umm… yes…” the pegasus answered, slowly picking up her roll of bandages to resume her work. No one said anything for a solid 30 seconds before Fluttershy finally broke the silence. “What did you mean when you said I remind you of his mother…? If you don’t mind me asking, that is…”
“It’s because you seem like such a kind individual, and clearly concerned with his physical well-being,” Rose started. “Alex’s mother was always so concerned about him. If she completely had her way, I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t let him leave the house unless he were completely covered in bubble wrap.”
Alex blushed ever so slightly and turned his head away. Rose continued anyway. “She was a doctor and always took injuries and illness very seriously. His safety was always her number one priority. Eventually, Alex grew too old for his mother’s concerns and had to make it clear to her that she couldn’t keep lording over him like she was. After we established our own home, it became my job to be his safety monitor.”
“Lies!” Alex protested. “If that’s so true, then why is it I get hurt so often?”
“Come now, Alex. You and I both know that if we did things your mother’s way, we’d never get anything done. Besides, you’re not dead yet, are you?”
Alex hung his head. If there was anything he was able to recognize in rational discourse, it was a good point. Good science isn’t safe science, that much he knew, and he also couldn’t deny that her safety protocols were helpful. There was always an element of risk, but never unnecessary risk. “Fine, I’ll give that one to you.”
“There, all done!” Fluttershy concluded as she finished the bandage which wrapped around his midsection and over his right shoulder. “Now, if you take these, you should start to feel better.”
She handed him the pills and water, which he gladly took. It didn’t take long for him to start feeling the effects as the pain numbed considerably. “Whoa… That’s some strong stuff…”
Fluttershy started to look worried. “Wait, it already started working?”
“Yes, he’s strange like that,” Rose answered. “For most humans, it takes a while before any drugs actually take effect. For Alex, though, they’re almost instantaneous. We’re still not quite sure why…”
“Reeeeaaaaly?” Twilight chimed in, clearly interested. “Say, you wouldn’t mind if I ran a few tests of my own on that, would you?”
Alex gave her a slightly nervous look. “Uhh… yeah, actually, I kinda do.”
“Well it doesn’t have to be now!”
He sighed. “Ok, fine, but later…”
“Thank you!” Twilight beamed.
“In any event,” Rose interrupted loudly, “Alex, how are you feeling?”
“Fine. Better than fine, actually.”
“Don’t tell me you’re high on that stuff,” Rose deadpanned.
“No, Rose, I’m not. At least, I don’t think I am… It just doesn’t hurt anymore, and I don’t actually feel inhibited... I think.” Alex performed a few light stretches to try to prove his point.
“Perhaps. I’ll have to analyze that compound at one point. You wouldn’t mind that, would you, Fluttershy?”
“Oh, of course not…”
“Thank you very kindly. So, now that you’re up and about, what’s the first order of business?”
“Whoa, slow down, Rose. I know you want to get back to work as soon as possible, but that's gonna have to wait. As for what I should do now… I don’t know." He looked at Twilight and Fluttershy. "Do either of you have an idea?”
The ponies silently looked at each other. Nothing like this ever happened before, and they had no idea how to proceed. They seemed to be thinking the same thing, though, which was if Alex could get home. Of course, Twilight didn’t want him to leave immediately since the learning opportunity was just perfect for her.
Fluttershy asked it instead. “Do you think you have a way of getting back home?”
Alex's initial thought was that they didn’t want him around, but the sincerity in her voice convinced him that she was just concerned about him. He shook his head. “Two problems with that. One, the portal I came through was only one way, so I’m pretty much stuck here, at least as far as I know. Not to mention the fact that me ending up here was a complete accident in the first place. And two, even if I could go back, there's still those… well, you know.”
Fluttershy nodded in understanding. Alex couldn’t go home even if it were possible because of the monsters that were still there.
Of course, Alex also failed to mention the Omega Protocol. There wouldn’t even be a home left for him to go back to, anyway.
Twilight’s face lit up, realizing that her new object of interest wouldn’t be going anywhere. Recalling the grim subject of the conversation, though, she reorganized her expression and cleared her throat. As she did so, an idea spawned. “So... it looks like you’re going to be staying here for a while, huh?”
Alex shrugged. “It seems to be that way, yeah.”
“Weeeellllllll…” Twilight fluttered her eyes, relishing the idea. “I do have a guest bedroom you can use. You can stay here until you get on your hooves! Er... feet!”
The situation suddenly hit Alex. He was in a new civilization and he’d have to integrate himself. That idea never really worked for him on Earth. Paranoid fear kept him and everything he worked on isolated, just because he was afraid that governments and corporations would try their hardest to get a hold of his technology. Relationships with people outside of his family were always sketchy at best, since he constantly felt they were trying to take advantage of him.
Now he was here.
And he needed their help.
Alex sighed. “Alright… I guess I don’t have much of a choice. Thank you.”
“But, on one condition!” Twilight added, grinning.
Oh geez, something tells me I’m not gonna like this… “Alright, what’s your condition?” he asked, dreading the response.
“Since you’re going to be staying here for a while, I figure you could do me a little favor…”
“And that is…?”
“Answering questions!” Twilight perked up, a massive smile plastered across her face.
Alex breathed. Oh good, I thought it would be something bad. “Sure, what kind of questions?”
“Nothing hard, just more questions about your world and species. I hope you understand; this is such a massive learning opportunity!” Twilight practically glowed with excitement.
“You know what?” he said, putting on a smile. “I can do that. I honestly don’t mind answering any questions you may have.”
Twilight squealed in excitement, clapping her hooves together. “Eeeee! This is going to be so great! I’m going to go get my notebook!”
Before Twilight could run out of the room, Fluttershy stopped her. “Umm… Twilight, I don’t think now is the best time to start doing that.”
Twilight stared back at her friend. “What do you mean, Fluttershy?”
“He was just forced out of his home, with everything he knew and loved destroyed. His whole life was taken away from him. I think… maybe… you should give him some time to settle in first.”
“Actually,” Alex interrupted, casually sitting against the head of the bed, “I’m angrier at the fact that I have to start over from scratch. I was never really fond of my home world. Humans were always trying to get an edge over one another, competing, fighting… Governments do everything to stop what they don’t like, and take whatever it is that they do like... People constantly making mistakes by always choosing short-term gains over long-term investments... I kept myself pretty much isolated from the rest of the world, and… Well, let’s just say I’m not going to miss the rest of humanity very much.”
Fluttershy looked at him incredulously. She was surprised he would even think such a thing. “You’re not?”
“Nope. The contact I had with other humans was limited enough as it is, so I can’t exactly say I’m going to miss them. Plus, I brought everything I needed with me right here.” Alex pointed at his laptop. “I’ve got Rose, all my research, data, and schematics: both tested and prototypes.”
Twilight broke into a smile; for obvious reasons.
“I’m going to have to rebuild my workshop,” he continued, “but once that’s done, I’ll be perfectly satisfied.”
Twilight's smile faded as she started to connect the dots. “Wait a second… You’re just going to set up a workshop somewhere and become a recluse like you did before?”
Alex blinked. “Well… when you put it like that, it sounds kinda bad…”
“It sounds bad because it is bad!” Twilight's concern for him grew. Not just because he wanted to isolate himself, barring him off from her curiosity, but because he was going to become a self-induced social outcast as well! Again! Twilight's mind couldn’t bear the thought, especially since she was Princess Celestia’s student who came to Ponyville to study the magic of friendship.
Wait… that’s it!
“Alex!” Twilight put her hoof down, confidence glowing in her eyes. “I have a plan to make sure you don’t end up a social outcast like you were before! And just to be sure, I'm also going to make it my second condition for you to stay here with me!”
Alex looked over at Rose, who only returned a look that said “something tells me I won’t like where this is going.” He mimicked her expression and looked back at gleaming purple pony. “Okay… And that is…?”
“You are going to make some friends!”
Alex’s expression blanked.
Awww shit.