Princess Celestia's Side Trip To Aperture.

by Powerdrainer

SaDI

Author's Note:

And here we are yet again, with a whole new update. As I mentioned a while back in my blog post, I planned a multi-update for my fics. Four in total, to celebrate the completion of my twenty ninth lap around the sun. And I somehow managed to pull it off, too.

Seriously, two of my fics I left to gather an unholy amount of dust, this being one of them, and it took a while to clear out the mess I allowed it to become.

But here we are, with the multi-update I promised.

Now, as per usual, please inform me down in the comments about any mistake you spotted, or to tell me what you liked/disliked.

Enjoy,

~Powerdrainer

Edited by Slayerseba, Halusm, and Clawder.

SaDI

<<>><<>><<>>

Silence reigned supreme. Not even the always present sound of active machinery, or sporadic collapsing structure, could be heard as Celestia, fallen to her flank, looked up at the pink eyed sphere; it looking back at her just as intently.

Seconds ticked by in tense silence, both locked in a staring contest, waiting for the other to blink.

It was Celestia who caved first and not because the mechanical construct didn't require to blink. Instead it was the dust, (blown in the air when Celestia displaced a significant amount of it, falling to the floor with her just as significant rump,) which now irritated her nose.

The effect was immediate and Celestia sneezed with enough force to rival her sister in volume; which was promptly beaten by the sphere, as it screamed out in fright, with a feminine voice, rolling away and falling to the floor, and pulling a tangle of the glowing cables with it; landing with a solid thud, revealing it was heavier than it looked.

Again silence took hold over the chamber, this time in surprise and confusion, as Celestia looked at the now vacant spot, bewildered.

"Oh no," a quiet, meek voice spoke up from behind the stage.

Slowly pushing herself back to her hooves, Celestia stepped around the center obstacle, revealing the sphere lying covered under a heap of the strange cables; its pink eye shifting around in worry, before locking on Celestia once again.

"Eek!" it shrieked, again trying to roll away, but failing due to the cables holding her in place.

"Are you alright?" Celestia asked, her concern overriding her worries regarding the strange machine.

The sphere stopped its struggle to break free so suddenly, that for a moment Celestia considered the possibility, that the time itself came to a stop. Then, just as suddenly, the sphere's large pink eye looked up at her. And despite its clearly artificial nature, she could clearly see the fear in it.

Confused, but no less concerned, Celestia took a step back and slowly sat down; her mane and tail, the only thing moving as the two looked at one another.

Gently, she cleared her throat. "Hello, can you understand me?"

Once again, the core shied away.

Humming to herself in thought, looking off to the side, Celestia slowly shifted herself, to remove some pressure from her slowly regrowing leg.

A sudden gasp drew her attention back to the sphere, which she noticed was now looking with focused attention at her injury.

"Oh, don't worry about that. It looks worse than it-"

"Is that the sun?" the core suddenly asked with timid excitement, its pink eye locked firmly on the image on Celestia's flank.

"Why, yes. In a way," Celestia answered, surprised by this sudden turn of events, but glad to get more of a response out of the strange sphere, other than feared gasps.

An excited giggle escaped the sphere and she dared rolling a bit closer to Celestia; eye locked on the image on her flank.

"Oh, I like the sun. Or, well, I think I do. I never seen it, but it sounds so wonderful. Do you think it is wonderful? Oh, I really wish I could see the sun. Though I heard you can't look at it, or it hurts your eyes. But I only have one eye and it is not organic, so maybe it doesn't burn? But what if it does? I don't want my eye to burn. But I want to see the sun so much. Have you seen the sun? Or is that why you have a sun on your back side, so you can see it because you can't look at the real sun? It does seem to be a problem among organics. Except plants. Do you know the sun also makes plants grow? Amazing, isn't it? Organic life which developed photosynthesis so they could live from the light of the sun. Oh, I really like plants, I think. I've never seen any of those either. Though I would really want to. Especially a sunflower. It's a sun and, a flower. Isn't that amazing?"

Celestia was taken aback by the sudden talkative sphere, but soon found a genuine smile, and laughed lightly.

This seemed to snap the sphere out of her transfiction and with a gasp, and a squeal, she rolled back into the cables.

"Well, aren't you excitable," Celestia said, slowly lying down to make herself smaller to the sphere. "And to answer your questions; yes, I have seen the sun and do think it is wonderful. But it is also true you can't look directly into it, lest its light hurts you. At least, for us ponies, that is. You, I do not know. As for this image on my flank. It has a deep meaning to me, as it signifies my place on the world to control the raising and lowering of the sun and to maintain the cycle of day, and night, alongsides my sister. And yes, I also enjoy the sight of sunflowers."

The sphere looked at her silently, a metal lid closing and opening over her eye as if she blinked.

"You don't have anything to fear from me," Celestia said reassuringly, smiling kindly… which slowly fell as, to her growing confusion, she felt a faint tremor coming from the floor.

Looking around, it took her a moment to realize the tremor came from the sphere, which was now visibly shaking.

“You have?! Oh, you need to tell me everything. What does the sun look like? Is it really yellow? Can you feel its warmth? And sunflowers! Oh, I want to see those. Well, not just sunflowers, but all kinds of plants. Lilies, ferns, dandelions, tulips, roses, daisies and so much more."

The sphere spun around on its place, excited giggling escaping her with each mention of a plant.

Putting a hoof on top of the sphere, Celestia calmly turned the pink eyed construct back to herself.

"Of course I can tell you--" an excited squeak came from the sphere "--and perhaps you can tell me a few things as well."

The sphere fell silent, her eye tilting within the casing as if cocking a head.

"I, uhmm… Maybe, I guess. But I don't know all that much," she replied timidly, shying back into herself.

"Oh, I'm sure that's not true. You certainly look like an intelligent, eh, sphere?"

"I'm a personality core," the personality core corrected.

"A personality core," Celestia repeated, confused, but keeping it from showing too much.

"Hmhmm," the core nodded her eye in her casing in confirmation.

"Well, I'm a pony. My name is Celestia, Princess of Equestria. May I know your name?"

For a moment, the core looked at Celestia, her eye focusing several times.

"SaDI," she finally answered.

"Well, Sadi. It's nice to make your acquaintance."

<<>><<>><<>>

Quite a bit of time passed since then, with Celestia and SaDI talking animatedly; the personality core revealing a surprising eagerness to know all about Equestria, the strange, unusual and beautiful plants that could be found there, as well as the sun Celestia controlled.

Of course, Celestia had briefly mentioned this fact earlier, but when she explained this a bit more in depth, SaDI seemed to lock up, taking a full three minutes to snap out of her stupor before informing Celestia that her data banks showed such a thing was impossible. This then steered the topic of discussion to the realm of magic, which Celestia explained to the now confused core, though she kept what she shared simple and from revealing too much. As nice as SaDI appeared to be, she still couldn't be too sure about the true nature, or intent of the pink eyed sphere.

This soon proved to be a smart initiative, as SaDI began to share some of her knowledge, including her connection to GLaDOS, who she referred to as big sis.

"So, Glados is your sister and you, a personality core, are part of a larger group of these cores which fulfill numerous functions based on where you are installed; though your primary function is to enforce a stable mental state on Glados to keep her less desirable mental faculties in check."

"Hmhmm," SaDI nodded. "Though I was rejected for this task," SaDI shamefully admitted, looking away. "That was also when big sis gave me my name."

Celestia arched an eyebrow at this bit of knowledge.

"I understand Glados is an acronym for Genetic Lifeform and Disc Operating System. Is the same true for your name?"

Hesitantly, SaDI nodded.

"Would you be willing to tell me?" Celestia asked, by now acquainted enough with the core's limited expressions and tone of voice to pick up she was uncomfortable.

"..." a faint whisper, barely loud enough for Celestia's ears to twitch, escaped her.

Lying her head on the floor, so she could look at SaDI at eye level, she looked into the single pink eye with a small smile.

"If you don't want to tell me, that is perfectly fine. I won't press you into telling me something you don't want to tell."

"No, eh… It's fine," SaDI said almost immediately. "It's just… Big sis was really angry at the time, and I'm sure she didn't mean it."

"She didn't mean, what?" Celestia asked, concerned.

A sigh warped SaDI's vocal system. "She called me: Such a Dumb Intelligence."

"What!?"

"Oh, but it is true. I should have focused on the tests, and how they affected big sis, but all I did was search through the system about plants and the sun, distracting big sis too much, so they disconnected me from big sis and the system, and now I'm here."

Celestia slowly raised her head, appalled.

"Your name is an acronym for being dumb? Well, that just won't do," Celestia stated strongly, pushing herself back up in a sitting position. "Nopony… no one is just dumb. And they should never be named as such. How could anyone even find their full potential if their very name is keeping them down?"

Surprised, SaDI looked up at Celestia, unable to find an answer to her question.

"Besides, you have shown to be anything, but dumb. And it has been a true delight to talk with an individual such as you." Celestia paused, thinking. "Such a Delightful Individual."

"Huh?"

"Sadi, you are not dumb, and you should not be called as such either. Your name should be a reflection of who you are, which is a delightful individual."

"I am?"

"You are."

For a moment, everything was silent between the two. Then, starting quietly, a happy giggle rolled out of SaDI as she spun around.

"Now, Sadi," Celestia said, picking up her portal gun with her magic. "What do you say we get out of here and go see the sun?"

SaDI couldn't agree fast enough and with a joyous sound, she, too, was levitated up, and placed in between Celestia's wings.

"Then let's go," Celestia said, stepping out of the room towards whatever unknown, strange and potentially dangerous adventure awaited. This time, with a new friend by her side.

Comments

[NotBurgerShot]

Wow! Such a pleasant surprise to see this update.

[Deltorix]

Cute

[WTK55]

Woohoo! Updated finally <3

[The Monoceros]

"Your name is an acronym for being dumb? Well, that just won't do," Celestia stated strongly, pushing herself back up in a sitting position. "Nopony… no one is just dumb. And they should never be named as such. How could anyone even find their full potential if their very name is keeping them down?"

Celestia, let me tell you about a Personality Core named Wheatley...

[WorldWalker128]

Companion Sphere has been acquired.