Twilight Sparkle always knew she was different from other ponies. How will her friends react when they find out the most magical unicorn in all Equestria isn't even a pony? Inspired in part by Directive: Grow by Dragon Dreaming (mostly the cover art) and the cover art for Gundam Twilight: An Anime Parody by Aegis Shield
Note, your timeline may vary... And no, Sweetiebot will NOT be in this story.
This was the ONE thing Spike hated most about life with Twilight. He could handle cleaning up after her late night studying. He did no more than sigh when she asked him to get a book he couldn't reach. Hay, he'd rather be reorganizing the library, blindfolded with both hands tied behind his back, than what he was doing.
From behind him, a somewhat mechanical voice broke him from his musings. “Spike, we both know you could do this in your sleep, but would you please pay attention to what your doing when your elbow-deep in my barrel? Please?”
“Sorry, Twilight. Kinda forgot how nervous you get whenever maintenance time rolls round,” the hatchling replied sheepishly. Turning back to his work, he asked, “How did you get this banged up, anyway? Last time you got this bad was when you tried...to...” As he trailed off, the gears in his mind started turning. Whirling in place, he placed a fist on a hip and waved a monkey-wrench menacingly at the head on the table behind him and bellowed, “TWILIGHT SPARKLE! WERE YOU TRYING TO UNDERSTAND PINKIE AGAIN? WE WENT THROUGH A MONTH'S SUPPLY OF SPARE PARTS THAT WEEK! I HAD TO MAKE EXTRAS FROM THE SCRAP TO KEEP YOU GOING UNTIL THE NEXT SHIPMENT CAME IN FROM CANTERLOT! YOU SHOULD ONLY NEED PARTS REPLACED DURING THESE MONTHLY MAINTENANCE SESSIONS!” Spike paused for a second to think before continuing at a more normal volume, arms now crossed, “Or if something like the Ursa Minor or Mirror Pool incidents happen. Overheated mana generators aren't cheap to replace, you know. Especially yours.”
The head of the normally purple unicorn glared back, the look made all the more effective by the lack of her faceplate, the silvery insides of her head on display, “I learned my lesson with Pinkie the first time. This time it was some dragon that decided to take a nap a little to close to Equestria for anypony's comfort.”
The purple and green reptile arched an eyebrow, “I take naps around town all the time.”
“Yes, but you don't snore enough smoke to plunge Equestria in to darkness for 100 years,” Twilight snarked.
“touche.”
Spike missed the eye-roll as he turned around. “Well, I've got good news and bad news. The bad news is you got enough soot in here to need a week-long cleaning before you can go anywhere without the risk of overheating and possibly exploding.”
“So... What's the good news?”
“Your new hardware upgrade came in while you were out,” spike grinned smugly, “I can have you up and running in 5 to 10 minutes.”
Trying to look at the stack of pony-sized boxes to her left, made difficult by being no more that a head on a table, she asked, “Then why didn't you just install and upload me when I got back?”
“Wanted to see how much of your old hardware I could add now instead of after you got used to the new stuff,” he shrugged.
Before Twilight could respond, the door to the basement lab was slammed open by a certain pink pony who was shortly followed by a grumbling blue unicorn with a silvery-white mane.
“Twilight! Twilight! You won't guess who I found on the way back from Fluttershy's cottage!” the hyperactive mare chirped with her eyes closed, “I found Trixie and thought 'Gee, it looks like she could use a place to stay,' but The Cakes don't have any room since they're expecting a new foal soon, she can't stay with Rainbow Dash since she can't walk on clouds, Applejack is still a little mad about being tied up with her own rope, Fluttershy lives too close to Everfree Forest for Trixie's comfort, and Rarity still hasn't gotten over having a green mane, so I thought 'Well Twilight didn't seem to have problem with her,' so I brought her here to see if... you...” Pinkie trailed off as she noticed why Trixie had stopped muttering.
Seeing Spike spattered with a reddish fluid hovering over what looked like the remains of a headless purple pony with a terrifyingly familiar Cutie Mark, what seemed to be guts scattered like macabre confetti upon the table that bore the apparent evidence of her magical friends demise, she did what most lesser ponies (and Fluttershy) would do in her horseshoes. *THUD* She fainted.
“This will be awkward to explain,” Twilight deadpanned.
Spike sighed, "I knew the red coolant was a bad idea..."
Chapter 2 TW1L7.SPRKL
"...and that's how I became Princess Celestia's student."
"No wonder you succeeded where I failed."
As the voices of her friend and Trixie filtered through the fog of unconsciousness that clouded her mind, Pinkie groaned, catching the attention of the only dragon in the room.
"Twilight, she's waking up."
The pink party pony slowly opened her eyes, half expecting to see Spike using a pair of unicorn skulls as puppets. She was quite happy to spot the two most magical non-princess ponies in Equestria in one piece.
Still, the pinkest mare in the Pie family couldn't stay quiet (without reason) for long. "What happened? the last thing I remember was something from my worst nightmares, except in stead of Dashie it was you, and instead of me it was Spike. But that's just silly. I mean, why would he be making cu-" it was at this point that a rather large stack of cookies wrapped in a pale blue glow silenced the hyper earth pony.
Floating a glass of milk to aid the now chewing mare, Trixie turned to the purple pair, "I must admit, I find myself curious about just what we walked in on earlier."
"Well... er.... that is.... Spike?"
The baby dragon started waving his arms in front of himself in a warding gesture, "Uh uh! No way Twilight! You said that when the time came, you would tell them, not me."
"You're right," the librarian sighed, "I just wish I had more time to think about how to explain it."
Twilight took a deep breath, "It all started 20 years ago. Mom and Dad want to have a filly, but there was a problem. You see, most unicorns need to have their horns filed down a little when they're born to keep them from hurting themselves or others. Unfortunately, that means there's some... damage when they're born. So, when my brother was born, the doctor had to deliver the bad news.
"At first, they were fine with it, after all, they had a happy and healthy colt, each other, and a roof over their heads. But, as time moved on, they wanted more...
"At first, it started with the prosthetics they had been making for ponies that had lost a leg or an eye. Then, they started imagining what my brother, Shining Armor, might look like if he had been born a filly. One day, they combined the two with an AI, TW1L7.SPRKL, they had been programming in their spare time. That's how I was built..."
Silence flooded the room as the artificial pony trailed off.
Trixie recovered first, "I... I never would have guessed..."
All eyes turned to the disconcertingly silent Pinkie, despite- no, because of her silence.
Realizing that she was the center of attention, the earth pony echoed Twilight's earlier deep breath. "I... I..."
T o Be Continued...
Chapter 3 Reactions and Pinkie Promises... Oh, and The Fourth Wall
Reactions and Pinkie Promises... Oh, and The Fourth wall
"Sooo..." Spike began as he placed the last of the tools he and Trixie, his new apprentice (much as the blue unicorn hated the title), would need for Twilight's monthly Maintenance on the table next to the lavender construct, "what now?"
The mechanical mare simply glanced at the spread with a nod for her favorite dragon before answering, "That's an easy one. We do a flashback so everyone's on the same page."
"Finally going to break The Fourth Wall?" The purple hatchling questioned, scratching his spines, "I don't know... It seems a little late to do that..."
"It wouldn't have fit if we tried sooner," the mare sighed.
The drake gave her a flat look. "It's Maintenance Day, Twilight," he deadpanned. "How could it have not fit in a month?"
"Time skip," was the simple response.
Trixie rolled her grey-violet eyes. "The Mechanical Genius Trixie still doesn't understand all this talk of 'flashbacks,' 'fourth walls' and 'time skips'..."
The draconic mechanic and the six million bit mare both jumped at the reminder that they weren't alone in the basement-lab, getting another eye-roll and a muttered "I'm not THAT forgettable," from the azure mare.
"Sorry, Trixie," Twilight responded. "It's just that, well..." she trailed off.
Spike picked up the slack, "The only way to understand what we're talking about is to experience it yourself, and you've seen what that's done to Screw Loose."
The lavender machine shot a dark look as best she could at the pint-sized drake unscrewing her head. However, before she could admonish him for his lack of tact, a familiar bubbly pink voice cut in from the door to the basement-lab they were in.
"Twilight, I brought the girls so you could tell them your secret like you promised you would. I also brought strawberry shortcakes for everypony. Ooooohhhhhh, that sounds like a good idea for a cartoon! Maybe it could be a slice-of-life comedy about a filly that lives in a ginormous shortcake and..."
As Pinkie went off on a tangent, Trixie started to worry. Sure, Twilight's friends had, reluctantly, accepted that the ex-showmare was staying at the library, but if they saw her now, with the purple unicorn already being taken apart, things would most likely end very badly.
Twilight's state of mind wasn't much better. Yes, she had everything she needed already prepared, including diagrams and a ten-page speech/rant/lecture, but she had left it all up in her room, thinking she wouldn't need it until later in the day. Needless to say, an unprepared equidroid was a very nervous equidroid.
Now, Spike's reaction was the most interesting. Normally in this situation, he would be panicking even worse than the two nearby mares. However, when he saw both unicorns start to freak out, a little used part of his mind kicked into overdrive. In Canterlot, it was well known that a calm Spike and a panicky unicorn normally meant trouble, usually from or for the unicorn in question. It was equally well known that such matters were better left to said dragon. Thus, Spike took charge.
"Trixie, get over here and help me hook up Twilight. Twilight, focus. You need to use that new system we've been installing in the table upstairs. Can you do that for me?" At the lavender mage's hesitant almost-nod (as a real nod was difficult without a body), the wyrmling continued, "Good, I'll get the stuff for your presentation as soon as we're done hooking you up."
As soon as they were done, the young drake went upstairs only to find the party pony still rambling in the doorway, "...and I said 'Oatmeal? Are you cra-'"
It was amazing just how quickly a serious dragon, even one as young as Spike, could get even Pinkie to shut up with but a glance, probably had something to do with the fact they could breathe fire. "Go take a seat around the table while I get Twilight's notes," he told the group.
He took a step or two and paused for just a moment before turning back to the stairs, "Trixie, could you start a pot of tea? And grab me a piece of pumice while you're at it." With that, he continued on his way, mumbling about how it was a good the requested rock worked like aspirin for dragons.
Rarity was the first to break out of the stunned silence. "Well, I never knew Spike could take charge like that," she blushed, "Perhaps we should do as he asked?"
With various murmurs of agreement, they took their seats as Trixie made her way from the lab to the kitchen in a daze.
Once everypony was seated with a cup of tea close at hoof, Trixie went back down stairs to begin the monthly maintenance Twilight need. Spike followed soon after, leaving the notes and diagrams with Pinkie.
Just as the silence became unbearable, a slightly transparent, and much smaller, copy of a purple mare they all knew appeared before the wooden replica of the famous Bust of the Unknown Pony.
The Mini-Sparkle looked up at the gathered ponies, muttered something about adjusting the scale, shook her head as if clearing her thoughts, and began to speak, "You're all probably wondering why I asked you to come here... PINKIE! DON'T POKE AT MY VOLUMETRIC DISPLAY!"
---Magi-Tech---
"...So, any questions?" At some point during the explanation, the micro-pony had faded and been replaced by the real deal.
Applejack stood up and marched out the door.
"Yer lucky I Pinkie Promised not ta tell anypony," she spat without looking back.
With those parting words, the farmer slammed the door with enough force to knock some books off the nearby shelves.
The silence that followed was deafening... for all of ten seconds before Rainbow Dash, somewhat subdued, spoke up, "I... I need some time to think about this..." Unlike the mare before her, the weather pony walked out, not even bothering to close the door, and took flight.
Fluttershy was torn, unsure whether or not she should stay to comfort the artificial pony. The soft-spoken pegasus was startled by a gentle hoof on her shoulder.
"Go on, Fluttershy," the faux unicorn urged, "she needs you more than I do."
Needing no further goading, the pastel maned pegasus smiled a small smile, and floated after her more colorful friend.
Rarity got up, and gave Twilight a brief, but comforting, hug. "Don't worry darling, I'll go to Sweet Apple Acres in the morning to talk to Applejack. I'm sure she'll come around." She reluctantly left, she still had to take care of Sweetie Bell, after all.
When Spike and Trixie returned from cleaning the lab and kitchen, respectively, they saw Twilight with her head on the table, silently crying, and Pinkie patting her on the back in an awkward attempt to comfort her. Their collective thoughts could be summed up in eight words: "There's not enough ice cream in the world..."
Fluttershy was many things. Kind, caring, and afraid of her own shadow amongst them. But the one thing she was not, was willing to leave a friend in distress.
It was for this reason that the normally timid mare was flying with a purpose towards Rainbow Dash's cloud-house, conveniently floating over her own home on the edge of the Everfree at the moment. The look of calm, disappointed determination as she drifted was frighteningly out of place on the usually sweet and easily spooked pegasus. Enough so that, as she entered Market Square, the noisiest and most crowded part of Ponyville due to the big lunch rush, all went silent as she passed. Every mare, stallion, and foal parted before her as she floated by, unaware of the effect she was having on the ponies around her, or that there were even other ponies nearby.
Soon, the pastel pony was just outside Rainbow's door. With one final calming breath, Fluttershy trotted through the entryway to her oldest friend's home.
Even with the lights off and the curtains drawn, Fluttershy knew where to find her sister in all but blood. Making sure to step on the one squeaky cloud Dash had installed after Fluttershy scared her the day she moved in, the yellow mare made her way to the bedroom. She knew exactly what she would find when she opened the door; her adopted sister sprawled across the nimbus twin mattress, eyes glazed with thought and conflicting emotions, smoke gently drifting from her ears as a little used part of her mind worked overtime.
Not to say the polychromatic pegasus was dumb (her three degrees would say otherwise if they could), just that she wasn't used to contemplating emotions. ESPECIALLY when they were as mixed as hers.
Fluttershy reshaped a bit of cloud near Rainbow Dash's bed into a makeshift chair and waited quietly for her troubled friend to speak. For once, it didn't take more than a minute for the multi-hued mare to break the silence.
“Some Element of Loyalty I am,” she muttered. “Just when Twilight needed us the most, what did I do? I ran. I thought I left that problem behind me when I went back home to save Scoots from Her.”
Rainbow Dash sighed, “I guess... I guess I’ll always be pathetic little Princess Ir-”
“RAINBOW DANGER PROFESSIONALISM DASH! DON'T YOU DARE FINISH THAT SENTENCE!” Fluttershy bellowed, scaring the color off Dash for a moment and putting the Royal Canterlot Voice to shame. “YOU ARE FAR FROM PATHETIC! PATHETIC MARES WOULD NOT HAVE GONE ANYWHERE NEAR HER, EVEN IF IT WERE TO SAVE SOMEPONY ELSE, AFTER WHAT SHE DID TO YOU! PATHETIC MARES WOULDN'T HAVE STOOD UP FOR ME BACK IN SUMMER FLIGHT CAMP! PATHETIC MARES WOULDN'T HAVE STOOD UP TO NIGHTMARE MOON OR BUCKED A DRAGON IN THE FACE!”
With a sigh, the usually timid mare finished at a more reasonable volume. “Auntie Rainbow, you are not pathetic.”
Dash snorted, “I may be your aunt, but you're still a year older than me, it just doesn't feel right. I just don't get why Scoots gets so giggly when you call her 'Auntie Scootaloo'.”
“I think Daddy had something to do with it,” Fluttershy giggled, “I think he said something about how awkward it was to adopt his sisters, even if it was to help protect the two of you from Her.”
“Pops was always trying his best to protect us,” the rainbow maned pegasus chuckled.
The pastel pegasus smiled kindly as she asked, “So, what now?”
Rainbow sighed, knowing that she couldn't avoid the topic further. “We need to discuss this with the squirt, but we can't tell her why. ARG! Why does this have to be so hard!”
“Maybe we could just tell Twilight about the two of us?”
The prismatic mare shook her head, “She knows just how close we are to Scootaloo. She'd start asking too many questions. At least, she will if...” she trailed off.
“If she doesn't figure it out on her own,” Fluttershy finished with a sigh.
“This is gonna take awhile...”
---Magi-Tech---
Trixie was worried. Over the month she had spent with the artificial librarian and her draconic mechanic she had learned a few of their more noticeable quirks, like like Twilight's late nights studying or Spike's taste for Fire Rubies. What had her worried was the knowledge that the two were never late.
So, when she woke up at noon, which hadn't happened since she moved in, and found the library still closed, she started to worry... more than she already was at any rate.
Just as she decided to check on her teachers in the techno-arcane arts, she heard knocking at the door. Realizing it was most likely somepony looking for a book, she opened the door only to flinch as a rather large off-white hoof stopped an inch from her muzzle.
“Er, sorry 'bout that, ma'am,” the huge red stallion attached to said hoof sheepishly apologized, “It's just that Miss Rarity here broke her artificial leg back at our farm, and she insists that the best repair-pony in Ponyville lives here.”
The silver-maned unicorn blinked the hearts out of her eyes and looked past the (quite attractive) mountain of of a pony to see a familiar white mare, with a rather knowing look in her eye, in an applecart.
Suddenly the mechanic-in-training was all business. “Bring her in here and I'll give her a once over to see what we need to do.”
As the large pony placed Rarity onto a couch, Trixie helped her remove the prosthetic leg, taking note of the details.
'Type V Universal Interface Connector, that's good if we need to outright replace the leg. Distinct hoof-shaped dent split by the break about halfway between the elbow and knee, not a SparkleTek product. I've seen what it takes to dent one of those. Kind of scary, now that I think about it. Maybe Twilight can help me get a new stage wagon made of the stuff.' Trixie mentally kicked herself at that thought, 'Now is not the time to daydream about that, somepony is counting on you to fix this. Your first customer as a Prosthetic Maintainer! Got to get this righ... Hello, what do we have here? Gears, and stamped “Sparkle Tech, Inc.” to boot. That means this is a counterfeit leg... Who the hay counterfeits these things?'
Shaking her head at the stupidity of fake prosthetic limbs, she spoke. “The Artificer's Apprentice Trixie has good news and bad news.
“The bad news is that this,” she levitated the two pieces of the leg dramatically, “is a fake.”
Blinking in confusion, the stallion spoke. “Uh, I’m pretty sure that's why we're here instead of over at Ponyville General, miss Trixie.”
“What I mean is I can list three reasons this is not a SparkleTek product.
“First, I’m guessing Applejack did this?” The blue unicorn asked, waving a hoof in the general direction of the floating leg. At their hesitant nods, she continued, “While I believe that she would break a REAL SparkleTek leg if she tried, I seriously doubt she could leave such a clear hoof-print in one without hurting herself.
“Secondly, SparkleTek, Inc. is in the business of keeping ponies on their hooves for as long as equinly possible. Gears wear out rather quickly under the stress Rainbow Dash normally puts on her legs... When she's not racing Applejack, that is. That's why they use hydraulics, they last far longer.
“Finally, look at this gear,” Trixie passed the stamped gear to Rarity. “Notice how it says 'Sparkle Tech, Inc.'? That is not how the company spells it. They spell it 'S-p-a-r-k-l-e-T-e-k.' All one word. Such a poor mistake to make on a fake. Any repair-pony worth their salt would point that out the first time they saw it...” The darker of the two mares taped her chin in thought. “Unless they're only doing it for the money.”
“Dare I ask how you know so much about SparkleTek?” Rarity inquired.
“Twilight.”
“Then what's the good news?” the lone earthpony interrupted with a snarl, indignant that such a con had happened in his town.
“This,” Trixie responded with a tap to the device on Rarity's shoulder where the leg had been that morning, not seeming to notice the rage on the stallion's face, “is a Type V Universal Interface Connector, the current International Standard for attaching prosthetic legs to whoever needs them. Makes it much easier to replace broken or defective models like this one.”
Quirking a perfectly trimmed eyebrow, and keeping an eye on the irate red mountain of muscle standing nearby, Rarity had to ask, “Defective, or broken?”
“Yes.” Clearly, Twilight's snarkiness was rubbing off on Trixie. “I'll go ask Spike if we have any spares we could lend you until we can get you a good replacement.”
The red mountain stood. “I'm gonna go have a word with the doc about hoofin' out fakes.”
“Most doctors aren't licensed to do more that lend a Temp-Limb until you can get to a shop,” Trixie interjected, pausing at the bottom of the stairs. “That means that your doctor most likely couldn't have known. They're not trained to spot the difference. The Great and Benevolent Trixie finds it sad, Twilight says there are many injuries that could be prevented if they were...”
The stallion slumped. “I'll let 'im know.”
With that, he quietly left.
The blue Unicorn turned to her White counterpart, “I'll go talk to Spike about this, would you like anything before I do?”
Upon receiving a response in the negative, the ex-showmare practically waltzed up the stairs to do the stupidest thing she could think of; wake a sleeping dragon.
A shout of “I FORGOT TO GET HIS NAME!” came from halfway up the steps, much to Rarity's amusement.
---Magi-Tech---
Spike had been awake for an hour now. A glance at the clock proved this was unusual, it was noon after all. A quick peek at the pseudo-mare still using him as a teddy bear made it obvious he wouldn't be going anywhere any time soon.
“The things I do for love,” he chuckled, quoting one of his favorite comic characters.
When he heard Big Mac's distinctive drawl drift through the door, the young mechanic decided it was time to try to get up.
Ten minutes later he was panting with no progress to show for his effort. Just as he started considering burning his way out of Twilight's grip, a shout of “I FORGOT TO GET HIS NAME!” came from halfway down the stairs, startling the purple pony awake.
Quick as a wink, both pony and dragon were out of the room and falling down the stairs, taking Trixie down with them.
“Are you alright?” Rarity asked, doing her best to hide her giggling (“A lady doesn’t chuckle, darling.”).
Assurances that they were unharmed and a quick recap of the past ten minutes later, spike tossed a spare leg and a can of white paint to Trixie.
“That should work until we can custom build a better one,” he growled, glaring at the broken leg as if it had just insulted his mother.
Trixie silently painted and attached the leg, disturbed by Spike's lack of reaction to the presence of the mare of his dreams.
Twilight rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. “I'm sorry about this. He takes counterfeits rather personally, he sees them as an insult to our parents. Especially the 'Sparkle Tech' ones, those have been a pain in the tail for years.”
“Has the Scared and Terrified Trixie mentioned that Spike is scary when he's serious?”
Said dragon continued to mutter about just what he'd do if he ever got his claws on the ones who constantly made the fakes.
Twilight changed the subject. “So, it wasn't because I lied to everypony about what I am?”
“No, darling, not at all. If anything, Applejack agreed that we all have our secrets. Though, she refused to explain why she seems so angry with you. When I tried to get an answer, well... the results are getting glared at by Spike... Trixie's right, that is rather unnerving...”
The fake unicorn, with her nerves of steel (she insists they're copper), turned to the only fire-breather in the tree, “Spike, you do realize you're frightening Rarity, right? What would Mom say?”
Snapping out of his thoughts, Spike shook his head and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. I'll just go put this away.” with that, he dashed out of the room... forgetting the broken leg.