We interrupt this chapter to make an unfortunate announcement. The author of this story appears to have suffered a mental breakdown and, despite knowing perfectly well that this would be a bad idea, has included a stupidly high number of references in this chapter. Proceed at your own risk.
Sweetie Belle, being a proud bookworm, had read a great deal of science fiction. She knew all kinds of possible “distant futures” Equestria might one day face, from space faring civilizations to dystopian nightmares. And that was before she found out she was a robot, and started paying closer attention to the little details in the hope of finding some sort of clue.
So, when she looked out and saw what the future was really going to be like one day, she thought it was…
It was…
Wait, what?
Sweetie Belle shook her head and looked around in confusion. She and her friends were in some kind of building that looked no different than any other fancy business building from her own time, except that there were no windows.
Sweetie Belle had no idea how she’d gotten there.
The only indication that they were still in the future was that Dr. Brown was with them. He quickly put some sort of silver cylinder he was holding into his saddlebag.
“Uh… what just happened?” she asked.
She and her friends all looked at Dr Brown for an explanation.
“We finished a short flight across town, and just entered the central T.I.M.E. building,” answered Dr. Brown.
“Yeah, but… I could have sworn we were just stepping out of that cave,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Yes, well, that tends to happen when you have your memories erased,” replied Dr. Brown.
Sweetie Belle’s eyes grew wide at the implications.
“T.I.M.E. rules, I’m afraid. It’s known as the Spoiler Policy. Can’t let you girls take any foreknowledge back with you that might cause problems later on. And unfortunately, a taxi ride across town is far too likely to expose you four to something, so the memory of the journey had to be removed. It’s a shame, I know. You were really impressed by… well, it would defeat the purpose if I reminded you,” said Dr. Brown with a sad shake of his head.
Sweetie Belle and her friends shared an uncertain look.
“OK, Ah can see how certain information could be dangerous like that, but do ya really think…” started Babs Seed.
“Yes. It’s happened before, and we have no desire to repeat the incident. It almost created a dystopian future built on gambling, and almost cost me my job even though I was not directly responsible. All because somepony noticed and happened to remember a date on a newspaper. It’s also why your changeling friend has been unable to connect to any current hiveminds,” said Dr. Brown.
Sweetie Belle blinked in surprise, but then remembered that changelings had become citizens over a thousand years ago from Dr. Brown’s perspective. He probably knew ways to recognize one.
“Oh. So that’s why I’m only picking up whispers of ‘stay out’ and ‘sorry,’” mumbled Scootaloo.
“Precisely. Now please follow me to my office before someone important happens to arrive and I have to wipe your memories again,” said Dr. Brown as he turned and started walking.
Babs let out a sigh, but didn’t push the matter further as the four fillies followed after the brown stallion.
Sweetie Belle gulped as her nerves were once again set on edge. Every step forward took her closer and closer to… whatever the hay her story was. Was she going to watch herself be assembled? Some horrifying process to turn a living pony into a machine, bit by bit? Or maybe something even more disturbing like…
Sweetie Belle shook her head. She needed a distraction. She tried to remember whatever Dr. Brown had removed from her memories, but other than vague concepts of giant metal building and flying metal chariots, she couldn’t recall anything. She quickly let it go, however, when she realized that the beings they walked past gave her plenty to think about.
There were ponies with bright screens floating in front of them as they walked, coming from glowing lines on their forelegs. There were weird bipedal creatures that looked like someone had fused a minotaur with a monkey. And most of all, there were robots. Lots of robots. Big robots that floated by with many spider-like legs, tiny robots that looked like black toasters rolling along the ground, and, what really caught Sweetie Belle’s attention, robots that looked like ponies.
“GOOD AFTERNOON, DR. BROWN,” said one such robot that was painted a shiny gold.
“Afternoon, CP. Sorry, can’t talk right now, very busy,” said Dr. Brown, not even stopping.
“ACKNOWLEDGED. HAVE A PLEASANT DAY, DOCTOR,” said CP.
Sweetie Belle gave the robot a closer look as she passed it. There were some similarities to the robot she saw in the mirror back home, but there was also a lot of differences, and not just the fact that CP was the size of an adult pony and painted gold. Greaves and openings that didn’t quite match up, for example. Clearly, CP was a completely different model than Sweetie Belle.
That thought gave Sweetie Belle pause, as a terrifying idea popped into her head.
This might not actually be the future. At least, for me. This might be the present, and I was sent to the past instead. Is… is this my time? ” thought Sweetie Belle.
“Um… Dr. Brown?” she asked.
Dr. Brown stopped and turned to face her.
“Yes?” he asked.
“Uh… when you said you’d be sending us back to our own time… did you mean…” Sweetie Belle started to ask.
Dr. Brown chuckled and gave a reassuring smile.
“That included you, Sweetie Belle. Your body may exist because of this time period, but you don’t really belong here anymore than your friends. Rest assured, you will be back home with them once we’re finished here,” said Dr. Brown with a wave of his hoof.
Sweetie Belle let out a sigh of relief as that particular fear was quickly dismissed.
“Are you scared, my dear?” asked Dr. Brown.
Sweetie Belle winced, but nodded.
“Yeah, I guess I am. I’ve been looking for answers for so long, and now that the big day has arrived…” Sweetie Belle’s voice trailed off.
“I understand. Let me assure you, you have nothing to be scared of. You’re not part of some big evil plan to take over the world, you’re not a replacement for some poor innocent filly, and you’re not about to be shut down for knowing too much,” reassured Dr. Brown.
Sweetie Belle blinked. She had not considered that last possibility. But now that she had, she was grateful that he’d said that was not the case.
“I also understand you’re eager to get your answers despite your fear, but I hope that after several months of waiting, you can handle a few more minutes to reach my office so I can lay everything out in front of you before we see it actually happen,” said Dr. Brown.
“Speakin’ of waitin’, why the hay did y’all wait several months before bringin’ us here?” asked Apple Bloom.
Dr. Brown gave an awkward cough, but turned to face Apple Bloom with a calm expression.
“Several reasons, the first and most prominent being that we needed to follow certain rules. As I said, time travel is risky business, and you have to do it properly or disaster may strike,” explained Dr. Brown.
Sweetie Belle’s friends all raised eyebrows at that.
“That sounds like the most generic excuse to not have to explain time travel I’ve ever heard,” replied Scootaloo.
“It is, but time paradoxes are no joke, and you need at least two doctorates to understand a word of how time travel works. And for the record, yes, we might have been able to contact you sooner, but that would have risked being detected when we set up the M.O.R.P.H., sent you the letter, and several other matters. And in this line of work, you do everything in your power to avoid risks.” replied Dr. Brown with a shrug.
The girls sighed, but let the matter drop once again.
They reached Dr. Brown’s office without incident. It was fairly unremarkable, as far as offices go, though it did have clear signs that this was an office a thousand years into the future. Hologram images floated off his desk, a large metal device with some kind of typewriter attached, and his bookshelves seemed to have more weird metal sheets than actual books.
“Hm… I could have sworn I left your file on my desk beforehoof. The maid bots must be getting overly motherly again. Alright, take a seat and give me a second to pull your file,” said Dr. Brown as he started searching one of the bookcases.
There were several seats in front of Dr. Brown’s desk. Seeing no reason to just stand around, the four of them sat down.
“Anyone else feel like we’ve been called to the principal’s office?” asked Babs in a hushed whisper.
“Well, we don’t really have a principal at the Ponyville schoolhouse, so Ah don’t think we can say either way. But how do ya know what that feels like?” Apple Bloom whispered back.
“It was only once, and it wasn’t my fault,” mumbled Babs with a blush.
As they sat there, Sweetie Belle noticed that Dr. Brown’s office actually had a window. Her curiousity got the better of her, and she peered out. Unfortunately, from her angle she couldn’t see anything aside from a large holographic billboard on the building across the street. And she wasn’t sure what to make of the ads it was displaying.
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Sweetie Belle was suddenly much more OK with the whole no-spoilers thing. She did not want to know why demon invasions would become common place enough to warrant a pest-control service. She did want to know what in Equestria pie flavor tasted like, though.
“Ah, here we are,” said Dr. Brown as he took one of the strange metal sheets off the shelf before making his way to his seat and sitting down.
“Alright, now I believe it’d be more efficient for me to simply tell you the whole story from the start and answer any questions you have after I’ve finished. Does that sound fair?” he asked.
Sweetie Belle nodded, and her friends followed suit.
This was it.
“To start, I should mention that you were not built, Sweetie Belle. You are not some sort of machine designed to resemble a normal pony, or anything of the sort. You were born just like any other flesh and blood foal. Your mother and father are your biological relatives, and the same is true for your sister,” started Dr. Brown.
“But then how…” started Sweetie Belle.
“Ah, you said you’d let me tell the whole story first,” reminded Dr. Brown.
Sweetie Belle closed her mouth.
“As I was saying, you were born a living pony. And for the first five years of your life, this remained true. But a few weeks after your fifth birthday, things got tricky,” said Dr. Brown.
Dr. Brown then tapped the metal sheet. It lit up, casting a projection into the air, which displaced a large red line, with split into two lines in the middle.
“This is where time travel come into play and, needless to say, I can not explain everything in full detail. For our purposes, let’s just say that this whole affair involves two different timelines, splitting at that particular point in time. One that can be considered our timeline, and one that is not. And we’ll be focusing on the ‘other’ timeline first. Are you with me so far?” asked Dr. Brown.
The fillies noded. So far, not too complicated. Dr. Brown tapped the device again, and the hologram focused in on one of the split lines.
“In this ‘other’ timeline, a few days after the divergence point, Sweetie Belle fainted for no apparent reason while she was simply walking down the street. Her parents, naturally, quickly rushed her to the hospital. Medical tests quickly revealed the reason why she fainted, and it was not a pleasant diagnosis,” said Dr. Brown.
He tapped the device, and the screen changed to display an outline of a pony.
“Have you girls ever heard of Arcanus Neurotoxicosis?” asked Dr. Brown.
Sweetie Belle looked at her friends. Apple Bloom and Babs Seed just shook their heads, but Scootaloo put a hoof to her muzzle in thought.
“Well, I heard one of my uncles mention it, but only that it’s really nasty, and that if Twitch didn’t stop breaking all the toilets in the hive he’d beat him so hard he’d end up developing it. I think he was joking, but this is Twitch we’re talking about,” said Scootaloo.
Dr. Brown looked like he wanted to comment on that, but shook his head and decided that it wasn’t worth asking. He just tapped the device again, causing the image of the pony to display what looked like an arcanic tissue system, but Sweetie Belle quickly noticed that it seemed a little off. The tissue looked sort of sickly.
“At any rate, it is very rare disease that is the result of improperly developed arcanic tissue. While such developments are not always dangerous, in extreme cases this can result in raw arcanic energy being pumped into one’s body. I should not have to explain why this is dangerous, especially considering how closely arcanic tissue develops to the nervous system,” said Dr. Brown.
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo shivered. They both understood what magic energy could do to a pony’s body if the arcanic tissue didn’t process it properly. Magic backlash was no joking matter, and for it to happen across the entire body near the nerves...
“I see you understand the implications. That’s good. I was hoping to avoid going into detail about it. What’s more, because the symptoms begin developing at such a young age, surgical extraction or similar drastic measures are not viable options either. The hard truth is, the condition is terminal. In this other timeline, Sweetie Belle sadly passed away shortly after the diagnosis,” explained Dr. Brown.
Sweetie Belle wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Clearly, that was not what had happened to her, as she sure as hay didn’t remember being diagnosed with a fatal disease. This made the whole thing seem rather distant, like it didn’t directly affect her. But at the same time, she felt sorry for this other version of her. If she still existed, that is. Maybe this was one of those time travel situations where the other timeline ceases to exist or… On second thought, that would probably be even worse.
Sweetie Belle did, however, start to understand why she was a robot.
Dr. Brown tapped his metal device again, causing the screen to change back to the red timelines.
“Now, T.I.M.E., as I’m sure you’re aware, stands for Temporal Investigation, Maintenance, and Exploration. While ensuring that time remains consistent is one of our primary objectives, it is not the only one. There are times when we are willing to interfere and change the past,” explained Dr. Brown.
“Wait, does that mean time works in a nonlinear fashion? Or is all this some sort of predestined turn of events?” asked Scootaloo.
“Both and neither,” replied Dr. Brown.
All four fillies blinked in confusion.
“I said it was complicated. The theories on time travel from your era tended to assume that time consists of a single dimension higher than the three we can perceive. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said you need two doctorates to even begin to understand it. And I haven’t even mentioned how quantum physics fits into this,” said Dr. Brown.
Scootaloo let out a huff and shook her head. Apple Bloom’s expression looked glazed over, and Babs Seed looked like she was about to follow. Sweetie Belle was managing to keep up, but only in that she probably wasn’t going to understand how time travel worked anytime soon.
“To simplify, we can only change the past under special circumstances. The case of Sweetie Belle is one such instance. While I cannot share the details, both for spoiler reasons and because I doubt you’d understand a word I’d say, we came to realize that it was for the good of Equestria’s future that we do everything in our power to save Sweetie Belle’s life. And so, that’s exactly what we did,” said Dr. Brown.
Another tap, and the hologram zoomed back towards the split point. A new, curved line formed, connecting the split to the ‘real’ timeline at a point much further down.
“We made our move a few weeks after your fifth birthday. The technology needed to save you simply does not exist in your time period, so we brought you to the future. While this has not yet happened from our perspective, once I’ve finished explaining things we will do what is necessary to ensure your survival, and then send you back. We will sedate you through the entire process, of course, so you wouldn’t remember it happening,” explained Dr. Brown.
The room was silent for a moment as the fillies realized that this was it: the answer. Or at least a really important part of it.
“OK, that explains the how this was possible and why it happened at all. But that still leaves the question of why a robot,” noted Babs.
“Oh, well, I’m afraid to report that even a thousand years into the future we still don’t have a cure for Arcanus Neurotoxicosis. We do, however, have a work around. While we can’t do anything about the damage being done to the pony’s body, we can save everything else with the M.P.S.,” answered Dr. Brown.
Scootaloo gave a mix between a groan and a sigh.
“Finally! Do you have any idea how much trouble we’ve been having trying to figure that out? Come, tell us what it means already!” exclaimed Scootaloo.
Dr. Brown chuckled.
“M.P.S. stands for Magic Preservation System,” answered Dr. Brown.
I was so close!!!
The fillies looked around in confusion.
“What the hay was that?” asked Apple Bloom.
“It was like a dozen voices all sayin’ the same thing,” added Babs.
“Oh, just a little trans-dimensional feedback. It’s an unfortunate side effect of constantly poking at the dimensional divide as often as we do in this building. Especially in the multiverse department. Happens from time to time, but it’s nothing to worry about,” said Dr. Brown with a wave of his hoof.
He tapped the device again, this time revealing a blueprint for something that looked a great deal like an arcanic tissue system, except that it was clearly artificial. It wasn’t just AAT, however. There were several gemstones among the wires, as well as a large one where a pony’s brain would be.
“Anyway, the M.P.S. is a series of artificial arcanic tissues and top quality gemstones enchanted to create a sort of cradle for a pony’s very being. We simply extract a pony’s magic, memories, and very soul out of their poisoned body and bind it to the M.P.S.,” explained Dr. Brown.
“So that's what that glowin’ white stuff we saw inside her was? Part of Sweetie Belle’s soul?” asked Apple Bloom.
“Indeed, as it was contained within the AAT. Now, the M.P.S. by itself is a work of magic marvel, but being nothing but a soul wrapped up in wires and gemstones is hardly a pleasant way to live. That is why we developed the other major component: The A.P.P., or Artificial Pony Platform,” said Dr. Brown.
Oh, come on!
Hey! I got it!
Again, the fillies looked around in confusion.
“Huh. Must be a very busy day in the multiverse department. Anyway, the A.P.P. is basically the frame you see now. An artificial body designed to be usable by an active M.P.S. So, to put it simply: your M.P.S. is the system keeping your soul bound to the mortal plane, while your A.P.P. is the robotic body you control,” finished Dr. Brown.
Sweetie Belle sat there in stunned silence. That was the answer. She was a robot because she would have died otherwise. There was no underground society; no aliens, no world invasion, no actual Sweetie Belle she’d been sent to replace. It was just… a full body prosthetic. A life support system of sorts.
The knowledge was relieving in ways Sweetie Belle almost couldn’t put into words. It was like a heavy weight had been removed after bearing it for longer than she could remember. It left her overwhelmed with emotion, but also kind of empty. Funny, the lack of fear and uncertainty made her life seem so unclear. It was like whatever her life had been building up to till now turned out to be nothing serious.
She hadn’t considered it either way before, but now that she did, she realized that some small part of her had wanted to be involved in some big conspiracy. She wanted to be a hero like her big sister, even if she had to fight aliens or something to save the day.
But she didn’t feel lost. She thought of her sister, who had promised to love her no matter what. She thought of her home, so full of life and joy, and the occasional monster attack. She turned to her friends, who had literally stuck by her side for a thousand years. The emptiness quickly faded. She realized she didn’t need to be part of some big world-changing event. She had everything she needed already.
Sweetie Belle smiled. For the first time in months, she finally felt happy acceptance about herself, and her body.
“Alright, that’s enough of the lecture. I’m certain you girls are eager to get a move on. Any questions before we go see Sweetie Belle become a robot?” asked Dr. Brown.
Sweetie Belle blinked. She realized that, acceptance or not, she did in fact have several questions. Apple Bloom beat her to the punch, though.
“Ah have one. Why the hay does Sweetie Belle have so many gadgets in her?” asked Apple Bloom.
Dr. Brown scoffed.
“Well, what’s the point in becoming a robot if you don’t have a ton of gadgets installed?” he answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Sweetie Belle and her friends shared awkward looks. It wasn’t really an answer but… well, he had a point.
“I guess, but then why no lasers?” asked Scootaloo.
“I’d think that one was rather obvious. You don’t install weapon systems on an A.P.P. intended for a minor. What do you take us for? Mad scientists with no sense of practicality or basic safety procedures? Only a child would think of giving a functioning weapon to someone so young,” said Dr. Brown.
OK, that explanation made a lot more sense.
“That reminds me, I should probably give you this sooner rather than later,” said Dr. Brown as he reached into his desk and pulled out a book. Not some futuristic holobook or anything, just a plain old paper and ink hardback.
“Usually this is given to all ponies who undergo a M.P.S. transfer, but as we needed you to remain unaware of your robotic nature for several years for safety reasons, we decided to hold back on your copy. Though, considering it’s about to happen, I guess it’s less of a hold back and more handing it over to the guardian sort of situation,” said Dr. Brown as he passed Sweetie Belle the book.
Sweetie Belle’s eye grew wide as she read the title: A.P.P. User Guidebook.
What do you know, I really do come with an instruction manual, thought Sweetie Belle before she started giggling.
“I believe that will cover a great many questions you may have about your body. You are, of course, permitted to take it back with you to the past. It’s been screened to ensure that there are no major spoilers, so feel free to read it cover to cover. Anything else you need to ask me?” asked Dr. Brown.
Sweetie Belle thought about it for a moment. With the instruction manual in hoof, most of her questions now felt like they could wait. Except for one rather morbid detail.
“Um… how long do M.P.S.’s tend to last?” asked Sweetie Belle.
Dr. Brown blinked.
“Huh. You’re awfully mature to be thinking about that at your age. Then again, considering that one of your friends is a ghoul, I guess death would be a bit more prominent in your mind,” he said.
Apple Bloom jumped in her seat.
“We’re time travelers, remember? Not many ancient secrets can hide from us. And to answer you question: it varies. There are a great many factors that can lengthen or shorten the system’s longevity. But to give you a frame of reference: more or less as long as any other pony, for better or for worse. There are strict laws about using cybernetics to extend one’s life in this day and age, you see,” explained Dr. Brown.
Sweetie Belle let out a sigh of relief. That was a lot better than she was afraid of. Still, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Apple Bloom looked a little disappointed.
Sorry Apple Bloom, you’ll have to deal with that problem on your own, Sweetie Belle thought sadly.
Still, Apple Bloom let out a sigh and seemed to get over it fairly quickly.
“Anything else?” asked Dr. Brown.
Sweetie Belle looked at her friends. They all shook their heads.
“I think we’re good,” answered Sweetie Belle.
“Alright, then. Now if you’ll follow me, we can go and watch the procedure,” said Dr. Brown.
The Critical Portal Room, as it was called, was apparently an emergency medical area for anypony who needed immediate treatment after traveling through time, dimensions, or whatever the hay else that weird mirror portal on the one wall lead to. As a M.P.S. transfer counted as an emergency situation, this was where the transformation would be taking place.
However, the room was currently occupied by several doctors fussing over what appeared to be a pony horribly fused with a mushroom. The doctors were making headway, cutting away the fungus with futuristic tools, but they were also kicking up a large cloud of what was probably spores. The doctors were wearing full-body suits, but it seemed that the room was rather toxic at the moment for visitors.
Luckily, the girls and Dr. Brown weren’t actually in the CPR. Rather, they were in an adjacent observation room, complete with a giant one-way mirror. They were also joined by a human, which Dr. Brown had explained were beings from another dimension, who was shaking her head as she watched. Interestingly, this particular human had a pair of wings on her back.
“Poor sap. Those pony-level cordyceps are nasty. It’ll take days to flush it all out of his system. I still don’t know why we keep sending agents over there. It’s not like we’re short on shrooms, enchanted or otherwise, even with those stupid turtles giving us trouble,” she mumbled before turning to face the others.
“Sorry about the delay. They should be finished in a minute or two. Then, after a quick sterilization of the room, and we’ll be able to start the procedure. No problems on your end, Brown?” she asked.
“I do wish you’d be a bit more professional while on the job, Miss Ride. And no, there were no problems,” said Dr. Brown with a roll of his eyes.
“If our bosses wanted professional, they wouldn’t have hired me of all people in the first place. Anyways, introductions. I’m Max, one of the big guns in security, at least in this part of the building. I’m here to play the hero if something goes wrong. And you must be the Cutie Mark Crusaders,” said Max.
“Ah ain’t,” mumbled Babs.
Her comment went ignored.
“Wait, you know about us a thousand years in the future?” asked Sweetie Belle.
Max just shrugged.
“Maybe, or maybe I just read your profiles when I was informed of today's agenda. Got to watch out for those darn spoilers, ya know?” was all she offered.
Sweetie Belle was rapidly starting to hate that word, demon invasions or not.
There was a small commotion in the CPR as the doctors left with the patient. There was a loud hiss as the now empty room was filled with cleaning gas. A moment later, the air inside was clear.
“Alright, show time,” said Max as she turned and stepped out the door.
Everyone turned to look into the room in anticipation. As a result, nopony noticed a small glowing blue spider creep into the viewing room from under the door as it closed behind Max.
A minute later, Max and three new figures entered the CPR. Two were unicorn stallions, one red and the other blue, and both wearing lab coats. The third was a human male wearing a weird set of goggles with three glowing green lights. They were also pulling a pair of medical beds into the room behind them.
On one of the beds was Sweetie Belle: a younger and clearly robotic Sweetie Belle. Or rather the A.P.P. Sweetie Belle was about to be bound to.
“Wait, if that’s what you looked like when you first became a robot, does that mean you can still grow up, Sweetie Belle?” asked Scootaloo.
“Well, of course she can. An A.P.P.’s outer shell is made from nanotech, after all. It’d be rather embarrassing for a nanotech device to be unable to adjust itself, and making similar changes to one’s pivots and wires are child’s play for an auto repair system,” said Dr. Brown.
“OK, I’ve seen the auto repair system in action, but what’s nanotech?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Spoiler, I’m afraid,” answered Dr. Brown.
“But if I’m carrying that sort of thing inside me, won’t I just be able to…” started Sweetie Belle.
“As I’m sure you've already noticed, there are blocks on certain information within your compuation system. That manual has also had a few pages removed. So yes, spoiler,” repeated Dr. Brown in more urgent tone.
Sweetie Belle sighed as she once again let the matter drop.
Meanwhile, the unicorns and human in the CPR were getting into position near the mirror portal. Max just leaned against the opposite wall, wings ready to dash forward.
“Alright, is the portal calibrated?” asked the male human.
The blue unicorn, who was fiddling with some sort of interface near the portal, answered.
“Year ez correkt… coordinates are correkt… and no trans dimensional vektors. We’re good to go,” he declared in an interesting accent.
Sweetie Belle blinked in surprise. There was something familiar about blue unicorn’s voice, though she couldn’t put her hoof on why.
“Alright, ve only have a few minutes to complete the procedjure. Let’s make this smooth, fast, and clean,” said the red unicorn with an accent identical to the blue unicorn.
The blue unicorn pressed a button, and the mirror portal began to ripple. A moment later, it stopped to reveal Sweetie Belle’s bedroom, with a tiny little filly sleeping on her bed.
“Wow. Ya sure were cute when ya were five, Sweetie Belle,” commented Apple Bloom.
Nopony noticed the glowing blue spider crawl towards the ceiling.
The human slipped through the portal, and crept up towards filly Sweetie Belle. It was hard to tell through the glass, but the guy was smooth and silent as a shadow. Even knowing what was coming, Sweetie Belle was rather surprised when the human pulled out a syringe and silently jabbed it into her younger self's foreleg.
Without a word, the human carefully lifted the now sedated filly and crept back through the portal, gently laying Sweetie Belle on the empty medical bed.
Seeing her five-year old self, with nothing but a glass wall to separate them, was possibly the most surreal thing Sweetie Belle had ever experienced. And she lived in Ponyville.
“Beginning extraction,” declared the red unicorn.
Both unicorns lit up their horns. Sweetie Belle’s jaw dropped in awe as she quickly realized from the light show just how much magic these two ponies were using, and that a fair amount of it was dark magic. Then again, this was magic that directly affected the soul of another pony. Not exactly the sort of thing you’d find in a typical spellbook.
The magic built, covering the young Sweetie Belle in a cloud of light and dark magic that pulsed with energy. Despite being sedated, the young filly started twitching. Suddenly, there was a loud magical snap, and young Sweetie Belle gave a sudden jolt before laying still. The cloud of magic energy gently rose up, and a transparent copy of Sweetie Belle rose out from her body, floating gently in the cloud of magic.
Sweetie Belle felt a shiver go down her spine. She had just watched her soul get torn out of her body. Even knowing why this was happening, she found it quite disturbing.
“Extraction complete. Beginning transver,” declared the red unicorn in a calm voice, despite the sweat dripping down his head.
The spell changed, causing the cloud to stretch out towards the A.P.P. The soul of Sweetie Belle moved along with the cloud, giving no reaction as it was pushed forward. The magic settled over the A.P.P., and Sweetie Belle’s soul slowly vanished inside it.
None noticed that the glowing blue spider was now directly above Babs Seed.
“Transver complete. Beginning integration,” announced the red unicorn, though his voice was starting to sound strained.
The magic cloud changed again, now brightening and closing over the robotic body. The A.P.P. started twitching, before there was another loud magical snap. The metal form jolted, but then fell still. Only now, it was breathing.
The two unicorns stopped casting, and then sat down in exhaustion.
“*huff…* Integration complete. *huff...* That vas more divvicult than anticipated,” said the red unicorn.
After a moment, the blue unicorn managed to stand back up and trotted over the give the new robot a quick double check. A quick tap of his hoof, and her body opened up.
“Alright, registered M.P.S #23457 ‘or one Sweetie Belle, connected to registered A.P.P. #23444. AAT es functioning, no signs of soul detachment or mana vejection. Filter spell es active, and has successfully taken evvect on the patient’s brainvaves. System diagnosis shows no errors and… hm, there’s evidence of unusually high compatibility vejection between the systems. Possible problem?” asked the blue unicorn.
“Well, she es only five, and I recall that she’ll ‘ave several years before she finds out about her computation system. Plenty of time vor things to reach more stable levels. Either way, we’re running out of time. If there are no major problems, we need to send her back and hope she can handle it,” said the red unicorn.
The blue unicorn let out a sigh.
“We shall see,” said the blue unicorn as he closed Sweetie Belle up.
Then it clicked: the voice! The voice of the blue unicorn was the same as the voice Sweetie Belle had heard that one night! It seemed like such a trivial detail now, but it was a loose end that Sweetie Belle had forgotten to bring up. Glad to know that wasn’t going to come back to haunt her.
The blue unicorn backed away as the male human carefully picked up the small robot. He then creeped back through the portal, set the robotic filly on her bed, pulled the covers back over her, and slipped back out without a sound. The portal rippled, and then closed.
It was done.
Everyone in the CPR quickly made their exit. The room was probably going to be needed any minute for some other emergency, and no one wanted to get in the way. They took the two medical beds with them, as well as Sweetie Belle’s now still body.
Sweetie Belle felt surprisingly sentimental as she watch her empty husk being carted away.
“So, uh… what are you guys going to do with my corpse?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Well, usually we give it right back to whoever it belongs to, but I doubt you want to take it back to the past with you. We were planning on using it for organ donations, and then using the rest for scientific research. You have any objections?” asked Dr. Brown.
Sweetie Belle thought about it for a moment.
“Hey sis, check out this souvenir I got from the future!”
“Yeah, it’d probably be best if we left it here, and I don’t think I mind you using it for something useful,” decided Sweetie Belle.
The door of the observation room opened, and Max stepped inside.
“Alright, show’s over. Now you guys can…” she paused, her eyes growing wide as her gaze fell on Babs Seed.
Or rather, on the glowing blue spider that had lowered itself down on a thread of silk and was now right next to Babs.
“Oh crap… get back!” cried Max as she charged towards Babs, her wings propelling her forward.
But she was too late: the spider landed on Babs’ foreleg. There was a strange, otherworldly sound as the spider bit her.
“Ow!” cried Babs as she flicked the spider away.
The spider ran off, but Max quickly slammed a glass jar over it.
“Son of a… how’d one get this far from the habitat?!” she exclaimed.
Dr. Brown, meanwhile, dashed over to Babs and looked at the spider bite. It was glowing the same blue as the spider, and the glow was starting to spread. Dr. Brown cursed and pulled some sort of device out of his saddlebag that looked a lot like a walkie talkie.
“This is Dr. Brown: code 23-19 in CPR 115 viewing room! Repeat: code 23-19 in CPR 115 viewing room!” he cried into the device.
Sweetie Belle felt panic being to rise again. This trip to the future was supposed to solve problems, not make new ones! She, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom started trotting in place, but despite their concern they all kept their distance. They couldn’t tell if what was happening to Babs could spread, and they didn’t want to get in Dr. Brown’s way.
“Wha… what’s happenin’ to me?” asked Babs as she started shaking in fear.
Dr. Brown put the radio thing aside and pulled yet another strange device. This one was a small silver cylinder that had a blue light on one end. Dr. Brown held the device up to Babs’ leg, and it seemed to slow the blue glow’s spread.
“Retroactive spider bite. Easily fixed, but dangerous if not treated quickly. You’ll be fine, but this is likely going to sting a bit,” Dr. Brown answered.
Sweetie Belle felt a small amount of relief, though she was still worried. If he’d already called for help, then the situation was probably under control and…
Wait a second…
“Radioactive spider? You mean she’s getting super powers?!” asked Sweetie Belle.
The idea cheered her friends up, but Babs just groaned.
“Ah knew this was goin’ to happen if Ah stayed in town too long,” she grumbled.
Behind them, Max snorted.
“Retroactive spiders, not radioactive. Besides, everyone knows that Spiderman’s just a comic book character. Now Batman on the other hand…” she said.
Dr. Brown gave a loud cough.
“...right, that’d be a spoiler. But to answer the question you’re about to ask, retroactive spiders eat time energy. We use ‘em to clean up temporal byproducts that sometimes come with time travel, but their venom is kind of dangerous. And they have this nasty habit of sneaking out of the habitat we set up for them, so there should have been someone making sure this sort of thing didn’t happen…” explained Max.
“Yes, yes, and whoever failed to do their job today will be facing the consequences. That doesn’t change the fact that this poor filly now has time-charged spider venom flowing in her bloodstream. Now stay still, dear, moving around will only make things worse,” said Dr. Brown.
Babs gulped, but tried to hold still. It wasn’t easy though, as now her entire leg was glowing blue.
A moment later, four unicorns burst into the room. They were wearing grey uniforms with patches that looked like crossed out hourglasses on their sleeves, and large strange devices on their backs connected to short hoses.
“Alright, looks like we made it before things got too serious. There’s probably still going to be side effects, though. Stand back everyone,” said one of the unicorns.
Everyone inched away from Babs Seed.
“Side effects?!” exclaimed Babs.
“Oh, well we are pulling time energy out your body. Can’t do that without poking the time-space continuum a bit. Don’t worry, it’ll just be some harmless changes to your timeline. Well, unless it happens to change your species or something, but the longer this takes the more likely something like that will happen, so best get it over with. Now brace yourself,” said another unicorn.
All four of them turned on the strange device on their backs, and pointed the tubes at Babs.
“Was that supposed to be encouraging?!” demaned Babs.
“No, it was just supposed to keep you too dumbfounded to try running away,” replied a unicorn as they let it loose.
BANG!
There was a bright flash, a deep rumble, and an incomprehensible sensation of eternity as time itself bent and twisted to the wills of four ponies and forces beyond mortal comprehension. At last, everything snapped back together. Time became whole once more, and the beings in the CPR viewing room could only stare at Babs…
Who was completely unchanged, minus the lack of a blue glow on her leg.
“There we go. All better. Now if you’ll excuse us, we need to have a word with whoever was on spider duty,” said one of the unicorns as he and his two bat-pony colleagues turned to leave.
“And we’ll be taking that little pest as well,” said the other unicorn as he levitated the jar holding the spider after him.
“I’m coming too. My pay better not get cut because of some other idiot,” mumbled Max as she followed them.
The four fillies looked at each other.
“Well, I’m glad you’re OK, Babs, but that was kind of... anticlimactic,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Yeah. We went through all that and nothing happened,” said Scootaloo.
“Oh, that’s probably not true. The spell used to extract retro venom alters history so that if there were any changes, everypony would think that the new version of things is the way they've always been,” said Dr. Brown.
Babs did not take this news well.
“Ya mean Ah could have just been zapped into somethin’ different without even realizin’ it?! Was Ah born a girl?! Am Ah supposed tah be this age?! Have Ah alway been a…” Babs’ panic-fueled ramble was cut off as Dr. Brown put a hoof on her mouth.
“Perhaps or perhaps not. And regardless, not even I would be aware of it. Your memories and home have changed with it as well. As far as you need to concern yourself, nothing has been altered. It might not be what it once was, but now it never was that way in the first place,” said Dr. Brown.
Babs took several deep breaths and managed to calm down.
“Alright, ah guess that ain’t too bad. But all the same, Ah think there’s somethin’ Ah have to do now,” said Babs.
“What’s that?” asked Apple Bloom.
“Ask ya where Ah sign up to be a crusader. Ah think havin’ mah history bein’ rewritten, knowin’ it was rewritten, and not able to tell how it was rewritten, counts as plenty weird to join,” answered Babs.
Sweetie Belle was confused, but quickly realized that this was probably the closest way Babs would ever get to being as weird as the rest of them, while still technically being completely normal. Babs probably wanted to take advantage of that while she had the chance.
Well, it was better than being a spider-pony at least.
At last, they arrived at their ticket home.
“That’s a time machine?” asked Scootaloo in disbelief.
It was a small black box attached to the side of a bathtub.
“No, this is a time capsule. It’s designed so that it will make a one way trip then dissolve, leaving nothing but whatever it was attached to. It may not be very stylish, but a bathtub is one of the more stable items we could attach it to that fits the time period it’s headed for. Usually we use cars, but, well, it goes without saying that you four have no idea what a car even is,” explained Dr. Brown.
“So I guess this means we’re never coming back, huh?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Well, I can’t say either way. Rest assured, if there should ever be circumstances that require you to come back to the future, we will arrange it for you. At any rate, you’d best be off. We’ve calibrated it to your own timeframes, so if you leave quickly you should arrive late afternoon of the same day you left,” said Dr. Brown.
Seeing no reason to delay, the four of them climbed into the bathtub. Sweetie Belle double checked to make sure she had her new instruction manual still in hoof, then nodded at Dr. Brown.
“Thanks for everything. Both for saving my life, and bringing us here to explain it all,” said Sweetie Belle.
“Just doing my job, my dear. Have a pleasant trip,” said Dr. Brown.
Dr. Brown flipped a switch on the black box, and the fillies and the bathtub vanished from the room in a bright flash of light.
Dr. Brown let out a sigh of relief.
“Whew. It’s been a while since I had to put so much effort into avoiding spoilers. I am one lucky stallion to meet my role model in her filly years, but by the Princess of Toaster Repair, it was hard not to go full fancolt in front of her,” he said to himself.
“What the buck is this?!” exclaimed Octavia.
“Well, apparently after the third time Murphy smashed our house up, the insurance company decided to start penalizing us and..” started Vinyl.
“I can see that! But why would they decide to fix everything, except providing us with a new bathtub?! In what kind of twisted system is that an appropriate penalty?!” exclaimed Octavia.
“Maybe they’re expecting one to drop on us next?” suggested Vinyl.
Octavia facehooved.
“Please don’t even joke about that. If we have to live with another hole in our house for weeks on end I am going to…” said Octavia.
There was bright flash of magic energy as a bathtub appeared out of thin air, before clanging to the ground.
“Ugh… If I ever have to time travel again, it’ll be too soon,” mumbled Scootaloo as she leaned out of the bathtub, green in the face.
She was soon joined by her friends. Only Sweetie Belle didn’t look like she was about to throw up, but that was probably because she was a robot rather than time travel actually agreeing with her.
Octavia and Vinyl shared a look.
“Well, technically it didn’t drop on us. And the roof’s still in one piece,” said Vinyl.
Octavia just sighed and let the matter drop. She was finally starting the learn the Ponyville art of going with the flow when things got weird. That, and she was out of wine to take away the pain if she did get worked up about it.
It had been a long, draining day for Sweetie Belle, and an even longer evening. Explanations had been given, stories had been shared, and one purple unicorn’s curiosity had been sated to the point she’d let them go home and get some sleep.
Rarity smiled as she carried her exhausted sister into their home.
“Well, you’ve had quite the exciting day, haven’t you, Sweetie Belle?” asked Rarity.
“Yeah. And we finally got our answers,” said Sweetie Belle in an exhausted tone.
“Yes, and such pleasant answers as well. It’s a relief to hear that you will no longer be living with existential dread,” said Rarity.
Even tired as she was, Sweetie Belle couldn’t resist.
“Well, I haven’t hit puberty yet so…” mumbled Sweetie Belle.
“Now now, a young lady does not speak of such things. And we’ll worry about that hurdle when we reach it. For now, I believe you have some very peaceful sleep to enjoy,” said Rarity as she entered Sweetie Belle’s room.
Rarity levitated Sweetie Belle off her back, placed her on her bed, and pulled the covers over her.
“Do I have to? It’s not my bedtime yet, and I have that instruction manual to start reading,” said Sweetie Belle, pointing at the book as Rarity levitated it over to Sweetie Belle’s desk.
“They will be plenty of time for that tomorrow morning. Good night, Sweetie Belle,” said Rarity as she gave Sweetie Belle a kiss just underneath her horn.
“Good night, sis,” said Sweetie Belle with a smile as she rolled over and closed her eyes.
With a smile, Rarity turned and left, closing the door softly behind her.
Sweetie Belle waited a minute to make sure her sister was gone, then reached under her bed and pulled out a flashlight.
“Yeah, I think I’ve done more than enough waiting. It’s high time I learn what I can do,” she whispered to herself.
She tiptoed to her desk, and opened the book.
Introduction: So your soul’s been transferred into a robot. Now what?