Chapter 7 - An Unforgettable Train Ride
One might be surprised, but bathrooms were sometimes a luxury on Equestrian trains. At times—when train rides were sometimes hours long—it wasn’t uncommon for a pony to rush to the washroom right after a trip. Luckily for a heavily dressed earth pony mare, this train had one. She stood up shakily before heading to it, wobbling unsteadily as she did so. Such a mundane occurrence wasn’t paid any heed by the rest of the train’s passengers, even though it hid something that would have likely shocked them all.
As the door of the single-pony restroom was shut and the bolt locked firmly into place, the heavy trenchcoat worn by the mare opened, revealing the three fillies it held inside.
“Oh-my-gosh-Oh-my-gosh-Oh-my-gosh-Oh-my-gosh-Oh-my-gosh!” Scootaloo cried. However—unlike her idol—this wasn’t a statement of glee, but panic.
“What’s the matter Scoots?” Apple Bloom asked with a slight smirk, “Ah thought that ya liked adventure?”
Scootaloo tried to act calm and grin, but it came off as nervous and completely inauthentic. “I-I do. Totally.”
Sweetie Belle frowned in worry. “What’s the matter Scootaloo? Is it because of the ‘acting like Diamond Tiara’ thing?”
“N-no … ah, who am I kidding, it’s this whole thing!” Scootaloo exclaimed with her forehooves in the air. “I thought that this part of the plan was just going to be us having a quiet trip. We didn’t prepare for your sister, Sweetie Belle. How am I- we supposed to hide from her?!”
“Look Scootaloo, ya just need ta calm down. Ta be honest, Ah thought that it would be Sweetie Belle shakin’ in her saddle.” Apple Bloom looked at her quizzically.
“You don’t get it. I’ll be the one talking to ponies, and lying to them. If I do that, we’re all doomed. Just talking to that conductor for a minute almost blew our cover-”
“No you didn’t.” Sweetie Belle walked the length of the bathroom and nuzzled her friend. “You did great.”
“Look, Sweetie Belle, I just don’t think I’m up to it,” Scootaloo said with a sigh. “If it was just about kicking flank or riding really fast I’d be all for it. I’m no good at pretending to be something I’m not. I learned that the hard way on that camping trip. If I try, it always falls flat and makes me feel awful. It may not be a headless horse this time, but it almost feels worse. I don’t want this adventure to end because of me.”
“It’s okay, Scoots,” Apple Bloom acknowledged, looking her in the eye. “Ah’m glad ya told us this now and that you learned the lesson from that camping trip.We’re in this together ain’t that right? We’re all gonna have an important part in this adventure, Ah can feel it. I think this part is Sweetie’s.”
“Me?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Well,” Apple Bloom stated, “Ah’m gonna be honest, Ah suck at lyin’. Ah can tell a white lie if I got you girls backin’ me up, but there ain’t no way Ah can do somethin’ like this. If all that stuff ya did with ma cousin and ma family wasn’t just luck, Ah bet ya could talk yer way outta anythin’!”
“I-,” Sweetie Belle stopped. ‘Tablet, who would be the best at talking their way out of the situation?’
*With or without this device’s assistance, your ability to reason through a situation as well as to talk quickly and accurately about falsified information gives you a superior advantage.*
‘I’m not sure how to feel about that ...’
“Alright, I’ll do it,” Sweetie Belle conceded. “However, we need to come up with a plan. I doubt this disguise will last long against my sister.”
The fillies all thought for a minute, Sweetie thinking a bit differently.
‘So, Tablet, what are the courses of action?’
*Error 3: Too many combinations of results. Would you like a suggestion?*
‘Combin-,’ Sweetie Belle groaned silently, ‘what’s the problem now?’
*A list can be represented in any number of ways. This device can only display a list so long as the length is finite and it is defined such that it has only one possible representation-*
‘That sounds like a dumb rule. Why can’t you just tell me already,’ Sweetie grumbled.
*This device is ultimately digital in nature and this device's creator refused it to provide answers arbitrarily. You must provide a question with only one solution.*
‘Fine … umm, just list it from best to worse or something.’
*Assuming best means most likely to succeed: the courses of action are as follows. Removing Rarity, distracting her, hiding yourselves, and convincing her.*
“Hey, I think I got something,” Scootaloo stated proudly.
Sweetie Belle was broken from her almost dreamlike trance. Every time she started talking to Tablet, it was getting harder and harder to pay attention to what was going on around her.
“What’ch ya got Scoots?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Why don’t we just get off the train? Simple.” Scootaloo pointed to the small window in the bathroom. It was small enough to fit a filly through.
“What?” Apple Bloom asked, “Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Well, obviously we- oh, right. Forgot none of you were pegasi, sorry.” Scootaloo looked at the ground in embarrassment.
“It doesn’t really make a difference anyway,” Sweetie Belle criticized softly. “I might be able to teleport us out … maybe … but if we get off now, how would we get to Los Pegasus?”
“Oh, right,” Scootaloo lamented.
‘Just to double-check, If we walked from here to the dat-base. How long would it take?’
*8.482523 years, accounting for increased pace as your body grows.*
“Yeah … that’s not happening.” Recalling what the tablet said earlier, Sweetie Belle continued. “Anyway, the way my brain see it, there are four things we can do: distract Rarity, hide, convince her that … umm, we aren’t us or something, and … remove her …”
“What was that?” Scootaloo inquired.
“To remove her, okay!” Sweetie Belle cried.
“And just what is that supposed ta mean?” Apple Bloom asked.
‘Well?’ Sweetie Belle redirected to the Tablet. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo waited patiently, but angrily, for their friend to finish.
*Removing the persuee means providing some means of which the target is temporarily or permanently unable to continue pursuit.*
‘I get that, what I mean is, what are your referring to?’
*Error 3: Question is too vague. Would you like-*
‘I mean, can you give me, like, the top 5 ways to do this?’
*The most likely means in general are: injury, impairment, removal by an authority, removal by location, and death.*
‘What?’ Sweetie Belle gave a shocked expression which in turn surprised her friends. ‘D-d-death?! T-there’s no way I could just kill my sister, tha-that’s …’ Sweetie gagged at the thought of even considering it.
“Sweetie, are ya alright?” Apple Bloom asked.
Sweetie Belle nodded.
“Well, what did ya mean by what you said then?”
Ignoring the worst one, she replied, “Like causing her to fall asleep or getting the, um, conductor to kick her off or something.”
“Oh,” Apple Bloom sighed in relief. “That makes sense. Ah thought you might have really been evil there for a second,” she giggled.
It was meant to be sarcastic but it made Sweetie Belle stop for a minute. ’I might not have said it but the Tablet did. Is it really evil?’
“Alright,” Scootaloo shrugged. “So what are we gonna do then? I don’t think Rarity’s just going to let us go after all that stuff with Apple Bloom’s cousin.”
“Yeah,” Apple Bloom replied, “and Ah think hidin’ is out too. If Ah remember correctly, this train takes almost an entire day ta make it ta Los Pegasus. The train ain’t big enough ta hide us fer that long.”
The train wasn’t that large. That was because they were on the Southern Route. Few ponies took this train from Zebrica and Saddle Arabia beyond the Macintosh hills. Taking a boat to Los Pegasus or Baltimare took a little longer than a train but was cheaper and more luxurious. As such, these southern trains were smaller. This one, in particular, had only nine train cars in total: the engine, VIP car, second-class car, meal car, four economy-class cars and the caboose. Even if Rarity was slow, it would only take an hour or two to search the entire thing, thoroughly.
“Okay,” Scootaloo continued, “so if leaving the train, convincing her, and hiding are no good, the only options left are to distract her and get rid of her somehow.”
‘Are those options really so bad?’ Sweetie thought. ‘Scootaloo and Apple Bloom might not like it, but if we could hide or convince Rarity somehow, that would be for the best.’
*Leaving the train is impossible for the reasons you mentioned. Without a sufficient long-distance travel method, reaching the destination safely and in a timely manner is unlikely.*
*Hiding is also not likely to succeed. While the train is small, a disguise can successfully fool for an indefinite length of time thanks to societal decency norms. Rarity would not try to take off the trenchcoat since that would be indecent in the presence of others. She will not be fooled by the current disguise, however. It is possible to modulate your voice but this device does not have sufficient understanding of the principles of the Aether to perform colloquially named ‘Illusion Magic.’*
*Convincing Rarity is likely but-*
‘Wait, I could convince Rarity to let us go?!’
*Yes. Rarity could not have been convinced earlier because of Twilight’s rationale that you are under ‘mind-control’ as well as Rarity’s need to appeal to authority. Currently, however, it is likely that appealing to her emotion and sisterhood could sway her opinion.*
‘Let’s do that then!’
*That is not recommended.*
‘Huh? Why not? If we can convince her, that sounds like the best option to me!’
*As this device had attempted to previously convey, convincing Rarity is likely but it is also possible she has a device or magic capable of communication. Immediately upon discovery, she would send word of where you are. Any further plans—however successful—would not prevent authorities from detaining you at the Los Pegasus train station by means of a telegram to the guards stationed there.*
‘Oh, so those options really are out of the question ...’
“Sweetie Belle?” Apple Bloom asked.
“Yes?” she replied.
“What do you think? Should we distract her or ‘remove’ her?” Scootaloo looked at Sweetie Belle without a hint of annoyance.
Sweetie Belle was confused, it didn’t seem like she missed the conversation at all.
“Umm,” Sweetie contemplated for a moment. She felt she was getting too reliant on the Tablet and wanted to think this through herself this time. “Well if I had to guess, distracting her would be just as likely to work has hiding. We might be able to do it for a while, but I doubt we could do it for a whole day.”
“Yeah,” Apple Bloom sighed, lowering her head. “Ah guess that means we gotta ‘remove’ her after all. How are we gonna do it though? Ah mean, it’s not like we can just kick her off the train. There ain’t any stops between here and Los Pegasus. That just don’t seem right.”
They thought for a little longer but they were interrupted by a knock at the bathroom door.
“Hey in there!” a stallion’s voice came from beyond the door. Washrooms on small trains like this were uni-sex. “Quit hogging the bathroom. You’ve been in there for like ten minutes, give others a chance.”
The fillies looked at each other, wondering who should answer. Eventually Sweetie Belle piped up in as low of a voice as she could, “We- I’ll be out in a minute!”
A grunt came back from beyond the door in confirmation.
“Alright girls, I’ll think of something.” Sweetie Belle whispered, turning and picking up the trench coat. “Just follow my lead.”
The other crusaders would normally be worried in this situation, but their friend had been taking charge and succeeding so often that they felt safe in leaving everything up to her. Likewise, Sweetie Belle—at this point—was confident that she could use the Tablet to get herself out of just about anything.
The three got together, threw the coat over themselves and walked out the door, almost being shoved aside by a very anxious stallion running in.
Ignoring the stallion the three walked slowly away from Rarity, not trying to attract attention. ‘Alright Tablet, we’re out of time. What’s the best way to remove Rarity … without killing her!’ Sweetie Belle added hastily.
*The best course of action would be to incapacitate her for the duration of the trip. Other methods would only delay but not eliminate the problem. Injury, manipulating the conductor to kick her off, or removing her physically would only cause her to immediately know of our presence and contact others if she can.*
‘She wouldn’t know it was us that kicked her off though.’
*The likelihood of removal from a train without stops is incredibly unlikely in pony society. She would be stranded and would call for help. Elementary deduction would also conclude that such an unlikely event would be likely caused by a malicious third party.*
‘Still, how can we be sure she even has this ‘communication device’ anyway?’
*It is a 62.237463% possibility. Resources exist, they are likely at the disposal of Rarity’s personal friend 'Princess Twilight Sparkle' who has a vested interest in your capture, and they are intelligent enough to recognize the benefits of bringing one along. The reason for the low percentage is due to the fact that she had to arrive on the train in a rushed manner and possibly forgot to bring it along.*
‘Alright then, what do we do?’
“Sweetie Belle?” Apple Bloom whispered. “What’s the plan?”
Sweetie Belle heard the Tablet’s plan but she didn’t like it. “We need to head to the kitchen.” Sweetie Belle had a dour look on her face.
The other two shrugged and carried Sweetie Belle and their disguise over to the meal car.
Rarity had searched all the cars and the hiding spots, twice. The luggage and storage area in the caboose, all the private rooms, under the tables and in cupboards in the meal car, even the engine. She eventually surmised that if they were here, they were probably disguised. She didn’t even consider that until that point. They could be using magic so she would have to be careful and interview every pony. Even if she could not narrow it down to one pony, she could at least have remove most of the ponies on the train as suspects: the ones with family or friends that could vouch for them and the like.
“Thank you for your time, and apologies for the interruption,” Rarity affirmed. She just finished an interview with a pair of two zebras in one of the second-class private booths.
“Oh it’s quite alright,” the older mare chuckled, “It’s nice when somepony thinks you’re younger than you are.”
The older stallion beside her chuckled too. “Although, dear, I thought you being a filly might have been a bit much.”
“Hehehe …” Rarity trailed off as she left and closed the door the door behind her. What she hadn’t known was that they were married. ‘At least I didn’t know those zebras,’ Rarity sighed, ‘but who would have thought that the VIP on this train would be Sapphire Shores! At least she got a good laugh out of it too … oooh Sweetie Belle! You are going to be in so much trouble when I find you’
It was 7:30 in the evening when she went from the second-class car to the meal car. She decided to travel from front to back and had already interviewed all the ponies working the engine, in the VIP room and in the second-class car. She had only been on the train for an hour-and-a-half so she was making good time. She felt she could finish all the interviews before nine o’clock.
The meal car was larger than the other cars on the train, with a fully equipped kitchen. The passengers in economy would only be getting a simple salad for breakfast and a sandwich for lunch from the fridge but the second-class and VIP ponies had waiters who would serve freshly made meals directly to their cars. The meal car also had a few tables for ponies who didn’t want to dine in their seats. ‘As they should,’ Rarity thought.
The meal car had a few ponies still in it, which was surprising considering how late it was. The reason was clear when Rarity looked around. Everypony was drinking water. The train had been travelling near a desert for the past few hours—even before she came on the train—and even this late it was still very hot. She was planning on interviewing the ponies here, but she found herself a little thirsty when she looked at the other passengers. She got a glass from the kitchen cupboard and poured herself a glass from the magical water cooler and purifier. Sitting at a table, she took infrequent sips and tried to think about what to do if the interviews didn’t work.
‘Well, if I can’t find her, and can’t determine her identity by an interview, the only thing left would be to check for magic. The problem is that I’m not very good at detection spells when gems aren’t involved. Hmm, this water is a bit salty but there can’t really be much expectation of quality for train water. Anyway, maybe if there is only one or two suspicious ponies, I might be able to get the guard to follow them around. I’m shure that if I show Twilisht’s sheal, then they would besh-’
Suddenly she felt very dizzy and the glass of water she had been drinking fell, only to be held by a green magical aura and put back on the table.
‘What the-?’
“Sorry sis,” came words from a voice behind her.
Rarity struggled to turn and found herself face-to-face with her sister. A white mare with a black greasy mane, green eyes and a trenchcoat stood before her.
It took a moment before she recognized the features. “Sweetie-?!” was the last thing Rarity got out before she collapsed on the table.
1 hour earlier.
For the past five minutes, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo had been struggling to move Sweetie Belle around the kitchen, often times even lifting her up to reach the upper shelves. All the while, they tried to stay hidden underneath their trenchcoat. While they were trying to think of a way to avoid making their disguise too obvious, Scootaloo remembered that she had a tube of grease for her scooter in her saddlebag. It wasn’t pretty but combing Sweetie Belles mane back with the black viscous fluid resulted in an almost black mane … and the appearance that she hadn’t washed in days. It changed Sweeties appearance, and if that didn’t keep ponies away, nothing would. Evidently it was working as nopony went anywhere near them as they worked in the kitchen.
“Sweetie,” Scootaloo gasped, exhausted, “are you sure this is a good idea? Rarity could be back any minute.”
“I don’t think so.” Sweetie Belle didn’t look down at her friend but rather continued to focus on what she was doing on the countertop. “She had just finished searching through here and she was making her way to the caboose. I don’t think she’ll be back for a while.”
“Yeah,” Apple Bloom replied, “but what if she does come back.”
Sweetie Belle sighed, “Then we speed up the plan a bit I guess. She might not recognize us even if she did come back and I can’t … I mean, my brain can’t plan for everything. We can only take what limited information we have and determine the most probabilistically favorable outcome.”
Her two friends looked at her with a dumb look and shook their heads. Sweetie Belle was always a dictionary but now it seemed she was starting to become a thesaurus too. Still, they stuck by her. At this point, all they could do was go with the flow.
‘Alright, I’ve got about 2 litres of vinegar, table salt and a bowl. I couldn’t get any of that alcohol stuff you wanted though. What are we supposed to do with this?’
*This sherry vinegar should contain roughly 5.771123mg of gamma-hydroxybutyric acid per litre. By extracting and combining this with the salt, it becomes a more stable, powerful sedative: Sodium Oxybate. This information is sourced and extrapolated from your own equine structure with a 99.118429% accuracy of successful sedation without harmful side-effects. This isn’t enough to induce sleep so several more grams will have to be created from the existing acidic compounds—such as gamma-butyrolactone—inside the vinegar. Without a lab to properly filter the anhydrates and without the proper chemicals to catalyze the reaction, this would not normally be achievable. The creation of a Condensed Exotic Detection Field in combination with careful feedback-control of your horn, however, allows manipulation of the Aether and matter at an atomic scale.*
‘Okay, I don’t know half of those words …’
*In summary, this device can use your horn to extract and create a powerful sedative from this sherry vinegar and salt.*
‘Oh, okay. I don’t know why you have to use those fancy words though,’ Sweetie Belle sulked. ‘With all the stuff you can do, I’m starting to wonder why we’re even bothering to do all this fancy stuff in the first place. Why not disguise ourselves as another pony or use a spell to put Rarity to sleep?’
*This device is limited by the amount of energy your horn can extract from the Aether and this device’s ability to control it. This device’s understanding of your horn’s structure allows it to manipulate electromagnetic waves, matter-waves, and gravitational waves with telekinesis; either through space or through the Aether. This device cannot disguise you because that would require the constant manipulation of billions of photons per second in three dimensions or permanent biological reconstruction which this unit is not allowed to do. Any induced sleep caused directly by your horn would have unknown consequences on the target’s brain because of multiple unknowns. More static computations like the teleportation of a fixed massive object within a fixed region of space have larger timeframes and are achievable as a result. Likewise the detection and creation of a small quantity of chemical compounds can be done but not instantaneously.*
Sweetie Belle sighed. She got some of that but it mostly went over her head. In short, if the tablet had enough time and energy to do something, it can do it.
After a few short minutes, the sedative was finished. Sweetie had to open a window to let out the various gases that formed as byproducts of the reaction. There was now roughly 8.5g of Sodium Oxybate diluted in 40ml of water in the bowl, creating a slightly briny liquid.
‘Okay, so we got the sleeping stuff. How are we supposed to get Rarity to drink this? I doubt my sister’s dumb enough to take it from a stranger if we just ask her to.’
*If you can set up a tap to dispense the sedative on a trigger, then if Rarity uses the tap, she will unwittingly take the sedative as well.*
‘Yeah, but why would she use our tap and not some other one, and how will we know she will even want to drink water in the first place?’
*From your understanding of Rarity’s behavior, she would only take water from a purified source. If she wants to consume water, it is very likely that she will use the magical water cooler and purifier in this kitchen to receive it as it is the only one on this train. Considering that this train will be travelling near and in a desert for several hours, the likelihood she will consume something during this trip is high, and water is the only thing available until morning.*
‘Yeah, but what if she doesn’t consume it fast enough? What if she catches us first?’
*If you find yourself confronted, insist that you get a glass of water. It is likely that she will want some as well. If that also doesn’t work, it may be possible to tell her to wait until morning before talking. Then you can give her the sedative in her sleep. In that also fails, it is possible to also force her to drink it if your friends hold Rarity down first.*
Sweetie didn’t respond, struggling with the ethical implications of her actions. While she was willing to slip her some sedative in a drink, holding her sister down and forcing her to take it just … seemed so wrong.
‘I think we should come up with a plan B just in case.’
*It should be possible to convince the conductor that she is causing trouble for you if she gets too aggressive. That would likely increase the time it takes for her to get solid proof of your presence until tomorrow, resulting in the administration of the sedative in her sleep more likely.*
Sweetie Belle stopped thinking about it for a while, she just wanted to get it the whole awful situation over and done with.
With Apple Bloom’s help, the fillies were able to modify the tap to have a small pull-string which would mix the sedative into the water being poured out. The mechanism was invisible unless somepony took off the front panel which housed the magical cooling crystal. After it was rigged, the fillies sat down on a chair facing the water cooler and away from the door and waited.
In the forty-five minutes that followed, Rarity passed through the meal car twice. The first time, she double-checked under the tables to be sure that the fillies weren’t in there. The second time was going to the front of the train. Neither time did she think to drink a glass. It was only when she came back from the front of the train that she actually took the time to drink something.
Being careful not to be noticed, the fillies got up from the seat and waddled slowly in their disguise over to Rarity. After about a minute, the drug kicked in and Rarity passed out.
“Sorry sis,” Sweetie Belle said as she levitated the glass of sedative water before it could crash on the floor.
Her sister somehow managed to turn and respond. “Sweetie-?” she said before she fell face-first on the table.
The other passengers looked at Rarity peculiarly, but ultimately ignored her when they saw the trenchcoated mare helping her back up and telling them she knew her. What they didn’t see was Sweetie Belle pouring the final bit of water down into her sister’s mouth. They couldn’t move Rarity but they figured that the conductor would likely do so later that night.
“Alright, mission complete girls,” Scootaloo yawned. “Let’s go get some sleep of our own. You’re really heavy you know Sweetie Belle.”
“Yeah … ,” Sweetie lamented, ignoring what her friend had said. She looked at the unconscious form of her sister. ‘I hope this is all worth it,’ she thought.
Rarity awoke to the splashing of water on her face. She sputtered and awoke groggy and unaware of her situation for a few moments. She eventually looked around and saw the conductor staring over her angrily.
“What a surprise,” the conductor groaned, “The last pony to come on and the last pony to leave.”
“Huh, wha-” Rarity blubbered, barely conscious.
“We’re here. We’ve been in Los Pegasus for almost thirty minutes. I couldn’t wake you up since I found you in the meal car. I’m sorry for splashing you with water but nothing was getting you up. You should really get more sleep.”
“I do, I mean, I was asleep?”
The conductor knew a lost cause when he saw one and walked away, before he left the train completely he turned and said, “Come on, you better hurry up. You came on this train in such a hurry I would have thought you’d want to leave before the train heads back to Canterlot this afternoon.”
Rarity sat up and stretched as she walked off the train and onto the platform. Finally able to think she remembered what happened just moments before she passed out. He sister’s face, looking down on her as the darkness crept up, the realization she had been drugged and the fear that she was at the mercy of whatever that Influence was. ‘If it hadn’t been for those other passengers in the meal car,’ she thought, ‘would I even be here now?’
She shivered and walked off the train. She thought of her friends, then immediately pulled out the crest and hit it, making it glow and communicate her position to Twilight and her friends. She was too late to find her sister now, but her friends might know some way to help. Still, in that thirty minute head start they could be anywhere in the city. In a minute she would call the guard and begin a search. In the meantime, the shock was too much to bear.
‘This is it. I’ve lost my sister for good. The influence has travelled over two-thousand kilometers just to be here. There’s no telling what it plans for Sweetie Belle but I doubt anypony can stop it now. I was right there and I couldn’t find her. There’s no doubt they’ll avoid the guards.’
She sat on the side of the platform and cried.
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You are very mean for leaving the last chapter on a cliffhanger, y'know. Glad to know the girls reached their destination safely though.
One word. Yes. A second word. More. A third word. Please?
Yes, she is near... A little more and she can say the true.
Clever little tablet.
...poor Rarity.
Hooray for Sweetie MacGyver.
Such cliffhanger!!!
still loving the story. can't wait until they make it to their destination.
derpicdn.net/img/2014/8/24/706710/large.jpeg
Getting some major Breaking Bad vibes from this chapter.
Haven't read anything yet. BUT WOW!
This update was super speedy. :D
6 THOUSANDDDDdddddd... *gets in a comfy spot*
Reading tiem!
4959279 Bwaahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Awesome picture!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can't wait for the next update!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rarity, you poor, poor, ignorant uninformed mare you!!!!
Now I'm curious: would the tablet force or trick Sweetie Belle into poisoning/murdering her sister if it was more likely to keep it hidden?
Poor Rarity. Here's hoping everything works out well.
I have this sudden mental image of when they make contact with whatever administrators there are to get the special permission for Sweetie to talk about the Tablet, the answer is "no". That would be just terrible.
4959338
Actually that would be interesting, since the "tablet" already made it clear that the only way that could happen is if someone representing the company was still alive, which would seem to be impossible.
Wow, you're as regular as Metamucil™!
... I meant that as a compliment.
4959313
There are only four exclamation marks on that last one. You're slipping.
Dude. This story is goooood. Keep doing this.
How has she not figured out that the tablet isn't conscious yet? How can it be evil when it doesn't think for itself, it was only giving logical choices. Doesn't she at least have some knowledge of fictional robots? They do in the show, I think...
I wonder why the Sweetie Belle didn't try to find this "magical communication device" to stop Rarity from using it, unless the Tablet couldn't guess what it would look like.
Unless they thought Rarity would sleep till the train goes back to Canterlot, but the Tablet surely have accounted for someone waking her up or trying to.
So far, the Mane Six wouldn't try to listen to Sweetie Belle trying to explain the situation, even once she can talk about Tablet. They will guess it is the Influence talking and making her present it in good light. They won't believe that Sweetie was the one who CHOSE to run away, teleport and drug Rarity
Knock out compound to bypass a day of time for the win. I wonder if Scoots can get hold of another scooter, with those skies, for the Equestria Games trick the CMC pulled off last time? Or is that in another season. Im forgetting
I wonder if the Tablet will think the AI controilling the database is an active employee of the company, given it should be more capable than the humans that left.
Thank you!!!! <3 <3 <3
Lovely chapter.
4959452
There are a handful of beings that could be old enough to be an admin. Discord seems the most likely of these.
4958992
Surely you are mistaken. 
Mean? Moi?
4959279
Well it's not like GHB is addictive or any- ... oh wait ...
4959319
Well if it could, it probably would have done that a long time ago. The tablet has only shown that it will force Sweetie Belle to not do something. Additionally, it has yet to actually trick SB into doing anything (not to say it can't, just that, as of yet, it hasn't).
4959588
Well, it's not like robotics there are as ubiquitous as it is in our society. The MLP comics have given mention of robots and the like but it hasn't appeared on the show at all. Additionally, ponies have a very broad definition of conscious life, even animals like Angel and Owlowiscious can communicate with ponies in a very active way. So it wouldn't be surprising that if they had magic machines that could communicate with them, that they would consider them "alive".
Adding to that, SB has never really come across a pony who would even consider killing somepony else, even as just an option. Things like that really color her perceptions, even if the Tablet is only listing the logical possibilities (she's only a kid after all).
4959599
Well, it's more like it wasn't sure. What if it can't be detected if it isn't on? Who's to say that she only has one? What if destoying it activates it? (Actually, the crest Rarity had would have activated if they tried smashing it). The device isn't intimately aware of Equestrian Technology so it can't guarantee that it wouldn't make the situation worse. Not to mention that Equestria has telegrams so it would only mean that Rarity would just walk to the Telegram office (which would probably be in the train station if it's like America) so that wouldn't solve much.
As for convincing the Mane 6, you're partially right. The other reason they don't believe her is because Twilight cannot examine Sweetie Belle using magic detection spells. While SB cannot convince them with words, if Twilight scans her and finds that there is nothing wrong, they won't have much choice but to believe that their isn't anything wrong (what "nothing wrong" means might differ between Twilight and SB however). After all, you can't fix what ain't broke.
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
4959785
Ah dunno. They could'a hid the device/tracker on the train.
Maybe in some secret toilet compartment.
*imagines Twilight bucking down the door*
"AH! AH'M POOPIN!"
Amazing update! Heh when Sweetie finally is able to talk about the Tablet, I can just see Twilight asking Sweetie question after question after question about the Tablet
4960191 That is an awfully optimistic view considering the trauma they put Rarity through. Sweetie Belle is going to have a tough time explaining why she went to such extremes, even disregarding the trouble she will have explaining the whole tablet/mind control issue.
It might happen eventually, but it won't be the first (or even the second) thing that happens when that encounter comes.
I'm really enjoying this story so far. It's interesting to see Sweetie's reactions to the amoral choices the tablet gives her. Being a filly and living in the mostly peaceful village of Ponyville has colored her perceptions so that the very idea of killing someone is evil in and of itself. The tablet, being a machine, seems to only consider things in terms of expediency, and not Right and Wrong like ponies.
>A white mare with a black greasy mane, green eyes and a trenchcoat stood before her. She wore a thick trenchcoat.
2 trenchcoats?
Youch, even more poor Rarity.
4962867
Double trench coats all the way
Fixed
4962893 So is it 1 or 2 words? You've used both
*And my fourth wall abilities say that she has it.*
....
Kidding, love this story.
DUDE . What about riding on top of the train?
or is the wind force to strong?
When i heard the kitchen, my first thought was kitchen knives
4973990
But this worked out so much better!
I know, My first thought was that they were going to take a knife and slip into Rarity's bag, then get her kicked for having a concealed weapon!
can't wait for the next part!
4967465 I actually did think that they might teleport ( perhaps even after they "accidentally" bump into Rarity ) to the roof ( even though just climbing onto the roof would work [ can't let Rarity know though ] ) , but like you said the wind might've been a bit strong.
After reading some comments >>Tatsurou "...I have this sudden mental image of when they make contact with whatever administrators there are to get the special permission for Sweetie to talk about the Tablet, the answer is "no". That would be just terrible."
How can she ask the administrators about the tablet if she can't talk about the tablet [ assuming there is at least one admin alive ].
ex.
"I need to get permission to talk about the t-t-t," *groans and falls to floor in pain*
"You need permission for waht?"
"The ta-t- I can't say because I don't have per-" *continues to groan as pain increases*
So sad Rarity. Every pony here is acting as wisely as they possibly can given the available information, yet it results in such sadness! Ultimately the corporation are to blame, the only ones acting unwisely. Given the power they had, and the sadness they could have wrought, their crime is very minor, even forgiveable. But even they can't be forgiven if the truth never comes out. I only hope the truth can come out before it's too late. I would hate to have something happen to the CMC and have them remembered as three helpless fillies bent before some mad enchantment's mind warping demands. They would be better remembered as some mad enchantment, bent before the unstoppable courage and ingenuity of the three bravest fillies in Equestria.
4975962
Presumably the administrators are long dead, and the enforced silence exists only as a record in a database, easily changed as the one who authorized it is not around to protest. But she could probably still talk about being bound unconsensually by a trade secret, without saying it's a magic brain tablet, and not get paralyzed. She could also point out that keeping it secret for the benefit of those who labored to create it is pointless if those who create it are already long gone. And when they scoff at her for daring to prevent them from destroying their own culture and technology out of the hubris that is idea ownership, then uh... Twilight comes busting in and they blow everything up and who needs advanced math anyway? Good riddance!
4958992 Is it really even a cliffhanger, though? I mean, they basically got away with it. End of scene. Unless you're thinking Rarity's wrong and there is a significant probability she is activating the seal in time to catch the trio.
4978194 I was talking about the cliffhanger in the previous chapter. Reread my comment please.
4978271
Sorry.
The ability to get away with anything, the tablet's immoral suggestions, I can see why it came from a long lost civilization; everyone killed each other.
Definitely an unFriendly Tool AI. But does it have agency or a utility function?
what a nice tool, it will make ya think hehe.
Slight continuity issue.
'8.4 years'.
8.4 years * 365 days * 20 miles a day = 61000 miles.
0.84 years - plausible, assuming rather slower travel.
5823270
I just want to note that, before you read this, I am not really disagreeing with you. There were many assumptions made to get these numbers and (while correlated from real data) the results are only true if you take the assumptions as fact. These assumptions are gross simplifications of what would actually need to be considered for an exact result like what the tablet determined and so shouldn't be taken too seriously.
Anyway, the following are the assumptions I made in regards to that number:
20 miles per day would be a good walking speed for the average adult human walking on flat land with a backpack for 8 hours each day which would leave plenty of time to sleep, eat, drink, make camp and forage, but I don't think it is a good assumption here.
The fillies needed to travel roughly 2000 miles (if traveling directly there) and would have to do so off road to evade the authorities (often in forested wilderness which would be extremely difficult for short stubby hooves). Additionally, considering that she is a filly, she would only be able to do maybe 6 hours of physical activity in total including foraging for food and making/finding shelter each night. Putting all that together, I would imagine that even walking only 2 or 3 miles in a day would be a stretch.
Also, remember that this is a probabilistic approximation and compensates for the fact that one of the three fillies could get sick/injured at random and slow them down or that the Royal Guard might catch onto their trail and they would have to hide or that the weather might prevent them from traveling on certain days.
I feel so bad for Rarity, Sweetie Belle better make all of this up to her in the end, because damn, there's running away from home, and then there's THIS!
1: camping trip.We’re in this together
2: the way my brain see it,
3: Resources exist, they disposal of Rarity’s
4: point.They
5: side-effects.This isn’t
6: In that also fails, it is possible
1:Missing a space
2:see should be sees
3:"they are at the disposal of Rarity's"
4:missing a space
5:missing a space
6:in should be if.
Awesome chapter, still haven't cringed yet. I'm pretty sure that the first one could be from this chapter, but I could be wrong and it could be from the last one.