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// Phase One: Deployment 
// Story: A̶r̶t̶i̶f̶i̶c̶i̶a̶l̶ Intelligence 
// by chillbook1 
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	The plan was simple. We would take the video, infiltrate Canterlot Castle, and publish it as widely as Equinely possible. Once it’s seen, Regal will have two options, those being A) she resign right then and there, or B) acknowledge that somepony, some place, had managed to doctor this video, slipped it past CCiOS’ firewall, and cause some questions about how perfect her perfect system really was. This plan would solve literally every single problem I have. The destruction of CCiOS, the failure of Aitselec, the freedom from Celestia’s inevitable attack. 

The plan was impossible. We would have to take the video, bring it to Canterlot Castle, and publish it. If I got caught, I would have two options, those being A) I run to avoid capture and get charged with resisting arrest on top of my felony fountain, or B) I wipe as much of CCiOS’ data as I could and the 3MB of data missing would prove exactly how perfect Regal’s perfect system was. This plan would complicate literally every problem I have. The tyranny of CCiOS, the continued success of Aitselec, the freedom from Celestia’s inevitable attack.

Well, it wasn’t all bad.

“Explain to me again why we have to go all the way back to Canterlot,” said RD, for probably the fifth time since we left Las Pegasus. After a mere day and a half in Sin City, we picked up some parts and headed back out. Next stop: Canterlot City. Well, technically, our next stop was Vanhoover, then Cloudsdale, Neighagra Falls, Fillydelphia, Baltimare, Ponyville, and then Canterlot City. Some of these stops were for supplies that I found out we could only get there. Others were to throw Regal off my trail.

“For tha love of all things holy,” said Aj, shaking her head. “Don’t y’all listen ta nothin?”

“Our plan only works in Canterlot City,” I explained yet again. “For several reasons. Since we need to publish the video from the inside, so people will buy it, our only two options are to infiltrate a backdoor remotely, or use one of their own computers.”

“That first one sounds way better,” chimed RD. I heard Twi roll over in bed, though not as loudly now that I did some maintenance on her. She got up, and explained the situation in a way that was probably better than “shit won’t work”.

“From our current location, I’d have to travel 2,374.888888888889 miles to get to the CCiOS server,” she said. “As I don’t have the CCiOS codes, I’d have to work through approximately one million firewalls. That in of itself wouldn’t take very long. However, I also have to walk back out, past the firewalls again, and back here. This is not a one time trip.”

“How many times would you have to do it?” I asked, mostly for RD’s benefit.

“Constantly, until the video is uploaded, which can take up to sixty seconds.”

“That doesn’t sound too hard,” said RD. “Lemme go, I can probably do it in thirty.” That was probably true, but it still wasn’t good enough.

“Each trip will take around .3 seconds, so, at best, you will spend 18 seconds just travelling,” continued Twilight. “This is assuming that the firewalls don’t change, there’s no internet connectivity issues, or anything to that effect. This means that there’ll be 18 seconds of total lag-time of you issuing commands, those commands being processed, and then things actually happening.”

“Ooooh…” said RD in feigned understanding. Aj shook her head dejectedly.

“Imagine you were tryin to fly, an’ it took eighteen seconds for yer wings to do what ya told em,” said Aj. “Every turn, every dive, everything. Now tell me how tha hell yer gonna stop from crashin into every goddamn thing?”

“Well, it’s not exactly how it would work, but, for all intents and purposes, yes,” allowed Twilight. “The delay would cause major complications, and it would likely result in the video being intercepted, and we’d be caught.”

“So, to avoid getting caught, we’re going to break into a heavily guarded building, which is the headquarters of our arch-nemesis, sneak down into a basement that is almost definitely guarded by cameras, laser walls, electric fencing, and guys with guns, to upload a video?” asked RD. The three of us in the know nodded. “Oh, but God forbid we’re behind by 18 seconds. Then, we’ll be caught for sure.”

“It’s very much so a lesser of two evils kinda thing,” I admitted. “This way, at least we’ll all take it up the ass together.”

“Yeah, cause I guess that softens the blow,” scoffed RD. “Nothing like six of your best pals to help you get over how raw you’re getting it.”

“Hey, have a little faith, okay?” I requested. “Believe it or not, I have a plan.” RD raised an eyebrow questioningly. “Okay, fine. Twilight has a plan.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” said Twilight warmly. “This plan is just as much of you as it is me. Show her, Aiden.”

“Aj, I need Fluttershy,” I said. Applejack nodded, then faded away. Slowly, so slowly that I thought she might’ve been malfunctioning, she was replaced by the quiet, shy, ironically powerful Fluttershy.

“H-hello,” she said meekly. I could tell she still wasn’t too comfortable around me. We only spoke a few times since I unlocked her, and every conversation we had was short and rather one-sided in nature. However, I did discover something rather important about my quietest AI assistant.

“Shy, would you mind doing that thing we talked about?” I asked. “Just to show RD the plan.”

“Oh, I dunno… I don’t really like to do it, if I don’t absolutely have to…” whispered Fluttershy. “I don’t think I should’ve been the one to get this… Oh, can’t you just take my ability and give it to somepony else? I’d much rather have Applejack’s…”

“If I could, I would, but I still can’t mess with your code all that much. I doubt I’ll ever be able to,” I admitted. “You guys are constantly learning, growing, and evolving. So is your code. It would take me weeks to figure out half a line of your main coding, and, by then, it’ll have changed.”

“And I can’t do anything to help, because it’s ingrained in your code,” added Twilight. “The only way to alter something like that would be for me to take you apart line by line, and put you back together. I don’t know if I’d be able to get you back in one piece properly.” She chuckled slightly. “Ironically, all I’d actually have to do is switch a one to a zero.”

“Fluttershy, just give it a go. It’s the only way to keep us in the frying pan,” I said. “I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s preferable to the fire.”

“Well, I-I… I need a… A target…” said Fluttershy reluctantly.

“Ooh! Me! Me!” RD volunteered. I grinned slightly, then gestured for Fluttershy to do her thing. RD eagerly made her way before Fluttershy, who nervously waited for my command.

“Alright, Shy,” I said. I laughed slightly to myself. “Assert yourself.”

And, just like that, Fluttershy used an ability that was appropriately called “The Stare”. Her eyes widened and flashed with intensity, which was not a word I would typically use to describe Fluttershy. As soon as they locked gazes, RD, who was about to open her mouth, froze in place.

“As you can see, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy here has a rather useful ability,” I said with a smirk. “She can freeze any program dead in its tracks. So, the plan is like this.” I motioned for Fluttershy to stop, which she eagerly did. RD cracked her neck and stretched out her body stiffly.

“We’ll all be acting at once, but in two different cells. Cell A will consist of Aj, NK, and you,” I explained to Rainbow. “Cell B will be me, Twi, Rarity, and Fluttershy here. Cell A will be creating a diversion, to keep as much of Regal’s heat off of me as possible.” Twilight, still lacking a proper mouth, could not smile. However, I imagine that, if she could, she would be doing so right now, very, very evilly. Twilight raised her hoof and, due to my own stupidity, I called on her.

“Aiden? Is there any rhyme or reason to these cells?” asked Twilight. “Did you put Rarity on a team with you intentionally? Or was that just incidental?”

RD snickered, silenced by my unamused glare. For a moment, anyway. Once she soaked in my pure annoyance, she laughed even harder than before. I rolled my eyes to once again punctuate how un-funny the situation was.

“Both. I made the teams like this on purpose, I won’t deny that,” I said. “But not for the reasons you’re implying. I need Rarity.”

“Wow, somepony’s clingy,” snickered RD. I waved my hoof through her holographic face, which I had recently learned annoyed them immensely.

“That’s not what I meant. Rarity can make me look like something I’m not,” I explained. “What looks like a harmless cookie is actually malicious software. That’d be us. Look, it has nothing to do with any reasons besides for the success of the mission. If NK could do it, I’d even take her.”

“Okay, so you guys are going to the front lines,” said Dash. “What’re we doing?”

“Like I said, you need to keep the heat off of me. So, I’m taking a calculated risk,” I sighed. “I’m going to let each of you reveal my IP, and take it way far away. One at a time, of course. That way, Regal just might chase it and give me time to… do a thing, I guess.”

RD nodded, though she didn’t seem to understand all the precautions. It was obvious that she was a “take names later” kind of chick, and I’m sure she wasn’t ecstatic about being given the less dangerous job. She needed to be in the action. Hopefully, she’d never get the chance for that again. There’d be no action to be had if my plan ran smoothly.

“Um… Aiden?” said Fluttershy quietly. “If you’re going to spread your IP… Doesn’t that mean that there’s no turning back?”

“That’s exactly what it means. If we screw the pooch here, we’re pretty much out of options,” I admitted. “Well… Almost out of options. I am working on a contingency, but I don’t know how ready it’ll be. I imagine that it won’t be complete in time for our next move, but I think I have a way for it to all play out well.”

The two AI and one android looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to spill the beans on what this contingency was. The very fact that they didn’t know proved that it was working.

“Well?” asked RD. “You gonna tell us what it is?”

“What what is?” I asked.

“This contingency that you’re referring to,” supplied Twilight. Even she didn’t know, which was a very good sign.

“Oh, come on now, guys,” I said with a smirk. “A girl’s gotta have some secrets, right?”

We continued to plan after that, going over exactly what the plan was. We wouldn’t hit all of our stops for another two weeks, at least, and then we’d camp out around Ponyville for another two or three days, to get everything together. I needed to craft some odds and ends to get into the Castle, and then some security measures to ensure that I wouldn’t be interrupted. Once I had all my tools, I’d shave my head, to make it a bit harder to ID me, and then drive to the outskirts of Canterlot. At the point, Cell A would take the RV and my IP, and ran as fast as they could to the other end of the country. I’d lead Cell B to the CCiOS servers and we’d go through with Plan A, which was just uploading the video like any normal employee. If that didn’t work, I had a slightly ironic solution in Plan B. Assuming everything went smoothly, I’d snoop around the place to see what I could see. 

Operation: Canterlot Invasion (Pinkie insisted we give the plan a name) had two objectives. Objective A: Infiltrate the CCiOS main servers, upload the video, and discredit Celestia Regal. Objective B: Find and secure the seventh CCiOS hidden AI. Objective B almost didn’t matter if Objective A worked, seeing as I’d mostly be using lucky number Seven for leverage (and to reunite Twilight with her friends). If Regal went down, it would be only a matter of time before Seven fell into my hooves. If the video idea busted, which I was growingly becoming afraid of, then I’d need Seven as a bargaining chip. Regal couldn’t touch me if I held all seven of them. My problem would solve itself.

There were huge flaws in the plan. I worked through some of them, one of them being Twilight. There was no way in hell that I could walk into Canterlot City Hall with a loud, ugly android such as the one she currently inhabited. Problem was, I needed her to be in the robot so that she could more efficiently use Harmony. The whole plan kinda rested on it. Eventually, through help of NK’s nonsensical ramblings, I came across the idea of a cloaking device. I found some very helpful blueprints among the ones that I stole from Regal that led me to… Something. I couldn’t get it to bend the light properly, so it wouldn’t go completely invisible. Still, I managed to get a good, natural shade of purple, which would be good enough. All I needed was a good wig, and she’d be… Well, less noticeable than usual. She’d look like shit if anypony looked long enough, but it was better than  nothing.

Some problems, I couldn’t fix, like the insane risk, and the tiny window of opportunity I’d have. Using the power of Rarity’s ability to disguise programs, I’d be able to trick the system into lowering performance slightly for maintenance. It would take, at the absolute most, forty minutes. I’d need to move quickly. Like, absurdly quickly. Like, give a quick look around and get the hell out quickly. 

Then, there were the Regals to account for. Surprisingly enough, it was Luna I was concerned with the most. She was inequine to me. Celestia could be angered or annoyed, she showed me that she could bleed. Luna hadn’t. She was also a ghost, apparently, because I couldn’t find a damn thing on her for a while. She seemed to be mostly in the background of Celestia’s story, with very few things about her coming to light until recently. She was doing an AMA a few days before I was set to head out, which I made certain to catch and analyze. Nothing really good, but who knows what might come in handy later?

Those two and a half weeks went by quicker than I’d have liked. It was one of those things where you’re confident you have plenty of time, and then, Boom! The day is on you. You might think you have what you need ready, and you might actually have what you need ready, but you’ll never feel like you have everything you need ready. 

I was working on that secret contingency when we arrived at our final destination. I hid it away on my special hard drive, which I kept on my person at all times (with a single utterance of the word “sassafras”, a small amount of thermite would ignite, melting the disk). We parked about twenty minutes from where we needed to be, where I was expecting a drop from a contact of mine. That’s when I gave myself my unwilling haircut.

With Rarity’s help, I actually made it look pretty okay. I wasn’t quite bald, but my thick, luscious dreads were nothing more than a memory. The sides of my head were a bit shorter than the the top, which was a sort of pixie cut. I wasn’t too into it at first, but Rarity declared it as “fabulous”, so I started to come around. Still, a part of me died when I saw Twilight sweeping up my locks. It took me years to grow those babies out.

So, with a new look, a wig for Twilight that was more or less similar to the hair she portrayed herself wig, and one specially made almost-cloaking device, Cell B was ready to go. 

“Anything I forgot?” I asked Twilight. “Or can we head out now.”

“Your bag is packed, I’m primed and ready for every conceivable scenario,” said Twilight. “Rarity and Fluttershy are on standby, Harmony is running well, Cell A is prepped… Yup, I think that's it. Ready when you are, Aiden."

“Good, it’s time to head out,” I said. I grabbed my saddlebags, fit to burst with useful tech for our job. Twilight activated her almost-cloaking, forcing her chassis to adopt a nice shade of violet.

“I don’t have a Occupational Certification Diploma,” noted Twilight. I grinned, then pressed a few buttons on my Interface. 

“I was using Photoshop to draw out maps and whatnot, and I sometimes needed something to clear my head, so I took the liberty of making you one,” I said as I uploaded the simple JPEG. Her flank shimmered faintly, and a six-point star appeared on it, surrounded by five smaller white stars.

“Wow… I love it! What does it mean?”

“It represents eternity and light,” I explained. “It’s also a symbol of magic and arcane arts. I think it adds a nice shade of irony, don’t you?”
I pushed open the door and stepped out with Twilight trailing slightly behind. The door closed behind her, and, after a short pause, the RV drove away. There were several locations that it would stop by to pick me up at various times, to avoid either Cell from bringing heat onto the other. Behind the RV and Twilight was my contact, a tar black pegasus with a head of messy ivory hair and a saddlebag strapped to his side. He saw me and grinned slightly before making his way towards me.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here,” he said. “The android and the anarchist. You should have a sit-com.”

“Do you have what I want?” I asked. He chuckled to himself.

“Oh, I’m fine, thanks for asking,” he said sarcastically. “Oh, my name? I’m Silver, I didn’t catch yours.”

“Do you have what I want?” I repeated.

“Ugh, you’re no fun. Yes, I have your ID card,” he griped. He reached into his bag and withdrew a small, white, plastic card. “Make good use of it, okay? I don’t wanna have thrown my career away for nothing. I mean, this company is more crooked than a crippled politician, but a paycheck is a paycheck is a paycheck!” I could’ve just paid him what I owed and went about my life. It would’ve been easy, and it would’ve saved the time that I don’t have. 

But I didn’t.

“You know, it’s people like you that drive me to do the things I do,” I said angrily. “You and all the people you work for and with, if we can call them people at all. You mindless robots whose only beliefs are bits in their bank account. Just like all the rest at Aitselec, you have no principles! All you care about is lining your own pockets, and you’ll do anything to make a buck. You’d sell what’s left of your soul if you thought you could turn a profit off of it!” To my vast annoyance, Silver laughed.

“Ever hear of a joke, sweetheart? I hate this company just as much as you do. Perhap even more,” he said. He walked over and pressed the card into my hooves. “Don’t look so shocked. Of course I’m trying to bring down The Big Guy. Why else would I be giving you my ID?”

“Why work for Aitselec?” asked Twilight. Silver looked to her, almost as if he recognized her.

“Know that bit about keeping friends close? The best way to break anything is from the inside.” I snorted my disbelief, which Silver seemed to enjoy. 

“Here’s your bits,” I grumbled, reaching into my saddlebags. Again, his laugh stopped me in my tracks and greatly pissed me off.

“I don’t want your cash. After what I just did, I probably won’t live long enough to spend them,” he snickered. “I just doubted how much you’d believe that I’d part with this ID for free. Make good use of it, is all I can ask. Oh, and, if you can…” He paused to emphasize his enjoyment of the situation. “Pay it forward.”

He walked off before I could put two and two together. When I did, he was almost out of earshot.

“I knew those parts were going to the right hacker!” he called. I couldn’t help but smirk. Twilight didn’t share in the enjoyment.

“What just happened?” she asked.

“Twilight, you just met with your surrogate father,” I snickered. She looked tilted her head in confusion for a bit, then realization slowly dawned on her.

“Oh. That’s what that look was,” she noted. “He recognized the chassis…”

“Come on. We have what we need,” I said. Only thing left was to do the most dangerous thing I’d ever done, that I’d probably ever do. This was, by the looks of things, the final countdown. Failure would result in imprisonment, death, the loss of my AI, or any combination of the 3. This was the most panic-worthy situation I’d ever been in. I’d never been calmer.

Life is strange, huh?