In Space, We Don't Abandon Innocence

by David Silver

4 - Ancient History

Space, that cold and unforgiving vacuum. It waits beyond the walls of your home, so close and yet separated only by a thin layer of metal. So easily breached. And yet there are humans among us, safe and sound as they go about their lives in spite of that deadly nature of of the fragile bubble they call home. The distance to any place they'd call home was basically incalculable without a computer.

That didn't stop Susan from spending some time daydreaming as she wandered through the hallways of the ship. She thought of her parents and her sisters. That's what she wanted to be doing right then, sitting with them at dinner and just talking. It wasn't possible, but it was a nice thought.

"Good morning," chimed a pony in a display to her right. "You look happy today. Want to share?"

Susan slowed to a stop, considering the pony image. They were, technically, just programs in the computer, but they had always felt a little more than that to her. "Good morning to you, Cheerilee."

Cheerilee waved a hoof. "You're not a little foal anymore, but that doesn't stop me from thinking of you. You're in that sensitive spot right in the middle."

Susan raised an eyebrow at that. It never ceased to be bizarre talking to them, as if they had their own thoughts and feelings and opinions, when really, they were nothing more than extremely complex programs designed to look and sound like a pony. "I'm okay, even better than okay."

She leaned in towards the image. "I have the day off, and I plan to spend it doing nothing important."

"Now that sounds nice," replied Cheerilee with a chuckle. "Do you mind if I join you?"

"I think I'd like that." Susan set off again, but the door ahead of her slid open to reveal another program.

That one had a physical body. "Darling, where are you headed to?"

"She's enjoying a day doing nothing." Cheerilee was on the wall, flat, but just as expressive as usual. "Isn't it nice to get a day off?"

"Just the most wonderful." Rarity smiled and shook her head gently. "I wish I had the time. Today is filled with work for me, sadly. On the bright side, I get to exercise my imagination on new designs!" She danced in place with a smile. "Now, dear, I know you have the day to yourself, but may I recommend a good book?"

Cheerilee clapped her hooves to her face. "What a great idea! You can go anywhere with a good book."

Rarity nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, absolutely. I'm sure you'll find just the thing to keep you occupied."

Susan chuckled gently. "I'll make a stop by the library and see what I can find." She gently mussed Rarity's mane, even if she looked mildly annoyed at her mane being touched. Annoying the ponies was part of the fun, seeing as they returned to smiling almost instantly.

With a new destination, she turned towards the elevators. "Let's see what they have on tap today."

Susan made her way through the ship to Sunset's library. Sunset Shimmer appeared with a flicker. "Hey. What book can I help you find?" She clasped her hands, smiling at Susan. "Something creepy? Maybe something adventurous?!"

Sunset realized who she was speaking to. "Oh, hey Susan. I don't see you in here often. What's up?"

"The library!" Susan pointed upwards.

Sunset gave a slow nod. "Yeah, that's the kind of thing Pinkie would say."

Susan snickered softly. "Since I have you." She looked Sunset over curiously. "Why are you the only program that's a human? All the others are ponies."

"I'm not really sure," replied Sunset. "As far as I know, I was always like this."

Susan narrowed her eyes with suspicion. "You know, if you just went along with it and acted like a pony, then you wouldn't have to put up with questions."

Sunset rolled her eyes at that. "Why don't you act like a pony if it's such a good idea?"

Susan raised her hands defensively. "Sorry, bad question. Wow, that would be odd, and embarassing. I like two legs."

"Funny, me too." Sunset fired a finger gun at Susan. "So, fellow two-leg haver, what book can I help you find today?"

Susan turned around, facing the bookshelves of images. "You have anything new?"

Sunset did not move as she spoke. "Nothing new has come in. Not like you can get mail out here." She snorted softly. "We're light years from the nearest new magazine release, you know. On the other hand, if you're asking if I have stuff you haven't read yet, I can promise that's still true."

Susan chuckled gently. "Okay. One of those please. Make it something with ponies."

Sunset raised a brow high. "With ponies?" Susan nodded. "You're not joking." Sunset sighed as she turned away. "Alright, how about a history lesson? You can even count it as relavant studies, add it to your file." She grabbed a spine off a bookshelf. "Ponies came to humans a long time ago. It was a desperate bid for the future." She twirled back to face Susan. "Want to know more?"

Susan nodded. "Sure, sounds fun. Tell me."

Sunset allowed her disguise to fade, becoming once again the pony she was meant to be. "Well, humans and ponies made contact hundreds of years ago. Imagine the human's surprise when aliens appeared and began singing."

Susan hiked a brow at that. "Singing?"

"Singing." Sunset sat back on her haunches, closed her eyes, and began to sing. It was like a whale's song, but higher pitched and wonderfully intricate in its raises and falls. Susan was taken aback, for a moment forgetting she was talking to a computer program. The song became an ancient memory, distant and evocative. A place far from where they were. "If you want to know more, time to read." She offered the book held between her hooves even as she hopped back up onto human feet, returning to her usual form.

Susan took it in her hands and smiled at the cover. "Wow. Well, sure." With a chime, she downloaded the book for later reading and offered it back to Sunset. "Thanks for the help. Um, this may sound odd, but you make a nice pony, and a nice human."

Sunset nodded firmly. "Thanks. It's kinda funny, all the humans look pretty similar, and all the ponies look different from each other, even if they're supposed to be based off the same templates." She shrugged softly. "Actually, the answer may be in that book. I never read it all the way through. So check for me and get back to me?" She shrugged with a smirk. "Consider that your homework."

Susan put a hand on her hip. "Didn't you just say this counts as relevant studies?"

Sunset leaned in with a grin. "And now it's homework." She turned away with a twirl, waving for Susan to leave. "Enjoy."

Susan huffed, but made her way out with her find. She tapped gently at her earpiece and got the book playing for her as she wandered, and it told her a story.

The ponies came when humanity was fractured and desperate. They tried to fix everything at once, but that was a failure. In the end, they pressed a more gentle hoof, and worked alongside humanity, steering them towards brighter days.

Time was an inevitable force. When the original ponies were growing old, their leader, Twilight Sparkle, offered them an immortality of a sorts. They synchronized their thoughts, personalities, and everything that made them up with the database she already had of all of them. "There's one for me too. Any future iteration of me will be without princess powers, not being a princess, but they will have everything else." She tapped at the side of her head. "This way, we can watch over the future."

So it was. While some humans still thought fondly of a paradise they would retire to, the ponies took a far more reincarnation like loop. Any time one approached their older years, they submitted to that database, and it grew denser with more and more ponies. The AI were not purely AI, but the reborn thoughts and inclinations of countless ponies given a new chance at life.

Their idea of 'self' changed over time, growing more and more accustomed to this tradition. To a pony, all iterations of themself were equally 'them'. Should an Applejack of one computer encounter an Applejack of another, they met like twin sisters and eagerly shared stories if there was time. If possible, once a year or so, ponies even visited the grand repository to update their profiles with what they've learned and experienced the year before. All Applejacks were Applejack, and they were fine with that idea.

Susan tapped at the same wall she was propped against, pondering the fate Ponies had made for themselves. It was really no different than dying, in the end. With each death, another pony was born, but it was only a strange sort of reincarnation. One for those who would never be born naturally, nor likely come back again.

She shook her head. "That doesn't explain one thing." She lifted a finger. "Computer?" Twilight appeared before her with a smile. "This is a big ship. Can you check the roster? Are there any ponies that are alive and not part of the computer?"

Twilight moved about gracefully as she brought up a screen and began checking through. She frowned gently, looking almost sad. "I'm afraid not. There's not a single pony on this ship that isn't stored in the computer." She turned to Susan. "As you may not be aware, most ponies are content on Earth. Those that leave it do so only for flights to specific other worlds. The idea of sailing into the void, hm." She paused a moment. "Oh, you have that book downloaded."

"Yeah." Susan crossed her arms and smirked at Twilight. "Does that mean you'll tell me more?"

"It does." Twilight clapped her hooves once. "Otherwise, I'd be confusing you more than I'd be helping. Have you completed its reading?"

Susan held up a hand. "Hold on, I'm working on it." She lowered her hand to bring up a screen of the book, sliding it through with a finger. "So, according to this, the only ponies humans ever met were the handful right at the start. Why is that?"

"Lovely. That ties into what I was going to get into." Twilight spread her wings. "Space is large. It's one of its defining features. Ponies looked up at it from their home, Equestria, and most were not eager to step into it. Only a small collection were able and willing to do so." She turned a hoof to herself. "I was one of them. It was that trip that first used the database that allows us ponies to exist as digital copies."

Susan sat down as she followed along. "Right. I read that. It was supposed to make you immortal."

"And it did!" Twilight raised a hoof. "Practically speaking, we may as well be immortal." She inclined her head. "So long as even one computer somewhere is running a copy of me, I'm still here. I do my best to be helpful, because I like being helpful, and it reduces the odds of being uninstalled." She snorted at the idea, as if partially amused by it.

Susan smiled back at her. "Alright, let's try this again." She leaned in towards Twilight. "I have to ask. You seem different than the other ponies. More serious. Why?"

Twilight's ears lowered gently. "I was their leader, to start. I never stopped that habit." She put a hoof to her chest. "I continue leading them, and protecting them, to the best of my ability. I try my best to guide the humans around me as well."

"That sounds like a lot of work." Susan rubbed at her cheek with one finger. "Why did you volunteer for it?"

Twilight closed her eyes and looked away. "In the end, it was me or nopony. I felt I had the right stuff for it." She opened her eyes to give Susan a little smile. "Is it wrong that I also just didn't want to stop?" She shook her head. "I imagine all living creatures experience this. Existing is better than simply not, for most, and I chose to continue existing. It isn't a bad existence, and I am happy. Now, I just have to get you all home." She huffed a sigh at that. "We are quite a measure off course, if you hadn't heard."

Author's Note:

As one asked, we confirm. This story does attach to another I wrote.

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Comments

[BestinDworld]

11921018
Huh I wonder what happened to Angel and his childhood friend and AJs partner did they marry?

Also since it’s been centuries after the first story I wonder if the g5 ponies are around or ai themselves hell I wonder what happened with Opaline

[Booster Spice]

I wonder just how many lighthouse pulsars recorded on The Golden Disk are detectable from the ships current location and if the rate of decay of timing matches up accross them all for the time gone past or if any have diffreent times due to intervening gravitational events etc?

Storing data in the densest form is one thing, pretty much the densest I think Ive heard of is a block of iron where every atom is a particular stable isotope and so can store more than one bit of data. The trick then is how to read accurate the trillion trillion plus bits of data in each 56 grams? Which could be heavily error corrected and compressed.

Theres been quite a bit of announced research into so called soft bots, unlike Baymax they dint have a hard metallic core skeleton, although Ive been trying to find designs that use ultra tensile fabrics filled with highly pressurised fluid to create the skeleton, just so that when empty, the skeleton, muscles and soft form can all be compacted into a much smaller volume for storage and recover full operation by injection of water, air etc. The biggest trick is getting fabric weave that remains flexible at close to absolute zero and a couple thousand kelvin also without being affected by thermal shock during the transition.

Now I got stuck on EMH Picard, Oh.

[dlambchic]

Alright, we got a sequel and a little history. I hope you toss us a few more history cookies every now and then. There's a lot to catch up on.

We got the origin story for the AI and why there are no live ponies in the ship crew. Still leaves a few loose ends and pony fates unanswered. I wonder if any human ship ever returned to visit the Equestrian home world?

[Okie Brony]

So, this is "Universal Language: The Next Generation"? You've made me a very happy brony.

Seriously, I'm going through some serious 💩 right now, and I needed this. Thank you.