Summers of Change

by Silver Letter

Princess of the Internet

Pixel Wavelength remembered the lights the most. They were so strong, the flashes somehow embedding themselves into her eyes even after she blinked. The sounds of countless cameras going off and the voices of many were just deafening. The press event she attended attracted every major news organization. It was a coronation, some would say without a hint of sarcasm. The stallion doing the crowning none other than Ferris Spark.

The biggest paper of Manehattan had the words in massive font on the front page: The Princess of the Internet. Her kingdom was as unknown as she was but she knew that being anonymous was a thing of the past. Every phone call and letter reminded her that she could no more remain hidden than the thing she created alongside Ferris. Why did she get so much attention? She had Ferris to thank of course. Only the Wave OS 3.0 could handle the technology which would be sold to the wealthiest ponies early next year.

The event was such a shock that the quiet of her lab was like a sanctuary. She expected some media but not the utter circus that crowded the main foyer of Spark Industry Tower. She and Ferris stood at the top of some stairs and spoke into microphones. She hadn’t known what to say but it was easier when she was able to answer questions from reporters.

Ferris said that they loved her when he was driving her to her hotel afterwards. That her popularity would skyrocket as the public face of the OS and Spark’s internet. But it was hard to believe until she saw herself right there on the front page. She really did look like a princess in her shimmering silk dress.

When she first moved into her house, it had always been like her heart was elsewhere. But after a few years, she began to grow into a sense of comfort and everything about it seemed familiar every time she came home. And so it was with her life beyond. A popular mare like her could be invited to any party or social gathering of her choosing from Las Pegasus to Baltimare if she wished. She would be asked to go yachting or to a gala once in a while. It was so glamorous that she could hardly resist going.

Ferris dropped by from time to time, but mostly her house was empty during the day. It’s alright; Pixel understood that he had his own life and he always did his own thing. He got a new mare friend lately. A model if she recalled correctly and she wasn’t really dumb at all. The hazel colored mare with a sweeping jet black mane even made her stumble with a couple questions about the internet when Pixel last saw her at a dinner party. Pixel was good at answering questions and promoting the internet whenever she traveled or was interviewed. She even started going to the opening ceremonies of company offices as they expanded to new places. But most of the time, she felt like she was handled with foal gloves. Ferris went so far as to severely discourage her going on the company website to talk on their forums. He told her that they would pry into what they didn’t need to know.

She had always thought of doing some investigating of her own into the internet and Spark’s control over it. His company owned most of the major interconnected hubs or as they are colloquially called, “websites”. But with everything taking so much of her time, that got pushed aside. Her job came first then it was Sapphire and Sunstone. After that, her friends.

As time passed, she took up drawing. She hadn’t worked on a whole lot of projects lately so she wanted to occupy her time making something pretty. She loved to draw or sometimes paint on the balcony. She made each dark stroke from memory until the shape of Sunstone took form. She was already 12 and had grown taller and her wings longer. She was like her father, smart, kind and quick. Pixel made sure to include the golden locket she gave her for her birthday. It was a heart with her picture in it. A fitting gesture to a filly that always said I love you to her when they met. She hadn’t been called “mom” but Pixel knew that a day like that might come.

The filly was more beautiful when seen with her own eyes. Slowly growing into a fine young mare like she had been. Pixel was more than glad to help with her mental growth too. When her dad was busy coaching after school, they would go to the nearby park where there was a secluded picnic table near the pond. Whenever Pixel visited, she made it a priority to help her do homework. And it was no exception when the filly asked her to help with a project.

The air was quiet and the pond still save for some ducks paddling within the green waters. The place was shaded and cool in late spring and butterflies and bees were about as usual.

Sunstone sat across from her. The filly had a pink backpack adorned with stickers and patches of cartoon characters. Her locket hung from her neck. As she looked over her notebook, she slouched; Pixel felt an urge to tell her to sit up straight but she hesitated. She knew the filly would listen but it really wasn’t her place. At least not yet.

“So this assignment is about a pony, I hear?” Pixel said. Sunstone lifted her head up and nodded.

“It’s supposed to be about important ponies. And you’re really important. To me and dad but to pretty much everypony too. I thought it would be great to write about you and the things you’ve done.”

Pixel thought it was both sweet and terribly amusing. She hadn’t even planned to write any memoirs but there was a filly wanting to write about her. She felt appreciated and special even though she was mostly just a public face for somepony else’s invention.

“Thank you, sweetie. Do you have an idea of what we should work on?”

“I wanted to talk about the making of the internet and how it affects ponies.”

Pixel furrowed her brow in thought. “I can’t really bring up a lot concerning how it was built since your teacher is liable to be seeing this, right? I don’t think I should.”

Sunstone seemed to understand fully and it didn’t discourage her. “The technical stuff is a bit dull for a paper that I want to make. Let’s have it be about you and what you envisioned the internet to be for ponies,” she said enthusiastically.

“What do you mean? I don’t really follow.”

Sunstone tapped her pen on the table a few times as she tried to come up with something. “You know….why the internet is the way it is today. How ponies communicate differently. I’m sure there’s lots to write about without having to bring up anything you might not be allowed to talk about.”

Even though Pixel was still unsure as to what she could contribute, she wasn’t going to disappoint Sunstone either. The filly would never get Ferris or somepony else to interview so it had to be her. After all, she’s worked with the internet for years but it was always behind the scenes. In all her years, she’s actually never did much crawling around in the vast network of websites and programs that connected Equestria. After a while, it became clear to her that she needed to find out more for herself. When Sunstone laughed with every ill-thought assumption, it was especially apparent.

They went back to the house when they started to get hungry. When the door was opened, Pixel could smell fresh bread. Sapphire was making dinner. They ended up eating the toasted sandwiches and cool salad together. Sapphire asked how their day went and was impressed to hear how far Sunstone was coming with her report.

After, Sunstone cleared the table and washed the dishes. Pixel went upstairs. She was soon met by Sapphire and he smiled warmly.

“I’ve been thinking about you all week,” he whispered. Pixel relaxed as he nuzzled her white neck. With his warm touch, she was as soft as clay.

“I couldn’t wait to come back. After I’m done helping Sunstone, we’ll have the night to spend together,” she said. They embraced again then she went into Sunstone’s room. Pixel moved a plush bear from the chair and gently moved aside girly beauty products to make room for her large forearms. Soon, Sunstone entered the room.

“You’re welcome to get on my computer anytime,” she said. She didn’t look embarrassed at the state of her room but she did pick up a few things.

“I think you have a password.” Pixel moved aside and Sunstone came closer.

“Sorry.” She pressed down on the small keys, making some mistakes, but she put in a password in and the computer went to the main screen. “The keys are too small for my hooves and kind of hard to press down.”

“Does it bother you?”

Sunstone shrugged. “It can…but Earth Ponies have real problems. Sometimes, they can crack phone screens by pressing down too hard. We sort of have the opposite effect; we Pegasus are a bit weaker. But all things considered, I like my computer.”

Despite the filly’s upbeat attitude, Pixel’s concerns were not assuaged. That was exactly the sort of thing she wanted to prevent. But surely the internet wouldn’t be as bad as all that. It was just difficulties in hardware. Pixel opened up the EEI or Equestrian Empire Internet browser, Spark Industries’ flagship product in their internet expansion.

“Let’s get started,” Sunstone said. It didn’t take long for Pixel to realize that she was in unfamiliar waters. Sunstone asked her about websites she didn’t know about and going there wasn’t something she had prepared for in the least. The first was a video sharing website. The filly had videos about ponies and their lives that played out before their eyes. It was hit or miss; some made the filly cry tears of laughter while Pixel herself could feel nothing as if they were inside jokes. A few videos of ponies doing silly things did draw reactions though and it amused her although she wondered why they would have put themselves in such a spotlight in the first place. The whole idea appeared so foreign.

Even when she had watched enough to become accustomed to it, she scrolled the screen down to see ponies and the things they posted in reaction. Not knowing the average pony on the internet, she was taken aback. Lots of negative things were written, uncalled for text and such. The words they left behind were a minefield of broken words as carelessly scattered as carrion left to decay. It made her stomach churn and she had Sunstone take her away from that site. It left her gasping for air.

“Are you okay, Pixel?” Sunstone said seriously.

Pixel finally recovered. “I’m alright, dear. It’s just surprising. I had known so little about the internet. It’s hard to believe that it’s like that…unless it’s just that one site?” She looked at Sunstone but she frowned. It probably wasn’t as simple as that.

“Are you sure you want to keep going? I can just think of something else to do,” Sunstone said half-heartedly.

“No need. I want to continue. In fact, I know where I must go and I even know the place. Should the Princess of the Internet shy away from her duties?” For once, the title carried some weight in her heart. It wasn’t just something that gave her privileges but something that reminded her of what she should have been doing all along. Sunstone watched as Pixel went straight for her own company’s website. She had to search until she found their own forums. She clicked on it and read though. There were a lot of problems from her phones and computers. Each main pony species were having troubles and users expressed outrage over it. Soon, she felt her back stiffen again when she grew agitated.

Pixel stood up. She felt weary and it was difficult to speak. “I promise that I’ll get that report to you.” She turned towards the filly. “But I must go. Can you tell your father something for me?”

She nodded slowly. “Yeah.”

“Please tell him that…I’ll come back as soon as I can. And remember that I love you, okay?”

They said their goodbyes and she left into the night. The moon was out and the air was cold. She drove her car to the nearest airport. She was going to go straight for Manehattan. But she didn’t feel that angry after she left their house. It was like something was lifted from her mind after all the years since she stared into those cobalt eyes of a pretty colt. And she was herself again, at last free to see the world as it had become. And she did hate it. Ponies were ruder and cruder than ever before. She was so willing to overlook so much. How foals made fun of one another, how adults were so hurtful to each other and even what happened to Sunstone before was taken as an isolated incident; but what the internet exposed was a culture too vast to ignore. She was going to the city because she had to disown it. It wasn’t hers; if anything, it belonged to that Spark family and Ferris himself.