//------------------------------// // First Impressions // Story: Experiment 187 // by Mike the Red //------------------------------// If Twilight hadn't been impressed enough with her pony-bot's efficiency at recreating her lab notes, she was absolutely astonished by TS' ability to replace all of the equipment, restoring her basement lab to impeccable glory, everything gleaming and glinting in the light (which had also been replaced with high-efficiency illumination). The librarian was quickly running out of tasks to assign her creation and decided now was a good time to show her off to her friends and eventually to the Princesses. "Spike! Let's get going!" she called up to him. He was making himself busy cleaning up their bedroom in an attempt to keep his thoughts from focusing too much on the pony-bot. "Spike! SPIKE!!" she shouted. "All right, all right! I'm coming! Jeez, give me a moment here!" he replied loudly as he trudged down the stairs. The pony-bot's expression remained neutral, but Twilight was a little annoyed. "Spike, you need to give her a chance, okay? She's not going to hurt you any more," the librarian offered softly, a small smile crossing her lips. "Okay, just for you, Twi, I'll give her another chance," the drake grumbled, giving TS a look of apprehension. "I still don't trust her, though." "I shall endeavor to regain your trust, Spike," the pony-bot stated in response, offering some degree of contrition. "Twilight has informed me that I am to refrain from disciplining you and I shall respect her wishes." "I certainly hope so," he said, though he still regarded the robot with a degree of suspicion. "Okay! Let's get going, there are so many ponies I want to show you to!" the librarian chirped, trying to ease the tension a little. Spike climbed on top of Twilight's back as the pony-bot matched the librarian stride for stride as they made their way from the library towards the center of Ponyville. Quite a few ponies noticed them and expressed a degree of surprise and concern, the pony-bot's resemblance to the librarian close enough to fool just about anypony at a distance. A certain pink earth pony bounded over when she caught sight of them. "Hey, Twiley, who's the new pony? She looks so much like you! She looks kinda funny, though -- but because she's new, I should get a party ready for her!" "Uh, Pinkie, this is TS One Thousand, my new robot assistant -- I don't know if she needs a party thrown on her behalf," the lavender mare replied. The pony-bot's expression seemed to show a degree of unhappiness with this assessment. "I would love to have a party," TS stated in her standard monotone. "See, Twiley, she DOES want a party! Let me get everything set up!" Pinkie exclaimed excitedly and seemingly disappeared in a cloud of dust. "She is the one you call Pinkie Pie? I calculate her rate of speed at greater than one hundred miles per hour -- physically impossible," the pony-bot observed. "That's just Pinkie being Pinkie -- I gave up trying to figure her out quite awhile ago," Twilight responded, chuckling slightly. The pony-bot clicked and whirred again, processing the information which apparently defied logic, a slight frown marring her features. She heard a faint whooshing overhead and looked up to see a cyan pegasus with a multi-hued mane and tail flying swiftly, bursting clouds as she flitted about in the sky. "I detect motion overhead, calculating variable rate of speed at better than three hundred miles per hour," TS stated flatly. "Ah, that would be Rainbow Dash!" Twilight exclaimed happily, then called up to the aviatrix to meet her. The pegasus gasped in surprise at the sight and swooped down to meet them. "Aww, yeah! That is awesome! Twiley, you built a robot that looks like you? Cool! What can she do? What do you call her? Is she as much of an egghead as you?" "I am TS one thousand -- I have been programmed to provide optimum assistance to Twilight Sparkle in any capacity she desires. My data processing is highly proficient, allowing for maximum optimization," the pony-bot replied in her monotone. "Yep, just like Twiley! Gotta go, seeya later!" Rainbow chuckled and took off into the sky to finish chasing away the clouds. The pony-bot continued to calculate speed and distance covered, marveling at the pegasus' abilities. "Twilight, I would desire being able to fly like that," TS mused. The librarian and her dragon chuckled in response. "I'll see what I can do for you, TS -- those improvements may have to wait awhile," she replied warmly as they continued to make their way towards the town hall. They encountered many ponies on their way, some of whom shied away nervously, some of whom were quite intrigued, a few who expressed a desire for a pony-bot of their own. Presently they reached Carousel Boutique. "I can't wait to see what Rarity thinks of you!" the librarian chirped as she rang the door-bell. "Just a moment, dear," the fashionista called out before trotting downstairs to open the door. "Gaah! Twilight, darling, why are there two of you?" "This is my latest experiment, Rarity! I call her TS one thousand -- she's my new personal assistant," she stated proudly, a big smile on her face. "Does that mean Spikey-Wikey can stay here with me and be my personal assistant?" the alabaster mare asked somewhat coyly. Twilight laughed. "No! Spike is still going to stay at the library with me -- TS is just for additional assistance." Rarity appeared somewhat crestfallen by this statement, but then an idea came to her. "IDEA!" the fashionista exclaimed, grinning broadly. "Twilight, darling, perhaps you could build one for me?" "Well, I suppose I could, but materials cost and the labor I put into TS --" "Oh, think nothing of it, darling! I can pay whatever you want! Just let me know how much you need --" "Rarity, I can't just go around building more robots! If I make one for you, then I'll have to make one for everypony who wants one! I don't have that kind of time!" the librarian protested. The mare pouted and gave her best sad puppy-dog eyes look. "No, Rarity, I can't -- at least, not yet anyway." "Perhaps I might be able to replicate my structure and build one," the pony-bot offered, causing the fashionista to gasp. "Oh, really? Please? Thank you so much!" she chirped, giving the pony-bot a quick hug. TS analyzed the data received and reciprocated the hug with the appropriate amount of force. "Please let me know when she's ready, darling!" "I will contact you when your copy is available -- I shall program her to your needs and send her to you when I finish," TS stated in her monotone. "TS, I had no idea you could do that," Twilight mused. "You continue to amaze me!" "You have not seen anything yet, Twilight," TS replied, just a hint of pride in that monotone. Rarity trotted very happily back inside her boutique to resume the order she was working on as the trip to town hall continued, the remainder of the trek taking just another ten minutes. Twilight, Spike, and TS entered town hall to meet with Mayor Mare and the other ponies inside. The librarian proudly displayed her creation and had the pony-bot give a short demonstration of its abilities, succeeding in impressing everypony who witnessed it. Since the town hall was not far from the market section, Twilight took the opportunity to get everypony's attention by amplifying her voice to announce the success of her latest experiment. "Ladies and gentlecolts! I present -- TS One Thousand! Watch what she can do!" Twilight exclaimed excitedly. The pony-bot took her cue and proceeded to amaze everypony present with an awesome display of her abilities, causing the gathered crowd to gasp in astonishment at what she could do. The assembled ponies stamped their hooves in applause, the pony-bot smiling demurely in acknowledgement of the praise. "Is she not the most amazing thing ever?" Twilight asked the assemblage of ponies. A chorus of "Yes!" was the response she received. The pony-bot continued to smile, but also processed this information into her memory banks as well. "I'll bet she can give Trixie a run for her money!" Rainbow Dash called out, chuckling loudly. "I think TS would do more than that, Rainbow," the librarian stated confidently. "Who is this Trixie you speak of?" asked the pony-bot. A certain azure unicorn mare trotted up to investigate the sight of two Twilights. "Sparkle, what have you done? Trixie is curious about this -- extra copy of yourself," the show-mare puzzled. "TS one thousand, this is Trixie," the librarian addressed her creation. "Trixie, this is my latest experiment -- I have dubbed her TS one thousand." "Sparkle? You created this? Trixie is amazed," she said, though it seemed some sarcasm seeped into her voice. "Amazing is a relative term, Trixie," TS stated in her monotone. "Ha, ha, ha. Very funny. What else can this machine do, aside from engaging in --" Trixie began, but cut off her words as she was rendered speechless by the pony-bot's magic displays. "Trixie did not know your creation could do magic, Sparkle! This is not fair! But Trixie wouldn't mind having one of those for herself," she mused. "I will add you to my waiting list," TS stated flatly, causing the show-mare to gasp in astonishment. "TS, do not build a copy for her, please," the lavender unicorn half-asked. "Trixie wants one and is willing to pay however much is needed to get one!" she stated almost angrily. "How does one thousand bits sound, Trixie?" asked the librarian facetiously. "Deal," Trixie said firmly, grinning broadly. She trotted off, presumably to her caravan, though the pony-bot took notice of her direction, using her vision to determine the show-mare's destination, which was indeed to her caravan. "Estimated time of completion, two days," TS offered in her monotone. "I just hope you know what you're doing, Twi," Spike stated somewhat apprehensively. "I have a bad feeling about this."