Troubleshooting
"I...I don't understand...you said I wouldn't feel it here..." muttered the little blue colt from where he lay in his bed. The sheets covering him were warm, but that didn't stop the chills from shooting through him. A narrow beam of sunlight came in through a nearby window and hit his muzzle, causing him to scrunch it up cutely. Everything he went through still felt so weird. Walking was hard enough, but then trying to fly? His little wings still ached. It was such an alien feeling, having new muscles ache behind him.
He just hated that the only familiar feeling was the one he was trying to get away from.
Painful dizziness.
Above him, a large grey stallion sighed in helpless agitation. This wasn't supposed to be like this. Those whole reason that Sunny and he were here instead of the boy's parents was because they needed to be there to make sure nothing went wrong. Well, something had definitely gone wrong. It was just supposed to be a party! But no, that stupid blue pegasus just had to drop him from twelve feet in the air. She just had to run away, even when Pan was calling out for her. His condition just had to follow him here.
What had gone wrong? Somewhere, somehow, decisions were being made that were negatively affecting little Pan Cake.
"You shouldn't. I'm not sure why you can, it's supposed to be completely muted," Hammer answered. Pan stirred uncomfortably under his little blanket. He wanted to do it over again, without causing Dash to freak out over him. He didn't want to upset the ponies, he just wanted to talk to them. Maybe play with them a little...but now they would probably all see him as a sickly little hospital case.
"That's not the only thing we have to work on," Sunny piped up, coming into view next to Hammer. "Rainbow shouldn't have done something like that. And Scootaloo, the way she was behaving...something's definitely off." Pan perked up at the mention of Scootaloo. She had been pretty cool to him so far. Maybe she hadn't seen the whole episode he had? Maybe she would even want to take him out on her scooter at some point!
"Can I go outside?" the bedridden colt asked. The two adult ponies above him shared an uncertain look. They knew that something was unstable. But how unstable could it become? Was it just a little problem that would sort itself out?
"I don't think...that's the best-" Sunny began. Pan Cake cut her off, showing a surprising amount of irritation for one so young.
"Look, I'm not going to lay here in bed all day. I'm in Ponyville! Those are ponies outside! If you're just going to keep me here, then...then...just take me out and let me die in the hospital..." Pan squeaked angrily. Tears had formed halfway through his rant and had began streaming down his face. He hated this! He finally gets to go to the one place he wanted to see, and what happens? The same thing that happened back home. His body was keeping him from doing what he wanted. It was just so aggravating, being stuck inside himself like that...
Both of the adult ponies in the house with him flinched. A pang of guilt ran through them, causing them to look down at the floor together. They had once again forgotten the young boy's situation. They couldn't really understand what he was going through. When they presented the idea to him and his family, it was more of a project to them. Now, they weren't so sure.
"R-...er, Pan...I get it," Sunny said after a few moments of tense silence. "I know you're feeling trapped, and all of this has to be really dampening...but...there's something off with the sys-"
Knock Knock Knock
The three ponies all turned their attentions to the front door of their little cottage. Hammer's eyes widened at the same time as Sunny did a little nervous dance. Nopony dared make a sound.
After a few moments, they began to question whether or not they had even heard the sound the begin with. It could have just been another glitch in the-
Knock Knock Knock-THUMP!
"Ow!" came a raspy voice from outside. At the sound of Scootaloo's voice, the two older ponies cringed. Pan Cake, on the other hoof, was elated beyond belief. He started scrambling to untangle the sheets from around his little body, accidentally forgetting that he still didn't know how to use his legs all that well.
"It's her again..." Hammer whispered to his partner.
"I know...I know..." Sunny responded, her legs starting to tremble. What did the little orange filly want? What was she going to do to get what she wanted? Better question, how did she know where to find them?
"It's!-UMF-Scoota-UGH-loo!-OW!" Pan tried to say as he hobbled to the door. In his elated state, he forgot to pay as much attention to his walking, resulting in him falling every few steps. With every thump of his body on the floor, the two adults flinched. Before he could manage to reach the door, Hammer stood in his way. Pan looked up at the towering stallion and glared at him. The little colt's muzzle was leaking some blood from having been smashed into the floor repeatedly.
"Pan...I really don't think that-"
A series of thumps leading around him and to the door let Hammer know that he was being ignored. The door clicked and opened before he or Sunny could stop it. On the other side of the wooden barrier stood three fillies. One of those fillies, namely the orange one named Scootaloo, was the cause of a great amount of fear that was shooting through the two adult ponies.
The Crusaders were smiling when Pan opened the door, but their grins were quickly replaced with looks of concern when they saw the poor state of the little colt's muzzle. Sweetie Belle, being slightly more unnerved around blood than the other two fillies, backed away slightly. Pan noticed her moving away and tilted his head.
"Hey, Sweetie Belle, you okay?" he asked. The little white filly quickly nodded her head, giving him a sheepish smile. Pan looked at her for a moment longer before shrugging and smiling at them again. "What's up?"
"Well...we were just wondering if you would like to come out with us and do some...things?" Scootaloo said, her voice getting higher as she watched Pan's expression brighten. By the time she finished asking him, he was looking like he had just won the lottery. The fillies didn't know, but the little colt pretty much had. Still ignoring the blood dripping from his nose, the little colt began moving his head up and down rapidly. A few droplets of crimson were flung off, making Sweetie back up even more.
"Y-yes! YA-I mean, uh...s-sure. That sounds...cool," Pan corrected his over-enthusiasm. His eyes then wandered over to a large box on top of Apple Bloom's back. "Whacha got there, Apple Bloom?"
The red-maned filly in question blinked a few times when she heard her name. A bunch of questions were still buzzing around her head, the most common being 'How does he know our names?' They hadn't exactly gotten a chance to introduce themselves last night. Pinkie Pie had stolen him away as soon as she heard what his name was.
"Uhh...jus' some cake from the party," she responded. "Ya kinda left really early." Pan nodded and looked down to the ground, a shiver running through his body. He didn't want to talk about it with the Crusaders. He had just wanted to be a pony around other ponies. Was that too much to ask? His condition apparently thought so. Pan really didn't want the three fillies thinking of him as a sickly little rat. Scootaloo noticed his shift in mood and got the hint.
"Hey, it's okay. Stuff happens, right?" the pegasus filly offered. Pan shot her a thankful glance and nodded.
"Mhmm. So...we got cake. What were you planning on doing today?" he asked curiously. The three fillies gave each other a smirk before turning it to Pan. The deviousness in their eyes made the colt take a nervous step back. Had he just asked them the wrong question?
"Wellll~ you know who we are, right? I mean, you've already called us by our names, even though we never actually told you," Scootaloo said, grinning. Pan Cake's eyes widened, his pupils shrinking. How could he have been so careless? He had only talked to a few ponies, and already they were catching on! Panic coursed through Pan's mind, triggering a colt sweat to begin covering his body.
"Uhm...y-yeah...?" the nervous colt replied. The three fillies just smiled wider.
"That must mean that the Crusader name is spreading! Our Manehattan branch has to be doing something right!" Scootaloo cheered. The idea of being known all over Equestria was amazing to the her. Pan just stared at her, unsure of how to respond. He quickly noticed his chance to cover his tracks and took it.
"Oh, yeah, mhmm! Heard about you from Babs!" he assured the three. They returned his explanation with another excited smile. The nervous feeling he had quickly melted away at how happy he had made the trio in front of him. It was replaced by a warm tingle that felt almost as alien as the body he was in.
He saw a bit of movement from Sweetie Belle's direction, so he turned to look at her. She was indeed talking to him, but the strangest thing was happening: no sound was coming out. Her lips were moving and she was emoting like she knew what she was saying, but Pan Cake couldn't hear anything. He gave her a confused look that she ignored. The other two Crusaders nodded and smiled along. Apparently, they could hear what she was saying. The next thing he knew, he was being looked at expectantly. What, was he supposed to answer her?
"Uh...sure...?" he guessed. The three fillies did a jump for joy right there in front of the door, somehow keeping the cake from falling. Pan Cake just gulped nervously, unaware of what he had just agreed to. Knowing them, it was probably something to do with his lack of a cutie mark, but there was always that chance of being wrong. Oh, he hoped it was just them asking him to go Crusading with them. They already had their cutie marks, so they could focus entirely on what he wanted to do. He wasn't about to go participating in some of their earlier attempts, that was for sure.
"Well, what're y'all waitin' fer? C'mon!" Apple Bloom cheered, reaching forward and tugging Pan out from the doorway. Again, the cake remained stable. How did they do that?
Before closing the door behind the little colt, Scootaloo looked in at the two older ponies. They gave her a nervous smile, raising her suspicions greatly. She narrowed her eyes a little before raising her hoof and moving it in the 'I'm watching' gesture. As soon as the door closed, Hammer Time and Sunny Day let out the large amount of air they had both been holding in.
"Whew...ugh...what the hell is going on?" Hammer complained, rubbing his forehead with his hoof. "How did they even know where we are? Why are they being so nosy?" Sunny just gave the floor a grim look.
"Not only that...did you hear what Sweetie said?" she asked solemnly. Hammer just gave her a questioning look.
"Uh, no? She didn't say anything," he responded.
"Exactly. She didn't say anything last night, either. But she just tried...did we forget to add a voice for her?" she asked. Hammer just shrugged to himself. Why did that even matter? They had bigger problems than a mute filly.
"So what if we did?"
"WHAT?! Paul, if something as obvious as a main character's voice is missing, what else could be? And the way that orange one looked at us...I'm...I'm scared. This might have been a mistake," Sunny stuttered, her eyes darting around quickly. She half-expected Scootaloo to burst back into the room and get her. Hammer just snorted through his nose.
"You know I can just check her status, right? Here, let me..." the stallion said before his eyes glazed over. Sunny stood there patiently for a few minutes, watching the frozen pony in front of her. He didn't move a single muscle, but that's because he wasn't even there at the time. The short amount of time for him to return still felt like an eternity to the yellow mare. Finally, he blinked awake once more. Sunny was immediately on top of him, demanding answers.
"So? What did you find? Is she-" she started, but the nervous look in Hammer's eyes stopped her. A large lump grew in her throat, halting her words. He cleared his throat before answering her.
"I...well, I fixed Sweetie's voice. I could have sworn it was there before...the file was just plain missing, though. As for Scoot...I...I can't access her files," he admitted, looking to the floor. Sunny's eyes grew wider and her panic grew.
"W-what...? Buh-...but why?" she asked weakly, her legs beginning to tremble. Hammer took a moment to lick his lips, unsure about how he was supposed to explain the situation they were in. With a breath and trembling sigh, he continued.
"She...she hasn't been working properly since last night. She stopped responding entirely. Sunny, we...we don't have control over her," he said softly, trying to keep his voice from shaking. The color drained from Sunny's face. She barely even resembled a sun anymore. It took her awhile to spit out any words, with the implications running through her head.
"S-so...she..." she stuttered.
"Yes. Her A.I. is making its own decisions. We can't even reset her right now," the larger stallion confirmed. Sunny just stared at him.
"...What do...I...w-what now...?" she asked, her entire body trembling now. Hammer looked out the window just in time to see the four fillies disappear out of sight. Whatever they could do, they would have to do it fast. If Scoot's A.I. somehow latched onto Pan while he was in here...they wouldn't be able to remove him. The system would freeze.
"I think...I think we need Laura."
****
"So...what are we doing, then?" Pan asked once they had gotten far enough away from the dreadful duo. As thankful as he was for Sunny and Hammer for what they were doing for him, he also saw them as the thing holding him back. With whatever time he had left, he was not going to spend it waiting for it to be safe. What the hell did it matter if it was safe? The end result would still be the same for him...
Scootaloo tilted her head in confusion as she watched him. All he did was ask a question, and already he was looking upset about something. Was he still sick? They probably should have asked if he was better before taking him out. Now that she thought about it...what was that whole thing last night? He looked like he had fainted!
"Well, we're going to help you find your special talent!" squeaked Sweetie Belle. The sudden presence of a voice shocked the little colt, causing him to jump to the side. The other three just looked at him. Pan watched Sweetie's mouth for a moment before shaking his head and chuckling sheepishly.
"Sorry...uh, what first?" he asked, trying to deflect any further questions.
"That depends. We don't really know anything about you yet," explained Scootaloo. "What're you into?" The question made Pan actually have to stop and think. What was he into? He pondered what he had enjoyed so far in his life for a minute or so, the fillies waiting patiently for an answer. They were used to this stage. Ponies Pan's age and younger often didn't really know what they liked, or if they did, didn't consider it worthy of being a special talent. Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo knew that feeling all too well.
"Hm...well, I like music...and making things...and, uh...video games?" he answered, unsure of himself. Did they have video games in Equestria? Then he remembered the arcade machine in that Hearts and Hooves Day episode. So, yeah, video games existed. Just not the ones he was used to. The three fillies nodded, taking in every piece of information he managed to give them.
"Okay, music. D'ya play any instir-mints?" Apple Bloom asked. Pan Cake already knew what they were getting at, and he knew it was doomed to fail.
"Sorry, I've tried actually playing before, but...I stink at it..." he sighed dejectedly.
"Which one? Maybe a differ-" Sweetie tried to reason.
"All of them. Strings, winds, percussion, everything. I mostly just like listening..." Pan admitted sadly. He really would have liked to be able to play something, but even with hands, instruments were his undoing. Everything he touched ended up either breaking or sounding like a dying cow. He wasn't exactly fond of the idea of a dead cow staining his butt. Scootaloo closed her one eye tightly, her teeth squishing her tongue gently in thought.
"Okay, so music is out, for now. What about making things? What do you like making?" the orange filly inquired, looking around to the colt behind her. Pan looked down, his mind tripping over itself as he tried to recall what things he had enjoyed making. Memories of the random arts and crafts crawled to the front of his head.
"I like...well, I was an okay drawer..." Pan informed the three Crusaders. They nodded at this excitedly, already thinking of where to get the necessary materials. The colt's face grew grim again as he looked down at his hooves. His random mood changes were starting to seriously concern Scootaloo. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle didn't really seem to notice.
"You sure you're okay?" she asked again, moving to him and lifting his head with her hoof. He took a step back at the sudden contact. When he saw that she was touching him, a faint blush crept onto his cheeks. With a quick shake of his head, Pan pulled himself back into the situation he was in. He knew he had to stop drifting off, but it wasn't like he could help it.
"Mhmm. Just thinking," he assured her. Scootaloo looked over at Apple Bloom to see what she thought of his response, but the earth pony filly didn't seem bothered. That comforted Scoot somewhat; if anypony could tell when somepony else was lying, it was a member of the Apple family. Something he said suddenly hit the purple-maned pegasus.
"Hold on, why 'was a good drawer'?" she asked him, her head tilting in confusion. Pan instantly grew panicked. His eyes darted around at the three fillies, trying to quickly come up with an excuse. Apple Bloom and Sweetie grew just as curious as Scootaloo once his error had been pointed out.
He was so careless! Barely twenty minutes into hanging out with three of his favorite filly characters and already they were suspicious of him! Why were they being so nosy? Hammer had said that they were programmed to be as agreeable as possible! They weren't supposed to be so suspicious!
"A-ahm...uh...I mean, I...I'm still a good drawer. I w-was just talking about...before I moved here," Pan Cake stuttered out. Scootaloo's eyes narrowed into a piercing glare. What Pan said would have been a decent explanation...if he hadn't said it like he was making it up on the spot. Why did he have so much trouble spitting it out? It wasn't that hard of a question for him to answer.
"Oookaaaay...soooo do you want to try drawing?" Scootaloo said, her eyes still locked with the sweating pegasus colt. She was answered by a succession of quick nods. She turned her head once more to check with Apple Bloom, but only found the apple farmer smiling along. If Apple Bloom was sated, then so was she.
Before they could take another step, they were interrupted by mint green body plopping itself down next to Pan Cake. The colt, still jumpy from his prior interrogation, hopped to the side when his personal space was suddenly invaded. He even made a peep sound that got a giggle out of Sweetie Belle. Pan looked up at the intruder and froze.
"M-Miss Laura?" he stuttered out. The minty unicorn just smiled kindly down at him and rustled his mane a bit with her hoof.
"Nah, silly! It's Lyra! Lyra Heartstrings, that is. So, you're the new arrival, huh? Sorry I didn't get to go to the party last night, Octy had a rehearsal she would not let me miss," Lyra said in her usual bubbly tone. The Crusaders just watched, completely at a loss of how they should react to such a sudden interruption. They couldn't just pull Pan away; Lyra was an adult and it would be rude. Why was she getting so close to him, though? Lyra looked around at the girls, seemingly surprised to see them there. "Awe, hey girls! Whatcha up to? Trying to get him his cutie mark?" she asked.
"Uh...yep. Normal Crusader business, as usual," Scootaloo responded. The minty mare nodded along and smiled at her.
"Neat! Hey, I don't mean to pull you away from your little friend here, but can I borrow him for a bit? I want to give him my very own Ponyville welcome!" Lyra asked with the kindest expression possible written on her face.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle shrugged, still smiling, but Scootaloo didn't move. She sensed that something was...off with the lyre player. She couldn't remember Lyra being so open and friendly before; she usually just kept to herself and only started acting friendly if somepony started talking to her. Plus, Scootaloo couldn't even remember the last time Lyra welcomed a pony to Ponyville. What was going on?
"Uh...no. No, that's fine," Scootaloo assured her. Lyra just beamed at the trio and stood up, taking Pan with her as she did. Scootaloo flinched when she looked at the confused little colt; he looked slightly scared, like he was expecting to get punished for something. Okay, something was definitely up with Miss Heartstrings. And why had Pan called her 'Miss Laura' when he saw her?
"C'mon, Pan! Let me show you where I live with Octavia!" Lyra cheered, encouraging the colt to follow her. Scootaloo froze. Lyra had just called Pan Cake by his name, when she had previous expressed that he was completely new to her. How did she know what his name was? It could have been told to her by somepony else, but that still didn't make sense. Why hadn't she said his name sooner? She almost seemed like she was trying...to hide that she knew his name.
Pan Cake followed along obediantely, but not without turning to give a longing look at the three fillies he was leaving behind. The pain in his eyes...it tore at Scootaloo's heart. Why was he so sad? If Lyra was truly just showing him around, then why the pain?
Something was wrong. The orange filly could tell, with or without Apple Bloom's help.
Lyra turned around a little way down the road and stared at the Crusaders for a moment, judging their reactions. She was happy to see the Bloom and Belle acting nonchalantly, but Scootaloo...the glare the orange filly was giving her made her stop in her tracks. Lyra's eyes narrowed to match the gaze she was receiving.
"Found the glitch..." Lyra said softly to herself, her voice going unnoticed by the little colt walking ahead of her.
scoot.exe had stopped responding
Would you like to restart?
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Nan-Nan · 3k words · 52 13 · 1.7k views
- FerociousCreation · 30k words · 66 13 · 2.4k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.139 seconds
Total duration
972 users online
86,920 hits today, 2,314,256 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Oh so very interesting!
I suppose that miss Laura choose to impersonate Lyra as a joke to the fandom.
I don't know if I'd like that, it's like that Twilight episode where the guy goes to heaven, but it turns out he's in hell. I'd prefer the realism of conflict. Also, I can tell this story is going to be REALLY good. Like better than Blank.
I had my suspicions about something earlier, but this further strengthens my theory.
This story is about a terminally ill male who is brought to equestria, which one side is a well-known, broadcasted series. A certain, mint-green unicorn is involved as a higher-up in regards to the fictional world that the main character travels to/from.
My theory is that this story -at the very least- is an alternate spacetime universe of the "blankverse" as viewed from the other side of the 4th-wall spectrum.
A less likely theory is that this story is a veritable "prequel" to blank in which most likely ends with "pan cake" being affected with some form of amnesia which may end up turning the "blankverse" into some paradoxical, inception-esque anomaly.
great chapter again
Why putting in robot things?..... if this thing keeps up being, then I won't like this.
7105236
Hate to burst your bubble, but I'm pretty sure that's the entire premise of the story. They're in a ponified matrix.
7105606
I watched the matrix only once. That's a first watch thing...
And so will be this story if this is the way it'll be
Again instead of a real story about these kinda topic wasted. Have fun.
hmmmmm quite an interesting plot so for. You really are quite good at this mr author
Oh my, such a interesting chapter! Keep it up, and so glad this got updated!
hmmm CelestAi.exe has stopped working. or is it Blank or both
Hmmm. Here is my theroy. They are in some kind of computer program, where all the charactors are A.I's programed with their own personalitys.
Would this perhaps be inspired by To The Moon?
7166995
Somewhat.
Interesting. Suppose I'll check out another of your stories, while I wait for more.
Of course, the obvious reason is that any stallion would turn tail and run from marriage when it is possible they could have foals like the CMC.
Love this story whants more
I think I feel sorry for Scoot's program the most. The only self-aware pony, meaning if she discovers what she is it could break the poor AI. This whole program seems really unethical, even if it's to make a child happy.
This is really good, so I hope you continue it!
I really liked this story. Sad that it hasn't been updated. Are you planning to continue it?
7814964
At some point, probably when I'm not so busy. I have the story planned out in my head.
7815575 Whew, that's a relief! There's stories sometimes that are marked incomplete and are never finished - I've experienced lots of them. I can't wait until the next chapter but until then, I have a lot of things to read on my Read It Later list
will there be a next chapter?
The short description made me think of this.
Reminds me of that short game "to the moon"
"We can make your dreams come true
to change one thing, fulfill one wish
You know what you'll wish for don't you?
But just remember.....
...it'll be the last thing you'll ever do."