//------------------------------// // [Marvel] // Story: [Mainframe] // by RidiculousPony //------------------------------// “When a distinguished but elderly scholar states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.” On the southwest edge of Equestria, on the fringe of Celestia’s influence, the TerraSalva mining operation ran at full capacity. The current expedition followed a profitable vein of gold when an Earth Pony miner’s pick broke into a large chamber. “Hey, boss! Y’all gonna want to see this.” “What now? This better not be another joke comparing some rock you found to somepony’s mother.” “No ma’am. This’n is serious. I found, like, a cave. But it has words ‘n things on the walls.” “Huh? Step aside. Lemme see.” The Unicorn foremare leaned in and shined her headlamp into the opening. The natural cave walls had been covered from floor to ceiling in crude etchings and pictographs. Skeletons of long-dead ponies littered the room, some still clutching chisels with their teeth. Whoo-wee! she whistled. “Yup, this is above our pay-grade, fellas. Everypony back off. I’m closing this branch off until we get new orders from the big-wigs.” She turned away and ushered the others out of the passage. Behind her, in the darkness of the cavern, fragments of pale blue light flickered to life. For a moment they illuminated a towering shape in the center of the room, then the room went dark again. Three months later, an unmarked train arrived in Canterlot in the middle of the night. Two Royal Guards escorted an elderly dark-blue Unicorn to the station. “Why was it scheduled to arrive so late at night?” Blue Moon whined. “I’m too old for this.” A Pegasus guard replied, “For security. We had to shut down the station while we unload the… Object. It was better now than when ponies actually needed to use the station.” “Oh, very well. Though I doubt this thing needs that much security. I’m the premiere expert on primitive societies, and they are just that: primitive. I bet it’s some savage king’s attempt at a throne or—” He cut off when he saw the scale of the tarp-covered Object. A crane had lifted it from the train and eight burly Earth Ponies maneuvered it into place on a large cart. Each dimension of the massive rectangular block was twice that of the largest Earth Pony porter. By the trouble it was giving the porters, it appeared to weigh several tons. “Huh.” Blue Moon was speechless. Once the Object settled, he approached the cart. Almost immediately, a blue light emanated from under the tarp. Blue Moon and the porters leapt back, startled by the unexpected light. The Pegasus guard spoke up, “The mining company said that it would do that whenever a Unicorn gets near. Pay it no mind. Let’s get a move on. I got another shift in a few hours and I want to get some sleep first.” All eight porters strapped themselves into harnesses and pulled. They strained against the weight until the cart finally crept up the hill toward the castle. “I guess I’m walking,” Blue Moon muttered. He had hoped to ride on the cart but he doubted they could handle any more weight. “Of course I’m upset! After four months of research, we have nothing to show for it.” Blue Moon gestured at the walls of the room, covered in notes and formulas. “Want to hear the sum of all of our efforts? ‘It glows when a Unicorn is near.’ The miners figured that one out on the first day! For all I know, it’s just an elaborate night-light.” He ran a hoof through his thinning white hair and calmed himself. He bowed deeply. “I’m sorry, Princess, for my anger and my failure. It is impossible to learn anything more from that artifact. I’m withdrawing from the project.” Princess Celestia smiled warmly. “There’s no need to apologize, Blue Moon. There was never any guarantee that there would be anything to learn in the first place. Thank you for your efforts so far, but I have one favor to ask of you.” Blue Moon tilted his head. “Of course, Princess. I suspect you want an expense report? I’d understand if you wanted me to hoof some of the bill for this failure…” “Oh, no, nothing like that,” Celestia tittered. “I just want you to be available as a consultant, just part-time, for any future researchers that have questions. In particular, I’d like you to lend your experience to my former student Twilight Sparkle. She’ll be arriving tomorrow to join the research team.” “Omigosh, omigosh! I’m so excited!” Twilight Sparkle enthused. “We know, sugarcube. Now can ya please stop flappin’ around above our heads? Yer actin’ a little ‘Rainbow Dash’ at the moment,” said Applejack, unenthused. Rainbow Dash bristled. “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean!? It’s totally cool to show your excitement sometimes.” Rarity raised a hoof. “I believe Applejack’s qualm, and my own, is with how Twilight is showing her excitement by flying around inside a train.” She looked up at Twilight Sparkle. “Please settle down, dear. We’re almost to Canterlot and there wouldn’t be enough time to fix my mane if your flying musses it up.” Twilight sat down in her seat but continued to wiggle and fidget for the rest of the ride. “While you three are merely making a day trip of this, I am going to be lead researcher on a project. Lead. Researcher. This is huge!” “Yes, and we are all very proud of you. Don’t forget to call us if you want any emotional support,” Rarity said, then quietly added, “I’d love an excuse to visit Canterlot again…” After the train arrived in Canterlot, the four ponies stopped at a small cafe for lunch before going their separate ways. “It’sh sho lucky tha’ old researcha guy left,” Rainbow Dash said over a half-chewed bite of sandwich. Thankfully, she swallowed before continuing, “I bet some young blood is what that project needed all along.” Twilight’s perpetual grin widened. “I know! Not to shine my own horn, but I bet I can make some serious progress on whatever this project is before I go to sleep tonight.” At the entrance to the castle, Twilight met the curmudgeonly Blue Moon and he guided her down winding hallways to the secure research lab deep under Canterlot Castle. “As you can see, this research is being kept secret. Do not tell your friends, do not talk about it outside of the lab, and do not tell the media. I can’t believe I have to say that, but kids these days have no concept of discretion.” In the lab, she met the assistant researchers. Turquoise Star was a Unicorn stallion with a coat and mane matching his name, Ginseng Rose was a rare Earth Pony scholar who had a green mane and dusky-pink coat, and Cobalt Thorn was a pale blue Unicorn with a dark mane who was far scrawnier than his name suggested. “We get to be on the forefront of discovery, to be part of something larger than ourselves. This is the best day ever!” Twilight beamed. Turquoise whispered to the Cobalt and Ginseng, “Guys, this is the Princess Twilight Sparkle. The Element of Magic! We’ll have the secrets of the Object unraveled in no time.” “Contain yourself, Turq. We won’t get anything done with you fawning over her all the time,” Ginseng said. Twilight didn’t hear their remarks. She spotted the Object in the corner of the lab and was drawn to it. It was made of a rough slate-colored material, identifiable as neither metal nor stone, with every corner a precise right angle. It stood over eight feet tall and wide and twelve deep. The entire surface was covered in runes indented into the surface and each one glowed with unnatural blue light. She touched a hoof to one and it brightened further from the contact. Even as the light changed, not a single sound was made by the Object. For hours she pored over the research notes and transcriptions of the runes. They were truly unlike anything she had ever seen. She could find no parallels or similarities to any known languages or spell-forms. The rest of the team went home for the evening but Twilight remained, still eager to study the mysterious Object. “Who made this thing? What civilization could have managed something of this scale, this precision, yet leave no other trace in history?” she wondered aloud. The Object offered her no reply and its runes continued to shine with the same familiar blue light. The soft glow and the quiet ticking of the clock were relaxing and Twilight was exhausted by her busy day. Her head drooped more and more until it touched the table and she quickly fell asleep.