Catalyst 2.0: Delivery

>Surrounded by digital grimiores, her hoofs deep in rug, Twilight was buried in digitally presented spells.  She had even taken it upon herself to use parchment this time.  Scribbled notes, made from synthetically generated, dark violent ink, were neatly organized in a small stack to her side.
>It was purely a nostalgic effort.  A twinge of old, recall pinching pleasantly at her mind.  With all the abilities at her disposal, fueled by generic magical effort and bio-electrics, these old papers seemed quaint.
>As she read through them, more and more ideas sprang to life.  Old abilities, so hard to perfect and administer into reality, had been substituted so readily with all the technology at her disposal.  The more she read, the more she found she wanted to create some esoteric appliance.
>A levitator, perhaps.  Maybe a music box, comprised of brass and wood.  The harmonics would be unique, at least, and would require some genuine physical effort...
>This was the root of it all, she remembered.  Trying to take those base abilities and implant them into devices and tools, dissolving the barriers between pegasi, unicorn, and earth ponies.  It had been for the good of them all.
>She'd just never expected traveling that road would have lead to Tartarus.
>Warping that barrier had initially brought a slew of underlying species-ism.  Thankfully, it had all but dissipated in a few short years.  It came to the point that one of her greatest achievements, more for herself, had manifested.
>Intellect, had prevailed over the physical.  It had united them in reality, but what she hadn't expected, was the dirt and grime to tarnish the mind.  She hadn't let her thoughts wander to the idea that it could be used to such... Dark ends.

>Being so scientifically minded herself, she had hoped things would have remained stoic.  At least professional, perhaps, in it's approach to new things.  Society had a way of evolving in reverse, though.  Clinging to hideous things, for the sake of perceived comfort.
>Twilight knew the petty ponies would linger there.  She knew something else, though. She had the ability go generate change; she already had, in the short time in which technology had prevailed.  She'd proliferated it herself.
>No matter how vain or numerous they were, if the idea was sound, change could not be stopped.  She just needed to understand the root of the problem.  So there she was, back at her roots.
>Trying again, to see where she'd gone so wrong.
>Her only mistake, so far as she could admit, was expecting everyp0ny else to think like she did.  Self centralism, she blamed it on.  Some ponies just liked things violent and exciting, no matter the method.  She'd presented the technology for
>That's where he would have been such a blessing, were he there, in the flesh.  He was a tool, certainly.  Made from tools, too.
>Having a tool say “no, that's immoral.” back at the wielder.  She could imagine such a lock on weapons.  Guns with a personality.  Magic always had that personal flair going for it.
>If only...

>PinkusPiecus: OMG
>PinkusPiecus: Twilight, Sweet Heart is so weird
>Pink text lit up her AR, a balloon addled avatar glowing beside it.
>Moniker: That's no way to talk about her.  She's just a filly.
>PinkusPiecus: I know! But that's just it.  She's even more into math and programs and alakhazams than you are.  But she just asked me what a cupcake was.
>Moniker: Well, she is smart.  She just asked an expert, right?
>PinkusPiecus: ROFL
>PinkusPiecus: OMG you're right
>PinkusPiecus: I NEED to show her
>PinkusPiecus: where is your kitchen?
>Twilight thought for a moment.  In her own tower, she wasn't necessarily positive.  She'd have to access the blueprints.  Only Pinkie had the capacity to confound her in her own home, however temporary it was.
>Moniker: it's in the underlying levels.  Ask one of the guards, I'm sure they'll be able to help.
>PinkusPiecus: Okie Dokie Lokie!
>The text stopped assailing her.  She was able to get back to those old studies, however simple they seemed.  She was busy puling out another grimiore, charging it with a soft burst from her horn, when another text came.
>Typical Pinkie.
>PinkusPiecus: Twilight
>PinkusPiecus: Something is wrong
>Twilight rolled her eyes. She took to finishing the charge on the grimiore, before she replied.  It interrupted another text from Pinkie, though Twilight wasn't exactly inclined to read it.  A pony had to take some caution when listening too hard to her.
>Moniker: What, do we not have flour? It's not something we stock too much here, you know.
>PinkusPiecus: No
>PinkusPiecus: There's a mare in the lobby
>PinkusPiecus: She's yelling at Sweet Heart

>Twilight stood stiffly, brow raised, while she read Pinkie's text.  There was no reason she could think of, by anyp0nies standards, that a filly of that size could ever cause an outburst in another pony.
>Moniker: Why?
>PinkusPiecus: I thought she was just being mean
>PinkusPiecus: But Sweet Heart said something about being obsolete
>PinkusPiecus: she flew totally off the saddle
>Moniker: Get the guards to throw her out, now. I'll send a ping if you need it.
>PinkusPiecus: The meaniepants is really weird though. yelling about what she's going to do to his dad
>Twilight's eyes went wide. She read and re-read the text.
>PinkusPiecus: I called Rarity up to take her home, but she's not here yet
>PinkusPiecus: you better send that ping Twilight, Sweet Heart is really making her angry
>Before the text had even finished progressing, Twilight was at the far end of her office.  The elevator dinged shut, and began to descend.
>Moniker: Whatever you do Pinkie, do NOT let Rarity see her.  Get the guards to detain her, NOW.
>She sent the authorization ping to the lobby.  She didn't know if it was who she thought it was, or why in the name of Celestia's gold sky she'd be at the tower.  She did know that if Rarity got there before she did-
>PinkusPiecus: Twilight
>PinkusPiecus: You better make them stop Rarity first
>PinkusPiecus: I don't think she likes this other mare
–

>When the elevator doors opened, Rarity's shrill cries and screams filled the soundless cube.  Twilight dashed out of the elevator, toward the nearest cluster of guards.  They were congealed in front of the receptionist, who was arched back, her hooves on the desk, just watching the scene unfold.
>It had taken at least four guards to keep her at bay.  The muscle enhancement prosthetics she had were doing them little in the way of favors.  A fifth guard had to pick himself up off the floor, and re-approach her, just to help restrain her friend.  She was practically foaming at the mouth, and making inches of ground against the weight of her detainees.
>Pinkie was beside the clamor, watching from the sidelines.  She had a hoof on Sweet Heart's back, keeping the filly away from the invader.  The girl was crying, while Pinkie stayed close, with wide, confused eyes.
>It really was her, clad in white saddlebags and sunglasses.  She was bandaged at her face, having backed up several steps from Rarity.
>Vinyl Scratch. Here. In HER tower.
>”Do you have any idea what I'm going to do to you?  We've got you now, you slovenly little-” Rarity snarled, one foreleg tugging free and pawing at Vinyl. “Assailing my daughter, in my home? What kind of monster are you?”
>The other white mare pointed at Sweet Heart.
>Vinyl: You keep that thing away from me, or you're going to lose something very, very bucking important.
>Sweet Heart reacted visibly after a moment.  She closed her eyes tightly, shaking her head.  Pinkie started to pet her, while the filly continued to cry.

>Rarity peeled away from a pair of the guards, and made ground.  It was enough that the others were off balance, unable to respond.  It would have been little more than an instant before Rarity fully escaped, and would no doubt turn Vinyl into a greasy stain.
>It wasn't that Twilight would have hated to watch.  There was a child, present though.  Judging from the saddlebags and the act of faith in simply walking through the front door, Vinyl also had something to say.
>Rarity flew beneath Vinyl as the confused mare floated in a lightly violet field, bobbing in the air above.  Suspended by Twilight's magic, Rarity had to take the time to turn and face upward. It was enough for the guards to tackle her again, catching up and managing to hold her back.
>Twilight kept Vinyl still in the air while she approached.  She glowered up at the ivory mare, whom looked helplessly back down.  Upon seeing her, Twilight had lost all sense of her previously placid mood.
>She intensified her grip. It squeezed Vinyl from all around, making her curl into a ball.
>Vinyl: Carrying sensitive material! Very fragile!  Do not bend!
>Twilight let up.  Only a little, though.  “You have thirty seconds before the legal implications get submitted for the case against your attempted assault here.”
>Vinyl: Hey, I didn't have anything of the sort in mind.
>”The cameras, guards, and traumatized little filly are going to say otherwise. Based on your history, blind eyes will be turned on whatever Rarity does.  Twenty seven seconds.”
>Rarity was growling, spitting curses at her own predicament.  Her eyes never left Vinyl's form, her sole focus on doing whatever it was she had in mind.

>Vinyl: I was going to do my good deed for the year, and deliver a very important package to you.
>”There is nothing we could possibly need from you.”
>Vinyl: Need, no. If you turned this away, you'd be great at ignoring things right under you nose.  You aren't known for that.
>Twilight let the mare drift over to the desk.  She lowered her down, but didn't let her free; she hovered a few inches above the floor.  “Twenty seconds left and you still haven't said a thing to stop your impending legal doom.”
>Vinyl: Hard drive. Left flank saddlebag.  Don't try to uplink to it, or the contents will auto-upload to somewhere else.
>Twilight waited a few seconds.  Five, to be precise, to keep Vinyl's breathing room short.  She opened the saddlebag, lifting the device from the pocket.
>It was of a peculiar make and design.  It was barely familiar after a few more seconds of inspection, twirling it about in the air.  It bore no markings- serial or custom signatures.  “this doesn't help you in any way, you know.” Twilight said.  “Without tracking, this drive just makes your legal situation that much worse.”
>Vinyl: Do you always hide behind law?
>Twilight squeezed her.
>Vinyl: DO NOT BEND!
>Vinyl: By Luna, you're cruel.  You didn't even acknowledge what kind of drive it was.
>Pinkie had started to shuffle Sweet Heart away toward the elevator. The two kept peering back every few steps, the little filly sniffling as she went.  Rarity had calmed, barely, and was now merely fuming while the guards pushed their bodies atop her to keep her down.  She was still standing with their combined weight.

>Twilight peered at it once more, placing it gently upon the front desk.  The receptionist wheeled away from it on her chair, to the opposite side.  “It's a crystal matrix drive.  Simple solid-state containment for extreme amounts of data.  I made the prototype for it.  Standard issue for data servers, but this one was modified.”
>Vinyl: Sure. But was it standard two years ago? Before your pet project needed a place to stay?
>Twilight slitted her eyes.
>Vinyl: And do drives like that normally have a trio of dual-layer hexacores?  What could a stand-alone drive EVER need processing power for, let alone that much and portable?
>When the statement registered, Twilight nearly dropped her.  She quickly trotted to the drive, and ran her hoof over it.  She found an embedded maintenance holograph, and accessed it as quickly as she could while maintaining her hold on Vinyl.
>Vinyl simply watched, flatly, as the code started to flow.  Twilight instantly understood it- she was able to read massive chunks, and even recite several pieces from memory.  She simply watched the lines pass by, her eyes losing focus.
>”Why?” Twilight asked. “How?”
>Sweet Heart stopped. She turned to try and see the holograph as it went by, rubbing off her nose. Pinkie tried to nudge her along, but the only reason she budged was because she was so much smaller.

>Vinyl: You think HE wouldn't explain?  He's got everything you'll need to know.  I was only here to drop him off so I could sleep better at night.
>Twilight let her down, and shut off the display.  She cradled the drive in her hooves, one to each side, making sure it would not move from that spot.  She had to make sure it was real, and at that moment, feeling it was the only way she could.
>Rarity stood agape, while Vinyl passed her by.  She tried to wrestle out again, but only temporarily, before looking back at the violet pony. “Twilight? How could you?”
>”Because she brought him back.” Twilight said.  Rarity froze in place, looking at Vinyl out of the corner of her eye.  “The drive, it...”
>Vinyl had stopped to look at Rarity.  They stared at each other a long, smoldering moment.
>Vinyl: That's right, diva.
>She turned back to look at Sweet Heart, a vivid scowl forming.  She returned her gaze to Rarity, lifting her glasses with a hoof.
>Vinyl: Daddy's home.
>Vinyl: Complete with every shit thing everyp0ny else did to him.
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