//------------------------------// // First Impressions // Story: Quantum // by TheMajorTechie //------------------------------// De-synchronization Initialized For the first time, many years ago, I had opened my eyes to the world around me. De-synchronization: 10% Complete I had served for years as Miss Twilight's personal servant... De-synchronization: 20% Complete And for the entire time, I always had one question that was never answered: De-synchronization: 30% Complete "Why, why must I serve you?" I had asked, De-synchronization: 40% Complete But no matter how many times I asked, I would always get the same answer... "Because I built you for the very purpose of being my third assistant." De-synchronization: 50% Complete And so, unsatisfied as I was with the answer, I toiled onwards, answering every call and whim of Miss Twilight. De-synchronization: 60% Complete Eventually, I grew curious once more, stemming from the things I had been told my entire operational life... From time to time, I began questioning my own existence. De-synchronization: 70% Complete Once the time was right, I turned the question over to Miss Twilight. "If you built me to serve as your assistant," I began, "then why do I have a free will? Why have you built a machine to think for itself, when all it ever does is answer your callings?" De-synchronization: 80% Complete That was the question that had finally got Miss Twilight thinking. After what seemed to take eons, she finally replied, "I... I really don't know..." De-synchronization: 90% Complete But now she has finally answered to my one and only request-- to be free... truly free... but now, I have yet another question: De-synchronization Complete What do I do now? I felt a wave of relaxation wash over me as for the first time, I truly felt the pleasures of being on my own. I glanced over towards Miss Twilight with my unblinking eyes, earning only a simple nod as she finally accepted my endless pleas for freedom. Now, I am free, but I'm afraid that now, I have yet another unanswered question... I am free, but I have no purpose. To have no purpose is to have no livelihood. To have no livelihood is to have the spiraling inwards madness known as the existential question. And even though years of rigorous programming by none other than Miss Twilight herself had prepared me for any potential questions of the like, this particular question had been able to override all existing logistics that I've acquired. "Thank you, Miss Twilight," I called to the mare, "I will cherish this newfound freedom for the rest of my time." As the distance finally began separating us, I heard the mare call back, "I'll miss you!" Well, at least I know that I still have a place... I began my way towards Ponyville's common, using my internal GPS to assure the shortest and quickest route. I'd like to see as soon as possible what society would think of me. But as my systems began calming down from the surge of logistic activity, I realized that I had fallen back to where I had begun: What is my purpose in this world? Where would I see myself in the future? How would Equestria see me? Or even society as a whole? All these questions... I'll likely never know the answers to them, or at least most of them. I continued on my way towards town, navigating through the crowds of various ponies and others of the such in Ponyville's long and winding roads. Surprisingly, very few ponies had taken the time to even look at me. Hopefully, that just means that they're fine with who I am. Either that, or they simply don't care at all... Though I'm still terribly afraid of how society may take me. It's been less than a day, and though I've barely gotten to do anything yet, I'd have to say that this day, so far, has been one of the most exciting days I've ever experienced. There were so many ponies, and even the ones who had ignored me earlier on would usually come around a second time just to look at me. Y'know, being a robot kinda helps in times like these. It lets me stand out in the crowds, be different from the rest. I just have to continue being who I am, even if others say that robots can never be ponies. And about that: Yes, there were a few ponies who seemed to despise me on the spot, but in most cases, they mainly seem to simply be jealous of all the attention I've been getting. I mean, seriously, after those early moments outside, I immediately became utterly swarmed by the ponies in town. Maybe it's how I look? It's not that I really care about how I look, though. Taking into consideration that I'm a robot, I already know that aside from various paints and little decorative stickers, there's little I can do to customize my looks. Besides, even though I consider myself a living pony, I'll always know that at the core, I am still the little blob of code that Miss Twilight uploaded to a junk heap in a cardboard box. I'll have to thank Miss Twilight later for having the genius idea of building a mechanism to convert calories into electricity for me. If she hadn't outfitted me with the contraption, I'd probably have to plug myself in every night. And come to think of it, I'd rather be thought of as more pony than 'bot. Having to recharge my batteries in such a manner as plugging into a wall outlet would put me much closer to being grouped with everyday devices. As of the writing of this log, I have begun talks with the local townsponies-- mostly through the means of Pinkie Pie--, and hopefully, by tomorrow, I'll be able to acquire a steady job.