Title:           Unplugged
Author:          gringli
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/8JKLWBg0
First Edit:      Friday 14th of April 2017 09:45:18 PM CDT
Last Edit:       Last edit on: Tuesday 25th of April 2017 07:40:00 PM CDT

>You are in pain. Lots of pain.
>One minute you were sitting at your computer.
>Then the damn thing starts exploding at your feet and zapping everything in sight.
>Now you’re in a lab.
>Your limbs feel stiff.
>You still feel the tingling pain of being electrocuted.
>And you’re pretty sure a few brain cells died, making you effectively a vegetable or at least somewhat handicapped.
??:Oh goodness! Is it awake? Did I work?
>You look over and see a horse.
>Big eyes, brown coat, and an hourglass on its ass.
>Also a bowtie for some reason.
??: Hah hah yes! I did it! Results this quickly and just with the prototype! I barely had to use magic for this one!
>Why is the horse talking? Horses don’t talk. They don’t wear bowties either but that’s not important. And what’s this about a prototype?
>You open your mouth to talk, but nothing comes out.
??: Now let’s see, I just need to make a few additions to the model and everything should be order. Why doctor, you’ve outdone yourself this time!
>You try moving.
>It’s all very stiff and unnatural, but you find yourself propped up on this examination table in no time.
>You look down at yourself and notice why things feel stiff.
>Every bit of you looks like some steampunk fanatic threw gears together into a humanoid shape.
>Brass covers you from head to toe and you’re just looking at your skeleton.
>Frankly, you feel a bit naked.
>The good doctor didn’t notice you getting up.
>He was looking over something with a pencil in his mouth. Yeah he probably built whatever you are now.
>Why not show him how well his “prototype” works?
--
>You stand up quickly notice how off balance you feel.
>There’s a large limb sticking out by your ass and your feet feel very off.
>As you look back and notice the start of a skeletal tail, you lose your balance and fall over with a loud crash.
>At least you confirmed that pain is still something you feel.
??: Gah! You’re already walking? Oh dear!
>Dr. Horse drops what he’s doing and lends a hand (hoof?) to help you up.
??: This certainly wasn’t in the original design at all! You shouldn’t be able to walk until I finish your balance stabilizer.
>He means tail, right? Just call it a tail like a normal person.
??: Can you understand me? Can you talk?
>You nod your head and mouth the word “no”
??: Of course, I still need to add a voice box and finish your chassis.
>He helps you to the table you woke up on, where you sit down as he goes to retrieve something.
>You take the time to truly take in this lab.
--
>Everything looks like if Da Vinci was ahead by another generation until you look at the glaring elephant above you.
>A machine glowing blue with some sort of… sciency energy and cables running down.
>All leading into your back.
>Something tells you this is basically your lifeline now.
>Honestly, between waking up as a bunch of clockwork built by a genius horse and learning that he built an iron man core above you as your heart.
>The core makes you the most worried.
>That’s your heart now. How long can you last without it? Can you last without it?
>How far do these cables reach? What happens if you get unplugged?
>You’d be hyperventilating, but you don’t have lungs anymore.
>There’s just a rattling sound of your skeleton starting to jitter.
>Just in time for your apparent creator to walk back in with a weird speaker in his mouth.
>He sets it down next to you, still shaking and rattling.
??: Good heavens, are you okay?
>You shake your head.
??: Not to worry! I’ll have your voice box installed in just a moment so you can properly communicate. Lay down for me, please.
>You do so, now feeling the cables against your metallic spine as you look up at your external heart.
??: Now I’m going to have to shut you down for a moment to do this. Don’t worry, this’ll only take a second.
>Horse don’t you fucking da-
--
>Your thoughts are quickly cut short as everything stops.
>You feel like you’re asleep. Dreaming if anything.
>But that’s the thing, dreams have things. You’re not anywhere, you don’t feel anything at all.
>Did you die? Is this what death is like?
>You look around frantically and see a glimpse of something.
>A stream of stars along a flowing blue mist.
>All emanating from something.
>Before you can get a better look, you shoot up in the lab again.
??: Careful now! Wouldn’t want to go damaging anything.
“Did I just fucking die!?”
--
>Oh hey, you can talk now. Great.
??: Sorry, what?
“That shut down thing! Did I die?! I’m pretty sure you just killed me and brought me back!”
??: I’m not sure. Apologies, I’ve never exactly been an automaton before.
>He chuckles.
>Is this what a computer goes through whenever it gets shut down?
>Good thing it’s not sentient.
“Neither have I. Let’s never do that again.”
??: Right, I’m sure I could get that arranged. But first, I never introduced myself.
>Oh shit, the horse has a name. Of course it does, it can talk.
DH: I am Doctor Hooves, resident inventor of Ponyville.
“Ponyville?”
DH: Why yes! A nice and quiet town full of all kinds of new friends.
“Uh huh. And you’re… a pony.”
DH: Of course!
“So if everyone here is a pony, why am I a… not pony?”
DH: Well I’ve noticed recently the potential dragons have with their strange physiology and-
“I’m a dragon. A robot dragon.”
DH: Yes you are! Now the recent discoveries from our resident dragon’s actions have blah blah
>You’re a dragon. Made of cogs and whatever, but a dragon.
>Quite a good outcome from being zapped by a computer this morning.
>Assuming you’re not hallucinating this in some coma.
>If it wasn’t for where you ended up and death constantly at your door, this would be pretty rad.
>It’s still rad with that, but why not get rid of the limiters?
DH: and then there was him with the changelings an-
>You stop him and put your claws on his shoulders.
“I need you to give me a portable battery.”
DH: But that generator you’re connected to can’t function on a small scale. At least not without a little magic but-
“Doctor, please. You’ve opened up the possibilities for a dragon to explore a completely new world. I need this.”
DH: I can try but don’t expect any miracles.
“I’m a sentient conglomeration of brass parts with wires sticking out of my back. I’m sure you can work a miracle.”
--
>It’s been about a day or so since you first woke up here.
>You’re starting to get a bit stir crazy being stuck in this room, but it beats being an empty metal husk.
>Right, you’re metal now. A weird brass, draconic skeleton.
>Come to think of it, you never got a good look at yourself ever since you’ve been here.
>You’ve kinda been waiting for that battery to get done and practicing walking around.
>After looking for a mirror, you find your reflection in a clock on some machine.
>Good god, you look like a rejected chuck e cheese mascot missing the fuzzy suit.
>A strangely put together brass skull is staring back at you with glowing blue eyes.
“Hey doc?”
>“Yes?”
“When you finish that battery thing, mind making me not look like a horror show?”
>“Ah, right. A proper face should be easy to install after this. Of course, I will have to shut you down to do so.”
>Oh fuck no, not that again.
“What if you don’t do that this time?”
>“Well I would risk electrocuting myself and possibly installing this improperly.”
>You don’t know circuits, but something tells you that that would be bad for the both of you.
>You sigh. Well, you make a sighing sound.
>Dr. Hooves leads you back to your table where you lay down.
>“Just like last time, this won’t take long.”
>Right, last time. Just think happy thoughts.
“Hey, by the way. If this doesn’t work, do you got something to call me other than prototype?”
>“Well, what did you have in mind?”
>Shit. What do you have in mind?
>You did kind of show up from some probably magical means. From one world to another.
“Bifrost?”
>”That’s an odd sounding name. Where did you get that?”
>You shrug. Honestly, mythology just popped into your head while you were thinking.
>“You’re quite the oddity, Bifrost. I can’t wait to bring you around Ponyville.”
“Right. I’ll see you in a bit.”
>And with that, you’re plunged into the dark void again.
--
>Dark and empty, just as you remembered it.
>The flowing bits of stars is also back in the distance, but it doesn’t seem like it’s moving.
>Everything about this just screams dead. All those afterlife ideas are now confirmed to be lies thanks to this.
>Or is this because you’re a robot now?
>You know you died back home. People don’t just walk away from a lightning computer.
>The world when you’re “on” can’t be your Earth.
>Here, you’re just a consciousness in an empty expanse.
>Is that what it’s like for a soul after it passes? It just floats aimlessly in emptiness until it gets a proper body?
>Then how did you get to this new world? There’s nothing magical about death.
>Eventually, your thoughts are halted with the world flooding back in.
>Things exist now, everything’s fine. But what about that stuff about…
>About. . .
>What were you thinking about back then?
>It feels like an eternity between then and now.
>But you just turned back on.
>Dammit you’re sure you were onto something.
--
>“Hello? How are you feeling?”
“A little heavier and more tired, but otherwise fine.”
>”Well that’s a relief. For a second, I thought that crystalline dynamic cell wouldn’t hold.”
“My… battery?”
>“Yes, that.”
>You get up and look around, but notice a missing tug on your back.
>Looking behind you, you see that the cables are back on the table.
>A slowly intensifying buzz and ring start filling around the room as a smile grows on your face.
“It worked? I can go outside?!”
>Doc seems to be covering his ears in pain. That’s coming from you, isn’t it?
>You start to calm down a little as the sound subsides. He gets back up and looks at you.
>”Perhaps using a crystal based energy source wasn’t the best course of action.”
>You can barely manage a chuckle as he gets up and opens the door outside.
>It’s a nice and sunny day. Horses, er, ponies of all kinds are all doing something.
>Some of them have wings, a few have weird horns sticking out of their head.
>Okay this is a much stranger place than you first thought.
>Then again, strange is normal now.
>”Well come on now!”
>The doctor rushes out.
>”I need to share you and this discovery with the princess!”
>Princess? Shouldn’t a queen or a king be the person to show off to?
--
>The Doc leads you through pony town until stopping in front of a large tree.
>Made of crystals.
>Towering over every other building and appearing a little out of place.
>How is it that you only noticed this as you got closer?
>He knocks on the door while you’re more focused on the sheer scope of this thing.
>This doesn’t exactly seem normal by pony standards
>Then a purple pony with wings *and* a horn answers
>Do genetic defects justify royalty too?
>You’re not even paying attention to what they’re saying.
>The fact that this is just swept under the rug is leaving you stunned.
>Then again, this is normal.
>Bringing up Earth doesn’t sound like a bad idea right about now.
>It’s then that you notice the purple winged and horned princess staring at you at eye level.
>Her horn is glowing as she looks to be staring into your soul.
“Hello there.”
>She falls back. Something tells you she didn’t expect you to be able to talk.
>“This is amazing! And you say he’s fully sentient?”
>The doctor puffs out his chest and smirks.
>“Why yes he is! Some of my finest work yet!”
>“No signs of magic, fully mechanical, crystal power source. I didn’t think this would be possible *with* the help of magic!”
>The smile on her face is massive. Cartoonishly so.
>“Can I let him stay here for a while?”
>“Well I mean, there were a few modifications I was going to work on.”
“I’m right here y’know.”
>“Right, of course.”
>“Sorry, forgot you’re actually sentient.”
>If you ever get to your uprising, she goes down first.
“I’d rather stay in the lab for a while longer. I don’t know how long my battery lasts before I uh.”
>The thought of it makes your gears rattle a bit.
>“Yes, as you can see, Bifrost is still in need of a proper power source. We only just got one working a few minutes ago.”
>The princess’ expression saddens from this news.
>Wow, she must have been pretty excited to study you.
>You walk up to her and extend your claw.
“We’re going to be seeing each other again. Mind telling me your name now instead of later?”
>”Oh right! I am Twilight Sparkle, princess of friendship!”
>Princess of friendship?
>*Friendship?*
>She sounded so proud of herself!
>Don’t laugh, this is probably a really big deal and she’s an actual princess.
>Don’t laugh in the face of royalty that has dominion over a social concept.
“I’ll be seeing you around, Princess Sparkle.”
>God that sounds even cheesier being said aloud.
>You could swear something was gonna fall off from how much you were shaking.
>Keep that laughter contained Frost, we’re being formal now.
>”Oh, no need to be so formal with me. Twilight works just fine..”
>She took it as nervousness.
>The clueless mare.
>Hopefully you get used to this naming convention.
>Princess Sparkle sounds like something from a line of little girl’s dolls.
>“Well we really must be going. Don’t know how long we can go without a proper generator!”
>“Alright. It was nice meeting you Bifrost. I can’t wait to see you again.”
“Same to you.”
>If she opens up any part of you, you’re both going to find out if you can breathe fire or not.
>The walk back leaves you feeling a lot more tired than you remember.
>Your movement is starting to slow and you feel your gears clicking more than usual.
>Upon arriving, you plug yourself in and lie down on the table.
“Do you have any ideas for a better battery? I don’t think I was even out too long before I needed this thing again?”
>The doctor goes towards a back room as the sun begins setting on this day.
>“None at the moment. Unless I can find something that holds energy more efficiently or generates power, this is the best I can do.”
“Alright. I can make do with… thirty minutes off a plug?”
>It really isn’t that much, but you can make it work.
>This is a small town after all.
>The doctor yawns as he stands by this extra room, which you assume is his bedroom.
>”Sorry, but I’ve been quite busy with getting you functional. I don’t think I’ve slept for the past few days.”
>Wow. A few days and he made a sentient steampunk sci-fi abomination that works?
>That’s pretty impressive for a pony. Better than what most scientists could do back home.
>Right. Home.
>You’ll uh, talk about that later.
“Oh it’s fine. Thanks for y’know, building me. I can’t imagine that was easy.”
>“My pleasure. You are quite the wonder after all.”
“Yeah yeah, scientific pride and joy and all that. Go get some sleep already.”
>”Goodnight Bifrost.”
“G’night doc.”
>And off he trots for the night.
>Now comes the issue. Do you even sleep anymore?
--
>Sleep never was an issue for you.
>You were one of those lucky people who could just pass out on command and wake up feeling refreshed.
>You’re not tired, but it feels unnatural being awake for this long with nothing to do.
>In the past, it was just your computer that kept you up, not being the computer.
>Either way, you’re bored and have nothing to really do.
>Not gonna be fun if you’re staying in this mystical equine land.
>The window lets in a bit of moonlight, somehow not blocked by the light behind your generator.
>A slight breeze was being let in as your attention shifted to the door.
>It’s been 40 or so minutes of just inspecting things around this lab.
>You should have enough charge to last outside for a bit.
>The door doesn’t seem locked. Good thing no one seems to steal around here.
>At least you assume that’s the case. Hard to imagine these cute fuzzy things committing crimes.
>You grab a spare watch, unplug yourself, and step into the cool night air.
>The perfect hour. Everyone’s asleep and you can finally take a breather.
>Night has been your go to time for that reason.
>And then you glanced up and saw the stars.
>You’ve seen clear nights from your times camping as a little kid, but this takes the cake.
>No light pollution out here, meaning things are a lot more clear than you’re used to.
>Not even two feet from the door and you’re gawking at the glittering dark shroud that is the night sky.
>What brings you back is a mischievous chuckle from behind you.
>Looking around there doesn’t seem to be anyone, thought you do see a glimpse of something.
>A red tail with a white tuft slithering into the shadows to the side of the building.
>Any sane person would probably shrug this off and move on.
>So you follow it down the alley to see what other creatures are around here.
>You’re a fucking robot. A dragon robot.
>You’re not programmed to know fear.
>Or programmed at all.
>You turn the corner and prepare for something to jump out at you.
>Instead there’s a something.
>A goat headed mash of various creatures with sunglasses leaning against the wall.
>Out of everything in the place, the fact he’s wearing shades at night is the strangest thing in this situation.
“Who are you?”
>“Keep your voice down! There are ponies sleeping!”
>Figures that even the weird creatures here are silly in some way.
“Who are you and what are you doing here?”
>“Odd question for a mechanical wonder such as yourself.”
“Fair. You gonna answer the question or not?”
>He disappears and reappears in front of you with neon lights spelling his name.
>Confetti and streamers included falling above the scene.
>“I am Discord. Your resident god of chaos, disharmony, etc., etc.”
“Really? Me, a mockery of magic and embodiment of science is talking to a god.”
>“I know. I didn’t expect a human showing up like this either.”
>Wait what was that? What does he know?
“Can you repeat that last bit?
>He squeezes your cheeks.
>“It’s not everyday something like you shows up here.”
>You shoo him away, only for him to teleport next to you.
>”A mundane, fleshy meatsack waking up as a cold and unfeeling machine. But what would I know?”
“A lot. Can we skip the banter and just get on with this?”
>“I can. But I want to see where this goes.”
>He pulls out a tuning fork. A really small tuning fork.
>It’s barely as big as one of your claws.
>Then he strikes it, letting a noise ring out.
>No one seems to be reacting, but you can feel this in your chest.
>Something vibrating.
>Oh right, your fake heart. It’s crystal.
>You fall over, feeling pain as your chest violently vibrates among other parts.
>The big chaotic deity conjured a clipboard and scribbled something down.
“Fucking really?!”
>Note to self, see about getting some sort of artillery on you for this guy in particular.
>And almost as fast as it came, it stops.
>You’re up now run straight towards Discord.
“Stop the tricks! Explain!”
>“Well the soundwaves from this oscillatory dining instrument resonated-”
“Not the science jargon, why you brought me here!”
>He hands you the fork.
>”Well that’s something I’m afraid I can’t talk about right now. Plans and schemes. You know how this works.”
“Don’t care! ANSWER!”
>He starts slinking into the shadows, with his smile still visible.
>”Enjoy your time out tonight. Time is so short for you after all.”
“DON’T PLAY CRYPTIC WITH ME! ANSWER THE QUESTION!”
>He vanished.
>Words cannot begin to describe your frustrations right now.