Equestria Digital

by DeltaChevron

Unpacking

I immediately knew I was in the wrong place for several reasons. First, the room was full of stuffily dressed and extremely panicked ponies, in Trottingham there would’ve been shock then indifference. Second, there were about two dozen members of the Royal Guard spread around the room who were taking up defensive positions. Third, the room was made of white marble. Lastly, a slightly confused and generally angry looking Princess Celestia was looking right at me. Somehow I had ended up several hundred miles from where I was supposed to be.

Before I could really think I needed to do something about all the noise the petitioners were making. I’d never worked on such a large group before but a few seconds of giving off calm, safe and harmless had them much calmer. It helped that I was in my less threatening Travel Mode. A few nobles had some form of resistance but calmed down on their own once they realized what was going on. The guards had a greater resistance but once I started focusing on them I was able to get thru. Celestia, well I didn’t even try it on her since I probably wouldn’t get anywhere. She had gone from angry to wary in the few seconds it took me to calm the room.

I took the hedgehog squeaky toy out of my vest pocket and locked eyes with him. “Mr. Prickles, why are we so far off course?” a shrug “Whaddya mean ‘you don’t know’? You were the helmsman that means you were supposed to steer and keep us on course!” I frowned “No, Mr. Bubbles is the boatswain, he only has one hand so he wouldn’t be able to steer. That’s why I made you the helmsman instead.” pause “’He could use his drill to turn the wheel’, really? That’s the best you can come up with? The drill would break the spokes and then nobody would be able to keep us on course.” I pretended to be angry “No! Do not say that joke. IT wasn’t funny 3000 years ago and it isn’t funny now.”

Celestia’s look had morphed into one of concern “Are you alright?” she asked stepping down from the throne “And I think you can stop projecting on everypony now.”

I looked at her and eased up; the guards snapped themselves out of it. “Shush, can’t you see I’m having an important one sided conversation with myself?” she opened her month, I looked at Mr. Prickles again and started shaking him “Don’t take her side you jackass! I can be as strange as I want to, it’s not like there’s anyone here I have to obey or listen to. Whatever, we need to be going anyway. Since we’re on the wrong side of the country the sooner we leave the better.”

As I started to walk away a pink barrier appeared around me. I looked over my shoulder to see who put it up. It took a few seconds for me to realize it was Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard and older brother of Twilight Sparkle. He looked more than a little angry. Then again considering I had basically made fools of him and the other “elite” guards his anger was understandable.

“Just so you know this barrier won’t be able to hold me. Right now I’m leaving it up solely to humor you.”

“I am Shining Armor, Captain of Celestia’s Royal Guard. Who are, what are you, and how did you get here?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know, digital monster, and a magical portal which was supposed to put me on the other side of the country. Since it didn’t we must have forgotten to account for something. My money is on it being some minute but highly important mathematical detail…or we might’ve forgotten to carry a one or something simple, which is probably more likely than the former.”

“This room is protected by some of the strongest magic known to ponies. The fact that you were able to bypass it makes you a threat to the safety of both Princesses’. Once we’ve escorted the nobles to safety you will be questioned about the spell that you used to travel through the barriers.”

I zipped Mr. Pickles safely inside my vest pocket “No, I don’t think so.”

“It wasn’t a request.”

A solid tap and the barrier shattered “You cannot and do not command me. Besides, I don’t know how the spell works because somebody else cast it. So even if I wanted to tell you how it worked, which I don’t, I wouldn’t be able to. Now, I’m late and must be going, good day.”

I don’t know which was better, the look on their faces when I broke the barrier or the one they had when I jumped through the window. Fun fact window glass is actually very hard to break and whenever you see someone jump through it in a movie they’re actually breaking a special kind made just for that purpose. Obviously this didn’t apply here for two reasons. One, I was strong enough that it didn’t matter and two, certain things that usually only worked in fiction worked perfectly fine in Equestria. That was something I could use to my advantage.

Once I had gotten the hang of it flying quickly became one of my favorite things to do. I didn’t have to watch my footing or worry about getting bugs in my eyes and stuff like I did when I was running. If I really wanted to I could push my speed up to about mach 6 putting me nicely in the hypersonic speed range. One of the first things I did when I learned how fast I could go was the key to eliminate the creation of a Sonic Rainboom when I hit mach 1 and any other odd things that might happen at each consecutive mach number. I might not look as cool but stealth was something I liked better than leaving behind a rainbow colored streak or plasma or something. Besides, it was useless at a cruising altitude of about 86,000 feet.

The North Pole might be called the top of the world but that was really only in a physical sense. 86,000 feet was what really looked like the top of the world. I could see stars twinkling above me and an endless sea of white and green below. Ahead I could see the gentle curve of the planet starting as a white gray, progressing through blue and finally becoming the black of the night sky. I doubt I had ever or would ever see a more beautiful sight for however long I would end up living.

My only concern about flying so high and so fast was overshooting my target destination and not realizing it. At the speed I was going it was very hard (read impossible) to hear anything at all. I was completely dependent on sight and without a scope I wouldn’t be able to see anything on the ground. With that in mind I slowed down to mach 3 and dropped my altitude to about 82,000 feet. I glanced back to admire the twin contrails created by my hands and back-swept arms. I tried to feel the data that the Towers were giving off, if I could manage that I could use it to find my way.

That had been a wonderful and unexpected discovery I had made during a break in training with Xuanwumon. The Towers were also wide area, high power sensors that were constantly collecting every kind of information you could think of from current temperature to the average amount of background radiation in its area. If there were multiple Towers they would even transmit the data from one to another and absorb all the information along the way and it could be accessed from one single Tower. If you put them in the right places you could theoretically have data that was accurate up to the second. As the system administrator I alone had remote had access, meaning I could access that data without having to be in a Tower. The instructions for how to do that were…vague at best, guess XANA didn’t have proper admin access.

I finally managed it on my third try and almost fell out of the air from all the information I received. The only thing I managed to learn was that I was still out of range of the Tower in Trottingham. I could only stay connected for a few seconds at a time without being overwhelmed; there was just so much information. If I was going to use it effectively I would need to take a shortcut so I could understand it all, or at least immediately identify the most important stuff. I checked back every ten seconds or so until I finally found myself in range. By focusing on the Tower itself and nothing else I was able to pinpoint the middle of the city and land with only minor problems.

I stood in the middle of the town center and took note as one of The Marshals spoke into a radio, no doubt calling in help, before he stepped forward. After introductions and a short explanation he radioed again, this time for Sunny Smiles and her family, before he sat down to wait patiently. I, on the other hand…hoof…appendage, had something I wanted to examine. The giant emerald that was sitting right in front of me and may or may not contain what was basically a god. It was not the Master Emerald which was both a relief and a disappointment for various different reasons.

That aside the gem was far from natural due to the fact that it was completely flawless right down to the sub-atomic level. Even under laboratory conditions’ producing something like this on a much smaller scale was next to impossible, you could get ballpark estimate close but not spot on. Whoever had made it and whatever process they used must have been truly amazing. With a gentle push of energy I learned just how much power it could hold, even if I drained myself five times over I would barely fill a portion of it. Why would something like this ever have to be used, for what purpose and to what end?

I put such questions aside and worked to carefully balance it on its tip and myself in the lotus position on top. I put my hands on my knees and closed my eyes, if this thing was ever going to be of any use I would need to start charging it now, hopefully we wouldn’t need it for offense but there were other things we could definitely use it for. I had to be very careful when charging an object. The first several attempts during training ended up with me covered in dust from the object when it shattered. It wasn’t that I was forcing too much energy into them so much as it was the energy being siphoned into it too fast. I didn’t want to drain myself completely today; I still had a lot to do.

I don’t know how long I sat there, eyes closed and mind focused, before the familiar scent of Amethyst Rose started flowing in on the breeze. I cracked an eye and was surprised to find that everypony was bowing in my direction; luckily Rosy’s scent was coming from behind me anyway. Behind me stood Sunny Smiles, Ameythst Rose, Cold Front, Blue Serenade, and Grey Main all looking a bit surprised. Farther back I could see a bound and gagged Prince Blueblood and standing between me and my friends was a softly smiling Princes Luna. I had no way of knowing if she recognized me but I was more curious about why she was here.

“Rise my little ponies, please go about your business as usual.” Most did as she ordered but two or three stayed behind “It is good to see you again Your Grace. How have you fared since last we met?”

So she did recognize me “I was unwell for a bit, things did not go as I had hoped. But I am much better now, far better than I have ever been.” Before anyone could blink I had swept Rosy up into my lap and had her in a light hug. “How have you been Princess of the Moon, Stars, and Sacred Darkness of the night?”

“Well enough, the nobles have become far pettier than they once were and many seem to become worse by the day.” She glanced at Blueblood “If my sister would let me I would have disciplined them all rather severely by now and there are a great many whom I would also have stripped of lands and titles.” She frowned “I do not understand why we must indulge them.”

Rosy lay her head on my thigh and I stroked her mane “Were the decision mine I would have the worst of them strung up by their entrails and paraded through the city. But ultimately that choice is not up to me. Now that we have the pleasantries out of the way I would like to know why you are here, when you will be leaving, and what you plan to do with him.” Surprisingly no pony flinched at my idea.

“I am here to deal with this wayward relative as for punishment. First I think revocation of his private airship is a good place to start. I think Tia might listen when I suggest suspending his vote in the Barn of Lords and freezing most of his financial assets and removing most of the privileges he seems to enjoy flaunting so much. Hopefully that will teach him some humility and if it doesn’t” she shrugged “exile is always an option.”

“So is execution, I think one of the books I brought back has a proper diagram of the guillotine in it somewhere.”

She shook her head “As for how long I will be staying. I was going to leave today but I think we shall stay for one more night. That is assuming Mrs. Smiles doesn’t mind housing me for another evening. It’s not an order; I can stay at a hotel if I’m imposing.”

Sunny laughed “It’s fine, its fine. The house hasn’t been this lively since I was a filly. I see Grey has already left to get more food. Inaba, you’ll be happy to know Phase One is well underway since you left last week and Phase Two should begin before the weekend is over.”

I nodded “It’s just as well I’ve brought back a few things that are too big to be kept at HQ anyway. We’ll need to build a special building for one of the things. Does anypony know what sheet metal is? As for temporary coverage we can use tarps but they’ll need to be stitched together to make one big enough.” A few ponies in the crowd cheered before quickly leaving “Where’s Scipio?”

Sunny grinned “He’s archiving, just like he’s done every day since you left. I’ll explain on the way. Somepony put this stallion back in his cell, please and thank you.”

I slide off the emerald and draped Rosy around my neck like n excitedly squirming feather boa. I knew exactly where I wanted to go, the concealed entry ramp on the west side of town. There was really only one thing that couldn’t properly fit inside HQ but it was loaded up with little things I wanted to bring back which would fit. Hopefully once Phase 2 was in full swing the technology I brought back could be reverse engineered more quickly. The only danger was making sure it didn’t get analyzed, used, or reproduced by the wrong people, like anyone who supported the Eden Initiative. I was happy to find the ramp open and Scipio patiently floating at the top of it waiting for us.

“Scipio, progress report.” I said.

He floated over “Everything is proceeding within the acceptable time frame. A new schedule will be produced once everything you recovered is logged. Magically charged gem drives have proven an acceptable substitute for traditional electricity generation methods. The records are now fully electronic and there are numerous remote access terminals within HQ to facilitate more rapid inventory logging.”

I set Rosy down and nodded “Good. Princess Luna, your mouth is open. I need everyone to stay over here as the main object is rather large.”

I put about 100 feet between us and stood with the ramp on my left and my right arm sticking straight out to the side. A brief flash of later and I was Lopmon, my right paw resting against the cold aluminum of a large aircraft. The one wing reached over half the distance to everyone, was taller than Scipio, and the craft itself was just less than one hundred feet long. I walked out from under the wing and made my way to the open loading ramp at the back. The inside was tightly and carefully packed full of stuff from books, to detcord, to cans of soup and MREs. I had spent about two days carefully getting everything to sit for unloading. There were a few other things I was carrying as Antylamon but the bulk of what I brought was here.

Scipio quickly swept me up so he could update his knowledge with what I had brought. Rather than bookshelves appearing in my library he did and made a beeline for the newest books which he then carefully copied one page at a time. The finished copies he placed into an opening hidden at his front. As he started to float out I thought about making a backup of my memories and finding a way to strengthen my mental defense. In response he held up a tendril and nodded it meaning yes, he would help me.

With my return to normal senses I saw Princess Luna had become quite agitated when Scipio was holding me. The only reason she probably didn’t act was because she had no idea what to do. It probably helped that nopony else was visibly bothered by it. She was worried about my safety, how cute. As she approached Sunny was continually assuring her that what happened was completely harmless. I cleared my throat and all attention turned to me.

“This is a Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules. Where I’m from airships have been out of style for around fifty years for a number of complex reasons I won’t go into. As an alternative we put more emphasis on winged aircraft. This particular model plane is for transporting cargo it has a flight range of just over 3600 miles and cruises at about 400mph.”

“Some of our military airships can move pretty fast but nowhere near that speed. How can you manage it with those propellers?” Luna asked.

“Ah now we’re getting into the technical area I don’t know as well. First the prop isn’t what produces most of the thrust, the engine it’s attached to does. These are Rolls-Royce AE 2100 turboprop jet engines. Before you ask a jet engine works by compressing and igniting its fuel. The force from the combustion exits the back of the engine and produces forward momentum. Turboprop engines have a turbine inside which is what spins the propeller. It’s not as fast or powerful as a turbofan engine but it’s more fuel efficient.”

“So, why did you bring it? I doubt we have anyway to fuel it.”

‘I brought back samples of the most important fuels we use, including jet fuel. All we need to do is find a way to make a synthetic version of it and we’ll be set. I’m also hoping we can create some magic spell or device to burn the fuel more efficiently or reduce it pollution. Whichever works best.”

Sunny nodded “We’ll see if we can get a team working on it. If it’s going to be of any help to anyone we’ll need to produce more of these ‘jet engines’.”

“I thought of that to, snagged a set of repair manuals for the C-130. I also brought back a single much larger turbofan engine for study. I figure if you’re trying to see how something works a larger model would make it easier. I’d also like to return it eventually so please, try to make sure no one breaks it because it’s like seven million dollars to replace it and I’ve already taken one.”

“I can’t promise anything but we can at least try.”

A quick double transformation later and the behemoth GE CF6 Turbofan engine was safely stored in a mobile clean room for transport further into HQ. The various fuel samples were taken to their own area that dealt with liquids to be studied. Scipio quickly took charge of the unloading process for the C-130 and within an hour everything was shelved and cataloged. Except the food that was all for me, unless ponies suddenly decided to become omnivores. The food was loaded up onto carts and taken to Sunny’s house to be kept in an unused room for me to eat at my leisure.

We had an early lunch at a quaint café and grocery store just inside the west wall. I would have preferred to put off telling them about my trip until Luna, as she insisted we call her, was gone but Rosy twisted my arm. I left out almost everything Alice told me about WHY I was here and also left out what Zhuqiamon said about being found. Everyone except Scipio was intrigued by Earth, after half an hour of questions I finally managed to guide it back so I could finish my story. When I got to the part about my parents they all gave some form of solace, even Scipio draped a tentacle around my shoulders in a sort of half hug.

By this point we had finished eating and we had gone outside the walls as I continued to talk. About a quarter of a mile outside the city large pit had begun to form with canvas tents erected a safe distance from the edge. Phase 1 involved looking to see if Trottingham was connected to Caelondia in way other than strange similarities. If it was we’d use one version of Phase 2. If it wasn’t we’d use the other version.

The dig was being led by an elderly earth pony named Doctor Blue Jay, who insisted on being called Doctor Jay citing his lack of blue as the reason. He was very excited when I was introduced as the Head of Research, Acquisition and Development for The Mancer, Sunny and I were going to have a long talk about that. He showed me a number of artifacts they had already uncovered and begun to study. He said they were the oldest artifact ever found to date. I almost couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw them, a Bullhead Shield and several totems including one for Pyth the Bull, Caelondian god of order and chaos. I looked at the sky, at the beautiful green plants, and at the walls of Trottingham. They were the Rippling Walls or at least what was left of them after The Calamity.

I sat down completely stunned “Shit.”

The response anypony may have had was drowned by shouts of “Dragon!”

Author's Note:

Another chapter down. Dead Space 3 is fun. Also finally got my hands on a copy of Digimon World Dawn and it is sooooo good!

Comments

[Discordedshados]

I prefer dusk to dawn but good use of hammer space 6/5 on story and chapter