@Eluuna Every morning in Ponyville, the mail gets dropped off in front of Maisilee's door. This morning was no different, in that respect. But in another way, this morning marked a turning point in Maisilee's life, though they didn't know it yet. In the mail today was a large package, labeled as 'fragile' and 'important'. On the outside of the package is a note, with a bit of writing on it. The rest of the mail sits on top of the package, which is nearly the size of a pony.
Maisilee blearily stumbled through her house, the floorboards cool beneath her hooves. She rubbed a hoof to her temple and walked out into the brisk dawn air. "Oh!" she exclaimed, almost tripping on the large package on her deck.
When Maisilee gets around to reading the note on the package, it says: Greetings, Maisilee! You have been chosen at random from ponies all across Equestria to test our new product! There is no charge, there are no fees, and most of all, no rules! You can do anything you want with this, including return it right now, in which case we will send it to another pony for testing. We do not require you to send it back to us if you do intend to test it, however. The only thing we ask of you is this: Please, after you have tested the product for as long as you wish to, fill out the 200-page response packet that is inside this package. We need customer reviews to make our product better! Thank you so much for helping us out! -Fortis Inc. Her name was filled into a blank space at the top of the note. Perhaps frustratingly, the note did not say what was actually IN the box.
Maisilee rubbed her eyes, trying to get the sleep out. She gently nudged the parcel. It did not escape her notice that it was roughly pony sized. She chewed her lip for a moment, then her horn lit with a light blue glow, and she opened the box.
Inside the box is a metal pony! Well, that's what it looks like, anyways. There was also a big, big book labeled 'instruction manual' and a smaller pamphlet labeled 'getting started with your GPPP!'
Maisilee poked the animatronic pony. Seeing as it didn't seem to do anything, she picked up the manual.
The pony was technically metal, but one could only tell because a few parts were unassembled. The outside felt quite like a real pony, except that of course it wasn't warm to the touch. There was even fur and what felt like skin, both of which were of course artificial, but regardless... It was perhaps a little unnerving. The manual detailed, not in layman's terms, how the robot worked and how it could be assembled and disassembled, and furthermore, how the AI worked and how to interact with it. There were so many points, but a few of the more important ones seemed to be: -The AI will require teaching, as it starts with a blank slate for experience, even though it has more knowledge than your average pony, and the capability for speech. It may seem confused at first, but remember, it is a learning robot. Think of it as a foal, except that it needs to be taught about the real world, rather than being taught out of books. - The robot is powered by the sunlight, but its battery will last a very long time, so do not be afraid to let it run at night. - The robot cannot repair itself. If it is damaged badly, please send it back to us so that we can repair it. The robot comes with very minimal assembly required, that any pony could handle.
Maisilee blew the hair out of her face, and bit the side of the box, trying to pull it inside. When that failed, she tried pushing it. It moved very slowly, as she was a weak pony, and the box was extremely heavy. However, it moved, and Maisilee took that as a sign of encouragement. She continued pushing, until she made it into the house. Panting, Maisilee brushed her hair out of her face. Her somewhat delicate brows furrowed, and she reached in the box and started trying to assemble the pony.
It certainly wasn't difficult. In fact, really there wasn't much to do at all; un-package the mane and tail, remove any other packaging and wrap, make sure everything seemed to be in order, with a few key places to check like the ears and snout, and press the power button. Surprisingly simple, for such a complicated machine, as it seemed to be. The people at this company clearly didn't want to take any chances with this testing.
Maisilee finished putting the robot together, and boldly pressed the power button. She grabbed the manual gently, and looked through it.
(Sorry I've been so busy and distracted D As she read, the pony-like figure slowly came to life. His eyes fluttered open. Its ears twitched slightly, and its tail swished back and forth once. Then its eyes flitted around the room, taking everything in, as if searching for something. Finally its (or his?) eyes locked on Maisilee, blinking often enough to give the semblance of life but not often enough for that semblance to be perfect. "Hello," it or he said.
Maisilee considered herself to be quite a brave pony. However, when the figure came to life, she jumped about a foot into the air. "Oh my gosh, I didn't think you'd actually work!" exclaimed Maisilee. She examined the robot from all dimensions. "What is your name?" (It's totally fine!)
