Author's note: Hello everypony! Sorry, for the delay but I've been in touch with people on Fimfiction and have found out that I'm allowed to post there as well. The story is still being approved but I've secured the same username on fimfiction, so check me out! If you want to. Can't place link here so you'll have to search me up on Fimfiction. I do have the same name and avatar. :) Though I have also updated my avatar and it'll match across both platforms. So, if you'd like to leave a comment about my grammar, story continuity, character continuity, or any other feedback, head over to fimfiction and leave a comment. If you do not want to switch platforms feel free to send me a PM or a review! Though regardless, enjoy the story!
*Ehem* Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony or any of the characters contained within. They belong to Hasbro and their respective owners.
Cheerilee was still in her classroom. Still watching her precious students while literal crickets were chirping outside. She looked out the window again, wondering what was the emergency that required her to keep her students inside, but she wouldn't let them out without permission from a note in the bottle. She sighed, realizing that she was going to miss the train to Canterlot. She'd have to catch the next one, provided that this lockdown was released. Though she knew it would in time. The bottle on her desk flashed white and a little note was now occupying the previously empty space. She calmly but quickly trotted over to the magical item and retrieved the note. She read it over and smiled. The Reception 'ception had surrendered after the Twilight and her friends had confronted them. She then frowned. The note wanted her to have parents sign out their foals, just to be safe. She scowled. She'd miss the next two trains.
Be careful whom you trust. Even strangers can have the most powerful influence over your actions.
Fluttershy was looking out the window of the train. Bushes and trees sped by all held in constant motion by the seemingly unmovable train track below. Greens, greys, and browns meshed together when the train was in motion. Sometimes it would erupt in color as the train passed by ponies at stations or in towns. Though she wasn't worried about getting any ponies in the train car she and her friends were using. Twilight had requested the smallest car for her and her friends. The conductor was happy to oblige since it wasn't very full at this hour. So Fluttershy was comfortable letting Twilight stare at her eye while she looked outside.
Her mind was elsewhere. Not on the train, but in the forests and grasslands that she'd roam with her animal friends. Sweet Feather sanctuary was busier than ever. Though she didn't have the heart to see her sick friends with her own sickness.
If you could call it a sickness.
Regardless, she had gotten the Ponyville's vet for assistance. She was happy to help. Though Fluttershy wasn't able to confirm that herself, Twilight assured her that her friends would be taken care of for the duration of the visit. That had helped her feel calmer. She blinked, feeling the broken eye hold her eyelid open by some unseen spokes.
She felt a bit calmer about her situation though she still felt uneasy. She had just learned that her insides were possibly made of metal and other magical components. Rather, electro-magical components. Was she at all biological? She again shook her head prompting a concerned look from Twilight. She smiled and nodded softer.
She had already had this argument. If she was completely metal how was she able to eat biological things? If she was completely metal she'd have to eat metal to grow right? She used a hoof and gathered up some of her hair; was her hair made of metal? Surely not?
"Hey, Twilight?"
"Yes?" Twilight asked not moving her eyes.
"What do you think my hair is made out of?" Fluttershy asked curiously.
Twilight leaned back a little and seemed to ponder the question.
"What do you mean darling?" Rarity asked, joining the conversation on the word hair.
"Just that. My hair was able to block magic. So, it can't be normal hair, right?"
Rarity also took the same look as Twilight but took less time to answer, "Hmm, I suppose. Though whatever it is, it can be styled so it can't be too far from the real thing."
"Maybe your hair is just enchanted?" Pinkie asked pulling another sugary item from her mane.
Twilight shook her head, "I'm not sure about that. Her hair is exhibiting magic, but so do all manes."
"What about a microscope?" Spike said next to Twilight, "Don't you have one in your pocket?"
"Pocket?" Rainbow asked visibly confused, "You're not wearing a dress…"
Twilight nodded, beaming, "Yes, you are correct Rainbow, but Spike was referring to another pocket. A magical pocket that uses cutie mark energy to create a dimension of sorts. It's a common practice in higher-level unicorns."
"Huh?"
"It's a..." Twilight trailed off, trying to find a good way to explain it. "You remember the mirror to Canterlot High?"
Rainbow nodded.
"Well it's like that. It's a door to another dimension that I've created using my magic. Only the door is my magic."
"So, can you send anything to this little, 'Pocket'?" Applejack asked.
Twilight nodded.
"Even me?!" Pinkie asked excitedly.
Twilight blinked, "Uh, that hasn't been truly tried. You could store food and such but another creature? Not yet at least. The dimension is held together by my magic, more specifically my cutie marks magic. If the dimension was to lose connection to that magic then it would collapse and I would be buried in anything I had inside. If another cutie mark magic were to enter the flow, then it could be interrupted. I suppose it could work in short batches but even if you were able to somehow stabilize a cutie marks energy to not interfere with the dimension, then you'd still have to have a way to pump oxygen into the pocket and pump CO2 out. There's also light, atmospheric pressure, and even a stable ground to walk on. Most items are floating in this…" Twilight paused when she realized she was rambling, "Sorry."
Rarity shook her head, "No, darling, you're fine. Though I wish I could use that spell. It would be very handy for my work."
"Or apples." Applejack remarked, "You know how much I'd be able to get done if I could hold an acre of apples?"
The group chuckled imagining the scene. Then Spike perked up, "Though, microscope?"
Twilight blinked, "Oh, right! Thank you, Spike." Spike beamed.
Twilight then closed her eyes and lowered her horn for a second, then, while it was glowing, she jerked it upwards. Out of a purple glow came a small microscope. She levitated it over to Fluttershy and looked at her hair in interest.
"May I?" Twilight asked, holding a lock of Fluttershy's hair in her magical grasp. Fluttershy merely nodded, curious herself.
So, Twilight hovered the pink follicles to the microscope. It was just a little desk one a foal might use. Though this one was made up of metal and had many various knobs and switches. Twilight clamped a piece of Fluttershy's hair to the viewing plate and flipped a few switches. A light turned on inside the microscope and Twilight put her eye to the top viewer. Some knobs twisted in a magical glow as she focused the image.
"Fascinating…" Twilight stated, "Your hair seems to be implanted with tiny devices…"
Fluttershy was about to ask if she could see when her broken eye's vision placed a targeting reticle on the hair in the microscope. The top read, Zoom, and her vision scoped in as if she was using binoculars. Though much farther. She suddenly saw her hair but to her, it was the size of a log. A log from a very old tree. She also noticed at the bottom of her vision the words, View locked, were present. So, even when she moved slightly, she felt her eye move to keep her sight steady.
So, she was able to view her hair without distractions. It was a cylinder, like most hair but small blue rectangles were all around the shape. It was also extremely smooth, pony-made rather than biological. She wondered how her animal friends were able to hold onto her hair. She also realized that the end of the follicle was sharpened to a point.
"Oh, my…" She said quietly.
"Indeed, here girls have a look." Twilight said not realizing what Fluttershy had said till a second later, "Wait, how can you see it?"
Fluttershy shrugged and pointed to her left eye, "I can see it up close with this eye."
"You have a built-in microscope?!"
"I guess?" Fluttershy said turning to her friend feeling her other eye move differently than the other. It was a very odd experience.
Twilight looked flabbergasted.
By then each of the ponies in the train car had gotten a look at Fluttershy's hair and made similar comments. Though it was avoided in becoming a discussion due to the nature of the hair. It hadn't been growing out of Fluttershy's scalp but rather was put in. So, the others didn't comment but rather waited for Fluttershy's reaction.
"You can get poked by a hair, right?" Fluttershy finally asked, breaking the tense quiet.
Rarity nodded, glad for an opening for a discussion, "Why of course! I've done so on many occasions."
"So, it's not unnatural for the hairs to be sharpened to a point?"
Rarity shook her head, "No, that happens when you snip the hair. Though it isn't all that common, it is not all that uncommon either."
Fluttershy frowned, remembering the time her hair had grabbed the spike that had jabbed Rainbow. If each and every hair was sharpened to a point and could move, then it could be used offensively right?
She asked Twilight who's face morphed into uneasiness, but she agreed.
Fluttershy grabbed a lock of her hair, "Then I've got to learn how to control it. I don't want to hurt anypony." So, she promptly reached around to her wing and pulled out her emergency flare, and placed it on one of her hooves. It was a small device, only about the size of a thick carrot. Though more cylindrical in shape and no point either. Only a strap hung from one side. Meant for a pegasus hoof to slide through. To which the device was primed with either a pull from the bottom or a quick bash from the top. Lifting it up would launch the high velocity, extremely bright, flare. Her model had a feature that could produce sounds that could be heard from five miles away.
Though she had no intention of launching the flare in the cabin, that would indeed hurt some pony. Instead, she lifted the other hoof and moved it near the other one. She was going to move the flare from hoof to hoof. Simple as that.
Though try as she must she didn't know how to move her hair. For her entire life, it had been simply a vanity item and, at times, a place for small critters to hide. Though she had seen, and felt, her hair move. So, she could make it move. Right?
She tried imagining her hair as she would a leg. Just a very long, very thin, pink leg. Though she didn't have the feeling that she felt in her leg. So, she could send commands but if she couldn't feel where those commands would go, how was she supposed to move it?
Could she command it? She tried that. Letting the thought form, Please move flare to my left hoof.
Her hair jumped! Though she didn't let the excitement stay for long. The train had merely hit a bump. She sighed with this realization and thought back to how she moved it before. Well, she hadn't. The thing inside her head had.
With some concentration, she steeled her nerves and closed her eye. The thing could be talked to, she'd done it before. Though she had never started the conversation, it always had.
"Hello?"
"Uh, sugar cube?"
Fluttershy didn't open her eye, rather just focused her broken eye on Applejack.
Differing view detected, resetting zoom settings…
Applejack blinked but responded after a little delay, "You are talking out loud."
Fluttershy blushed and stated her apologies.
Applejack smiled, "It's nothing. Talk aloud all you'd like."
Fluttershy nodded, but tried again in the space of her mind, "Hello?"
Nothing.
"Helllooo?"
Silence held. Only the train car jostling around the track filled the air.
Fluttershy opened her eye and frowned.
"What's wrong?" Pinkie asked.
"I'm not sure. I think I can make my hair move if I ask the thing inside my head to do so." Fluttershy responded, eyeing the flare with a little annoyance, "But I'm not sure how to do that…"
Pinkie pondered that for a second, "Well, you can't talk to a pony the same way you'd talk to a griffon. Each has their own slang and courtesies. Maybe the first thing you should do is figure out what this, thing, is and how it talks."
Fluttershy nodded in understanding. You have to talk to predators and prey differently. Though she frowned, "I'm not sure how I'd do that."
"Well, you've had it speak to you before, right?"
Fluttershy nodded.
"Welllll, what did it say?"
"uh," Fluttershy said awkwardly, "It really didn't speak. It was just a bunch of words."
"Well, maybe that's the problem. You are trying to speak to it. Maybe you need to think words instead of saying words?"
Fluttershy felt her head tilt subconsciously. It made sense in a way, but isn't that was she was doing? Her face changed to understanding. No, she was listening to her own inner voice. Maybe Pinkie was right?
Hello?
Fluttershy didn't get anything back, well what she was expecting anyway. She felt something though. It was different than before, "I didn't get anything back but it was different than before," She paused trying to put her feelings into words.
"I felt like something was there, listening. It just, well, didn't respond with words."
Pinkie pulled out her bubble pipe from her mane, made some bubbles, and pointed it at Fluttershy, "Then you aren't speaking its language!" She said triumphantly.
"I suppose…" Fluttershy started but paused at Twilight's gesture.
"If I may." She looked Fluttershy dead in the eye, "What I'm going to say may not be very pleasant to hear but I feel you ought to. May I continue?"
Fluttershy took a second to respond. Though she trusted Twilight's intuition, so she nodded.
"I think this, thing, is actually a computer."
"A what now?" Applejack asked in confusion.
"A computer is an electro-magical device that runs numbers really fast. Put those numbers to work in programs and those programs can run other electro-magical devices."
"So, you think that I'm a computer?" Fluttershy asked. It wasn't accusatory, just a clarifying question.
Though Twilight shook her head vigorously, "No. I think that this inventor placed a computer in you to control the electro-magical devices that you have."
Fluttershy lifted her hoof with mild curiosity. It was a relief that her friend didn't think that she was a computer but on the other hoof, it didn't exactly reassure her that a computer was inside her. Then again, she had no idea what could be inside her ribcage. A lance had come out of it earlier.
"Though there is one flaw with that hypotheses." Twilight continued, "Earlier when you healed Rainbow, it sounded like you were talking to yourself when you were giving her shocks."
"I did?"
"Yes-sir-diddily." Pinkie confirmed, "You said, 'No! I'm not going to shock my friend again,' and, 'Restart her heart?'"
"I said that out loud? I was talking to the thing inside my head." Fluttershy replied.
Twilight nodded, "That's what I mean. So, it could be a computer but it may just not be listening."
"Well, if it helps," Rarity interjected, "Your eyes, er, rather eye did change color from red to green. Did you do something after Twilight brought you back?"
Fluttershy looked down in thought, "No. Well, I didn't."
"What happened?"
"Well, when Rainbow was injured, I saw the words: Critical patient detected, and: Activate MMO?"
"Could you try to activate the MMO? Maybe that's what was able to listen to you?" Twilight offered.
"I can try…" Fluttershy said timidly. She wasn't too fond of activating things. The two times she had done so a friend was saved but she had also almost killed. But she mustered her courage and thought about the words, Activate MMO?
Her eye suddenly lit up with words:
Inquiry received.
No injury detected, would you like to proceed?
Fluttershy hesitated, then nodded.
Confirmed.
Activating MMO…
MMO running.
Then that was it. No more words were running through her vision.
"Well, whatever you did, it changed your eye color. It's green now." Rainbow said.
"Did it work?" Twilight eagerly asked.
"I think so? It said that the MMO was running but I'm not seeing anything else…" Fluttershy said softly.
"Well, try asking it to move your hair."
Fluttershy did just that. Can you move my hair?
She got one word: Yes. She smiled, getting excited.
Can you move the flare from one hoof to the other with my hair?
The flare in her vision glowed a light blue and an arrow blossomed from one hoof to the other: Confirm?
Fluttershy nodded.
Then just like before, her hair reached up and wrapped around the flare. Then it lifted the flare and moved it to her left hoof. It then gently unraveled and went to its earlier position.
She grinned and looked up at her friends, all of which also had grins on their faces.
"Nice!" Rainbow cheered, "Now you've got it!"
Pinkie pie was jumping up and down having gotten off her seat, "Ooh, ooh! Pick me up!"
Fluttershy frowned, "I don't know. Pinkie, I really don't want to hurt you."
Pinkie stopped jumping and frowned, "Well, if it starts to hurt then Twilight can just teleport me out!"
Twilight nodded, "It'll be a bit of a jump for you since I have to calibrate for the motion of the train but that's not too hard."
Fluttershy frowned.
"Fluttershy, you were worried about your hair being dangerous. What if it isn't?" Twilight's horn glowed fiercely, and Fluttershy's flare teleported to her right hoof with a small pop. "See? Easy as pie."
"Mmmm. Pie…" Pinkie mumbled.
Fluttershy nodded reluctantly. She had to know if it was dangerous, and since Pinkie was practically indestructible and she was backed up by Twilight's magic; she nodded.
Can you move Pinkie pie from the floor to her seat?
Pinkie glowed, then an arrow from her to her seat appeared, Confirm?
Fluttershy didn't nod but responded, Gently? Yes?
Confirmed.
Fluttershy's hair glided over to Pinkie and wrapped around her ribcage and front and back legs. Then Pinkie was lifted into the air and placed gently on her seat. Then her hair unraveled itself and seemingly shrunk back into Fluttershy's skull.
Pinkie smiled and clapped her hoofs together, "See? Easy as pie!" She then leaned forward and said, "It felt like a blanket wrapping me up and putting me in my seat. It was as gentle as you are."
Fluttershy smiled and let a breath out, relieved that her friend was unharmed. Then had a thought.
Could I control my hair? She asked in her head.
Not at this current time. Required programs do not exist.
She repeated this message to Twilight who said, "Hmm. I suppose that makes sense. I suppose that we could ask the inventor when we reach them." She paused and looked out the window, "Which shouldn't be too much longer…"
So Fluttershy practiced moving items from one hoof to the other. She tried Twilight's microscope, her flare, and a cupcake from Pinkie. Pinkie had challenged her to unwrap the cupcake, and place it in her mouth with her hair. It had taken no time at all. She merely asked the MMO to unwrap the cupcake and place it in her mouth. She watched her hair gently peel the wrapper off from all angles with multiple hairs, then it wrapped it up with one follicle and lifted it towards her mouth. She opened it and in went the cupcake and out went the hair.
Though when she asked it to fold the wrapper it had asked for clarification. So, she asked it to fold it in half. Then half again, and again, and again. She blinked when she realized she had made eight folds in with the wrapper, much to Twilight's surprise. She also found that she could hold objects up. She also saw that she could make her hair hold a position and suspected that was how her hair had become as hard as a rock when she had run into Rainbow earlier that day. As she was moving her hair around, she thought of something and asked Twilight to shoot her hair with a spell.
"What?" Twilight had asked.
"Well, remember the Reception 'ception?" Fluttershy asked.
Twilight nodded, "Yeah. How could I forget?"
"Yeah, I guess sorry."
"No, no you're fine. What's your point?"
"Well, remember when I blocked that magic blast from the unicorn?"
Twilight didn't reply. Instead, her expression became an understanding one.
Fluttershy continued, "Well, I was wondering if I would be able to block most magic. Well, offensive magic anyway."
"I suppose," Twilight paused, "But not on the train. I don't want to accidentally hit something."
Fluttershy nodded, "That's fair."
And so, Fluttershy continued with practicing with her hair. And when the train had rolled into the station, she was able to have her hair move her flare back into the little pouch under her wing. Once she had secured the eye patch back to her head, she smiled and followed her friends out to the station's landing pad. After greeting some fans of Twilight and Rarity, the group bunched up and gathered around a floating map.
Twilight pointed to the map, "Okay, we've got two places and six of us. So, I think that we should separate into two groups to contact both of these inventors. Me, Rainbow, and Applejack will take this inventor and Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity will take other."
"I'll go with Fluttershy's group and Luna will go with you Twilight." A familiar voice came from over the map.
Twilight let the map drop down a bit and Fluttershy saw Celestia and Luna standing in front of them.
"If that is okay…" Luna said gently.
Twilight smiled and nodded, "It sure is. It may actually help to have a princess or two."
"My thoughts exactly," Celestia said with a smile and the group separated into their groups and went off to their destinations.
Rarity was following behind Pinkie pie, who was bouncing up and down. She made sure to keep a good distance as to not get a mouthful of tail but didn't comment on her friend's method of travel. If Pinkie wanted to bounce, then by Celestia she was going to bounce.
Not that she minded her friend's bouncing, except when she about to wear a custom dress she herself had made. But then Pinkie would respect that and stop her bouncing. So, Rarity would return the courtesy.
The bouncing actually helped settle her nerves. In a weird way, Pinkie was very light. And so, when her, and her friend's, emotions were a bit tight, she helped lighten the entire mood. Which was especially helpful right now.
To find her friend with some extraordinary abilities would be in any other scenario amazing. Though her abilities weren't magic. Rather they were a mix of electro-magical components. Her mouth curled in distaste when she felt the word roll in her mind.
"What is the matter?" She heard Celestia ask and the white unicorn looked and faced the alicorn.
"I would rather not say." Rarity replied, gently motioning to Fluttershy. Only to realize Fluttershy was looking at her.
"Speak your mind Rarity. There is very little place for secrets between friends. Especially for friends like you two." Celestia said gently, looking at the both of them.
Rarity nodded and spoke her mind, "I was just contemplating our friend's situation. In any other situation, we'd all be celebrating rather than trying to track down some pony. It just struck me that Fluttershy has components. It feels wrong to say that; and I'm terribly sorry for thinking such things."
Fluttershy shook her head, "No, it's okay. If I have components, so be it."
"You are okay with who you are?"
Fluttershy hesitantly nodded, "I guess. If I've been this way for this long why fret? Other than the whole sudden lasers. Which we are going to see the inventor about."
Rarity looked at her friend with mild surprise, "Are you sure?"
"No, but I can't fear everything as I did in the past." She beamed, "I've got you guys to help me, right?"
"You sure do!" Pinkie exclaimed, tackling Fluttershy in a hug. However, Fluttershy had seen enough of these surprise hugs to get knocked over.
Rarity smiled at the spectacle and nodded, "Well, I'm glad." And she was, though she wasn't sure what else to say. Had her legs suddenly gained the ability to shoot lasers that could evaporate ponies she might still be freaking out. Yet here was her most timid friend showing a powerful confidence. Though Rarity knew her friend well enough to see between the lines.
Her friend was very scared. Scared from the previous encounter with Reception. Though with her friends around, Rarity was sure she'd be alright. They always were.
The group walked up to a shop that made Rarity's nose tickle just by looking at it. It was obvious that whoever was upkeeping the building, wasn't doing it very well. Or didn't want to do it very well. Rarity exchanged a look with the solar Princess.
"Do you think that she is even here anymore?"
Celestia nodded, "I know that some pony pays the for the property, and that hasn't changed since I first met her."
Pinkie walked right up to the little building and pounded on the door, dust falling from the frame, "Hellooo? Anypony home?" She called in her normal tone. To which no pony answered. The group didn't hear anything from the inside though that could have been because of all the hoof traffic in the city. Canterlot was a busy place; it being the home of two Princesses and one of the oldest cities around.
Though the building Rarity was looking at didn't have the same look as some of the others. It looked heavily modified and made up of more sturdy wood. Wood that cost much more. Though it was still painted and had a nice little roof shaped like a triangle. The house itself was a blueish-grey with the roof being a normal black color, lines separating shingles. Though there were more shapes on the roof, of both different color and style. It looked like there were blue glass rectangles on the roof. Shimmering slightly in the dying light. Large pieces of metal framed the windows and the metal door had a small glass bead on the front. Rarity thought it might be a peephole but noticed that inside the glass bead was a black circle and not an image of the other side.
Rarity glanced near the location of the sun and noticed it was only a few hours till dusk. Then turned back towards the door. She walked up towards the door and gave it a hefty knock, "Hello? We'd like some help?"
"With some of your inventions?" Fluttershy offered gently.
"With some of your inventions!" Pinkie repeated, in a much more audible tone. Though her voice remained unanswered.
"This could be a problem." Rarity said, "it looks like no pony is home. That or doesn't call this place home anymore."
Celestia frowned, "I'm not so sure. This property is paid for, on time, every month. And you see those blue squares on the roof? Those are called Celestial panels. They collect solar energy and convert it into electrical energy. The inventor uses it to run some of their projects. They are still in place, and not cheap to make. So, I do not think she'd just up and leave them."
Rarity looked at the panels with curiosity. She'd do the same. If she had to move out, she'd at least take her most valuable fabrics and her gems. So that made it seem the inventor was just ignoring them. Maybe because there was the Princess of the sun on her doorstep? Or maybe that she knew that they all knew about Fluttershy?
Celestia's horn suddenly glowed a dark blue and she closed her eyes for a moment. Then opened them, "It looks like our other group found more success than we have. They have made contact with the inventor and he says he knows about Fluttershy, though is surprised that she didn't know about him."
"Let's go join our other party then." Rarity said and the group started to walk away. Though after a good while she heard a knock on the metal door. She hesitated and looked back but wasn't able to see the house from her angle.
"I pray they have more luck than we did," Celestia said with a smile looking towards Rarity. She had also heard the knock.
"Common slowpokes!" Pinkie playfully cried, "Let's go get Fluttershy fixed up!"
Rarity started to hurry over, wishing that her friend didn't use that phrasing. Though, she realized it was perfectly normal to use that term regardless of machine or pony. So, she shrugged and followed the group to the other house. It took some time as it was on the other side of the city, but the differences continued. This house was made up of cheaper wood like its neighbors. The open windows showed off little trinkets and medallions that she assumed belonged to this inventor. Though the house was a dark black. With the roof being a dark hue of red. She frowned, not liking the look of the place but she had met many nice ponies who liked this color scheme. She didn't particularly like it unless she was going to dress as a vampire, but ponies will be different.
When they approached, their other friends were nowhere in sight. So, they walked up to the door and Pinkie knocked enthusiastically, "Hello?"
The door opened quickly to reveal Twilight, "Girls!" she said in an excited tone, "I think we may know why Fluttershy didn't know about her electro-magical devices. Quick come in!" She ushered them into the main room.
Rarity was looking around the place and found it wasn't very welcoming. Shelves lined the brown walls, filled with different types of books. Bits of metal stuck together in what she assumed were electro-magical components covered some of the shelves but were overshadowed by the black books. Thick and made of leather, they looked extremely old.
The center of the room lay a rug that had a spinning array of red and gold. A mesmerizing pattern that took her a few seconds to gaze at. The room had the rest of her friends sitting on this rug and they were all listening to a pony behind a desk.
This pony had a clean look to him. Flat styled hair that flowed to right and down. A simple goatee laid on his light brown coat. Brown eyes, that took everything in little time, were slightly colored red from the glow from his horn. Further down, he was wearing a red vest with a simple black undershirt. A small red, black-bordered, charm rested around his neck. The vest made its way almost to his cutie mark ending in small triangular tails. A shorter tail with a simple cloth band near the end followed after. Though his cutie mark was a black four-pronged star on top of a red rectangle; which didn't strike her anything tech-wise but a pony was not restricted to his or her cutie mark.
The pony was talking, holding a large cylindrical object that had one end tapered to a valve in his magical grasp, "This device, when coupled with a breather, allows the user to breathe underwater for a set time. Useful for underwater investigations." His voice had a deep commanding tone to it, though it was not unfriendly. Rarity could still hear some notes of enthusiasm as he showed off his device. Though the pony stopped and looked at the newcomers with a warm smile.
"Ah, the mare of the hour. Do you recognize me now Fluttershy?" The pony asked in a smooth tone.
Fluttershy shook her head, "No, not at the moment."
"Ah. That is a tad bit unfortunate, but it isn't the first time a customer has forgotten about me…" A slight disappointment trailed his voice.
"I'm sorry," Fluttershy responded quietly.
"No, no do not worry about it. I'm glad my inventions are so natural they are forgotten about."
"Customer?" Celestia asked gently pulling the pony's attention to her.
"Yes indeed. Fluttershy was brought to me to get some augmentations. Well, replacements really." The pony replied in a nonchalant tone.
Celestia blinked but it was Fluttershy who asked, "Replacements?"
The pony gave her a curious look, his smooth eyebrows wrinkling in dissatisfaction, "Please tell me you at least remember my name?"
Fluttershy meekly shook her head.
The other pony flattened, "Oh dear that is going complicate things. But my name is Noah. Pleased to re-meet you."
Fluttershy dipped her head.
"Though I was told you broke the cover on your eye?"
Fluttershy nodded and looked at Rarity, "Can you remove the eye patch?"
Rarity nodded, lit her horn, and willed the eye patch to come off. Gently moving the strands of hair she had meticulously placed to cover the headwear.
"Hmm, indeed you have. Tell me, how did you break it?" Noah asked, turning away and walking to another room.
"We had a run-in with some bad ponies and Fluttershy took a bat to the face!" Pinkie replied after Fluttershy didn't respond.
There was a clunk and a crash in the other room, but Noah came out unscathed. Though he looked quite surprised, "A bat? My goodness, you must have not gotten the cover upgrade. Though it makes sense now that I think about it…" A small box followed behind him, trapped in a red glow.
"It was a metal-studded bat," Twilight offered, getting up from her position.
"Hmmm, that would make more sense." He paused, "Fluttershy could you come over to the rug, there is an illumination spell here that will make it much easier to work on your eye."
Fluttershy meekly obeyed. Walking to the rug where Rainbow and Applejack were still sitting. The table levitated over it telescopically raised upwards.
"Now you rest your head on that," Noah said, "Normally I would put you in the harness but since you don't remember that it may be better to do it this way." The box he had been holding floated down and rested on the table.
"Sister?" Rarity heard Luna ask. Though she didn't turn her head.
"Yes?" Celestia replied, matching the quiet tones of her sister.
"What do you think about Noah?"
"Hmm. An odd pony, though he has shown some prowess with his devices. They can be quite useful if you have the budget for them."
"Well do you notice these books?"
"They look familiar, yes. Why?"
"They are history books! From before we even found the elements. These books are from when you and I first became alicorns."
That got Rarity's attention. Became alicorns? She was sure interested but was more interested in what Noah was doing. He had a curved two-pronged fork in a magical grasp and was holding it to Fluttershy's broken eye. Several other sized prongs and thin metal poles lay on the table as well.
"Ah, here is the right size. Now, Fluttershy. I have to place this tool underneath your eyelid and it will go down farther than you feel it should. Though it will be alright, just tell me if it hurts." Noah explained.
Though when the tool hovered near, Fluttershy flinched and backed up. Her good eye showed a tiny iris that seemed to be looking in another world. She took a ragged breath, and screamed.
Fluttershy was no longer in the room. Or was she? She didn't know. All she did know was pain. Pain in the back of her skull, or lack thereof. She had a thought obliterating headache that only seemed to get worse. Wires and tubes were piercing her ribs and there was something in her eye. No, something was pushing at the bottom of her eye, attempting to get it out. Though there was nothing she could do. Her front legs were gone. Her back legs were restrained along with her wings. Each limb pulled to its maximum extent. Along her spine, she felt each vertebra in her spine attached to something. Something pulsing, not with life… But rather electricity. It flowed through her body in painful waves but it was barely noticed. She was just stuck, hoisted in the air as something tried to dislodge her eye. She was crying though, screaming even. But tears made it impossible for her to see who exactly was hurting her.
Though suddenly something enveloped her mind. The pain vanished giving Fluttershy a relief she never knew she could feel. Grateful, she hugged the feeling and squeezed it tight as to not let it go. The energy squeezed as well and seemed to pull her out of mind and body until she suddenly felt something shift and she was back in the room, staring at Noah. Noah had a worried expression on his face but Fluttershy wasn't worried about that. The painful memory was still fresh in her mind, but something brushed it away.
"It's over now. You here, with me." Twilight's voice reached her ears and she realized she was being hugged by Twilight. She couldn't see Twilight's face as her head was resting on her neck. Her mane was flowing into her face but it smelled like books. Old, new, paper books. It was comforting.
But she also noticed that her mane had a yellow stripe running through it. She blinked and attempted to back up to get a better look at Twilight, but was pulled back into the hug.
"Are you okay?" Twilight asked sternly.
Fluttershy nodded, no longer able to remember the memory. Only it's effect.
Twilight gently released the hug and allowed Fluttershy to back up. Twilight's mane had a yellow stripe through it. Though she was able to recognize the form she was in. Back when they defeated Tirek, they took on different powered forms. Twilight was in that form, with sparkles dancing along her hooves. Her horn was also glowing, but her face was controlled.
"You were stuck in a memory. A very painful memory at that. I had to delve in and pull you out. I'm still holding back the memory, but I will have to release it. But I'll release it gently, okay?"
Fluttershy frowned but nodded. Twilight knew more about magic than she did. So, it was best for her to go along.
Twilight's horn glowed a tad bit brighter and Fluttershy felt the painful memory return. Though it was not as sudden as before. This time, it was much easier to manage but she blocked it regardless. She did not want to remember the pain. Did not want to remember the feeling of missing limbs. Did not want to remember her eye…
Twilight's horn stopped glowing and her mane and hooves returned to normal. She then spun on a dime and confronted Noah, "You have some explaining to do!" Her offensive actions immediately pulled the rest of the group into offensive positions.
Noah however didn't flinch, but rather sighed, "Yes I suppose I do. Let me go get the report."
"I'm coming with you."
"By all means Princess."
With that, Noah left the room with Twilight close behind. Her horn was glowing and her wings were flared.
The other alicorns looked uneasy, their wings slightly extended. Though the rest of Fluttershy's friends were around her in a protective fashion. She was still worried but felt much better. Had Twilight seen the memory as well? It made sense since she was in her head.
Noah and Twilight came back into the room but Twilight's wings were no longer flared which caused the room to relax. She was instead looking through a yellow folder.
"You really don't remember?" Twilight asked and placed the folder upright on the table. Fluttershy leaned over and saw herself. Only in a terrible condition. The photo was in a mugshot format with her facing the camera. Her eyes were covered with a white bandage that was beginning to change to the color red. Her hair was a mess and the rest of her expression seemed dazed and out of it.
She frowned and looked to the photo below it. It was a side view of her entire form. Though her front legs were mangled beyond belief. She looked at another photo and saw her front. Her face was the same but she got a better view of her legs. The left leg was gone. Only a wrapped shoulder in its place. Her right leg was better off. It was gone below the knee however with a brace anchored to the top half with metal screws.
Fluttershy swallowed nervously. She also felt nausea that seemed to reflect throughout the group. She turned her head to the other side of the folder that seemed to have words instead of pictures. She read the title: Client Fluttershy. Project: Replacement of broken or missing limbs and organs. Report on damage.
"You were in really bad shape when you got here." Noah started gently, his voice carefully low, "Your parents, Mr, and Mrs. Shy brought you here in hopes to allow you to continue care of your animals through electro-magical components." Noah's face drooped, "It was terribly painful for you. Augmentations need power, and the only way to power them without carrying around a saddle was to imbed crystals into your wings that absorb solar energy. And since you'd be in the sun almost all day it was a viable option."
"I do remember those crystals." Applejack stated, "When you put up that fancy shield."
"Ah, so you had to use it." Noah said with a smile, "Those crystals are also able to project their energy as a nearly impassable wall. You just have to be in direct sunlight for that to work. Gave her that so she wouldn't get so hurt next time."
"Hold on, what happened to her?" Luna asked urgently.
"I apparently fell down a waterfall trying to save some animals," Fluttershy stated, reading the report.
Noah nodded, "Indeed, your rescue attempt was quite close to the waterfall which pulled you over and into rocks. Large, and pointy rocks. Your entire left leg was ripped off on impact and they were unable to recover it. Your right leg took some major fractures to your lower leg bone, for those who do not know the names of bones, but below that, you right got some nasty gashes and had to be removed because of infections."
"So, I have an artificial left and half an artificial right?" Fluttershy asked moving her gaze from the paper to her right limb.
"No," Noah said hesitantly, "Your right leg also took damage to the shoulder joint as well. To be honest, your entire right leg was being held together with screws and magic. And since I didn't have half a leg prosthetic, we ended up removing it."
"Okay, Fluttershy has prosthetic front legs. That's good, but how can she change them into healing hooves of tomorrow?" Pinkie interjected.
Noah nodded, "Tiny rings were implemented into her shoulder. These rings house dimensional pockets tied to Fluttershy's cutie mark. I believe the legs you are referring to are the Medical legs. I gave those to her to help heal sick animals."
Pinkie nodded, but she wasn't done, "Okay, what about the panel she can open on her neck? For breathing masks and stuff? And what about the moving hair? The plasma shooting legs?"
Noah nodded multiple times, "All to help with the healing with animals. Except for the DPM, or Defensive Plasma manipulator. Which comes with almost all my prosthetics for the front legs."
"I'm not sure if I'm okay with that," Celestia said disapprovingly.
Noah frowned, "I'm sorry Princess but she approved and did take the training. The DPM is also under the list of approved proto weapons."
"You have my approval?"
Noah nodded and left the room. He returned with a large tan box. It floated to the floor with a large thump, then the lid floated off and revealed a large number of papers. Each piece took a turn glowing as Noah sifted through the pages. Then with a slight exclamation, a single folder floated out. It opened up and a single page floated out. It was a very bright piece of paper, with a golden wax seal of approval at the bottom right.
Celestia nodded frowning, "I guess so." Her horn glowed slightly and her frown melted, "This is authentic."
"What do you mean?" Luna asked. "Did this agreement happen before my release from the nightmare?"
Celestia nodded, "Yes. I allowed ponies to create weapons and register them with me. It was a lot easier to halt issues when the weapons were trackable. Ponies wanting to create a defensible option would come to me with the proposal and if I found those ponies reliable, I would give them this document." She lifted a hoof towards the floating piece of paper, "Not many ponies created defensible options but a few did."
Noah nodded, "Initially you weren't on board with the DPM. It took weeks of persuading, but I was able to compromise with several contracts and leases."
Celestia slowly nodded, seemingly looking into her mind space with a glossed look, "I do remember that. Not clearly but I do remember."
Noah nodded, "Now for that panel you are referring to, I believe you are talking about the Medical Distributor. This panel allows the user to share their own oxygen levels through the lungs or blood." Noah smiled, "A powerful creation that I can't take all the credit for. But it allows the user to connect to the patient's circulatory system for nutrient supplication or even to pump blood when the patient's heart is stopped! There is a little more to it than that, but I do not want to bore you all."
Twilight, however, was not so easily swayed, "It wouldn't be a bore at all! Please I'd love to know how you stimulate the heart while to pump the blood as to avoid pressure build-up in the ventricles."
Noah chuckled, "Well, that's simple. You can use a special mix made from naturally found herbs that will relax the heart and have all the valves relax which allows blood to flow normally. This allows an external pump to push the blood through the entire system. Though you do have to connect to the circulatory system into specific areas otherwise you would—"
"As much as I would love to hear the specifics, we came here to help Fluttershy get her eye fixed and learn her abilities. We can talk scientist later," Rainbow said, breaking the conversation.
Twilight blushed, "heh, heh. Doing it again! Sorry!"
Fluttershy smiled, she didn't mind. It allowed her to contemplate what was going on, "It's fine."
Twilight frowned and her face said, ehh. Though she didn't comment.
Noah grinned himself, "Aye, lost myself as well. My apologies. Let's get back to the reason you came here." He walked back over the table and pulled an object wrapped in a white cloth. The cloth was pulled away in a red glow, revealing a glass piece. It was smooth and clear but had an ever so slight texture to it. It was as if someone had a flat plane of glass, curled it around a bit, and smoothed out the corners. It could probably hang on her leg if she wanted to.
"Let's get your eye fixed up. It'll take but a minute."
Fluttershy frowned turned back to the report and read it through again. It had been specific about her injuries, but she didn't truly remember the waterfall. Though it wasn't uncommon for memory loss after such a trauma, so she wasn't too skeptical. She brushed the feeling aside; why is there a reason to be skeptical? Her face frowned as her mind gave her an answer.
"What about battle mode?"
Noah's face was filled with curiosity, "Battle mode?" His voice was filled with genuine surprise.
Fluttershy nodded and gave a brief recap of the battle with Reception 'ception but left out the bit of almost killing the Reception 'ception.
Noah sat down and the glass piece floated gently down and rested on the table. He didn't respond for a time and seemed to ponder the question. Then after a minute, he spoke slowly, "Perhaps you wrote the program subconsciously. The drone I understand. It's part of the leg as a search and rescue option. Something you agreed to, though I don't recall placing such a program in. Which leads me to believe you may have made it."
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, Fluttershy's face mirroring the question.
"Well, to allow the eyes to send signals to Fluttershy's brain, there has to be a connection to the brain. My guess is that in the events you and your friends go through created a sort of battle instinct. Sort of how ponies train themselves for years to get a skill and when it comes to needing to do it, it just happens naturally." He said thoughtfully, "I think in the times that you fought Equestria's threats you may have gotten a battle sense that has manifested in the computer linked to your brain."
"How does that happen?" Luna asked in a voice thick with accusation.
Noah seemed to not notice however and replied, "Well the connection to the brain is not technically one way. Fluttershy has the ability to move her eyes, which requires the mind to give the computer commands. And since we are magic folk, I'm not surprised that the system has begun to merge with Fluttershy herself. And I'm sure in time that system will become second nature to her."
Fluttershy frowned, why would she make a program to kill some pony?
Noah continued, "Though it could also be a program glitch. We can check on that if you'd like."
Fluttershy nodded quickly, "Yes please." She wasn't sure what a glitch was but if the system could be checked that was okay by her.
Noah nodded, "Sure thing. Though you'll need to get in the harness for that part but that shouldn't be an issue."
"The harness?"
Noah sighed, "You really have forgotten everything. Let's fix your eye first."
"Wait a minute. What about Fluttershy's lance?" Rarity spoke up.
The group turned to Rarity, some in confusion, some in realization.
"Lance?" Luna asked.
"Could you bring it out?" Rarity asked turning to Fluttershy.
"Lance? You mean the weapon lance?" Noah said with surprise.
Applejack walked close to the stallion and eyed him straight in the eyes, "Yeah. The large pokey stick thing that jousters use."
"I certainly did not give her that. Frankly, the only weapon I gave Fluttershy was the DPM, nothing more."
Applejack closed her eyes for a second and then she started to faintly glow. Fluttershy felt her gut start to glow as well. Though she recognized that feeling. It was a feeling from when she and her friends used the Elements of Harmony.
"Alright tell me again that you didn't implant that lance in ma friend." Applejack commanded, staring at Noah.
"I did not give, nor implant, that lance into Fluttershy," Noah said immediately.
Applejack frowned and the aura faded, "He's telling the truth."
"I most certainly am. Though I understand your concern." Noah said, "Let's get your eye fixed and check out your programming." He paused, "Er, that was poorly phrased. After fixing your eye we'll check out the code on your computer." Noah said with an apologetic smile.
Fluttershy nodded but she was in her inner mind.
Deploy lance? She thought but nothing responded. She thought back to the train and remembered the MMO. Did she turn it off?
Turn on MMO. She thought.
No critical patient detected. Proceed?
Yes. She responded silently.
Booting MMO…
MMO running.
"You've even figured out how to change the color of your eyes? Fascinating." Noah said and Fluttershy realized he was looking at her.
"I guess?"
"Hmmm, was its conscious effort?"
"Well, I just booted the MMO."
Noah's eyes lit up, "You know what the MMO is?"
"No, not really."
"It stands for Mobile Medical Operative. It's a program built to help control the medical functions in medical devices. The fact you can interact with it is amazing!"
"Thanks?"
"Though I'm confused why it booted now. Is there a critical patient? Injury?" Noah looked around at the other ponies with concern.
Fluttershy shook her head, "No, it's the only thing that will listen to me."
"Listen? What do you mean?"
"Well, you know how my hair can move right?"
Noah nodded, "Tiny bits of metal were embedded in the follicles; designed to work with a magmatic extender to move and repair tissue. Though it was meant to be controlled by the MMO. Not by conscious thought."
"I don't really control it; I just ask the MMO to move my hair in a certain way."
"Fascinating. The MMO wasn't programmed to be able to take those kinds of requests. You may be making it a part of you… Which is such a scientific discovery! This is amazing!" Noah seemed to be ready to jump through the roof with his excitement.
Fluttershy frowned but in a shyness kind of way. She felt that her guard was up, though that was normal for her. Which was annoying, to say the least, but there wasn't much she could do about it. Well, not at this current moment anyway.
"Though why did you boot the MMO?" Noah asked.
"Rarity wanted me to show you the lance, though everything I did wasn't deploying it."
"Did it work? I'm very curious about this."
"Well, I haven't tried…"
"Well, give it a go."
So Fluttershy again went into her mind and attempted to talk to the MMO, Deploy lance?
There are no threats in the general vicinity. Proceed?
Yes? She replied cautiously.
Synchronizing magmatic generators…
Deploying lance…
Fluttershy felt her side open up again and the miniaturized lance came out. With the steely slither emanating from the weapon, it popped into its full size. Her side closed and the lance stayed at the ready, floating an inch from her coat.
"Fascinating, but I do not recognize it," Noah said walking towards the lance.
Though Pinkie jumped forward and stopped him, "Don't touch it! Or you'll feel the wrath of a thunder cloud!"
Noah regarded her with concern, "I'm assuming you know by experience?"
Pinkie nodded.
"Alright. Well, I know for a fact that isn't mine, which worries me." Noah gave Fluttershy a worried look. "Let's fix that eye of yours and look at the programming. We may be able to find something that may lead us to the pony who corrupted your prosthetics."
Fluttershy nodded, "Okay."
Fluttershy again went to her mindscape, Uh, un-deploy the lance?
Retrieving Lance.
Fluttershy felt her side open up and the lance went back into her ribs. Any sensor input she was expecting was absent. She felt the lance for a second when it hit where her ribs should be but then didn't feel it again.
Though she did listen to Noah and again laid her head on the table. Though this time she asked, "Twilight?"
"Yes?" Twilight answered, entering her field of vision.
"Can you hold my head down? I don't want to flinch and break something."
Twilight nodded, and Fluttershy felt her head steady and glow with a purple aura.
"Alright. Just relax, this won't hurt at all." Noah said, levitating the two-pronged towards her eye.
Fluttershy flinched but the purple glow intensified, and her head didn't move. Her breath quickened but she felt a couple of hooves stroking her hair and heard her friends giving her words of comfort. She steeled her breathing and said, "Do it."
Noah nodded, "Like I said, it will be quick and painless. Twilight, please do not hold anything in Fluttershy's head. The eye will have to move for me to repair it."
Twilight nodded.
The metal tool slowly made its way to her eye and slipped underneath her bottom eyelid. It sunk a couple of inches and Fluttershy was reminded of her memory. Though this tool wasn't trying to pull her eye out, rather just pulled her bottom eyelid outward revealing the bottom part of the eye. The other small rods from the table levitated up and pushed something on the bottom of her eye. She felt her eye straighten and the words appeared in her vision.
Manual Repair mode.
Manual? Could she repair herself?
Though Noah kept doing his work. She felt several clicks and something hissed gently in her head.
"Bottom piece released," Noah said and she felt the rod move something in her eye. Gently, she felt the bottom piece of broken glass slowly slide upwards, and visibly noticed the broken edge slide from her vision.
She expected the prong in her eye to be removed but Noah instead inserted another prong into the top of her eye! Though this time it was slower. This time it was inched in with Noah putting rods in deep into her skull. Prodding the top of what she assumed was the top of her, well, whatever the top area of where her eyeball would go, was called. This made the area expand, which was very weird. She actually felt a gap between her eye and her eye socket, yet it didn't hurt. Noah kept pushing and poking areas until another thing hissed and Fluttershy saw the top layer of broken glass slide out.
"Okay now for the replacement," Noah said, lifting the whole glass piece he had revealed earlier. The two prongs pulled her eyelids upwards and the glass piece floated over to her. Gently the glass was pushed into her eye socket, perfectly fitting around her eye. The glass kept going till she heard a click and a small hiss in her skull. Her eye socket then seemed to shrink around the eye again till it felt snug and normal.
"There we go!" Noah exclaimed happily, "Now we just remove those prongs, and it's as good as new!"
The prongs then floated out from under her eyelids and she blinked a few times to get her eyelids comfortable.
"You can release her now Princess, the procedure is done," Noah said gesturing to Twilight.
Fluttershy felt the hold on her head loosen and she rubbed her eye with her leg, attempting to remove any wrinkles.
"Alrighty, your eye should automatically accept that new piece of crystal lattice and return to normal. Here, you should be able to watch it, it may be interesting." Noah said, casually holding up a mirror from the box.
Here Fluttershy saw herself, though noticed that the previously broken eye still had the mechanical look. Which alarmed her but she continued to watch; both the mirror and words appearing in her vision.
New crystal lattice detected. Checking for imbalance.
The little squares in her eye turned yellow, then pulsed from the inside to the outside rows.
Crystal lattice accepted. Ejecting trapped air…
Fluttershy felt nothing occur but noticed that the vision in her eye got clearer.
Connecting to lattice. Calibrating for iris cover…
Fluttershy noticed in the mirror her eye flash once, from her pupil to the rim of her eye.
Calibration complete. Returning to personal preferences:_default_blue/Fluttershy
The glass shimmered and in its place was her original eye! Fluttershy compared the two eyes together but didn't find anything different. The color and size-matched each other just how she was used to. She blinked and felt both eyelids close comfortably.
A smiled grew on her face, "Thank you!"
Noah smiled as well and returned the mirror to the box, "Don't thank me yet. Let's find out what happened to your computer's code." The table that he had been using floated up and off the rug, "Everypony off the rug please."
Every pony obliged and Noah stared at the center of the rug. After a few awkward moments, the center of the rug sunk into the floor. Sections of the floor sunk away in spiraling patterns and were replaced with various metal arms, metal crates, and a center rig. The rig had a crescent of metal sections connected to a horizontal platform with four circles that looked an awful lot like restraints. The crescent had several arms on the top end and split into two sections while connecting to the platform. It seemed to be made up of steel, though it was brown with age and rust. It creaked while getting into the position it was requested to.
However, the device came to halt and the creaking also ceased, "Alright Fluttershy. Do you see those circles on that platform? You'll need to place your hooves in those circles. That crescent thing will—"
"Those look like restraints," Luna said flatly.
Noah nodded, "In a way you are correct. Those bottom connectors will connect to Fluttershy's prosthetic limbs. That crescent will connect to special pieces embedded into her spine. Only then we will be able to access the access port in her right eye."
"Port?"
Noah looked exasperated, "Yes. Though it is hard to explain to those who don't know electro-magical technology." He paused and looked down, thinking about his answer, "An access port is like a station for a train. You have to be at the station to get on the train, right? A similar concept is at play here. The access port is like the station and the train is the computer's code. If I can see the code that controls Fluttershy's spear, I may be able to pin whoever created it."
"So, you're saying that by looking at this code, you can tell who made the lance?"
Noah nodded.
Luna looked at her sister then back at Noah with a thoughtful expression.
Noah frowned, "You think I made the lance? Why? Even the element of honesty has clarified that truth. Honestly, I'm surprised that you are suspicious of me. Especially how you helped me with that nightmare years ago."
Luna's expression softened, "I am sorry. Though I had to make sure since we are dealing with an Element of Harmony."
Noah nodded, understanding, "Of course Princess. Now Fluttershy, whenever you are ready, stand on that platform, and we'll get started."
Fluttershy frowned. There was a nervous knot in her gut. This device was way too familiar, "Have I been here before?"
Noah nodded, "This device helps me install and fix prosthetics of all kinds. Wings, legs, even hair."
"Does it hurt?"
Noah shook his head, "It will hold you still but it won't hurt. It may be a bit uncomfortable since you have wings, it will hold them out. Though if you are relaxed it'll be fine."
Fluttershy took a breath and looked at her friends. If Noah were to try anything, there were her friends and the Princesses to help her. Three alicorns and the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony could beat the foes of Equestria. Surely if Noah were to number himself with them her friends would easily quash any attempts.
So, she walked over to the device. She had a flashback to her previous time in the device but shook the memory away. She was tired of chickening out on the simplest tasks. She ignored the fearful voice that she always heard and stepped into the little rings.
"Alright, here we go. Try to hold still." Noah said and Fluttershy saw his horn glow.
The little rings creaked and slowly tightened around her legs. They glowed blue and Fluttershy saw a message about connectivity in her vision.
Harness detected. Docking…
The crescent came down and rolled along her spine. She felt the motion but also felt the pieces snap to each vertebra and noticed a slight pull from the motion. Sections came from the crescent that formed into rings. Each ring encapsulated her cutie mark from each side of her flank and the whole apparatus glowed pink.
Docking 50%
The little arms at the end of the crescent formed themselves around the base of her head and wrapped up to her chin. Holding it in place along with her head. The device wasn't uncomfortable but she reevaluated that when her wings were pulled. The pulling didn't stop till her wings were at their max extent. Which, like she was told, wasn't painful, it was just uncomfortable. Though it wasn't the first time her wings were pulled taut. When her would animal friends argue over her care back in the day. Though that didn't happen much anymore.
Her thoughts were broken by an arm with a cylindrical object hovering close to her right eye.
"Okay, you'll see this device make some flashing lights and get a little close. Don't worry, it won't hurt you, you're doing great!" Noah encouraged.
Fluttershy smiled but kept her attention on the device in front of her. It looked like the little rings of lights her own eye sported, was this an eye for this machine?
The rings started to light up in a certain pattern with all the hues of a rainbow. Each segment of the ring taking turns lighting up a different color until the vision in her right eye went blank; replaced with the words: Access to mainframe requested. Password?
The device seemed to have the password because a moment later the words read: Accepted.
Then Fluttershy felt her right eye expand and it seemed something was pushing at her eyelids. Then she felt something push against her eye with a small click.
Connected to external device. System on standby…
"Great job!" Noah exclaimed, obviously pleased, "Now let's find out who's been messing with your insides." A small screen rose up out of the floor. The screen had an extension from the bottom that had two circular indents that Noah put his hooves into. Moving his hooves in differing directions, he made the screen light up. "My my. Your computer's code has really been tampered with. Give me but a couple of minutes and I'll have fixed it and know who it is."
Fluttershy attempted to nod but realized she couldn't. So, she took a breath and watched the words in front of her vision.
MMO has been shut down via external connection.
System bios check requested.
System running version 7.8
Updating to version 8…
Done.
All systems have been set on standby:
Void_Containment
Containment protocol
MMO
Battle mode
Beginning system-wide scan with external parameters…
…
…
