//------------------------------// // Seven Years Later // Story: Artificial Friend // by writer283 //------------------------------// Seven years later... High above Sweet Apple Acres, Rainbow Dash slept peacefully on a cloud, as Applejack harvested apples in the orchard below. Applejack wiped the sweat from her brow and called up to her friend “Hey Rainbow Dash” The sound roused the pegasus from her slumber “What?” she responded. “Hope you're not working too hard up there” Applejack said sarcastically. “And just what is that supposed to mean?” Rainbow asked. “Well you're...” Applejack began “I know what you mean” Rainbow said before she bolted down to the ground “You see that sky, that perfectly cloudless sky...you know, except for the one I was napping on” Applejack chuckled “I'm just ruffling your mane, Rainbow, ya done a good little job” “Little!... You do realize that we pegasi are responsible for all the clouds, heck, we're in charge of the whole wild blue yonder. You, are responsible for an apple orchard" She said before rocketing up into the sky "And from up here it doesn't look all that impressive” Rainbow quickly descended back to the ground “I suppose you think you could get all these apples down from the tree's faster than I could, right?” Applejack asked. “Heck yeah I could!” Rainbow exclaimed. “Well how bout we have ourselves a little competition” Applejack said. The farm pony pointed to two clusters of apple trees “Those ones to the left will be my trees, and the ones on the right will be yours. The winner will be whoever gets their apples into the buckets under the trees fastest" “Okay... so, on three?” Rainbow asked as she stretched. “Three and then go” Applejack replied. “Who counts?” Rainbow asked as she crouched to the ground. “You can if you w...” the farm pony began to say. Rainbow Dash quickly yelled “1 2 3 Go!” and rocketed away before, Applejack could react, gaining herself a firm head start. Rainbow Dash was a blur as she spun around the tree's and quickly grabbed every singly apple, then dropped them into the buckets at a blazing speed. Seconds passed and Rainbow was finished, just as Applejack bucked the apples down from her last tree. Rainbow flipped in the air and excitedly declared “I win! Better luck next time A.J” Applejack calmly trotted past Rainbow with a smug grin on her face. “Why are you so happy, you didn't win?” Rainbow asked. “Oh, didn't I? I just got you to do half my work for me” Applejack said, before letting out a chuckle. Rainbow suddenly realized that she had been duped “And you're supposed to be the element of honesty” she said with a touch of faux anger. “I didn't lie" Applejack said "I tricked ya in a harmless fashion. I would expect a prankster like you to appreciate that” "Well... prank or no prank, I still won" Rainbow said proudly “Well maybe we could make it two our of three and by the end I could call it a day” Applejack said before letting out a hardy laugh. Applejack then noticed that something had caught Rainbow's attention. The blue mares ears pointed to the sky, as she attentively listened to something “Do you hear that?” Rainbow asked. Applejack stopped to listen and the faint sound of clanking metal and whirring gears caught her ear. Rainbow Dash shot up into the sky to get a better view. “Holy Hayfare!” Rainbow exclaimed, before she zipped back down to Applejack “Follow me, you're not going to believe this” she said before jetting off, closely followed by Applejack. The two quickly came to a dirt rode on the outskirts of Sweet Apple Acres, and saw a bizarre sight. A perfectly normal looking house with treads underneath foundation. From what the two could see there was no sign of any magical energy, meaning the house was moving under its own power. The two ponies stared at the oddity, both equally perplexed by it. “It's like one of those mobile homes those traveling ponies have, except there ain't nopony pulling it” said Applejack. “That's so cool... I guess” Rainbow commented, not really sure what to think “Looks like it's heading towards Ponyville” Applejack began to walk along side of the mobile home, as Rainbow Dash flew to the front of the house. She landed on the front porch and took a moment to get her balance on the rattling home. She carefully walked up to the front door and knocked. “Anypony home?” Rainbow asked. A muffled yell came from inside. “Did you catch that?” Rainbow asked Applejack. “Nope, try knocking again” Applejack suggested as she hopped by the side of the building, in an attempt to get a look inside. Rainbow knocked again and this time a window on the second floor of the building popped open and somepony's head popped out “Push the button” The pony said, before she retracted her head back inside before Rainbow Dash could get a good look at the pony Rainbow examined the grey door and found a button with a speaker over top of it just to the right of the door knob. Rainbow pushed the button and said “Hello” A loud electronic squeal came from the device, followed by a voice “Who is it?” The voice asked. Rainbow hesitated before responding, seeing it as silly to be speaking to a box “I'm Rainbow Dash” “The, Rainbow Dash” the voice said excitedly. “Heh, I guess you've head of me” Rainbow said proudly. “No, I just assume it makes pony's feel special if you make a big deal out of them... that didn't sound insulting did it?” the voice asked. “Eh, maybe a little. Who am I talking to?” Rainbow asked, as her patience began to fade. “Oh you'll get to know that and more at the show” the voice said, trying, and failing to be ominous. “What show?” Rainbow asked. “You know, a show” The voice said, not realizing it had not divulged any useful information at all. “That doesn't answer my question at all” Rainbow said. The pony giggled “I'm building suspense” she said as she tried to contain her nervous excitement. Rainbow released the button “Well... good luck with that” she said uncomfortably. “What?” the voice asked “What do you mean, what?” Rainbow asked, obviously becoming annoyed. “You let go of the button, didn't you?” the voice asked. “Yeah, so what?” Rainbow asked, her patience completely exhausted. A few moments passed and the voice once again asked “What?” Rainbow let out an annoyed groan, then flew back to Applejack. “Did ya find out anything?” Applejack asked. “No, she said I had to hold a stupid button, and if I didn't she couldn't hear me, what's up with that” Rainbow complained. “Seems kind of weird, maybe she's just shy” said Applejack. “Well, either way, the buzz of seeing a house move down the rode just got killed..." she said "Oh and she said something about a show in town” “Well we should probably check that out” said Applejack. “Whatever ya think. Want to race to town?” Rainbow asked. “3 2 1, Go” Applejack quickly said, before darting off ahead; subtle pay back for,Rainbow's head start. Rainbow then bolted off after Applejack, eager to outdo her friend even if the earth pony did have a head start. Unbeknownst to them, the mare in the house watched them through the upstairs window. Despite remaining mostly unchanged, Binary's home had changed substantially over the years. The interior was completely covered in chrome, concealing circuitry for Chip's holographic form transmit through and be projected from. Binary herself had not changed much at all, aside from some minor fashion changes, such as a black vest with several pockets, two red bracelets on her left front leg. Binary had also earned her cutie a few years back; the mark consisted of a heart made of golden gears. “How do you think they get so good at talking like that?” Binary asked the seemingly empty room. Chip's holographic body appeared on the windowsill “I require more information, to provide a satisfactory response” he said. Binary rested her head on her hooves “You know, casual face to face conversation” she replied. “Most likely they were given situations where they could freely express themselves with minimal judgement on what they are commenting on” Chip answered Binary let out a small groan “Stop that” she said. “Elaborate?” Chip asked. “Talking like a machine, it bugs me” replied Binary. Chip's holographic body flickered for a moment “I apologize, you know my mind works approximately ten times faster than an average life form, thus allowing me to respond with nothing but the most proper and straight forward of words... I did it again, sorry” The two looked across the fields and shared a quiet, peaceful moment; aside from the excess noise of the house clattering along the rode. The pair had not interacted with anypony in years. Their self imposed isolation allowed them to focus all their energy into their work to better the world... although it had not yet been seen what this isolation had done to Binary's already weak social skills. “Are you ready?” Chip asked. The question caught Binary off guard and she attempted to shrug it off “For the show, pfft, I've been practising for, like, ever” Chip looked Binary in the eye “I didn't ask if you had practiced, I asked if you're ready” Binary gazed at the upcoming town, then looked at the floor as she thought about her response. She looked to her companion and said enthusiastically “I guess so!” Chip did not respond. His had already determined that Binary was not ready to face a crowd, but he could do nothing to stop her. He could only perceive correctional action destroying her confidence completely, and that was something he wouldn't dare do. Chip looked at the town in distance and said “We're approaching our destination. I'll run some tests on what you have chosen to showcase” Binary didn't respond, instead she simply stared in the direction of ponyville, with a quivering smile on her face. Meanwhile in Ponyville... Twilight was currently inside the golden oak library, where she sat at her desk studying a ratty old book from Celestia's and Luna's old castle, which detailed some of Equestria's history; although it was heavily damaged and the author seemed to have written it more as a story book than an actual historical documentation. Twilight read a passage aloud, much to the dismay of her dragon companion, whom was finishing mopping the floor and had spent the rest of the day hearing Twilight complain about how someone could have let a book fall into such a state disrepair. “The celestial sisters, scratched scarred and blistered, entered chaos's domain The one who dwelled there was not evil per-say but all would claim he's insane The chaotic one mocked them This did not at all shock them For they knew harmony would win them the day They knew harmony would light their way” Twilight closed the book and turned to face her assistant “Well that's stuff I already know, and the rest all seems to be crazy ramblings” “Then why are you reading it?” Spike asked as he dipped his mop into the bucket. “What if there's some crazy secret hidden in the past that could help us protect Equestria” Twilight explained. “You know, maybe the next time something happens, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna could take care of it” said Spike. “No, they..." she began "On second thought, you raise a fair point...” Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by Applejack and Rainbow Dash who suddenly barrelled into the library. “Wait a second, wipe your...” Spike let out an annoyed groan as the two friendly rivals tracked dirt onto the freshly mopped floor. Applejack looked at the mess and apologized “Sorry about that Spike, we were...” Rainbow interrupted Applejack as she dusted herself off “We were in a rush to tell you guys about this weird house that's coming into town” “What's so special about that?” asked Twilight. Rainbow was surprised by the reaction and asked “What do mean, what's so special? It's a moving house!” “I've seen houses move before, it's a complicated feat of levitation, but it's definitely doable” Twilight explained. Applejack then corrected Twilight's assumption “No, it's got nothing to do with magic, it's just moving on wheels with nopony pulling it” Twilight raised an eye brow, her interest suddenly peaked “That is weird, and you say it's coming here?” she asked. “Yep” Applejack answered “Come on ya'll, Rainbow said there's going to be some kind of show” Twilight stood up from her desk and walked to the door, then turned to see Spike standing before the dirty floor with an annoyed expression on his face “Aren't you going to come with us?” she asked. “No, I think I'm just going to stay here and... mop again” Spike replied, making his annoyed tone obvious. “Don't worry about it Spike, I'll help you clean up when I get back” Twilight said before she left with her friends. Elsewhere... Binary's home had came to a stop outside Sugarcube corner and thus was where a growing crowd began to gather. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack arrived, and were collectively disappointed by their positions at the back of the crowd. “I can't see anything” Rainbow complained. “I don't think anythings happened yet” Twilight said. “Well why don't you guys just fly over the crowd” Applejack suggested. “And leave you here to stare at the back of dozens of pony's heads, no way!” Rainbow replied. The three then noticed Pinkie Pie and Rarity approaching. “Hey girls” Pinky called, as she bounced towards them. Rarity moved at a much slower pace, as it appeared she had harmed her back somehow. “Oh my, Rarity what happened to you?” Twilight asked. Rarity groaned “Ask, Pinkie Pie” Rarity said as she shot the pink pony an annoyed glare. “Well, you know I have my Pinkie sense, right?" Pinkie began "It seems what happens when a house rolls into town is that I jump on Rarity...” Pinkie let out an awkward chuckle before saying “I landed a little too hard” “And I was currently at the spa with Fluttershy" Rarity added "The sudden crashing and yelling spooked the poor dear off, and now I have a terrible back ache” “Then why are you out here?” Rainbow asked. “I am waiting for the opportune moment to throw Pinkie into something either disgusting, or hard. I haven't decided which, and when inspiration strikes me, I want her to be in close proximity so it can be in the moment” Rarity explained. “It's going to be soooooooooooo much fun” Pinkie said, completely missing the intent of the statement. Rarity let out a groan “So does anypony actually know what all the fuss is about?” Rarity asked. The four replied in unison “No” “Well that's just grand” Rarity said sarcastically “We don't know what's going to happen, who's going to do it, or if anythings even going to happen, yet almost the entire town is out here waiting for... potentially nothing” “Well it seems like a poorly thought out plot device if you think about it like that” said Pinkie. Back inside Binary's house... Inside Binary's home, the tech adept unicorn was in a frenzy making last minute arrangements and tweaks to her inventions. Chip began to check things off on a holographic checklist “The levitation wand is at optimal energy output, the VR helmet is running at the highest video quality we have available, and the smart book prototypes are connected and ready to transmit information through our servers” “I'm so excited” Binary squealed. “You do realize, this will be your first interaction with other ponies in two thousand five hundred and ninety six days, or approximately seven years” Chip stated, trying to be as blunt as possible. Binary stopped and thought about it “It's been that long, felt more like eight or ten” she joked. Chip lowered his head and looked away from Binary, as he tried to make his words seem as caring as possible “I'm just informing you, that such sudden exposure could be dangerous, perhaps we should have begun with a smaller town, or... just go back to the hill” Binary's tone suddenly became more serious “Chip, if we're going to make the world better, then we need to be a part of it... no matter how scary it seems” Chip did not respond; the logic seemed to make sense, but he knew that it would not be that simple. "I just think you're taking it a bit too fast" Chip said. "The world's not impressed by slow... and I refuse to be slow anymore" Binary replied. Binary walked to the front door and listened to the murmurs outside. Her body began to tremble as her pessimistic side began to break through. What if they laughed, what if they rejected her, what if they simply didn't want her, what if it was total disaster... but what if it wasn't? Binary pulled a remote control from one of her many pockets and pressed one of the buttons. Outside, a cheerful horn blew and confetti shot out from the various spots on the building. A red carpet unrolled from the houses porch, and then, there was no noise, no action, no comments from the crowd. Everypony's attention had been captured by the display. Binary took in a deep breath and burst out the door, somersaulted down the carpet and came to a stop on her knees, with her forelegs stretched to the sky and a huge smile on her face. The citizens of Ponyville simply stared at the unicorn. The crowd began to whisper among themselves “Why is she just sitting there?” a stallion asked. “I don't get it” a young filly said. Binary's heart raced, her eyes darted around as she saw the shocked faces that stared back at her. She didn't know what to do, her mind had gone completely blank... she couldn't do anything, she was frozen, her only action being her shallow breath. The crowd became impatient with the lack of pay off for their patience and quickly began to leave. The group of five however took this as a chance to get a closer look at what was happening... or rather not happening. As the crowd began to dissipate, Binary's fear began to fade and she awkwardly tried to salvage her show “Wait... I have, umm... an amazing wand, that can... uh... make... do... stuff” To the crowd that remained, it seemed that the unicorn had simply made a bad sales pitch, and wasted their time. What little of the crowd that remained simply stared at Binary and a few young pony's snickered at her. All positivity left Binary's body, her smile faded, her shoulder slumped down “I'm sorry I've wasted your time” she said, in a barely audible voice. She turned and walked back to her home, and stopped at front of her door. Twilight and her friends looked at the depressed unicorn. Each of them couldn't help but relate to her situation. “Do you think we should talk to her?” Twilight asked her friends. “She does seem rather depressed” said Rarity. “I liked the part where she rolled out” Pinkie said. “We always end up doing stuff like this anyway, so I guess we might as well” said Applejack. “She seems sort of strange though” Rainbow said, only to be immediately shot with annoyed glances from the rest of group “Sorry, but she is. But I'm totally down with the whole helping her out thing” Twilight couldn't help but agree with Rainbow's statement. The unicorn did seem rather odd, almost out of place “Well, I thought all of you were strange when I first came here. Maybe she just needs somepony to talk to” The group all nodded in agreement and began to walk towards, Binary. Inside, Chip waited for Binary to enter, ready to help make things better for her and stop the sadness he knew was flowing through her... But Binary didn't come inside. Binary stood outside, and attempted to hide her tears from whoever may be watching. She suddenly began to stamp her front hooves on the ground and let out a frustrated moan. Binary had conquered her loneliness long ago, but the one thing that kept her separated from the rest of the world, was the same thing that had made her fail; her fear of the world itself. A blind fury towards herself swept over her and Binary reared her head back, then smashed her forehead onto the door with enough force to snap the end of her horn off and render her unconscious. Binary then collapsed to the ground. The group stared for a moment in disbelief of what had just happened. Applejack dashed to Binary and began fanning her with her hat. “Twilight can ya use a spell to wake her up or something?' Applejack asked. “She's unconscious, it could damage her brain if I forced her out of it” Twilight explained. “We should get her indoors” Rarity suggested. Rainbow dashed to the front door and flung it open. "Intruder!" Chip yelled before initiating a lock down protocol, shutting the door and locking the group outside. Chip ported himself to the window and looked to see the pony's crowding around Binary. Chip's body crackled and fizzed in response "What do I do, what do I do, what do I do!" Chip yelled as he frantically tried to come up with a solution. “What the heck, it closed on its own” she said as she struggled with the door "I can't get it open" Pinkie raised her hand “We should take her to Sugarcube Corner until she wakes up” she said. “Alright" Twilight began "Rarity, you go set up a spot for us to set her down in Sugarcube Corner. Rainbow, you go get a doctor. Applejack, you go find Fluttershy and see if she can help. Pinkie... don't freak her out when she wakes up” “Okey Dokey Artichokey” Pinkie said, in a serious tone. The group then headed off to do their assigned jobs. Twilight's horn began to glow as she carefully levitated Binary off the ground. She slowly walked toward Sugarcube corner, carrying Binary along with her. Chip peeked out one of the windows and watched in horror as his friend was taken away. He quickly ported his body into his main storage disc. Six thin spider like legs unfolded from the bottom of the disc, and he skittered to the door. He looked at the imposing size of the door and he quickly confirmed he could not get out that way. He then ran to one of the windowsills and began smashing into the glass. The window began to crack from the multiple strikes. Chip then stepped himself back as far as he could, then charged into the window, breaking it and inadvertently sending him flying outside, and crashing to the ground. Chip struck the ground hard, and the impact snapped off several of the discs legs, leaving him immobile. The ground around Chip became covered in a gigantic shadow. He looked up to see a seemingly giant orange filly with a spiky purple mane who nearly stepped on him. The filly took a closer look at Chip, then called to two other fillies. Chip desperately attempted to crawl away with his one intact leg, but to no avail. The two other filly's approached and joined in the inspection of the strange device. “What is it?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Don't ask me, I just found it” Scootaloo replied. Applebloom took a closer look “It's looks like a drink coaster with a pony on it” she said. Chip's body began to flicker and fade as he quickly became annoyed with the filly's who stared at him, confused at to what he even was. All of Chip's logic quickly failed him and his mind began to try and process information he did not know how to cope with, and like a computer stricken with a virus, he shut down to repair himself. The three filly's stared at the now inactive disc. “That was weird” Scootaloo said. “Should we... help it?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Maybe it's just a toy somepony dropped” Applebloom replied. “Hey, Blank Flanks” An annoying pair of voices yelled from behind the crusaders The two turned to see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon approaching. “Are you three staring at a slug or something?” Silver Spoon asked. The three attempted to ignore the pair, but they persisted. Diamond Tiara looked at the disc on the ground and asked “Is that thing yours?” the bratty filly asked. Sweetie Belle quickly whispered to her friends “If we say it's ours then she'll probably want to take it” Applebloom and Scootaloo nodded in agreement. “No, it's not ours, we don't even know what it is” Applebloom replied. “You three not owning things, and not knowing anything, that is so in character” Silver Spoon said in a mocking tone. Diamond Tiara eyed the device, and said “Well I suppose if it's not yours, then it could be mine” “You mean ours, right?” Silver Spoon asked. “Sure” Diamond Tiara said, barely paying attention to her friend. Diamond Tiara then grabbed the disc and with a smile on her face, waited for the crusaders to react. “You can't take that” Sweetie Bell said. “It doesn’t belong to you, give it back” Applebloom demanded. Scootaloo did not immediately respond, instead she simply shot, Diamond Tiara a frustrated glare. “Don't you have something to say, Scootaloser?” Diamond Tiara asked, hoping to get a rise out of the flightless filly. “Let's tackle her” Scootaloo said. Diamond Tiara's jaw dropped in shock at the response. Scootaloo took a step closer to the bratty pair. Diamond Tiara quickly ran off, as she held the disc in her mouth. Silver Spoon followed, close behind, as the Crusaders gave chase to the thieves.