Chapter 10 : Zip Zap
The air had begun to hum and vibrate, a fact that Sweetie Belle and Stephanie were each only distantly aware of.
Sweetie's own senses were quickly and entirely overwhelmed, the same as her thoughts. A violet light had grown in intensity from somewhere close by, completely obscuring her vision of the room. She was aware that once again she was feeling that strange word that she didn't like much.
Afraid, Sweetie recalled. I'm afraid. But I can't do anything! Her body felt achy and her head felt floaty; both of those were new. But the worst new thing was that she couldn't see Stephanie anymore.
Moving didn't seem possible; her gears and motors were all either locked up or spasming, and her voice wasn't doing what she wanted, either. The static noise that filled the room had to be coming from her, preventing a call for help from getting out. She hoped that Stephanie knew what was happening, and how to fix her like so many times before. Stephanie had to; she was so smart, she could surely figure out something to do.
Still sitting across the room on the floor's concrete, Stephanie couldn't believe her own eyes. She stared in shock at Sweetie Belle and... whatever it was that was happening to her. Without explanation, her machine turned mystery had apparently become an out of control sparkler, filling the room with noise and chaos.
The sparks poured from Sweetie's mouth, her eyes, the opened compartment... everywhere, all while she rattled as if coming apart. The light show flashed across the walls, danced over the remnants of the day's mess, and cast a glow across Stephanie's bewildered expression. Overhead, the ceiling lights flickered erratically, increasing the chaos further.
Crap. Double crap! What did I do? Stephanie's mind raced. Strangely acting animated robots aside, nothing happening made enough sense for her to wrap her head around it.
All she had done was re-enable something that was a part of Sweetie. Maybe it had caused Sweetie's reaction, but surely it couldn't be what was responsible. Her frantic thought trail lead her to a dead end, at least as far as rational possibilities were concerned. There was another explanation, though, something Stephanie knew had no right to even be considered as a possibility, especially not by someone as logical and learned as she.
Magic? Stephanie gulped, knowing it couldn't be that. No. Magic's not real. That would be ridiculous. She's short circuited somehow.
Sweetie Belle's static noises squelched loudly again, and Stephanie screamed, her hands covering her ears. She scrunched up inwardly where she sat, legs held close, but was shaken back to her senses.
What can I even do? Think. Think! The sparks were still flying, and the risk of a fire suddenly occurred to her. Maybe I should get the extinguisher—
"Steeeeph! Please render assistance!" Sweetie Belle's voice cried out, suddenly working. The static was also gone.
Stephanie stood up. "Hold on! I'm going to help!" She wasn't at all sure how, but a reassurance felt right, and it was all she had to give. Her hands were balled up in panic, but she resolutely started to at least do something.
Ignoring the lack of any protection from the shower of sparks, Stephanie hunched over her little machine’s open panel again, face turned partially away. The thing that made the most sense to her was undoing what she had just done. I swear if she... if we make it out of this alive I'll— She didn't get to finish her oath. Just as her hand reached for the miniscule switch that had somehow caused the commotion, something instead reached out and stopped her.
Purple electricity arced out of Sweetie Belle's electronics and danced up Stephanie's arm before she could even reach the switch.
“YEEE-owch!” Stephanie toppled to her rear, gingerly clutching her hand close to herself. There was pain like a dozen needles from just as many doctor visits. The sting faded, leaving her hand numb, but she didn't have time to check how bad she'd been hurt.
"Steph!" Sweetie Belle and at Stephanie locked eyes.
"Sweetie! I don't know what to—do?" Stephanie froze.
Sweetie was seemingly done with her shaking and frightening spark flinging; replacing it instead was a deep, purple glow that shone from behind her eyes, transforming them from green.
She mumbled something that was difficult to make out. "I... feel..."
Stephanie's eyes widened more and more. Okay, maybe it's magic. Suddenly she was thinking about an old TV show, for all the good it seemed it might do. The name Equestria poked up through her oldest memories, but none of them told her any answers in the brief four or five second time she had sat motionless.
The glow's intensity was growing, peeking out of joints and plating all across Sweetie's body. Once the light had filled the room, Sweetie began to lift off the ground, floating on thin air a few inches, and then a few more. Her limp, scorched tail was the last part of her to leave the concrete. The only sound remaining in the room was a strange hum that began to get louder.
Stephanie only managed drop her jaw open dumbly. "Ooooo-kay," she whispered. Now, she was completely at a loss, her brain successfully checked out over at the front desk. "Sweetie... Belle? Hey, what are you doing? What's happening?" She didn't really expect an answer, less so as her voice began to be drowned out by the hum.
Stephanie watched as Sweetie came to stop in the middle of the room, then realized she'd just been staring instead of doing something helpful. "H-Hey! Sweetie?" There was a force in the air, almost a strong wind pushing her away, that just appeared as she tried to approach Sweetie. She skid back on her butt several feet before she regained traction. "Hey!"
Sweetie Belle's mouth hung open, as if about to speak, but didn't.
Stephanie cupped her hands and tried shouting. "Are you okay!?" That didn't seem likely. "Say something!" Her eyes darted around briefly for a fire that thankfully wasn't there, and she forced herself to stand up with some difficulty. She looked down at her hand—it wasn't burned, at least, just tingly—then back up at Sweetie. "I don't know what to do!"
Sweetie Belle continued to remain quiet and float. But she did close her eyes, as well as shiver and curl in on herself.
On reflexes powered purely by adrenaline, Stephanie hit the deck as something soared right where her head had just been. "Great jumping—!" she cursed as she landed hard on her hands and knees.
All around the room, bars of purple light lanced out from their spot of origin: Sweetie Belle. One struck a nearby wall, and suddenly a giant rose bush, rooted in place, popped out of thin air. Another hit the basement stereo, and what seemed like a miniature windmill stood in its place, instead. A third hit the basement's mainframe, transforming the delicate storage units into a pile of accordions; the instruments wheezed weakly as they slumped over in a messy pile.
Stephanie's fearful look transformed into disgusted horror for the split-second she had to stare at her precious, molested electronics. "What is going— Ahn!" Just in time, she dodged out of the way of more beams of light, their number growing, and hid behind a table. A second later and the table itself had its legs replaced by giant springs.
"Sweetie Belle! Please stop!" Stephanie peeked around the edge. She watched in denial over what was transpiring in her technological sanctuary. Her panic deepened, until harshly and with effort, she reeled her mind back in. I've gotta think of something. Crap crap CRAP. Okay, calm down, Steph. Your robot that's come alive is having a nuclear meltdown. What do? She thought hard, watching as her chair turned into what looked like a squat bowl of... ice cream.
Stephanie's expression petrified, transfixed on the former chair. In a flash, she pulled back behind the puny cover offered by her lab table. Okay, I have no idea what to do. None! When does anyone prepare themselves to deal with something like this!? I don't even think I could get to the door, let alone fix this! The thought of being turned into an appliance while trying to make a break for it didn't sit well with her.
Stephanie peeked through the transformed legs of her work table, catching sight of Sweetie. The equine-like machine's expression was difficult to read, being so simple, but it still didn't look pleasant. Whatever was happening, the noise in the room was slowly growing louder.
I have to do something... Stephanie swallowed hard. Her memories tried to dredge up something that could help, but all she'd gotten were a bunch of old movie scenes and cartoons—her background in machinery certainly didn't offer any suggestions.
No, she had to try something else. Something not scientific.
"Sweetie Belle!" Stephanie yelled the name as loud as she could, just bordering on a scream that made her voice crack. "You gotta calm down! Whatever you're doing, it's dangerous! Please stop!" She watched from the mild safety of cover, hoping to see a reaction; Sweetie shifted slightly.
Stephanie waited, the colors in the room flowing like water across the walls, then tried again. "Try to... try to get control of it! If all of this was inside you before, you can control it again!" The logical part of her still said magic wasn't real, that she was just dreaming, but she knew she had to adapt to the situation.
Another burst of static answered, which slowly resolved into Sweetie's voice. "Tssss—Stephanieee! Help! I-I don't know what to do! It's confusing me!"
Stephanie stood up on instinct, ignoring the beams that whizzed past. Despite her confusion, she found words to respond with, encouraging ones. "That's okay! Just don't be afraid, I'm here! Try and... focus on your senses!" Suddenly, she wished she'd listened harder to her friends when they would quote Star Wars Jedi. "You can do it, I know you can! You'll be okay!"
Stephanie bit her lip. She didn't know what else to say, and wasn't sure if any of it would help at all. Sweetie Belle didn't respond, instead continuing to defy gravity in the middle of the room.
Stephanie called out again, hoping for an answer. "Sweetie Belle?" Then, she stared in wonder as the hum in the room dissipated slowly and the crazy beams of light stopped altogether. She almost tumbled forward from no longer having to lean into the pushing force in the air.
Everything that happened next did so quickly and with very little fanfare.
The giant stained-glass mosaic off an emu on the wall transformed back into being the tool shelves. In the corner, what could only have been described as the world's largest spice rack once again became a series of monitors. One by one the furniture and articles in the room all quietly and peacefully reverted back to their original states in a smaller, milder shower of purple sparks and soft poofs of noise.
Stephanie's jaw resumed hanging open in a show of complete disbelief. Eventually, she looked back to the original cause of the anomalies. The rest of the glow in the room faded, and the basement lights overhead ceased their constant flickering.
Sweetie Belle still hung in the air, her expression hardened, but looked less scared and desperate. Then in the span of a second, the remaining glow around her disappeared with a loud pop, and she was falling.
Stephanie gasped and dove forward. "Hang on—! Ooph!" She performed a stage slide across the smooth floor, and her old machine landed unceremoniously in her lap. "Oh, ow... Hey, hey, are you alright?" She stayed wary, almost a little surprised that she hadn't been burned or something.
She ran a hand over Sweetie's face. "Sweetie?"
Sweetie Belle opened her eyes slowly once she heard Stephanie's voice, then blinked rapidly, taking in the light. Her eyes, which were apparently made in China as she'd only just noticed, adjusted to focus on Stephanie's face.
"Uhm, malfunction?" She smiled upwards, feeling something... called embarrassment.
Stephanie sighed with relief. "That was sure a doozy of a malfunction. Are you sure you're okay? How many fingers am I holding up? And just what happened? What did you do? I—" With some difficulty she bit back more words, wincing; she felt light-headed.
Sweetie Belle laughed weakly while Steph ranted; she wasn't sure why she did, but relieved as she was it felt right. "Yes, I'm okay. And you're holding up three fingers. Is that a game?" Her response was almost rapid-fire quick. "And I don't know exactly what happened, or what exactly I did. I'm a little... worried? Worried, since you don't, either..." After a moment of studying Stephanie's look of loss, she slyly added, "But I think it might actually be safe to say that was all your fault, Stephanie. You flipped my switch after all, and I calculate a ninety-six point seven percent likelihood that it was responsible for whatever just happened."
Stephanie listened in somber acceptance, at first, until the part where blame was shifted soundly onto her shoulders.
"Excuse me!? My fault? Okay, missy, you listen here. You told me to do it, first off, and second—" She cut off when a gentle shaking ran through Sweetie, and laughter of the tinkling, relieved sort fell out of her chrome muzzle.
Stephanie grinned, understanding. "You butt." Laughing a little herself, she brushed away some of the scorched mane in Sweetie's eyes.
Sweetie stared up, feeling... very peaceful, all considering. The phrase life threatening danced through her vocabulary briefly. Still, her fear was all but gone and it seemed obvious who was to thank for it.
Stephanie went on. "Well, whatever just happened, we're never touching that thing again."
Sweetie let out a small aw of disappointment.
"Should I leave the switch on, then?" Sweetie Belle asked plainly. She stared up expectantly at Steph in earnest.
"It's still on!?" Stephanie felt her heart leap again, and had to stop from standing up and spilling Sweetie onto the floor. She calmed down though, and forced herself to listen to her rational side. Circuits don't turn mouse pads into Pies, Stephanie. They don't!
She cleared her throat, and absently ran a hand over Sweetie's mane, instead, and repeated herself more calmly. "It's still on? And you're sure you're alright? You aren't hurt? I mean, you were..." She realized that if Sweetie wasn't alright, she had no idea what to actually do. It still felt a bit odd to be talking to her robot the way she was, but then, she was quickly getting over that. Especially after what she had just seen.
Sweetie Belle smiled and nodded, tilting her head. Stephanie seemed incredibly worried. It made Sweetie feel worried, too. But, it also made her feel like reassuring her.
"Yep! I'm getting all flashy green lights now, and I remember those being the good ones!" Sweetie began pedaling her back legs slightly in the air as a show of ability, while standing up solely on her front ones. Subsequently, she then trotted about in a circle as further demonstration.
Her excitement returned to her, no longer being held. "But anyway, Steph! Did you see me zip-zap all of the things? What did you think? It was... was..." She concentrated, trying to grasp a good word.
"Cool?" Unable to help it, Stephanie smirked. She was still caught somewhere between excitement, and fainting over the ordeal.
"Cool?" Sweetie's face whirred until she looked deeply confused. "Wait. That's... my head says that a better word might be amazing, or astounding, or astonishing, or stunning, or staggering, or—"
Stephanie face-palmed. "Okay okay okay, I get the idea, Sweetie."
Sweetie blinked, then smiled and clanged slightly as she shifted her stance. "Okay!" She repeated back, and giggled. "So, what does ambient temperature have to do with anything?"
Stephanie lowered her hand from her face and peeked out. "Wait, what?"
Sweetie hummed in thought. "You said 'cool' is the word to describe the room. While it is slightly below—"
Stephanie, finally catching on, groaned. "'Cool' means the same as 'amazing', and those other words, Sweetie. It's slang."
"Ah, I see... " Sweetie briefly looked at the floor, then back up. "Cool!" She proceeded to scan over a good portion of slang words that she had access to in a commendable one point one seconds of processing time. They seemed quite interesting. "So! Did you see me? Zip-zap everything? It made me feel kind of..." She trailed of, recalling how exactly she had felt. There was a good description for it, surely, but it escaped her.
Stephanie sighed, trying to finish calming down while also keeping up with Sweetie. She stood up and inspected her room, just in case one of computers hadn't turned back from being a pinwheel. "Oh yeah, that. I saw it alright. I'm still trying to believe it, too." At the same time, she tried to consider if it would happen again. Sweetie had admitted that the thing that might have been responsible, the processor, was somehow still on, and Steph had caught a glimpse of the blinking green light it normally sported, too.
Sweetie made a thinking kind of sound. "But you saw it yourself. Why have trouble with believing it?"
Briefly, Stephanie thought, Did I have any cameras in the room that might of caught that... She realized quickly that she didn't without Hal, and swore under her breath.
Sweetie Belle tilted her head. She didn't quite understand why Stephanie had lowered her voice so much when she said those last three words. The phrase seemed a bit odd, and had odder connotations. And what did her dictionary mean by labeling it a curse phrase? She shrugged and filed it away, deciding to ask about it later.
"Well, I didn't mean that I don't believe it just happened..." Stephanie wanted to do just that, actually. "It was just... It shouldn't have been..." She stared blankly at her little, talking, thinking machine, pretty much at a loss for words. Sweetie Belle stared back patiently, expectantly. Luckily, she was saved upon spotting something new, and also located around Sweetie's metallic hindquarters. "Oh wow. Sweetie, look at your side panel."
Sweetie Belle blinked, then twisted her neck around to look back. She found something different on the outside of the panel on her rear left leg, the one that was still closed. "Ohhh, that's new. Is it a sign of structural failure from the event? Scarring? Heat damage—"
"It's a cutie mark," Stephanie mumbled the phrase smoothly as it came to her. She knelt down, her eyes locked on Sweetie's metal flank. With her offhand she closed the still open panel that led to Sweetie's inner workings on the other side, revealing a match to the mark there, as well.
Five lines of light green script, written in binary, ran up both sides of the filly-bot's back legs. The code was written out plainly as: 01101101 01100001 01100111 01101001 01100011.
Stephanie blinked at it, decoding the binary slowly in her head. "I think that it says—"
"Magic," Sweetie Belle interrupted. She grinned and looked up at Stephanie, who acknowledged her with a nod. "The cutie mark says magic! But what even is a cutie mark? And what does it mean that I have one?" Her grin melted into a frown, and she raised her voice. "And why did zip-zapping give me a random mark!? Is it important or something? Oh no, have I contracted a virus?"
"I... doubt that, Sweetie." A thoughtful look crept over Stephanie, unable to handle yet another mystery to any effect. Eventually, she murmured, "But I don't think I know why you got the mark either..."
She thought about the way Sweetie Belle could not only feel emotions, but also things like heat and the cold, as if she wasn't made of metal. She thought about her room and the other unexplainable things that had just happened. Strangely, she also felt a little less crazy having witnessed everything. It also occurred to her that maybe that was a part of being crazy.
The basement was silent for a moment.
Finally, Sweetie Belle sighed, and asked, "Well, Steph, what do you know? Because I'm starting to rethink asking the TV my questions..."
Stephanie scowled. "And later, I will teach you all about manners." She reached out and pinched Sweetie Belle's ear, producing a pained ouch!
"Steeeeph!" Sweetie tried to pull her head away, which didn't work very well. "Let goooo, that hurts! I don’t like it!"
Stephanie held on, slightly bewildered. Wait, she can feel this, too? she thought, hesitating to let go. She didn't really know what counted as painful towards a robot and eventually let go.
Sweetie Belle stared back at her, looking wounded. "I don't think I like learning 'manners', either," she mumbled.
Stephanie filed away her confusion, and chuckled at Sweetie's behavior. "Ah huh. Well you should definitely look up that definition. A-Anyway, I actually remember cutie marks being... well, representations of a special talent. So, apparently this is what you're really good at." At least that was how she recalled a certain old show, which in a way was the only reason Sweetie Belle existed in the first place. She wondered for a moment what her curious newborn-like robot would make of the old show, were she to see it.
Sweetie Belle ohhhed. "A special talent? And my special talent is magic?"
Stephanie shrugged. "I guess so," she replied, and ran a hand over the mark on her robot as she did.
Sweetie paused to listen, then thought on the new word, magic, and drew up the description for it. "Magic: noun, one: the power of apparently influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces. Adjective, one: used in magic or working by magic; having or apparently having supernatural powers. Two, wonderful or... exciting!"
Her eyes widened more, taking in the implications of such a thing being tied to her. She dedicated a lot of processing power to considering it. And that's for me? That's my talent? Her excitement faded a little, replacing itself with a thorough sense of confusion. But I don't even know what that means, or what I did. The sensations she had felt during the event had been strange, and they were gone now, too.
Sweetie Belle hummed in thought.
Stephanie smiled along with Sweetie while she chirped the definitions, until finally she stopped and seemed to think about it slowly to herself. The sight had been a little interesting, due mostly in part to Sweetie Belle using her old robotic voice when she had spoken the definitions. Perhaps it was a kind of habit, or something, one that she had retained.
Maybe, or maybe not, but the bottom line was that Sweetie Belle was a mystery wrapped in an enigma.
It was clear to Stephanie that there was a lot more to figure out, and not just stuff about Sweetie, but also what exactly to do with her. She had a robot on her hands that not only ignored the way technology was supposed to work, but the rules of everything else, too. Trying to consider how a filing cabinet had turned into an aquarium with actual fish wasn't something easy to do. There certainly wasn't a magic school she could go to and get instructions at. And what could be done if Sweetie had a relapse and turned the house into a giant cream-puff or something worse?
"Alright, well, let's not stress over this too much right now, Sweetie." Stephanie sighed in mild despair and straightened up, getting a little sore from crouching for so long. "Let's go upstairs, and—"
Glados' voice entered the room as she abruptly wheeled through the opened door, and called down from the top of the stairs. "Stephanie, I hate to interrupt your subterranean rave, but it scared the goat. Unfortunately, or not, depending on how you look at things... it escaped its pen again. I was subsequently unable to corral it. Not that it's of any consequence to me, but you should probably go take care of that, assuming you can fit your gargantuan hips out through the door to—"
Stephanie groaned loudly, muttering, "Crap, not again..." and bolted up the stairs. If the goat had gotten out and ended up in a neighbor's yard or something, that could easily lead to a whole mess of lawsuits. "Glados! Start the van!"
Sweetie Belle perked up at the signs of sudden excitement and Stephanie racing upstairs. "A goat? Why did he run away? What's a van? Oh, motorized transportation! A road trip! Can I come?" Not waiting for an answer, she sped up the motors in her legs to their maximum. She noted there was a noticeable increase in their efficiency from their last use against the cat.
Stephanie raced through the house and burst out the front door. "What? Oh, no, you should stay here, Sweetie." Sweetie Belle had somehow kept up with her the whole way to the front door.
Out of habit, Steph had almost tried to just close the door on her former appliance to keep it from wandering outside. This time, however, Sweetie had instead slipped her way out and fell in step.
"Uuh..." Stephanie gritted her teeth, thinking hard. At the same time, she kept jogging out to her waiting vehicle. I can't just leave Sweetie alone again, can I? Oh man, but if Jeffrey headbutts the Johnson's dog again... She caught sight of what she was sure was a scraggly blur of fur bouncing happily through the neighboring field. It seemed she was in luck; Jeffrey hadn't gotten far. Still, she knew there was no time to lose.
"Sweetie, just wait here for a bit, okay? I'll be right back." She stopped to point at a random spot in the yard near the porch. "Inside would be better, actually. Could you wait inside? Alright, great."
"Oh, okay. But what about my cutie mark? And figuring out everything that you don't know about me?" Sweetie thought about that. If Steph didn't know things about her either, then who did? "Also, what even is magic? I have no further data on magic..."
Stephanie danced slightly in place, the door to her vehicle open. "We'll talk about you lots when I get back, Sweetie. I'm sorry, but this can't wait."
"Uhm, I'll wait, then, Steph." Sweetie Belle slowed her canter to a walk, and watched as Stephanie climbed into her van, almost leaping. It seemed that Mr. Goat getting out was a big deal. She wondered just why that was, and why Mr. goat would have wanted to leave, anyway. Maybe he had somewhere important to be?
The van door slammed shut.
Stephanie breathed a sigh of relief, alone for the first time in ages, if only for a couple of minutes. At the same time, she guiltily considered that she was in some way shirking an obligation to keep a watchful eye on what was essentially a child, rather than a pet. Still, she was used to responsibility.
Quickly, Steph backed the van out, and as she did, she looked worriedly back at Sweetie Belle, who had yet to leave the side of the driveway for the house. She tried not to worry too much, Jeffrey was in sight of the house after all. She just needed to go get him, lure him home, and all before Sweetie managed to get into something.
It'll be fine, Stephanie told herself, and focused on driving. Yup, perfectly fine.
Sweetie Belle tilted her head, watching as the van backed out of the driveway in a cloud of dust, then vroomed loudly and raced down the road off on a quest to hunt down a goat. She realized, after a bit of zooming and focusing with her eyes, that Mr. Goat was actually not so far away.
"Well, Stephanie told me to go wait inside." Sweetie Belle stood up, her motors softly humming, and turned to do just that. "I guess I should listen to her." She had always listened to Stephanie before, as she recalled, never doing anything but exactly what she had been told. "Hopefully we'll finally do something fun when she comes back, though—"
Sweetie Belle cut off, and stopped to stare at something new. Her eyes widened, and her cameras unfocused as a strange sense of wonder and curiosity filled her all at once. The object was fascinating.
"O-Oh," she murmured, basking in the strange feeling she was getting. "Or... maybe I could stay outside for a little bit. As long as I'm inside when Steph gets back, it'll be okay. Right?"
There was a really, really big pile of brown, red and yellow things in the middle of the yard. Sweetie used her processor and sped towards an explanation over what they were.
Leaves.
Apparently, they were called leaves, and for some reason, they almost seemed to almost call out her name... One thing was for sure, and that was that she couldn't ignore them.
Sweetie's tail began to brush against the earth, an idea entering her head.
So, this was the only image of Sweetie Bot's cutie mark that I could find. Suffice to say, I had to give her something a little bit better than that. 
Sorry for the long wait, everypony. I just haven't had the same writing fire in me as of late and this chapter took a while. Still, thanks for reading, loving ponies, and for sticking around this long.
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I declare this to be a most splendid update! Here Here!
Sweetie Bot discovers leaves! Most excellent!
I went all day yesterday with 1 update and you updated this? Well worth a day of nothing to have this update. Also kids with piles of leaves, might as well put a super magnet in there for Sweetiebot
Holy crap, I was able to translate that binary in my head in under 30 seconds. I have never felt more nerdy in my life.
Yessssss, an update!! Here's to hoping you keep the drive to write!
the story took a path that surprised me but I am happy with it all the same!
Does... does Sweetiebot have Twilight's power?
That magic was purple.
Sweetie bot is best robot.
So there is some kind of magic going on here. Well that sorta explains quite a bit. I wonder how long until the magic upgrades her face/jaw to make her be able to show a more wider amount of expression. I mean considering last upgrade gave her the sense of touch.
What is going Ahn?!
4238973
Yup. 'Ah' crossed with 'on' into a horribly mutated sound.
4238704 well, I believe the storm that made her sentient is the storm Twilight caused on arrival. so it's very possible.
4239096
Well, according to the description
so that would be out of the question. The storm, I mean... Twi's magic? Possibly...
Still, it's getting strange now...
4239133 *comment redacted*
Who knew the robot uprising would be so adorable?
4239133 Description be damned, if that wasn't Twilight's magic I'll eat my emergency edible hat.
Looking forward to more, like when she starts playing the mlp shows.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
An idea related to leaves? Get mah shoes, we're goin' jumping.
4239809
4239848
My beagle is like that, but since we're in the arctic of Maine he prefers snow. Now that I think about it, him and this Husky kinda have it backwards.
4239133 The worlds are so crossed now that Twi's magic is ending up in completely unrelated omniverses.
This setting is a bit technologically advanced for the other stories in the Madverse. I can't really see a connection.
There ought to be two humans in this mixed up household. One single being a whiz with animals and a whiz at electronics just don't add up. As far as harmless wish fulfillment goes it's a pretty decent setting though.
4239969
I basically combined Steph from the movie, Short Circuit, and the fellow she starts dating, Steve Gutenberg/Newton Crosbey.
Admittedly, outside those traits, this Stephanie is a very different character, for better or for worse. 
Wish fulfillment!? Why, sir, I am both appalled and aghast at such an accusation as that.
4240006
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IResembleThatRemark
Eh... might not be using that one properly, but the joke still stands!
4240174
Hehe, it's the thought that counts. I chuckled.
Well I was thinking this was going to go for a pseudo-technological explanation for Sweetie bot like short circuit itself but given the magical out burst Discord is looking likely.
Yay!
This chapter was really good.
4241015
Thanks. It was a little rushed... and shorter than I wanted. But it accomplished some stuff at least.
4241076 It leaves a lot of questions. Also I hope that goat is not like the one from Goat Simulator.
Could you describe GLaDOS' appearence to me? I'm having trouble picturing what exactly she looks like.
I saw that this story was updated and I was like "IT'S ALIVE!" Then I remembered what this was about and I proceeded to laugh at myself for no less than two minutes.
This is the story of what happened when you updated this.
Cheers, Null
4241102
Hm, perhaps I'll add an image when she first pops up.
I mostly just described her in the most basic sense, a robotic eye that wheels around via a gantry railing on the ceiling.
I was amused when we simply had a sentient robot. Now things have become very interesting.
When I was reading the end part of the goatastrophe, I could not stop thinking about goat simulator's utter insanity.
4242117
I may have been a little inspired.
4239907
Somehow this... Uh... Somehow related to The Sweetie Belle Chronicles?
Or at least has same/similar prerequisites for happening.
4242272
Everything's always Twilight's fault.
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Good to see you back with another chapter. Who couldn't resist a pile of leaves?
It's ALIIIIIVVVVVEEEEEEEEEE! The story that is.
Awesome chapter.
Awe~some. There being magic in this world is quite a twist (Well, except fot the magical lightning that didn't simply fry what was essentially a toaster and instead gave it sapience.), a twist that I'm not too sure about
, but I'll keep reading anyway because it's an interesting and entertaining story, and the characters are interesting and, in Sweetie's case, adorable.
4239969 Don't use your fancy mathematics to muddle the issue!
Wooo Sweetie Bot Magic Circuit Online.
New target acquired, Leaves...
Practice and curiosity activate.
4242342 Twilight must learn that magic doesn't solve everything.
At least not when you keep messing up spells.
Now that is a power surge! All of the magic the secondary processor absorbed before it was turned off -which was quite a bit, from the looks of things- suddenly being connected to a soul literally hours old in a body that simply wasn't designed to house either in the first place; it's little wonder the poor thing got overwhelmed.
If I had to guess (which I obviously have to because I'm doing it right now), I'd say the initial scare with all the sparks and smoke and screeching static was simply the adaptation phase, fixing up her body so that it can actually keep up with the needs of its new equine soul. If Stephanie were to open her up, she'd probably find major alterations throughout, especially to the outer casing, voicebox and motor servos.
Of course, that much power doesn't just stop, so once it was done upgrading to Sweetie Bot Deluxe, it kept going until Sweetie managed to rein it in, similar to what happened at Twilight's entrance exam and with a similar result (Magic Cuite Mark, Yay!).
The only part of all that that might or might not have any effect is Stephanie getting zip-zapped when she tried to turn the secondary processor back off. Will she get magic powers of her own? Will her arm turn blue and fall off? Will absolutely nothing come of this? Beats me!
4239133
I personally believe this story exists in the Madverse's Earth with ATL and MLM, but is not part of the Madverse in that it does not actually affect the storyline of the Madverse Fics. Most authors would call that a side-fic in the 'verse, referencing characters and events from the main story and possibly being referenced in return, but otherwise set apart from the major issues therein.
almost at 1337 likes!
4239148 Damn, someone get the SCP Foundation to un-redact this comment. It's not supposed to be redacted.
So step 1: Make pony robot
Step 2: Expose pony robot to magic lightning
Step 3: Enjoy new sentient pony robot.
Step 4: Reconnect overdrive processor
Step 5: Enjoy magical pony robot!
Step 6: ???
Step 7: Equestria!
Sweet Filly Twilight, this has to be the greatest story in the history of FIMfiction!
...or at least the greatest story I've read this week, if not this year.
I reaaaaally hope that the next update comes soon. *squeeeeee*
Started to read the story today and just stopped here, waiting for the next chapter now! Awesome story!
YESYESYES, loving this story!
I love finding stories such as this, the concept is wonderful.
Yes! Awesome chapter, I can't wait for the next one!
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