~Project Cyba~
This story is gonna be a little different than most of my stories. It will be dark, but not in the sense of 'evil beings' or 'tormented pasts' or things like that. This is dark in the sense that it will be sad in the end. I'm even crying right now as I think about how it'll end.
But don't get me wrong. This story may have a sad ending, but it will also be lighthearted. There's gonna be allot of joy and happiness in the story as well...which is probably why the sad ending is that much worse. But in the sadness of it's ending, there will be a ray of hope.
This story was inspired by two things. The first is the fanfic 'Harmony Harmony' on FIMfiction . net. The second is an episode of 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' when Data built himself a daughter. My OC Cyba is in fact the very first OC I've written into a fanfic. Of course back then, it was a DragonBall Z fic and Cyba was a saiyan android. So going from DBZ to MLP means some drastic changes. In fact, the only thing Cyba has in common with his DBZ counterpart is the name and the fact that they're both androids.
Now enough of this history lesson, let's get on with the fic.
~Prologue~
"What are we here for again?" Spike asked as he looked around at all the old books. He and Twilight were in the Canterlot library where they used to stay before they moved to Ponyville. Spike was feeling overwhelmed with a sense of nostalgia.
"How many times do I have to tell you this?" Twilight said with a slightly irritated tone. Twilight was feeling nostalgic as well. But not nearly as distracted as Spike. She then motioned for him to follow her into closed off passage, "Do you remember a few years ago when I was working on a project with one of the students from the Cloudsdale Institute of Robotics and Technology?"
Spike followed the lavender unicorn into the passage that she opened up with her magic, "Oh yeah. I remember now," Spike said as the memories came back to him, "What was his name again? Wasn't it Dork Angel, or something like that?"
"And ponies have always wondered why I never liked that 'innocent baby dwagon'," a voice said sarcastically from the room that the passage way led to. As the two entered, they saw a black unicorn with dark red eyes and a slightly scruffy fiery red mane and tail to match. His hooves were dark red and his wings had a dark red lining. On his flank was a pair of black angel wings for a cutie mark. He wore a sly grin as he sat on his haunches and looked at the two, "So Twi, you finally managed to potty train your 'number one' assistant?"
"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Spike shouted. Then under his breath in an embarrassed tone, he said, "...It was just that one time..."
"I see you haven't changed much, Angel," Twilight said with a sly grin, "Still the foalish pegasus who never takes anything or anypony seriously and is a complete technogeek."
"And I see you haven't changed much either," Dark Angel replied with an equally sly grin, "Still the bookworm unicorn who would prefer to study about the life cycle of the dragonweed than to go out and be social."
"As a matter of fact, I have too become social," Twilight said with pride in the fact that she was knocking her old friend down a few pegs, "I have made many friends since I moved to Ponyville. And I have been more social as well."
"She is still a bookworm though," Spike said with a grin.
"SPIKE!" Twilight shouted. When she turned back to Dark Angel, he was holding a piece of paper...a diploma
"As a matter of fact, I have too been taking things more seriously," Dark Angel said with pride in the fact that his old friend failed in knocking him down a few begs, "I have been taking my studies very seriously. And I've even graduated top of my class. And I've always taken you seriously. I just never show it."
"He is still a foalish technogeek though," a young feminine voice said. From behind one of the tables came a female gryphon who was no older than Spike. Most of her body was a forest green. Her beak, talons, and tail were an earthy brown. Her talons, instead of having a scaly appearance, instead had a more rocky form. Her eyes were a golden orange color, like the color of a sunset, "Hi, my name's Ferra. I'm Angel's 'perfect little helper'!"
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Ferra," Twilight said with a warm smile, "My name's Twilight Sparkle. And this here is my 'number one assistant', Spike... Spike?" Twilight saw that Spike was just looking blankly at Ferra. Spike seemed to be entranced by Ferra.
Dark Angel giggled when he noticed a slight blush on the baby dragon's cheeks, "I think he likes her," Dark Angel said to Twilight, making sure that the two children didn't hear. Ferra saw how Spike looked at her. She couldn't help but let out a giggle. Because she liked him too. But they didn't actually realized that the others liked them.
"It seems that she likes him too," Twilight whispered to Dark Angel, noticing how she giggled at him, "Maybe this will help Spike to get rid of his crush on Rarity."
"Isn't Rarity the fashionista that put on that fashion show that amazed even Hoity Toity himself?" Dark Angel asked in amazement, "You're actually friends with a celebrity?! ...I'm gonna need proof. If you really are friends with Rarity, then you're gonna have to prove it to me by introducing me to her."
"Come on. Rarity isn't that famous," Twilight said in disbelief of what Dark Angel said, "...is she?"
"Trust me. If you can impress Hoity Toity himself, you're known all throughout Equestria," Dark Angel said.
"I'll introduce you then. But right now, I would like to ask you a couple questions," Twilight said almost accusingly, "First of all, what are you doing here?"
"I'm here for what I assume is the same reason you're here," Dark Angel said, "I'm here to get the prototype design of the project we were working on. I figured it might be a bit much for just one pony to carry. Besides, you didn't think I would let you continue the project without me, did you?"
"I suppose that's a fair enough answer," Twilight said, "Second, how did you get in here?! When we put out project on hold, we sealed off this room so that only I could reopen it with my magic! There is no way..."
"Do you remember that eccentric pony, Doctor Whooves?" Dark Angel said, interrupting Twilight, "Well he helped me develop a time travel device. I am actually from the future at a time after you opened up that passage way. I came in while it was open, and traveled back in time to wait. However, I miscalculated and went back fifteen hours instead of fifteen minutes. So technically, me and Ferra aren't even here yet."
"But I was gonna close the passage off again when I left," Twilight said. "So if in the future, it's still closed off, how did you get in?"
"...You'll see..." Dark Angel said cryptically, "So now, since I answered your questions, would it be alright if you did something for me, 'Princess'?"
"So...you've heard..." Twilight said sheepishly.
"You were made a Princess. Of course I heard about it," Dark Angel said with a grin, "So, why don't you show me your 'new additions'."
Twilight glared at Dark Angel at the request. Not because she didn't want to, but because several ponies have asked her to show them. But Dark Angel was a good friend of her's, and they were in private. Plus, she knew him well enough that he wouldn't start bugging her about it...that its unless he wanted to play one of his foalish games with her.
Twilight then released the spell she had cast on herself. It was an image spell. Once the spell was released, Twilight unfurled her wings.
"Impressive. Very impressive. But knowing you, probably don't use them that much," The black pegasus teased as he turned around, "So, shale we get this tin can out of here then?"
"Uh...sure..." Twilight said in a bit of confusion. She was still trying to understand what Dark Angel meant by 'you'll see'. Twilight than recast her image spell, hiding her wings once again. Then she followed Dark Angel to the metallic pony-shaped statue.
Dark Angel lifted the statue onto his back while Twilight used her magic to lighten the load. Spike and Ferra followed them as they headed back down the passage way.
But on their way through the passage way, they came across...Dark Angel and Ferra?! Twilight looked back and forth between the two Dark Angels. The Dark Angel that was carrying the android lifted his hoof and said, "Hi." While the other Dark Angel replied by also saying, "Hi."
As the new Dark Angel and Ferra passed by, the two Ferra's looked at each other in confusion, not sure what to think.
After they passed by, they heard a sort of grinding noise. When Twilight looked back to see the other Dark Angel and Ferra, they were gone as if they were never there.
"Time travel is confusing," Ferra said as they left the passage way.
Twilight then sealed it up again. She now understood how Dark Angel did what he did. She just didn't understand how it was possible. "How is it that meeting yourself didn't cause a paradox?" Twilight asked.
"It was planned," Dark Angel said, "I had that meeting planned since before...that Dark Angel and Ferra came through, and staged it in a way that basically avoided the paradox factor. And before you ask about Ferra being confused, she was prepared for this as well. She was just confused because, like she said, time travel is confusing."
X~ ~ ~ ~ ~X
After a long trip back to Ponyville, the four of them went to the library...Twilight's home. Dark Angel put the pony android down and looked around, "So, you live in a library. No surprise there I suppose," Dark Angel said sarcastically, "But being in a tree and the wooden surroundings gives the place a nice touch. Not exactly what I'd expect of a princess though."
"I assume you would've preferred a computer lab?" Twilight asked rhetorically, "Let's get this prototype down to my lab in the basement...before..."
"TWILIGHT!" a young silver filly cheered as she suddenly tackled Twilight, knocking her over and causing her to lose her focus and release her image spell on her wings.
"Angel, I'd like you to meet Daxelia. Dax, this is my old friend, Dark Angel," Twilight grunted as she lay pinned on the floor, "Dax here has just officially become a Cutie Mark Crusader."
"How did you know that?" Dax asked curiously, "I only just became a member today while you were gone."
"When somepony becomes a Cutie Mark Crusader, everypony knows," Twilight said.
"For being such a little village, you certainly picked an interesting one," Dark Angel said.
"Now I'm gonna have to put up with Dork Angel again," Spike whined.
"As much as I used to tease you...and as much as I'm certain to continue teasing you, the fact is that it's just that...teasing. If you want my honest opinion, it's good to see you again, buddy," Dark Angel said, giving the baby dragon an honest grin before turning back to Twilight, "Well, if you're gonna just lie around and do nothing, I guess I'll have to take the android down to the lab myself," Dark Angel teased, seeing Twilight pinned.
X~ ~ ~ ~ ~X
Later that night...
Dark Angel was working on a computer, getting everything all set, "Everything's ready to go Twi," Dark Angel said as he got off the computer, "Are we ready to begin?"
"I'm as ready as I'll ever be, Angel!" Twilight exclaimed as she stood over the android, "And it's good to see you again."
"It's good to see you too," Dark Angel replied, "Now let's get this started. Let's continue..."
Twilight and Dark Angel then spoke in unison...
"PROJECT CYBA!"
~Chapter 1: System Activated~
3 months later...
"WOW! I can't believe we're almost finished!" Twilight exclaimed as she was putting on the finishing touches to the new model for the Cyba program. She was wearing shaded goggles and was using a welding torch, "Back when we were first working on Project Cyba, it would've taken us at least a year to have finished. And with technology how it was back then, it wouldn't have even been as good."
"Well if it wasn't for the work I put into my studies, I'd probably only be a quarter of the way done with the programing by now. A third at best," Dark Angel said. Dark Angel was in front of a computer screen making the finishing touches on the AI program. He was wearing what appeared to be a pair of robotic boots that had talons on them that resembled that of a gryphon or a dragon, "Then again, part of that would be no more than a speed issue. Without these neurogloves, I'd still only be about half way done...maybe two thirds."
Dark Angel then copied the program onto a computer chip which he picked up with one of his talons. He carefully held it as he carried it over to the 'body'. They put allot of work into this program, and this one little chip was the final piece. This one little chip was the AI program itself, the part that would make the system, for lack of a better term, self aware.
Just a little further and...
"HEY GUYS!"
CRICK
Dark Angel and Twilight stared at what was now the shattered remains of three months of hard work, "SPIKE!" the two shouted in unison.
"Uh oh..."
"DO YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH WORK WE PUT INTO THAT PROGRAM?!" Twilight raged at Spike, "THANKS TO YOUR SURPRISE ARRIVAL, THREE WHOLE MONTHS OF HARD WORK WAS JUST DESTROYED! I..."
"Hold on, Twi," Dark Angel said as he covered Twilight's muzzle with a wing, "I prepared for something like this. I made copies of the program for when something like this was gonna happen. After all, how could I expect any less from your 'number one' assistant?"
"STOP CALLING ME THAT!"
"Really?! You did?!" Twilight cheered as she began to hop up and down in a similar fashion of Pinkie Pie's hopping. With each hop, she flapped her wings a few times to give her some extra hang time.
"That was one of five copies to be exact. I always make copies in case of situations like this," Dark Angel said before going back and grabbing another AI chip.
"I'm sorry about that though," Spike apologized, "What if you didn't make copies? I would've ruined all of that work."
"If I didn't make copies, Ferra wouldn't have let you in here to surprise us," Dark Angel pointed out.
Spike furrowed his eyebrows at that comment, but chose to just shrug it off, "Well, I came down here to ask if you wanted to take a break and get lunch," Spike suggested, "This is a big thing. I think your friends would want to witness it."
"What do you think Twi? Your friends would probably like to see this. And we could certainly use the break," Dark Angel said before a rumbling was heard from his gut.
"It sounds to me that you're more interested in the lunch, Angel," Twilight teased before a rumbling came from her gut as well.
"And it sounds like you agree with me," Dark Angel said.
"Well in my defense, these wings burn up more energy," Twilight said as she held out one of her wings strait, "And so that means my metabolism was also increased. I'm eating twice as much as I did before I became a princess."
"Of course being a princess now must mean that ponies give you discounts," Dark Angel teased, "And are you sure it's your wings, or are you secretly pregnant and that's why you're eating more?"
"I think I now have a new use for my wings," Twilight said smugly. She then extended one of her wings, then used it to slap Dark Angel in the face.
"For being just a joke, that seems to be a touchy subject for you," Dark Angel said as he rubbed his cheek, "Anyways, I guess it's off to lunch we go! Oh, and see your friends too."
The three of them left the lab. Twilight put cast her illusion spell, and with Ferra, they left the library on their way to Sugarcube Corner.
X~ ~ ~ ~ ~X
"...And so then...then Twi got her horn stuck in...stuck in the wall! And with her horn stuck, she couldn't...she couldn't release the gravity spell she put on me! So I was stuck laying flat on the floor weighing over...over a thousand pounds! HAHAHAHA!" Dark Angel reminisced, cracking up as he finished the story. The entire group was there laughing hysterically at the story. Pinkie Pie was laughing so hard she was in tears, barely even able to breath from how much she was laughing.
"And this was all just...just a trip to the museum?!" Rainbow Dash laughed, "Way to go, Twi! I never knew you had it in ya!"
"Well if Angel hadn't of pulled that switch in the first place, none of it would've happened!" Twilight laughed. It was in fact an embarrassing situation for both her and Dark Angel. But the way he told the story made it so she couldn't help but laugh as well.
"I think...I think we need to get Pinkie some help!" Rarity laughed, unable to keep a straight face, "I don't think...I don't think she can breath!" When the others looked down at Pinkie, sure enough she was trying to gasp for air. But her laughing fit was preventing her from getting any air into her lungs.
They couldn't believe what they were seeing. Pinkie Pie was in a laughing fit...but she was no long happy. The look on her face was telling the she was agony. And none of them knew how they could help.
That's when Dark Angel stepped up. He got Pinkie onto her belly and carefully placed his hooves at two different points on her back. Then he wrapped his wings around her and lifted her up onto her hind legs. Then with one quick jolt, Dark Angel lifted Pinkie squeezing tightly with his wings while pushing his hooves against her back. This caused her to yelp in pain as the last of the air was squeezed out of her lungs. She then fell limply to the ground, but no long laughing. She was just laying there gasping for air.
Pinkie didn't even try to get back up. That laughing fit had exhausted her.
"What happened?" Fluttershy asked.
"I think when she fell over laughing, she somehow hit a nerve," Dark Angel said, "This caused her diaphragm to lock into a spasm. In this case taking the form of a laughing fit. I hit certain nerves while simultaneously squeezing the air out of her lungs. These combined actions caused her to go into a shock that paralyzed her for a brief moment. That moment of paralysis caused the spasm to stop, ending her laughing fit."
"In English," Rainbow Dash grumbled.
"He did things that helped Pinkie," Ferra said.
"Is she going to be alright?" Rarity asked.
"She's gonna need a few hours of rest. But after that she'll be fine," Dark Angel said with a soft grin, "Then she'll be back to her old self before you know it."
Pinkie opened up her eyes and spoke, her voice still horse from laughing, "I never thought I'd be happy that I stopped laughing," Pinkie said with a grin.
"Did ah jus' hear her right?!" Applejack exclaimed.
"I guess there's a first time for everything," Twilight said.
Pinkie's smile faded and sadness filled her eyes as she looked toward Dark Angel, "If you weren't here, I would've died, wouldn't I?" Pinkie whimpered.
Dark Angel's sigh told her and the others what his answer was. But then Dark Angel replaced his serious expression with a foalish grin, "Well, I could think of allot worse ways to go," Dark Angel said, "I could just imagine the headline now; ELEMENT OF LAUGHTER DIES LAUGHING."
Dark Angel's little joke make Pinkie laugh weakly. But then it was followed by a groan, "Don't make me laugh right now."
"Alright," Dark Angel said. Then he turned to the others, "Come on. Let's get her inside so she can get some rest." The group did as told and helped Pinkie Pie up to bring her inside. They took her up to her room, then laid her on her bed and watched as her eyes slowly closed as she drifted off to sleep.
They all headed back out. "Well, Pinkie Pie's out of commission, so she won't be joining us for the activation," Twilight said.
"Ah don' mean ta be rude or not'in. But I'd rather not go either," Applejack said honestly, "The idea of a life form bein' made from all that technowatzits don' sit right with me."
"Well it's not really a life form. It's only an artificial intelligence program," Dark Angel explained, "Technically, Cyba is not much more than a walking talking computer."
"Well, Ah still don' like it. It jus' ain't normal," Applejack said, "Ah hope ya don' mind if Ah don' join ya fer the act'vation."
"It's alright Applejack. We understand," Twilight said, "Does anypony else prefer not to attend?"
"I think this is gonna be AWESOME!" Rainbow Dash cheered.
"I wonder if it will let me make outfits for it," Rarity said, going off into her own fashionista world.
"Well...uhm...no, I'll watch," Fluttershy said in her usual apprehensive manner.
Dark Angel only knew Fluttershy for three months. But he knew about how shy she was. And maybe he was just imagining things, but she seemed a little more apprehensive than usual. As they were heading back to the library, Dark Angel walked next to Fluttershy, "Is something wrong, Flutters?" Dark Angel asked, calling her by the nickname he had given her, "Is something bothering you?"
"Well...it's just that...I'm just a little nervous, that's all," Fluttershy said.
"You're more than a little nervous," Dark Angel pointed out, "Then again, that's not really anything new. You're afraid of Cyba, aren't you?" Fluttershy's lack of an answer was proof of his claim, "Don't worry, Flutters. I promise that Cyba will be friendly. There's nothing to be afraid of."
Although her thoughts didn't really change, Dark Angel did help to calm her nerves. Since she met Dark Angel, she felt as if he helped to calm her nerves and even make her feel more confident. There was also something else that she felt. She didn't know what it was, but she's never felt this way before.
X~ ~ ~ ~ ~X
LOADING...
…...
DATA PROCESSORS ONLINE...
…...
AUDIO SYSTEM ACTIVATED...
Rainbow Dash: You two didn't mess this up, did you?
Twilight Sparkle: No, of course we didn't!
Rainbow Dash: Then why's it taking so long?!
Dark Angel: Just be patient. It's a large complicated program. It'll take a little while for it to fully load.
VISUAL SYSTEM ACTIVATED...
The android opened up it's eyes to see a group of eight watching them. Three fully grown pegasi, one fully grown unicorn, one unicorn filly, one alicorn, one baby dragon, and one gryphon child.
The android had a child-like form. He was a polished silver. He had a mane and tail that resembled rows of blades that were colored gold, silver, gold, silver, gold, silver. His 'hooves', like his mane and tail blades, were made out of pure gold. His eyes were gold. His 'wings' were long curved golden bars that connect to his back. The gold bars extended outward into long silver blade-like protrusions. On his flank was an image of a computer chip cutie mark.
"YES! It's working!" Twilight cheered, "Let's see if everything is in working order. Do you know what you are?"
"I am Cyba," the 'mechapony' said in an emotionless robotic voice, "An artificial intelligence created by the combined works of Twilight Sparkle and Dark Angel."
"Nice, nice," Dark Angel approved, "What is your function?"
"My function is to learn through experience," Cyba said, "To achieve this task, I am to interact with other ponies and learn to live as they do."
"Do you have any...friends?" Dax asked curiously and shyly.
"Accessing... Friend... A pony attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard," Cyba defined as he accessed his database, "I have not been activated long enough to make... friends. Therefor, to answer your question, no. I do not have any friends."
"Well if you want to live like other ponies, you have to have friends like other ponies," Dax stated, "Do you want to be friends with me?"
"Want... To feel a need or desire for," Cyba defined again, "I am incapable of feeling need or desire. I am incapable of feeling anything. Therefor, I am incapable of wanting friends."
"Well deary, you don't have to want friends to have them," Rarity pointed out, "Having friends just... happens. Sometimes even when you don't expect it." Rarity looked toward Twilight when she said that last sentence.
"So, would you like to be my friend?" Dax asked.
"I cannot like to be... Correcting... Yes. We shale be friends," Cyba said, receiving a 'squea' from Dax.
"He's already making progress!" Twilight exclaimed, "He's already learning!"
"Since we're all already friend in here, that makes you one of our friends too!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
"Why is the yellow pegasus vibrating behind Dark Angel?" Cyba asked.
Fluttershy was hiding behind Dark Angel, trembling in fear of the mechapony, "This is Fluttershy. She's just scared," Dark Angel explained, "What she's doing is not vibrating. She's trembling."
"By definition, are they not the same thing?" Cyba asked.
Dark Angel couldn't help but facehoof at Cyba's comment, "This is going to be one interesting experience."
I will be doing a little trivia during this fanfic. I'll try to come up with a question for each chapter. And the answer to the trivia question will be in the next chapter. Most of the questions are really just about guessing.
Trivia Question: Why does Spike hate it when Dark Angel calls him 'number one assistant', even though that's Twilight's nickname for him?