Steel Solstice

by Starscribe

Chapter 4: Preliminary Instruction

Sunset Shimmer took the polished metal knob in one of her paws, half expecting the door to be as locked as any of the others she had tried. It twisted easily and she strode into the empty classroom.

Well, almost empty. There was a single row of desks inside, and an instructor standing by a chalkboard. The woman seemed to come to life as Sunset entered, her head twisting around and a practiced smile on her face.

She looked a little different than the other builders Sunset had seen so far, at least by physical appearance. In this case, this one had pale skin covered with little spots and bright orange hair almost as bright as a pony’s.

“Welcome to remedial mathematics, geometry through set theory,” said the instructor, gesturing at the first desk. “Please shut the door behind you and have a seat. You will be personally instructed for this class, so each classroom will be a separate instance.”

Sunset turned, glancing over her shoulder at Jackie. The girl had started leaning on the wall, making no gesture to follow her inside. “You’re not coming?”

Jackie shook her head vigorously. “Accelerated time is expensive, Sunny. The sysadmin will find me for sure if I try that.”

Sunset sighed and shut the door. She wasn’t sure what Jackie might mean by “accelerated time,” but she expected she would find out soon enough. She couldn’t mean time-magic, could she? It might be possible. If the Builders could make her young with the same ease they could change anything else, then she supposed it wouldn’t be too hard to believe that they might be able to accelerate local time. It’s like everyone is an Alicorn. Even their golems can do it.

Sunset Shimmer took the first seat open to her, and as she did the desk in front of her filled with notebooks, papers, and other small tools. She recognized some of them from her geometry instruction, many years ago, though it had been so long since that particular period in her life that she hadn’t thought about any of them. Geometry didn’t serve a unicorn nearly as much as some of the later mathematics did, at least not with magic.

“How can one class teach me all that?” she asked, lifting up one of the books at random and turning it over. “OPEN TEXTBOOKS MULTIVARIABLE CALCULUS 21st Ed,” read the cover. “Seems like… an awful lot.”

She felt something then, similar to what she’d felt when she had first teleported into the school. The transition was far subtler this time, far less painful. It was a slight detachment within her mind, though she couldn’t explain exactly what had been detached.

The instructor didn’t leave her wondering. “This class will take approximately 2 standard years. As it forms the foundation of many lessons to come, it may not be interrupted, paused, or fast-forwarded. My name is Brigid, I will be your fork instructor for the next few years.” The door on the far wall clicked with a final, menacing tone.

It isn’t like anypony will miss me, Sunset thought with a sigh, settling into her seat.

The teacher approached the board and started writing on it with something softer and smoother than chalk. She spoke calmly, listened to questions, and responded promptly.

Sunset hardly noticed as the time went by. They studied workbook after workbook, shifting textbooks away from her desk as their contents were mastered.

Sunset never felt the mental exhaustion that came from a long time studying. She never felt physically tired, didn’t start to sweat, or feel the need to perform any other bodily function. Strangest of all, she didn’t even feel bored, and her mind never started to wander.

Sunset studied mathematics as she’d never imagined them before. Many concepts Equestria had known, but much more she was certain not even the most erudite professors in the most prestigious universities would’ve known. Perhaps Celestia would’ve been able to perform such calculations, but nopony else.

All this passed in a blur to her, her internal perception of time barely registering its passage. She didn’t watch the window outside—the shutters had been drawn anyway. Sunset absorbed.

The next thing she knew, she was looking at an empty desk. The instructor reached out and tapped her bracelet GIO with her own. Sunset’s flashed briefly in acknowledgment, and a faint voice spoke “REMEDIAL MATHEMATICS STATUS: COMPLETED.”

The instructor nodded in respect, then gestured at all her workbooks. They vanished, leaving the classroom empty again. “Thank you for your participation in this time-compressed enrichment activity. Your status has been registered with central, and you are ready to proceed to your next classes. Thank you for your cooperation.”

“What are you talking about?” Sunset rose to her feet, her legs not even feeling sore. Were Builder bodies indeed this resilient? It was no small wonder they were so advanced if each one of them had absolute concentration and they never needed to eat or sleep. She suspected more magic was involved in that, somehow. “I just got here.”

“That is incorrect,” said the instructor. “Your instruction has taken exactly one year, two hundred nineteen days, six hours, thirteen minutes.”

“Uh…” Sunset thought back, remembering the desk. She let her memory examine as far back as she dared, and sure enough, she could feel herself sitting in that chair learning math no matter how far back she went. Sunset Shimmer had spent over a year learning basic and then advanced mathematics in a Builder seat.

“Thanks!” She practically sprinted for the door, flinging it open with the force of desperation. She didn’t expect Jackie to be waiting there—why would she have bothered? How could someone just sit in place for that long? How did I?

It was like walking into an entirely different place. The hallways were not teeming with life. Hundreds of Builders walked and talked, carrying their backpacks laden with books or other supplies. A few of them turned to look at her, smiling in friendly greeting or looking her up and down with an appraising expression.

“Hey,” a familiar voice sounded from near the wall, and Sunset spun around. Jackie was still there, her back against the wall and something white and reflective in both of her hands. She seemed to be playing a game on it if the flashing of light and movement were any guide. “Made it out of your first class, eh dirtborn? Didn’t think you’d be out so quick.”

Sunset had learned a few hundred new words along with all her math, as various examples in the textbook introduced her to concepts Equestria had not possessed. “Quick? I was in there almost two years…” Her voice didn’t feel sore, despite the hundreds of thousands of conversations she’d just had about the various principles of mathematics. How could she even remember them all? Sunset had cast a few memory spells on herself over the years, but those took constant maintenance. She hadn’t been able to cast any since arriving here, for obvious reasons.

“Perspective time,” Jackie answered, sliding the bit of reflective plastic away into a pocket and rising to her feet. Another few students hurried past Sunset and shut the door behind them. “Welcome to the speed of thought, Sunny. Silicon superpowers. Well… graphene superpowers. There are people in the infinite realm who are thousands of subjective years old. Course it costs processor credits to run like that. Newbies get as many as they need to graduate. Enjoy them while you can.”

“It… it doesn’t make sense…” Sunset moved closer, looking around them. For all that the hallway was busy, something about these people seemed off to her. It wasn’t the same kind of “off” as the instructors. They sounded like they were having meaningful conversations, but they also sounded like… a recording. She wasn’t sure quite what that meant. “How did I just sit there all that time? Shouldn’t I have gotten… bored?” She blushed a little, neglecting to mention the more physical things she expected a body to need. She hadn’t felt any of those either.

Come to think of it, she hadn’t felt them since she’d first woken up in the hospital.

“Yeah, you would’ve,” Jackie said. “Except that boredom would make you a garbage learner. If you’re on free credits, the system can at least expect you to use them optimally. No boredom allowed. Nothing but perfect focus while you’re in class. Dull as shit, but you won’t realize until after.”

It hadn’t felt dull at the time. Sunset had relished each and every new piece of information. Every new process had some application she could imagine for magic, though she hadn’t volunteered that information to the instructor.

“Oh.” Sunset turned, looking all around here. “Who are…”

“All these?” Jackie shrugged. “Not a clue. Popped in about… a week ago. Had fun with this one chick ‘bout two days ago, but… she turned out to be shallow as shit. Pretty, but…” She shrugged sadly. “Wish I remembered how I ever thought forks were fun.”

“Forks?” That was one word her time in math class hadn’t taught her. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Really?” Jackie raised an eyebrow. “Now that is surprising. I thought you dirtborn loved railing on how ‘unnatural’ and ‘inhuman’ it was to make forks. Either it’s slavery because you don’t understand the copy isn’t really a person, or it’s some kind of moral abomination to try to make new souls. Isn’t that all over your, uh… television? That is what it’s called, right?”

“I didn’t have television,” Sunset answered, honestly. Sunset wasn’t stupid, though. It didn’t take much to realize that Jackie had just answered her question. “Cloning magic? I have read about that, now that you mention it. It never seemed worth the investment. Too much potential for disaster.”

Jackie rolled her eyes. “See, there we go. No, forks aren’t dangerous. They run in slave threads, so they use your own processor credits. You can spawn or dismiss them at will, even when you’re on other servers. No muss, no fuss. Not really much point, though. They’re not much cheaper than just compressing time, so why not just run things faster and do everything yourself? Beats me.”

“Can you…” She hesitated. This was the reason she’d come, but it would also be the most daring she’d ever been with her request. Jackie didn’t know she’d come from Equestria, didn’t know she had an important mission, and didn’t know what she had come to learn. “Can you teach me?”

Jackie laughed. She laughed so loudly that a few of the other students joined in.

“What’s so funny?” Somebody asked.

“Dirtborn wants to fork on her first iteration!” Jackie responded, and immediately the laughter spread down the hall.

Sunset’s blush deepened, and one of her paws clenched into a fist. “I take it…” she said, speaking slowly, dangerous. “That means I’m not able to do it, for some reason?”

“Yeah,” Jackie finally said, when the laughter had died down. No sooner had it stopped than the crowd around them dispersed again. These people did not seem to have terribly long attention spans. “Yeah, there’s a reason. You need a canonical backup to start messing with your bits like that. You don’t get one until you graduate. You’ll simulate it a few times in some of your advanced classes, but those are… senior year, I think. You’re still flat, so I guess you have more freshman shit to deal with, right?”

“Yeah,” Sunset admitted. She held up the bracelet, and as she did so, the projected screen lit up. There were only three apps on it right now, and one displayed her academic progress. An overall 0% had changed to 1.02%, with more comprehensive breakdowns by year. She had four more classes before she was ready to advance to “Sophomore”.

“See, there you go.” Jackie held up her own, tapping it to the side of Sunset’s. As she did, another icon joined the other apps on her home screen—a “Messenger.” “Now, as much fun as it would be to follow you through the halls, I think I’m gonna take off. You look fun—we haven’t got another dirtborn in the Realm since forever. But you’re still so clueless you might malloc right into somebody’s kernel without telling = from ==. You go ahead and get yourself wise… but don’t graduate.” She lowered her voice, leaning in closely. “Sysadmins don’t watch this place much. Looks like you being here kicked on some automated routine to make it seem like you weren’t alone. Truth is, this place is empty as shit. Empty means we can do what we want with it.”

She grinned conspiratorially, then turned away, raising one hand. “Give me a ring when you’re a little older. I’ll show you how to have fun in empty cells, consequence-free.”

Sunset might’ve stopped her, before the class. But she felt far better about this whole instruction thing, now that she’d sat through one of them and survived the ordeal. It had even been enjoyable, aside from knowing that powerful mind magic was changing the way she felt.

“I’ll do that.” She waved back. “Cya.”

Jackie approached one of the little metal locker doors, opening it with a few taps on the lock. She glanced around to make sure nobody was watching her, then vanished inside, clicking the door shut behind her. With as loud as the hallway had become, nobody noticed.

Sunset sighed, looking back down at her schedule. The next item said. “English for Non-Speakers, Remedial Through Composition.” Then she looked up, at the hallway filled with vacuous, empty-eyed Builders and their strangely hollow emotions.

Sunset had gained several new tools since leaving her first class. She could use all of them to accomplish her goals.

Comments

[batran]

I wonder when will sunset figure out that it isn't magic and all technology

Unless in this world it has magic, which is probably implied, which is sad to not feel good about not relying on magic as basic explanation for all our hard work

[djthomp]

I don't think they quite know what they're doing teaching all of this human knowledge and tech to a Celestia-trained unicorn like Sunset. If she ever gets her body and/or magic back, she's going to be a serious contender.

[Ciber]

I think I recall this world being some sort of magical void until q certain event in one of the other stories happens.

[FanOfMostEverything]

But you’re still so clueless you might malloc right into somebody’s kernel without telling = from ==.

I'd ask how she pronounced that last bit, but I get the feeling my puny meat brain wouldn't comprehend it.

In any case, Sunset's making progress, but she likely won't grasp the truth until the computer classes. When she does, her expression should be priceless.

Also, holy crap, a two-hundred-year curriculum. Assuming that percentage is time-based, of course.

[KMCA]

8153985 What body? What magic?
Her body is gone. The transfer is destructive and even if she got her body back it would be a slow death in radiation and a world where magic doesn't exist.

It's a one way trip.

(Although I do wonder if we'll see some of the backstory for Gray and the omnicron)

[Yami Vizzini]

I'm not sure I have anything to contribute beyond boggling at the thought of a two-year math class, emotional bolstering or no.

Oh hey Bree. Or at least one of her forks. (I'd actually forgotten about forks- for a moment I wondered what natural humans thought was so bad about cutlery.)

[djthomp]

8154911 I did say if. Plus, assuming that the future timeline of the war even post-story revisions plays out similarly to the original conclusion, once the Steel Tower and Equestria have friendly relations there's no reason why Sunset couldn't go home and even regain her body.

[Lithl]

8154316
"...assignment from comparison." Obviously. [/software engineer]

[Twilight_Shimmer]

I have to be honest, I do not understand whats happening at all. Am I missing something?

[Humans Are Not Gone Yet]

“You look fun—we haven’t got another dirtborn in the Realm since forever. But you’re still so clueless you might malloc right into somebody’s kernel without telling = from ==.”

Wait, so everyone's kernels are just stored in user accessible ram with no security context? Meaning you could just rewrite somebody else's bits arbitrarily? If people's lives are so poorly secured, what does the OS look like? Is a Linux box loaded with one of those prepackaged security probing suites from the early 21st century considered a weapon of mass destruction? Or do they just not care about the users?

[AyanamiRei]

I would maim someone for the ability to learn stuff so well!!