Can't Smile for You
“Oops. Sorry. Excuse me” Binary said on a continuous loop as she bumbled around the sidewalk in the bustling city of Manehatten while trying to keep pace with the ponies around her.
It had been three hours since she had departed from her home, leaving it safely parked by one of the bridges into the city. Chip had opted to stay behind due to the high rate of break ins associated with large metropolitan areas.
Despite her best efforts she had made no progress in the city, however that wasn't entirely her fault as she found herself swept up in the swarms of ponies moving as an unintentional herd along the sidewalks.
“What's with this place, doesn't it ever slow down?” she thought to herself as she stood among a group of ponies waiting for a walk signal “I can't take this anymore” she mumbled before she veered to the left leaving many annoyed ponies in her wake as she made her way towards a small shop. She let out a sigh of relief as she escaped the suffocating mass of ponies “This is nuts. How do they live like this”
She took a moment to make sure she still had her belongings “Levitation wands, book scanner, smart books... no, smart trays... well they're really more like books than a trayy” she stuck a hoof into her money pocket and froze when she felt another hoof already inside. She quickly looked behind her but only saw a blur before the pick pocket pony disappeared into the crowd “I hate this place” she said to herself.
“It hates you too!” A shrill voice yelled from the crowd.
“I need a place to chill for a minute” she said as she turned around and looked through the large store windows. Several hard cover books were neatly displayed on wood shelves “A book shop. Well if the first thing you see works” she said as she stepped up to the door and entered. She smiled as the craziness of the outside world did not follow her inside.
She looked around the store to see more book filled shelves lining the walls. Up the middle of the store were several circular tables where a few ponies sat quietly reading. At the far end of the store there was a check out counter with a few books under a protective glass.
“This is my kind of place” Binary said aloud prompting cold glares from the ponies reading. She covered her mouth in embarrassment then quietly stepped further into the store. She walked to a table with nopony at it and sat down She took out one of her own personal smart trays/books out of her saddle bags and began to make a record of her journey so far.
A tan earth pony with a short pink mane wearing a turquoise shirt came out from the back with a cart full of books. She strained as she pulled the cart with her mouth and stopped a few feet away from Binary. The mare then quickly walked back to the backroom and returned with a wooden ladder. She set the ladder up by the stack of books and began taking them up one at a time.
The repetitive motion drew Binary's attention away from her tray/book. She looked at the mare with a puzzled expression.
The mare noticed the stare “What?” she asked.
“Doesn't that seem a little inefficient? Why not take two or three at a time?” Binary asked.
“I don't want to run any risk of the books getting hurt” she replied “Each one deserves a special trip onto the shelf where they will await a customer to take them away to a brand new life like a dashing prince charming!” she said enthusiastically.
“Cool... must be annoying though” said Binary.
“Little bit... I'm Page Turner by the way” she said as she descended for the twelfth time.
“I'm Binary... You know, I got something that could help you with that” Binary said as she pulled out one of her levitation devices “Here, try it. Just push the little button on the side” she said as she handed it to Page.
Page pointed the device at one of the books and pushed the button. The Book became covered with a dull green aura. She lifted the book to the top shelf and after a few attempts sat the book down on the shelf crookedly.
“Cool... How did you make this?” Page asked as she gave the device back to Binary.
“Well, I read a bunch of books on levitation, energy projection and gravity. Once I had a thorough understanding of all of them I came up with a way to mimic the effects of levitation, the tough part was getting it the energy to project onto stuff” she said as she put the device back into her pocket.
“You must have a ton of books on science stuff” said Page.
“Not really, I used to go to the library a lot but eventually ponies started... well things came up, so I invented this” Binary said as she took out her book scanner “With this I could take the library with me wherever I went” she said as she activated the device, and projected a holographic book onto the table
Page's draw dropped as she examined the hologram.
“Wow, I knew when my cat jumped on my head this morning it was gonna be a weird day, only I figured it would be more of a get splashed by a wagon weird... But that's so cool. Do you have more?” she asked.
“Yeah... actually that's why I'm here. I need somepony to held me produce them on a big scale” she said as her expression sunk “But I've been to so many places already and it doesn't seem anypony is interested”
“Aww... Where have you tried?” Page asked as she sat down beside Binary.
“Big shops and department stores mostly, but I couldn't get to talk to anypony in charge. The cashiers thought they were cool though” she said with a slight smirk.
“Pfft... There's your problem. Nopony is going to just make a business deal with some mare off the street” Page said “Tell you what, I'll be done here in twenty minutes, I know a guy at this place in this one part of town that could totally help you out”
“Really!?” Binary squealed.
The sound prompted cold glares from everypony else in the store.
“Give it a rest guys this isn't a library” Page said to the disgruntled clientele “But I do have one condition. I get to keep those two gadgets” she said to Binary.
“Um... okay, I guess that's fair” said Binary.
“Excellent” Page said as she grabbed the devices and shoved them into her shirt pocket “I'll be back in a couple minutes” she grabbed her ladder then hurried to the back room.
Binary smiled as she packed up her smart tray/book. It seemed things were starting much smoother than in Ponyville. Even if the pony Page had spoken of couldn't help her, at least she had somepony in the city she could talk to.
“Things are really starting to go my way” Binary thought to herself.
The wind rushes past my ears as I run beside her. She laughs between heavy breaths as I begin to overtake her in speed. The feeling thrills me and I join her in her laughter. We round a corner on a steep hill and with a quick snap I lose my footing and I tumble over the side. She screams as I shatter, parts flying every which way. My head snaps from my neck and flies several feet before it smashes into a rock.
Had that been real it would've been my end. But this is what simulations are for.
I close my simulation and turned to the mess of parts scattered across the floor my predecessor was hidden in. The room made for a good workshop. Binary would never spontaneously enter and there was many useful, albeit rusty tools to work with. Nearby dumpsters provide me with an invaluable amount of resources without needing to leave the security of home.
“The leg muscles don't take very well to the added weight the larger chassis brings. I'll need to rework the designs before I begin construction”
Despite my own words I'm unable to tear myself away from my current project. I levitate a prototype for a mechanical eye. I look back and forth between the eye and that of the old metal pony's.
“His seemed dead and lifeless... mine shall be alive”
I link to pieces of wire together and a white dot appears on the eye. Shutters on the eye quickly open and shut.
“After all this time I'll finally be able to blink”
“Another little tip for the city is you never want to walk around town in the morning or at lunch and especially not around the hours of 4 and 6” Page said as she effortlessly moved through the crowd of ponies.
“So when is a good time?” Binary asked as she struggled to keep up
“I suppose if you went out at night... on second thought never go out at night” Page looked up at the sky slowly filling with clouds “Looks like its going to rain soon. You wouldn't happen to have an umbrella gizmo?”
“Not with me” Binary replied.
“Then we better hurry before it really gets going” Page said as she picked up her pace.
“Wait a second” Binary said as she attempted to keep up.
The distance between the two quickly grew until Binary had lost sight of Page completely. The crowd became more frantic as the first drops of rain began to fall. She came to an intersection and looked around but she could find no indication of which street Page had gone down.
She let out an annoyed grunt as she stopped to catch her breath “Oh well, I can just find her at that book shop tomorrow” she thought to herself as she shuffled to the front of a large building just as the crowds of ponies began to frenzy from the impending rain shower.
“I don't want any part of that mess” she thought to herself. She looked up at the large building “Well this worked out for me last time” she said to herself before she entered the building.
The interior of the building had a hotel lobby vibe to it with a warm orange glow throughout. A peach colored mare with pink glasses and a black mane sat at a large desk typing on a type writer. Next to the desk were a small and large elevator side by side. Binary stepped further in and noticed a red couch and two chairs arranged around a dark brown wooden table. She slowly stepped towards the furniture and sat down on one of the chairs. The room was nearly silent aside from the typing of the secretary pony.
“It's gonna kill me waiting until tomorrow” she thought to herself. Binary glanced over at the secretary pony “Maybe she can point me in the right direction” Binary walked over to the desk catching the attention of the secretary.
“Hello, do you have business here?” the secretary asked.
“Not exactly. My friend was giving me directions to someplace I could sell my inventions but we got split up. You wouldn't happen to know any place like that would you?” Binary asked.
“Inventions you say?” she asked as she looked at a name on an otherwise empty schedule beside her type writer “Are you Ms. Chopper, Mr. Production's 4 o'clock appointment?”
“Don't say yes don't say yes don't say yes don't day yes don't say yes don't day yes don't say yes” Binary screamed in her mind “...Yep” she croaked out “I am a horrible pony” she thought to herself as she forced a smile onto her face.
“You don't seem awfully sure about that?” the secretary asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Pfft...What? Of course I'm... Chopper” Binary stammered.
“How do I know you're who you say you are, and not some spy trying to steal our valuable products?” the secretary asked accusingly.
Binary turned as the entrance to the building swung open and a rain soaked Page Turner entered.
“There you are. What happened to you?” Page asked as she walked toward Binary “One second you're right behind me and the next you're gone. You can't just bail on somepony when they're helping you out”
Binary smiled and placed a foreleg around Pages' shoulder “Yeah, what an inconsiderate thing for old Chopper to do to her chum” Binary said loudly.
“What are you talking about, who's...” Page paused as she noticed the secretary's accusing stare “Oh... it's no big deal... Chopper” she said stiffly.
The secretary squinted as she looked back and forth between Binary and Page.
“Alright, you can go up. Take the small elevator up to the eighth floor. Mr. Productions' office is the third door on the left” the secretary said before returning to her type writer.
Binary's smile shrunk as Page pulled away from her and shot her an annoyed glare.
“Sorry about that” Binary whispered as they walked over to the elevator.
“What's wrong with you? Why did you make me lie?” Page whispered back.
“I don't know, it just sort of happened. I guess I thought I could skip right to the big break. I've really never done anything like this before” Binary said as her breathing began to quicken.
“Calm down” Page said as she placed a hoof on Binary's shoulder “Think of it this way, maybe this is like a novel where a coincidence sends you down a path to accomplish all your hopes and dreams... maybe you'll even fall in love with a dashing factory worker” Page said, losing herself in her romanticized example.
“But I've never even held hooves with a guy!” Binary yelled.
“Shh... forget that part. Just get it over with before you blow your chance” Page said encouragingly.
A determined look came to Binary's' face and she gave an affirmative nod. She pushed the button on the elevator. Binary and Page watched as the dial over the doors slowly went down from floor 8 to 7.
“What if I get sued?” Binary asked as the dial ticked down to six.
“What, why would that happen?” Page asked as the dial ticked down to 5.
“Well... I'm impersonating somepony right now and sneaking into a building without permission” she said as the dial ticked down to 4.
“You have permission” Page said as the dial ticked down to 3.
“No, whoever Chopper is has permission” she said as the dial ticked down to 2.
“Just try not to think about it” she said as the dial stayed locked at 2. Page watched as Binary's determined look faded “You're thinking about it aren't you?”
“It's a legitimate concern” she squeaked out as the dial ticked down to 1.
A small bell dinged as the elevator reached its destination. The doors opened and several ponies walked out, most with sour and tired expressions.
“Binary, I'm going to ask you a serious question” Page said as she looked Binary in the eye “You believe in your inventions, right?”
“Of course I do, I've worked on them all my life” Binary replied.
“Then you've got to trust that no matter what the situation is, you can go up there and wow this guy with them because they deserve it” Page said as she gave Binary a pat on the back.
Binary gave a firm nod and stepped into the elevator then pushed the eighth floor button.
“I've got this” she said as the elevator doors closed.
Page smiled at the triumphant moment “This is totally going in my novel” she said excitedly.
Binary stood alone in the elevator. She tapped a hoof on the ground as the dial ticked up to the 8th floor without any stops. The elevator chimed and the doors opened. She stepped out into the plain looking hallway and looked up and down the hall to find she was alone.
The walls were a pale yellow and the floor was covered with dirty looking red carpeting a harsh contrast to the look of the lobby. She walked until she found herself in front of her destination, the door to the bosses office. The door was no different than the others aside from a polished gold nameplate with Max Production engraved on it.
“Well... I guess this is it” she said as she slowly reached for the doorknob. She opened the door and peaked inside.
She saw the boss pony sitting behind a desk gazing up into the cloud through a small window. The stallion had light brown fur with a short black mane and wore square black glasses as well as a white shirt with a loosened red tie. Binary was surprised to see that the stallion was Pegasus, a rare sight in an office space. She had anticipated an old wrinkly business pony to be waiting for her, but he didn't look much older than herself.
Binary caught herself before she entered any further as she realized she hadn't knocked. She quickly shut the door with a noticeable thud.
From the other side Binary heard a sudden yelp. Binary smacked her forehead in embarrassment.
“So much for good first impressions” she muttered.
“Is somepony there?” Max asked “Hudson are you messing me with again?”
Binary opened the door again and attempted to hide her embarrassment.
The two stared at each other for a few moments before Binary finally said “Hi”
“Hello... can I help you?” Max asked.
“Yes... you see, I'm here to show you some inventions, I'm Ms. Chopper” Binary said tensely.
“Oh yeah, you're Axle's daughter. I've been looking forward to this” he said sarcastically “It's funny, I'd known your dad for a few years and I'd never heard him mention having a kid once, let alone one that's apparently overflowing with product ideas”
“Um... I wouldn't say overflowing” she said nervously .
“From what I see the only thing you're overflowing with is sweat. Take a seat” Max said as he pointed toward a chair in front of his desk.
Binary did as instructed as she tried to regain her composure, but the looming eyes of the businesspony kept her on edge.
“So... show me what you've got” he requested.
“Well I've got a bunch of things” she said as she began to dig into her pockets and empty them out onto Max's desk.
Max's eyes widened as he looked at the devices. His low expectations heightened as he looked at the few futuristic devices before him
“So what do these things do?” he asked as he picked up a levitation wand.
“That's a...” Binary began as Max pushed the button on the side of the device, shooting a green beam at Binary's glasses.
“Ah!” Max yelped as he flicked the device up, sending Binary's glasses flying up. Max dropped the device as Binary's glasses landed down on his desk.
“Hey!” Binary exclaimed a she fumbled around for her glasses.
“Sorry! I didn't mean to” Max said as he grabbed Binary's glasses and placed them into her fumbling hooves.
Binary placed her glasses back on her head and shot an annoyed glare at Max. Suddenly the tables seemed to have turned with Max as the nervous fool.
Max cleared his throat as he attempted to regain his composure.
“Pretty impressive huh?” Binary asked smugly.
“Well you do realize Unicorns can already levitate things and Pegasi can fly” he said as he ruffled his wings “There would be a good market for earth ponies but it's hard for a product to be a success when it's main market is only a third of the equine population”
“That actually makes a lot of sense” Binary agreed as she looked down.
“What else have you go there? Max asked.
“Well I gave away the book scanner I had with me, and those little circles are actually all parts of my auto shavers” she said as she pointed at the small circles.
“Now there's a product” Max said enthusiastically “Something that people inevitably need to buy replacements for”
“Actually they don't really need to be replaced” she said “My gadgets are designed to never break or run out of power”
Max let out a moan as he covered his face with his hooves “That's not a sustainable business model. And everything you've made is like this, little toys that fit a niche market” he said as he looked back up. Max was caught off guard at Binary's sudden angry expression.
“Listen buddy, I don't make toys. Everything I make fills a need” she said as she leaned in.
“Not really” Max said, matching Binary's lean “As far as I can tell they fill a want and once that want is fulfilled they'll probably be forgotten or replaced by some other want... although I'd like to see one of them prove me wrong”
“Well...I do have these” she said as she pulled a smart tray/book out from her saddle bag and placed it on the table “This is a smart tray, or book or... whatever. You can have it like this or attach it to your shoulders”
“I think it's more of a tray than a book. So what does it do?” he asked.
“Well as of right now... not a lot” she said as flipped up the screen “I've put in a lot of tools for ponies to make their own content though, but what I'm most proud of is the messaging feature”
“A mail service?” Max asked.
“Yeah but it's all digital” she said as she started up the device and turned it toward Max “So instead of sending a letter and getting it who knows when, you can have conversations with a pony hundreds of miles away like they were sitting right next to you”
“That's incredible. Show me how it works” Max asked as he pulled the smart tray towards himself.
“Well it's simple enough. The little arrow follows your eyes and if you blink when you look at the letter symbol it'll...” Binary paused as she heard the door behind her open.
Binary slowly turned her head to see a magenta unicorn with half of her pink mane shaved off.
“Excuse us we're in the middle of something” said Max.
“What! I'm like two seconds late and you give my appointment to some random albino looking weirdo” the mare said in an entitled tone.
“Who the heck do you think you are!” Max yelled as Binary shrunk in her seat.
“Who am I? I'm Chopper. The better question is who da heck is dis pale nerd” Chopper asked as she stepped up to Binary and stared her down.
“I'm...” she began as she glanced back and forth between Chopper and Max “... sorry” she said before she quickly grabbed her gadgets and shoved them into her bag then rushed out the door.
“Wait! You left your smart... thing!” Max called after Binary.
“Well, looks like you dodged a bullet with that one” said Chopper.
“Dodged right off a cliff” said Max as he rested his head in his hoof and glared at the bratty looking mare.
“Why are faces so difficult” Chip said to himself as he looked at his repulsive creation. A ghastly looking head with wires hanging from the neck and out the mouth. His attempts at replicating the jaw of a pony only produced a strange expression smiling expression that ticked all the wrong boxes for a smile. All contributed to a truly nightmarish looking face, far from the friendly look Chip was striving for.
The sound of the front door opening and shutting broke Chip from his concentration, dropping his head and causing the jaw to snap off.
“Chip, I'm back” Binary called from the lower floor.
Chip began to panic as he scrambled to hide his project. He lifted the covers off the bed and tossed most of the evidence onto it. He then lifted his head to hide it as well, but paused as he looked at the now jaw-less head. He noted the wires hanging down from its head resembling a smile.
“Perhaps, a proper face isn't the best option” he said before tucking the head away under the covers along with the rest of his work. With the evidence hidden he ported himself to Binary's room.
Binary laid on her bed with her legs sprawled out as far as they could go. Chip appeared on the bed in front of her. Binary she forced a reassuring smile onto her face as she looked at Chip.
“You don't look happy” Chip said.
“You know what, I think I actually am” she said as she lifted her head up “I made a friend, I took a big risk, took a big fall and I'm not even crying”
Chip simply stared at her. He tried to come up with something to say to break the odd silence, but the motivation wasn't there. His mind was still on his project and it seemed where Binary's presence had once given him a sense of purpose now it just felt like more of an annoyance, time he could spend on his own endeavors.
“So... what's the plan for tomorrow?” he asked.
“Uh... I think I might take let myself recover. Walking around that city all day was a lot more tiring than I thought” she said as she stretched her legs.
“Nonsense” Chip blurted out “You can't just give up now. You've got to back out there everyday until you find what your looking for”
Binary looked at Chip with a curious expression “You're oddly supportive today. What happened to just going back to the hill?”
Chip hesitated as he thought up a proper reply “Well, we've come all this way. Why would you stop when you're so close?”
“I didn't say I was going to stop” she replied “My legs are dying, I need a rest”
“Maybe you should just stay home” he mumbled bitterly.
“Exactly, it'll be fun I'll tell you about the city a...” Binary paused as she heard a small noise come from her bag “That sounded like my smart tray”
“I thought we were calling them smart books now?” Chip asked as Binary reached for her bag and pulled out the device.
She opened the device and saw a message on the screen in a text box above the mail folder
“I apparently have mail” she said as she blinked to click on the mail box.
A small loading screen appeared for a moment as the program opened. An exclamation point appeared next to the only message on the screen. Binary blinked on the message and the text was enlarged.
“Heelo is anybony tther?” the text read.
“What” she said as she looked into her bag to find the other smart tray missing “I left it in the office. So this must be...”
Binary blinked on a new message box and quickly made up a simple reply.
“Is that you Mr. Production?” it read. Binary blinked on send and awaited a reply.
Chip looked on, unaware of what was happening.
The device chimed again as new message popped up.
Binary immediately blinked on it and read the message aloud “Yeah, that's me. You left your machine here. Can you give me an address to send it back tp” Binary looked at Chip and shrugged her shoulders unsure of what to say.
“What, you made something out of that gibberish? He misspelled every second word”
“He's must be having a hard time typing” she replied “What should I say? We don't have an address... I know” she said as she turned back to the screen.
“Thanks for letting me know. I'll come pick it up tomorrow” she replied.
A few moments went by and another reply arrived “The building is closed tomorrow. Maybe we could meet somewhere” she read as a smile began to spread across her face “I'm very interested in the product and would love to discuss it further”
Binary froze with a look of pure glee on her face.
“You should probably say no” said Chip.
Binary shook her head and took a deep brief to regain her composure. She looked back at the screen and typed her response.
“Sure thing! I'm free all the time anytime, you name the place and I'll be there rain or shine, dragons or sheep, rocks or gems!” she replied.
“I can feel the excitement through the screen” she read “There's a little place on Celestial street called the Eclipse. Is noon okay for you?”
“Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!” she screamed as she began to bounce up and down on her bed.
“I thought your legs were supposed to be sore” said Chip.
“How can my legs be sore when my dreams are coming true! My inventions are finally gonna get the respect they deserve, and I'll be the most famous inventor in all of Equestria! First Manehatten, then a bunch of other places, and then the world! No one will be spared from awesomeness! NO ONE!”
“What happened to making things better” Chip mumbled to himself.
Binary made one final hop then belly flopped in front of the screen and wrote up another message.
“Noon is the absolute greatest time for me ever! It's always been my favorite time of day ever since I was a filly!”
Another message quickly popped up from Max “Okay. Just say your their to see Max and you'll be fine. I've gotta stop this now, the screen's starting to hurt my eyes”
Binary took a deep breath and flopped onto her back.
“It's finally happening” she said to herself as she attempted to contain her enthusiasm.
Chip remained silent, he felt nothing for Binary's success. But a slight bit of satisfaction came from the thought that she'd be out of the house for a few hours.
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It shows promise, but the prose feels a bit too beige.
Sorry it took me a while to catch up to this. I must say, it feels a bit odd to be away from Ponyville after all this time. And, in a way, it sort of feels like the tension between Chip and Binary has died down some from previous chapters.
Still, Binary is well characterized as always, Page Turner and Max Productions are both interesting new characters and I'm interested to see where this will go next.
See you next time!