//------------------------------//
// Computerized Deductions 
// Story: Dimension Jumper 
// by redtau 
//------------------------------//

	Putting my arm back in place after such a long absence was not something I was looking forward too. Machina had requested to look at and clean the contacts in my shoulder first, and I wasn't about to strip down in the courtyard, Equestria's near universal casual nudity not withstanding. We retired to my private room and locked the doors before reattaching the appendage.

"OOOOOHHMYFUGGINGGODDAMNIT!" 

I gritted my teeth and held back tears as I cradled my metal right arm at the shoulder. 

"Gently." Machina said, placing a hand on my other shoulder. "The socket has been empty for months, you might cause nerve damage shoving it in like that."

"Old habits die hard." I said, blinking back the pain. "Why isn't it moving?"

"Any number of reasons. Most likely the system is booting. There will be a short calibration period."

The metal hand jerked up and tapped me quickly on the shoulder.

"Is that-"

"Do. Not. Move." Machina intoned.

Quickly the hand reached up and tapped my forehead noes and chin. I held still for another twenty seconds. "Is that it?"

"I may have programed in certain commands that will cause the arm to smack some sense into you."

A chuckle escaped my lips. "When did you get a sense of humor?"

"Around the time I lost my third job for being too serious. Part of the reason I sought employment with Vinyl was the parties she hosted provided a wealth of research subjects." Machina seemed to sway almost gracefully on her multi-jointed legs. "Was there anything else you needed?"

"Yes, actually." I handed her a small box, marveling at how much easier it was to handle now that I had two arms. "Here, these are all the correspondences from my party request, invoices for materials, and statements from the royal bank about how all the money was spend. I know something is off, but it's just too many numbers in too complicated a fashion for me to sort through."

Machina nodded. "I shall do my best."





Machina returned to the courtyard and finished setting up for Pon3 before retiring to a guest room in a nearby tower. Between Octavia's training and Pon3's skill they had no problem working together, their music hitting the range from rock to classical and all of it made me want to dance. In two hours time we had hammered out a deal that included room and board, as well as transport out after Nightmare Night. Neither had any trouble with the changelings performing as long as they stayed in pony disguise and didn't feed off of them.

I had other tasks that needed my attention, as the castle did not run itself. In addition to hearing a few complaints in court and helping some of the refugees settle in, I had to tend to the gems charging in the basement. That's where I was when the canid runner found me. I'd not seen a canid this upset since Nightmare turned the castle into it's current form.

"Princess Nightmare-Sarah! The, um, the machine creature is doing something in the western tower! Please, you have to make it stop before it destroys the entire castle!"





Machina's kimono clad form was now the center of a small nest of thick cables, each stretching out to a glowing holo-projector. After seeing what I had done with a few simple circles of Nightmare's, any creature walking into this room would think the castle was about to undergo magical Armageddon. 

"It's alright." I assured the terrified canid, "The projections are harmless and there aren't any gems up here to empower circles anyway. Go tell everyone that things are fine."

As he took off Machina looked up and smiled, her face having been altered enough to convey emotion. "Well Sarah, I have to say. When you piss off people in power, you really go all out."

"Tell me about it." I muttered, pulling up a chair. "This entire restoration project has been one assault after another."

"No, I mean you really have someone out to get you." She waved a hand and one of the holographic displays brought up digital copies of the bank financing. "As near as I can tell, whoever was in charge of your finances handled them in a way that is either woeful incompetent or brilliantly malicious. You've bought almost everything twice and paid high restocking fees for cancellations. There are also a number of transfers out of this account that are disguised as purchases. All in all, I'd say  you only ever had access to between one eighth and one fifteenth of the total funds allocated to you."

"I had suspected as much." I glowered. "I'd love to wring the neck of whatever little paper pusher took all my money."

"Technicaly it was not yours, you were merely granted access to the funds in order to restore this castle." Machina waved a hand around. "Clearly you did not require it, as Nightmare has effected better repairs than you might have." Her frown returned. "Still, I have found other things that concern me, other hints of a force or forces directed against you."

Machina nodded and the display changed again, becoming a large map. I was able to pick out the Everfree and Ponyville, but everything beyond it was outside of my knowledge. The map became populated with a wide number of dots, most in towns near the Everfree and away from Canterlot. 

"What am I looking at here? Guard placement? Secret Nightmare hating societies? Not-so-secret Sarah hating societies?"

"This is a distribution map of the considerable number of stories, songs, plays, poems, and such that feature you in a negative way. Alone each represents only a small opinion, but together they make up a fairly cohesive smear campaign. Compared to the rest of the nation," The map zoomed out with only a few other dots appearing, "we must also conclude that this is a targeted attack. If you left the castle right now in your human form and walked in any direction you would likely encounter hostility greater than what you experienced in Ponyville. A few towns," almost two dozen encircling the forest were highlighted, "have started militia training and patrols since the castle has been completed."

I felt my eye twitching. "Seriously?! The princesses were supposed to take care of my negative image, not allow it to get buried in this kind of crap!"

"It gets worse." Machina added.Two spreadsheets replaced the map side by side. One appeared to be a simplified version of my finances, embezlement shown in bold numbers. The other was a set of titles, dates and amounts of money. Even at a glance I could see a disturbing pattern. "As near as I can tell, the amount of anonymous funds spent on these publications is near the total of funds embezzled from your accounts. It appears you have paid for your own smear campaign."

They would not only dare to steal from us, but use our own funds against us!? Tell us of these bastards, that we may turn their final hours upon this world into a living nightmare. 

"Now now Nightmare," I said through gritted teeth, "there is a certain protocol to these things. We are the rulers of an independent kingdom and it wouldn't do to go rampaging across our neighbors land in search of these criminals. Instead we shall present this evidence to the Equestrian courts and demand they hand over the offender for prosecution." I felt a wicked grin form on my face. "Then we get to enjoy the look on their faces as their own country drops them into our claws."

"An admirable, if somewhat disturbing, idea." Machina agreed. "But I doubt any plea along those lines is going to reach anyone who will be inclined to help you in any way."

The spreadsheets faded and were replaced with digital copies of the response letters from my party invitation. Two letters expanded to fill most of the area, while the rest hovered in smaller form nearby. "These letters are supposedly from the Gryphon Empire and Saddle Arabia, the two nations that are the furthest apart from each other. However, the paper and ink are both of the exact same make, and though the literary styles are different the writing style is exactly the same."

I looked over the analysis, stunned. "Someone has hijacked our mail route? Even the one with the Rovers?"

Every request, every letter, even those sent by the Canids?

"I discussed mail and shipments with one of the Rovers." Machina said, closing down the screens. "He told me a pony made contact with them shortly after they came to this castle, offering them supplies and courier services at a very low rate. Looking over their records it seems the only things that were overpriced were equipment and supplies used to rebuild the castle."

"What is the point of all of this!?" I screamed, my rage finally reaching a boiling point. "Why do all of this? To keep me at the castle? To annoy me into submission? WHAT!?"

"Uncertain at this time." Machina adapted a calm, clinical tone, trying to calm me down. "It is clear these actions were taken by a small, well connected and well organized group. Several possible outcomes seem probable: the first being containment. In the event you break your seal your departure from this castle will trigger mass panic. Such a reaction by the masses could be used to sway the opinion of the Princesses and result in further incarceration or banishment."

"My seal is already broken Machina." I held up my left arm, the fake seal fading away. "This is just an illusion by Nightmare."

Machina raised an eyebrow. "Then why do you remain behind? Why court favor with other nations?"

"The creatures in my castle are mainly here because they have nowhere else to go. My departure would create a power vacuum with disastrous results."

Machina gave me a blank look, but her holographic displays whirred to life, images and figures flashing faster than I could register. For Machina this was akin to thinking out loud. The blur of data snapped to a stop, a massive list of options visible.

"Sarah, I have some questions for you. First, have you been officially challenged in this castle?"

"What exactly do you mean 'officially'?" I was starting to get an idea.

"A test or challenge issued in a formal or semi-formal fashion with set rules, victory conditions, and agreed upon rewards."

"Yes, several times."

"All before the seal was lifted?"

"Yes, though that's a secret so nobody really knows." I said.

"Right, that removes it as a variable. Anyone who challenged you before could still challenge you now. Reguarding the challenges, was the prize to be rewarded upon your defeat ownership of the castle or control over you?"

"Ownership of the castle." I said. "Though, given that I couldn't leave until just recently it would also have given rough control over me."

The holographic displays shut down and began to retract within Machina. "Someone obviously wants you under their control. My arrival here will undoubtedly be reported back to your enemies soon, either by a spy inside the castle or just through casual gossip in letters to family."

"We can shut down the mail route!" I said."Or sabotage it! Ship bombs and such."

"Either action would show our hand. Right now they do not know that we know, and we can use that to our advantage but only for a very limited time. We need to solve the power problem and leave this castle by the end of the party, or I worry that we will not be able to leave without a massive show of force." Machina frowned. "The longer you stay, the more likely these creatures will be put in harms way."






The council, as I'd come to think of the representatives of each race, sat nervously on one side of a long stone dining table. D and Machina stood beside me on the other side of the table, D looking menacing and Machina providing displays and data.

"So," I said, leaning forward, "you see the dilemma. I can't walk out of the castle without abandoning you to your fates AND walking into a lynch mob in every direction. The longer I stay, the more likely forces will be allied against me and, by proximity, all of you."

"Our foes assume," Machina added, her synthetic voice still unnerving most of the creatures. "that with the alterations to and completion of the castle, Sarah's escape is imminent."

"That makes no sense." Reggie said. "If my clan was tracking a foe and knew it was about to escape our grasp, we would increase our efforts to capture it. Of late there have been almost no such attacks."

"That would be if your target really was going to escape. Keep in mind that our opponent may not know we have figured out about the smear campaign. If you had a prey that you knew was running for a trap, you might back off a little just to watch it catch itself."

"There is also the chance that they, whoever they are, are gathering strength and consolidating power. Sarah might be able to break through a militia or a scared town, but if there was something tougher nearby."

"Such a force seems to be the Night Guard patrolling the Everfree." Zaephir said.

"They have, however, forgotten a potential exit." I said, pulling out a bit and setting it on the table. "I mentioned this in my trial, but like Machina's existence it might not be common knowledge. I can give up my anchor and leave this dimension, though I have held that option as a last resort. Travel in that fashion is unpleasant at best and just plain deadly in normal conditions." I gave a stern look to the council as I played with the bit. "This does leave another massive problem, namely what you all are going to do once I leave." 

Machina's screens shifted, displaying historical records of aggression between races. More than a couple looked down and away from their shameful history. 

"I'm not so blind that I can't see the looks you give each other now and then." I said. "You of the council have proven to be of wiser minds and calmer nature, but each of you could probably name at least one in your number that would strike out if they thought they could get away with it. There must be a balance, one not built on having the biggest monster at the top. We have been trying to find instances of peaceful co-habitation of so many varied species, and only one has shown up: Equestria itself. Therefore, I have decided to model the replacement government of this, the Kingdom of Dreams, in the Equestrian format."

Puzzled looks greeted the announcement. Thomas leaned forward in his seat. "How, exactly? Are you just going to merge us all together into some immortal chaos spawn of a ruler?"

There was an uncomfortable shifting in the councilors as they looked for exits.

"Calm down." I waved my hands, trying to calm them. "I haven't got that kind of power. I was referring more to the founding as seen in Hearth's Warming Eve, where the various tribes banded together against a common threat. I cannot guarantee that my departure will mean the end the attacks on the castle. As you pointed out, this recent lull might just be Harold or others gathering forces against us. Eventually I want this council to act as the ruler, but until such time as everyone in the castle can recognize you I'll have to appoint someone to stand in my stead." I was doing my best to stare down the entire council at the same time. "Whoever I select will start out completely out of their depth. I want each of you to support them, reguardless of their race."

"You would have us swear to a new queen? Even one sight unseen?" Zaephir asked.

"I'm not going to pick one at random." I said, "Machina and D have collected an amazing amount of data on everyone both in and out of the castle."

"A number of gryphons are itching for your departure." Reggie chimed in. "Unless you choose one of them, I'm sure your replacement will have some trouble to deal with."

"Then I'll make sure to pick someone who can deal with that." I said. "Any other complaints?"

"This castle and your protection is one of the greatest things we minotaur could hope for." Thomas said. "You have our support."

"Likewise for me and mine." Pio said. "Once we are done with our penance. We all opted for a benefit concert by the way."

"The Rovers have always had your back Sarah." Red said with a grin. "And we outnumber the few from other clans in the castle. We can look after our own."

"Any decision will be fine, with support from me and mine." Zaephir added, though he didn't seem as happy about it.

"I'll talk to the gryphons, and I know you can trust most, but be ready for a couple to make a move once you pick."

"Good, it's done then." A ghost of a smile crossed my lips. Though they didn't realize it, the council had already started acting together. I knew that Thomas had no love of gryphons, but that he would stand by Reggie. Likewise Zaephir and Thomas had already started to shrug off centuries old prejudice. Even Scorpio, a changeling, was sitting here unharassed. 

I stood up to signal the end of the meeting. "Now, lets all get to work. Nightmare Night will be my farewell party, and I intend it to rock this castle till the sun comes up."