The Weary Traveler

by The Psychopath

Robots

Author's Note:

Do look at this blog post about this story.

Celestia awaited within an empty classroom of her school. The walls were covered in various bits of drawings and cutouts made by the students currently attending, creating a slough of shapes and colors. The wooden desks and chairs had been stacked on the end of the classroom, blocking several bookcases that reached the ceiling. The alicorn chuckled to herself, thinking about how Twilight would have reacted to see them all locked away and inaccessible as a filly here. The white walls emphasized the deep blue carpet floor illuminated by the two grand windows flanking both sides of the wall-bound chalkboard.

"Lost in thought?" the traveler asked.

Celestia bounced in surprise. "You scared me. I didn't hear you come in here."

The cephalopony patted the carpet a few times with his hoof. "Because this material absorbs sounds very well," he explained flatly. "I brought four models for the introductory courses. As agreed upon, I want to know which would best suit the ponies as first introduction."

Four sets of heavy steps passed the doorway, each belonging to a machine and not an armored pony, as Celestia had grown so accustomed to. However, they only passed through one by one. One was based on the people of the traveler, albeit slightly slimmer and with a more prominent 'beak'. It was already an acceptable contender for the 'introduction'. The second was a tripedal giant whose legs ended in bent-in claws. Its upper torso as thin and lanky, and its four arms were folded over its chest. Its head had the appearance of a helmet sporting a V-shaped visor ending in a slight outcrop of metal. Its eyes were red lights hidden behind darkness, and already Celestia didn't like it.

"Are you going to tell me that thing is a pony like 'us'?" she asked the traveler with skepticism.

"Of course not. That would be absurd." He stared at it for a while. "I merely believed that this would help with the shock of something new considering it is similar to the minotaurs."

Celestia nodded in agreement. "Be that as it may, I still believe this...erm, model to be inappropriate. It's too dramatic for my ponies to deal with." She hummed pensively. "The others aren't like this one, are they?"

The traveler's eyes slowly turned away from the alicorn, and she facehoofed. "Fine. The one that looks like you will be a good way to introduce your creations and the other things of yours."

The cephalopony messed with some commands on another small tablet he pulled out from the mass of tentacles on his head and the other two unseen machines remained unknown to the princess. She felt a pang of regret when the current two left the room. Something within her really wanted to see what the other two machines looked like, but it wasn't to be. At least, not yet. A slight tremor shook the school, throwing some unsupported books onto the floor.

"What is that?" Celestia spouted out very quickly.

"My machines are taking examples of construction materials for use in the new school. I want to study them and see how good they are." He paused for a moment. "I'm going to use them for external construction while the interior is built from metal. Your subject named 'Corn' is providing me with the sample materials."

Several blinks were the only response Celestia had. She rushed out of the door, some part of her hoping to see the other two machines still present, but was left disappointed. She rushed outside of the school and flew into the air to see exactly what was causing the loud banging sounds and the tremors. The alicorn saw eight bipeds colored gray-black and reflecting the light of her sun off of their 'skin'. They towered above the buildings of Canterlot, easily reaching eight stories of height on their own. Their heads were domes sunken into broad torsos, seeing through two wide slits of red. Celestia could see that their bodies and strong arms were made from several cases of metal welded together. It created various shades of black and gray in consistent intervals across their bodies, alluding to the work put into them. One of the colossi crouched and extended its arms, filling her ears with the scream of metal hard at work. It picked up a large stone block in its hands and raised itself easily. It turned to follow its five other comrades outside of the city and into the distant, hilly plains. Each step filled the gaps made by the others perfectly, creating an increasingly deeper set of footprints into the green outside the city.

"They carry it like it weighs nothing," Celestia whispered to herself. She shook her head. "No matter how many times I see his machines, I'm always shocked at what they're capable of."

Outside the walls at the refugee camp, the crystal ponies bore direct witness to the colossi making great strides over them and pulling gusts of wind with every leg movement, tearing tents away and taking the smaller ponies with them.

"Hold everything down!" a crystal pony shouted. "Grab the elderly and the foals so they don't flyyyYYYYYY!"

His voice trailed into a scream when another colossus walked over them, throwing everyone around again. The tiny creature stared at metal giants, curious about what they could be. Its concentration was broken by Shining Armor grabbing by the shoulders and shaking it violently.

"What have I told you about stealing somepony's memories?! GIVETHEMBACK!" he spurted angrily.

The little creature struggled and growled angrily, its body flaring up with wine-purple magic outlined with red. Behind Shining was a guard frantically trying to take off his armor, not understanding what was happening. His comrades were holding him down, trying to keep him from escaping and disappearing. After a few seconds, the creature relented and let the memories flow back into the victim via a wisp of wine-red. He was absolutely livid after realizing what had just transpired. Once his comrades had gotten off of his back, the stallion rush to the creature, a sword in his mouth. Shining saw the movement, but too late. He didn't have time to cast a spell to push the enraged guard. The attacking pony spat his sword out into a clamp on his right hoof and swung down at the little creature. Shining ducked underneath the strike and rammed him away with the side of his strong neck, pushing the attacker away and throwing him off balance.

"Restrain him!" Shining ordered. When the others threw the sword away from the guard, the prince sat down in front of him and slacked his mouth. "I understand your feelings, but my wife and I are trying to change that thing." He gave an exhausted smile. "At least we can get it to give your memories back."

The furious guard stared at the prince for a moment, then his body sagged. "Fine, but if it happens again we're ALL going to kill it, understand?!" he asked while staring straight into Shining's eyes.

The prince nodded and gestured the others to let go, allowing an unsatisfied rage to grumble away. Shining shook the stress from his head and marched to the tiny creature casually poking the leg of a wooden table and watching it rock back and forth with every strike.

"You're driving me crazy!" her groaned loudly. The tiny creature paid no attention. Shining held onto the ground when another of the colossi strode overhead, taking the table with them and leaving the creature on its own. "You're like a rabbit we didn't need," the prince lamented. "It's hard enough dealing with all of this on my own." He lied down on the floor in front of the tiny creature. "Cadance could have taken me up north with her, but nooooo," he mumbled to himself.

Shining opened a tired eye wider than the other when he saw the creature staring at him and sparking up his magic. The white stallion snorted and bapped the creature on the head with his hoof. Stunned, it wobbled about before falling onto the ground, inciting snickers from the witnesses.

"I'm not sure if we'll manage to teach you anything at all." The prince stared at the still stunned creature. "Do you even grow?" Shining sat up, took his helmet off, and rubbed the sweat from his forehead. The cool breeze ruffling through his sweat-drenched mane was an enjoyable sensation. "Alright. I'll try my best until Cadance comes back. If we can get back to the Crystal Empire then we'll have an easier time teaching you and keeping you isolated from the others until you fully understand the extent of your power." He scratched his head then put his helmet back on. "What can we start by?"

"You could start by teaching it right from wrong?" one of the eavesdropping guards suggested. "But I don't know how it works. Maybe yell at it and bap its head like a dog when it does something wrong."

Shining fattened his lower lip and leaned his head forward. "That could work."

He saw the small creature get back up, shake its head, then try and steal the memories of the guard. Shining flicked the crystallized side of its head and yelled at it in a firm tone.

"No! Bad crystal thing. No!" The creature shrunk away from the stallion, leaving the prince satisfied. "Looks like that seems to work," he mused.

Bolbo looked out from the interior of the ship, using a zoom feature of the ship's windows to have a better look at the layered farm Applejack was given control of. He was very bored, and seeing everything from above was just about the only thing that still entertained him. His humming in the dark corridor stopped with abrupt coughing.

"Swallowed the wrong way," he choked. The metal pony zoomed further, tapped a few colorful buttons on the side of the image, and raised a virtual bar to increase the reception volume.

Twilight was approaching the farm, watching Applejack and a few other ponies getting upset at a group dropping a crate of fertilizer and shattering it. The lavender alicorn was carrying the strange idol in tow with her magic, but no one seemed to notice it or care about it. She called for Applejack who rushed over nigh instantly.

"Ah, Twilight, glad yer here."

Twilight tilted her head. "You are? Why?"

"Ah need sumthin' ta free me from these idiots, pardon ma language."

Twilight pushed up her upper lip. "Not going too well, I take it."

The farm pony shook her head. "Can't say it is, but this thing that octopus gave us is pretty awesome. He's been widening the elevator and started adding more of 'em."

Twilight looked to the layered farm, seeing tiny mechanical boxes producing sparks along the surface of the main body. "I see."

Applejack nodded with a smile, and for a moment the two didn't exchange words. "Watcha got there?" Applejack wondered. She leaned to the side to get a better look at the strange statue. "Never seen anythin' like it."

Twilight frowned and her head drooped in response. "The traveler gave me a tip to somepony who could help with the Crystal Kingdom, and uh..." She rubbed the back of her head, disturbing her mane. "They asked me to share this with somepony in return."

Applejack put a hoof to her chin and squeezed her eyes while thinking. "Mighty strange request, but ah don't know if--"

The two covered their muzzles when a gust of hot air snorted their way. It came from a colossal minotaur looming over them. His bulky body was covered in scars, his right horn was missing, and his eyes carried hints of bloodlust. He stood three heads over the other minotaurs working in the area.

"Twi, this here fella doesn't say much, but he's quite helpful 'round here." She frowned. "Other minotaurs ain't told me 'is name yet." Applejack sighed. "Ya need somethin'?"

Silence accompanied the minotaur's gaze which was fixated on the idol Twilight was carrying. Noticing it, the alicorn lowered it in front of her, sat on her haunches, and grabbed the statue with both hooves. She tapped it a few times then raised it to the minotaur, unsure of what would happen next. He careful grabbed the statue and turned it around, taking in its details. A grunt preceded him tapping Twilight on the head then rushing off into the distance. Furious, Applejack chased after him, ordering him to return to the farm site.

"So you're a creature who keeps her debts paid and promises fulfilled." The voice in Twilight's head laughed. "We'll be able to do much more business in the future, for sure."

The lavender alicorn was scared, moreso than usual, and she wasn't entirely sure why.

Comments

[Booster Spice]

9397962

The machine that appears nowhere in Ready Player One, book or movie.

The Commodore Amiga.

[The Psychopath]

9398147
We don't speak of that jumbled assortment of ink here.

[Booster Spice]

9398151

Ah, so youre a Mac guy?

[The Psychopath]

9398157
I said an assortment of ink. I wasn't speaking of the computer tech.

[Booster Spice]

9398177

I apologise, been ill over the holidays and am easily halfway to the best I might expect, so not only forget new stuff easily, but have forgotton an awful lot of prior stuff also.

In the movie I wonder if anyone else noticed the honking great obvious easter egg that was The Virtuality Rig?

[The Psychopath]

9398205
Which rig?

[Booster Spice]

9399056

Apparently there is, or was, a UK group who were collecting, repairing them, but from teh posts sems to have been quiet the last couple years.

Found this though, pretty decent picture of the rig, though the visor is placed badly, and some graphics, which you have to remember were from the early 90s and without a dedicated GPU, with CPU not much better than a TI calculator.

Old Virtuality Rig Message Forum

[The Psychopath]

9399191
That's quite impressive tech for that time. Looks like the Super Nintendo's special 3d.

[Booster Spice]

9399208

I was trying to think of a simplified timeline of computing, just for example, and its sort of, 1940x, Collossus, 1965x, Apollo Block 1/2 Flight Computer, 1990x Virtuality, 2015x IBM Watson, 2040x Undefineable. As in 25 year steps or roughly equivalent to human generations.

By Undefineable, the best that would likely be on offer is a Smart Phone running the mind state of a generalised expert, instead of what it should be doing of the equivalent of every expert ever working cooperatively and constantly.

[The Psychopath]

9399228
I don't know what you're talking about. You lost me.

[Kryostasis]

Maybe I'm forgetting a detail, but why does Twilight actually trifle with Eldromac? What's her actual goal, dealing with something that represents a god, or higher being? I mean, sure, Twi wants to get a better understanding how everything works, as does every scientist, yet playing around with something that could end up even more horribly than what she'd imagine? Must be her naivety, right?

[The Psychopath]

9400896
Because Eldromac helped her in her time of need, and while she has no reason to truly trust its words, she has a sense of paying back what is due. Plus, you never know. What if something else like what was about to happen in the Crystal Empire occurs again elsewhere? Eldromac is the only one who has been able to help so far.

[Betsuni]