Mechaniquus

by DougtheLoremaster

Chapter 11: Burned into her RAM

Applejack carefully stared through the goggles at the wires and tubes that filled the dismantled metal chassis of Scootaloo; beside her were the legs, minuscule wings, and even the head of the completely deactivated young mechanized filly. Ruptured tubing and shorted wires lay in a pile on the ground. On her workbench, were freshly procured wired spools and some vulcanized tubing.

“Whatcha doing?”

Looking up, Applejack couldn’t help but let a smile grace her muzzle. Sweetie Belle stood with her hooves on the table, peering up at the strange sight asking about the repairs. Distorted and yet sweet as honey, her voice made It hard to be stern with her, her fascination with machine ponies and how they functioned, well know.

“I’m rebuilding Scootaloo.”

At one time, this would have sounded strange to the young filly. However, with the changes the world had undergone, rebuilding and repairing were quite commonplace. In fact, after many misadventures, the fillies were used to waking up from reactivation on Applejack’s repair bench. And all creatures of the camp knew; for repairs, it had to be Applejack.

“Well duh, but I mean, how?”

Chuckling at the filly’s adorable snark, Applejack turned back to her work and pointed at the goggles over her eyes.

“Right now, I’m tracing her electrical systems; that way I can rip out the now fried wiring, and replace it with some brand new insulated wiring.”

Eyes glowing, Sweetie Belle asked with pure excitement.

“Ooh! Can I help? She’ll need new coolant for her new tubes, right?”

Without waiting for an answer, Sweetie Belle eagerly conjured up two small vials; one of mineral oil, and the other of antifreeze. Happily, she began to slowly mix the two, talking out loud to Applejack; who had stopped to watch in fascination.

“Ethylene Glycol, a type of organic anti-freeze, and mineral oil, my own recipe of course, when mixed they form the coolant or heat transfer fluid that flows through our tubes. Rarity says it actually works better than the conjured coolant, watch!”

Applejack was amazed at her control, watching as Sweetie Belle meticulously measured and mixed. Occasionally, she conjured other mysterious vials filled with unknown matter and mixed it in. With a small poof of a well-timed blast of her magic, the solution was finished.

A glowing bright red, it slowly swished around in the small vial that Sweetie Belle moved it to. Proudly, Sweetie Belle levitated it before her and waved a metallic hoof at it.

“Tadah!”

Applejack noticed just how proud she appeared at her creation and got an idea. Gushing, she praised the young filly.

“That’s amazing, Sugarcube!”

Sweetie Belle giggled; excited at receiving praise.

“Thanks! Rarity taught me!”

Applejack then put her plan into action.

“And she did a great job. Though, I’ll need quite a bit more, than a tiny little vial, if I’m to completely change out her coolant.”

Sweetie Belle looked disheartened.

“It’s not enough?”

Smiling, Applejack shook her head.

“‘Fraid not. The body requires about five liters of the stuff, Sweetie Belle. Would you mind helping me out with that?”

Suddenly, Sweetie Belle’s eyes glowed brightly with excitement. It wasn’t often the adults, other than her sister, who asked for her help. Eagerly she shouted proudly, already conjuring her supplies in much larger quantities.

“I’m on it!”

Turning back to her work, Applejack wore a grin as she picked up a grinder; turning it on and watched it spin, before lowering it to the chassis of Rainbow’s little sister. As the sparks flew, she could hear Sweetie Belle happily humming as she performed her craft. That’ll keep her busy for a while, and she looks so happy doing it as well.

“I appreciate it, Sweetie Belle, it really helps me out. Thank you.”

Glad to know Sweetie Belle was entertained, Applejack carefully split Scootaloo’s chassis in half to expose the insides.

What Applejack didn’t tell her, was that she already had dozens of one hundred twenty liter drums of Sweetie Belle’s Coolant, courtesy of Rarity, in the backroom.

***

Her massive shadow dwarfing the form of the mechanical Alicorn beneath her, Chrysi sat; perched, with her wings folded as Twilight explained the forbidden magic that she and Starlight had used. And the grievous error both had committed.

“The tome had us mesmerized, we had never seen such magic. Spells, incantations that required components to cast? So archaic, so…primitive. And that tome told us all about how it began.”

Chrysi stared, completely mesmerized by the tale being told by her adoptive mother. She listened in silent captivation as the rocks around her melted away in the intense heat of the unforgiving sun.

“In Saddle Arabia, in years lost to time, ancient magic was created within the windswept desert. It had a singular purpose, to change one state of matter into another entirely. A simple principle was created to explain it: To gain, something of equal worth will be lost.”

Dragging her hoof in the ashen dust, Twilight drew images of water droplets as well as some horrific-looking creatures; ponies missing hooves, legs, or even eyes.

“Looking for a way to pull water from thin air, the inhabitants would single out an offering, to be transmuted by a being said to perform the deed; considered a prestigious honor for the wretched. These still living sacrifices were placed within a pentagram, surrounded by a circle; drawn in the blood of the unfortunate.

The casters would stand by what they called a summoning circle and then they would chant as follows:

Al-maa minn al-dumm al-dem lelma khed ma ho matloube khed ma ehm.”

Seeing the confused look on Chrysi’s face, Twilight smiled.

“If we were to translate it into the current dialect of Ponish, Chrysi, it would be roughly something like:

Water from blood, blood for water, Give what is needed, take what matters.

And that is exactly what would happen. In return for the creation of water, whatever mattered most to the sacrificed would be taken as payment. It could be their eyes, or maybe their forelegs, but it wasn’t just the physical that was taken.”

Still drawing in the dust, Twilight drew both her and Starlight’s cutie marks as she continued.

“Abilities, memories, and even talents were taken as well. Anything that mattered to the victim, became the catalyst; this was a result of a much lesser-known branch of Alchemy, Mental Alchemy, essentially boiling down to the world being purely composed of one’s perceptions and so the very thoughts in your mind can be transmuted as well.

We poured over the tome for hours, reading about how eventually it lead to the discovery of transmutation of metals, stones, and objects; though it still required a sacrifice. As we read, however, time was lost, and the world burned.”

Scratching out the cutie marks, Twilight continued her tale.

“We were out of time, we had no other options; we both pricked our hooves and drew the circle. Together we stepped into it and we desperately cast our spell; not to transmute something simple like water or lead, but to transmute the flesh of all life, to allow beings to survive the ten thousand degrees ball of fire consuming our world. And we succeeded.

The remaining life was changed into the current mechanical forms you see us as today. And in return, I lost the ability to feel the emotions I portrayed to others, while Starlight could no longer feel the emotions others gave towards her. The Princesses of Friendship and Empathy could no longer experience either.”

Drawing a clock, a heart, and a hayburger in the dust, Twilight crossed them out one by one.

“Time, mortality, and food. None of it mattered anymore. We no longer had day or night, we could no longer age or die naturally, and we no longer required food. By we, I mean the fifty of us left.”

Looking up, Twilight stared in Chrysi’s ocular receptors.

“We took too long. Those fifty you see in the camp? That’s all that’s left. The rest, up in flames or slain by the Oozlings. And for those that perished, a fate worse than death awaits thanks to the self-proclaimed Overlord and her necromancy, as slaves to her will; reanimated drones of her wretched hive. We couldn’t save them, we couldn’t preserve their memory. And it utterly destroyed Starlight and me.”

Pausing, Twilight let the ghost of a smile grace her muzzle.

“But the story didn’t end there, did it? No, even though the world we had known was utterly destroyed, amidst the flames, rose a new way of life; a new Equestria was born. We learned to use our new forms. And though we couldn’t age, new destinies emerged; New talents, new abilities, new studies. Things that never were were suddenly discovered.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders, as they called themselves-”

Pausing for a moment, Twilight chuckled.

“And still do, were forced to accept that cutie marks could no longer be earned, and so they turned towards studying our new forms. Sweetie Belle found a fascination with the composition of our bodies and even paving the way for liquid plating after a couple of years. Applebloom joined her sister, Applejack as a repair mare; both surprisingly adept at any and all breakdowns, from the circuits to the metal of our new flesh, they fixed it with ease. Scootaloo, though, really surprised us. Do you know that database you use? Yeah, she programmed it. From writing code to learning how to use our heads-up displays; Scootaloo taught us with veritable ease; like it was her calling.

Though there were only fifty of us, we grew close, and together over four years, we became one family. Well with the additions of two; you, and another.”

Chrysi blinked her glowing jade green LEDs.

“There was another? Who?”

Twilight shook her head.

“I’m afraid that’s not my answer to give, Chrysi. When the time is right and she feels comfortable sharing, I have no doubt she’ll let you know. Though yes, you aren’t the only traveler here. Actually, she’s the reason we created the liquid plating solution, to begin with. We didn’t want to perform anymore, drastic sacrifices, as it were.”

Twilight gave an empty sigh.

“The world has changed so much, we have changed so much. Thanks to Scootaloo’s teaching, memories can now be stored away, never to be forgotten and accessed whenever. Sometimes, when I’m about to jack-in for a recharge cycle, I playback what life was like before the armageddon that befell this world, you know?”

Without so much as a word, Chrysi wrapped Twilight in her massive wings, giving her the biggest hug of comfort she could; even though she now knew it couldn’t be felt. Twilight allowed a grateful smile to fill her face and asked.

“You told me about how your world fell, but tell me, Chrysi. Do you remember what it was like before all the madness?”

Chrysi gave a soft chuckle before responding.

“Some things don’t need a folder to be remembered. I’ll never forget what it was like, mom.”

Twilight leaned her head against the massive thigh of the obsidian dragon.

“Could you tell me about it?”

Chrysi nodded and began her tale.

“The first time I ever cared about that world was during a battle; the last battle for Equestria. I was considered a villain back then, and I had teamed up with Cozy Glow, a Pegasus turned Chaotic Alicorn, and a Magic-devouring Centaur called Tirek to wreak havoc on the world. Twilight Sparkle and her friends stood on a hill; though we had sewn discord and chaos amidst the ponies, somehow they managed to unite against us. And they were preparing one final charge against our unstoppable might.”

As Chrysi told her story, Twilight’s LEDs flickered before going dark; the Alicorn having closed her eyes to listen to the words and picture the world her adopted daughter had come from.

“I turned to look at Cozy Glow and Tirek and I said-”

Comments

[Thranx]

Another traveller huh? Interesting... Only 50 left?(well, 52 if you count Chrysi and the other mysterious traveller) Still, I didn't expect it to be that low.

Anyway, cute mother-daughter moment at the end there.

[DougtheLoremaster]

11017703
<3. It's being elaborated on in the next chapter, which is actually almost done. The story of how Chrysi became "good" (I do believe I came up with a realistic redemption idea) and what the Chrysalis of this world was like before it all and a new character, fans of the show know maybe a bit too well, will be mentioned as well. I am so excited to see what reactions will be to the scene. I hope you enjoy the ride~