ENERGON UNIVERSE SPECIAL: IRIS
Dear readers, welcome to a special edition of Energon Universe. I decided to write this issue in honor of the release of the first Transformers issue and the six-month anniversary of the release of the first issue of the entire Energon Universe (Void Rivals #1). For you, this issue will be dedicated to one alternative universe that no one expected to see in this special issue. Read and find out!
Note from author:
text – text from paper, diary, etc., thoughts, some important words
text – more important words
"Dear Diary,
It's been 6 months since my mom died. I still haven't gotten over it. The fact that the most important person in my life has left makes me even more upset. Yesterday I went to see Miss Lily, who lived in a neighboring town. She is the owner of a bookstore, where I loved to go with my mother from early childhood. On the way, I saw ponies looking at me like I was an alien because of my eyes. My eyes looked more like robotic optics than organic eyes. And their views on me are justified. I'm not really from here. I'm not originally from Equestria, or even from this planet.
Once upon a time, my mother, Sierra Circuit, found me on a spaceship inside a capsule during her expedition. The spaceship itself was in a cave high in the mountains. Inside the ship there was not only me, but also huge robots, the appearance of which not every Equestrian can describe in his own words. But unfortunately, these robots were already dead. They looked as if they had been brutally murdered. This made me the only one left on this ill-fated ship.
When Miss Circuit approached the capsule where I was kept, the capsule copied her biodata. That's how I appeared. I was an exact copy of my adoptive mother, except for my eyes. My mother picked me up and carried me home, leaving the ship behind. My mother did not tell anyone about the ship and how I was "born", not even Miss Lily and Mr. Crook, the only ponies with whom we communicated. My mother told me this story when I was 7 years old and I made a promise not to tell anyone about it.
I haven't interacted with my peers or other people because they tend to be wary of me. And as I said above, it was because of my eyes. Although it upset me, I had my mother, Miss Lily and Mr. Crook by my side to always support me. I was living a wonderful life until...My mom was diagnosed with cancer. She had stomach cancer and, unfortunately, the disease was at the last stage of development. In the last two months of her life, my mother was in the hospital, attached to a bed. I went to her every day, and always took something with me not only for me, but also for my mother, such as gadgets that I invented myself, books and comics to read together. The last time I saw her, even though she was thin, had no mane due to chemotherapy, and had bags under her eyes, my mother was smiling at me.
"Iris, live happily."
These were the last words I heard when I left the hospital room. The next day, she was gone. I remember at her funeral I couldn't stop whining while Miss Lily and Mr. Crook comforted me. So, 6 months passed, and I..."
A black tear fell on the diary page. The earth pony, who was sitting at the table writing in her diary, simply looked at the page sadly as she remembered the pony that had left her life. Iris had light yellow fur with white socks of her feet, dark purple hooves, and a purple mane and tail with white and blue tips. Her mane was braided into two small braids. She had bright blue eyes that looked like robot optics.
Wiping a tear from her right eye, Iris continued writing, before she finished, she stood up from the table and placed her journal on the shelf. She took the bag that was on the table and headed towards the door. Opening the door, Iris looked back at the table where she had been writing her diary before the yellow pony sighed deeply and sadly and closed the door behind her.
Sometime later...
Iris was walking through the local town, which was 7 miles from her home. This city is called Seashore. And the name of the city is quite deserved, because it stood next to the endless and blue sea. When the yellow pony began to walk along the streets of the city, the residents did not pay attention to her. They were already accustomed to her "strange" eyes, but still did not want to approach her.
Soon Iris walked up to the bookstore and entered it. There were no visitors in the store except the owner. This was Miss Lily. Miss Lily had a light green coat with dark green socks at her feet, brown hooves, a dark purple flowing mane and tail, lilac eyes and glasses. Miss Lily was a very old earth pony who knew about all things and could give advice if there was any problem.
"Hello, Miss Lily," Iris greeted the old pony before she noticed someone behind her.
Looking closer, she saw a small earth pony looking at her with curious eyes. This pony was a female filly. She had the same light green fur, but with white socks near her feet, light brown hooves, brown eyes and a mane braided into a tail and the tail itself was wood-colored. She also has freckles and wore inventor glasses on the top of her head.
"Hello, Iris," Miss Lily said, turning to Iris with a smile. "I wanted to introduce you to my granddaughter. Iris, this is Jackie. Jackie, this is Iris. She is the daughter of my friend."
Jackie (that was the filly's name) walked up to Iris and looked her up and down as if Iris herself were an exhibit. The yellow pony began to get nervous because she believed that Jackie would also be wary of her because of her eye feature. But instead...
"You're unusual," said Jackie. "Are you by any chance a robot? Your eyes remind me of optics".
"Um...Is this a compliment?" Iris asked, becoming even more nervous.
"Well, you could say that," the light green filly said before she spoke in a whisper. "I love robots and aliens."
"He-he-he," the yellow pony laughed nervously, who was absolutely puzzled by Jackie's reaction.
Miss Lily couldn't help but laugh quietly at the scene.
"Iris, can you please look after Jackie while I work?" the old pony turned to the yellow pony. "I will be grateful. At the same time, you will get to know her better. Jackie won't hurt you. She is a good and sweet girl."
"That's right, grandma!" said the light green filly, making a salute and taking Iris's leg. "Let's go, Iris!"
"Ah... I don't..." the yellow pony didn't have time to say before she and Jackie quickly left the bookstore.
10 minutes later...
Iris and Jackie walked along the street towards the sea. On the way, the filly told her new friend about what her grandmother had told her.
"Grandma Lily told me that you have very unusual eyes and that's why everyone avoids you so much," said Jackie. "I was pleased with the fact that I found someone who was like me."
"I'm like you?" Iris asked.
"It's...Personal," Jackie admitted, looking sad. "I don't share my peculiarity with anyone. My grandmother and father know about this. People usually avoid me because I behave strangely. But I didn't have the courage to tell everyone why I behaved this way. Come on, when we come to the seashore, I'll tell you everything alone. Just promise me that you won't call me… "Crazy.""
"Um...Okay..." Iris said, making a promise from Jackie.
Soon the two earth ponies reached the sea and began to walk along the stone road. After sometime they stopped to look at the sea. At this time the sea was calm and the water sparkled from the bright light of the sun.
"The sea is beautiful, isn't it?" asked the light green filly.
"Yes," Iris agreed before she turned to Jackie. "Jackie, were you going to tell me about your peculiarity, what makes you as "weird" as I am?"
At this point Jackie fell silent. Soon she sighed heavily and answered in a sad tone:
"I have autism."
"What is autism?" Iris asked, since she heard about it for the first time.
"Autism or Autistic syndrome is a neuropsychiatric disorder that is caused by a disorder in the development of our brain, which in turn causes social impairments," Jackie explained. "I was diagnosed with this when I was two years old. My dad explained to me that autism occurs due to genes that are very related to the formation of neurons and certain medications consumed by mothers during pregnancy. The most common symptoms of this disorder are reluctance to communicate and what I call "strange behavior." Sometimes I hear from other people that autists are disabled due to mental and possibly neurodevelopmental disorders. This upsets me because it always reminds me of the difficulties, I have to face due to my autism.
"Why didn't you have the courage to tell others that you behave strangely because you have autism?" Iris asked.
"Because I'm afraid that if I tell everyone that I have autism, they will think I'm abnormal and mentally ill," the filly answered, and tears formed in her eyes. "Just like my mother."
"Your mother?!" Iris was surprised.
"When my mom found out that I had autism, she left me and my dad," Jackie answered. "She said she couldn't raise a child, especially if he or she had a mental disorder. Before leaving, my mother called me "abnormal" and a "mentally ill" burden. Even after 8 years, I still remember her words like it was yesterday. P-probably if I didn't have this disease, then my mother could stay with us..."
Iris felt very sorry for Jackie. It reminded the light-yellow pony a lot of herself when she was young. When she was young, she wanted to hang out with someone other than her mother, Mr. Crook and Miss Lily, but instead everyone was wary of her, for obvious reasons.
Iris opened her mouth to say something to Jackie, but faltered. Since she was talking to a pony who had some sort of "illness," she didn't know what to say to her without making her even more upset. While the yellow pony was selecting some words in her mind so that she could not offend Jackie with anything, Iris noticed a forest that was on a peak nearby. Iris had a habit: when she notices something unfamiliar to her, she immediately begins to ask questions.
"Jackie," the yellow pony said, causing the light green filly to pay attention to her. "I noticed a forest nearby. Do you know the name of this forest?"
"This is Greenleaf Forest," Jackie said before a smile appeared on her face. "Iris, this is a great idea! Let's go there? I heard about this forest from my grandmother, although I myself have not seen this forest."
"Okay," Iris said, sighing to herself and thinking. It's good that my habit of asking questions about things I don't know saved me.
"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Jackie responded, already jumping towards the forest.
"I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming," Iris said and followed her.
15 minutes later...
Iris and Jackie walked through the forest. They looked around and were surprised at their surroundings. For the light-yellow pony, this was the very first time she had ever been in the forest in her life. But while walking through the forest, Iris noticed concern in Jackie's eyes. Pony was very well versed in how to determine the entire character and mental state of a pony right from the eyes. From her adoptive mother, Iris always heard the famous saying "Eyes are like mirrors that reflect the spiritual you."
"Jackie," Iris asked the filly, "is something bothering you?"
"No, no," Jackie replied. "I'm fine~."
"But you're not okay," said the yellow pony. "This is not because of my words?"
"No, it's not your fault, Iris," Jackie answered again. "It's just...Honestly...When I told you about autism, I immediately remembered how I differ from "normal" ponies. Have I already told you that they are wary of me because of my behavior? I recently found out that this happens not only to me, but also to others who, although they do not have autism like me, are subject to discrimination and misunderstanding from others. Eh, what happened to us at such a time? A mistake in our past? Stupidity? Negative emotions and fear towards others?"
"I think all these options are plausible," Iris said. "You know, you can be upset about what is going on in modern society. Yes, society itself may not be ideal and may have a tendency towards negative things, but I believe that sooner or later..."
"Iris, what happened?" Jackie asked when she noticed that an alarmed expression had appeared on her new friend's face.
"Jackie, aren't there usually some big bugs in the forests?" Iris asked the light-green filly, to the latter's confusion.
"Um...Yes," Jackie answered. "Why do you ask?"
"I saw something through my "special eyes," the light-yellow pony answered in turn. "This beetle...Or this creature, which I call a beetle...It is very huge."
"A very huge "beetle"?" Jackie asked and looked around. "Where?"
Suddenly Iris screamed in horror:
"Get down!"
And she threw Jackie to the ground. Soon a metallic something appeared, a bit like a beetle. His steel came in dark purple, silver and dirty yellow colors. This robot had claws, eight legs, a tail and of course wings and a large horn. He looked at the two girls angrily.
"W-What is this?" Jackie asked nervously, looking at the robot.
The filly might be glad that this creature is a robot, if this metal creature were not so terrifying.
"Jackie, run, I'll cover you!" Iris said to Jackie. "I'll join you later."
"No, I can't leave you..." Before the light green filly had time to speak, this strange giant machine took Iris with its tail, to her horror. "IRIS!"
The robot brought the frightened light-yellow pony closer to his face. Iris looked with horror into the light purple evil eyes of the machine. Suddenly the robot spoke in the Equestrian language:
"You stupid Autobot…You thought that you would hide from me among these meat bags..."
"Autobot?" a puzzled Iris said, having no idea what the machine was talking about. "What are you talking about?"
"You...You don't remember, right?" the robot said again. "When you... You were a pathetic protoform, you were on this ship, where these pieces of scrap metal flew out of our planet through space. My team and I attacked them..."
"So it's the one who killed these giant robots on the ship where my mom found me!" Iris thought and her eyes opened wide from such a sudden insight and fear.
When the robot started to say something, suddenly a stone hit that car. The pony and the car looked in the direction where the stone was flying from there, and they saw Jackie throwing stones towards the robot.
"Let go of Iris, you piece of scrap metal!" Jackie shouted, continuing to throw stones at the attacker.
Thanks to the fact that the light-green filly distracted the robot's attention, Iris managed to get out of the tail, which, surprisingly, was very weak. She ran up to Jackie and grabbed her leg.
"Let's go faster!" the light-yellow pony shouted and, together with the filly, ran far away from the robot.
Letting out a furious roar, the metal monster quickly headed straight towards the two ponies, albeit limping along the road. Iris and Jackie ran as fast as they could to get away from this monster. Jackie soon heard something and turned to find the robot shooting laser blasts at them.
"Iris, they're shooting at us!" exclaimed the filly.
"Oh no. Oh no. OH NO!" Iris was panicking in her mind.
Because of her internal panic and fear, the light-yellow pony did not notice the root of the tree that was sticking out of the ground, she tripped and, together with Jackie, she fell into a small hole. As they bumped and stumbled against the walls of the pit, Iris hit her back against one of the ledges and heard a sound come from inside her.
CLICK!
Soon the two girls landed on light ground. Iris quickly came to her senses and seeing what happened to Jackie, the light-yellow pony walked up to the filly and checked on her. Thank the sisters, Jackie was alive. As the filly slowly regained consciousness, Iris helped her up. Suddenly she noticed a shadow under them, and realizing exactly where this monster would land, the light-yellow pony ran forward along with Jackie, who had just come to her senses. That robot that was chasing them landed and continued to chase them.
"What can I do?" Iris thought, running forward and looking at Jackie. "I don't want Jackie to get hurt because of me! It was my fault that he was looking for me and I brought him here... But why did he call me "Autobot"? This has to do with where I come from...Wait, I feel something strange in my body. What about..."
Before Iris could finish speaking, she noticed that her body parts literally began to move on their own, as if she... Started to transform?
TSCHE-CHU-CHU-CHU-TSCHE
"Iris, what..." Jackie began to ask when she saw what happened to her new friend, how the former pony grabbed the filly and jumped down.
The small hole led to a steep, high hill, which Iris noticed prematurely. Having landed, the former pony let go of Jackie and looked at herself. She was no longer the light-yellow pony the filly had seen her before. Iris became a metallic humanoid creature. She had a silver humanoid face with blue eyes, nose and mouth. She had light yellow armor all over her body, including her arms and legs, which resembled the skin of the pony Iris used to be. On her chest was the top of a pony's head, but without the mane. On his head was a helmet of the same light-yellow color, reminiscent of a fireman's helmet. Her hands were also silver, like her face. Iris, in her new appearance, was taller than Jackie.
"Is this the real me?" Iris asked, continuing to examine her body.
"Iris, behind you!" Jackie suddenly shouted, pointing her hoof at the monster that was approaching the humanoid robot behind her.
Iris instinctively turned around and saw an insect-like robot approaching her, she decided to test the new capabilities of her new appearance. The humanoid robot raised her fist and slammed it hard against the monster's forehead. The monster flew quite far and crashed into a tree nearby. Iris looked at her hand in surprise, not believing what just happened. As she examined her hand, the humanoid robot was spotted by Jackie, who had stars shining in her eyes. Suddenly, a thought came into Iris's head.
"Jackie," she said, sitting down with difficulty on one knee in front of the filly, "I know that you are so glad that you saw me in this "shape," but can I ask you to go home while I deal with him. Tell Miss Lily that I'm late in the forest and won't be back soon. Meet me here in...2 hours."
"Roger!" Jackie said and ran along the road, back to the city.
Waving goodbye to her, Iris turned towards the forest and began to think about a plan.
It's good that while walking through the forest, I noticed this path, she thought. Jackie told me that, according to Miss Lily, this path led to a steep slope where there was a larger ravine. The one who attacked us, although strong, has nothing more than his superior strength. I also noticed that he wasn't using his wings and seemed to be limping as he chased us. He also hunted me, calling me "Autobot". This means that I need to draw his attention to myself and lead him to that rock through this particular path! And there I will figure out how I will find out how this word is connected with my origin.
Having come up with a plan, Iris ran towards the tree where the insect-like robot crashed into. The humanoid robot stood in front of the monster and said loudly:
"Hey, you! If you want to catch me, then try your best!"
And Iris ran back into the forest. At this the car stopped and quickly followed her. The humanoid robot ran along the main road for several minutes before she turned onto that path and, soon she arrived at a cliff. Iris stopped and turned towards the forest, waiting for that monster. Soon the robot arrived at the rock and when he saw it, he quickly headed towards it. As soon as the metal monster was a few meters away from Iris, the humanoid robot jumped onto its back, and from its back it bounced back to the ground. The robot did not have time to stop and, having lost its balance, fell into a deep ravine, emitting a loud squeal. Hearing the monster fall to the ground with a crash, Iris stood up and looked straight into the ravine to make sure it wouldn't climb back up. About 5 minutes passed, but the humanoid robot decided to check what was down there. Iris walked along the outskirts of the ravine to look for a place for a convenient descent down. When she found this place, she went downstairs.
Below, Iris landed at the bottom of a deep ravine and began to walk around to find the same robot. Iris walked until she found him lying on his stomach up. The humanoid robot immediately noticed that some kind of light purple liquid was coming from the robot's back. Iris touched this liquid with her fingers and examined it carefully. This liquid was something like blood or fuel for this robot. Soon, Iris began to examine the metal monster's body until she noticed something on its left side. Looking closer, she realized that it was a huge scratch, like a wound. This caused the robot girl to examine her entire body again. Iris found a lot of scratches and realized that all this time, this creature had a lot of severe injuries and wounds, but still continued to walk no matter what. It was the deep damage and the collision with the bottom of the ravine that deprived this monster of life.
But then, after she examined the body of the deceased monster, one thought came to Iris's head. She tore off a piece of metal from the robot and... She cut her hand not so deeply. A light purple liquid came out of his hand. That same light purple liquid that came from the robot's wounds. Iris shuddered in horror, realizing who this robot was: he was the same as her... The same species.
With this horrifying realization, Iris screamed loudly into the sky.
2 hours later...
"There you are, Iris!" Jackie said as she found Iris, still in her humanoid robot form. "I've been looking for you everywhere... Um, Iris, are you okay?"
"Not really," Iris answered honestly.
"Iris, did something happen?" asked the filly, concerned for Iris.
"I managed to defeat the one who attacked us," answered the robot girl. "I replaced it with a rock, which was next to a deep ravine. He fell and passed out completely. Then I went down and examined the body of that monster. He had many wounds and injuries before we encountered him. He was also leaking a light purple fluid that was sort of like blood in his systems. I suspected that he was somehow connected with me and I cut my hand using a piece of metal from that robot's body and... It turned out that I killed someone who was like me. Of the same species."
"Are you upset about this?" Jackie asked, feeling sorry for Iris.
"Yes, because of this," Iris answered. "I'm upset and confused at the same time. I don't understand why he hunted and wanted to kill me, although I am the same as him. Why did he call me "Autobot" and how does this word relate to my origin? I...I don't understand anything...I could just check the monster's memories, but...Everything is already lost..."
"Iris," Jackie said, placing her hoof on the humanoid robot's leg, causing the latter to stare at her in surprise, "I understand very well how you feel. I know what you did was because you wanted to protect me and others. It occurred to me that your species has the same problems as we do in Equestria. Despite the changes that happened 4 months ago thanks to these ponies, I still see some ponies humiliating or despising other ponies. They are not even used to these changes yet, and they continue to quarrel with others. And others, in turn, are at enmity with them. It's probably the same with your brethren. They probably continue to quarrel with each other, but I don't know for sure. But who to be hostile to is also a choice, but this choice can cause harm to someone. Iris, although we are different and have just met each other, I already know that you are not only special, but also a pony with a heart of gold who is ready to fight for those she cares about. Thanks to you, I also realized that my autism is not my disease... It is a feature. I heard from my dad that even those with illnesses or disabilities can change the world for the better for everyone. For you, Equestria remains the home that once sheltered you, but if you want, you can fly to your home planet, where you come from. Just don't ever forget about Equestria and me. By the hooves?"
Iris stared at Jackie's hoof for a few seconds before she made a fist and gently struck the filly's hoof.
"By the hooves," the robot girl said, smiling.
"Well, what are you going to do?" Jackie asked Iris.
"I'm thinking about going back home to look at my mom's old notes," Iris replied. "If possible, I will go to where my mother found me. The ship in which I was in the form of a "protoform" is located in the mountains, about 250 miles from Zephyr Heights in a northern direction."
"The same Zephyr Heights where pegasi live?!" Jackie exclaimed with stars in her eyes.
"I can understand you," Iris said before she became serious. "But I'm afraid to take you with me. I don't want you to be in danger again."
"But I can persuade my grandmother to go to Zephyr Heights with you under some pretext or…" Jackie began.
"You can tell her about what happened to us today," said the humanoid robot. "At first, she will be shocked, but I think that over time, she will accept the fact that I am an alien robot."
"Well, agreed," the light-green filly said before she asked. "By the way, Iris, do you know how to transform back into your old self?"
"About that...I need to work on that," Iris said in a rather embarrassed tone as Jackie giggled a little at her.
As they sat on the grass, the sun had already begun to set behind the horizon, so that tomorrow, when it came out again, a new adventure would begin not only for Iris, but also for her newfound friend Jackie.
The End
Yes. This is the My little pony G5 universe. Nobody expected it? To be honest, I have never watched a movie or TV series based on the fifth generation, but I have read the comics. I like these comics. When I received the first issue of Transformers, this exact idea came to me.
The special issue itself is essentially a remake of Chapter 5 from the 2022 Annual. Here, Daska Circuit has been renamed Iris Circuit, and in this version, she is Cybertronian who's disguised as an earth pony. For inspiration for her robot form, I took the designs of the Maximals from Transformers: Beast Wars.
I came up with my original characters just out of my head, including Jackie. Speaking of Jackie. In this special issue, I touched on the topic of discrimination against people with special needs and autism. Even though the comic gave an explanation for why the ponies turned against each other, when I think about it, I'm starting to think that maybe there was some tension between the ponies in the past that caused them to turn against each other. This idea appeared without explanation, but it is possible. Even after magic returned to Equestria, unfortunately, this problem was not solved and some ponies from the three types, earth, unicorns and pegasi, continue to be at odds with each other on the emotional level.
As for autism, the situation is quite more complicated for ponies who have autism or with other disabilities. Since not all ponies do not fully understand or share the characteristics of the pony with peculiarity, they begin to be avoided not only due to misunderstanding, but also possibly due to fear. I myself had a case of misunderstanding with another person. When I was on the playground and riding on a swing, I saw a girl with her guardian. I immediately realized that this girl has mental retardation. This was the first time I saw a person with a disability that manifests itself strongly physically or a person with mental retardation (I had only heard about it in words). I remember how I felt discomfort and pity for this girl, and I looked at her like she was an alien. Now I have long been deeply ashamed for myself because I looked at this girl as "abnormal" due to her peculiarity. This incident stood out to me vividly and it may even have been an inspiration for this serious topic of this fanfic (the relationship of people with disorders or disabilities (as known as people with special needs) with other people). I myself am a person with a peculiarity (I have autism spectrum or autism), and I put this trait into Jackie. Through the issue that I am addressing, I wanted to say that even those people who have peculiarities (disorder or disability) from birth will always be special and strong people, and can even change our world for the better, despite those obstacles that they may encounter.
Good luck and see you in the next chapter of Sonic and Tails in Mega Man X3 manga!