The Crusaders, despite their impatience—or perhaps because of it—stopped as soon as they left sight of the schoolhouse. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had noticed the strange change in their friend and they were going to get some answers.
"Alright, what's goin' on? What is it ya can't tell Miss Cheerilee?" said Apple Bloom as she stopped in front of Sweetie Belle.
"Yeah!" Scootaloo agreed, coming up next to the yellow filly. "You've been weird all day. You've been kinda out of it since we went to school this morning, and I even caught you mumbling something a few times."
Sweetie Belle was pretty surprised by the reactions of her friends. 'Am I really acting that weird?' she thought.
*This device has recorded noted several instances of a lack of attention and "mumbling" when engaging in internal conversations with this unit. While not enough to enforce silence as per the terms of use, they do appear suspici-*
"See you're doing it again!" Scootaloo's sudden interruption causing Sweetie Belle to snap out of the internal discussion. "Are you worried about something? If you're in trouble you should have called an Emergency Cutie Mark Crusader Meeting! That's is what they're for."
She had been getting used to it; maybe too used to the new voice in her head. She had to tell them the truth, if there were any ponies she would want to know, it would be her friends. Sweetie Belle paused, she still didn't know precisely what she could and could not say, 'I'll have to find some way around Tablet's stupid rules,' she thought.
She broke a stick off of a tree behind them and tried to write something out but she found herself unable to get out more that "I am" before her muscles locked and she got a sickly feeling in her stomach. The pressure eased after she decided to stop writing, 'I guess that rules that out,' she thought.
Her friends were getting very concerned now 'Well they know something's definitely wrong, so that's a start … .'
Next she tried acting it out. 'Maybe I can't write it but if I can get them to play charades … .' She lifted her two hooves. 'Two words … mind control.'
"Oh Oh! Charades, ah love that game!" Apple Bloom said. "Uhmmm, two words … excruciating pain?"
Sweetie Belle had fallen over, her muscles held taut. Her pained expression came from trying to get her muscles to respond rather than actual pain. 'Well, that doesn't work either … no talking, writing, or acting is going to work … ,' she thought depressingly to herself. Giving up, her muscles relaxed and she got back to her hooves.
"Heheh … yeah, totally," Sweetie Belle replied half-heartedly, giving a lying face that made even Applejack's look like a poker face in comparison. 'Oh now it's personal,' she thought.
"Well, it had to do with the cave I fell in two days ago … and I guess you could say something is wrong with my head ever since." Sweetie Belle said. She figured she'd just wing it and find out. 'So far so good', she thought.
"Well Ah guess that if ya hit your head or somethin', it would sorta explain the mumblin' and not bein' able to focus … and the excruciating pain. Oh Sweetie Belle, Ah'm sorry Ah thought ya were acting weird! Ah didn't mean it like that! Ya shoulda just told us! Wait … do ya mean Cheerilee was angry about ya hurtin' your head or somthin'?" Apple Bloom asked. She looked much less confrontational than before but equally confused.
"Well not … exactly," Sweetie Belle said demurely. "She thought that I didn't do the geometry question the right way."
"Really?" Scootaloo said, "I didn't even do the stupid triangle question and your telling me we spent fifteen minutes waiting for you after class because you did it a different way?"
"Well … you see; I did it a special way called "integration". Apparently, I made the problem a lot more complicated than Cheerilee was expecting and so she thought I had somepony to do my homework for me."
"Did you?" Scootaloo asked, a grin forming on her face. It wasn't often Scootaloo could find some dirt on Sweetie. She'd never tell anypony … but that wouldn't stop her from teasing her about it for days.
'Does she really think I'd do that?' Sweetie Belle thought.
*Error 4: Insufficient infor-*
"NO!" Sweetie Belle yelled, getting tired of Tablet's annoyance.
"S-sorry Sweetie Belle, I was only kidding around … ." Scootaloo visibly shrunk at her friend's outburst.
Sweetie Belle, noticing she had said “no”out loud, felt guilty and calmed down immediately. Her head fell slightly, "It's alright, I'm sorry for shouting like that. It's just T-T-Tab … this situation's got me all riled up. I just solved a math problem differently, honest."
"Ah believe ya Sweetie Belle. We're just worried 'bout you is all." Apple Bloom chipped in before Scootaloo could get in another word. "Right Scoots?" The pegasus quickly nodded.
'Oh Apple Bloom … I really could use your … anypony's help right now.' Sweetie Belle thought, her head falling further, 'If only I didn't explore that stupid cave…'
Apple Bloom saw the glum look on her friends face and assumed—albeit incorrectly—that she still felting sorry for yelling earlier. She thought a change of topic would make her feel better regardless. "Well, anyway. Why don't we get a move on. Ain't no point worryin' about things we can't do nothin' about. Ah'm sure you'll feel better after we've done some more crusadin' today!"
Breaking out of their sour moods, the two Crusaders joined Apple Bloom as they made their merry way to their clubhouse. The regretful white filly falling only slightly behind her friends.
'Well, I guess telling somepony won't be as easy as I thought. Still, there must be something I can do about this. I've got to find a way to beat this tablet at its own game…'
Cheerilee trotted slowly to Twilight's new castle, officially the "Friendship Rainbow Kingdom Castle". Cheerilee thought a name like that for a castle was pretty dumb but she wouldn't dare say that out loud. Rumor had it that Celestia named it herself. Apparently, she was getting back at Twilight for something called the "Raspberry Truffle Incident" during the Tirek victory party in Canterlot last week. But every time she tried to ask somepony about the specifics they suddenly seemed to become too incredibly busy to talk any more. Delightful confections and parties were at the back of Cheerilee's mind, however.
'Where did Sweetie Belle learn all that math and why wouldn't she tell me the truth?' she thought.
She didn't have much time to think though, despite the slow pace. The Castle was only a few minutes from the schoolhouse. As she arrived, frustrated yelling and the rapid movement of objects could be heard from inside. She paid the noise no mind. Being an avid reader, she visited the Golden Oak library at least once a week so and—although she found it strange and worrisome at first—she eventually got used to the “organized” mayhem that seemed to revolve around the Ponyville librarian. Cheerilee wouldn’t be surprised if Twilight could schedule them, although after a clone army of Pinkie Pies invaded, she doubted she could be truly surprised by anything ever again.
"Twilight?" Cheerilee asked politely while knocking on the large, ornate, golden, double doors at the entrance. This was the first time coming to see Twilight since the old library … exploded. Cheerilee had wanted to give Twilight some space while she got everything back in order and—if the rumors were true—she definitely needed it. As such, she was unaccustomed to the castle. She realized that the heavy doors barely made more than a dull thud from her knocks and she would have to make more noise to overcome whatever was happening inside.
"Twilight!" she yelled, "I need to speak to you!"
The noise slowly died down as a dull "Hold on a minute!" could be heard from inside the crystal tree-house. Cheerilee stepped back as the door suddenly opened inward by magic, the purple princess who opened it was a blur as she immediately left into one of the open doors further in.
"Sorry about not meeting you right away!" Twilight's voice trailed off as she went into the other room. "I'm still very busy putting the finishing touches on the new library but please come in, I'll be with you in a- wait Spike don't put that there, that's the 3rd compendium, you should put it by Illustrious Illusions … ."
Shaking her head and sighing, Cheerilee walked in and closed the door behind her. 'Even if Twilight has been a princess for a while now, Twilight will always be Twilight…' She took a seat and waited on one of the crystal benches near the entrance.
A few minutes later, the back and forth dialogue and noise from the room beyond finally ended and Twilight came through the door. Cheerilee got up and met her half-way.
"Are you still not finished organizing the library?" the teacher asked. "I'm sure you're doing an excellent job but I would have thought you'd have had it done last week."
"Oh and you would be absolutely right, but I've had so many other things to do! I didn't know there was so much work that went into creating an organizing a new kingdom … arghh! Why did Celestia call it the Friendship Rainbow Kingdom! I mean, the Friendship and Rainbow part are okay I guess—got nothing against Rainbow Dash and I am the Princess of Friendship—but do I look like a King?! You don't know how many times I had to change the wording on those new laws. And don't get me started on … ."
Twilight stopped when she say the clearly forced smile on the other mare's face, "Oh, sorry … I don't mean to unload my troubles onto you. Honesty, it hasn't been that bad, really. There haven't been any new world-ending issues thankfully … unless you count the 'Raspberry Truffle Incident' that is … ." Twilight shuddered at the implication.
"Oh no, it's no problem really," Cheerilee said with her usual cheerful demeanor. "After all, I'm coming to you with a problem of my own, so it's only right that you should do the same."
"Oh? You haven't come to me with something since after the CMC … wait, this is about Sweetie Belle isn't it." Twilight deadpanned.
The teacher should have been surprised that Twilight immediately thought the CMC would be causing her Princess-level trouble … but she was not. ‘Why would she mention that typically innocent filly though? She normally is the sane—or rather saner—member of the group.’ Cheerilee thought.
"Yes, that's right," Cheerilee agreed, "although I am curious why you single-out Sweetie Belle specifically, not that you're wrong."
"Well, she did just have that accident with the caves only a few days. You see, her doctor brought up some concerns about her. There were several instances early in her recovery where he could feel magic in her that she should not have had. Unfortunately these magical fluctuations completely went away as fast as they came and I did not have time to check on them personally. They did not have any obvious effect on her health so we both agreed it was probably some anomaly with the equipment. I was planning on giving Sweetie a quick magic scan sometime this week though, just to be safe."
"Well that's fairly … fortuitous. Have a look at this." Cheerilee pulled out a piece of paper and hoofed it into Twilight's magic. "I would recommend you do that scan as soon as possible, today even."
"Really?" Twilight said, looking at the sheet of paper. "I don't really see anything strange about this. This is one of Sweetie Belle's math assignments? She's doing pretty well—not surprising—but … ." Twilight stopped mid sentence as she flipped the page over. Her jaw hung slightly as she continued as she read the filly's Calculus solution, "Wait, there is no way that- I mean it's in a weird format but- are you sure that this was done by Sweetie Belle?"
"I can't be sure but it is likely. I had been thinking that she could have had somepony else cheat for her, but other than you I don't know who could do something like this. She also did a fairly good job demonstrating what she did. She came in with that assignment just this morning though. If what you said about her recovery is true then-"
"Then she somehow learned how to do Calculus in a single night, which is impossible," Twilight replied. "Still, you are absolutely right. That magic scan really can't wait. There are a few spells that give one the ability to learn new information quickly or to make somepony pretend they know something, but they usually have very nasty side-effects and certainly couldn't teach that much knowledge."
Cheerilee looked at her with a concerned gaze at Twilight's deep knowledge of the subject. "I mean … not that I would ever try such a thing," Twilight hastily added, turning away from Cheerilee. Twilight coughed a bit and blushed, she was not convincing anypony.
"Well anyway, she could be in very real danger," Twilight concluded, her expression turned serious again as she turned toward the teacher. "I don't know how she did it, but those spells are designed to teach the caster the proper method and this Calculus is not quite right. Who knows what she's done wrong. We had better get going." Turning back to the open library door, she yelled out, "Spike! I'm leaving early with Miss Cheerilee! Can you put the rest of the books away?!"
The two mares were out the door before Spike could get out a response. 'Well, time for another power nap', Spike thought. 'Twilight would just mess all the books up again anyway.'
At this rate, it seemed Spike would be the only one able to relax today.
"What about Furniture Testing?" Sweetie Belle asked.
The three fillies were sitting in a circle at the center of their clubhouse floor. A list of well over a hundred crossed off activities in the middle in front of Apple Bloom .
" … No we did that … uhh … three weeks ago. Ya know, just after the Equestria Games." Apple Bloom said writing and crossing-off the idea. Twilight mentioned that they should start a list of all the things they've done to avoid doing things twice. After trying—and failing—nest making for what ended up being the third time, they decided it was probably a good idea.
"Oh right … ," Sweetie Belle sighed, "we should have known the pony running Sofas and Quills wouldn't want us back after we accidently poured ink over his quills trying to get our Quill Testing Cutie Mark."
"Whatever. We wouldn't want a lame Sofa Sitting Cutie Mark anyway." Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "What about Water Skiing?"
"Naw," Apple Bloom said writing and crossing-out the activity, "we did that when Spike was doing all that stuff for my sister, remember?"
"Now I remember! Maybe we could do it again? That was pretty fun. We'll get our marks this time for sure!" Scootaloo exclaimed, her eyes glimmering enthusiastically in the bright afternoon light coming in from the windows.
"I don't think that would be a very good idea." Sweetie Belle said, cautiously trying to talk Scootaloo down. "Even my sister was surprised we could get covered in tree sap in the middle of a lake, and we've been covered in a lot of tree sap."
"That wasn't really our fault though." Scootaloo defended, incensed from Sweetie's implied accusation. "That boat should have been watching where it was going. Why would they call those things fir trees anyway? Isn't fur supposed to be soft?"
"Well that makes twenty-eight things we've already crusaded for on the list so far … ," Apple Bloom said. Sweetie Belle hoped she would say something else but the earth pony filly just drifted off.
After that, the three sat in silence. 'What haven't we done?' Sweetie Belle thought absent-mindedly.
*Error 3: More than one possible answer. Would you like a recommendation?*
'Ughhh … can't you leave me alone for five minutes. Wait, you know what? Maybe you can be useful here instead of just being annoying. Do you have any idea what we could do next?'
*Error 3: More than one possible answer. Would you like a recommendation?*
'Really? When I finally get around to asking you a question, you can't answer. Fine, what do you 'recommend'.'
*This device cannot answer a question that has multiple possible solutions. In this case, the question this device find you are likely asking—and which it can answer—is "What task would fillies our age most likely enjoy that has not already been performed for 'Cutie Mark Crusading'"*
'Uh … sure, that. What's would that be?'
*This unit would recommend 'sleuthing': the act of performing deductive and inductive reasoning to solve enigmas. The innate curiosity of youth ensures this task is an enjoyable one.*
'Cutie Mark Sleuths huh … wait. How do you know what activities we've crusaded for?'
*It was a part of the information this device received from your mind when it connected for first-time installation.*
'Wait … not only can you talk to me in my mind but you can read it too!'
*This was only for first-time installation. It was necessary to understand cultural constructs, language, and generate a personal profile for use in fully understanding questions you would pose. The ability to read your mind further no longer exists.*
'Well I-'
"Hey … ah … Sweetie Belle?" Apple Bloom asked, timidly shoving Sweetie's barrel. "Ya were starin' off into space again."
"Oh right … just thinking sorry." Sweetie Belle replied. 'This isn't over Tablet. I'm not trusting you for a second. I'll figure out how to tell everypony about you and you'll be gone for good.'
"Well I guess we'll have to end this meeting early-" Scootaloo started before she was cut off by Sweetie Belle.
"Actually, why don't we try getting our Cutie Marks in sleuthing?"
"Uhh … Sweetie Belle. What's sleuthing?" Scootaloo asked.
"It's a fancy way to say being a detective, I guess … but not just solving crimes and stuff but any kind of mystery," Sweetie Belle replied, trailing off. 'Wait … Why didn't Tablet stop me? What if they discover Tablet while we're sleuthing?'
*This device cannot verify with certainty if this action will result in discovery. The terms of use only specify prevention in case your actions directly result in this device's ruse being uncovered. Otherwise this device would be in violation of Article XII Section 14 Subsection 4 of the Employee Protection Act, version 1.204a.*
'That information is … interesting … ,' Sweetie Belle thought with a conspiratorial smile on her face.
"Hey, that's actually a pretty good idea. Ah bet we could find all kinds of mysteries to solve!" Apple Bloom said cheerfully, ignoring her the white filly deep in thought.
"Jeez, you're such a dictionary Sweetie. Actually, I think you're right you two. I've always wondered how Rainbow Dash got to be so awesome," Scootaloo said as the other fillies rolled their eyes.
"Well you know what that means right?" Sweetie Belle asked, jumping between her two friends.
"Cutie Mark Crusader Sleuths! Yay!" the three said in unison.
"Now hold your horses there, you three!" a voice said from outside.
Twilight and Cheerilee arrived at Sweet Apple Acres. If they knew those fillies, they'd be at their clubhouse. As they walked through the gate they saw a very confused looking Applejack standing outside her barn.
Walking up to her, the Twilight asked, "Hey Applejack what has got you so worr-" A crash from inside the house explained it all. "-Crusaders?"
"Crusaders." Applejack said, her face deadpan.
"What have those three fillies gotten themselves into this time?" Cheerilee said, shaking her head.
"Cutie Mark Crusader Detectives … apparently," the orange mare responded, sighing. "Ah jus' went ta their clubhouse ta tell them it was time they headed on home fer supper when they asked if there were any 'mysteries' ta solve. Now, before ya ask, Ah know no matter what Ah said, they'd 've gone looking fer mysteries anyway. Since Ah wasn't gonna be able ta stop 'em, Ah told 'em ta figure out wha' the reason why ma barn always seems ta be destroyed by the shenanigans that keeps happenin' in town. It keeps 'em here and Ah would really like ta know … Of course, Ah didn't account fer the fact that they might destroy the barn themselves."
"Isn't that dangerous? Shouldn't you be getting them out of there?" Cheerilee inquired, fearing the safety of her students.
"Ah agree. That's why Ah got Big Mac trying ta coax'em out. Trust me, Ah'd like to get them ta stop but Ah fear Ah'd just make it worse. Me an' Apple Bloom got a sisterly agreement goin' on after that time Ah coddled her a mite bit and she ended up in a flaming swamp with a chimera." Seeing Twilight about to speak up she stopped her with a hoof, "Don't ask … That one's in the diary, trust me. Basically, she has more chores and responsibility and apart from that, Ah ease up on ma over-protectiveness. Don't mean Ah can't get Big Mac ta rescue her when she gets in over her head though."
Not soon after that, the Big Mac came out of the barn, carrying three disappointed crusaders on his back.
"Awww come on big brother. Ya could've at least let us walk out ourselves … ," Apple Bloom sighed.
"Eenope." the red stallion responded.
"Well Ah'm awfully glad you three are alright." Applejack chipped in, a look of relief on her face. "Ah know Ah said I would stop naggin' at ya about every little situation ya put yerself in but bringin' a barn on top of yer head, especially our apple barn is where Ah draw the line."
"Ah'm sorry. We're sorry, right Sweetie Belle? Scootaloo?" Apple Bloom asked, looking at her friends. They both looked down in mock shame. "See? But we were so close ta figurin' it out! Sweetie Belle came up with this idea that the … umm … ."
"Structural Integrity," Sweetie Belle said.
"Right, the structural thingy might be … ah … ," Apple Bloom continued, trailing off again and looking at her friend for more help.
Sighing, Sweetie Belle continued, "Well, you see … T-T- … my brain told me that while we might not be able to prevent the … natural disasters from going away, but we could solve why the barn kept collapsing by understanding the barn's structural framework. With engineering and research we might glean further insights as to why the structural integrity continues to fail and possibly prevent it from doing so in the future. So we were trying to measure the shear stress of the support beams with the help of Apple Bloom's carpentry skills and Scootaloo's scooter before Big Mac pulled us out of there."
Everypony but the CMC seemed to stare in silent awe at the filly. Even Big Mac, and that was saying something. Shaking her head, Twilight was the first to pipe up. "Wh-where did you learn about all that Sweetie Belle? Actually, where did you learn how to do this too?" Twilight pulled Sweetie's math assignment out of her saddle bag. "I know what Calculus looks like when I see it but the symbols you use are very weird. If you are performing some kind of mind-enhancement spell, I need to know. You could be putting yourself in very serious danger."
"Like I said, Twilight," Sweetie Belle replied, finally glad she was getting through to somepony. "I got it from my brain. It is all coming from inside my head. There are no spells that I'm performing that … ughh … ." Sweetie Belle stopped as a migraine set in. The tablet's metal user interface completely covered Sweetie's vision.
*This device currently finds that your actions may now be directly causing this Tablet's discovery with a sufficiently high probability. This device apologizes for the discomfort.*
'Fine, FIne … ,' Sweetie Belle thought angrily at the Tablet, 'Sweet Celestia that hurts … .'
"I think I might be starting to get the picture Sweetie Belle." The rest of those gathered turned to Twilight as she talked, looks of confusion on their faces, except Cheerilee. "Something happened to you in the metal cave. You didn't have any of these insights before then, to my knowledge. Additionally, magic was fluctuating inside you during your recovery. Most importantly, you can't speak about it, even after I've told you about the serious implications. While I don't know what, there is one thing clear about all of this, something is influencing your mind, isn't it?"
'Yes! I did it! I knew if I did a bunch of really out of character things somepony would figure it out! In your face Tablet!' Despite her exuberance, Sweetie Belle outwardly said nothing. She wanted to speak but the words wouldn't come. She wanted to nod enthusiastically in agreement but her muscles held firm. Luckily she was still able to cry tears of joy. Unbeknownst to her, the tablet could only control limited electrical impulses sent to the rest of the body from her brain and nothing related to the production and regulation of her hormones including the dopamine being secreted through her Lacrimal system.
It was all Twilight needed.
"Alright Sweetie Belle," Twilight said in a rushed tone, quickly nuzzling the filly in an attempt to comfort her, "It's going to be okay."
Quickly taking charge of the situation, she spoke to the other ponies. "I can tell just how serious this is. Everypony, I think you should all go home while I bring Sweetie here to the hospital. There's no telling what magic might be at work here and I'd be worried if this started to spread. Cheerilee, could you get Rarity to come meet me there? She'd want to be there, and Applejack? Could you get Spike to meet us there as well. Something tells me I'm going to need to send a letter to Celestia."
Applejack and Cheerilee shook themselves out of their shock and nodded their heads, quickly heading to town. Big Mac, with a guilty look on his face, took his little sister in his teeth and brought her into the house, kicking and hollering to be there for her friend.
Scootaloo, now all alone with Twilight and Sweetie Belle said, "You might have convinced the others but I'm not leaving my friend for-"
Before she could finish, Twilight took the still frozen Sweetie Belle on her back and flew straight up and away to the hospital, not wanting to teleport her with dangerous magic currently affecting her.
"Oh come on!" she said. She grabbed her scooter from the barn and rode after the pair as they flew quickly out of sight.
Inside the Apple Family house, the sound of crashing could be heard and a triumphant yellow filly burst forth, followed closely by a red stallion, who appeared to struggle with a kitchen tablecloth on his head. When he saw that his sister was gone, he let the fabric fall to the floor, his ruse finished. He made no attempt at following the filly.
'Ain't nopony have ta know … ,' he thought, going back inside. 'There ain't nothin’ that'd get in the way of that filly when her friend’s in danger … and Ah'd do that same thing if it were Applejack.'
Hm...
=_= *chews on imaginary low sodium potato chip*
I like how Sweetie surprised everyone with her detective reasoning. But I really hope this story isn't ending anytime soon.
Hopefully, Twilight is unable to find anything wrong. :) An' more Sweetie hijinks may ensue.
Like, how Sweetie explains to Twilight that Equestrian calculus is the lesser quality compared to Sweetie's tabl.... *blinks* brain math.
A few things you need to fix here and there, a missing comma in the Crusaders treehouse scene, a to -> too fix at the end of a sentence in one spot.
I thought it would take them longer to figure it out, honestly.
4846610
wouldnt it be deductive reasoning?
I feel really stupid now
4846610 There is nothing wrong with Sweetie Belle. She just got a brain inside her head. Oh no!
HA! Suck it Tablet! You have been defeated by the awesomeness that is Sweetie Belle!
Flying away cause Scootaloo can't fly after her, Twilight activates Insensitive Bitch Mode.
Nice bit about using the "Raspberry Truffle incident" as a means to explain the name of Twilight's castle.
4846741
Deductive reasoning works! :3 But ah like mah word too. >_<
There are a few times you wrote "rouse' when I think you meant "ruse", as the former has nothing to do with a secret or deception, as the usage seems to imply.
Other than that, while I hope Twilight is able to figure out that there is something in Sweetie Belle's head, I hope it doesn't end the story.
Hmm...maybe the letter brings Celestia and Luna, and one of them has Admin status in regard to the Tablet and can give the directive that Sweetie Belle can tell ponies about the tablet?
Your Sweetie Belle has encountered an error and needs to restart. Please wait...
4846758
Don't be actin' like that! Yer one of the smartest big sisters ah know!
I don't think the tablet would punish her if its trade secrets were revealed. It doesn't care whether anyone knows or not, only to obey the rules that it was programmed to enforce. As long as others, not her, are coming to correct conclusions about the tablet, then she shouldn't have a migrane, or paralysis, or anything. Assuming she's not trying to say "yes" of course. That she is stiff as a board indicates and I'm worried that there might be some protection the tablet was to keep secret from her, a failsafe in case someone else began to learn about the company's precious secrets through no fault of her own. In short, Sweetie Belle isn't in danger of being punished. She's in danger of being eliminated to keep the ponies from learning more about what happened to her. That's how these companies think... they'd even attack their own customers to preserve their monopoly on ideas, even if it results in the death of their culture and the loss of their precious technology forever.
Please be careful, Twilight.
I hope to god that Twilight finds nothing, because, y'know, it's hilarious to watch her struggle. (And I don't want the story to end so soon.)
I literally squeed when I saw this update
Ouch ok so next time just kick me in the jimmys when I say something stupid about your stories ok? I hate it you made me look like a fool. I can and will do that on my own thank you very much.
4847104
Really? Roleplaying in the comments section?
4847428
Sorta?
1. You need a space in between Miss and Cheerilee.
2. You don't need to put a period after Miss if you aren't abbreviating it.
4846083
Not quite spoiling the ending but all I can say is there will be a surprise twist
4846610
4847191
Nope, it won't be ending anytime soon (I plan for a 60-100k word story so this is only the beginning )
4846714
Thanks fixed the two toos but you'll need to be more specific on that comma, there are a lot of dialogue in that scene... so I can't find it .
As for Twilight learning that Sweetie Belle is being influenced, it's not like they have it all figured out or anything. They only really know "something is wrong" in a broad sense. Twilight has no proof apart from some "weird math" and out-of-character intelligence. Finding out what it is and how to fix Sweetie Belle will be a lot tougher.
4846866
Well, in her defence, she was in a hurry
4846961
Yep, definately "ruse" , fixed and don't worry about the pace, like I said above, there will be plenty more to come
4847178
Nope, despite the actions the tablet is taking, it is actually only a "mild" directive. It has limited control of her body, and only when Sweetie Belle is about to reveal its intentions. If it gets revealed, it won't do anything harmful since it wasn't programmed to. In fact, its rule specifically goes against that "The tablet will attempt to enforce the terms of use agreement to its utmost capability unless it... threatens the owner's life". That being said, that doesn't mean that Twilight isn't treading in dangerous territory.
4847353
Aww, don't say that I didn't mean it . I want people like you questioning the stuff I do. If it wasn't for you guys, my story would be full of holes. You only "look like a fool" cause I'm busy patching all my problems. I'm proud you guys care enough about my ideas to even bother
4847515
Don't know what I was thinking thanks. Fixed instances in both Chapter 1 and 2.
4846741
More like destructive reasoning.
Why didn't they call Sweetie's parents?
4847561
You know, it all depends on how Twilight - and Sweetie - approach it.
Couldn't Sweetie just say this to the Tablet?
Okay, Twilight now knows that there is something in my head that is influencing my actions, giving me greater intelligence and preventing me from talking about it. There's two ways this can go. One, I can be enforced into silence and Twilight will use every magic at her disposal - which is a lot, being the Princess of Magic and all - in order to determine your nature and possibly forcibly extract you from me. This both guarantees your nature will be revealed, and puts my life in danger, violating your rules both ways. Two, you give me limited ability to explain you without giving away your true nature, providing me with the words I need to explain you in such a way that Twilight can be satisfied with a half-truth, and I get to leave with you still in my head, and the explanation Twilight gives from what she interprets, as well as a few important details - the accelerated time sense when teaching me, and the whole 'not allowed to talk about you' thing - and none of the rules are strictly violated as she still won't know your true nature. What do you say?
4847561
I hope overall that A: there is no magic to be detected and that Twilight can't figure it out, and that it just infuriates/blows the mind of poor old Twilight, and B: it turns out that the Tablet has some mathematical and/or scientific concepts/formulas that are more advanced than modern Equestria's, and that it just infuriates/blows the mind of poor old Twilight.
As you can see, I enjoy watching Twilight get knocked down a peg or two.
4847104 an well thank ya suger cube
Man this came quick. I can't wait for more.
4847561 This is really great! Can't wait for the next chapter!
4847850
I don't believe A is going to happen. To quote Twilight during this chapter:
True, the Tablet may or may not have magic; from what I understand however, that doesn't matter. Sweetie Belle does have magic, and the Tablet's presence is affecting it.
On the other hand, I'm almost certain that B is going to happen.
4847561 A surprise Twist?
Well shit, now it's all spoiled for me! It makes so much sense. is the creator of the thingy, and she controls it from a distance, trying to make Sweetie Belle sound crazy as a scheme to get revenge on her, as she stopped being friends with her.
Did I got it right? Some elements might be a tiny bit different, I'm working with what I have here.
4847715 Sweetie is a kid. So no, she can't say that.
>imb4 The terms have a hidden termination clause, causing a cardiac arrest in the event a rivaling company (Twilight Sparkle Inc.) attempts extraction, scanning or manipulation of the Tablet.
I wonder if the tablet planned for this situation to happen to help sweetie talk about it? after all this is just a defense protocal it is a powerful tool that sensitive and if It was study and made again since it a prototype personal aid in the brain! and it practice were used for bad things for bad people woof that would be bad!
4847693
They just found out about this. Part of why Rarity is being asked for is for just that reason.
4847715
4848848
It's not even so much that Sweetie Belle is a kid then it is the tablet is a machine - an intelligent machine - but one still limited by its rules and programming. If that deal was possible, the tablet would have asked Sweetie. It's not dumb. Whenever there is something it can do, whether Sweetie wants it to or not, it has done so. What you're asking for goes against its programming. Right now, neither Sweetie's nor its life is in any perceived danger. The tablet must let things play out because anything else would risk discovery. For all it knows, Twilight will just lock Sweetie Belle up for the rest of her natural life and its true nature will never be revealed. Until it recognises that it/Sweetie is in immediate danger, it will not take proactive steps to save lives.
4847850
4848723
I agree with your sentiments, one thing is definitely certain, Twilight will be in for a mind-rending time.
4848843
How did you know!! Twist actually created a time machine in the future to travel into the past creating the tablet and unleashing a temporal paradox which resulted in her being named immortal ruler of the universe and now, far in the distant future of such happenstances, she finally got her cutie mark, setting into motion a complex series of events which will decide the fact of the multiverse once and for all. Now a time-lord, a barber, and Sweetie Belle are all that stand in the way of our most certain doom.
Darn! And I had this planned out so well. Welp, back to the drawing board I guess
4848915
Close though I'd like to think it's more serious. Countdown to the nuclear annihilation of all sentient life in Equestria , T-minus 15 minutes... 14:59... 14:48...
4849244
Despite all its power and knowledge, it is still very limited in what it can do. It doesn't have free will like that. It can't form opinions unless they correlate with its programming. Since its programming specifically states that it is to avoid being revealed at all cost, that is what it will do; even if the alternative is an objectively better decision.
4849360
Cool, didn't know the tablet can prod the body into becoming a nuclear device. That's some CENTIPEDE shit right there!
Applejack and Cheerilee shook themselves out of their disenchantment with the whole situation
Is "disenchantment" really the word you're looking for here?
Here's a little joke:
or "Frick Castle" for short
4849360 The tablet said that Sweetie can't reveal its existence without "express permission". Since the corporation and all its employees etc. are dust, is there any chance that, as the last remaining actor, the tablet itself could have inherited that authority?
This is starting to annoy me.
How does Sweetie Belle not see the Jackpot that she just landed?
She's caught lightning in a bottle with that tablet but she wants it gone?
Why?
She could use that thing to prepare for just about anything as long as there's only one possible solution.
She could even use it to take a guess at what body mechanics Scootaloo needs to follow with her wings in order to fly.
This is like finding a briefcase filled with 12 million bucks and then immediately trying to find a way to light the thing on fire.
I'm more than slightly worried about what the tablet can do to prevent industrial espionage. Best case scenario, it will delete itself from Sweetie's mind. Worst case, it doesn't stop there.
Of course, there is the possibility that the technology is insufficiently advanced and thus is distinguishable from magic. In that case, it might not show up on the scan... but there's still the irrefutable evidence of some kind of compulsion affecting Sweetie, up to and including paralysis. Twilight's not going to be dissuaded so easily... unless she thinks analyzing this will cause anvils to fall out of the sky to punish her hubris. Wouldn't be the first time.
I really like how Sweetie's plan involved Apple Bloom and Scootaloo's most likely talents. It might have even worked! Alas, that pesky "safety" thing reared its ugly head.
Looking forward to more. I have next to no idea what's going to happen next, and I love it.
4849763
Farrier, didn't think about that , changed. Won't say anything more about the latter part. Just know that there is a reason that will become thematically relevent in the future.
4849848
Yeah, I was thinking something along the lines of "being distant from the situation" and thought disillusionment/disenchantment. What I really meant was just simply "shock".
4849862
If the tablet could do that, it would have; but the company does still exist and the tablet knows - in an abstract way - what systems remain which could grant permissions/override it (I won't say more because *spoilers*).
4850005
Well look at it from her perspective:
- She just got this thing she didn't ask for (annoying)
- It started talking to her in her mind and knows things she never told it (terrifying)
- Then she learns that it is helpful and won't hurt her (how can she trust it?)
- It doesn't hurt her and it is helpful (maybe SB can trust it?)
- It prevents her from speaking/writing/acting about it (now SB is unsure what to think)
At this point, she's unsure what she wants and does whatever she can to get other ponies to help her. She never explicitly says she wants it gone (that's Twilight). She's just a kid in a new situation and she wants advice. Ironically, Sweetie Belle is the only pony in this situation at the moment that might want to keep it but until another pony she respects confirms she has nothing to fear, or unless she convinces herself, she will be afraid.
4850102 Intriguing ...
4850102 I just thought of something completey out of left field here, but isn't it possible that Sollestia, being the ruler of all Equestria, might have supiror influence with the device?
It's just a thought, but maybe that's not the case, and if so that means either it's going to be a long story about being able to find the one who can override the contract's T&S about the device and reveiling information about it, or they are going to have to find out how to remove it safely.
I either reveiled things that should remain a secret, or possibly gave up the overall plotline. I'm sorry, i hope that none of what i said has just spoiled anything. I just want to saw you are doing an amazing job with this story.
please keep up the good work.
4850393
Never fear about revealing plot that doesn't exist yet , worst comes to worst, I could always just make a new plotline.
That being said, all I'll say is you're not completely incorrect and Celestia will have a part to play but I can't say anything without *spoilers*.
4850475 alright then. . . i shall be patently waiting for the next part to be uploaded then!
*spongebob narrator voice* "Two minutes later. . ."
*Me Yelling at the computer screen* I want the next part!!
LOL!
Wait, what will the tablet do if and when it IS discovered...
...Self destruct! There's no other logical answer!
Still loving this so far, and I love how Sweetie was able to clue Twilight in. Now Sweetie will have help. She might not know the true nature of what Sweetie has, but now she knows something is there. And now that she knows, she can start trying to figure out a solution, and bring in the other princesses as well.
Really the only complaint I might have at this point (aside from a couple of spelling and grammar mistakes) is that I'm starting to worry that you're going over the top with how crazily restrictive this tablet is. Were it some highly classified project then it would make sense for all these restrictions. However, you've made it quite clear that this is a civilian model. I'm sorry, but if that's the case then this is starting to kill my SoD. Ignoring all the issues that raises, I refuse to believe that any company would be stupid enough to think that they could make even the slightest profit off of a device that reads the user's mind upon integration, takes almost complete control of the user's body to prevent you from mentioning it, and then actually hurts the user when getting close to mentioning it. That sounds less like a civilian model anything and more like freaking SCP-055!
4851074 True enough. However, I don't recall it being a civilian model, so much as a prototype, which being that it would probably be used by a trusted person from the business, isn't going to have problems with that anyway. And if they did, well, they didn't want it to leak to other competitors.
Still, its just like a Geass effect. Which are always kinda fun. Especially if you can find a way around them. Or not.
4851074
I can't say too much without spoiling things, but both the "installation mind reading" and the "secrecy" go hand-in-hand here. I'll be explaining this later, but using complex heuristics and an installation mind-read, the AI could fully understand and answer questions. Obviously, like you said, that isn't enough. The beta test was meant to compare the user's neural data to the types of questions the user asked in order to avoid the installation mind reading all together and instead have the tablet use a general "neural-net" model in its heuristics instead.
The problem is that the second you put an AI into a user's brain - especially one which can mind-read - you're going to upset a lot of individuals. That's something you're going to want to keep secret until you know your product is 100% finished, especially for civilian use. There's nothing wrong with keeping a sensitive project like that on the down-low and having everyone under enforced NDAs*.
*Note that the company would have no problem with people talking about the testing when they have no proof it existed and would be more than willing to remove the device if they asked, it was all in the contract (which was overseen by an independent body and everything, it was all legit). To bad Sweetie can't remove it
4851411
Alright, I misunderstood. I didn't realize it wasn't actually released to the public. Still, that leaves the other problems like why Sweetie is being held under an NDA when she never saw or signed one. It seems like there would have been a crazy amount of paperwork and other such requirements before it could be activated, and yet, even though Sweetie has done none of that she is still being treated as if she had. Now, I imagine the argument here would be that, since it did activate with her, then none of the previous stuff matters. The only problem with that argument is that, considering how strictly this thing follows the rules, there is no way there wouldn't be something preventing it from merging with someone who hasn't (for example) signed an NDA.
Still, this is just more of a nitpick. I could normally just ignore it considering how great the rest of the story is, but it's starting to get a bit frustrating seeing how it keeps pulling all these crazy tricks to prevent her from even thinking about talking.
4847561
Hmm... good to know the humans were being careful with their invasive dangerous mind altering knowledge injection magic. I just can't help but see the worst possible situation at first glance.
I can think of one thing that would allow her to tell ponies about it without being stopped: join the military. It would definitely take a while, (or not depending on how she did it), but when commanded by a superior officer to relay important information she could talk about it. The tablet cant interfere with military operations. She's not likely to use that loophole though. Anyways, I look forward to the next chapter.
4852143 It's theoretically possible that someone else signed the paperwork before whatever calamity happened caused them to not get it installed. Another possibility is that since it wouldn't be installed unless the NDA was signed, it just assumes (or is programmed to assume) that the necessary actions have been taken.