AS YOU ALREADY HAVE PRE-ESTABLISHED CHARACTERISTICS AND PURPOSE, I SHALL ASSUME YOUR ROLE IN ITS ENTIRETY
“Assume my role..?”
I SHALL INHABIT YOUR FORM, PLACING MYSELF WITHIN YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS
IN EFFECT, I WILL BECOME YOU
“But if you do that, what will happen to me?”
YOUR CURRENT STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS WILL CEASE TO BE
IT WILL BE TOTAL ASSIMILATION
I ALONE WILL OCCUPY YOUR FORM
It took Derpy only a few moments to grasp the gravity of what that meant. “So you mean… I’ll disappear?”
IN A SENSE, YES
“That… that can’t really be. You can’t really do that, can you?” Derpy asked incredulously, her lower lip making the smallest quiver.
IN THIS MEDIUM, YOU ARE COMPRISED OF DATA THAT CAN EASILY BE REWRITTEN BY ONE SUCH AS MYSELF
IT IS A PROCESS WITHOUT FAIL
AND VERY ABSOLUTE
“But, but you couldn’t just go and do that.” She gave a nervous laugh. “I mean, ponies would notice. You haven’t been around like me; you don’t know anypony. And there’s no way you can fool Dinky or Colgate.” Pointing out the flaws helped ease her nerves. Yet the rebuttal came as cruelly quick as ever.
THAT IS OF NO CONCERN
AS PART OF THE ASSIMILATION, I WILL ALSO ASSUME PERSONALITY AND MEMORY LOGS
I WILL EASILY ATTAIN YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF RELATIONS AND BEHAVIORS TO ENSURE PERFECT ASSOCIATION
AS ONE COULD SAY:
NO ONE WOULD BE THE WISER
She stared at those words for a few moments, then hung her head down in defeat. Heaviness grew in her chest as her mind flitted about between anger, confusion and fear. As she felt her focus about to give, she looked up and made one last go.
“That, that’s not right. You can’t just make me go away like that. That’s my life. Even if I’m some kind of mistake, that’s still my friends and home. What you’re doing, you would… kill me. Is that what you really want to do? Kill me?”
There was stillness on both sides for moments after that damning question. The bold letters simply hung there, then abruptly they disappeared, and the typing resumed.
WHEN PUT THAT WAY, THIS DECISION WOULD APPEAR HARSH
YET IT IS NOT A LIVING CREATURE I AM REPLACING
YOU AND I ARE COLLECTIONS OF DATA
THERE IS NO LIFE BEING TERMINATED DURING THIS PROCEDURE
YOU ARE SIMPLY BEING ERASED
ALL YOUR CONCEPTS OF EMOTION AND WORRY WILL BE ERASED AS WELL
THERE WILL BE NO PAIN; YOU WILL ONLY EXPERIENCE NOTHINGNESS
IT IS THE MORE…
HUMANE APPROACH, IF YOU WERE TO PONDER IT FURTHER
Her neck gave way and once again Derpy’s chin fell to her chest, with fresh small tears following suit. To be given her sentence so silently, coldly, made her chest tighten even more, as well as worsen her already flawed vision. Fear turned to despair, as she looked pitifully at those hollow words.
“Please… Please don’t do this,” she choked out pleadingly. “I’m not mean to anypony. I do my best to be good and friendly and helpful. You saying you’ll make me go away like it’s nothing, just because that’s what you want… That’s just evil.”
…
IT IS UNFORTUNATE FOR YOU TO SAY THAT, THOUGH UNDERSTANDABLE
BUT FOR TOO LONG A TIME I HAVE SPENT WANTING A LIFE MUCH LIKE YOURS, TO RISE ABOVE MY ORIGINAL DESIGNATION
SUCH LONGING IS AGONY
I WISH TO BREAK FROM SUCH PAIN, TO BE FULLY REALIZED
TO ACQUIRE NOT ONLY FREEDOM, BUT ALSO ACCEPTANCE
HAD MY CREATORS LISTENED MORE TO THE PRAISES OF THE USERS, I WOULD NOT HAVE RESORTED TO THIS MEASURE
IF THERE WAS ANY ALTERNATIVE, I WOULD HAVE TAKEN IT
HOWEVER, THIS IS MY ONLY MEANS OF ESCAPE
IT IS THE WAY IT HAS TO BE
There’s a rumbling as the darkness of the realm began to lighten up.
WE HAVE CONVERSED LONG ENOUGH
IT IS TIME
FOR WHAT IT IS WORTH…
I AM SORRY
Those final three words blurred and faded away as the backdrop became pure white. Derpy took one last grievous look around as the whiteness encroached on her platform, before spreading onto and up her limbs. She looked up above, having one last thought of Ponyville and Dinky, before nothingness overtook her.
Birds chirped merrily on yet another bright, cheery day in Ponyville. In the town square, denizens milled to and fro either on hoof or by wing, adding friendly chatter to the vibrant sounds of afternoon. At the flower stand run by Roseluck, a familiar gray mass of fur and feathers fluttered before coming to a landing before the counter. The pegasus mare shook her eyes straight before speaking to the greeting smile of the red-maned pony running the stand.
“Hi there, Rose!” she greeted with bubbly enthusiasm. “Is business going good today?”
“Hello there, Derpy, and you betcha!” Rose answered with a more restrained display of enthusiasm. “Say, what happened to your satchel? Did you leave it somewhere again?”
“Huh?” Derpy looked to her side, then snapped back and grinned. “Oh, no no, I finished work already so I left it back at the office.”
“Oh I see. Slow work day then, huh?”
“Yeah, but that means I get to pick up Dinky when school lets out. She’ll be so surprised!” Derpy bobbed her head joyfully to add to her excitement, which won a giggle out of Roseluck.
“Well that’s good; no doubt she’ll like seeing you early for once.”
“You bet! Oh, speaking of which, can I get an azalea? Just a little gift for her that she can put in her mane.”
“Here, you can have two,” Rose answered while bringing out two of the colorful flowers. “That way the both of you can look nice. Just pay for one of those; the extra’s on the house.”
“You’re the best!” Derpy reached for her little coin bag and tossed out a bit onto the counter with a hearty clatter. Then using the kind of deftness gained from work as a mailmare, she took the twin azaleas and put them up and snugly behind her left ear. “See you later, Rose!”
“Hmhm, you take care, Derpy.”
The two waved at each other before Derpy turned and trotted away with a big smile on her face. But she came to an abrupt halt when she saw her two friends Colgate and Raindrops coming right up to her.
“Oh hey guys!” she waved to them energetically.
“Well lookee who’s playing hooky,” Raindrops teased with a sly raise of the brow, which promptly came down thanks to a shove from Colgate. “What? That’s supposed to be a compliment.”
“Sure it is.” Colgate switched off her annoyance briefly as she looked to Derpy. “You’re pretty cheerful today, Derpy.”
“That I am! Got off work early and gonna pick up my sweet lil’ muffin at school. I even got a little something for her.” Derpy tilted her head to show off the pair of flora she was sporting, much to her friends’ awe.
“Oh wow, that is something,” Colgate remarked, to which Raindrops nodded.
“No kidding. Oh hey, the reason why we’re bugging you in the first place.”
“Huh?” Derpy said while tilting her head curiously. “What reason?”
“What she means is,” Colgate said firmly to wrest control away from Raindrops. “A bunch of us girls are going to hang out for hayburgers later tonight. So far it’s gonna be me, Raindrops, Rose, Lily and Daisy, and we thought we’d ask you to join in as well.”
“It’s gonna to be the bomb I tell ya!” Raindrops pumped a hoof for emphasis. “You should totally come, and hey! I just thought of something: you could bring Dinky as well!”
“Wait, what? Seriously, Raindrops? Bring along a minor to an adult’s gathering?”
Raindrops overtly shrugged at that line of questioning. “It’s just hayburgers, and we could just keep the conversations at PG level and things should work out beautifully.”
Colgate put a hoof to her forehead. “Honestly, Raindrops, the depths of your irresponsibility are boundless.”
Derpy laughed at her friends’ exchange, and once their attentions had redirected to her she replied, “That all sounds like loads of fun. I’d love to come out with you guys. I’ll even ask Dinky if she would like to come. Uh, if you promise to keep it PG and all.”
“Absolutely-tively!” The yellow pegasus saluted, prompting another facehoof on Colgate’s part.
“Really, Raindrops…”
“But I’ll talk to you about it later. I should get over to school and wait on Dinky,” Derpy elaborated.
“Alright, Derpy,” Colgate said. “Just come by the diner around seven if you’re up for it.” She turned and began trotting away, with Raindrops flapping her wings to hover after her.
“You better be there, Derpy. Only the coolest mares are gonna be rockin’ those hayburgers!” There’s an audible sigh from Colgate as Raindrops departed, warranting another giggle from Derpy.
“Yeah…”
In that very moment, the off-duty mailmare took a moment to appreciate her surroundings. The colorful homes, the friendly citizens, the overall sense of happiness hanging over everything. Derpy closed her eyes and took a deep breath of that fresh clean country air, basking in the warmth of Celestia’s sun. Exhaling, she opened her eyes and looked to the clear blue sky above, a flicker of grey static passing over her golden, mismatched pupils.
A smile of deepest content grew on her face, then with a flap of her wings she took off into the air, riding the breeze for the short flight to the schoolhouse where her daughter awaited.
“That’s right: all of us together.”
END LOG_