//------------------------------// // Wish Weaver - Chapter 7: New risks, new discoveries. // Story: Wish Weaver // by Limescale //------------------------------// My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Wish Weaver : Chapter 7 New risks, new discoveries. In the universe there were a set number of laws. Some laws governed the orbital trajectory of planets, some dictated the lifespan of a star, and some seemed to have been put into place purely to mess with those who called the cosmos home. One such law was the Law of Murphy, stating that if anything COULD go wrong, it WOULD. Who Murphy was, the majority of the universe couldn’t say, other than he clearly must have been one of the most sadistic bastards to ever disgrace the stars. It was his standing that there always be a hiccup or an unexpected twist in any given plan that would then rear its ugly head at precisely the worst possible moment. For the pink mare known as Pinkie Pie, such had unfortunately now befallen. Having ditched her previous plans for her new friend’s introductory party, the earth pony had been lulled into a false sense of relief. Following the events of the previous day where things had come to a head concerning Equinox’s value and use to the Mane Six, she felt it best to just step back and let things take their own course. She’d gone to bed, had a good night’s sleep, and awoken confident that all would turn out just fine. And then, then over the course of breakfast, her friend, Fluttershy, had voiced the question that now had her in a panic: namely just who besides she and her friends were going to be attending this monumental event? “Okay, uh, I need to contact Mayor Mare, she’s pretty essential, also the Cakes, they’ll never forgive me otherwise.” Pinkie Pie frantically scribbled names onto a sheet of paper with one hoof, while she flicked through her address book with the other. “Uhhh…Lotus and Aloe will be needed at the spa…unless I volunteer to cover for them…no, no, that won’t work. Nurse Redheart only has alternate days off from the practice. Cloud Chaser is still at the Academy….oooooh how could I have forgotten about this till now???” The pink mare groaned and face planted onto her list, getting a nice smearing of wet ink for her troubles. - Is something wrong, Entertainer Pinkie Pie?- The earth pony rose from her stupor to see the very being she’d been working so hard to promote, freshly back from her morning patrol and looking very concerned indeed. “Oh Equinox, it’s horrible. I just realized that in spite of all my planning for your party I clean forgot about whom I was going to invite. I’ve been searching through my contacts all morning, but so far I’ve barely come up with anyone, and your party is tomorrow!” The mare slumped back and covered her face with her hooves. Equinox politely studied what few names were still legible on the paper, then looked to the address book. - Do you fear that my previous encounter with the locals may have alienated them to seeing me? - Pinkie Pie shook her head. “No, no, nothing like that. It’s more…well…you don’t know anyone around here aside from us, and I so want this to be a smash hit for you. I’m at a complete loss for who should be present to make that happen.” The robot alicorn nodded, then she perked her head as a thought cropped up. - Understood. May I suggest a possible course of action to rectify this?- Pinkie Pie cautiously looked over the tips of her hooves. - You state the valid fact that my social circle is negligible, yet despite running through the names of those I have met I am at a loss as to who is considered a worthwhile contact and also how should I approach them. – Equinox tapped the address book. – I have thus come up with the following solution: you will list those whom you deem would be interested in meeting me, and I will deliver the invitations to them myself. This will allow for an ideal opportunity to introduce myself and get to know the local populace on a more personal level. - Pinkie Pie’s hooves fell to the floor, her surprise at hearing such a logical and simple solution having dashed away all her panic. “That….that is a brilliant idea, Equinox! Oooh it’ll be perfect! I just need to write out a few dozen cards and get you some addresses!” The pink mare charged out of her little study like a rocket, returning seconds latter dragging a huge box filled with stationary. “Okay, I’ll keep the list to those who’ve at least seen you around, and those who’re used to regularly seeing new faces. The rest I’ll hand over to Derpy Hooves to be delivered with today’s mail. Ooooh, this is going to be so awesome!” Pinkie Pie hurriedly began composing invitations, her hooves moving in a blur as she scribbled out card after card. Equinox quietly watched with a sense of subtle awkwardness. - I could assist you with this, if there is urgency…- She reached for the stationary, but Pinkie Pie quickly reached out to stop her. “No, no, let’s not have a repeat of what just happened. This is something I need to do on my own. Consider it my penance for being so careless towards you before.” Though she still looked unconvinced, Equinox withdrew her hoof and nodded. -Very well, I shall return to my patrols until you are ready. – She said while heading for the door. – Perhaps I shall ponder how else I can make you all pay me back for my servitude to you.- Pinkie Pie stopped dead in her scribbling. - That is a joke. – Equinox soothed. Pinkie Pie nodded in trepidation. “Think we need to work on that a bit more…” She said while resuming her scribbling. *** “It’s not far now, just past these few trees and we’ll be there.” Apple Bloom said as she and Equinox found themselves travelling through the Everfree Forest a second time. - While I appreciate your accompanying me on this venture, can you accurately confirm this path will not endanger us as the one we took yesterday, Scholar Apple Bloom?- Equinox cautiously scanned the terrain, her eyes zooming in whenever she spotted any disturbance amidst the foliage. “Sure thing, Equinox. Ah walk this way to Zecora’s place all the time.” The little foal replied, though this didn’t seem to do much towards assuring her companion. “’Sides, considerin’ how yew took down that ursa major yesterday, Ah’m feelin' pretty safe so long as yer around.” At any other time such a show of trust and support would’ve come off as quite touching. Sadly this was one such occasion where the opposite took effect as Equinox only looked more concerned. - That…also is an issue I wish to speak with you about. Last night I attempted to test the systems I demonstrated in my battle, and as I feared they remained offline. Despite my best efforts it appears that in order to utilize my higher functions I have no choice but to deliberately place myself in danger so my emergency override protocol will activate them for me. - Apple Bloom cocked her head as Equinox dipped hers. - In regards to the talent show we have been working on, I can confirm that simple tricks such as hoop jumping and tests of strength will be possible, however, there is potentially so much more I could show off, if only I could figure out how to bypass my damaged circuits. - Equinox looked at her hooves as if disappointed in their shiny, smooth texture. – What’s more, while Princess Twilight has assured me that it is a moot point, the fact that I cannot use magic despite being of the alicorn status still bothers me. It is as if I could be so much greater an asset, if only I wasn’t so broken. - Such lament seemed to strike a chord with the little foal. She closed her eyes in sympathy and reached out to pat Equinox on her leg. “Oh you don’t need to worry about the magic part. As much as it gets hyped up, Ah found it ain’t quite the fix all solution to every one of life’s problems. “ -How so?- Equinox asked in curiosity. Apple Bloom blushed and gestured to her flank. “Well ye’ll notice how Ah don’t have a cutie mark yet? Ah tried to fix that once with some of Zecora’s spells. It ended up giving me a disease called ‘cutie-pox’ that made things a total nightmare for me, till Zecora was able to cure it. Certainly taught me a lesson about bein’ more patient.” Apple Bloom glanced to her friend’s flank and hmmed. “On that actually, do yew know what yer cutie mark indicates? That might help yew understand how to use yer skills.” Looking to the circle with the three intersecting lines of binary, Equinox whirred softly and hung her head again. - I regret that, like most other aspects of myself, remains a mystery. There is no salvageable data available as to what its significance could possibly be. - A very awkward and uncomfortable silence fell upon the dark forest path. Apple Bloom quietly chided herself for bringing up a sensitive topic; while Equinox summoned her visor and began searching what little information she’d managed to recover from her fried memory. “Well…um….” The little foal struggled for a way to break the ice again. “There must be somethin’ yew can do to jog yer memory. Like when yew and Ah played with mah hoop?” - There is…but as stated, it would require putting myself at risk. I will have to come up with a way that such can be done, while remaining in a relatively safe environment where I will not incur further damage. - Apple Bloom couldn’t think of any worthwhile suggestions for that and so the two resumed their silence, until something caught Equinox’s attention and she held out a hoof to stop her friend. - Wait, I have detected something. - She raised her nose and sniffed at the air. – There is a rather pungent and foul odor on the air, one that I did not detect before.- Taking a sniff, Apple Bloom felt her spine go cold as she also sensed that something well and truly did stink, and what’s worse, it was very close by. “It smells like…timberwolves!” She shuddered. “Oh no, they usually don’t come this far outta the forest!” Equinox promptly pulled up the article she’d gleaned from Twilight’s books and studied what was known on the species. As she read she felt her circuits sizzle again as an idea took root. It was a horrible one to consider, but maybe, just maybe, if she played this right, it could yield some very favorable results. “We gotta make haste to Zecora’s hut!” Apple Bloom protested. -Indeed, but I sense they will be alerted to our presence if we were to run. I believe I have an alternate solution. – Equinox looked down at her friend and steeled her hooves. – Remain here, Scholar Apple Bloom, I’m going to see if I can drive them off. – Understandably, Apple Bloom pondered if the robot had lost a few screws. “Drive them off? Yew can’t do that!” She protested. Equinox nodded. - Your point is valid, however, by the general expectations of ponies I should not have been able to triumph over the ursa major either. As such, I have calculated the risk involved, and I believe this may be a viable environment to test myself in. - Hearing her own argument thrown back at her like that made Apple Bloom reconsider, then seriously regret having voiced anything about helping the mecha-pony’s memory. “Equinox, please, yew can’t….” She whispered as the robot folded up her wings and carefully stepped into the brush. “Can yew?” Equinox lowered her stature into the tall grass, carefully sneaking though it as the fetid smell grew worse. She empathized with her friends’ concern, but at the same time, if there was ever an opportunity to really see if she could amend the flaws in her programming this was definitely it. If her suspicions were correct, she should be able to study how her body reacted to the danger, and which of her systems were kicked into gear to combat it. And then again, if nothing happened and she was discovered…well, Zecora’s hut was nearby. She and Apple Bloom could always just run like heck anyway. Pulling the grass in front of her down, Equinox halted in her tracks. Before her a small pack of unearthly entities were circling around a fresh kill. As their name suggested their bodies were indeed composed of twigs, logs and leaves, all fashioned to resemble a roughly lupine anatomy. Their eyes glowed with an essence of wild hunger, and with every breath they expelled more of the foul smelling vapor into the air. Settling onto her haunches, Equinox remained still. Now she really was in the thick of it again, and if her systems were going to do anything about it then time was of the essence. She watched as the wooden wolves sniffed and licked at their prey, giving it a few testing bites to make sure it was really dead. They settled into their meal with nary a hint that they were aware that a new arrival was watching them from only a few feet away. Just as well really, because to Equinox’s great concern nothing was happening so far. She felt no buzzing in her mind, nor saw any ghostly images flash before her eyes. The metal alicorn now had to consider that her worse case scenario was on the verge of coming true, and that if she didn’t get away from these wolves she was going to be in serious trouble! With a very careful shuffle motion, Equinox shifted her body back in the direction she’d come from, planning to turn herself around then leave the wolves to their food. Unfortunately she missed the fallen tree branch that promptly betrayed her presence with a loud SNAP! Instantly the sounds of munching and crunching stopped, and all attention turned to the now frozen alicorn. One of the wolves rose from its spot and walked toward her, while Equinox frantically put together two new plans: one to run and regroup with Apple Bloom and one to attack should the wolves cut her off. The wooden beast drew closer to her spot, teeth bared as it began to sniff among the grass for what had disturbed its lunch time. Equinox primed her servos, prepped to execute… …and suddenly she felt the buzzing on her mind! Just as the wolf poked its head through the grass, her body cloaked itself leaving the lupine staring at what appeared to be an empty patch of grass. Now confused that its search had turned up nothing, the timberwolf began to sniff anew. There was something faint on the air, but it could not determine what no matter how hard it smelled. Directly in front of it, Equinox remained still. Even if she was now invisible to its eyes, the beast had already displayed that it had a sharp set of ears as well. Any movement she made would certainly give away her position and then she’d again be in trouble. Unfortunately, remaining where she was presented its own problems as the wolf could also accidentally bump into her, then it would again know something was up. Frantically trying to decide what to do, Equinox watched as the wolf’s tubular muzzle loomed closer, and closer. Another inch, and it would make contact with her nose and then….well, then would have to wait as the wolf opened its maw and exhaled a noxious cloud of breath right in her face. Had she had a stomach, Equinox would probably have puked her guts out right there. The smell was worse than rotting fish and old moldy cheese combined. It stank like the very Pit itself, and what’s worse, it was triggering another buzzing sensation in the mecha-pony’s brain. Pressing her hooves into the ground, Equinox told herself she would not react. The madness of these data-echoes would have to be bottled up this one time if she wanted to remain functional. ➢ ANALYZING SCENT…. ➢ ANALYSIS COMPLETED. REPLICATING…. ➢ ENGAGING RESPIRATORY MIMICRY SYSTEMS. Equinox suddenly had the overpowering urge to breathe. Quite an unusual sensation seeing as such was not vital to her continued survival. Nevertheless she slowly sucked in air as quietly as she could, then let it out in a great big whoosh. To both her and the timberwolf’s shock, her breath smelled just as foul. The logged lupine promptly backed away, raising its head and howling for its brethren. This was not a good sign, to smell another wolf without being able to see it anywhere. Three more heads poked themselves into the brush, and Equinox now had to decide if the time had come to fight or flee. Unfortunately she never got the chance to make a decision as the howling of the wolves brought another bout of buzzing in her mind. ➢ ANALYZING SOUND….. ➢ ANALYSIS COMPLETED. REPLICATING…. ➢ ENGAGING VOCAL MIMICRY SYSTEMS. Now, as suicidal as it sounded, Equinox had to howl. Not just to join in with the four wolves surrounding her, but to also upstage them. Her throat whirred with the demand to let out the loudest, most terrifying howl she could muster, and without a second thought, the metal alicorn threw her head back and let loose. Everything within a five mile radius got the scare of their lives as they heard what sounded like the biggest timberwolf ever announcing its presence. For the lupines around the source, well, suddenly they found they weren’t feeling all that hungry anymore. If a wolf big enough to smell that bad and howl that loud was nearby, they had to make tracks, lest it challenge them for being in its territory. Whimpering their submission, the wooden lupines turned and ran for the hills, leaving Equinox to stare in slack jawed amazement at what she’d just accomplished. Presently she felt herself relax and looked down to see her body had returned to a visible stat. With grim preparation she blew upward towards her nostrils and smelled that her breath had lost the foul odor as well. Her higher functions had shut down again, but at the very least, she now had some viable results to study and see if there was a work around. Feeling that odd sense of pride that her little test had been successful, the silver alicorn turned back the way she came, and stopped again at seeing a very amazed foal standing behind her. - Scholar Apple Bloom…I believe I requested that you stay on the path.- She commented, bringing her friend to shake her head that she was yet again missing the point. “Yew didn’t come back so Ah got worried. Ah followed your tracks and saw…well…that.” With a snort, the foal promptly beamed like the sun. “First the ursa major, now this. Yer like a superpony, Equinox!” The robot alicorn blinked then hung her head as if now realizing she had yet again defied expectations, and had been a fool enough to not acknowledge it. - I only did what my systems dictated. – She said, much to the foal’s amusement. “Come on, we gotta tell Zecora about this!” Apple Bloom replied before taking off on the last leg to the zebra’s hut.