“Oh no, no, no, NO!” Spike repeated to himself as he ran in the direction of the Carousel Boutique. Smoke was pouring out of the ground floor windows, glass littered the street from where the heat inside had blown them out of their frames. Around the boutique, many of the ponies from Ponyville’s fire house were directing the stream from their hoses into Rarity’s shop, slowly pushing back the flames as they fought to escape to the outside.
“No!” Spike half stumbled, half flew around the boutique. He still hadn’t gotten used to his new wings, and due to Twilight needing him at the palace library more and more frequently, his lessons with Rainbow Dash in how to use them had been sparse indeed. Even if they testified that he was now on the cusp of officially becoming a full adult, the great leathery limbs still seemed to trip him up at the worst of times, like right now as he came upon the sight of an ambulance parked in front of the boutique.
“Rarity!” Spike cried. From where she was raggedly holding an oxygen mask to her face, the white unicorn turned and promptly dropped the mask as the shock caused her to go into another coughing fit.
“*cough*… oh Spike… *cough*… I’m… I’m so sorry…” Rarity wheezed as tears ran from her eyes. “Sweetie Belle... she…*cough*”
“Miss Rarity, please! One breath at a time… we’ll fill in your friend here.” One of the ambulance crew gently insisted as he picked up the mask and placed it back over the unicorn’s muzzle. “That’s it… breathe slowly…”
Spike’s heart leapt into his throat. “Is… is she alright?”
The paramedic pony nodded softly.
“She just inhaled a bit too much smoke. Luckily she was near the front door when the fire started, so she got out safely.” The red earth pony assured as Rarity gasped for oxygen. Spike’s worries were momentarily dashed.
“What happened here?” He demanded as the firefighters put down the last of the blaze.
“*cough*… kit-kitchen… *cough* Sweetie Belle was… *cough*…” Rarity fought to get the words out, but her voice was still too weak, not that Spike needed to hear anything more. The mere concept of his marefriend and the word ‘kitchen’ being used in the same sentence pretty much told him how bad this was.
“Sweetie Belle is in there!?” He asked in a panic. One of the firefighters turned and promptly reached out to grab the dragon as he charged for the smoking boutique.
“Whoah… WHOAH! Easy there sir, we’ve almost got the fire out! One of our boys is in there now searching for any other ponies.” He said while trying to not get yanked off his hooves as Spike fought against his grip. Even if he was still shorter than most dragon’s his age, Spike seemed to have bloomed mostly everywhere else, including his strength. As the firefighter holding him promptly found himself being dragged behind the dragon, his colleague tried to pitch in and hold Spike back. Spike simply bore the weight of the two ponies without breaking his stride, not even when a third and fourth firefighter tried to tackle him and stop him from charging into danger.
“S-Seriously… I’m fireproof! I’ve got a better chance of getting her out of there than you do!” Spike growled as he tried to shake off the rescue ponies. Despite the ambulance staff’s protests, Rarity pulled the oxygen mask off and ran over.
“Spike… *cough*… SPIKE!... *cough* don’t! You… *cough*… I need to… *hack*… you don’t know!”
That seemed to finally do the trick. Spike stopped and turned as the mare he trusted almost as implicitly as her beloved sister stumbled up to him, one hoof pressed to her throat as she continued to raggedly cough.
“Know? Know what?” He demanded. Rarity held up her hoof as she hocked a sickly wad of phlegm onto the ground.
“Sweet… *cough*… Sweetie… is fine… she’s… *hack*… she’s…” The unicorn’s beautiful features screwed up as her throat burned from breathing in the hot smoke.
“She’s what?” Spike yelled, then immediately regretted it as Rarity collapsed into another fit of coughing.
“Hey guys, I found her! Alert the… uh…”
All eyes turned to see a fifth firefighter stepping out of the smoking boutique, a steaming bundle of burned blankets on his back.
“Uh… what’s going on out here?” He asked upon seeing his colleagues all holding onto to different parts of the shocked purple dragon.
“Sweetie!” Spike bolted forward, throwing the four other ponies across the street as they lost their grip on him. “Is she… what happened?”
The firefighter cautiously held up a hoof and bid for Spike to stop.
“Looked like something very nasty happened in the kitchen there. Possibly a gas leak that got ignited when the stove was turned on, or something similar. Poor girl got the worst of it. Had to soak some of the fabric sheets lying around the place with water and bundle her up so she wouldn’t burn me while carrying her.” The stallion said somberly. Spike’s face slowly lost its purple color, turning almost white with fright.
“Is she…” He repeated dumbly. The firefighter frantically shook his head.
“She’s alive… I think. Let me get her to the ambulance crew…” The stallion pushed past Spike. “And then maybe to a mechanic.” He added in a confused tone.
Spike mutely followed behind, not even registering the chatter as the firefighter relayed his findings to the medical ponies. The latter duly levitated the bundle onto a stretcher and delicately began peeling back the burned fabric.
“Word of advice, you might want to notify the hospital to have their maintenance team and tools on standby. Seems the rumors around town were right after all.” The firefighter said with a bewildered shrug. Spike turned and stared in likewise puzzlement as the body of his beloved mare was revealed.
Whereupon the puzzlement reverted back to outright shock.
“S-Sweetie? What… the…”
Before the dragon lay a being who could best be described as a facsimile of his marefriend, in the sense that the hair, coat, horn, cutie mark, and other identifying features were all present, but on a body that was clearly not that of Sweetie Bell. Beneath the sickening black crust of burned flesh and muscle shone an expanse of what appeared to be white metal. Beyond the gore of scorched tissues and dried blood, wires, circuits and mechanical joints were visible. Dumbly, Spike turned to look at his sweetheart’s eyes, and immediately felt his stomach flip. The actual soft starry orbs he loved getting lost in had melted out of their sockets, revealing the shine of glass lenses, mounted atop what looked like some manner of highly advanced camera apparatus modelled in the likeness of a robotic eye. Neon green light shone from within the lenses, flickering wildly as if to signal that life still beat within the shell of… whatever the heck this thing was.
“Sweetie? What… is…” Spike breathlessly asked as the paramedics unwrapped the rest of the blankets and looked in amazement.
“Well I’ll be… so these do exist after all!” One of the ambulance crew exclaimed as he gently touched Sweetie’s exposed metallic flank. He promptly yanked the hoof back upon finding it was still almost glowing hot from the fire. “Guess we’re going to see if this one is as durable as legends would state. Get her in the ambulance. I’ll have somepony notify Princess Twilight.”
For the second time that day Spike came to a dead stop as the right combination of words snapped him back to full alertness.
“Princess… Princess Twilight? Uh, I can do that.” He said. The paramedics turned and looked at him. “That is… uh… if you’d kindly tell me just what in Tartarus is going on???” He demanded.
From where she was being helped into the ambulance, Rarity weakly raised her hoof.
“T… *cough*… Tell Twilight… *cough*… then meet us at the hospital. *Hack*… I’ll… explain everything then.” She promised.
"You found this where, dear?” Cookie Crumbles asked. Before her, Hondo Flanks very carefully prodded at various parts of the strange foal Rarity had brought home… well, ‘foal’ was a bit of an exaggeration, to be honest. While the tiny creature bore the mane, tail, hooves, and general physique of a baby equine, the fact it was just standing lifelessly in the center of the room, with a section of its neck open to allow Hondo to inspect its innards, told of how it was clearly something very different.
“It was in the very back of that new cave I told you about. The one with all the pretty gem stones.” A very young Rarity replied. “I… I thought it was some kind of doll. You know, like the ones they put the clothes on in store windows.”
Cookie looked to her husband as he lit his horn and shone the light into the foal’s neck.
“Well, that’s not a bad guess. This is clearly an artificial construct of some kind.” The stallion hummed as he finished clearing the dust and cobwebs off, then picked up a screwdriver. “Interesting, the mechanics remind me of the x-ray machines and sonogram equipment at Ponyville General Hospital.”
“What are… mek-niks, daddy?” Rarity asked. Hondo bid his daughter over and showed her how the inside of the foal was neither hollow, nor filled with the guts and bones depicted on the anatomy charts at Rarity’s school. Instead, wires, fiber optic cables, circuits, and synthetic tissues lined the interior of the foal, giving Rarity cause to gasp in amazement.
“It seems this… erm… pony wasn’t born, it was built. It’s a robot.” Hondo explained, much to his wife’s growing confusion.
“That was then abandoned in a random cave somewhere?” Cookie queried. Hondo looked up at her and just shrugged.
“What’s a… ’roh-bot’?” Rarity queried. Hondo smiled and cleared his throat.
“A robot is a mechanical agent, a machine created to perform a service that normal ponies might not be capable of doing. It’s like the things you’ve seen daddy fixing in his workshop for the ponies around town, only robots are more autonomous, and usually…”
“Hondo, dear, what have I told you about using your big stallion words around her?” Cookie chided softly. The pride promptly flushed away from Hondo’s face and he blushed.
“Right… uh… well, basically, this is a robot. It looks like a pony, but it’s not flesh and blood… at least… it shouldn’t be.” Hondo prodded the machine’s side, noticing how his hoof sank into what felt like real, living skin and fur. “Strange that this one seems to have been deliberately designed to be almost indistinguishable from a normal pony.”
Rarity ooohed some more as she tousled the machine’s purple and pink striped mane and watched how it flowed back down just like real hair would.
“I think we need to notify the Royal Guards about this. Princess Celestia, or somepony in her court, is no doubt going to be very interested to know there’s something like this just sitting pretty in Equestria.” Cookie suggested. Hondo nodded as he picked up his screwdriver again.
“Agreed, but first, I just want to try something. If I’m not mistaken, this part right here should be the connection between the CPU and power source… but it looks like the wires got pulled out, and…”
Sparks promptly flew out of the foal’s neck. Hondo stumbled back as it gave a violent shudder and rapidly blinked its eyes. Cookie’s breath caught in her throat as the foal looked at her, then at Rarity. It slowly cocked its head in confusion.
“Ooooh… hello?” Rarity asked. The foal blinked several more times.
- Hello. - It stated blankly. Its voice was rather high pitched, and feminine in tone, yet there was just a hint of a metallic timbre to betray its mechanical nature.
Silence held in the room for another moment or so. Finally Hondo got up from his sprawled position on the floor and stared in amazement at the machine.
“Huh… okay, well that produced better results than expected.” He said. The foal looked at him in confusion. “Uh, hi? My name is Hondo Flanks… and this is my wife, Cookie Crumbles, and my daughter Rarity.”
The foal turned to each member of the household again, staring at them with the same confused nature.
“I found you in a cave!” Rarity proclaimed proudly. The foal nodded mutely.
- A cave.- It repeated.
“Yeah, uh… we were wondering what you are, so I thought if maybe I could turn you on… erm… you could answer that for us?” Hondo asked awkwardly. The foal nodded and closed its eyes for a moment.
-Diagnostic scan reports all systems are running nominally. Memory records reveal…- The robot paused and opened its eyes again. Its head lowered to the ground. –No data available.-
Hondo’s eyes widened in shock. “Really? Uh… you can’t tell us what model you are? Or what your… uh… name is? Or anything?”
The robot closed its eyes, then opened them again with the same sad list of its head.
-No data available. Unit’s designation is unknown. Unit’s purpose is unknown. Unit is otherwise functioning nominally.- It replied. Cookie placed a hoof to her mouth, while Hondo sighed.
“Wow, not only does it look like a foal, but it’s as much of a blank slate as one too.” He replied. The robot looked up at him with what was almost a too lifelike expression of teary eyed want.
-Unit requires programming. Are you able to assist?- It asked, its voice noticeably growing less mechanical with each syllable. The household all looked at each other.
“Uhhh… well, I still think we should turn it over to the Royal Guard… only, I don’t know how much good that would do if it literally doesn’t know anything about itself.” Cookie mentioned.
“I… hmmm… it sounds like it wants to learn. I’m pondering if that means I could teach it…” Hondo rubbed his chin.
“Could I keep her?” Rarity stated out of nowhere. Her parents turned to her in surprise. “She could be like… like my little sister!”
The surprise on Hondo and Cookie’s faces widened.
“She?” Cookie asked her daughter dumbly. Rarity turned to the foal and nodded.
“She sounds like a she.” The unicorn replied.
- ‘She’… female… vocal inflections suggest gender assignment. Like this?” The robot’s voice completely lost its metallic timbre in the space of four syllables, leaving it speaking like a typically adorable baby that had just learned to talk. More looks of shock were shared.
“Yeah, like that.” Rarity said proudly. “She could be like my little sister. She almost looks the same as me!”
Cookie looked to her daughter and then the robot. Indeed aside from the difference in their mane colors, the two could pass as siblings…
“I’m getting a very weird feeling here. I mean… I just saw you poking at it with your tools… yet… as I keep looking at her… it… well…” Cookie snorted and placed her hoof back against her head. “Honestly, even if it’s just meant to look like a real wide eyed little foal, it’s a very good deception.”
Hondo nodded as he looked down at the robot, a smile working its way across his face at it… no, she… kept staring up in want like any child would.
“She is kind of a sweetie… there’s no doubt about that.”
“Yeah! That can be her name!” Rarity jumped up and down. “Sweetie Bot!”
The robot’s ears rose. “Sweetie Bot?”
Cookie snorted and shook her head. “No.”
Her daughter promptly stopped her happy hopping.
“Whatever you’re thinking Rarity, we are not calling her ‘Sweetie Bot’.” The mare insisted. “Regardless of whether she’s living or a machine, calling attention to her status like that is rude.”
Rarity looked crestfallen for a moment, then brightened again instantly.
“What about… uhhh… ’Sweetie Belle’?” She asked. The robot looked down as if contemplating this.
“Sweetie Belle… a moniker invoking positive connotations and amicable reactions. Unit deems this a beneficial designation.” It said, its cuteness factor increasing with how it talked so eloquently in such a squeaky, infant voice.
“So you like it?” Hondo asked.
“Yes. I am Sweetie Belle… designed for…” The now named mare paused as she hit another hindrance. “Purpose not yet confirmed.”
“You’re my little sister!” Rarity exclaimed happily. Hondo and Cookie looked at each other.
“Dear…” The mare began. Hondo nodded.
“I’ll still send word to Princess Celestia. For now, well, let’s see how this develops…”
“So after that, dad sent word to Canterlot, and we got the biggest surprise of all. Apparently, Princess Celestia’s standing was we could keep her if we wanted, since she seemed to be acclimatizing to being a member of our household just fine.” Rarity explained to the ponies gathered around her in the hospital waiting room. “She still went in for regular maintenance checks, and the doctors here sent reports on her progress to Canterlot, but aside from that, she fit into her role as a sibling and daughter far better than we were anticipating.”
Spike blinked several times and scratched his head.
“Wait… wait… hold on a second… if Sweetie is actually a robot… how the heck has she still been aging like a normal pony? How did she manage to get a cutie mark like her friends? How is it she can eat and drink, and smell like the rest of us? How is it… erm… uh….” Spike’s voice broke as he realized he was about to ask a much more intimate and very inappropriate question. “Uhhh… actually, I’ll wait on that last one for later.”
Twilight Sparkle smiled and stood up from her seat.
“I think I can answer that. Celestia told me about this while I was studying under her.” The alicorn projected an image of a pony and a mechanical facsimile thereof with her magic. “As you all have heard by now, those of you who’ve met a certain Lyra Heartstrings at least, there allegedly exists, or once existed another race different to those on Equestria. Beings of a furless and bipedal nature, much like Spike, with hands instead of hooves and all that…”
Spike nodded. “You mean humans?”
Twilight smiled. "Something like that."
She created a magical image of one such creature for her friends. “Anyway, according to lore known only among Celestia’s scholars, they had a far greater grasp of and dependence on technology than we do. It’s believed that highly sophisticated robots, much like Sweetie Belle apparently is, were created by them, and left behind when they vanished without a trace. “ Twilight shut off her projection and sat back down. “Celestia actually believes there may be more machines like her littered around the world, evidence that humans, or a similarly advanced race, once lived on Equestria. Sweetie would technically be the first proof she was right, though.”
Rarity cocked her ears forward.
“And… you’re not mad at the fact that I’ve been keeping her in secret all this time?” She asked. Twilight smiled soothingly.
“Hardly a secret. Your parents notified the necessary channels when needed, and they, in turn, have been keeping Celestia and everypony abreast of the situation all these years. There was hardly any need to complicate things, and Sweetie always seemed perfectly happy living here as your sister, so Celestia just let it be.” The alicorn assured.
“Well, yeah… but that doesn’t really update me with what I asked about.” Spike complained. “Seriously, if you found her as a foal, how is it she now looks like a normal teenager? Almost an adult even!”
"Maybe she's like the stone golems Daring Do encountered in her third book? The ones that can assemble larger bodies for themselves by adding more rocks onto their forms?" Rainbow Dash suggested. "Or...ooh, maybe she's like the giant spiders that guarded the lost Temple of Connemara! Daring said they grow bigger by shedding their outer bodies every year...wait..."
The blue pegasus turned to Rarity in suspicion. "If that's the case, how do we know those ponyquins at the boutique aren't actually Sweetie Belle's old shells, left over when she molted?"
Rarity replied with a blank look. "Because they aren't...and now you're freaking me out a little, Rainy."
Twilight’s smile lost a bit of confidence.
“Yes, well I can say is that whoever built her apparently designed her to resemble a normal pony as much as possible. According to the doctors who’ve been doing her checkups over the years, her body is somehow able to augment and build onto itself. Every time she's had an x-ray done or a physical done there've just been new additions to her internal workings. We’re not sure how, but I have several theories based on how sophisticated her construction is.” The alicorn got a strange blush on her face. “I was actually pondering… uh… now that the secret is out… maybe Sweetie could provide some answers?”
Rarity’s head wilted.
“No.” She said. Twilight sighed and nodded.
“Right, sorry, I didn’t mean it like that… I just…”
“No, I didn’t mean my response in that regard either.” Rarity interrupted. “I meant Sweetie won’t be able to help you because she has no idea.”
Twilight, Spike, and everyone else reacted in shock.
“All Sweetie knows is she’s a robot that’s remarkably similar to a living pony. How much alike, or how she can do everything a living pony can do, is as much a mystery to her as it is to us.” Rarity nervously toyed with her hair. “Honestly, I wonder if she in fact was deliberately designed that way, so she’d think she IS a living pony. Certainly there’ve been many times where even I’ve forgotten she’s actually a robot, so great is her likeness.”
Spike sighed.
"Is that why neither of you told me yet? Actually hold on..." The dragon looked at his friends in accusation. "How many of you were aware of this?"
Rainbow, Fluttershy and Applejack all looked perturbed at Spike's raised voice. Twilight snorted and bid her assistant to please calm down.
"Just me, and Rarity." She began, before Pinkie Pie's hoof shot up.
"I knew! I just thought we were keeping it a surprise, you know for when their first anniversary came around and we could celebrate with a 'Congrats on one whole year of robo-romance!' party!"
The pink mare paused as if now noticing her friends were gaping in slack-jawed shock at her. "Yes I know the title needs work, but I've still got time...right?"
Twilight took a deep breath. "Anyway we WERE going to tell you, once we knew for certain that your relationship with Sweetie was serious." The alicorn perked her ears. "You two are serious about each other, aren't you?"
Spike blinked as his thought process struggled to pick itself up from where it had derailed and put itself back on the tracks. He looked down at the floor in deep contemplation, only looking up when the ER door swung open and out stepped a stallion in surgical scrubs.
“How… how is it, doctor?” Rarity asked apprehensively. The stallion cleared his throat and smiled softly.
“Honestly, it’s better than we were expecting. Good news is whatever Sweetie’s body… I mean, her actual body, is made from seems to have done a masterful job of insulating her innards from the fire. We had to clean off some ash and scorch marks, but as far as we can tell, she’s working fine.” The stallion took a breath. “The bad news, of course, is we couldn’t save her skin...erm, the covering that was acting as such. That got pretty much destroyed by the explosion.”
Twilight nodded somberly. “And since we have no means of replicating a living tissue covering, we now face a new challenge: what can we do now if she’s no longer able to pass as a pony?”
She looked to Rarity who took a deep breath and brushed her mane aside.
“That’s a discussion I think she needs to be included in. Her and all those she cares for…” The unicorn looked at Spike. He wadded his hands and shifted his wings awkwardly.
“Can… can we see her?” He asked. The stallion nodded.
“Maintenance team is doing one final check. Far as we can tell, she shut down after getting hit by the explosion. Just needs to be turned back on, so if you’d like…”
Rarity nodded and rose. “I can take it from here. Come along everyone.”
The ponies head into the ER, all save for Pinkie Pie who was still debating titles for her upcoming party.
"Maybe something alliterative? Like a 'Proud to be P-600 Party'? No wait, the P-600 series has rubber skin. Sweetie's a way more advanced model than that!" The pink mare said before the door swung shut in front of her.
In the ER, everyone approached the room where the entity that had apparently been masquerading as Sweetie Belle lay limply upon a recovery bed. With all the charred flesh and burn marks cleared away, she cut a very different picture than Spike had been expecting. Her mane and tail had somehow survived the fire intact, indicating they were made of a similarly durable material to her body, despite feeling like normal silky hair. Spike thought of the many times he’d run his fingers through both, either grooming or teasing the adorable filly, and never expecting she was anything more than a lovely, bubbly lass. He also noticed her horn looked a bit longer, and now bore three rings of what appeared to be lights spiraling around the pointed extension. On her legs, where her joints were located, there was a dial of some manner, set with another light. Her hooves now also revealed that each had some manner of a grille style vent underneath the metal cover.
Spike pressed his face to the window of the recovery room as Rarity gingerly stepped inside. For all the newly uncovered aspects that told of how his marefriend was apparently some marvel of technological innovation, on the whole, she still looked like Sweetie Belle. Her mane still had the right colors, her body was still the same brilliant shade of pure white, and on her flank, there was still her cutie mark, sitting there plain for all to see.
“Be ready, everyone. I’ve never had to… uh… oh, what’s the word… reboot Sweetie from a total shut down. Not sure how she’ll react.” Rarity warned as she used her magic to pry open a panel on the robot’s neck. Spike watched in shock as the unicorn pressed something inside her sister’s innards, and her whole body gave a sharp jolt.
“And to think, when you two started dating, I thought you’d defied all expectations by going for someone so plain and pretty. Looks like I should’ve kept my bets on one of you turning out to be something other than normal.” Rainbow commented, much to the dragon’s ire. Rarity carefully pressed her hoof on another part of Sweetie’s neck and stepped back as the lights on her body flickered to full brightness. The robot opened her eyes, revealing they now glowed with an uncovered evergreen aura. Sweetie looked at her surroundings, then slowly rose up off the bed.
-Rarity? Whuh-what happened?- Sweetie asked, her voice now inflected with the same metallic timbre as before. Rarity’s ears wilted as her eyes filled with tears.
“Th-There was an accident… the boutique’s kitchen… oh Sweetie!” She leaned down and hugged the robot. “I’m so sorry!”
Sweetie looked at her sibling in confusion…only for her features to likewise wilt as she held up a hoof and saw its now mechanical nature.
-Right… I remember I was trying to bake bread… but the oven… I remember smelling gas… then the pilot clicked on and…- Sweetie pushed herself back from her sister. – Did anypony get hurt!?-
Rarity sniffed and wiped her eyes.
“No, no, I’m fine… you’re… well, you got the worst out of everyone.” She tearfully replied. Sweetie blinked her neon toned eyes and held up a hoof.
-The worst? One second…-
Her eyes snapped shut and a low humming sound reverberated from within her body. Spike recognized it as the same kind of sound Sweetie made whenever she was warming up for singing practice.
-Diagnostic scan reports no internal damage. All systems operating nominally. – Sweetie took a deep breath. “So… I just lost my epidermal cover… heh, after all these years, and as a result of my continuing insistence on trying to learn how to cook.” She said, her voice now having returned to its normal, perfectly natural sounding timbre. Spike had to gape at how she was able to switch from sounding robotic to sounding like the mare he loved just like that.
“Sweetie, just what were you thinking?? After all the kitchen disasters we’ve had over the years!” Rarity exclaimed. The robot unicorn dipped her ears.
“I could go into a lengthy explanation… but I’d like to make a request first.”
Spike felt himself freeze in place as those unearthly glowing eyes were turned on him.
“Are you all going to just stare at me? Or are you going to come in so we can get the awkward part over with?” Sweetie asked, her ears wilting further in sadness. “Come on, Spike. We both know how this is going to end.”
Typically, when one discovered that somepony they trusted implicitly had been lying or hiding something from them, things got awkward. That much was to be expected, and the true test would then be whether one could forgive the other party and move on, or if the deception would prove to be the fissure that thus drove them apart.
As Spike stood listening to Twilight and the robot that he knew as his marefriend, Sweetie Belle, talking away, he found himself wondering which of the above courses of action he would end up opting for. Finding out his special somepony was, in fact, a ridiculously sophisticated machine that resembled an equine in all save for her new appearance was indeed a shock… but the more Sweetie revealed about herself, the more the dragon had to ponder just how much of her masquerade was actually a deception. By her own account, it seemed Sweetie herself had sometimes forgotten about her true status, such was the thoroughness of her design in mimicking that of her organic counterparts, and with no information on why she’d been created in the first place, the unicorn had simply thrown herself into the persona Rarity had assigned to her. If there was any deception at play, it was as much at Sweetie’s expense as it was of her friends.
“So you can eat, drink, sleep, breathe and do everything else we can. Indeed, from my scans of your body, it looks like you were literally designed to be like we are from birth, save that you’re made of metal instead of flesh… at least….” Twilight looked over Sweetie’s flank. “Um… forgive my asking this, but, do you mind if I touch you?”
Sweetie cocked her head. “Of course not. I’ve probably cooled down enough from the fire to not burn anything.”
Nodding, Twilight gently placed a hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder. Her brow furrowed as she then moved to touch Sweetie’s face.
“Well, actually, no you haven’t. You feel warm… but not as in how metal normally feels if its heated… actually, is this really metal? It feels pliable…” Twilight pressed her other hoof to Sweetie’s cheek and studied how it sank into what looked to be a white steel plate. “It’s almost like skin… or a synthetic imitation…”
Sweetie Belle winced as she was poked and prodded, her expression contorting from Twilight pressing on different parts of her face.
“I guess this would explain how you pass so perfectly as a pony. This epidermal covering seems elasticated enough for you to perform the subtle movements inherent to body language and facial expressions, and with the flesh on top, whatever that was made of, there’d have been virtually no trace that there’s anything different about you underneath like…”
CLICK!
WHIRRRRRRR!
Twilight promptly broke off and backed away as Sweetie Belle’s back split open. Two large panels folded out like a pair of wings, permitting two very alien looking extensions to slide out from underneath.
“Like… uh… those? Whoa.” Twilight said as the cylindrical devices rotated to point at her. Their shape vaguely resembled canons, only they lacked the necessary parts for loading ammo and primer. That, however, didn’t seem to prevent them from performing the same aggressive function as their interiors glowed with the build-up of energy of some kind.
“I… I… uh… oooh, I’m really sorry, Twilight. This… I swear this has never happened before!” Sweetie blushed horribly. Spike cautiously stepped forward, his mind itching as he studied his marefriend’s new additions.
“Are those… blasters?” He asked while scrunching up his face. “They look similar to the weapons that Space Stallion has mounted to his ship.”
Sweetie blushed harder, which in itself was pretty interesting, now that Spike thought about it. It seemed being a machine didn’t mean the unicorn still couldn’t feel embarrassed.
“I… uh… maybe? I dunno, my body just does this from time to time. Somehow it keeps building new parts for itself every few months, or adds a new feature onto an existing component. I think that’s how I’ve appeared to grow older and bigger over the years.”
Twilight’s ears snapped to attention.
“Really? Hmmm...” She looked around the ER and noticed a ceramic cup on one of the counters. “Sweetie, I’m going to do something completely random right now. Be ready.”
The unicorn cocked her head in confusion.
“Be ready? For wha…”
The cup was suddenly thrown full force at Sweetie’s head. It made about half-way across the room before her blasters locked onto it and vaporized it with two streams of pink and purple colored energy. Everyone promptly ducked for cover.
“Twilight! Whatever do you think you’re doing??” Rarity demanded from behind a chair. The alicorn rubbed her chin and smiled in satisfaction.
“The same thing Celestia did to me to test my magical accuracy… or when she felt like having a food fight.” Twilight snickered. “So, much like a normal pony, your body changed to suit your age, but unlike a normal pony, it’s also been upgrading itself with additional defensive and offensive measures. This is immensely fascinating.”
Sweetie whimpered as the dust that had once been a cup drifted slowly to the ground. Seeing this, Spike finally decided to speak up.
“Well, is there a way we can study it without throwing things at my marefriend? I don’t think she wants to risk hurting somepony.” He said. The unicorn robot turned in surprise, as did Twilight.
“I’d say the same, Twi. Don’t want her getting like I did at the height of puberty… which makes me wonder…” Rainbow Dash looked at Sweetie’s smoking canons. “Does this mean robots get blaster boners? Like pegasi get wing boners?”
“Rainbow!” Rarity exclaimed, to her friend’s confusion.
“What? It happens at her age… right?” Rainbow queried. Spike facepalmed and let out a low groan.
“Look, can Sweetie and I have a moment alone? She did say she wanted to talk to me, and I think I know what it’s about.”
Twilight blinked, then winced as she realized what her assistant was getting at.
“Of course, Spike. Just come out to the waiting room when you’re done.”
The ponies left the room, and Spike closed the door after them. It gave him a few extra seconds to ponder just what was he going to say to Sweetie.
“So… uh… that bit about me still being your marefriend…” The robot cut in. Spike sighed and turned around. Of course it’d be just like her to beat him to the punch…
Yeah, it’d be just like her…
“Before we get into that, Sweetie, I need to know one thing: were you planning to tell me at some point about… this?” He asked. Sweetie’s ears drooped again as she rubbed her leg.
“Well, yes… when I remembered.” She said with a cringe. “I mean… you’ve seen how much I resemble a real pony. I'm not lying about how I’ve forgotten what I truly am at times. Seriously, there’ve been days, even weeks where I’ve felt so… so… normal I guess… it’s only when I finally get a reminder about needing maintenance, or I detect a joint is getting squeaky that the illusion breaks.”
Spike let out the breath he was holding as Sweetie looked at her canons.
“You’ve all treated me like I’m just another filly...in both good and bad ways...and you...oh, Spike, you said I’m a perfectly fine and suitable mare. Even if it’s because you didn’t know any better, I’ve never felt like I was any different from anypony else. No one's given me a standard for what's different from being normal. Well aside from my 'blank flank' years but Applebloom and Scootaloo had the same problem.”
The dragon looked to the shield and musical note shining like a badge of honor on the robot’s flank.
“How DID you earn your cutie mark, actually? I mean...uh...can you use magic? Or were all the skills I’ve seen you exhibit just more tricks of your body to maintain your cover?” He asked. Sweetie reared back as if offended by the notion. Spike immediately felt a strange sense of disgust at himself.
“Sorry that..that was the wrong word to use.” He meeped, folding his wings sheepishly around himself. “I just… this is quite a shock, as you can expect.”
“I know, I know Spike. It’s the same for me.” Sweetie looked up at her blasters. “I didn’t even know what these did until now. Guess it’s kind of a weird blessing my secret was exposed before they did it for me.”
The mecha-unicorn closed her eyes tight as if concentrating really hard. Presently, her blasters collapsed in on themselves and retracted into her back.
“So, now that your secret is out, you’re as in the dark about it as we are. You say you only know what we know about what you can do…” Spike walked over to Sweetie, cupping her head in his hands. “Does that include your feelings for me?”
Sweetie blinked as her eyes dilated wider. Spike felt entranced by that, like he was only now looking into the unicorn’s true soul for the first time.
“Of course it does! I mean… in the sense of…I mean” Sweetie sighed. “Oooh Spike, I don’t know if what I’m feeling for you is real, or just a programmed simulation to make me seem more real…”
Spike nodded and gently ran his thumbs across the robot’s cheeks.
“Well...um...okay let's try looking at this from another perspective. What do we know is real? Your body feels warm and soft enough to be real… and how your eyes…” Spike paused as again the green aura burning in Sweetie’s cybernetic eyes drew him in. “What I see in them seems real, it still seems like you…”
Sweetie shivered nervously as she felt Spike’s fiery breath on her muzzle. How that used to make all her hair stand on end whenever the two cuddled together… and now that she had no hair, it instead triggered a different sense of apprehension and excitement in her.
When Spike then kissed her, the robot feared she was going to short-circuit… which, ironically, was the same way she’d reacted the first time they’d shared such a kiss. Not that she’d wanted to admit it then, just as she didn’t want to now, but either way, the fact Spike stirred such emotions in her, that after growing out of his obsession with her sister he’d deemed her to be his ideal match… yeah, there was no way these feelings were just some part of her programming intended to make her seem more lifelike. Spike apparently was thinking the same as he broke the kiss and smiled.
“Yeah, that seemed real enough for me too.” He smirked as Sweetie felt her tear reservoirs filling her eyes. She was going need to refill those, but not before she showed her thanks to this wonderful, wonderful gentledrake. She threw her arms around him, clutching Spike in the tightest, most loving hug she could muster.
“So… so does this mean we’re still together? Am I...real enough to be your special somepony?” She asked, shivering again as Spike hugged her back.
“Yes you are, Sweetie. Whether you’re living or a machine doesn’t change that.” Spike replied before realizing something. “Though it does raise the question of whether I still call you my special somepony, or my special somerobot?”
Sweetie giggled softly. “Uuuh...actually either works for me. Right now, I gotta figure out how the heck we tell everyone else.” She shuddered as the realization of how much her revealed status was going to impact things. “Applebloom, Scootaloo, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Pipsqueak, Twist, Rumble, Miss Cherilee… Celestia, how are they all going to react to this?”
Spike smiled. “We’ll tell them, together. Just like together we’ll figure out what the heck else there is to know about you, maybe find something about where you might have come from and why…”
The tears, be they real or artificial, spilled freely as Sweetie hugged her dearly beloved drake. Spike let out a very strangled gasp.
“Also… ngh… is there a way to measure your strength?” He meeped. “My… ngh… my spine isn’t supposed to bend inward like that….”
Sweetie meeped too and promptly let go of the dragon. “Oooh sorry! I… without my skin, it’s harder to gauge when I’m exerting too much pressure.”
Spike giggled weakly as he bent over and felt his spine pop back into the right alignment.
“Ow… well, at least that explains why your hugs seem so passionate. And here I was thinking it was due to my charm.” He grinned teasingly at Sweetie, and was duly rewarded by her blasters popping out into his face again.
“Eeeeee… well uh, that was definitely a result of your charm?” Sweetie bleated as she nervously tried to angle her body to where there was no risk of her accidentally sending her boyfriend to the same fate as the cup. “I need to ask if Rarity has any tape lying around. This may be a problem.”
“So, I know we discussed waiting another year or so before we tried living together, but, given that the Carousel Boutique is going to need a few days to be rebuilt, Twilight and I thought you could stay with us.” Spike said, blushing cutely as he walked with Sweetie up to the great crystalline doors of Twilight’s castle.
“Is that just because you’re being your normal, charming gentledrake self?” Sweetie queried. “Or so Twilight can study me at her leisure like I’m some kind of lab specimen?”
Spike stopped and looked at his robotic beloved. She was staring at him with an entrancingly unreadable expression, her cybernetic eyes narrowed in a way that could indicate skepticism as easily as it could suggest she was flirting.
“Well… I mean, as the current ruler of Ponyville and the surrounding provinces, Twilight is obligated to do her part for Equestria, including investigating all strange occurrences that may crop up in her realm. However, neither of us would ever dream of treating you like anything less than an honored guest… well, I of course would… Twilight MIGHT get a bit carried away with her tests, so I’d need to keep an eye on… ermmm…” Spike looked to the doors and retracted his hand from where he’d been about to open them. “Uhh… we could get a room at a hotel if you’re that worr… wait… oh no WAIT! I didn’t mean like that! I mean…”
Sweetie finally broke down in giggles.
“Joke, Spike. I was kidding.” She finally replied. “Seriously, if Twilight needs to poke and prod in order to find out more about me, then she’s welcome to do so.”
Spike stopped speaking, let a moment of silence pass, then finally closed his mouth dumbly. Sweetie couldn’t help giggling again.
“Eight years we’ve been friends, almost one year we’ve been a couple, and I can still make you flustered with ease.” She leaned over and kissed the dragon. “You are as adorable as ever.”
Spike sighed in defeat, and smirked slightly at how the unicorn’s synthetic lips still felt as warm as the real deal.
“Well, like Twilight said, the more we change, the more we stay the same.” He replied. Sweetie paused as the dragon pushed open the front doors. From past experience, she knew that was no easy feat, considering how much the doors weighed due to their size. Normally Twilight either opened them with her magic or had two strong sentries to let ponies into her residence, yet where he’d once needed assistance with such a physically challenging task, Spike proved he had indeed changed in as many ways as he’d stayed the same dragon she loved. His dedication to physical fitness had given him quite a bit of muscle, with much of it showing as he pushed the heavy doors out of his way, then picked up her luggage like it was nothing. His muzzle was also longer and more angular like many of the older dragons they’d encountered, and of course, he had those grand new wings. Of course, at the same time he’d still only grown maybe a couple of inches taller at the most, and, as had just been demonstrated, he hadn’t lost any of the cuter parts of his personality.
“That… is true.” Sweetie commented as she looked over herself. Even if Spike had now confirmed that her machine status didn’t bother him, the robot unicorn still felt very at odds. Internally, she sensed she was the same as she ever was, but on the outside… well… really, how much had she changed on the outside? Her body plating, her wiring, her mechanical joints, those had all been there from the beginning, just hidden under her epidermal covering. True, her body had grown, or rather upgraded itself over the years, but that was about all that was realistically different about her.
‘Course, at the same time, would anypony other than Spike share that view?
“Ah, there you two are!”
Sweetie looked up to see Twilight descending the staircase. On a whim, the robot pulled up a recording of the alicorn taken when she’d first ascended to her new status. Yep, comparing the footage side by side with the real deal, there were changes there too. Twilight was almost as tall as Celestia, and carried herself a lot more like the royal she now was. While her mane and tail were still styled in the same plain way as when Twilight had been just a unicorn with a passion for reading, her body language expressed a lot more confidence, authority, and acceptance that she was now one charged as both defender and peacekeeper of Equestria.
“Did you get everything you needed from the boutique?” The properly regal alicorn asked.
“Everything we could find. The explosion took out a fair chunk of the ground floor and the west side of the second floor.” Spike lamented. “You’re sure Rarity is okay?”
Twilight nodding soothingly.
“I’ve already got a whole crew of architects and construction workers to fix the place up good as new. If anything, Rarity said this is a bit of a blessing, since now she can go to Manehattan and focus on the two shops she just opened there without worrying about how things are at home for a while.”
Sweetie’s ears wilted. “Yeah… that’s good and all but… uh… I wish it didn’t have to come from me destroying the place.” She looked up at Twilight. “Should… should I write her an apology card?”
Twilight shook her head.
“She understands it was an accident, Sweetie. Indeed, she actually has something she wants to discuss with you once she gets back.” The alicorn replied before clearing her throat. “On that though… well… as you probably picked up at the hospital, I do have quite a number of questions I’d love to ask about you.”
The robot nodded before sneaking a glance at how Spike was standing quietly to attention, trying to not look like he was straining with the weight of all her suitcases.
“Why don’t you show me where I can drop my stuff off first. Much as I know Spike won’t say anything, I couldn’t live with myself if I let him stand there like a bellcolt.” She sighed as Spike glared at her.
“As I said, Sweetie, these aren’t that heavy! Well, not in comparison to how much Rarity packs for trips.” He protested.
“Exactly, which why I said I’d be fine carrying them myself.” Sweetie flexed one of her metallic limbs. “According to my last system report my body’s carrying capacity is currently rated at approximately 2,800 lbs.”
In a flash, Twilight had a scroll and quill before her to write this fact down. Spike just turned and gaped.
“Two thousand eight… that… that’s 300 more than I can currently bench!” He declared. Rather than disappoint her, Sweetie smiled in embarrassment.
“Yes, well, you don’t have the advantage of a reinforced duramantium alloy for your skeletal structure, or hydraulic joints rated for class 9 load bearing and impacts, or… uh…” Sweetie broke off upon noticing Spike’s pace was slowing down, and not from the weight of her luggage. “I… I’m not making you uncomfortable, am I?”
Spike pushed open the door to a freshly cleaned and prepared guest room. Slowly, he put down the suitcases and flexed his own powerful physique. Sweetie felt herself rattle as the sight triggered the usual reaction in her… that is to say, it made all her wires and circuits sizzle with a pleasurable electric surge.
“The same mare I’ve carried in my arms across puddles when it rains, hefted all her bags when we went shopping, and supported on my shoulders during many a town event when the crowds were too thick for us to get a good view… has just admitted she’s stronger than Big Mac AND Snowflake… not to mention me!”
The surge promptly died as Sweetie detected what she interpreted to be disdain.
“Well, you’re also stronger than Big Mac and Snowflake… and you said yourself this is hardly the peak of your development.” She said while placing one of her hooves on Spike’s broad shoulders. “You may be almost an adult, but from what we know of dragon lore, that doesn’t mean you’re done growing… not by a long shot!”
Twilight nodded from the doorway.
“She’s right, Spike. While I’m still perplexed as to your lack of height… Ember said most dragons keep getting bigger for another 200 or so years after they reach adulthood. If you keep up your exercise regime as it is… well… I’m both excited and kind of scared at the idea of what sort of power you may end up packing.” The alicorn blushed.
“She’s not the only one.” Sweetie Belle cooed as Spike sighed.
“You make me fluster so easily… and with a few simple words, I can make you fall over yourself trying to reassure me I’m still your big brawny gentledrake.”
Sweetie Belle’s jaw dropped, and Spike turned to take advantage by locking her in another passionate kiss. Through her rising blush, Twilight wrote down her observation that all the lights on Sweetie Belle’s body shone with double the intensity for a full 30 seconds.
“Now we’re even.” Spike grinned as his marefriend swooned. The thought that he could make a machine weak at the knees filled the drake with a very tingly sense of pride. After all, how many others could claim to the same?
“And you’re still my big, brawny gentledrake. Don’t ever think the fact that I’m technically stronger changes that.” Sweetie assured. Her circuits and CPU sizzled again as Spike just held her for a moment, letting her feel his scale clad muscles against her body. It was strange how foreign the experience struck her as, even though the two cuddled all the time. Then again, previously she’d had her epidermal cover to act as a barrier between her body and the world around her. Without it, she felt… like Spike was touching her, as in actually touching her properly for the first time. Sweetie shut her eyes tight as a litany of data flowed through her processors, her mind hungrily consuming and deciphering it to comprehend these strange and yet so enticing feelings.
“So… um… can we go back to that bit about your skeletal structure being metal and your joints being hydraulic? Or… do you two want some time alone?”
Dragon and robot turned to see Twilight trying to hide her beetroot face behind her scroll.
“There’s no rush if I’m interrupting anything!” She meeped. Sweetie found herself wincing again as a warning message flashed across her vision.
“Actually, do you two want to grab lunch? Considering what happened at the Boutique, I haven’t eaten anything for hours.” She said. Spike blinked in surprise.
“You feel hungry? I mean… wait, what am I saying? Of course you do! We’ve gone out on multiple dinner dates together, and we grab shakes at Sugar Cube Corner all the time!” The dragon smacked himself. Sweetie smiled and giggled.
“I know what you mean. It’s jarring, in light of what I am.”
“Right, right. Well, in light of how we found that out, just let me handle the cooking.” Spike bleated.
An hour later, the trio of alicorn, dragon, and robot were clustered around the table in Twilight’s expansive kitchen, munching on a nice picnic of grilled goat cheese, clover and watercress sandwiches with baked veggie chips and fresh applesauce, all safely prepared by Spike.
“So Sweetie, if now is an okay time to continue my questioning, do you perhaps know how you’re able to eat like we can? I mean, does your digestive system behave in the same way as ours does?” Twilight queried.
“Yes and no. Whatever ends up in my stomach is first analyzed for all possible nutrients and vitamins before it’s broken down by a colony of nanomachines. The difference is, unlike the enzymes in a normal pony’s gut, mine don’t let anything go to waste. No matter what I eat, my body finds a use for every last chemical and element in the food.” Sweetie replied, much to Spike’s confusion.
“But, I’ve seen you go to the bathroom all the time! I MEAN, not as in I’ve watched you go… no I… nghhhh… I meant I’ve seen you walk into the actual bathroom, and walk out again afterwards, like everypony else! AND THAT INCLUDES CLOSING THE DOOR!” Spike shouted then promptly buried his face in his hands. Sweetie delicately placed a hoof to her mouth, internally telling her mind that it had better to not activate her laughing protocol.
“We get what you meant, Spike. It’s okay.” Twilight said through barely restrained teeth. “Even if it’s still adorably hilarious to see how you trip over yourself to recover.”
Sweetie narrowed her eyes at the princess. “Well just remember he’s mine. You can laugh at him, but no more than that.”
Twilight nodded she would respect that… and the two promptly burst out laughing again as Spike tried to bury himself further into the surface of the kitchen table.
“Yes… well, to get back on track, and let slip a little confession… if Spike were to watch me, even though we both know he never would, there wouldn’t be much to see. I don’t actually do anything in the bathroom besides read something until my systems tell me enough time has passed. That’s why I always grab a book or magazine beforehoof.”
Spike slowly pulled his head from the sanctity of his hands.
“And also why the bathroom at Rarity’s always smells so clean… huh I just thought that was due to all the perfume diffusers she keeps in there.” The dragon raised his head. “So wait, if you don’t need to actually go like we do, why do you bother using the bathroom at all?”
Sweetie smiled with a bit more embarrassment and shrugged.
“As weird as it sounds, I have to. Literally, there’s a sub-protocol in my programming that tells me I have to use the toilet at certain times each day, even though I don’t need to. I’ve tried overriding it, but if I don’t comply it makes me automatically seek out the nearest facilities.” She said. “Those times where it looked like I was bursting or in dire need of the toilet? That was actually what happens if I try to fight my programming.”
Spike arched an eyebrow. “Even though you don’t do anything once you’re in there?”
Sweetie shrugged. “Like I said. It’s weird.”
Twilight’s ears rose as she summoned her scroll and quill and began scribbling again.
“It would, however, tie in with Rarity’s belief that whomever made you wanted to make sure your resemblance was perfect. Hmmm… I wonder...” She looked to the stove. “You mentioned at the hospital that the reason you keep trying to learn how to cook is precisely because you’re so terrible at it.”
Sweetie nodded in further embarrassment. “I can’t explain it. I have detailed files on every cookbook available in Equestria, I know exactly what’s needed to make a delicious dish… yet when I try putting it into practice, somehow it just doesn't come out right.” She looked to her cutie mark. “It’s like either I'm missing something only you organics can understand, or my programming only allows me to be an expert at certain skills, and a failure at others. The magnitude of… erm… ’accidents’ I’ve had in the kitchen are again what happens if I try to correct that.”
Spike cocked his head further to the side. “You think you're pre-programmed to have faults?”
Sweetie blushed harder. “It’s more like I may have evolved them the more I’ve adapted my personality over the years.”
Twilight looked to her own cutie mark and idly chewed the nib of her quill.
“Well, that again fits in with you trying to maintain your cover… not to mention, it’s a rather striking parallel to several of the recently published theories on how cutie marks function… hmmm.” The alicorn frantically jotted down a dozen more notes, then lifted her scroll to read through them. “We are going to have to get seriously in depth as to how alike you are to us, Sweetie.”
The robot sighed. “Yeah, tell me about it. I figured this was going to get complicated once it all spilled out.”
Spike rolled his eyes and smiled.
“Hey, so long as it helps us understand you better, I can deal with complicated, even if it does extend to asking you about… wow…” The dragon’s eyes widened. “Did we really just spend the last 10 minutes talking about whether my marefriend poops or not, and why she sucks so much at cooking?”
Silence held in the kitchen… the ticking of the nearby clock providing the only background noise until, on the hour, everyone burst into giggles.
“I think the fact that you can openly discuss such things and not feel awkward is a sign your union is indeed strong.” Twilight finally replied. “Let’s explore how strong it can be!”
“Now, reaction time is a factor in this, so please pay attention.” Twilight explained as she adjusted the apparatus on the table. Before her, Sweetie Belle sat with a look of somewhat aggravated disbelief, her cybernetic eyes half-lidded as the alicorn focused a needle thin beam of light into one of them. “These first few questions I’m going to ask are intended to help calibrate the equipment. I’ll let you know after that when we’re ready to begin the test.”
Twilight turned to check a set of bellows that were quietly pumping away on the side of her apparatus. Sweetie sighed impatiently.
“Twi, while I understand you want to find out all you can about me, isn’t this kind of redundant?” The robot asked. “We know what I am, there’s no question about it.”
Twilight nodded softly.
“Indeed we do, but that’s not the only thing this test was designed for. It also measures your empathy levels, your ability to replicate the same manner of physical and emotional reactions to stimuli that living ponies have.” She explained. Sweetie just looked confused.
“And what’s that going to prove?” She asked. Twilight smiled.
“Just indulge me. I promise this will be the last thing I ask of you today.” She said while pressing one of the buttons on her equipment. Sweetie looked to Spike, who was trying to hide himself in a comic book. The dragon sheepishly smiled and shrugged that no matter how bizarre Twilight’s methods for examining his marefriend’s newly revealed robotic state were, there was always some logic behind them.
“Okay, let’s start with the calibrations. What is your name?”
The robot looked quizzical. “Sweetie Belle?”
Twilight hummed as she study something on her equipment. “Mmm… is that really your full answer? Or just how you’re used to responding for those who aren’t aware of your true self?”
The lights around Sweetie’s horn and her legs flickered slightly, as if expressing resentment.
“You want me to respond how you think I’m supposed to respond? Like a machine? Is that it?” She asked in a slightly harsh tone. Twilight took it in stride.
“Only if you want to. I just need you to answer how you genuinely feel inclined to answer for this.” She said. Sweetie took a deep breath.
-Fine.- She said, her voice picking up its metallic timbre again. –I am designated unit Sweetie Belle, or Sweetie Bot, if you wish. Activated by Ponyville mechanic Hondo Flanks on April 16th at 2000 hours and assigned to the role of younger sibling to his offspring, Rarity. Does that work better for you?-
Twilight looked at her instruments.
“Perfectly, and thank you.” She replied, ignoring Sweetie’s skeptical expression. “Where do you live?”
Sweetie took a moment to breathe, telling herself this was just Twilight being thorough in her investigation.
-I am assigned to two residences: the domicile of Hondo Flanks and Cookie Crumbles, 1982 Tranquility Lane, Ponyville, Equestria, and the domicile and commercial exchange center of Rarity, the Carousel Boutique, 451 Main Street, Ponyville, Equestria.- She replied, slowly and mechanically. Twilight checked her instruments again and nodded.
“Alright, I think that’s all I need for the calibrations. Let’s begin the actual test.” She said while pulling up a scroll in her magic. “These next questions are intended to provoke emotional and physical responses. Please don’t think too long about them, just answer as quickly as you can.”
Sweetie sighed. –I know how this works, Twilight. A cursory scan of the equipment is all I need to deduce its function.-
Twilight blinked in surprise.
-No one understands machines like another machine.- Sweetie replied. Twilight grabbed a quill and hastily scribbled another note.
“Alright, then I’ll begin.” She checked her scroll. “Picture yourself on a train at a station. You notice somepony is there at the turnstile…”
Sweetie’s eyes dilated, casting their evergreen light across the table. Twilight noted this too.
“As you get off the train you notice a purse of bits drop from the pony’s flank onto the floor. Before you can tell them, they hop on a bus outside the station and disappear.” The alicorn continued. Sweetie sat in silence for a moment.
-I… give it to one of the plasticine porters with looking glass ties and tell them it was dropped by a pony with kaleidoscope eyes? Possibly answering to the name of ‘Lucy’?- She finally replied. –Seriously, Twi, that’s the sort of question you’re going to ask me?-
The alicorn studied her instruments and nodded with a mysterious smile.
“It is if it provokes this sort of reaction.” She said while jotting away. “Okay, how about this: you’re reading a magazine when you notice there’s a spider crawling up the window next to you.”
Sweetie thought for a moment then shrugged. - I’d open the window and coax it outside.-
Twilight nodded. “Alright, let’s say you go back to the magazine and notice there’s a full page photo of a mare lying on a bearskin rug…”
Another silence fell as Sweetie just stared at the alicorn.
-Yes? And? Rarity has plenty of magazines with that kind of content. It’s a typical photo pose.-
Twilight arched an eyebrow. “What if she were nude?”
-Most ponies are, in a casual situation.- Sweetie replied.
“What if you showed it to Spike and he wanted to pin it to the wall of his room?” Twilight asked. Now the dragon in question had to stare at her in disbelief.
“Twi, what… what sort of question is that?” He asked, aghast. The alicorn again turned to her equipment.
“The kind that gets me the data I need. Very interesting these results.” She smiled while writing some more. Sweetie now had to glower at her.
-What are you going to ask next? The one about the turtle in the desert? Cause my answer is that’s cruel and you’re sick for imagining I’d do anything like that!- The robot said. Twilight noted how her voice seemed to grow more metallic in tone the more aggravated she became.
“Nah, that one’s too common. All these questions I wrote myself for the sake of this specific test.” Twilight replied, to a dismissive snort.
-I’m honored.- Sweetie grumbled. Twilight pursed her lips in thought.
“Well, maybe this will be more pleasant if we tried a different approach. Spike, would you like to ask the questions instead?”
The dragon looked up from his comic book.
“We might get better results if I remove myself entirely from the test. Make it so it’s more like you two just having a conversation.” Twilight explained. Spike looked to Sweetie, who nodded that yes, the process would be a bit less bothersome if he was involved.
“Uh… okay.” He got up and walked over to where Twilight was sitting.
“Just note if the needle here moves, and keep an eye on how far to the left or the right these two pointers move.” Twilight pointed to her apparatus. “I’ve organized the questions into low, medium, and high intensity. Please try to ask a good balance of each.”
“Sure, no problem.” Spike said as he read over the alicorn’s scroll. Giving another shrug he turned to his marefriend. “Sorry about this.”
Sweetie shook her head.
-It’s fine, just seems a bit pointless.- The robot looked to Twilight. –But if she thinks it’ll reveal something then I’ll still do it.-
Twilight nodded in thanks and stepped away from the table, allowing Spike to take over.
“Okay, so uh, let’s try this one…” Spike cleared his throat. “You’re selected to join the Ponyville hoofball team. The coach asks you to pick a position of your preference.”
Sweetie thought for a moment.
-Honestly, I’d rather be on the track team, or the gymnastics team. Hoofball has too many avenues for me to accidentally hurt somepony with my abilities.- She replied. Spike looked rather surprised, and carefully noted what the instruments told him.
“Okay, next one: it’s 1,000 years in the future, you’re tending to a memorial garden set up for those whom you’ve known during your lifetime, and have since passed on.” Spike made a face at the question, then noticed the instrument readings were all over the place.
-Are… Are you among that number?- Sweetie hesitantly asked. Spike put the scroll down and reached over to hold her hoof.
“Most likely? No. Ember’s dad, Torch, is like 5,000 years old, and I think he’s considered to be just at the end of his middle age. Not exactly young, but not an old relic either.” He said, giving her hoof a squeeze. Sweetie exhaled in what definitely sounded like relief.
-Then I’d probably be watering the flowers… making sure I was growing everypony’s favourite kind.- She replied. Spike noted the readings, and also wrote down his observation that the robot didn’t even seem phased at the idea of living so long, provided he was there with her all the way.
“Right… let’s try a more pleasant one.” Spike checked the list and smiled. “Okay, it’s ‘Have-A-Laugh Day’, Pinkie Pie has charged you to come up with the best prank you can think of to play on somepony.”
Sweetie thought for a moment, bit her lip, and then giggled.
-I manipulate the power wattage on dad’s razor, so the next time he shaves he gets an electric shock.- Sweetie’s eyes glowed brighter.
“And then, when he does, I say something like ‘Well you’re the one who’s always talking about getting a charge on current events!”
Spike furrowed his brow, yet smiled at the same time. The puns were give or take, but the way his marefriend’s voice switched back to its normal and very harmonious tone, seemingly of its own volition, struck him as quite endearing.
“Alright, let’s see here… umm, okay, here’s a good one.” Spike tapped the scroll. “You have a little colt, he shows you his butterfly collection, plus the killing jar.”
He turned back to Sweetie awaiting her response. He waited, and waited, and waited, while Sweetie’s eyes swiveled and dilated in some unreadable line of thought.
“I have a colt? An actual foal of my own? I mean… I know it’s hypothetical, but… well, actually, that’s been something I’ve been pondering for a while.” The robot replied. On his side, Spike noted the needles on the testing equipment were again going crazy.
“Really?” He asked softly. Sweetie nodded.
“I’m sure some would say we’re both too young to be even talking about it, but given how many other normal pony things I can do, I’ve… um…” She looked to Twilight. “Uhh… is this something I should reveal in her presence?”
Spike looked to the alicorn, who in turn looked to the door of her lab, clearly happy to leave if Sweetie wanted some privacy.
“It’s your call, Sweetie. I’d trust Twi implicitly with anything, but if you’d rather not have her hear what you’re about to say…”
Sweetie winced as pink bled into her cheeks.
“No, no, if that’s the case, then she’d probably appreciate this.” The robot took a deep breath. “As you may or may not have guessed, Spike and I have explored a bit of the physical side of a relationship. Not full on sex… but heavy petting at least.”
Twilight looked shocked, but then giggled as her own cheeks began to turn red.
“Well that’s only to be expected… though… uh…” She clamped her teeth together in embarrassment. “How… how did that go?”
Sweetie looked down at her hoof, feeling her circuits sizzle again at how Spike hadn’t let go of it. That was good, it gave her more time to process the resulting data that seemed to best fit into the category of ‘courage’.
“Like… like it should, I guess. As far as just touching and fondling go, I’m still capable of replicating how a pony’s body should react. The thing is, I want to know if that extends to the more intimate areas…”
Spike felt a second hoof place itself on his hand, the grille cover lightly grazing his scales.
“If you really still want to be my coltfriend, Spike, I gotta know if I can return your love physically as well as metaphorically. I want to know if we actually can… erm… mate, if I’m capable of having foals… if you eventually decide you want them I mean.”
Spike looked to the instruments, his eyes swinging back and forth as the needles continued to jerk and sway with their readings on the robot’s feelings. He let out a long gust of breath as he himself processed what Sweetie had just said.
“Well… if nothing else, I feel a little less embarrassed that I’m not the only one who’s been thinking about this. I mean, I swear it’d make no difference if it turned out you couldn’t do either, but seeing as you… I mean…” The dragon cleared his throat a little more awkwardly. “As you have the parts, and they seem to work just fine… I’d be happy to give it a try.”
The two looked to Twilight, both of them now glad she was present to lend a more educated opinion on their conundrum. That, and for the comic value of seeing her again blushing so hard she was hitting shades of purple that were previously unknown.
“As always, there’s a multitude of tests we can run, examinations we can do to see if you’re capable of carrying young, and so on. If you two really love each other to the extent that you want to go all the way, then I say do it, and see what happens.” Twilight said with a nervous giggle. “Just be responsible about it okay? Like you said, you’re both young, and really should enjoy life before you think about settling down.”
Spike looked back at his marefriend, feeling his body burn with a comforting warmth at how her eyes just glowed with her adoration for him.
“We don’t even know if dragons can reproduce with regular ponies, let along robotic ones.” He said, murring as Sweetie leaned forward and pressed her head to his.
“Then as Twilight said, we’ll just have to find out… when the time is right of course! I don’t want to sound like I’m forcing you.” She replied, letting out a pleased hum as Spike wrapped his other arm around her neck and held her face gently against his own.
“It’s not really forcing somepony if they love you is it?” Spike cooed, before hearing a familiar click and whirring sound, and looking up to again be met with the business end of Sweetie’s blasters. “Even if they are holding you hostage until you do it.”
Sweetie winced and grit her teeth as she again frantically tried to retract her body’s weaponry.
“Twi… at some point, do you think you could also find out how I can stop this from happening? It’s… eee… it’s embarrassing.” The robot feebly meeped. Twilight placed a hoof to her mouth and politely held in her laughter.
“It’s a sign you love Spike just as much. But I’ll see if there’s a workaround.” The alicorn walked over and shut off her testing apparatus. “In the meantime, I think we’ve gotten all we can from this, and I’ve taken up enough of your time. Go enjoy yourselves while I analyze the results.”
Sweetie nodded awkwardly as she flexed and shifted her shoulders, letting out a relieved sigh when her blasters finally retreated into her back.
“Milkshakes at Sugar Cube Corner?” Spike asked.
“Love to. Just... let’s keep the conversation away from intimate things for now, please.” She pleaded before turning to Twi. “So, when will we know if I’m a pony or a machine?”
Twi giggled. “Again, this wasn’t that sort of test. I’ll let you know what I was after in due time, of course.”
Sweetie looked disappointed, but at Spike’s urging, she shrugged and departed with her drake. Reading over her observations from the instruments, Twilight summoned a fresh scroll and began to compose a letter:
Dear Princess Celestia,
Today I conducted my first foray into seeing if an artificial construct can still be said to possess a soul…
“So remember, when you go to the polls, a vote for Tiara is a vote to keep Ponyville our shining diamond in the rough!” Diamond Tiara stated from the stage. Beside her, Applebloom raised her hooves to lead the gathered ponies in a round of applause, her smile growing tense as the crowd initially regarded her with silence, but then finally came round to show their support after a moment or so. Both mares heaved a sigh of relief as the atmosphere in the town square turned to their favor, several ponies hefting banners declaring their support for Diamond Tiara as the new mayor of Ponyville. From where they were sipping their milkshakes, Spike and Sweetie watched in quiet observation.
“I gotta admit, considering her family's’ reputation, the somewhat questionable slogan, and what her mother’s done to try and wreck this place, Diamond’s prioritizing of the common ponies’ needs is pretty admirable.” The dragon commented as he read one of the campaign brochures. “Making the Everfree Forest an official wildlife sanctuary, getting a new orphanage and hospital built for the town’s growing population, revamping the zoning laws to allow for a larger residential sector… is this really the same mare that used to loathe those she saw as beneath her in her foalhood? Or do you think the changelings captured the real Diamond Tiara and sent an imposter disguised as her?”
Sweetie looked to Applebloom as she lead Diamond off the stage, checking the mare wasn’t about to hyperventilate from how raggedly she was breathing.
“Well I could tell you my own conclusions, based on my analysis of her respiration, heart rate, blush factor and eye movement in response to the rather emotionally provocative questions she was asked… or I could just let you run wild with your own fantasy.” The robot unicorn giggled. “I would like to posit whether it really matters in the end. If she wins this, then Ponyville will be that much better off, and even if she doesn’t, at least Applebloom will still be better off.”
Spike glanced up as Diamond bid for Applebloom to stop for a moment. The cream colored mare got a worried expression as her pink colored fiancé placed a hoof to her chest and took a deep breath. After a moment, Diamond gestured she was okay, then smiled and patted Applebloom’s shoulder in reassurance that there was no need for her to fret. The farm mare shook her head that she couldn’t help worrying over those she loved, but if Diamond was certain all was well with her, then Applebloom would trust her.
“Honestly, if she can make her smile again after all these years, then I don’t care who she is.” Sweetie replied. Spike features fell as he recalled memories that still seemed painfully recent, even if they had in fact happened over a year ago. First had come the inevitable death of Granny Smith, the old mare having seemingly deemed she had done all she could for her family and passing away peacefully in her sleep one quiet spring night. The weeks afterward had been solemn, but respectful, with everyone paying their respects and supporting Applejack as she prepared to assume ownership of her farm.
And then came the funeral itself… an event that had started out so well, and ended so disastrously when a certain Spoiled Rich prevented Granny’s body from being buried in the spot her will had specified in the Ponyville Memorial Garden, proudly stating about how she had purchased the entire garden for her family and her friends to be buried in, seeing to it that the land not be tainted by common farmers and other such low life rabble. A lot of stress and arguments later, Applejack had finally conceded, stating Granny could be buried under her favorite tree on Sweet Apple Acres instead.
Well, that apparently turned out to be just the opportunity Spoiled had needed to deliver the second part of her one-two punch. Seems there were also several still lingering debts and property issues with who owned what part of the Apples’ orchard, and with Granny’s death, everything now fell to Applejack to deal with. Since the farm mare wasn’t exactly loaded down with bits, and the orchard represented one of Ponyville’s biggest industries, Spoiled had been hankering to jump on that and claim it for herself, see to it that, again, those pesky low life farmers were made to work for the ponies that mattered, and only the ponies who mattered were able to make use of the profits.
More arguments, legal battles, and endless headaches had ensued, with it looking very much like the end of the oldest generation of the Apple family was going to be followed by the end of their family business too. The only reason that things had turned out differently was due to what Spike saw before him, quite possibly the last source anypony had expected to aid Applejack.
While she may have been a scared, angry, and bitter soul in her foalhood, the ensuing years had gifted Diamond with growth that was not only physical, but also spiritual. Once she had buried the hatchet with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and repaired her relations with Silver Spoon, the pink mare had finally come to realize she didn’t need to constantly live under her mother’s hoof, or stand idly by while Spoiled did her best to be a constant pain to everyone else. Using her education in business and economics, Diamond subtly worked to start a new chain of jewelry stores and silversmiths with Silver Spoon, amassing each of them a handsome fortune that neither of their parents could meddle with (even if Spoon swore her own folks were nowhere near as insane or money hungry as Diamond’s). Once her own position was secure, Diamond officially disowned Spoiled as her mother, cementing the separation by paying off all of Applejack’s debts, and ensuring Sweet Apple Acres would remain firmly in the hooves of its founding family. It had been intended largely as a final ‘buck you’ to the one who had made Diamond’s life a nightmare, but it had also attracted Applebloom’s attention and affection to see her foalhood bully had truly discarded her old ways.
Just as well really, with Diamond’s efforts to replace Mayor Mare, now that she was retiring from her position, meaning she was again going to be butting heads with her ex-mother, the pink mare probably needed all the emotional support she could get.
“Alright, let me ask you a different question then, is this enough for you to vote for her when election time comes around?” Spike queried as the two stepped away from the town square.
“Presuming I’m qualified to vote… well, I know I have to register first but… in light of what just happened…”
Sweetie awkwardly averted her gaze as two more passing ponies turned to look at her, caught off guard by the sight of her robotic self. In fairness, they quickly realized their error, and nickered an apology. At the same time, however, before today, no one had seen cause to give Sweetie any manner of passing glance. She was just another pretty but normal unicorn… and now… the truth was out for all to see, for better or for worse.
“Are you afraid you might be disqualified? Is that it?” Spike queried. Sweetie pulled her milkshake closer and took another somewhat nervous sip.
“I know I should give our neighbors due credit. They’ve come a long way from the days when a zebra in a cloak sent them running in fear. However, at the same time, we still made waves when we started going out.”
Spike furrowed his brow. “Well, yeah, but hardly in a bad way. We turned heads because cross species relationships just haven’t become commonplace yet, not because anypony sees them as wrong… erm… right?”
Sweetie lowered her gaze to the table, her eyes dilating as if she was scanning the threads of the table cloth for imperfections.
“I bore being a ‘blank flank’ in stride because Scootaloo and Applebloom were in the same boat as me. I accepted my problems applying for the Canterlot Opera because I know there are hundreds of other aspiring singers wanting to snag one of the few coveted spots. This, however…” Sweetie looked at her leg, moving the fetlock, bending her knee, and listening to her well maintained mechanical joints whirr with the motion. “This I have to deal with all on my own. Unless there’s some dramatic revelation that there’s other robots in our midst, I’m the only one around.”
Spike cocked his head. “Does that bother you?”
Sweetie snorted. “I’ve run through hundreds of simulations on what might happen if and when my true status was ever revealed. I’ve calculated the probability of every possible reaction from other ponies according to every potential situation. If you’re wondering, this exact course of events is what I investigated with simulation #1109.”
Spike snickered slightly. “And did your findings reflect what’s happened so far?”
Sweetie looked to the square, watching as the crowd dispersed to resume their daily lives.
“Pretty much, yes… which is why I find this emotional feedback so paradoxical. I’ve planned for this, I know what to expect… yet I’m still experiencing anxiety.”
The lights around Sweetie’s horn sped up with their alternate rotation. Spike noticed her pupils grew and shrank rapidly as she processed her feelings.
“Well, if you’ll forgive me for going a bit Twilight-ish here, but in every situation there’s always some element of unpredictability… or maybe she called it the ‘chaos factor’… no wait, that was from her studies on Discord’s hobbies…” Spike sighed and shook his head.
“Whatever, the point is, there’s always something you can’t plan for, no matter how much you try. That’s actually why I tell Twi to always include a ‘random act of Celestia’ entry on her checklists. Believe me, it never fails to come up at some point.”
Sweetie looked up from her table cloth musings and giggled slightly at her coltfriend’s expression.
“Point is, I doubt you could have anticipated everything about this point. I mean, could you have anticipated I’d still want to be with you? That I wouldn’t care whether you’re a pony or a machine?”
Now the mecha-unicorn blushed slightly.
“Well… I calculated the chance was there… but it was far from a certainty.” She said feeling her circuits sizzle when Spike reached over to hold her hoof. He was fond of doing that, like it would convey how much he wanted to hold onto her better than words could. It made her feel… comfortable, would be the closest classification.
“Well, if that much was something you couldn’t see coming, then maybe we might want to look into the other random parts your calculations didn’t account for. Explore the unknown, so it doesn’t give you anxiety!” Spike replied. Sweetie nodded slowly.
“And… how do we do that?” She asked. Spike finished off his milkshake and rose.
“Well, you said you haven’t registered to vote yet. So, let’s do that, and see what happens. Town Hall is only two blocks away from here.” The dragon bid his marefriend to follow him. She did so with minimal fuss, telling herself this was just like any other walk the two had made through Ponyville. Sure, ponies continued to stare, but they didn’t bolt from her, or scream, or show any other sign of alarm. They just weren’t used to seeing Sweetie as she truly was, that was all… at least, the robot hoped so.
The two were soon climbing the steps to the newly rebuilt Ponyville Town Hall, a rather eclectic building that showcased the hamlet’s rustic roots, while still demonstrating how the extra bits Princess Twilight was bringing in were being put to good use. While the exterior utilized the same thatch roofing and simple white stone as the houses around it, inside the furnishings were considerably more up-scale. No example of this was more prominent than the fountain situated in the center of the lobby, and behind that the huge polished mahogany desk which the receptionist mare, Callie Grapher, was sitting at.
“Oh good day Spike! And… ermm…” The teal colored earth pony paused as she beheld the robot beside the dragon. “Sweetie Belle?”
Sweetie nodded cautiously. “I know, I know. Don’t feel like you have to hide your reaction to this.”
Callie blinked then frantically waved her hooves.
“Oh no, no, I didn’t mean to infer… you just… well, it’s a shock to see this. That’s all I assure you!” The mare smiled awkwardly. “Um, how are you and Rarity doing? In light of what happened at the boutique, I mean.”
Sweetie blinked then her pupils did some more dilating as she processed that she might have misjudged the receptionist’s initial reaction. She too now had to give an awkward smile.
“We’re all fine, even Opalescence. Stroke of luck for that darn cat; she was having her weekly grooming session at the pet salon when everything went up in flames… including me.” Sweetie said, hoping a bit of humor might diffuse the tension. Unfortunately it didn’t do much beyond shocking Callie more, to the point her jaw just flopped limply onto her desk.
“I’m fine! Seriously, I’m just… well… I’m still me.” Sweetie quickly assured. “Well… that’s part of why we’re here at least.”
Callie nodded dumbly, then seemed to snap back into gear upon realizing that was meant as a prompt for her to respond.
“Yes… yes of course! I mean, what can I do for you?” She asked.
Spike nodded outside.
“The political rally in the square got us eager to help. We want to query if Sweetie can be registered to vote.” He replied. Callie nodded and turned around to start hunting in a filing cabinet.
“Well that shouldn’t be too hard. We’ve tried to keep the guidelines updated for every race…”
The mare turned back around and dropped a small mountain of documents on her desk.
“Let’s see here… uh… we’ve got axexes, changelings, chimera, dragons, gryphons, manticores, sea serpents… uh… sphinxes… zebras… wait…” The mare shuffled back to the top of her pile. “Natural born citizens… permanent residents… visiting dignitaries… green card holders…”
The teal pony went through her papers a third time, pulling sheets out at random and reading through them at speed.
“Extra-terrestrial landers… inter-dimensional immigrants… mirror world refugees… there’s gotta be something here for robots!”
A fourth shuffle of the papers was made, with Callie looking increasingly despondent as every time she failed to find any literature on whether machines were allowed to be part of the Equestrian democratic process. Sweetie felt a creeping trickle of negative data seeping through her CPU that her own phobia of the fallout from being exposed for who she was was about to be realized.
“Is there a problem out here?”
All eyes turned to see Diamond stepping out of the lobby’s rest room, her face damp as if she’d been splashing water on it. Behind her Applebloom followed tossing some used paper towels in the trash can.
“Uh… maybe?” Callie said through tense teeth. “We… we have a mare who wants to register for the upcoming elections, but, as you can see, she apparently is of a stature not covered by the official guidelines.”
Diamond looked to Sweetie Belle, narrowing her eyes as the robot stared awkwardly back. A very tense silence held the room.
“Hmmm…I know this isn’t really what one says when greeting an old acquaintance, but you were… ’born’ here in Ponyville, right?” The tiara wearing mare queried. Sweetie Belle’s lights flickered in confusion.
“I was… well, I was activated here… if you want the truth.” She replied. Diamond nodded.
“And since then, you’ve lived here, worked here, and earned all your income domestically, right? Nothing to indicate you were ever a resident of anywhere else?”
Sweetie nodded in perplexity. Diamond exhaled softly.
“Just give her the form for a natural born citizen, Callie. Save yourself the headache.” Diamond turned to the flustered receptionist.
“B-But… Miss Tiara, the due process…” Callie began.
“Can be revised later. Sweetie fits the criteria for a citizen of Equestria, let’s go with that so she can do her part for our cause.” Diamond turned back to the robot with a suspicious look. “It is our cause you want to aid, right?”
“Diamond!” Applebloom scolded, to which the tiara wearing mare let out a long exhale and hung her head.
“Sorry, sorry, you’re right, I shouldn’t insist. The stress is still messing with my manners.” Diamond said apologetically while smoothing back her mane. “Thank you for wanting to participate in the polls, Sweetie, remember, the choice is ultimately yours. Make the right one.” Diamond turned and walked out of the lobby. “Can we go to our usual quiet spot for a bit? A few moments away from everything would really help steady my nerves, Bloomy.”
Applebloom nodded softly. “Course we can, Di. Nothin’ else is on the schedule till tomorrow.”
The farm mare shot her friend a quick apology, and hurried over to drape a comforting foreleg over Diamond’s shoulder. Silence held in the town hall lobby for a moment after the two had left, both Sweetie and Spike just staring at the entrance in quiet amazement.
“Okay… so… that happened.” Spike finally said. “Uh… so, are we good here, Callie?”
“Huh? Oh, sure!” The receptionist mare turned and grabbed a form from the filing cabinet. “Just fill this in, Miss Belle.”
Sweetie accepted the form and grabbed a quill, levitating it with her horn in a manner similar to typical magic, but instead of an aura surrounding the feathered writing instrument, a cone shaped beam of neon blue light shot out of the robot unicorn and ensnared it like a net. Spike made a note to ask about that later as he watched his marefriend jot down her information and credentials and slide it back to the receptionist.
“Thank you, we’ll notify you around the time of Election Day what polling station to report to!” Callie stamped the form and slid it back into the filing cabinet.
“Thank you, Callie. We’ll be going now.” Sweetie gestured for Spike to follow her back out into the square.
“Guess that proves you’re still a pony to somepony other than me.” Spike suggested.
“Yes, and true to your previous statement, that somepony was not in any of my simulations.” Sweetie raised her eyes to the horizon. “Can we chase after Diamond, Spike? After what just happened...I...I think we should continue your idea of exploring this unknown factor.”
Spike now snickered. “Sure. I’m certain they’ve gone to the same place we all usually gathered at when we wanted to get away from things.”
Sweetie looked dubious at this statement, but a playful wink from Spike had her blushing again.
“Ponies may change, but they don’t change that much.” The dragon intoned, before spreading his wings. The two ran down the road leading out of Ponyville, to a quiet cliff area overlooking one of the nearby valleys. True to the dragon’s words, Applebloom and Diamond were there, the farm mare gently holding her marefriend in her forelegs, rocking her back and forth as she vented what was on her mind.
“You worry way too much, Di. You heard the cheers, yah saw the banners, we got this in the bag!” Applebloom soothed as Diamond groaned.
“Yes, until that… that bitch holds her own rally. A few promises of rewards for those who kiss her flank, or cushy jobs, or some other crap she ultimately won’t deliver on, and she’ll have all those ponies eating out of her hooves again. Like she always does!” The pink mare whimpered. Applebloom just shushed her gently as she stroked her mane.
“So? Let her rant. Ya spoke the truth, plain as day, that ultimately she wants to see only the privileged few benefit, while the rest o’ society suffers. Believe me, enough ponies will remember that come Election Day to matter. Can’t fool all the ponies all the time, as one of our past leaders once said.” The farm mare replied, to the amazement of her friend and lover. “Yeah Di, Ah do actually listen to you when you go off on your political tangents. May not understand a lot of what you say, but Ah remember the important bits.”
Diamond’s just stared, then leaned in and kissed Applebloom thankfully on the lips.
“And that’s why I need to make certain things will be okay for you, and ponies like you. In the end, it’s the simple, honest souls who really make a difference.” The pink mare said, much to Applebloom’s amusement.
“Hey now, Ah ain’t that simple! Ah proved Ah know enough ‘bout marketing and salesmanship to see yer campaign keeps right on rollin’!” She said with a smile, and a sigh as Diamond rested her head against the farm mare’s chest.
“I didn’t mean ‘simple’ in that regard, Bloomy. Just that you’re different enough from me in the right ways, the ways that matter. Silvy’s good at making bits but she hasn’t benefited Equestria the way your sister or you have. Same goes for the other upper crust ponies who think they hold all the power, but ultimately have just deluded themselves into believing being rich is the same as being important. Just like I… once did.” Diamond sighed. “Out of all the Elements of Harmony, Twilight’s the only one who had any big social status beforehoof. Every other one, including your sister, was just an average soul trying to make it in the world, and look at the difference they’ve made. Not even dad can claim to have saved the populace on a regular basis, nor can Fancy Pants, Hoity Toity, or… her…” Diamond’s voice briefly gained a hint of venom before she shook her head. “Point is, with Mayor Mare stepping down, we can’t let the town that’s bred such influential and accepting souls fall into the hooves of those who want to just turn it into another company sprawl. We gotta protect that which has protected Equestria… and now I’m just reiterating my speech from the rally.”
Applebloom giggled as Diamond slapped a hoof to her face.
“After Election Day, whatever happens, we need to get you away from all this. Yer working yerself way too hard.” The light yellow earth mare mused. Diamond looked up and smiled softly.
“Well, I’ve got hearts to win over, and opinions to sway, which I trust I’ve done for two of the most unusual types in town.” Diamond turned to look at the bushes. “Are you two going to come out here and join us? Or just sit and eavesdrop like some sleazy reporter trying to get a scoop?”
Spike and Sweetie Belle emerged from the bushes, both looking equally amused at being discovered.
“Sleazy reporter? That’s harsh, Diamond. Even if it’s been years since the whole Gabby Gums incident, the memories still nag at me.” Sweetie said, noticing with intrigue how the tiara wearing mare just pointed to a spot next to her and went back to cuddling with Applebloom.
“Not as much as they nag at me. It’s one thing for others to forgive you for what you did to make life terrible for them, it’s another to try and forgive yourself.” Diamond sighed. Sweetie’s eyes narrowed as she sat down.
“Is that why you stepped in to see to it I could register to vote?” She said. Diamond shot her a likewise disdainful look.
“Is it so wrong I want everypony in this town to feel included?” She said. Sweetie Belle increased the skepticism of her expression, her eyes glowing with greater demand for the truth. Diamond finally sighed and hung her head.
“Look, I need every vote I can get, okay? If that bitch gets into office, you know who’s gonna be first on her hit list!” The pink mare retorted, before adding. “And I wanted to get the awkwardness of seeing you as you are now out of the way as quick as possible. Show you right off the bat I wasn’t going to regress to my old ways of calling you out for being… heh… what you are.”
The glow in Sweetie’s robotic eyes dimmed slightly.
“Really? You have no reservations that the mare you tormented for years for being different is in fact even more different than you originally thought?” Spike asked. Whether it was intended as a test of Diamond’s character or if he really did still harbor doubts that Diamond had reformed herself, it did the job of raising the pink mare’s hackles.
“Oh don’t get me wrong. I have a lot of questions about you being a machine, and the fact that you hid it from everypony! As I’m sure Applebloom has!” Diamond replied, weathering her lover’s shocked reaction.
“Wha? No Ah don’t! Well… not bad questions… Ah mean…” Applebloom groaned and rested her face against her hoof. “So Sweetie’s a robot. Okay fine, that’s jarring fer sure, but what does making a whole song and dance about it accomplish? Ah mean, Sweetie, are you still Sweetie?”
The robot looked to Spike, blushing as he hugged her for assurance.
“Spike seems to think so, as does Twilight, and my sister. I suppose if you want my own personal opinion on it… well.” Sweetie closed her eyes and emitted that strange harmonious hum again. “My opinion is, I really can’t be anypony else. The data and system augmentations that I’ve accumulated and put into shaping my identity are all I really have to go on. There’s nothing in my programming to indicate if I was supposed to be anything else, thus what you see and who you’ve known all these years, that’s pretty much who I am.”
Diamond snorted her approval.
“And thus, the physical differences are irrelevant. Least they should be… others, I’m sure will say differently, but hopefully if I get elected I can…”She broke off upon noticing Spike and Sweetie were giving her funny looks. “What?”
“Just… heh… look, I know it’s been years, we’ve all grown up and done stuff and changed and so on, but… I still never thought I’d be hearing you of all ponies saying stuff like that.” Sweetie commented. Diamond looked to the horizon, comparing how the valley looked now versus how it did when she was a foal.
“I never thought I’d be actively fighting against… that… bitch… and engaged to be married to a mare I spent so many years tormenting. I’m sure if you told Spike he’d be with someone other than Rarity, he’d have laughed you off.”
Spike furrowed his brow, then let his face slacken.
“Point is, Equestria is always changing. It’s not the same place it was 1,000 years ago, it’s not even the same place it was 10 years ago. Trying to keep things the same, just because you feel comfortable doing so, just means you’re going to stagnate and get left behind. Instead, we need to embrace change, and welcome it, and part of that is accepting even the ponies you’ve known all your life aren’t the same as they were before, whether that means they’ve come to regret their past behavior, or they’re actually a… well… a robot in disguise.”
Sweetie narrowed her eyes as a smile crossed her lips.
“Do you always have a speech prepared?” She asked. Diamond suddenly looked horrified and slapped both hooves to her face.
“She’s still in ‘work mode’. Don’t worry Ah’ll fix that.” Applebloom stood and helped her fiancé up. “What say we stop by Berry Punch’s shop and grab a bottle or two of her best cabernet? A few glasses of that, a nice brie, and watching ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ for the 200th time and we’ll get ya unwound from the stress o’ today.”
Diamond’s ears rose in utter adoration of what she was hearing, to the point she had to giggle like a nervous lovestruck school mare.
“Sometimes it worries me that you know me better than even Silvy.” She said while kissing Applebloom again. The farm mare just shrugged.
“Ah have had to promote the real you fer this whole campaign, and that was after you had me over for multiple sleep overs… and what you did that gave me cause to want to focus on you and you alone.” Applebloom smiled lovingly. “Speaking o’ which, mah sister wanted to run an idea by ya: would it be premature if we stuck a dedication plaque in your name on the front gate o’ the orchard? Jest so everypony knows who made it possible for us to hold onto our family business?”
Diamond’s filly-ish expression faltered.
“Has she done as I asked first? Replaced the gate with a sturdier metal version and put some padlocks on it?” She asked. Now Applebloom’s cheery visage faltered.
“It’s… it’s still on the to-do list."
Diamond sighed.
“Come on now, Bloomy, I only made one request, and it was so you can keep ‘vermin’ off your farm.” She said.
“Yeah, in front of the whole town… while giving a lot of ponies the evil eye. Ah know you were angry as a hive o’ bees at the time, but we kinda got an image to maintain for the folk like yer father who relies on us fer supplies.” Applebloom replied as the two began walking off.
“And I’m sure taking one precaution won’t tarnish it too much. I just don’t want any ponies with sinister intent trying to get revenge for what happened, and…” Diamond said as they disappeared into the brush, leaving Sweetie to just stare in amazement, and Spike to snicker.
“Did you estimate THAT in your simulations as well?” He asked. Sweetie let out another low hum as the lights on her body flickered on and off.
“No… no I didn’t. How strange that I actually feel better now because of it.” The robot turned to the vista, pulling up a file full of images she’d taken from the many times she’d come here over the years. “Then again I think that helps illustrate your point. Kind of like this valley…”
“Oh?” Spike propped his head on his marefriend’s shoulder, relishing how her mane felt as silky and soft as ever.
“I’ve run over 1,000 simulations on how the view here might change. I’ve estimated which trees will grow, which flowers will bloom, how the size of the lake will change due to climate factors…” Sweetie hummed softly again. “Looking at it now, and comparing to my estimates from 10 years ago… even with the multitude of revisions, I was only around 78.32% accurate.”
Spike rubbed Sweetie’s barrel, fascinated by the fact that even that felt relatively warm and plush, not in the sense that she was putting on weight, but more just she didn’t feel like a machine.
“That tree over there as an example? I calculated it would be 18 feet tall now. Instead, that freak thunderstorm we got last summer reduced it to an ashen stump.” Sweetie pointed to the valley. “Then there’s the wild daffodils that sprung up and pushed out the daisies I estimated would be growing strong all along the lake, and the frog population that’s expanded far beyond my simulations…”
Spike nodded with a smile. “Just goes to show the future is not set. You can estimate how everything might be later on but in the end there’ll always be something to show there is no fate but what we make…“
Sweetie gave her coltfriend a stern glare. “You’re seriously going to start quoting a movie about killer robots, to the love of your life who also happens to be a robot?”
Spike’s smile quivered slightly as he tried to hold it on his face.
“Well… it’s to help illustrate why I want us to still be together. I want to see what sort of future we can make, what can be possible if we give the unknown a chance. Whatever that entails, I’ll do what’s needed to make it work!”
Sweetie’s ire faded somewhat, then promptly went out like a light when Spike kissed her again. She turned and hugged the wonderful gentledrake, trying not to blush as he wrapped his arms around her to hold her back panels closed.
“You’re a geek, Spike, in all the right ways.” Sweetie whinnied as she turned and let Spike hold her while they both just stared as the beautiful vista.
“You trusted me enough to show me the real you. Least I can do is return the favor.” He replied.
Silence fell with the slowly setting sun, colors all across the spectrum rising up across the landscape to provide a feast for the eyes of the two onlookers.
“You know, some of those killer robots got reprogrammed to be good. Think that might be the case with…”
“SPIKE!” Sweetie said indignantly.
"Right, right, dropping that line of thought now!" The dragon hastily meeped.