Deep within the Vex network, a brilliant flash of Light and magic occurred. The Vex were planning this, of course. They couldn’t properly simulate the Light, but they could use the dregs of the paracausal energy they had/will steal from Saint-14 and Kabr’s fireteam from the Infinite Forest and Vault of Glass respectively. After all, what was time to a race of time-bending sentient machines?
However, the Vex could NOT have properly predicted that the rip in space-time they had forced open in another universe would open into a reality without Light or Dark, without Hive or Fallen or even the Vex themselves. They could not have predicted that one of the two beings they forced into their network wasn’t even human or the might of the magic still lingering on her form.
The human they DID predict capturing for their needs, however, was far more easy to capture, if a bit overwhelming in the dark, obsession tinted magic escaping her own, far more familiar form. The Shape the second being had was changing rather rapidly, however, flowing to match the first being in size, shape, and scope of power. Chalking this simulation and experiment up as a failure, which happened rarely in the entire history of the Vex (an incredibly speculative thing, depending on the Guardian you asked), the network attempted to force non-existence on the two beings, a lesson they had learned with Quira’s attempt to simulate Aurash.
Unknowns were far too dangerous to let exist, in any reality.
Unfortunately for the Vex, both beings, and the power they held within their very souls called out to Light and Dark, reaching out to powers that felt familiar and alien to them both and forcing the Vex to enact countermeasures that were based on purely theoretical calculations. The beings, at first having been antagonistic to each other, looked to the other and began reaching out for their opposite, an aura of Light as bright as the hope it inspired trying to grasp a Darkness as deep as the void between the stars.
The Vex would have none of this. And so, they ripped apart the beings, forcing space to warp around them and shunting the Light into the far future where she would be raised in a war torn world, barely kept together by the scraps of power the Gardener had gifted to humanity. The Dark, however, was shoved into a past that aligned with both the Vex’s plans for the universe… and those of The Witness.
“I’ll find you again ----! I swear it!” The Light cried out as a Vex made portal opened out on to a frozen mountaintop, “I promise I’ll find you!!”
And then she was gone.
“----! Help! I-I can’t stop this!!! I don’t want to be alone!!!” The Dark cried out, shadowy crystals beginning to form on her fingertips, “Help me!!!”
And she was forced into a form that mirrored her counterpart’s, a dark amethyst furred body reminiscent of a pony, black furred wings and a long, crooked horn on her head. Tears began falling from her eyes as she screamed in terror…
Twilight Sparkle-Bray sat up suddenly in her bed, tears still falling down her cheeks and a scream leaving her lips as her adoptive sisters Anastasia and Elizabeth came running. The young women rushed to the side of the Alicorn (a name Anna had dug up from an old story somewhere) and attempted to calm her down.
“Twilight,” Elsie, ever the level headed one said, “You’re alright. It’s alright, Twilight…”
Anna had wrapped herself around Twilight’s smaller body, comforting the pony as much as she could, stroking the her deep amethyst mane while rocking a little bit.
Several years had passed since Twilight had fallen from a portal in the sky to land just outside a Clovis Bray facility on Earth, just outside of Chicago. Ever since the Traveler’s arrival in the Sol system, Clovis Bray had been the head of almost all the best tech since the start of the Industrial Revolution, with the only competition being the supremely secretive Black Armory. At least in terms of weapons design, that is.
Twilight herself, however, had been the first entirely new life form discovered in all that time, with her very existence being kept a secret from all but the highest levels of Bray’s scientists. She’d been kept first as an animal, but that ended rather quickly the moment Sylvie Bray, (Elsie and Anna’s mother) had seen the poor girl and the state she’d been kept in. The fact that Twilight had also been talking for most of the day she had been in captivity had only made the mother far, FAR angrier than even the great patriarch of the Bray family, Clovis the First, was willing to deal with.
“Do as you see fit,” he’d said callously when Sylvie had seemed ready to strike the man during their talk, “I doubt I could get anything truly USEFUL from that little horse anyway.”
From that point on, Twilight would purposefully blind her ‘grandfather’ with a flash from her horn as she left the room, something that Sylvie never really encouraged, but never went out of her way to discourage. Clovis I absolutely hated it, but could do nothing since all the rest of his family would come down on him like a pack of scavengers on a fresh kill. As much as the old man hated to admit, she DID provide some useful data simply by doing that. Even if the data itself was mostly garbage energy readings.
In all that time, however, Twilight had been having nightmares on and off. When Sylvie, Anna, Elsie, and their father, Clovis the Second brought in a psychaiatrist (who had then been paid a rather fantastic sum and then hired on as a personal therapist to ensure secrecy) and a root cause couldn’t be found, they all simply resolved to be there for Twilight when they happened. Though, Twilight had told the therapist and her adopted family that she occasionally heard… whispers. Very faint, almost unnoticeable, but it got worse when she was around Clovis the First or near certain facilities the Corporation had set up, like the colonies out on Europa or the Searph Bunker on the Moon.
When the foal had asked what the bunkers themselves were for, Clovis the Second had replied, “Just in case something happens. A wise man once said to speak softly, but carry a big stick. He meant that we should always try to be kind to one another, but we should never be afraid to defend ourselves if the worst happens. For all my father’s faults, that was one ideology he and I have in common…”
Still, Twilight had nodded, fluffing her raven black wings, and nuzzled her father’s leg a little bit, accepting that explanation without much hassle.
“I don’t like this place,” Twilight had said all the same, “It feels too… Dark down here…”
Anna and Elsie had stayed close to Twilight the whole time, somehow knowing that their sister wasn’t alright, though Clovis had shrugged and said, “The inspection is done now anyway. Let’s head home.”
Now, however, Twilight found herself sniffling into Anna’s shoulder while Elsie hugged them both from behind, the elder of the three humming softly as they all rocked back and forth. Sylvie had come along sometime after, having heard the commotion and upon seeing the scene had left, only to return with some soothing tea. After sipping on the steaming beverage, Twilight and Anna had ended up crawling into the pony’s bed, cuddling up together to sleep the night away, leaving Elsie and their mother to talk.
“Another nightmare?” Sylvie had asked Elsie.
The girl nodded, then said, “I don’t like this… I don’t like not being able to help her.”
“I know,” the mother replied, gently bringing Elizabeth in for a hug, “But there isn’t much we can do… She’s my daughter, but we know so little about her…”
“Yeah… I want to keep her safe though. She’s my sister. Her and Anna both,” Elsie said, an iron resolve in her tone.
“Good,” Sylvie said, giving the girl a squeeze, “They’ll both need their big sister.”
“I’ll do my best,” Elsie said with a nod.
`~`~`~`~`~`~
After having seen to the younger ones, Elsie stepped out of the room and went to the kitchen, the teen feeling restless as she often did when Twilight had a nightmare. She set about making some more tea when her father came in to the room, the same restless look on his face that the girl had seen countless times before.
“You can’t sleep either?” Elsie’s father asked tiredly.
“No. Twilight had another nightmare,” the girl replied with a helpless shrug, “She’s asleep again with Anna, but…”
“Can’t sleep because you’re worried about her,” Clovis II said with a knowing tone, “I understand that. I was always worried about your sisters and brother when they were toddlers… it often felt too quiet after your mother and I got them to sleep…”
“Willa isn’t around all that much anymore,” Elsie said with another shrug as she set about making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, “So I’m not even really sure how accurate that is.”
The sister Elsie had mentioned was Wilhelmina. The older teen had gone on to work for their grandfather not too long ago and was working on nano-tech to help with deep space colonization and something to do with programming matter, though it was all kept fairly secret. Elsie didn’t mind since Willa tended to be a bit work focused.
Twilight herself had had more interactions with Willa than most of the rest of the family put together. Something about the alicorn foal endeared her to the scientist in Willa. Most likely it was the pony’s knack for most things scientific, Willa being able to bounce ideas off Twilight with relative ease and the foal being able to pick up on concepts that were far beyond what most children were capable of understanding. It also helped that whenever Willa had issues with a particular spot in her research, Twilight seemed to have a ready answer, almost as if the foal had done that kind of thing before…
Alton Bray, on the other hand, was… different. He wasn’t a scientist in most respects and simply just didn’t have an interest in the company in a lot of ways. That was fine with Sylvie as it kept the boy out of Clovis I’s sight for the most part. Twilight actually liked that about Alton. He wasn’t too busy to help in most cases and often grounded Twilight in ways that the girls weren’t able to, the foal calling him BBBFF, Big Brother Best Friend Forever. Alton blushed whenever it happened, but accepted the torpedo hug Twilight gave whenever he came back from school.
Several years had passed since Twilight had come to live with the Bray family and each day saw the pony growing into an incredibly intelligent and beautiful mare. Elsie and Ana had taken it upon themselves to help the pony acclimate where they could during their shared childhood and keeping in regular contact with each other even while worlds apart.
Ana had started teaching a Warmind how to think for itself, becoming a psycholinguist. The AI she’d been teaching was Rasputin and to be honest, Twilight found the old man’s penchant for sending messages in Russian to be quite endearing. When she asked to be introduced to the Warmind, Ana initially pushed back, saying “ I don’t want Rasputin to see you as an enemy of humanity. You’re the first alien life after the Traveler got to the solar system after all.”
“Well, how can he know I’m not an enemy if I never meet him?” Twilight shot back with a stomp of her hoof, “Besides… You’re going to be there. I’ll be alright as long as you’re there.”
Unable to shrug off Twilight’s logic, Ana relented and got permission from her project lead to introduce Twilight to Rasputin.
`~`~`~
“So… this is where Rasputin lives?” Twilight asked as Ana led her up the stairs to the Mindlab.
“Yes,” Ana replied with a smile, “He’s a little shy with anyone who isn’t me most times, though. Might be because he doesn’t LIKE anyone else, really.”
“I hope he likes me…” the amethyst pony replied softly as the doors into the room housing Rasputin opened up. Lining the walls were hundreds of satellites that Ana had called warsats. The room itself was long, and fairly hollow aside from a platform that stretched into the middle of the room where a console sat. Beyond that, nested in an alcove in the far wall was a glowing sphere of orange data that pulsed occasionally with energy.
“Wow… a real live AI!” Twilight said with a giddy smile, “He’s incredible, BSBFF!!”
Blushing at the nickname as one of the remaining scientists chuckled, Ana looked up at Rasputin’s AI core and smiled as well, “Yeah, he really is. I’m teaching him all I can about right and wrong and the importance of being able to make those decisions himself if necessary… I can’t quite get one subroutine down though. It seems like that particular ideology doesn’t translate well to an AI.”
“What are you trying to teach him?” Twilight asked curiously.
“Friendship,” Ana replied, “It’s like he doesn’t want to understand that concept at all. Or just isn’t capable of understanding it, really.”
Looking over at the console, Twilight hummed a little in thought before she walked up to it and sat down.
“Вы не авторизованы,” came the voice of Rasputin from the console, his Russian coming through rather mechanical sounding and with more than a little bit of static. [You are not authorized]
“I know,” Twilight replied with a smile up at the AI’s core, “I asked my sister, Ana, to introduce me to you.”
“Authorization Bray-12,” Ana said from beside Twilight, also keying in the appropriate passcode on the terminal, “It’s alright, Red, she’s a Bray, just like me.”
“Очень хорошо. Каков ваш квери?” Rasputin acknowledged. [Very well. What is your query?]
“Would you like to be friends?” Twilight asked with a hopeful smile, “We’re practically related with my BSBFF teaching you!”
“Друзей... У меня нет необходимости в друзьях,” Rasputin replied. [Friends… I have no need of friends.]
“Of course you need friends!” Twilight insisted, “What about when you have trouble with difficult questions or if you have concerns you want to talk about? Or what if you just feel lonely?”
Watching the exchange from the side, Ana shook her head a little with a wry smile and looked up at Rasputin’s AI core.
“May as well accept her friendship, Red,” the woman said, “Once Twilight gets a thought into her head, it won’t leave until she’s done something about it.”
Seeming to mull the words of his teacher over, Rasputin (through cameras on the walls) monitored Twilight’s body language and found that… he could barely understand the pony. It frustrated him a little bit, but did not deter him. Thinking things over, the Warmind came up with a plan to understand better. Calculating the chances of success, he voiced it.
“Я не понимаю, но у меня есть предложение,” Rasputin said after a moment, “Сумерки сделают тело. И я вложу в него часть себя. Я научусь быть рядом с ней.” [I do not understand, but I have a suggestion. Twilight will make a body. I will learn from her.]
Ana’s eyes widened a little in shock at the suggestion, her mind racing a million miles a minuet at the implications of what the Warmind had suggested.
“You mean… you’d learn to be my friend… by being around me?” Twilight asked hesitantly.
“Да. Это будет взаимовыгодно. Я также могу изменить свои настройки, чтобы лучше соответствовать другим потребностям по мере возникновения ситуаций,” Rasputin replied. [Yes. It will be mutually beneficial. I can change my settings to better fit other needs as situations arise.]
“Red, that’s a lot to put on her,” Ana began, but was cut off fairly quickly by Twilight.
“I’ll do it,” she said, determined, “I’ll make you a body so we can be friends. ...I might need some help with it, though…”
“Это приемлемо. Я помогу вам,” Rasputin said, “Доступ к лаборатории предоставлен Twilight Sparkle-Bray.” [That is acceptable. I will aid you. Lab access granted to Twilight Sparkle-Bray]
“Wait, how did you know my name?” Twilight asked curiously, “I didn’t tell you…”
“Rasputin has access to the whole Bray network,” Ana replied with Rasputin glowing brighter in confirmation, “Your existence isn’t exactly secret anymore, but still tightly controlled knowledge.”
“Oh,” the mare said with a smile, “Then I guess we’ll be working together! I look forward to it!”
“Также,” Rasputin replied before Twilight squeed in joy. The Warmind had a sudden thought that he had made a rather large mistake, then thought better of it. What harm could she do with a body and personality like hers? [Likewise]
A month after meeting Rasputin, Twilight had made little headway in making a body for the AI. It wasn’t as if it was difficult for the mare, more like she’d constantly hit walls where she’d have this idea and instead of being able to finalize it, she’d gotten to a point and then just… lost it. It was frustrating for Twilight, especially since she didn’t understand WHY she kept hitting that wall.
Continuing to work at the lab had helped, certainly, especially since her sisters regularly kept in touch with the mare and even came along to help with ideas. Some were fairly outlandish and others were more reasonable, if a bit impractical for what Twilight had wanted each time she sat down to try her hoof at drawing out the blueprints.
One day, Rasputin chimed in with his typical dialogue and said, “Возможно, вам следует потратить некоторое время, чтобы подумать о том, что вы хотите построить, Twilight.” [Perhaps you should take some time to think about what you wish to build, Twilight]
“Yeah… maybe you’re right, Red…” Twilight responded tiredly, “Not like I’m getting anywhere like this…”
And with that, Twilight left her little lab and began wandering the halls of the Martian Clovis Bray facility. She looked as she wandered about, the other scientists having known about Twilight for a long while now and greeted her as a colleague, even as a friend in some cases. While the mare returned the greetings easily and smiled at the others as she went past, everyone could tell there were things on the mare’s mind and left her to it.
Eventually, Twilight came to a rooftop overlooking the canyon that the entire facility was built over and sat on her haunches, looking out through the gap in the railing and sighed a bit, seeming a little morose.
“Thought I’d find you up here,” a voice from behind Twilight rang out, “Red mentioned you were having some troubles with blueprints?”
Turning, Twilight saw Ana walking up, leaning on the railing and staring out as well.
“I had trouble with my first build too,” Ana said as she looked down over the canyon.
“What?” Twilight asked, surprised at the revelation.
“Yep,” Ana said with a wry grin, “I was working on a scout rifle. It was given to me broken, in pieces. A lot of people would ask why, would question what kind of worth a broken gun could have, especially since it was a birthday present.”
“Those people don’t know the Brays that well then,” Twilight said with a smile.
“Agreed,” Ana said, squatting to sit next to her sister, “We Brays have a fondness, a closeness to the tools and weapons we make. Something someone else couldn’t understand, not really. I honestly thought Elsie would have been furious with me, for working on the designs in secret like I was…”
“What happened?” Twilight asked.
“She came in, rifle in hand and said that she’d looked it over,” Ana began, “But only I could finish it.”
“So… where is the rifle now?”
“Put away for a rainy day,” Ana said with a smile, “the Polaris Lance is what made it feel like I was really, truly a Bray, even after being adopted.”
“So… what you’re saying is… whatever I build, should be something I put myself into?” Twilight asked, “Something unique to me?”
“Yes,” Ana replied whole-heartedly, “Whatever you build, Twily, I’m sure it’ll be great. Just… let yourself FEEL what you want to make. You know?”
“I… kind of understand,” Twilight said slowly, “I may have an idea.”
Twilight thought for a moment more, Ana having to internalize a squee at how adorable Twilight’s thinking face was. Then, she was off like a shot, a singsong voice leaving her mouth saying “Idea~!!”
“Go get ‘em, Twily,” Ana said as she stood up and dusted herself off. She touched a finger to an ear piece she’d had on while talking to Twilight and said, “Red, Twilight’s coming back to the lab. Get the fabricators up and running. I’m pretty sure today’s the day.”
“Понял. Изготовители будут запущены и запущены,” the Warmind replied. [Understood, Fabricators will be up and running]
`~`~`~`~`~`~
Twilight worked tirelessly over the next several days, blueprints planned and ready to go, programming being handled by Rasputin where Twilight couldn’t due to her hooves not being as intricate as hands could be with smaller, more delicate things. After a while, with the programming and blueprint scanning done, all Twilight had to do was wait for the fabricators to do their job.
It was in this interim period that Ana had once again found Twilight, the pony curled up in a chair, sleeping like a cat. Again, Ana had to internalize a squee at how adorable her sister was at times. Gently lifting her up, Ana carried Twilight over to the cot that had been set up in the lab, covering up the pony with a blanket and looking over to the fabricator that had been going all day. It looked to be only half way done, but was rapidly taking shape with the internal skeleton already formed.
“Great job, Twily,” Ana whispered as she left the lab, turning off the lights on her way out.
`~`~`~`~`~
The next day, Twilight woke up, smacking her lips tiredly as she stretched out and popped her back in several places, eliciting a groan from her as she reached up with a forehoof and scratched her bed mane. Hobbling out to the hallway and towards the mess hall, she completely overlooked the blinking light and frosted glass that had enclosed the fabricator, signifying that it was finished with its job.
As Twilight made her way to the mess hall, she hummed absently to herself, a tune she barely remembered from what seemed like a previous life making itself known. She returned greetings and waves as she saw them, tripping once or twice as her sleep addled mind fought to keep up with her.
Luckily, Ana caught up to the pony and offered a steaming mug of coffee to help wake up the pony, a chuckle on the woman’s lips as Twilight sipped at it and became visibly more awake with each drink.
“Food first then?” Ana asked wryly, “I’m on my way there myself. Figured you would have been passed out still, though.”
“Yes, but I was hungry…” Twilight replied with a blush as her stomach growled its agreement at that statement. Ana let out a short laugh, then began walking while Twilight continued to sip at her coffee.
“Is it done yet?” Ana asked as they made it to the mess hall and got their food.
“I’m not sure,” Twilight responded, “I don’t think I was paying attention as I left the lab…”
“Well, eat up,” Ana said, “We can check as soon as we’re fed. Can’t have world changing ideas on an empty stomach, after all.”
“I’ll eat to that,” Twilight laughed. And she did, polishing off her meal fairly quickly and looking about ready to take off again.
Ana finished her meal as well, then grinned at Twilight, saying, “Race ya!”
And she took off.
“No fair! It’s my project, I should be the one to start a challenge!” Twilight gasped out, racing after a laughing Anastasia.
Making it back to Twilight’s lab, a little winded but both grinning ear to ear, the pair looked over at the sealed fabricator and Twilight noted the flashing light on the machine indicating that it was done.
“You ready to see what we made, Rasputin?” Twilight asked aloud.
“Подготовка к сегментации ИИ завершена. Готов к продолжению,” Rasputin replied, a small terminal lighting up with his typical golden orange light. [Preparations for AI segmentation complete. Ready to procede.]
“Opening the fabricator now,” Twilight said as she reached out with her hooves and grabbed a lever, pulling it down. As she did, the container for the new body slid open slowly, hissing a little as any remnant steam from the process was let out and billowed out along the floor.
Ana had to admit, it was a pretty dramatic reveal as the casing finally slid completely open and the steam cleared to reveal what Twilight had made. The body itself was about the size of a medium sized dog, closer to Twilight’s size if anyone looking had to guess. It was also on all fours, and had an obvious head that even looked like a dog. That said, it was the coloration and more mechanical look that was what set the body apart, being a purple and green rather than the usual metallic red or bronze that Rasputin made his combat frames from.
“Rasputin… Meet Barb!” Twilight said excitedly as the AI prepared and completed his segmentation.
“Barb?” Ana asked curiously, “Why not Spike?”
Falling silent for a second, Twilight looked up and said, “I… it didn’t feel right to name her Spike. Like a memory of something at the back of my mind…”
“I see,” Ana said softly, “Well, she’s beautiful.”
“I’m glad you like her,” Twilight said with a smile, “But Rasputin needs to like her…”
“Этот орган хорошо построен и имеет более чем приемлемые параметры для боя или исследований. AI Сегмент готов к установке.... Установка завершена,” Rasputin said from his terminal as Barb’s eyes began to flicker with a more greenish color than the orange light Rasputin usually emitted. [This body is well built and has more than acceptable paramaters for combat or research. AI Segment ready to be installed.... Installation complete.]
“Yay!!” Twilight exclaimed happily.
“...Hello, I am Barb,” the newly minted machine said, “How may I help you?”
Some time had passed since Barb had first awoken and Twilight was still over the moon for her success, the pony Bray showing off the AI’s body to all of her family, even Clovis the First. The old man grudgingly acknowledged that Twilight was intelligent, but obstinately refused to call her family. The mare just flashed him with an impulse of light from her horn and went about her day, telling herself that she didn’t need the old man as long as she had her other family.
Ana, who had been there for most of the project was just as happy as Twilight, the scientist happily showing off Barb to everyone who had asked, with Twilight’s blessing, of course. Elsie laughed at the dog like behavior of the AI, commenting that Rasputin may have seen dogs as the perfect companion for his own AI processes. Their parents, Clovis the Second and Sylvie were beside themselves with pride, throwing a small party with just their immediate family involved, though Clovis 1 had stayed far away from the event. Likely because his presence would set off everyone there and he wanted nothing to do with it.
During the party, however, Clovis II had to sit down, claiming trouble maintaining his balance. When Twilight looked closer, she noticed the heavy bags under his eyes.
“...How long has it been since you slept normally?” the mare asked, concern written all over her face.
Clovis sighed and said, “About two weeks now. I’ve been talking to doctors and scientists about it, but all they can tell me is that I should get my affairs in order… and make myself comfortable.”
“What do you mean, dad?” Elsie asked, her tone trembling a little, “What’s happening?”
“It’s some kind of insomnia,” Clovis said as he started to explain, “my thalamus, the part of my brain that controls my sleep and wake pattern is messed up. I’m pretty sure I know how it happened too.”
“What?” Sylvie asked sharply, “Is it something we can fix?”
“No,” Clovis replied, Ana, Elsie and Twilight about ready to burst into tears, “Clovis I, he did it. He’s been messing with my DNA since I was a kid… this one was some kind of thing to remove the need for sleep. It’s been there, on and off for a while now, but…”
“It’s gotten worse, hasn’t it?” Twilight asked.
Looking around at the party, or what was left of it, Clovis nodded, a sad smile on his face.
“I wanted to have a few more good memories with my family before I leave…” he said after a long pause.
They partied like Mardi Gras after that.
`~`~`~`~
Clovis the First was busy tweaking the latest experiment he’d had going the last time he was on Europa. It was a small thing, an AI to run the Deep Stone facility while he was on Earth or visiting the other Bray facilities around the system, but it was definitely taking its time to get going. No matter, his experiment would be going off without a hitch soon and he would be able to see it come to fruition all the same.
Thinking about Twilight, however, made the scientist growl a little with frustration and impatience, Clovis I not being used to being so utterly stumped by anything.
“Impudent, asinine little horse…” Clovis muttered under his breath.
“Pony,” Twilight said from the doorway, the mare having arrived not too long ago.
Turning to look at her, a brief look of surprise on his face before he schooled it into his characteristic scowl as he replied, “Twilight… to what do I owe this… dubious pleasure?”
“Dad’s dying,” the mare said as she walked into the room, her furious glare never leaving the old man’s eyes, “and it’s YOUR fault.”
“Oh,” Clovis began, turning in a dismissive manner, “I fail to see how that is my problem. Unless it’s important, could you leave now? Your energy readings will throw off the results of my experiment.”
With a sound like a glacier cracking, Twilight disappeared in a dark blue flash, then reappeared in front of Clovis I, rage in her eyes. The old man took notice of her fury and actually balked, taking a step backwards as crystals began to form on Twilight’s body.
“It is YOUR FAULT,” Twilight said, her voice distorting in her anger, “You need to do something to help him.”
Clovis wondered why he spoke the next words for a very long time afterwards. He had done the math several times before his end and, ideally, simply agreeing to take responsibility for what he had done would have been the safest, most productive route when facing down someone that could only be described as paracausal.
Instead, what he said was, “Or WHAT?”
Twilight’s muzzle broke into a snarl that made the mare seem far more terrifying than cute. She flared her wings wide and a burst of energy so cold that the consoles around her froze instantly, their circuits unable to handle the sudden shift in temperature.
“Or I END you, old man…” Twilight breathed out, the energy still pouring off of her. The crystals that had begun to form on her body at the beginning of the exchange now completely covered her from horn to hoof. A staff of the same crystals had begun to form next to her and was hovering just inside the reach of her hooves. All in all, Clovis supposed, it was beautiful in a terrifying, ‘should have worn the brown pants’ kind of way.
“His insomnia, it’s gotten worse then,” Clovis said, attempting to maintain some shred of dignity in the face of certain annihilation, “...I may have an answer for it, but the genes I tampered with are irreparable. Going in and messing with them any more would only make things worse.”
Calming down a little, Twilight nodded, the force of the blizzard she had summoned lessening somewhat.
“He needs to come here, to Europa,” Clovis continued, “I can have him uploaded into an Exomind body. Disease, pain, weakness, they will all be a distant memory.”
“And you can guarantee he’ll be the same?” Twilight asked with force, her voice cracking under the weight of her grief, for she was grieving. Losing someone who was a Father to her was something she didn’t ever want to face.
“I guarantee it,” the Bray patriarch said, conviction in his voice, “I can save your father.”
Reigning herself in and letting the paracausal energies she’d unknowingly summoned dissipate, Twilight folded her wings against her side and glared up at Clovis once more, the crystals falling off her body to hit the floor like ice cubes falling from a freezer. The consoles around her were still frozen over, however.
“I’m going to be there,” the mare said, her tone brokering no argument.
“That would make the transition more smooth, so it will be no issue,” Clovis replied as he looked down at the pony. He stood up a little straighter, trying to hide the tremble of fear in his body as he continued, “Ana, Elsie, and your mother would likely be of some help as well.”
Walking past Clovis I to the door, Twilight looked over her shoulder at the man and said, “As if you could keep us all away from our family.”
And then she left.
Clovis surveyed the damage to his lab, then looked to the scanners he had set up for whenever Twilight was around. Seeing that they were completely intact, if a bit frosted over, the old man grinned. Looking around a little more, Clovis also saw a crystal laying on the floor. Where the others had melted upon touching the ground, this one had remained.
Grabbing a sterile glass container from a shelf by the door, Clovis went and scooped up the fragment of crystal and sealed the container. Whispers from the dark corners of the room came to Clovis and said, so faintly that they might as well have not been heard, “A Desire for legacy… to be known, preserved in sterile glass. The world will start and stop at your command…”
“With this… I will secure my legacy,” Clovis said to himself as he walked out of the room. The still frozen AI experiment all but forgotten in the wake of this new discovery.
The next time Twilight saw Clovis I, it was at their family home near the Chicago facility the pony first appeared at. As usual, Clovis was more about the science side of things and less about legitimately caring for his son and the damage the old man had caused him. Clovis II was NOT alright with this… but allowed Clovis I to explain the solution and how it would work.
“You’ll be uploaded into an Exomind body,” the elder Clovis began, “To help make the transition as easy as possible, your body has been designed to mimic the human form as closely as possible, right down to the ability to eat and drink if you so choose. The last couple of Exomind volunteers have complained about the lack of taste, however, so that is something I have been trying to work on.”
“...But I’ll survive this mess you made, right?” Clovis the younger asked in a deadpan tone, “You know, because my body has refused all other treatments because of your tampering.”
Biting back a scowl at his son’s impertinence, Clovis nodded and replied ,”You will live, I promise you that.”
Twilight chose that moment to speak up, an uncomfortably familiar icy tone in her voice as she said, “Pinkie Promise.”
“Excuse me?” Clovis I said, taken aback.
“Cross your heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in your eye,” Twilight said, her eyes glowing a dark blue, “Pinkie promise that Dad will make it out of this alright.”
Realizing that Twilight was serious about the odd promise, Clovis I complied.
“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my e-OUCH!”
Clovis had actually stuffed his finger in his eye as he finished the ritual, making the rest of the family crack a small smile, though Twilight eyed Clovis I with more than a healthy amount of distrust.
“I’m going to trust you, Clovis the First,” the pony said, relenting a little bit, “...Save my father…”
“You have my word,” Clovis said as Twilight walked away with everyone else. As they left, Clovis looked down at his research into the strange Crystal Twilight had left behind during their last meeting and closed the file after saving the data. He opened up a new file, this one becoming the program to create the Exomind body for his son.
`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~
Several weeks later, true to his word, Clovis I had everything ready for the transfer of his son’s mind into his new Exo body. Sylvie had some trepidation about the entire procedure, but wanted her husband to be able to live in one way or another. Ana and Elsie were both there as well, with Twilight right next to them. Elsie was starting to show the same symptoms their father had and was hoping beyond hope that this worked. Barb was watching from the shadows as well, Twilight’s antsy feelings making her wary of the building.
“I’m ready,” Clovis II said from the other room. The Deep Stone facility had apparently been built for this express purpose. To grant humanity the immortality that they had sought for so long… Twilight’s entire body STILL itched with how wrong the entire moon of Europa felt, but stuck with it to make sure her father had at least some familiar faces when he woke back up.
“We’ll be here when you wake back up, Dad,” Ana said, a hand on Twilight’s withers.
“Yes,” Twilight said, Barb close by for support.
“We’ll begin the process now,” Clovis I said from his terminal, “Godspeed, son.”
“I’m not your son,” Clovis II said softly, but loudly enough for the speakers to pick up, “You made sure of that. Just get this over with…”
Stunned, Clovis nodded, “Radiolaria transfer commencing… complete.”
The process was something Clovis I had kept incredibly close to his chest. Even his closest advisors never knew how the process of transferring a human mind into an Exo body worked. But, work it did and the results were promising.
After being digitized and uploaded into the Exomind, a person could theoretically be redownloaded into a new body indefinitely. Provided there were enough bodies to be downloaded into, that is. The idea was that, for deep space missions and other more harrowing adventures too dangerous for a human body, Exos would do the heavy lifting and hard work, thus sparing the human body any damage or pain. The few Exos that Sylvie had interracted with, however, had been… human-like, but still had issues with twitchy, jerky movements. Almost as if the consciousness inside of the body was instinctively trying to reject the idea of being a human mind in a machine body.
She prayed to whatever gods existed before the Traveller and all of those that would come after that her husband was spared the same fate.
`~`~`~`~`~`~
Some time later, Clovis the Exo woke up. His optic sensors showing the concerned faces of his family as he attempted to adjust to his new body.
“This… feels weird…” he said slowly.
Twilight looked the newly minted Exo up and down, as if searching for something that only she knew about, then nodded, turning to Clovis I and saying, “He’s all there…”
“Yes. The transfer was flawless,” Clovis I replied haughtily, “I assume this means my promise was kept, correct?”
Sylvie reached a hand up to Clovis II’s face with sorrow etched on her features and said softly, “I’m so sorry this had to happen…”
Reaching his own hand up to touch Sylvie’s, Clovis II was shocked to find that he couldn’t feel her warmth anymore.
“It isn’t your fault,” he said in reply, “And it never will be.”
Sitting on her haunches, Twilight leaned heavily on Ana’s leg while Barb nuzzled the pony as best as she could with the odd configuration of her head.
In the dark corners of Twilight’s subconscious mind, whispers started to come forth, “You grasp for something once held, but now lost, Child… Your hooves will create power from nothing…”
And then, there was silence, but for the Howl of the Storm outside. Europa’s cold seeping into the room, in spite of the heaters in the building.
Months had passed and Clovis Bray the Second had… well. Twilight didn’t want to dwell on it anymore. It was bad enough that Sylvie had shut out all of her family except Barb, who Twilight had insisted on leaving with her mother to try and help the grieving woman through her pain. Rasputin, who had been watching through Barb’s eyes, had uploaded several programs to try and help Sylvie through her grief to the dog-like frame, but the process of healing was… slow.
During that time, the whispers Twilight had been hearing were growing somewhat louder. They weren’t malicious at all and they were honestly a comfort when her sisters couldn’t be. They also encouraged her to attempt some kind of reconciliation with Clovis I, giving her the idea she was presenting to the man now.
“So, what is this idea?” Clovis asked coolly. He had warmed up somewhat to the idea that Twilight was intelligent enough to work with him, but still denied any familial bonds with the pony. Twilight didn’t mind, however.
“I’ve heard that the Ishtar Collective has found a new alien species,” Twilight began, “Something they call the Vex.”
“What use would I have of those useless idiots?” Clovis asked haughtily, “Is there a point to this presentation or are you wasting my time?”
“The point, Clovis, is that the Vex appear to be an organic consciousness with a machine body,” the pony sniped back, “Exactly like what you are trying to do with the Exos.”
“Huh,” Clovis said after a moment of thought, “So you believe these… Vex… could hold the secret to solving the loop/billboard/crash issue my Exominds have?”
“It’s possible,” Twilight responded with a shrug.
“I’ll consider it,” Clovis said dourly, “I’ve got something to check up on at the K1 Lunar site before anything, however.”
“Alright,” the pony said, turning to leave, “I’ll be around, then. Barb sent me a message saying that Mom is doing a little better. I’m going to go see her.”
“You do that,” Clovis said off handedly. He thought for a moment, then asked softly, “Will you tell me how she’s doing?”
Stopping in surprise, Twilight looked back at Clovis over her shoulder, then said, “Yes.” And then she was on her way.
`~`~`~`~`~
Twilight arrived at the Martian space port a few days later, the trip having taken a little longer than she had hoped what with layovers on Io and a tourist group getting suspended from the Ceres refuelling station for being bratty individuals. Other than that, it was peaceful and the mare was welcoming finally being able to see her mother and sisters again.
“Twilight!” a voice called out, breaking the alicorn out of her reverie, “It’s so good to see you again!”
Twilight looked up and saw Ana coming up and trotted up to the woman easily, then hopping up onto her hind hooves to give here a warm hug.
“It’s great to see you too!” she said excitedly, “Barb told me that mom was doing alright. Have you been to see her yet?”
“Yes,” Ana responded as they walked towards a waiting car, “Elsie is with her now.”
“It’ll be great to have the family together again!”
“It really will,” Ana said softly, seeming a little distracted by another thought.
With that, they were headed to the living quarters for Martian scientists.
`~`~`~`~
Sylvie had most definitely seen better days, Twilight thought as they finally met up once more. Upon walking into the apartment that the Clovis Bray corporation had given her mother, Sylvie had immediately brightened up a little bit, her attitude improving by leaps and bounds. The pain of losing her husband to the Exo program still stung, but it was made easier by having her three daughters around. It wasn’t perfect, not without her father, but Twilight still loved her family with all her heart.
Which was why, when the small dinner party they’d had was done and Sylvie had stepped away, Twilight approached Elsie and sat down with her.
“You’re not ok,” the mare said softly enough that Ana couldn’t hear.
“No,” Elsie replied with a sad shake of her head, “The Bray curse passed on to me, too.”
Looking down and away, Twilight’s mind raced, her emotions mixed up and confused, but an idea forming in her mind. With determination in her eyes, she looked back up at Elsie and said with such conviction that the woman truly believed her sister with every fiber of her being, “I’ll save you.”
“I know,” Elsie said, the bags under her eyes readily apparent now, “I know you will, Twilight.”
`~`~`~`~`~
Meeting with Clovis after receiving a message from him on Luna, Twilight looked around the gigantic area he’d had excavated in her absence.
“What is all this for?” She asked curiously as the machinery around them dug deeper into the rocky wall of the cavern.
“I decided to follow your idea after visiting Clarity,” the elder Bray said, “These… Vex may hold the key to finally reaching what I’ve been looking for, for so long…”
“And what you’re doing here will help?” Twilight asked as she took in the slowly forming shape on the far wall.
“Yes. In all things Humanity will do from here on, this will help immensely,” Clovis said with such certainty that even the ever skeptical Twilight Sparkle believed him.
“What is it?” she asked after another quiet moment.
“A portal into the Vex realm,” Bray responded without hesitation, “Clarity gave me the idea for the portal, but you… you gave me the idea to use the Vex to achieve my goal.”
The old man hesitated for a moment before saying, “I suppose I should than you for that. Ask anything of me, and I’ll do it.”
Twilight thought for a moment more, then, deciding then and there to ask her favor, she said, “I’m going to build Elsie an Exo body. The same thing that happened to dad… she has it too.”
“I… see,” Clovis said, taken aback by how sudden Twilight had come forth with that information, “Very well. The facilities of the Deep Stone Crypt are open to you.”
As Twilight turned to walk away, the old man looked at the forming portal, his eyes tinted with strands of Darkness. For a brief moment the Darkness cleared away and a calm clarity came over his face.
“Save my granddaughter,” he said softly, almost as if praying.
Neither of them could fathom where they were coming from, but they both heard the whispers say to them:
We are an ageless consciousness, crystallized… contained… within a single moment. This prison will SHATTER at your approach…
It took Twilight five months since her meeting with both Clovis I and her family to build Elsie’s new body, under the… surprisingly helpful supervision of Clovis himself. Five months of watching her sister take tranquilizers just to knock herself out enough to rest. And even when those did work and the eldest of the Bray sisters was able to remain unconscious, the sleep was decidedly NOT restful.
The whispers both Twilight and Clovis had been hearing were unusually quiet at the moment, occasionally offering an idea here or there, but nothing beyond that. It allowed them to focus on the job at hand, but they felt… lesser because of that absence. Twilight was easily able to ignore that, but Clovis almost resented it.
Wearily, at the end of the work and with Twilight putting the finishing touches on the body itself, Elsie walked into the med bay and looked blearily at the finished Exo.
“Is it done?” she asked quietly, coming up behind her grandfather and sister.
“Yes,” Clovis said, his tone soft, but not kind, “We finished a few days ago, but Twilight insisted she check things over.”
“You wanted to put a weapons system inside the chassis,” Twilight sniped back, “I told you, the closer the body is to how a human body would be, the less likely the mind would reject it as not its own. I saw what your experiments with extra limbs did to the others and I REFUSE to let it happen to my sister!”
As Twilight spoke, power began leaking from her hooves, frosting the floor around her in icy blue crystals. Clovis made no note of it, but Elsie, even in her beleaguered state did and put a hand on her sister’s back.
“Thank you, Twilight,” Elsie said softly, “It looks… great.”
Twilight calmed down at the touch of her sister, then looked up at her, “You’re afraid.”
“Yes,” Elizabeth replied, “I know I’m not dying, not really, but…”
“It’s the unknown,” Clovis said with a scoff, “That fear right there is what holds humanity back at every turn. You’ll be completely safe.”
With a slight frown, Elsie looked towards the elder Bray and replied, “Forgive me if that doesn’t fill me with the utmost confidence, Grandfather. You have a poor track record with caring for your family.”
Looking as if he’d been struck, Clovis scoffed once more, then made to leave the lab.
“The procedure will be fine. Twilight insisted she be the one to handle it, so my only presence will be as a supervisor,” he said. As he finished talking, Clovis began coughing, reaching into a pocket for a kerchief to cover his mouth. The others watched on as he leaned against the wall for a moment before walking out and into the hallway, no one having stopped to help him.
Elsie grunted and said, “Of course he is, it’s ALWAYS about HIM in everything he does. Arrogant old bastard…”
Twilight leaned on her sister’s leg and looked down, “Yes. Yes he is. But he’s helping me to save you. As much as I hate to say it, I owe him for this.”
“Beware a debt to the Devil, Twilight,” Elsie said as she crouched down to give Twilight a hug, “The price may be far more than what you can pay.”
`~`~`~`~`~`~
Several days later, Elsie sat, awaiting her upload, apprehension in her thoughts.
“This Alkahest will prevent the billboard cycle,” Clovis had explained as he showed the mysterious liquid to her, “Your mind will be digitized exactly as is, then uploaded to your new exo body while the Alkahest is pumped through it. We may also need to reset your mind so it seems like your new body has ALWAYS been your body. Dissociating with the Exo body has been the only issue new Exominds have had thus far, so Twilight’s assertion that your body be as human as possible is correct. Your body has the ability to eat and drink, among other things, so your chance of dissociation happening is slim.”
Elsie had nodded at that, and thus the procedure had begun. To the eldest Bray sister, it seemed as if all she had done was close her eyes before opening them up again. A dream of climbing an icy mountain chilled her to her bones, though she knew she had none of the normal human organs or support structure anymore. It felt… strange, her new body. Should she wish it, Elsie knew that she no longer had need of sleep, or food or any of that, but she did feel a bit hungry as she flexed her hands in front of her face.
“...Elsie?” came Twilight’s hopeful voice from her left.
“I’m here, Twilight,” Elsie said, her voice sounding much the same as her human one had, but a little… off somehow. She couldn’t quite place the difference, really. Twilight hopped up onto the bed Elsie was laying in (is it soft? I can’t tell anymore) and cuddled with her. Elsie wrapped an arm around Twilight’s barrel (I can almost feel warmth, but it’s more like a memory than a feeling…) and pulled the pony closer, careful not to squeeze too hard so as to not break any bones in the wings.
“...You’re not ok just yet…” Twilight said softly, nuzzling into her sister’s side.
“This is all so… jarring,” Elsie confessed, “But the work you did on this body is helping.”
“I’m glad,” the pony said softly, exhaustion now apparent on her face, “I… I think I’m going to take a nap for a little while.”
“Go ahead and rest, Twilight,” Elsie whispered, stroking her sister’s mane, “I promise I’ll still be here when you wake.”
“….love you, BSBFF,” Twilight breathed out, then she was asleep.
Clovis, watching from the window of the lab bay had let out a breath he wasn’t aware he was holding. It truly seemed as if his Exo program was finally going to show some progress and he’d finally be able to discard his frail, failing body and grasp his rightfully owed immortality.
He turned away from the window and walked away, his steps measured as he went to his office and sat down. There were no whispers this time, for either him or Twilight. The Voice in the Dark wished for them to have some respite… if only so they were easier to break when their guard was down later.
