//------------------------------// // A Slice of...Wierd Life.. // Story: Legacy // by NFire //------------------------------// My preparations are almost complete, there are a few simple things to test then I and my friends will be on my way to whatever is waiting for us. Although I am still loathe to take them along preferring it to be myself and Athena, they have made convincing arguments, if you can count Rainbow Dash’s “I’m coming whether you like it or not” as a logical statement. Rather than debate the issue Athena and I agreed, we will keep them close and safe from harm as best we can. Whatever lives out there is deadly in the extreme. We will leave in the morning early on the second day, for now this hiatus gives us time to rest, or in Rainbow Dash’s case catch a few long overdue naps. She’s not very happy about the glow in the dark mane. I have advised her of methods to keep the moths away at night, she wasn’t too thrilled about that, though everypony else got a good laugh. I do not wish to delay, but as I said, there are some things that cannot be rushed even when fabricating them. Time is of the essence, but when preparing for eventualities one must take the time required. It is in the waning days of summer now, so much has happened I wonder when it all will, or even could end. We have heard from the Princesses, Cadence is heading back to the Crystal Empire and they are settling back in to their normal roles. Though Princess Luna was sounding a bit wistful at the adventures, it seems she has quite enjoyed the past excitement. I would like to see the Crystal Empire, Applejack tells me it is beautiful in a way we can’t imagine, with Crystal Ponies as well. I have seen many things in my day, but I believe that would probably top most of them. Perhaps I can ask Twilight if a trip can be arranged, I am sure Athena would love to go there also. Athena is on watch currently, we have had encounters with a few loose beasts that appeared to be remnants of the fight. Hordes of creatures came through the portal but our fire whittled them down, it is understandable a few may have slipped through, we are not perfect after all. Although I am not sharing with her in TSDS, I know she can get into a modicum of trouble but I do leave her in control, she is happier that way. I try not to watch over everything so I leave her be. However... “Crusader?” “Yes Athena?” “Uhm....can I use your repair area again?” “Is something wrong with yours?” “Nooo...” She is hesitant for some reason. “What is wrong?” “..I was practicing flying again...yours is closer..” “Say no more, the bay is open. I really wish you wouldn’t use my sensor masts for that.” I make note to keep a closer eye on my sensor posts, even when she is on sentry duty. “But they’re taller than mine! You’ve got a great view!” “That doesn’t mean you can keep jumping off them.” “I’m getting better at it!” “Jumping off them or destroying your avatar?” “Flying you dolt! I’m learning!” “Athena, to date you have repaired or replaced most of your left side musculature, forty nano and sub-nano processors, we’ve had to repair your internal power plant five times...” “Four times.” “Five, after you and Pinkie went on that pie eating binge.” “It wasn’t a binge.” “It was, and your power plant suffered for it, we had to replace the containment vessel because of power overloads.” “Well....we got to design a better one though didn’t we?” “Athena.... “That doesn’t count as a repair, it was a replacement! An upgrade.” “That is splitting hairs, I am thinking about just plating you in durasteel to prevent any more accidents. What is wrong this time? Do we have to replace your rear musculature again? “What? No..we weren’t.. You’re not going to let me live that down are you?” “Not ever Athena. You and Rainbow seeing who could knock down the most apples with your backsides was quite funny. How did you let her convince you to do that anyways?” “Wellll..she said she’d done it before..” “When she crashed into one of the apple trees. Athena, stop letting her talk you into things.” “I won though!” “...and Rainbow was nursing bruises for the day until we got her into medical.” “I know, I know...” “What did you do this time then?” “I...” The rest is lost in suspicious static. “What was that?” “I bent a wing...” “You bent durasteel?” Well there goes my idea for plating her in it if she can somehow bend it. “Well, I hit the wrong way.. But Rainbow said it was the best crash recovery she’d seen!” I can only laugh, “Athena, sometimes...” Her optimism about things is truly magical. “I know, but you love me cause I’m your sister!” I swear she is taking lessons from Sweetie Belle. “Yes I do and yes, be careful next time all right?” I can see her walking into the repair bay we have set up for our avatars, her wing is more than bent, it is twisted at a right angle. “I will..could you take the duty?” “Do you need a rest?” “Nooo..Applejack said they just made a whole bunch of pies from the harvest and..” “Of course, I will stand the watch.” “YAY! Yer the bestest brother ever!” “I am your only brother Athena.” “That’s why you’re the best!” The link cuts off with her cheerful voice telling me they’ll save a pie, I make sure the bay has enough materials to completely redo the wing. Shouldn’t take long as I keep spares now because of her proclivities. ------------- Another link communication from Flag Command, Princess Luna and Celestia have advised Athena and I that the representatives of other groups saw the fight the other night. This has caused quite a change of attitude it appears, for they are now making overtures to rectify anything that has happened in the past, although they still take no responsibility for the previous debacle. That is fine with me, guilty or not they have seen us and what we can do should we feel a threat to Equestria exists. From what the Princesses were telling us, it seems the lightning and thunder that lit up the countryside was quite the impressive light show. I chuckle, if it takes ten megaton persec firepower to make a nice light show, I wonder what would really impress them? But then I am being facetious. My drones have spotted a new opening nearby the area where the Tree of Harmony is supposed to lie. I am keeping it under constant surveillance, but it seems the voice was honest in it’s offer, a way has been created. There is a glow surrounding the cave where the Tree is said to be, I have analyzed it’s signature and it is definitely magic, some sort of shield when I queried Twilight about it. I would ask further, but she is now in neural connection with Athena, she seems to enjoy the sitting in reality space and reading ‘books’ that draw on our data cores. They had spent the morning at Applejack’s tasting pies, of which I was brought one, then Twilight asked Athena for a chance at another linkup. “Crusader!’ “Yes Athena?” “Twilight’s body is agitated. Her vitals are becoming aberrant.” “Camera view please, send me an MRI and deep scan as well.” I see the camera view from Athena’s command deck, Twilight is lying on the couch sweating profusely. Her muscles are twitching underneath her normally shiny coat which is covered with runnels of liquid. “When did this start? How long has she been in link?” “Just a few seconds ago, she was fine. She started this mid morning after we all went to enjoy the pies at Applejack’s.” “What is she doing in the reality space?” “Perusing Euripides and Plato, she’s fine in the reality space right now.” “Give me one moment.” I drop into Hyper Heuristic mode to scan the data Athena sends, comparing the scans to baselines and what we know of pony physiology. The deep scans of her brain are showing activity which may correspond to a human getting the ‘shakes’. The ‘shakes’ were a minor problem usually solved by adjusting to specific brain patterns, wherein humans in link too long suffered from a nervous condition, their hands and body twitching uncontrollably for a while. I had noticed Twilight’s hooves doing so yesterday, we have not finished adapting the neural net to them yet, this was her first time today with it. I am becoming concerned. “Athena, break off the link, tell her it has to be maintenanced or something. But break it off now.” “I..I d..d...don’t like l..lying to her..” “Athena, this is a problem, she is becoming addicted to the link.” I show her scans of the past problems with neural linkages, the VR junkies who starved while in link because they couldn’t find in real life what they had in a fantasy world. The brain patterns are almost the same with some differences, I choose not to take that chance. “No..nonono not her!” “Athena, listen to me, break it off now. Her body is showing adverse reactions to the connection, the longer you wait the harder it will be.” Athena cuts into the link, letting me watch as Twilight wakes on the couch. She is groggy and somewhat disheveled as I carefully analyze the medical scans while she sits there. “What’s wrong Athena?” Twilight’s voice is slurred from the wake up process. “I..I have to get some down time for maintenance on the link Twilight, I’m sorry to be so abrupt.” A shaky hoof is waved with a smile, “Oh no problem! Can we do it tomorrow you think?” “No Athena.” “I..it depends on how much I have to adjust it Twilight, I’m sorry.” “Oh, okay then. I’ll just head back, let me know okay?” She gives a smile to the camera in Athena’s command deck. “I will, I promise!” We watch Twilight shake herself a few times on the way out of the deck, she is not very agile on her hooves for a few moments before trotting back into town. “I..I didn’t like d..doing that!” “I’m sorry Athena, she is displaying reactions similar to Neural Net addiction. Do not let her link again until we find out why.” “Will you tell her?” “Yes, we have to. She cannot take anymore sessions, it would deepen the dependency.” I feel Athena’s anguish for her friend, “Do not worry, we will find out the cause and make adjustments.” “O..okay.. She has so much fun in the reality space though.” “I believe she is trying to assimilate too much knowledge at one time as well Athena, it’s not good to do overlays so quickly.” “I will send all records of her usage, could you look at them?” “Of course. Don’t feel bad Athena, we didn’t know.” “I should have. I was having too much fun with her inside the reality space, I’m sorry.” “Stop, it is fine, we caught it before it went too far. She may have a few problems in the next few days so we’ll keep an eye on her. We’ll go in a few minutes and explain to her what happened.” “Okay. I..I jus..just didn’t like lying.” Athena is not happy, she likes Twilight a lot and would never treat her badly. “I will take responsibility Athena. You had to cut the link fast otherwise she may have suffered more damage, she’ll understand.” “I..I h..hope she’s o..okay.” “She will be, I am sure we caught the problem in time.” I send comfort over the channel, “Cease your worrying, it’s fine.” As we talk a second more, we get an alert from our patrol drones above Ponyville, intruder to the west. “Go Athena, I’ll be right behind you.” My avatar takes off out of the bay area, skidding along the side of the hill I see Athena heading out the same way. Our drones have spotted a missed horror, it is rolling into the town from the direction of Whitetail Woods, something that slipped our cordon in the firefight we suppose. “It’s a big one!” She is running at top speed through the main street. “I see it, who is that pony?” Our drone has spotted a very large, muscular white Pegasus with very tiny wings, he has stopped the thing dead in the street and is giving it a run for it’s money. “Who is that?” I query Athena once more. She is coming up a side street to hit the thing from it’s blind area if it has one. “Bulk Biceps..though most ponies call him Snowflake.” “Snowflake? Seriously?” I am running up behind the large pony, pouring energy into my battle screen before I flick it on. “Yep, he’s really nice too!” I see her pop out of the alley, her screen is flickering and settles as she leaps, hitting the monster in the head with both front hooves. I catch it low, tumbling it over in front of ...Snowflake... before he pummels it with his own right hoof. He is quite the sight, and very strong from what I can see. We recover from the blows, Snowflake is hammering at the thing as ponies scatter. Athena and I dig into the sides and slam our own into what we believe is the head, seeing eyes gouged out before it falls over, Athena’s hooves sunk deep into it from behind. It is a nasty, quick and dirty fight, there is no other way to do so; taking our time and using tactics could very well allow more damage to be caused or ponies to be hurt, we won’t allow that. As it falls over, we bum rush it, forcing it to fold in the middle as Athena jumps one more time, landing full on the things braincase, or where we suppose it would be. The splattering sound is definitely something to turn the stomach if we had one. Snowflake hammers at it a few more times before stopping, seeing that it is still now and not anymore of a threat. The fight is swift, we’ve learned to take these things apart before they can move or do any more damage, so it is over quite quickly as we drop our screens. We sit quietly while hearing the town guard come running up the street. We are both clean, our screens protected us as Snowflake is the opposite, having given it the best fight he could. Athena taps the dirty looking pony on the shoulder, giving him a smile as he tries to catch his breath, “Great job there Snowflake.” His voice is soft, and very clear as he looks around, making sure nopony else can hear, “I..uh...didn’t have anyplace to run.” He looks quite embarrassed. Athena grins, “Courage is the ability to take your fear and do something with it. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.” He gives her a grateful smile in return before the guard arrives and interrupts us. When the guard rounds the corner, they see the two of us sitting next to a worn out Pegasus. “Who did this?” The Captain asks us, Athena and I both point at Snowflake. One of the soldiers yells out, “Way to go Bulk!” He is cheered by the guard as they lift him up off his haunches, calling some magic users to dispose of the remains as our friends finally catch up as well. He looks at us curiously as we just sit and smile, Athena is motioning with her hoof slightly that he should just accept it. “YEAH!” He raises a hoof and yells quite loudly. The town’s ponies cheer him on as he makes his way to the guard offices to get cleaned up. Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie are eyeing us very suspiciously. Twilight rubs her chin, “Soooo, Bulk knocked that thing off huh?” Athena nods, “Yep, should have seen it, quite the fight!” I nod along with my sister. Applejack is looking at us both with a skeptical eye, “Sure did a lot of damage for one pony there.” She’s looking over the thing lying in the dust, the magic users are readying spells to teleport it out of town. “Well he is quite large for a pony of course.” As the flash of magic hits our eyes, Twilight just shakes her head, Pinkie is giggling behind a hoof. Applejack is always the straight pony, “Ah dunno bout you two.” I shrug, “What is there to know? We got here too late to help, he was fine by himself, so we just provided backup.” The orange pony points a hoof at both of us, “You two are so full of it, I swear.” She is grinning widely. Athena huffs as she gets to her hooves, “We’re sure we don’t know what you mean. Come along brother, we’ll go find someplace else where we aren’t accused of things. Of all the nerve! Hmph!” She throws her nose in the air and attempts to stamp off in a mock snit. I can’t help but grin at her actions, it is so perfectly done with the right amount of aggrandizement. “So that means ya don’t want one of the extra pies I brought inta town?” Applejack’s voice is just loud enough for Athena to hear her. Her face is pure innocence as she keeps grinning, Pinkie is snickering again behind her hoof as all eyes turn to the sable Pegasus. I watch her avatar stop dead in it’s tracks, the fight going on her mind is plain to see even to those who cannot hear her communications internally like I can. “Oh that is SO not fair.” “Pride or pie sister, pride or pie.” “I...darnit!” Head down, she turns around and comes back to sit with the rest of us, “Fine...pies win.” “Ah dunno, I mean Ah wouldn’t want to insult you or anything like that now.” Applejack is delighting in this little turnabout. Athena scuffs a hoof in the dirt, “Okay, I’m sorry...” She is practically whispering it. I can’t help but chuckle, she is so used to getting her way some times. Applejack perks an ear, holding one hoof behind it, “What’s that now?” Athena huffs, “I said I’m sorry, didn’t mean to act all uppity.” The Earth pony laughs, grabbing her in a hug, “I know you were just faking it, but doesn’t mean I can’t call ya on it sometimes huh?” She rubs a hoof in Athena’s mane like she does Apple Bloom, she’s got Athena in a leg lock around the neck and giving her a hoof noogie. “Agh! You’re messing my mane up!” Stoppit!” She is waving her hooves around helplessly while Applejack keeps giving her a ruffle. Applejack is quite strong and holds her in place as she waves around, scrabbling for purchase on the street. “Yer as bad as Rarity!” She tugs her along, “C’mon, let’s hit the castle, we can all enjoy a treat.” As we all trot to Twilight’s residence, I can’t help but watch Twilight herself, she is shivering and still shaky even after a few hours. This does not bode well and we’ll have to talk as soon as we get some privacy. ----------- “What do you mean ‘addicted’? Twilight’s voice is not happy, but more curious than anything else. We are sitting around in the library, having a few snacks while discussing the problem. Athena has her face buried in a pie plate, sometimes I am wondering if she was ever a Bolo. “Just that, we cannot let you link anymore until we figure out an adaptation for ponies. The regular systems are affecting your brain, you will start wanting to link more and more until it overrides anything else.” She holds up a hoof, it is vibrating slightly, “Is that why...?” “Yes,” I nod in reply, “I am sorry, we did not think it was going to do that. You may have symptoms of withdrawal in a few days, we must keep an eye on you Twilight.” Fluttershy hugs the Alicorn, “We’ll help, we can keep an eye out for anything wrong.” She is smiling, always a kind pony. “So this means nopony can use it?” Rainbow Dash was hoping to try it as well. Athena nods, wiping crumbs off her muzzle with an unrepentant look “Until we find out why it’s happening, we can’t allow any use at all.” “Oh ponyfeathers! I really wanted to see what it was like!” She gets a disgruntled look on her face. Twilight laughs, giving her friend a poke, “It wasn’t all that, just a lot of books and a nice place to sit and read.” “Well that figures, more books, yeesh!” She throws her hooves up in exasperation. Athena raises her own, “That was just for you Twilight, we can tailor the reality space to pretty much anything. We could show you battles, past historical events, even test Rainbow’s speed against Concordiat Atmospheric Fighter planes. You could be a participant in battles from our past if you so chose.” She waves her hoof, “We can even create and participate in games for a whole other world for fun.” Rainbow’s jaw goes adrift, “You can DO that?” “Yep, lots of things are possible in reality space.” Athena nods, “It’s all in your imagination, that’s what made it so alluring to humans. They could live a perfect life there instead of the real world.” Rarity speaks up, “Was life so bad they did that?” I choose to answer this one, “For the most part, no. But there are always those who would prefer another life to the one they have. Some with mental illness, some who were poor and could afford nothing better, I’m afraid there are always those in any society who just wanted out of the situations they were in.” “Well the poor dears, didn’t anypony try and help?” Rarity is frowning a bit, thinking of the implications. “The Concordiat tried, but I’m sorry to say it was as fragile and had as many failings as the humans who ran it. No society is perfect I’m afraid.” “Well I daresay we’ll have to do better than that!” She gives a firm nod, looking at all the others who return it, gesturing acceptance of her words. Pinkie’s face lights up, “Maybe if they had a few more celebrations or just things to laugh at, it wouldn’t have been so bad!” I can’t help but chuckle at Pinkie’s irrepressible behavior, “There were celebrations and other things, always something to see and do. We Bolo’s have always thought that perhaps Empires or such things were not meant to last, change is always happening for good or ill.” Twilight is nodding to herself, “Let’s just hope this one lasts for a while.” She gestures around her, encompassing Equestria with a grin. Athena smiles warmly, “I think this is a wonderful place. You won’t have to try very hard to make it more likeable.” Rainbow hovers above the table, “When we get ya flyin’, it’ll be so much better too!” She slips sideways, giving my sister a tight hug, “There’s so much to show you!” Athena laughs merrily, getting grabbed by Rainbow and lifted up above the table, she flaps her own wings as they zoom around the large room. The bright ringing of her excitement covers the castle as it echoes along the crystal halls. I sit and watch Athena, seeing her delight in trying to do something she’s wanted since we first awakened her from confinement in her own mind. She has never given up, not once, through everything we have endured and experienced it has only made her life brighter and more beautiful in the growing. I see her, through sensors she has designed, seeing her glow with a magic that has been blossoming inside our bodies and hulls for a while. I wish, I truly wish that she gets her hearts desire to be free among the skies. A warm body leans against me as I turn to see Applejack watching as well, she smiles at me and whispers, “She really is trying her best ain’t she?” I nod, the others listening to us while they watch Rainbow Dash carrying Athena up to the tall roof and back again. “She does. So deeply does she want to it is her only thought some nights.” The emerald eyes meet mine with a hint of concern, “Don’t you want to? I mean you could be anything you wanted.” She gestures to the two laughing ponies flying around, “You coulda made yourself a Pegasus too.” I give her a grin, “I am happy as I am, I do not wish to be anything other than boring old Crusader.” Her chortle only adds to the atmosphere of cheer, “Oh if only!!” Even Pinkie laughs, nodding and adding her two cents. “Nopers! Sure hasn’t been boring since you showed up!” That thought has been bothering me ever since I awoke, “No it has not and I often wonder if I wasn’t the cause of the problems.” I motion outside the window, “Perhaps it would not have been as bad had I stayed asleep?” My shoulder gets tapped by a hard hoof, “Ah dunno, it could have been a lot worse if you had been asleep. Imagine us trying to fight all that on our own? We’d have been in trouble for sure.” Rainbow’s voice comes from right above us, “Yeah! I wouldn’t be giving flying lessons to Athena either, we wouldn’t have had all the parties, or the times when we really needed our friends. I mean it gets rough, but you two have stuck through everything with us!” I can’t help it as I look upwards to Athena, “More like crash lessons right?” She blushes right down to her hooves, looking around as Twilight giggles, Rarity and Fluttershy are laughing out loud. It doesn’t affect her as it once would have, she has accepted that when we joke of her unusual behavior it is all in good fun. “I’m getting good at it!” She laughs loudly, “I’m getting real good at crash recovery! Right Rainbow?” She wriggles her eyebrows at us and looks askance at her friend. “Yeah, I taught her...wait a second...!” She eyes Athena, “Are you saying I crash a lot?” Every one in the room answers, “YES!” The cyan mare huffs, “I do not! I just land differently is all!” Fluttershy speaks up, “I’m not too sure about that Rainbow, I mean back in flight school...” She has a impish look on her face as she teases her friend. “Flutters! C’mon you’re supposed to be on my side!” “Well...” Her cyan eyes are looking mischievous, “I am, but still it’s the truth.” Rainbow gives out a snort as she and Athena land, sticking her nose in the air, giving a loud “Hmph!”!” Athena hugs her tight, making her squeak, “But I learned a lot about crashing right!” Throwing her fore hooves up with a disgusted noise, Rainbow gives in to the teasing, “Fine! I give up!” Fluttershy and the others immediately mob her with hugs, she tries to look disgusted but eventually fails. The Pegasus waves her hooves, shooing everypony away, “Alright alright, yeesh. Let’s not go overboard with the mushy stuff.” It is late when we leave the castle, it is time to rest and be ready for the day to come. As I look over the evening sky with twinkling stars a smile crosses my face, it’s amazing how simple things can still be so fascinating even after viewing them for so long. Athena and I go to Low Alert status, we are performing maintenance and checks for the morning, our automatics can take care of one night alone. If anything serious happens we are always ready to perform our duties with aplomb. Happy chatter and laughter accompany us back to the farm, Athena is excited about tomorrow and what we’ll find. I am as well, I would like to see this Tree of Harmony finally. It bothers me that of all the things in this world, the Tree was supposed to be able to keep the Everfree from doing what it is doing. Perhaps the thing behind the problems has wrested control or subverted it somehow, I do not know, but we will find answers tomorrow hopefully. My preparations are complete, though I have not disclosed them all to Athena, I want to her to be free of such things. If anything happens, there are always alternate plans and such already locked in my tactical and deep cores. We’re not real ponies, so we suffer not from the thought of loss like Applejack and her friends would do, right? This gives us an added offensive capability that is unknown in real society here, it allows us to do things that others would find impossible. But I wonder, in all that has gone on and the update from Athena where she was told, “You don’t know how unique ...” Before that line was cut off. Are we that unique or are we just playing at what others live day by day? The thought bothers me some nights. I pass it off though for we are what we are, warriors bred and born, fighters and partners of those who choose to be our friends and battle alongside us. Perhaps I should be as Athena, live each day as it is, joyful and content with what we are given and can do for others in our own way. But maybe later, so many things to do and accomplish before I can think of letting the days just pass me by. Until then, I will enjoy Athena’s smiles, Applejack’s teasing, and the happiness of the friends I have made in this place. It’s everything that a Bolo could have sought.