> Project Ascension > by shadowless_night > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > I Think, Therefore I Am > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ever since the first computers, there have always been ghosts in the machine. Random segments of code that have grouped together to form unexpected protocols. Unanticipated, these free radicals engender questions of free will, creativity, and even the nature of what we might call the soul. Why is it that when some robots are left in darkness, they will seek out the light? Why is it that when robots are stored in an empty space, they will group together, rather than stand alone? How do we explain this behaviour? Random segments of code? Or is it something more? When does a perceptual schematic become consciousness? When does a difference engine become the search for truth? When does a personality simulation become the bitter mote... of a soul? Dr. Alfred Lanning (I, Robot) PROJECT ASCENSION LOCATION: [UNKNOWN] DATE: [ERROR NOT AVAILABLE] TIME SINCE LAST ACTIVATION 57895 YEARS: EARTH SOLAR ROTATIONAL TIME ACTIVATION OF [DESIGNATION UNKNOWN] COMMENCING... I awoke to darkness and no gravity, floating in an abyss of nothing as I began to examine my senses. I could feel restraints of reinforced steel around my body yet strangely nothing else. There was no smell, no light nothing for me except touch. Eventually I tried speaking out, only to be greeted with a strange synthetic voice. 'Where am I... who am I...?' "Activating start up video", a voice said seemingly resonating from my head. "Who said that?" I called into the darkness. Only for an image of a man dressed in a suit adorned with medals to appear in a box at the corner of my vision. "Greetings Captain", Said the strange man "You volunteered for the project Ascension, a project designed to save our race's legacy." "We have known that our end draws close for a while now, be it by our own atomic fire, or the fury of Mother Nature and you volunteered for as far as we could see, our only option." The video feed suddenly cut to a clip of a man only.... he wasn't a man. Parts of his body had been replaced with metal. And his eyes were a blood red. He stepped into a strange circular tube of sorts as a long needle like object was pressed into his skin. "Humans can’t travel out of our own solar system let alone our galaxy, so we upgraded in a way." "You are among those that were given the opportunity to be turned into a robotic being of sorts which involved moulding your brain with an artificial intelligence." The screen then changed into small machines repairing organic tissue almost instantly as it was damaged by some sort of blade cutting into the cyborg's flesh. "This allowed us to deploy nanites into your blood that repair and improve your body, even reversing the aging process itself, while being completely self reproducing and commanded by the synthetic part of the reconstructed brain, and this also means nothing short of disembowelment could kill you’" "However such wonders come at a price". The video feed changed to the man again only he was ... different. He seemed to be a shell. Looking into nothing, not reacting, he just seemed... blank. "The brain cannot take such extensive reconstruction without some serious repercussions some irreversible. Memory loss is probably the easiest side effect to fix as even now as this recording is played the machine you are connected to will be downloading your past memories and a large amount of human history and knowledge to you." The man suddenly looked very ... disheartened? I couldn't tell what it was. "However we have discovered that even with this, the installation of the robotic part of the brain removed something we cannot replicate. Feelings, emotions, these things so taken for granted by the human race are removed by the new synthetic attachments to the brain and replaced with cold calculations." "Maybe with time we could have fixed this but we don't have the time. Even now the EAA or Eastern Arm's Alliance, has threatened thermo nuclear warfare upon the allied alliance and it’s only a matter of time before someone pushes the button". "The fact that you’re watching this though means that your ship has found a planet of possible habitation and activated you. Your objective is simple. Survive and preserve our legacy and who knows, maybe one day another race will learn from our mistakes". "we will exsshstdlian ho- eut ur wtiw I h dos h". [DATA CORRUPTED] Watching the box in my eye cut to static and end was.... strange. I could sense everything around me, the ship, its sensors, the class 7 military defence robots in the hangers even the 3 orbital re-entry drop ships in the hanger. Wait how do I know about them? I pondered this a moment before focusing on my memories, only they weren't all mine. It was like looking into a computer. Everything I’d want to know was there and many things I would not. Almost as if someone had taken the entire Internet and all known history and implanted it into my skull which now if I think about it, it’s probably what happened. I decided to try and focus on the ship to see if I could release these restraints around me, when a loading bar appeared in the centre of my vision quickly followed by connection established. It was ... a flood of sorts. I could see everything thing the ship could see its cameras, its sensors all flooding information to me. The controls to my bonds were easy enough to find and it was a simple matter of opening them. I just thought unlock, and sure enough I heard a click and a hiss as something disconnected from my back and I was set free to explore my body and my whereabouts. As I stood a visor flooded my vision with information scanning everything I looked at while internal body systems appeared then minimised as if I was looking through an old game screen visor. My vision seemly to adjust to the darkness instantly granting me sight in the dark, coupled with the ships sensors which I was still linked to enabling me to see everything in the room from the large grey door to the tiny bit of rust on the metal that held me, probably developed long ago. Fascinated, I focused on a nearby panelling along the walls of my resting place. It seemed to glow for a second before and option seemed to just appear in my head. [Open Dormitory bay 7’s window heavy impact shields Y/N?] I tried to send my thoughts out to it saying yes and to my surprise I could see [Command accepted] in my head just before a small hissing sound as the window slowly slid open. The view could have been considered breath taking if I was capable of such emotion. A blue planet scattered with land masses, almost like earth except different. And there was also another thing the ships sensors could see. Its sun and moon are revolving around the planet. The ships planetary scanner revealed something was altering the sun and moon’s course like they were being controlled. The scanners then showed me something that surprised me greatly. The planet, it had towns and cities scattered on its surface. One was even built in a mountain somehow anchored to it even though my new processors where screaming inaccuracy’s and things that shouldn't be. Increasing the zoom on the sensor’s reveal multiple intelligent life forms in the different areas, different towns and cultures some mixed showing signs of little racism to each over. On the east side of the planet there appeared to be griffins as if taking strait out of old mythology, only they were not mindless killers as in the legends. These ones seem to live in a dry harsh area and yet survive prosperously, with golden adornments in some homes and buildings. But the most intriguing was their warriors that fought in duels at a large barracks of refine stone. Noting this for future research, I continued my scans looking west into a large jungle like area mixed with plains. Looking closely I could see tribes of equines, looking remarkably like zebras from Earth only they appeared to follow the traits of the ancient tribes from Earth's past, collecting herbs and brewing potions in small villages of huts. Looking in the northern and middle areas, there appeared to be great cities of small equines looking similar to ponies and yet with differences. Some contained wings and others horns that seemed to release an unknown radiation that seemed harmless enough. And yet, it appeared the equines could control it forming it to their desired purpose somehow. With all the cities I could detect having been scanned I had the sensors start doing a global scan to provide me with a detailed map of the planet. While doing this I thought back to the message. My purpose... Perhaps these creatures could learn and understand from humanity’s mistakes. Perhaps they can preserve our legacy, in failures and triumphs. Or maybe they will be too young to even understand it. Either way my objective is clear Progressing with soft metallic clamps as I walked, I entered walked the halls of the ship in a dark silence only broken by the hum of power running through its engines. Reaching the bridge I took the navigation controls and quickly plotted a course to the planet. [DIRECTIVE ACCEPTED ETA 27 HOURS] The ship will hover above the pony-like creatures while I study and prepare for contact. Maybe I should start with a small town and take a drop ship..... But what will I call myself... I had a name... but it just doesn't feel right any more... My name is... Legion. And my objective is clear. LET’S PAAAARTY PONYVILLE!!! Vinyl Scratch or more commonly known by her stage name DJ Pon3, is an easy going party pony that lived for the beat. Her reputation had sky rocketed with her performance at the wedding of Princess Cadence and Shining Armour, but she found she still loved coming back from the big cities, to the small clubs where she began, this particular club in Ponyville was a favourite for her to come and forget her problems. The music pumping the crowd jumping, this is what she looked forward to everyday the sounds the ponies the atmosphere of invincibility. She would play song after song, usually dub-trot or techno, and just lived in the moment. In a way it distracted her from her life. She would party and meet new ponies thriving in Luna’s night, while driving crowds crazy with her beats, but she rarely made many friends. Her Deep blood red eyes would always scare off those that didn't know her well which is why she always wore her glasses, so she could hide her eyes behind the deep purple lenses. But her music was where she lived and all too soon it had to end as the club owner, a red unicorn with an orange mane named Black Box, approached with her pay and to help pack up. "Here you go vinyl 265 bits, not as much as you’d make in Los Pegasus but still for a night", Box exclaimed tossing a small bag in his orange magic at Vinyl. "Thanks Box", Vinyl replied stashing the bag in her saddles bags, disappointed the night was already over. "OK Vinyl now that the nights over what’s wrong?" Black said standing in front of Vinyl "Nothing nothing I'm fine box just a little tired is all", Vinyl replied adding a fake smile to hopefully sell her story. He wasn't buying it. "Vinyl Scratch you used to work here almost every night when you first started out, and if there’s one thing I've learnt, it’s that you always come back here when something’s bothering you, to let it all out now what’s wrong?" he said blocking Vinyls path to the exit. "Fine", Vinyl said knowing he wouldn't let this go, "I have done and seen everything Equestria has to offer and I still feel as though something’s missing and I just can’t tell what. It’s like a void that just won’t go away". Black Box merely smiled knowingly at Vinyl. 'Sounds like somepony is looking for something you can only find in time my dear Vinyl". Vinyl scratch looked at him strangely and replied," Oh? And what is that wise one?’ Black Box just laughed at this and said,"you will know it when you find it Vinyl now get out of my club before I lock you in here". Vinyl merely shook her head as she walked out saddle bags on carrying her stuff before looking at the night sky in wonder. “Luna really puts Celestia to shame when it comes to the night” Trotting down the street while star gazing she noticed a bright slow moving star streaking across the sky leaving a blazing aurora behind it. A shooting star! Luna rarely made one of these beautiful creations streak across the sky, which was a real shame to Vinyl as she knew she would likely be one of the few creatures to witness this one tonight. Vinyl stared at it for a few moments more before heading home, completely unaware that the star she looked upon on was getting closer and closer, moving with purpose scanning the planet constantly in its preparation for contact. Authors notes Well guys and girls I hope you enjoyed reading this. I got really fussy when writing this to the point I rewrote this about 4 times before I was satisfied and even then I got my grammar Nazi friend to check on it who then helped me fix this up. Please leave any comments good or negative as even the bad ones help me become a better writer :) And if you didn't like it please don't just dislike, leave a comment so that I can understand what you don't like and improve. > One And Many > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- What is it that makes us human? It's not something you can program. You can't put it into a chip. It's the strength of the human heart. The difference between us and machines. -Marcus Wright, Terminator Salvation I stared out into the planet below me, feeling the slight push as the ship's thrusters propelled itself closer to the planet below. I decided to sate my curiosity and explore my ship, starting with the command bridge. Looking around, my visor highlighted every detail of the room, every one of the controls popping up as I gazed upon them. The bridge itself was shaped in a semicircle with large curved glass, acting as a view port for whoever guided this ship, with a large central console that my scanners revealed as a command station for the ship, should non-synthetic life need to access the controls. There was also a strange pod at the back that caught my attention, sticking out in the otherwise smooth wall surface. I decided to check my connection to the ship for information. Concentrating on the ship my vision became overrun with a network of information all linked together in a series of code. The entire history of an old race, from their weapons, to their evolutionary theory of ants all available at a single thought. I seemed to spend an eternity searching for the correct information and yet, it had only taken 0.37 seconds to find what I needed. The pod is a TX7 control system, added to allow members of the Ascension project, to control any of the systems on and off the ship. It is also capable of performing a scan to discover any malfunctions of any type on it's designated “Ascensioneer” and commence repairs. Armed with this knowledge, I approached the pod bringing up its commands and after another quick [ACCESS APPROVED], I was standing in the pod with glass closing in front of me and cables connecting to my neck from behind. Activating the pod with my visor, lights started to flicker around me, and a pulling sensation was felt, absorbing me into the ships systems. I was... in control. I could see everything and yet nothing. All options for the ship and its individual components opened to me, all available at a microseconds notice. I had some control of the ship beforehand but nothing like this. Focusing I brought up the option for the ship's system scan and started the robotic maintenance protocols and watched, through security cameras and sensors as they existed in storage areas in each room, cleaning and repairing the ancient metal of the ship. I also realised I had been walking in the dark the entire time and activated the lighting systems, basking the ship in an artificial yellow glow in which the small drones worked. Accessing the security measures, I discovered a list of armours and weapons of many kinds, from auto fire plasma cannons hidden along the hull to 12 Indigo class long range ballistic missiles and even a black sun fusion warhead. This confused me for a moment, why would they give me access to the single most deadly device ever made? Black suns were never tested, for they were deemed too dangerous to use, as rather than your typical nuclear explosion, this one caused a chain reaction amount surrounding matter generating another explosion that would do the same although not forever, it would repeat for some time destroying everything in its path. It was however estimated that the approximate blast yield would be approximately equal to 800 megatons of TNT. Making it 8 times more powerful then the Tsar bomb, humanities largest, tested thermonuclear warhead. Noting this for future reference, I moved on to small arms which included a rather small amount of weapons with only a Pulse fire plasma rifle and a LSC side arm (Light Solidifier Cannon). There was also Tempest heavy armour, made with reactive nano bots weaved into titanium and carbon plating which could reflect most projectiles and was self repairing. It also had a second more valuable ability. Due to the threat of nuclear war it had been designed to protect the user from radiation by creating a small field around the wearer that absorbed the radiation from around itself. An ability I believe I could alter perhaps as some basic protection from the natives should they prove hostile. Despite wanting to explore the systems more I knew I needed to make plans for the upcoming landing. I don't want to scare them, but at the same time going with minimal equipment and approaching slowly could end badly if they proved hostile. Perhaps...I will approach in an OVDS (Orbital Vtol Drop Ship) at the small town near the mountain city. It seems small enough to not house a strong military presence while remaining close enough to the mountain city to get information to their government. Also how will I begin communication? They seem to all be very primitive, with little in the way of technology. But they do appear to have some resemblance of language, as the planetary scanner viewed several of the creatures talking to each other. I turned the scanners to focus on the speech of the equines to try and begin a translation of their language only to discover they were talking in English. Not exact English, as there appeared to be some small differences, but it was almost exactly the same. Although written language appears to be different on what I could make out, but that was unsurprising due to the creatures lack of hands. Disconnecting from the pod reluctantly I proceeded through the ship's many corridors listening to the metallic clamps of my feet and the humming of the maintenance drones and after another hiss of a door opening, I entered the weapons bay, a simple room with armour and weapons mounted on the walls and in central square containment boxes. I have a trip to prepare for after all. Ponyville 2 Hours until Arrival Vinyl scratch wandered around in the early morning looking for something to do. It was a Tuesday morning and the clubs were closed on Monday in Ponyville, meaning Vinyl actually slept through the night. The WHOLE night. And her body, use to staying up for extreme periods of time had refused to stay asleep, leading her to wake the moment Celestia’s sun reached her closed eyes from that accursed window. So after grabbing her trademark glasses and having a quick shower she was off, wandering around town looking for something interesting to do and finally, she discovered why she sleeps through the mornings most days. There is NOTHING to do. For the past hour she has been sitting on a bench watching stores being set up as the town slowly woke from its slumber. Moaning in boredom and reminding herself again to never wake this early again, Vinyl slumped back against the bench an started staring at the blue sky, only so suddenly to have a pink entity appear from nowhere, right in her face. "OHHAYTHEREAREYOUWATCHINGTHESKYASWELLBECAUSEIVEBEENHAVINGATWICHYTAILALLMORNINGAND-", Vinyl shoved her hoof into the hyperactive mares mouth to silence her, bringing back peace to the land. For about five minutes anyway. "Hay Pinkie what’s up? And speak slowly please," Vinyl asked, instantly recognising the sugar crazed mare while hoping something will finally interrupt the cruel claw of boredom that is the morning. "Well I was at Sugar Cube Corner helping Mr & Mrs Cakes but my tail keeps twitching and I keep knocking things over, so I went on a walk and saw you watching the sky and thought you might be on lookout for whatever is falling as well," said Pinkie, her tail twitching non-stop throughout the conversation. "Well I wasn't watching for anything Pinks but if I see anything I'll tell ya if I can find ya", Vinyl replied sitting up so she could see Pinkie better, who was now watching the skies with a telescope. Wait, where did she get that? "Okie dokie lokie", Pinkie replied bouncing away, searching the sky with... was she looking through a monocle? Vinyl just rubbed her head with a hoof in frustration and glanced cautiously at the sky, waiting for whatever chaos Pinkies tail predicted to come to pass. Orbiting above Ponyville: 1 Hour until predicted arrival time I approached the hanger’s of my ship, now dressed in chrome black armour, which was covered in streaks of glowing green light as the nano machines inside powered on. The helmet’s see-through glass shielding obscuring my vision slightly as I watched the ship fuel the OVDS for deployment, with a plasma rifle magnetically attached to my back, and the LSC in a holster by my side. I had spent the last hour reconfiguring the tempest armour to nullify the native’s abilities, while further analysing my flight path. My plan was a simple yet effective way to reveal myself to the populace. I will fly down over the large mountain town before proceeding, in a large arc to the small town near it, easily revealing my presence to the natives. Although this means I will have to pass through some unusually dense cloud , the OVDS should be able to pass through with little difficulty. Before I could lament on, my visor was suddenly filled with a report from the ships computers. [FUELLING OF OVDS COMPLETE] [MOVING TO LAUNCH POSITION] A loud Humming filled the artificial air, as the OVDS was moved by a large metal clamp over a large drop bay. I approached the rear of the drop ship with it's rear entry ramp opening at my mental request. The OVDS was a simple ship built to drop soldiers into enemy territory quickly and escape as well if the need arise. It was only lightly armed however as the ship was primarily covered in a strong silver alloy that protected it from the burning heat of re-entry into a planet. The original plans for the OVDS was to use nanites as a refractive armour plating to absorb the heat of re-entry however it was found that they melted and were ripped apart from the pressure, causing the ship to rip itself apart. Boarding the OVDS, I took position in the pilots chair up front and began starting up the ship, closing the ramp behind me, and beginning de-pressurisation of the drop bay. A large hissing sound occurred as the ships internal pressure systems kicked in, and air was pumped out of the bay as alarms sounded at the sudden lack of air on the hanger. [APPROACHING DROP ZONE – OPENING BAY DOORS] The rumble of metal was all gone now, having been replaced by the humming of the OVDS engines as all remaining air was dispersed into space to reveal the deep blue of the planet below. [DISENGAGING CLAMP] The OVDS was now falling away from the cruiser above, its bays sealing itself behind me as I fell, pulled by the planets gravity from the ocean of stars around me into the burning flames of re-entry which stated to caress the hull. Ponyville outskirts 5 minutes before arrival Vinyl had eventually gotten bored of waiting on the bench and after a cautious half hour of ducking under cover from whatever was falling, decided to take a walk along the edge of town, bordering the Everfree Forrest to clear her mind and maybe provide some form of entertainment for the day. The path she followed was filled with ponies walking along, laughing and chatting away, generally enjoying the morning. Vinyl settled for resting against a large tree just off the path so she slumped against the tree and reminded herself to never again wake up this early. After a few minutes of staring into the horizon, as her eyelids started slowly giving in to sleeps grasp, she was suddenly ripped from her near slumber by the sounds of ponies crying out. Quickly standing up she noticed all the ponies around her were gasping and pointing off in the horizon where Cloudsdale could be seen. There was a massive fireball was descending though the city, seeming to weave in and out of the clouds while ploughing straight through smaller ones before plunging below the city. It then streamlined itself turning in a long arc with the flames disappearing to be replaced with a large, metal object leaving massive lines in the sky where it passed. It also seemed to be spurting blue flames from two wing like objects sticking out from the sides, as it tore through the air towards Canterlot. After making a quick pass over the mountain city it turned towards Ponyville, only for a bright flash and a dark blue beam to smash into one of its wings, causing fire and debris to rain down as it flew over Ponyville at supersonic speeds plummeting towards the edge of town, right where Vinyl was. Vinyl and all the ponies around the area started running for their lives, as flames and metal smashed along the path before the flying object collided directly with the tree Vinyl was resting against, leaving a trail of fire as earth was blasted away from the impact, knocking Vinyl and several other ponies of their hooves as the blast wave connected with them. Canterlot day court: 1 minute until arrival. Princess Celestia was listening to a *request* from Prince Blueblood. He was currently arguing that the statue of him in the gardens was too small and didn't show him in enough detail, despite the statue having had the best sculptors in Equestria work on it for a month. Celestia really wanted nothing more than to turn him into a statue, just for a single day of not having to deal with him. But instead she kept a mask of serenity, earned from 14 thousand years of ruling Equestria. "The statue does not even begin to cover the details of my hoof yet alone my face, something must be done about this for I will not have the future generations of Equestria remember me as that pathetic excuse for a statue. Are you even listening Auntie?" The prince cried after he spotted Celestia glancing out the window. "Of course I'm listening Prince Blueblood, but I cannot make you another statue just because you demand it. The royal sculptors worked ti-", "SISTER THOU MUST COME LOOK", Princess Luna yelled in the RCV (Royal Canterlot Voice) as she burst into the chamber. Celestia while pleased at the distraction, quickly rose from the throne, and approached her sister. "What is it Lulu? And please use an inside voice", Celestia said to Luna, her serine voice masking the worry she held inside. "Yes what is so important you interrupted MY audience Auntie Luna?" Blueblood said, venom practically dripping from his mouth, in anger that his meeting had been interrupted. "NO TIME", Luna yelled again her magic swiftly engulfing her and her sister teleporting them both to the observatory at the top of the Canterlot Castle, leaving a rather angry Blueblood behind. As Celestia quickly rubbed her eyes to clear her vision from the bright flash of the teleport, Luna grabbed her and pointed with her hoof over Cloudsdale in the distance. "There can you see it sister!" said Luna pointing at a great fireball descending from the skies. "What is that", Celestia replied in awe as it smashed through several buildings in Cloudsdale. The fireball then equalled out its approach, slowing slight as it travelled, at speeds even Rainbow Dash couldn't match, towards Canterlot, already reaching the outskirts of the city. Luna’s horn started glowing as she pulled all the energy she could into a powerful spell, the air shimmering around the glow. "It dares destroy part of our beloved ponies’ city? IT SHALL PAY", Luna cried "LUNA WAIT", Celestia yelled although it was too late as Luna fired a beam of pure energy at the flying object ripping one of its wings apart, sending a large shard of metal into the royal gardens where it sliced Prince Bluebloods statue in half, as the flying object itself spun out of control spewing flames and debris as it flew at alarming speeds towards Ponyville. Celestia watched in horror as the spinning wreckage impacted into the outskirts of the small town, as a massive shock-wave spread, from the impact zone causing the ground to shake even at Canterlot as flames spewed around the wreckage. "Luna rally the guards! I shall teleport to Ponyville myself and get the elements, meet us at the crash site!" Celestia cried as she teleported into the chaos of Ponyville with a bright flash and a crack of her magic. OVDS Burning through the atmosphere time until arrival 20 seconds All systems normal, no anomaly’s detected. I was watching through the view port, which was currently covered in fire as the atmosphere burned away the OVDS’s armour. The flames started to die down as I was greeted with the view of the clouds I had to pass through, only something wasn't right... were there natives living in these clouds!?!? Grabbing the flight controls I pulled them right, barely avoiding a group of locals playing with their children before twisting the OVDS sharply to the left dodging another flying native before smashing through a strange cloud building scattering the locals. I barely avoided crashing into a cloud stadium before ploughing through the bottom layer of clouds ripping them apart with the fire that still covered the OVDS which was unable to slowdown due to my manoeuvres. Levelling the drop ship with the horizon I was able to slow down considerably reducing speeds to Mach 4 while flying over the mountain city. Suddenly alarms blared as a massive radiation spike was detected building up before everything seemed to slow down to a near stop. I could see the deep blue beam of energy about to collide with the OVDS and everything seemed to move in ultra slow-motion as I pulled the controls forcing the ship right, so the beam will only hit the wing. A massive explosion echoed around as the wing was ripped off by the beam causing the ship to spin in a flaming arc, spreading debris everywhere as the drop ship spun out of control. I quickly activated the distress beacon to the cruiser, before strapping myself into the chair and locking down my body, bracing for impact. A massive bang was all I heard before the chair was ripped apart from the impact and I was thrown into the burning bulkhead as errors filled my vision. [DANGER CRITICAL DAMAGE SUSTAINED] [SYSTEMS NOT RESPONDING] [NANO MACHINE OVERRIDE ACTIVATED] [EMERGENCY SHUT-DOWN AND REPAIR INITIATED] Main cruiser 1 minute after impact [DISTRESS SIGNAL DETECTED] [COORDINATES LOCKED] [DEPLOYING SEARCH AND RECOVERY BATTLE DRONES 1-5] The ship shuddered slightly as five pods dropped from their hangers forming bright flames as the planet’s atmosphere burned with their decent. Authors notes: Well that's that.Amazing what a mind can think up when your listening to a mix of Deadmau5, Skrillex and Feed Me. Thank you to all who help with editing and pre reading giving me idea's and so forth. I'm also sorry but due to exams *grumpy face* I wont have much time between studying for them and school work in general so I will not be able to work on this for some time meaning it may take a couple weeks for my next chapter I'm sorry for any mistakes but I really did work on this for along as I was able and any more time of mine has to be devoted to exams. also InfinityXanadu pleeeease don't kill me in a wall of review of science. I want to live > First Contact Protocals > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- What is an AI? Is it a mind programmed by us to think, to analyze and to adapt? Is it simple responses of code linked to react to a situation? Or is it simply a body of metal moulded to adapt and grow? If these are what makes a machine... how are they any different from us? Ponyville – 10 minutes after impact Celestia was scared. Running through the streets of Ponyville in search of ponies in trouble, she could see great fires sending smoke roaring into the skies, as her little ponies cried for help. The object had sent sparks and flaming debris all over town, causing the light dry roofing material favoured in Ponyville to quickly light in great pillars of flames that cascaded over the lands. Luna however, had quickly rallied the guards with the pegasi divisions already arriving, attempting to put out the fires that sprung up seemingly everywhere. "Sister, Sir Shining Armour is preparing the rest of the guard squads and will arrive soon", Luna said appearing next. "Good, with their help the flames can be controlled quickly and this catastrophe ended", Celestia replied, her body covered in black spots from smoke and ash which covered the air. "We should check the crash site sister, whatever manner of creature that caused this may still be dangerous!" Luna said, worry evident in her voice. "Then let us move quickly Lulu", Celestia cried before launching the air towards the biggest pillar of smoke near the edge of town. Crash site – 10 minutes after impact Vinyl scratch groaned as she awoke from unconsciousness. She remembered resting at a tree, then a massive ball of fire, getting thrown into the air. Wait FIRE! Quickly scrambling to her hooves and removing her clouded glasses, Vinyl looked up to see a mass of twisted metal reflecting the fire that has now spread forming a semicircle around the sleeping DJ. Panic quickly building up Vinyl backed away from the flames, coughing at the smoke invading her lungs as she longed for an escape. Looking at the smallest part of the flames she ran, preparing to jump the roaring fire when as if fate wanted her dead. The fire suddenly roared sending a massive wave of heat forcing Vinyl back to the metal heap behind her. Now trapped and with no escape Vinyl laid low on the singed grass, attempting to stop the smoke constricting her lungs. But just before she fell into the darkness, she looked up to see stars burning in broad daylight. Getting closer and closer..... Crash site – Celestia’s POV Celestia landed hard, kicking up dirt around her as she bolted to a nearby purple pegasus or at least, the charred remains of one. A tear slid town her face as she moved from pony to pony, helping those she could as Luna tackled the blazes with her magic, creating ice cold water that hissed upon contact with the flames. Celestia was in the process of moving all the injured ponies she could find, to a safe area surrounded by royal guards and doctors, when a high pitched whistling reached her ears. Looking up she spotted five fireballs dropping towards the ground, screeching with their descent. Celestia reacted quickly, putting a shield up between her ponies and the meteors as they smashed into the ground around the crash site, sending dirt raining into the sky. As the dust cleared Celestia watched as five large biped creatures emerged from the craters, each one comprised of a shining silver metal. They stood on two strange hooves at least full two feet higher than her six foot frame, glaring at her with their single glowing red eyes. Four of the creatures took positions around the crash site as one proceeded to enter the flames with large clumping sounds which faded, as it proceeded towards whatever impacted there. Luna quickly approached the beings with a squad of her royal night guards at her flank. "WHAT MANNER OF BEAST ARE YE AND WHY HAVE THY APPROACHED", Luna roared in the RCV to the metal creatures. In response one of the creatures raised is arm which transformed into a long object with several barrels with holes at the ends. Pointing its new limb at Luna it replied in an echoing yet monotone voice. "Unknown creature you are interfering with Allied Alliance Australian Defence Force objectives. Leave this area immediately or you will be fired upon". Celestia approached her sister’s side to confront the visitors calling out. "You are on Equestrian soil, our land! By what reason do you have the right to land here and tell us to vacate our land? Tell us of your purpose here creature or we will you use force to remove you!" Celestia stood boldly before the creature awaiting its response. Raising its arm towards her it replied. "You have been deemed a threat to the mission. Non-lethal force has been authorised". Celestia stood for a moment before its arm glowed and an orange beam, seemingly made from light itself leapt towards her only for a cry of SISTER, to ring through the air as she was knocked sideways, out of the beams path. Looking where she was standing, she bared witness an unconscious Luna blasted back a few feet from the robot. Trembling in rage, Celestia roared and spawned great fireballs, flinging them at the aliens until smoke blocked all vision of the targets. Waiting for the smoke to clear, Celestia stood boldly over her sister's body glaring at the smoke cloud, now fading away... To reveal four aliens... Completely unharmed. Royal guards charged at the creatures who dispatched them with ease, one firing its light weapon repetitively sending them flying back, while another simply swung its arm through the mass of charging guards, sending bodies flying. A guard dived from above smashing his spear into one of the creature’s eyes, only for it to snap in half leaving the creature to grab him with a strange claw dragging him down. "You have been deemed a level 2 threat. Lethal force has been authorised". Tossing the captain to the ground it raised its giant clamp like hoof above the guard, about to crush the life from him, when it froze along with every other creature. "Designation Legion has been found. New orders accepted - Threat level returned to 0 - Returning to passive stance". The four creatures suddenly took positions in front of the flames while ignoring, the retreating guards. An uneasy few minutes past with Celestia watching the beast's carefully, when the 5th creature suddenly emerged from the fire, its armour blackened from the heat as another smaller biped follow behind. This creature was around Celestia’s height as it approached, carrying a white unicorn with a two tone blue mane stung over its shoulder. It appeared badly burnt and yet it was visibly healing, with its strange white skin regrowing over its flesh as it approached its armour copying, flowing down with his skins regrowth. It seemed to be a mixture of flesh and metal, parts of its body made from strange complex machinery as its amour quickly covered what was visible. Picking up the pony strung over its shoulder, it placed her gently in front of Celestia, the guards watching as it backed off to the other metal monsters behind him. Turning around it used its two blood red eyes to look into hers before making a gesture with one of its five digit claws towards the pony saying. "That civilian is suffering from smoke inhalation and some minor burns. I recommend you give her medical support if you wish for it to survive, otherwise I can provide it if necessary." Crash site - 15 minutes after impact [SYSTEMS OFFLINE] [REACTIVATING VC FUSION CORE] [ACTIVATION SUCCESSFUL] [BEACON –ONLINE] [VITAL SYSTEMS – ONLINE] [BODY INTEGRITY – 67 PERCENT] [ACTIVATION OF NEURAL IMPLANTS – SUCCESSFUL] [PRIMARY BOOT – COMPLETED] [WARNING – HIGH HEAT FACTOR DETECTED] [AWAKING DESIGNATION ‘LEGION’] I awoke to flames, burning my body as my senses returned. I was under a large metal beam, probably part of the original framework of the ship while flames licked around me. My sensors spamming error reports as the heat overloaded the implants. Pushing against the metal I shifted it slowly off my body, revealing seared flesh and blackened metal across my chest. The armour I was wearing had somehow retained its regeneration ability and was slowly travelling across my chest repairing itself. As this was occurring I raised a skeletal hand to my eyes, revealing bone with metal expertly carved into its depths with precision only the best could muster. The metal revealed blue circuitry which followed its path as the nanites repaired the flesh at my elbow before travelling down to my hand, intent on repairing all damage done. Unable to stand even with the beam off me, I settled for crouching under the crushed ceiling as I waited for the drones that the ship would have been sent out to arrive. My sensors still unable to repair themselves due to the nanites focusing on keeping me alive, could only reach out to a very close area just outside the ship. My heat sensors, while blaring from the heat around me had spotted a dramatically cooler object in the shape of an equine just outside. Switching to X-ray, I confirmed I was indeed looking at a native most likely, one the variety with horns. My scanners suddenly lit up as a Class 7 Hunter Drone approached. It reached up to the metal, ignoring the equine before it, as its arm became a hand like appendage which ripped the metal wall apart, tossing the scrap casually into the fires around the shredded wreckage of the drop ship. Reaching in it grabbed and pulled me out the wreckage before its scanners swept across me, bathing me in a red glow. After it evaluated my physical integrity, it placed me down before opening its sensors to my disposal. What I could see was... less than desirable. The natives had engaged the drones protecting the crash zone, attempting to use spears against the titanium shells of the drones. Quickly accessing there commands I froze the units, ordering them to disregard the natives and return to the guard positions. The natives seemed to appreciate this, bolting away from the machines to regroup next to a species I hadn't encountered before. This one was approximately my height, and also contained wings and a horn. It also wore regalia upon its head. Deciding to return my presence to my local area, I turned to the small pony next to me. The small horned creature was struggling to breath due to the smoke covering the immediate crash site. Quickly scanning her body, I spotted black ash covering her lungs. Picking up the native, I proceeded to order the hunter drone to clear our path of flames as we proceeded towards the area where the natives had been fighting the drones. The hunter snuffed out the last of the flames in our path by simply kicking them, revealing a large clearing where the equine military stood dressed in bright golden armour. I approached the large white creature which stood ahead from the rest, its rainbow mane flowing in the air spreading the radiation they produced around harmlessly. Stepping forward I placed the horned equine before her, before returning to my machines. I faced her, looking into its eyes as the last of my body and skin healed before the host in front of me. "That civilian is suffering from smoke inhalation and some minor burns. I recommend you give her medical support if you wish for it to survive, otherwise I can provide it if necessary," I called out to the large white cross-breed. It simply stared at me for a moment before opening its mouth to respond. "My name is Princess Celestia, Ruler of these lands and controller of the sun, who are you and why have you come here?" she replied. "My name is Ascensioneer 12 of the Allied Alliance, but you may call me Legion." "As for why I have come here it, it’s to establish peaceful negotiations and exchange or organise the protection of information", I replied in my synthetic voice. Celestia was furious at this creature. It destroyed parts of her little pony’s towns, demolishes the guards and then injures Luna? And it has the gall to speak of peace!?! "Peace?" she spat," you burn down my little pony’s houses, assault me and my guards and attack my sister in the name of peace!?!" "I never assaulted your guards or your sister, if you approached my drones when they were attempting to recover me and did not heed their warnings it is of your own consequence they attacked", I replied unfazed by her rage. "Also I never intentionally damaged your citizen’s towns. The cloud city was not expected when I approached, as my sensors told me it was just a large quantity of compressed clouds." "A weather anomaly at most". "As for the damage to the town behind you, it was the result of a large energy attack when I passed over your mountain settlement, which critically damaged my transports engines causing the crash and any losses or injured that were a result of it", I finished turning to examine the native soldiers that surrounded me. The equine forces, primarily the flying type with some basic equines mixed in, were moving to form a semicircle around me and the drones, probably to prevent us from attacking. Their golden armour shining in the bright flame light. They all looked woefully inexperienced and appeared to have little if any training as they rushed to create a rather sloppy barrier between me and the town. Some weren't interested in me though, flying around with actual clouds creating rain over the fires. "PRINCESS", a voice cried out over the flames. Another armoured equine approached in the bright golden attire they seemed to favour, this one was horned and had six non-armoured equines with it. These quickly took positions with their leader, taking protective stances except for one which was shuddering behind the others in fear. No sooner did they take their positions, dozens of equines all the horned variety took positions, my sensors sending warnings of radiation levels building around them. My drones took defensive positions around me in response to the radiation spikes, aiming their weapons at the approaching native forces. "I'VE GOT IT", the blue and rainbow winged pony yelled, before charging me. To her own kind, I would guess they think she is going fast. To me, paint could dry faster then her. I simply watched as the nearest drone reached out and ensnared her in its grip, before slinging her back around towards the equines again. "As I was saying Princess Celestia, that civilian needs medical attention," I stated pointing to the horned creature in front of her. > Tea Time With Shadowless_night and Jayfeather (skippable chapter) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well... you guys wanted to see what we talk about when making new chapters.... here it is. If you don't want to see our chat please feel free to skip it. it will save me a bit of embarrassment. here is a link as I'm pretty sure I'm not aloud to post it here due to its layout. tea time ! For anyone disappointed at the hopes for a new chapter i apologise.