Twilight Sparkle awoke with a content yawn. The bright morning sunlight filtered softly through her window, bathing her room in golden hues. The smell of breakfast wafted through the air, aided by the distant sounds of kitchenware in use. A few minutes passed as she enjoyed the morning warmth. The pitter-patter of footsteps neared the door.
"Spike?" she yawned again, rubbing an eye with her hoof, "Spike, did you make breakfast already? You really don't have to, y'know."
"Yup!" the dragon chirped, bursting through the door, "Breakfast's already on the table!"
Twilight smiled, hopping out of bed.
"Lisa, what do you think about our pitch?"
The girl looked up from the poster she'd been designing. Samantha beamed as she admired the simulated room around them.
"All I can say is that the holograms really do bring the simulations to real life, don't they?" Lisa chuckled in return, "I promised both Argall and Roger, if we're gonna do anything when I get back into this place, we're gonna bring back those after-school courses you and I used to love so much, and we're gonna bring it to the masses."
She held up the poster -- a faint glint of voxelation lining the edges of the virtual item --, peeking out from behind it.
"...Do you think they'll like it?"
"Surely," Samantha nodded, "But don't forget about the rest of the project, Lis. It may have taken some time to adapt the simulation framework to work with augmented reality, but that doesn't mean that there aren't any bugs to iron out!"
Lisa smiled.
"You betcha, Sam. And this time, we're gonna do things right."
"Twilight, do you ever think about what's going on outside of Equestria?"
The alicorn looked up from her book to her friend.
"Huh?"
"I mean," Pinkie continued, laying flat on her back, "It's been a pretty long time now since we've heard anything from Lisa or Samantha. Do... do you think they forgot about us? Forgot about Equestria, even?"
Twilight shook her head, her attention returning to the book in front of her.
"No, Pinkie. They're probably too busy making the next big thing now to have the time to visit anymore. You remember how excited those two were the last time they stopped by, don't you?"
Pinkie nodded. "Yeah," she exclaimed, "Lisa was all like 'Guesswhatwe'regonnabringbacktheoldthingthatmeandSamanthausedtodothatledtousdoingallthisstuffand--'"
The alicorn winced at the sudden onslaught of words. "Yes, Pinkie, that just about sums things up as far as we're concerned. Who knows? Maybe they'll finally visit again sometime in the near future. Some five or so years is plenty enough time to get a good education system up on its feet in the beginning."
Lisa yawned, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she shut off the holographic projector. Student by student, the day's usual assortment of curious kids and teens filed out of the now pure-white room. She brushed a hand through her increasingly frazzled hair, glancing for a moment at the clock behind her before walking past the rows of desks to the door.
"Hey, Lis," Samantha greeted, "How was class today?"
"Tiring," Lisa shrugged, "Definitely still worth it though. You still up for swapping positions tomorrow? I'm just itching to start testing the new headset design. Um... let's see..." she paused, filing through her notes for the week. "Tomorrow begins the class's Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality unit."
Samantha let out a playful snort.
"Just like old times?"
"Just like old times."
Lisa continued walking, making a beeline to the break room.
"Oh, by the way," Samantha called behind her, "What are you planning on testing the headset with?"
"What else do you think I'd use?"
A brief knocking came at the castle doors. Hurriedly, Spike rushed down the stairs and through the hallway, opening the heavy doors just enough to catch a glimpse of who had knocked.
Lisa waved, a friendly smile on her face.
"Hi, Spike. Is Twilight open to any visitors right now?"
Thank you for reading.
It's been an emotional ride, seeing Lisa come out of the Simulation and back to the Reality.
It's been a roller coaster of emotions.
A roller coaster that I went on, completely oblivious to what's up ahead.
So thank you, Major Techie, for the story, Lisa, Samantha, Twilight and Pinkie.
Would there be a sequel? chuckles Nobody knows. Maybe one day, either you or somebody else would take up the mantle.
9597646
Isn't that the AI written story?
If I remember correctly, a lot of weird things happen, like tap-dancing cannibalism.
Well, this certainly was a nice read. It was nice to see you increasing your writing skills as the story progressed.
Really looking forward for your next project. Best wishes.
9690242
Thank you.
9695915
Close, but not quite. Though you are correct in that the "04" is partially a nod to Gen 4 of MLP. There's just more to it than simply that.
This fic leaves strange feeling inside. Feeling of nostalgia yet finality, regret and piece at the same time.
9922819
Personally don’t Lomé fallout Equestia. But I hurt I’ll check out rhat AI story shrug
9923189
Don't worry, I've never read Fallout: Equestria either. I tend to stick with more original fiction-based lore for my stories. Any relation to Friendship is Optimal besides the couple references here and there are entirely coincidental.
I’m not really one for reviews, but it was nice read nonethelesse
9926345
Thanks.
10159516
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
oh my dearest dear this was beautiful; thank you so much for writing this. it was darling.
10529175
Thanks. I'm actually working on a full rewrite of the story at the moment, due to drop on this story's 3rd year anniversary since publishing.
10529180
Why?
10574395
Because I wasn't able to give this story the ending it deserved.
And there are plot holes anyway that I wanted to patch with a rewrite.
10574412
Ok thank for responding
Sorry for bad inglish
10574419
no worries.
7/10 good story. I read it now because of the reboot.
10575901
Thanks!
10575903
Too bad the sequels are both cancelled.
10575905
Both of the sequels are being rolled into the reboot.
Main difference is that rather than following a new cast of characters, the reboot takes elements from the sequels and starts setting them in motion much earlier on.
10575907
Should probably mark the sequel remake to cancelled as well then.
10575913
Huh. I didn't do that already? I'll go do that then.
10575915
Nope. It was listed as being incomplete or on hiatus.
10575922
huh. Well, it's fixed now. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
This made me cry...
I dunno how, but the writing of Lisa and Samantha is just so nice and works so well with this story.
I wonder if I can include this in my story someday
Just for kicks, do you have a rendering of Samantha? I remember you have one for Lisa, but I don't remember one for Samantha, and I'd like to see how she was envisioned to look like
10685015
No, unfortunately. The drawing of Lisa was something I commissioned a while back.
10685085
Alright
10685015
Oh wait, you're talking 3D renders?
I still don't have one mainly 'cause MakeHuman is slightly annoying and I haven't touched it in a while, but I can say that she is a little taller than Lisa and has shorter blonde hair.
10686251
Oh, sweet, thanks.
Also, what drawing did you think I was referring to?
10686368
The drawing of Lisa at the very end. I honestly forgot that I had a 3D model of her crammed into the story for a while.
10686536
I'll be completely honest, that looks like some fanart of Aphmau I've seen. I envisioned Lisa with straighter hair, and less collage looks since she is an older person.