//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 part 1 
// Story: Hooves of Iron 
// by Shock34 
//------------------------------//

        Twilight squinted as she eyed an appropriate place to thread the lace for the doll. The needle trembled as she concentrated upon the gray patchwork. Sweat dripped from her brow. It was now or never.
        With quickness she didn't know she had, she sewed the two pieces and tightened the lace, thus closing the last gaping wound that the doll had. She breathed a sigh a relief as the tension left her.
        “You've been working on that thing for few days now,” Spike said as he popped another ruby into his mouth. “I would've thought it would be done by now.”
        Twilight turned her head toward him. “I did too, but this project is turning out long than I thought.” She looked down at the doll. “The spell requires that caster construct this thing by hand, so I can't pass it off to another pony or use magic to construct this thing.”
        Spike gave her a concerned look before shrugging his shoulders. “Well, I hope Fluttershy likes it. What does she plan on using it for anyways?”
        Twilight paused for a moment, hoof in midair, as she searched her memories. Was it really that long that I've been working on this? she thought as she retrieved her answer.
        “One of the monkeys that she was caring for had its child pass away and was extremely upset. She asked me to make a doll to help make it feel better. To help ease the grief,” she said.
        Spike arched an eyebrow and titled his head at an angle “Hum..” He said with a suspicious tone of voice. “And what type of spell are you using?”
        “Oh, just one I researched to other day from the Canterlot Archives.” A purple haze covered one of the nearby books as she brought it forward to her. “One of Star Swirl’s personal favorites.” She cracked the book open and flipped a few pages at a frenzied pace. “Come on, I know it's here.. ah ha!” She grinned in triumph, like a hunter who just brought down a big game animal. She shoved to the book into Spike's face, knocking him off the brown wooden stool that he had been sitting on. “See, it's just right.” She lowered the book and saw the prone dragon lying on the floor. “Sorry,” she admitted sheepishly.
        A low groan emerged from Spike as he brought himself back up. “You really need to stop doing that,” He said as he struggled to stand. “Anyways, what does the spell do exactly?”
        “Oh,” Twilight flipped the book to her. “It brings the element of life from the recently departed and channels it through a doll. Fluttershy didn't ask for this, but I thought I might as well go the extra mile to make her happy.”
        Spike sat back down on his stool, his sense of balance returning slowly. “A spell that returns a recently dead thing into a body of a doll? No offense, Twilight, but that is creepy.”
        Twilight put the book back on the display. “Well, Star Swirl was known for his somewhat strange sense of humor, but it's not like Celestia restricted it or anything, so it should be a fine for me to use.”
        “Could be,” Spike shrugged and jumped off the stool. “But anyways, it's up to you. As for me,” he said as he walked briefly out of sight and back again with a backpack in hand. “I need to help our Rarity today.” He grinned smugly. “She asked me to help her out with moving some stuff and being the strong dragon that I am,” He flexed is tiny arms, showing a pair of bumps, one for each arm, “I gladly accepted.”
        Twilight put her hoof up to her mouth to hide her laughter. “Yep, but before you go, did you get all your chores done?”
        Spike turned to her and pulled a yellow parchment from the backpack. He quickly unrolled it and read it out loud. “Cleaned the library, check. Feed Peewee,” He turned to the sleeping Phoenix and nodded as he noted the food still in the bowl. “Check.”
        “Make your bed? Clean the dishes? And sweep the balcony?”
        “Check, check, and check.”
        Twilight smiled. “I guess you’re free to go.”
        Spike gave a military style salute and marched out the door. Upon exiting the house, he ran off. Twilight thought she heard the word “Freedom!” off in the distance but paid no mind to it. Without any further distractions, she returned to her work.
        The doll was taking on a peculiar shape, one that she never really intended at all. Unlike the species it was supposed to be model after, it had no tail. Its eyes were the best sapphire gemstones that Rarity could come up with. The fingers were also longer than she had expected or designed for and the feet were a completely different shape. Its hair was a collection of discarded mane hair that the nearby barbershop allowed her to take and had taken on a dark color.
        She gave a puzzled expression. “Just what did I make?” she said, noting the aberration before her. Maybe Spike was right. This is pretty creepy. The thought crept into her head like a snake in the grass but discarded it a second later. “I've come too far to just give up now,” she admitted openly, her words echoing off the silence of her home, reaffirming her. “I guess I’ve got to find Fluttershy and see how she likes it.”
        She turned towards the door and trotted off into the noonday sun. She's probably in her cottage. I'll just go get her and bring her back. She'll be so happy when she sees this.
        The door shut behind her, leaving the discarded doll on the table. Its vacant eyes staring at the ceiling. Its body limp like a sleeper ready to awaken. Its empty mind hungering for dreams.


“I do appreciate what you’re doing, Twilight,” Fluttershy said with a faint smile. “I do hope that it make him happier; he has been most upset since his daughter passed way.” Fluttershy looked sadly at the ground. “He won't even talk to me anymore, and that's very unlike him.”  
        Twilight beamed with pride “No need to thank me, it's what I am here for.” She smiled, “It was a bit challenging, but I know it will be worth it.”
        “From the way it sounds, it will.”
        The door creaked and its sound echoed off the halls of the library softly, as if the silence was envious and struggled to reclaim what it had lost.
        “Well, home sweet home.” Twilight said as she moved towards the bench. Hoof beats echoed as the two moved. Fluttershy examined the doll and turned back to Twilight with a worried expression on her face. “Do you think he will like it?”
        “He should,” Twilight paused for a second as she realized the tone that she used. “I mean, it should bring some comfort once we get it over to him.”
        Fluttershy glanced at the doll again. “I hope so.”
        “I do too, now could you please step back while I make this spell work? I don't know what exactly it will do but it's always best to be safe.”
        “Oh yes!” Fluttershy ran behind one of the nearby tables and hid under it, her yellow arms covering the top of her head.
        A purple haze covered the book and it was briefly brought to Twilight.
        “Ready!” said a meek voice.
        As Twilight concentrated, a white bluish ball of energy the size of a golf ball formed on her horn and grew as she gave focus to the image that she had in her mind. She strained, sweat appearing down her brow. A subtle wind circled her, picking up loose bits of debris as they twisted around her. Fluttershy jumped as she heard pens and paper scrape the top of the desk that she was hiding under, worried that any second from now, it too would be airborne.
        The ball of lightning was now the size of a softball, and still the wind picked up. Twilight continued to focus; she needed only a little more. She heard Fluttershy say something, but the message was lost to the wind. The books themselves started to fly off the shelves and Fluttershy held tight to the vibrating desk as it took the brunt of the onslaught of airborne literature and supplies.
        At last, with a herculean effort, the electric ball was hurled from Twilight and at the doll. A white light blinded Twilight a second later as it made contact. The wind died down as the remaining energy burned itself to a standstill.
        “Fluttershy?” Twilight called out blindly, her eyes still adjusting. “You still here?”
        “Yes,” said a soft voice turning over a table. “But please don't bring me here the next time you do this.”
        Twilight's eyes saw Fluttershy's color, her shape, and finally her vision sharpened enough to see the mess around her. She gasped.
        “I didn't know it would cause this much damage,” she admitted, looking over mess of supplies, books, and other stuff spread across the floor. Twilight sighed, “Well, it's just another thing for me and Spike to clean up.” She turned back towards Fluttershy, “I hope it didn't scare you too bad.”
        Fluttershy gave a smile. “Well, compared to the adventures we've had already, this is pretty mild, but still, I don't like being scared.”
        The sound of shattering glass grabbed both their attention. They turned towards the source to see the doll getting upright, its sapphire eyes searched the room wildly, it's long fingers twitching with new life.
        Twilight turned to Fluttershy. “It's alive! It's ALIVE!” she yelled in triumph before turning back to her creation.
        With barely contained excitement, she lifted a small mirror off the floor and brought it up to the doll. The doll took reluctantly with its copper fingers. It looked into it for a while, touching it and itself. It then looked at Twilight, then at Fluttershy. Both of them smiled at it.
        The doll then threw down the mirror, shattering its image into shards, and screamed as it tore itself apart.



        Twilight awoke, panting like she had run a marathon with Applejack. She looked around to get a sense of where she was. A series of desks surrounded a holographic globe, shelves of books flanked both the right and left of them as they sat on massive bookcases. Bars of amber fluorescent lights dominated the ceiling. For a moment, Twilight thought she had awaken from one nightmare into another, but the memories of the previous day trickled back in, reminding her of the strange dream that had become her new reality. With a thought, she pulled off the blanket that she was using and trotted off towards the entrance of the main room, her mind still reeling from the trauma of the night.
        The door made a hissing sound as it slid out of place as she approached it. “Whoa!” she said as she paused, hoof in midair. She took a few steps back and watched it slide into place again. She approached it again to watch as it opened to let her pass. She sighed and shook her head. “Come on, Twilight, get a grip. It's just a door after all.” She walked through it and into the gloom. The door let out a hiss as it closed behind her.
        Twilight looked around the room that she was now in. To the left of her was the workbench that she had entered into this world from. An overhead light gave it a golden glow. On top of it were several screens that had cables and wires pulled back into one central mass. It reminded Twilight of a hydra, the cold dead screens its eyes, the cables its body. She shook her head to rid herself of the image and her gaze moved on.
        To the right of the work bench lay a pile of modems and computers stacked haphazardly, like toys that a kid started to build but then left midway through her project. The green, amber, and red lights flicked on and off while a gentle hum emerged from the pile.
        To the left of the wooden bench was a massive red tool chest that reached up to the height of the work bench. Above it lay a shelf filled with a series of pictures. She squinted to see what they were but couldn't get a good image. She quickly turned her attention elsewhere.
        Beyond the work area lay two massive bookcases that dominated the room like guards of stone, unwavering in their watch. A series of manuals, written inscriptions, and paper books filled the shelves. A vermilion aura collected around one of the books as she yanked it out of its place and read the cover.
        2037 Journal of robotic engineering and motion. Featured essay: Emulating motion from quadrupeds to SI.  
        She put the book back up on the shelf, making a mental note to check on it later. She continued her examination of the room. Beyond the bookcases, to the left lay a small kitchen. A few bowls stacked in the sink and one on the metal table gave her familiarity that she did not expect. She smiled faintly.
        Well, at least they eat the same way we do.
        The sense of familiarity, however, was dashed when she saw the machine’s devices and machines in the background. Compact and boxed, they seem to go with the overall style of the place, but in Twilight's mind, they might as well stick out like grown dragons in Ponyville.  
        Her gaze continued to see the nearby coat rack by the door. Its contents hung limply, like a puppet without its strings. They swayed softly as the nearby ventilation shaft rumbled and blew cool air into the room.
        She moved her line of vision to the full sized mirror that lay beside the external door. She paused as she caught the reflection staring back at her. Her animated form seemed so out of place in the gloom, as if a mad artist started on one style of reality just to finish on another. Her animated eyes looked back at her with a worried expression on her face. Her emotion made public to her. She lifted her hoof to touch the mirror, to see if she could press through it.
        A light growl stopped her, she turned towards the source, horn glowing.
        Two eyes of emerald green glared at her. Their gazed fixed upon her. She sighed.
        “Just leave me alone.” She turned her head to see what lay beyond the white hostile feline.
        A space that looked like it was cut out of a pillar opened up. On the outskirts of the space lay books, discarded food, and a few pictures. They almost seem to orbit the oval shaped bed in the middle and, on it, lay the toy maker.
        His eyes shut as if dead, a gray wire snaked behind his head. As if a viper was attached to his skull. He breathed softly as one of his metallic fingers twitched. There he lay, undisturbed and unspeaking.  
        Twilight trotted towards him, passing the entertainment center as she did. She got up on her hind legs and faced the feline. The cat glared at her for a moment, but made no noise as it quickly hopped down and trotted off to another room. Finally alone, she looked down at the sleeping form of her maker, her holographic eyes projecting sorrow as best they could.
        The gray wire coiled out of the man's head and into a box. The words “Advanced Learning Assistant” proclaimed it's self in blood red colors. A slight vein of rust seem to snake up one of the sides on an otherwise perfectly chrome colored box. With careful precision, she picked up the box and floated it to her.
        She looked for a description but could not find any. She quickly returned it to its place.
        “It's funny,” she admitted to the sleeping man, “I worked my entire life working on discoveries. Advancing, plotting, experimenting” She turned around to the room. “But this is overwhelming! Everything that I thought I knew is being turned inside out. I know nothing of this world and while some part of me is excited about it, another just wants to go home.”
        Her gaze move to one of the nearby books. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? it asked.
        “I don't know, but I think they must feel pretty lonely at times. I know I do.” she replied.
        The man remained motionless, his mind still wandering the worlds beyond his own.
        Twilight sighed. “You did promise to bring my friends here, but what if they have the same problems I do or worse? What if they hate it here? What if..”
        A metallic hand reached over and brushed her cheek. The toy maker's eyes whizzed as they opened. His back let out a pop as he leaned forward. He turned and smiled weakly at Twilight. “Nice to see that you're up.”
        Twilight gave a nervous smile. “Yeah, I got up awhile ago and didn't really know what to do. Everything is so new here”.
        He winced as he got up, his side aching dully from the events of the previous night.  
        “What is old is new again, I suppose.” Twilight moved aside as he pulled himself out of bed and walked to the kitchen. She watched with keen interest as he opened one of the machines, slid a colorful cartridge into it, and set the timer.        

        “You going to spend the entire time watching me cook breakfast?”
        “Sorry, but I'm curious,” Twilight said bluntly. “Are you human’s herbivores like us or omnivores?”
        The toy maker's body shook as he chuckled. “Back to playing a million questions, aren't we?” He paused thoughtfully for a moment, stroking his gray stubble. “Well, if it gets you out of future shock faster, I'll play along.” He turned toward her. “We are omnivores with heavy emphasis on the plants, nuts, and other various foliage”. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. At least she wasn't surrounded by a race of savages.
        “However,” The Toy maker continued, “We do eat meat from time to time but the ethics about that became redundant once we started growing our meat in vats, same with our plants.”
        Twilight paused for a moment to process this information. “Wait.. you grow your meat like plants?” The concept both amazed and horrified her.
        “Yep, don't ask me about the entire process, but it involves hooking up cells and growing them via proteins vats. Tastes just like the real thing.”
        For the first time in Twilight's life, she began to wonder if it was possible to take science too far. Back in Ponyville, it was hard enough to find anyone with an interest in her academic studies, let alone actually help her with them. But here, these creatures that called themselves humans took technology and seemed to be obsessed with it. It invaded every part of their life to an almost absurd degree. They even applied it on themselves, resulting in new shapes and functions. It was almost like a virus, infesting everything within its reach without heed or caution.
        “You alright? You seem a little out of it.”
        Twilight shook her head quickly to clear her mind. “Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little freaked out that you grow meat like plants.”
        “Well, it's certainly better than cutting it off the cow.” He turned to grab his cup of coffee and sipped on it while Twilight perched on one of the nearby chairs. “Funny thing about those cows, when we decided we didn't need that many, we just got rid of them.”
        “Got rid of?”
        The toy maker shrugged. “Sold the majority of the meat cattle to the third world and to people who couldn't quite get the hang of vat grown meat. There are a few cattle pastures here and there, but those are used for dairy cattle now.”
        The toy maker then looked her in the eye. “By the way, you're not going to be able to eat anything.”
        Twilight's eyes grew big. “Why, is the stuff here poisonous to me?”
        Again he shrugged, “In a way.” He leaned forward and causally grabbed a blue cable on the bar.
        “Now Twilight, I want you to look in the mirror over there” he said, pointing to the full scale mirror in the corner, ”and I want you to think one phrase. 'Hologram off'.”
        Twilight looked at him with a worried expression. “Why? What would that do?”
        “You'll see.”
        Twilight thought for a moment and the toy maker smiled as the holographic projection covering her body fell away. What was now in its place was the metallic body that he had spent so much time working on.
        “You can open your eyes now Twilight.”
        Twilight did and gasped. Her mechanical optics went wide as she processed the image looking back at her. Her mane and tail were strings of white wire. Her eyes were cut gemstones of amethyst interlocking with rotating circuits. They whined softly as they twisted themselves to focus better.
        Her legs were pillars of black metal interwoven with servos at the joints. Her horn was pulsing a dull violet as it captured data from the air. She turned to see if she still had her cutie mark. It had disappeared and its place was a small flap where a socket lay.
        “I'm not...This is not...”
        The toy maker sighed. This was the final bombshell that she had to deal with. It was time to see her through.
        “Remember how I told you that I created you?”
        Twilight looked at him, her mechanical eyes mirroring his own. “Yes but not like this! I expected to be normal! I didn't think that I would be a machine!”
        The words hit the toy maker like a punch to the gut. “Twilight, I'm sorry but it was the only way.”
        Twilight examined herself in the mirror, her metallic hooves touching the glass surface. She did this for awhile, until at last she spoke. “I'm not really Twilight am I?” she said softly. “I'm just something that looks like her.”
        The toy maker grabbed a bagel from one of the cabinet as she was looking over herself. “That's the question most of our species is asking ourselves nowadays.” He bit a piece off as he walked over to her and sat down.
        “You see this arm?” Twilight looked at it reluctantly and mournfully, her purple eyes whirling in their sockets. “Yes? What about it?”
        “Did I stop becoming human when I decide to get this new one?”
        “No” she replied, a puzzled expression came upon her robotic face.
        “Suppose I suffered some kind of accident and had a new leg attached to me. Have I stopped being human?”
        “No.”
        The toy maker continued to bite into his bagel, “And let's say that I was inflicted with some terrible flesh eating disease that reduced my midsection to slime and to live, I have to completely overhaul it. Have I stopped being human yet?”
        “No, what is your point?” Twilight asked bluntly.   
        “Answer one more question and I'll tell you. Suppose I was to die but before I did, I decide to have all my memories and personality backed up to the point of death. I return to life in a robotic form.” The toymaker peered at Twilight with an inquisitive look in his eye, “At what point do I stop being who I am?”
        “I... I don't know.”
        The toy maker stared into the mirror. The reflection of him and the robotic mare beside him reminded him of the reality of which he was dealing with. His metallic arm a crude analog to her features.  
        “My point is that we are who we are no matter what form we take. Metal, flesh, it doesn't matter other than one has a few advantages over the other.” He turned his head toward her reflection in the mirror. “At what point did you stop being Twilight?”
        A long paused floated between them as if a funeral procession was walking by.
        “I.. I guess I never stopped,” she finally answered. “It's just that...” she sighed. “I need time to think about this. This is too much for me to handle right now.”
        The toy maker let out a light chuckle. “Take all the time you need.”
        He got up and continued with his breakfast. “You know,” he said in between bites, “I have a few errands to run today, you can tag along if you feel up to it.”
        Twilight smiled softly, her robotic features doing their best to show the emotion. “I think I'll be able to come.” she turned looked around the room. “It would be nice to see the world beyond these walls.”
        The toy maker paused as realization flashed across his face. He quickly got up and came over to twilight and plugged the outlet side of the blue cable that he had left over by the mirror into a nearby wall plug.
        “Twilight, this may feel a bit weird but trust me, your going to have to do this” He said, showing her the socket end.
        She looked over the socket quizzically. “What is it?”
        “It's a power cord” he replied. “Instead of eating, you'll be using this from now on to keep yourself alive. Now if you could just stretch that leg.” He pointed to the now blank flank that had a socket in the place of the cutie mark, “I can give you a demonstration. Would you like me to?”
        Twilight gave a worried expression then sighed. “I suppose so”. She watched as the toy maker carefully stretched her hind leg and inserted the cable into the socket. There was a leap of bluish white electricity and then it connected.
        A rush of energy hit Twilight like a runner's high. She felt like she was awakening from a long slumber, able to focus. Her mind sharper, clearer, her limbs ready for motion.
        “Figured you would like that.”
        She turned to him and grinned. The river of power flowed through her and she reveled in it. As she got up, a series of translucent images came across her sight with words like “Battery level” and “Data readouts”.
        “What you're seeing now is the heads up display. Almost all optical implants have it installed. It tells you important information such as your battery level, functionality of body parts, information about the world, and some other software packages that I thought would be good to put in there as well.”
        A series of green bars lit up the right side of the display, showing things like heat level, CPU usage, and various other graphics and outputs. On the left there was a series of tabs that had such things listed as Recon, Defense, and Exploitation. She shook her head. “Thanks, I guess?”
        “Just think of 'HUD off' if you want to turn it back off.” he said frankly, his voice betraying the great expertise behind it. “Also to turn the holographic cover back on, just think 'hologram on'. Simple as that.”
        She did closed her eyes and did both. When she opened them again, she was rewarded with her sight clear and her normal self looking back at her. The plug in the center of her cutie mark was the only indication of her robotic self.
        The toy maker pulled himself back up. “If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.”
        Twilight looked in the mirror and frowned. “This is going to take some getting used to,” she muttered. “I wish Spike was here.”
        The toy maker stabbed one of the pieces of fruit with his fork and examined it. “That can be arranged,” he said softly.