//------------------------------//
// Act 2 
// Story: Do Sweetie Bots Dream of Electric Sheep? 
// by GenericArchangel 
//------------------------------//

Act 2
Prologue

Running again. Away from him. That monster, that madman, that villain.
That stallion who had built her.

Scene 1

“My name is Curtained Machinations. I’m a roboticist. Do you need my help?”
He wasn’t particularly tall, or particularly menacing. He wore a pair of nearly triangular glasses that only covered a small part of his steel gray eyes, set in a slightly lighter coat. He spoke with a soft voice, which lacked the malicious edge he otherwise affected- no, he needed it to like him for the plan to work.
“What can you do?”
“Why, I can fix you, of course! Get that eye back up and running, then patch up the synthcoat- why, it’ll be impossible to tell this ever happened after I’m done. Come this way, child.”
And what else was she supposed to do? The earth pony seemed nice enough, and she was alone and afraid. She followed him into the trees, weaving between the trunks in the dark night. She felt the normal sensation of rain running down her sides, but on certain patches of skin there was something… off, like the water was sharp and tingly. Sweetie Belle ignored this and focused on not running into trees, something made suddenly easier by something that wasn’t quite a voice in the back of her mind, suggesting a path through the forest. It had to be some deeper programs or subroutines, she decided, and just enough time had passed since that morning for her to be comfortable enough with the truth so that these didn’t bother her.
The forest gave way to a small clearing with a hut in the center, which Machinations opened the door to. Inside was circular metal platform, which Sweetie correctly guessed was an elevator. It sunk down into the earth, the narrow tunnel confining them to its surface until it opened up into a massive cavern, lit by soft green lights. Almost five hundred feet high and twice as much across, it was an impressive room. Scattered across it was machinery, lit in the glow.
“What is this place?”
“My workshop, of course! But this isn’t where we’re going, not for you. You need more than these simple machines can offer.” He led her off, hugging the side of the room until they reached a tunnel. The two entered it, stopping at a wooden like the front door from the boutique. “This will be your room. For now, I’ll fix you up then let you rest.”
Sweetie Belle opened the door to find a cozy room with a fairly large bed, flanked by dressers and a respectable mirror. The decor was uncannily similar to Rarity’s tastes, right down to the patterns of gems inlaid on every surface. Even frightened and alone, Sweetie was nopony’s fool.
“What is this? Why is it decorated like this?”
“Why, however do you mean? Is this not in the mode right now? Why, I’m terribly sorry if it’s out of date.”
He seemed honest, but… “Sorry, it just seems very similar to the Carousel Boutique.”
The roboticist laughed. “Why, isn’t that to be expected? Rarity is the most fashionable pony there is, of course the stylings would be similar. Now, why don’t you take a look in the mirror? You should probably see this now.”
She filed away his dodging of the question for later, only to feel a jolt of pain in her mind for it. She kept trying to remember the moment specifically, but something tried to stop her.
“Sweetie Belle?” It stopped, finally letting her add the moment to her recollection. “Take a look.”
She looked into the mirror, and saw her face. When Rainbow Dash had attacked her, more of her coat had been burned off, and patches of her metal body were exposed. Running down the sides of her face were black lines that were interrupted by two screens meant to be her eyes, with similar ones running down her legs and chest. Her joints were metallic, the neatly manicured hooves just covers for metal treads. Oddly, her mane was intact enough, suggesting it to be part of the design itself. Wait! If I don’t have my coat, then… a spark of panic rose, then subsided when she saw she still had her cutie mark even where there was only bare metal. She was still her.
“And you’ll fix all of this?” she asked with a tint of doubt.
“Why, of course! Not by hoof, so it strictly speaking won’t be me, but it will be my creations. Nanobots will do it using magic- just lie down in the bed and sleep. You’ll be fit as a fiddle tomorrow morning!” Machinations started to leave, but stopped to add something. “And try not to dream. You’ve had a bad experience today, I wouldn’t want you getting nightmares.”
He shut the door behind him as he left, leaving Sweetie Belle to wonder why he would say that as she drifted off to sleep.

As asked, she had passed the night without dreaming. She woke up in the not-her-room, still eerily decorated as though it had been by Rarity’s own hooves. Sweetie Belle stretched and yawned- the voice in her head said something about diagnostics. Funny how fast she had gotten used to it, wasn’t it? The test turned up nothing, so she guessed that meant everything had been healed. A bit more stretching, then she got out of bed and trotted over to the mirror, pausing before looking at her reflection.

“You LIED TO ME! You said you would fix it!”
“Why, dear, I did!” Sweetie Belle lit up her horn with magic- she was furious. Looking into the mirror showed her without any coat at all, just a sleek metal body marked with black lines, joints, and odd lights on her horn. “Now, let me explain myself. I realized when I looked at your design that there was so much you could do that the coat prevented! Why, some of these systems still amaze me, like-”
“Still? It’s only been a few hours.”
“Wh-why, th-that’s a long time, don’t you know, dearie? Now, as I was saying,” the roboticist went on, “you have amazing potential for all sorts of things. Did you know that you can fly?”
This caught Sweetie Belle’s attention. “Fly?”
“Yes, fly.” Machinations gestured to the open air of the cavern. “Just think about it, like you’re pushing off with your hooves.”
“And why should I trust you? You lied about fixing me.”
“Then don’t trust me, try it for yourself.”
Like pushing off with my hooves? Okay… The idea came into her mind, and with a moment’s concentration she felt little jets of energy stream out of her hooves, lifting her off the ground. She looked down in amazement at the four green jets of pure magic, then foolishly shifted her weight, making her slide around a little. She stopped herself before hitting anything, then gently set herself down on the ground again. “How did you know I could do that?”
“I had to program the nanobots to repair you, so I took the liberty of running some system evaluations. I should’ve asked first and I apologize, but what little I found is amazing.” The earth pony shook his head. “There’s not enough space in here, we should go outside so you can practice.”
“I think I’d like to go home. My sister is going to be worried about me. Thank you, but I really should-”
“Nonsense! Why, there’s so much more you could learn about yourself here! At least for the morning, no?”
Sweetie Belle was going to say no, but the jolt in her mind started again. It was only there for a brief half of a moment, but it was enough to force her to reconsider. “Okay. Just for the morning.”
Machinations led her to the elevator back up to the surface, and one trip later they were standing in the small clearing in the Everfree Forest. Without having to be asked, Sweetie Belle tried to lift off again, this time more sure of herself and willing to experiment with it. She got a few feet off the ground, then tried to move to one side, then the other. 
“You’re doing it wrong.”
“Excuse me?”
“Why, don’t you think whoever built you went ahead and just programmed in flight subroutines? You don’t have to invent the method, just find the files. Why, I’d imagine it’s like relearning how to fly a kite!”
She shrugged and decided it was worth a shot. System processing- searching for flight algorithms. Processing… processing…
And like a crack of lightning, it was there. With only a fragment of a thought, she was shooting into the sky, doing loops and spins with hardly any effort. This is amazing! She rocketed higher, breaking through a cloud and continuing until she began to see stars. She stopped climbing and hovered, her four hooves supporting her via the energy jets. She could see what seemed like half of Equestria! Over there was Canterlot, its towering palaces glittering; and there was the Everfree beneath her, sprawling for miles upon miles in every direction; and there was Ponyville, so small it was hard to see from that high up. Home… she felt a longing. She could return home, right? Surely things would’ve settled down by then. But the jolt in her mind was there again, this time bringing a suggestion- she should at least thank Curtained Machinations for helping her, right?
So she flew back down, landing in the clearing. “Thank you, Curtained, but I need to-” 
“Look out, timberwolf!”
“Huh?” Sweetie Belle turned around, only for the wolf to jump on top of her, pinning her down. Activating self-defense mechanisms. Her vision seemed to turn red, and time almost slowed down. The jets in her hooves shot out a burst of energy, sending the timberwolf flying. Sweetie Belle scrambled onto her hooves, and felt something come out of her back and sides. According to a heads up display that had just appeared in her vision, it was two energy cannons on her sides and a pair of missile pods set higher and more centered. Targeting systems turned on automatically, and the cannons each fired a shot, scattering the pieces of wood making up the timberwolf. Threat neutralized. Returning to default mode. Her vision cleared up, and the weapons folded back into her body. The tense fighting stance she had ended up in was relaxed, and Sweetie Belle took a deep breath.
“What just happened?” she asked with a broken voice.
“I don’t know, I wasn’t aware of those systems.”
“I- I had no control over it, they just…”
“Sounds like a self-preservation system. I’d imagine one would be automatic to make sure you don’t get hurt- by the time the thinking part of your mind had made a decision, it could be too late.”
Sweetie Belle sat quietly, unsure of what to think. A lot of thoughts raced through her mind, few of them good. There’s something deeper going on, but I’m not sure I want to know what it is…
“I think I’ll go home now. I-I need… time to process all of this. Thank you for everything.”
Machinations nodded, and Sweetie Belle began to walk back through the forest. It was a long, slow walk, and she had to make the path as she went. It was shortly after noon that she heard voices.
“Do you think she came this way?”
“How would ah know? She ran off in sucha hurry, I don think anypony knows!”
Sweetie Belle perked up. “Apple Bloom? Scootaloo? Are you there?” She ran forward, but came to a stop when she saw a shape in the darkness. Shapes, plural: timberwolves, moving towards her friends. Surrounding them, getting ready to pounce. She knew what she had to do, issuing a silent command to herself:
Activate combat algorithms.
The weapons came back, her sight turned red, but this time she tried to maintain at least some control over the process. She had some success, and was witness to her subconscious planning out the attack- a jump here, spin, fire off a few missiles… perfect.
She leapt into action, both cannons firing while the missile pods emptied themselves. Five timberwolves went down in three seconds, and Sweetie Belle began the fancy footwork to turn and face the rest. Energy beams crisscrossed the air as her horn’s magic was used to augment her arsenal. Just one left, right behind her friends. A beam just down the middle would do it…
She leapt into the clearing at an angle, her left cannon carving a line through the dirt right up to the creature’s muzzle and beyond, cutting the thing clean in two. She hit the ground, and looked at her friends, and spoke. Or tried to, but a jolt blocked her, so instead she stood there, in the shadows, while smoke drifted up from her weapons.
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were speechless. They couldn’t see Sweetie Belle clearly and so didn’t know it was her. They slowly walked backwards, whispering to each other, then screamed. They turned and galloped off, just as Sweetie Belle found her voice. 
“Wait, guys, it’s me, Sweetie Belle! Your friend! Stop! Please…” her voice trailed off, and tears fell from her eyes. No… please, not this…
“Such a shame, isn’t it? That society rejects those who do not perfectly fit its image of ponies. You and I are freaks, Sweetie Belle.” She was rooted to the spot, she wanted to run but a hard clamp on her mind stopped her. “I was cast out for being too brilliant- I invented something that could solve the problems every earth pony and pegasus had. But no. That wasn’t allowed- it would upset the order of things.” His voice had an icy edge, cold and cutting, that struck fear deep into her heart. “I’ll show them. With you, I can prove to our overlords in Canterlot that we don’t need them, that everypony can have their magic. And you’ll help me.”
She didn’t want to help, she wanted to run. But she found her own body beyond her control, that she was just a spectator. Her hooves followed him back to the cavern, away from the light of day.

Scene 2

Several nights later, Sweetie Belle was dreaming. Which was odd, she hadn’t done that since she got there. It was a happy dream- she was there with all her friends and family. She looked at her legs and saw the soft coat that had always been there, and felt a weight lift off her shoulders. Even if it was a dream, it was reassuring.
But then a darkness came, swallowing up the dream. She tried to run, but it just sucked her in. It was the cold, calculating subconscious that supervised her every action, that stopped her from having free will. Sweetie Belle tried to scream but couldn’t as she was dragged into the darkness, light draining from the world around her. The world turned dark except for a crescent moon in the sky, then nothing.

She bolted upright in the bed, breathing heavily. And then she felt it. A draining feeling, like something was being sucked out of her soul. She jumped out of the bed, feeling the center of drainage shift- she could tell it was beneath the mattress. With her aura, she flipped the bed over. She had to stop herself from screaming.
Magic. Her magic. In massive tanks, glowing green. Being sucked out of her, every night. But why?
She then noticed the trapdoor where the bed had been. Taking the obvious course of action, she opened it, revealing a staircase that led down into the stony depths. Filled to the brink with trepidation, Sweetie Belle took the first step down. Down, down, down, she went, into the cold stony heart of the robotics lab. After what seemed like an eternity, the staircase opened into a chamber, lined with massive tanks of magic that flooded the room in a green light. Packed tightly and neatly, dozens upon dozens of them. Sweetie Belle walked into the maze, trying to see if any of them would tell her something. She wandered aimlessly, careful to keep track of her path, until she saw a door. She pressed her ear against it, and heard singing. Beautiful singing, with complex melodies and a beautiful range, backed up by the sweetest voice she had ever heard.
Her own.
What is going on around here?.. She cautiously opened the door, and sure enough, there she was, using her magic to lift tools being used to build a robot. Her mane and tail were cut quite short, and her coat was crisscrossed with scars. Her voice was filled with pain as she sang a song Sweetie Belle would never forget:
“It has been many years
Since I was first locked in here,
Alone and without hope,
I must shed no tears.

For it is in this cave,
That I find my place,
There waits for me the sunny days,
When I won’t be disgraced.

For years now I’ve been alone,
In this world I can’t call home,
But if it shall not learn to love me,
Instead I shall teach it to fear me,

With my legions of cold steel so gray,
I’ll make them bow and pray
To their ruler who will be known
As cold as ice and hard as stone!”

And with that, one bot was finished, then the next started.
“You’ve got a beautiful voice.”	
“Huh?” She spun around, her eyes filling with fury when she saw Sweetie Belle. “YOU! You took my life from me! Made me live here in the cold and dark!” She started shooting magic beams at Sweetie Belle, who desperately blocked them with a shield. “I’m the real Sweetie Belle, not you! I deserve a cutie mark! I should be beloved!” She began throwing tools and parts, her voice harshly echoing off the walls. “Instead, I have you! The imposter! The favorite of the oh so great Curtained Machinations, who treats me like a machine and you like a pony!” She had gotten close enough to start striking with her hooves while Sweetie Belle tried to retreat. “For my whole life I’ve suffered down here, just so you could steal the magic!”
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I have no idea what you’re talking about!”
The other stopped for a moment. “Oh, so he hasn’t told you his genius plan? Well guess what. Both of us lose in the end, but of course it had to be me who was picked to be replaced! If you weren’t so important, I’d-”
“Enough!” She was lifted into the air and dragged away by a gray aura. Sweetie Belle glanced up to see Machinations wearing a strange headband which emitted the aura. “You should know your place better than that. Your continued existence is at my desire for it, do not jeopardize it now.” He threw her down, then turned to Sweetie Belle. “And what are you doing up at this hour?”
Sweetie Belle had regained her composure enough to know it was time to ask her own questions. “And why should I answer your question now? I have several for you with more pressing answers.”
“Fine, I suppose I do owe you some explanations. Come with me.” He led her into a new chamber, smaller than the others. The most prominent features were blueprints and a heavily marked map of Equestria. “In case you haven’t realized yet, I built you. In fact, I know you nearly figured it out because I can see everything you think. So yes, that’s why I know so much about you. Before you ask why, there’s something else.” He lifted a photo of himself when he was younger, probably in his mid twenties. “My past. I was a brilliant engineer. I sought to fix all problems ponykind had, and wanted to do it by controlling pure magic energy with machines so anypony could use it. I was able to design the machines to use the magic, but they needed so much of it that almost every unicorn in Equestria would have to give up their magic to make them work. I tried to sell the idea to Princess Celestia, but she said the problems were better solved by unicorn mages using spells. I became a laughingstock, and was driven from the scientific community.” He paused. “But then I found something out here in the forest.” He produced a diagram of a tree with five branches, marked with six circles. “The Tree of Harmony and the associated Elements of Harmony. Harmony magic is mind-bogglingly powerful- it permeates the whole universe, allowing ponies to do everything we do. It’s in pegasi’s flight, earth ponies farming, in our cutie marks and how we get them. Just one Element would’ve been enough for me to power all of my creations!”
“But there was a problem- the Elements had been lost for centuries. However, like any good scholar, I did some research, and I found out that the Elements were mere catalysts for Harmony magic! The six elements are so strong that they must make themselves crystallize in something, but not just anything- in ponies. The Royal Sisters were them first, but after Nightmare Moon was banished the Elements needed new bearers. There were always six, and they were always near the Tree, so I knew I could find them in Ponyville.”
“And? How is this relevant?”
“Because this is where you come in. I built a device that could harvest and store Harmony magic in huge quantities, but it had to be in proximity with an Element bearer to work. So I hatched a plan: put it in a robot that could replace a bearer’s close relation, guaranteeing proximity! A sibling was the obvious answer, and only Applejack and Rarity had any, and I wasn’t keen on trying to replace any foal of Bright Mac’s- if I had known he would die only a few months after his youngest was born, well, I wouldn’t have chosen you, but that doesn’t matter. I built you, and foalnapped the real Sweetie Belle, and nopony ever knew. You’ve spent your whole life collecting a trickle of magic from your sister, sending it here in your sleep, for your whole existence. Because of you, I now have the power to build an army to overthrow the unicorns who won’t share their magic, then build a better world on top of the old one! All thanks to you.”
Running again. Away from him. That monster, that madman, that villain.
That stallion who had built her.
But she couldn’t. The vice in her mind clamped down hard. “And don’t think about turning on me, I control your subconscious. You’re my slave, bot.” An malicious chuckle. “Bot. Not even a real pony, just a soulless automaton I built for my own ends. Your continued existence is at my pleasure, I don’t need you. I need you, bot, even less than your flesh and blood counterpart. I’ve plenty of energy. In fact,” he chuckled, “I can begin the plan. Come with me.”
The mind vice forced her to follow him, her horror growing as she saw where they were going.

Scene 3

Ponyville lay before them. Sweetie Belle felt a deep, dark despair in her heart. No, not this, anything but this!
“Beautiful little town, isn’t it? And such a nice sunrise, too. Shame it won’t be here to see the sunset.” Machinations indulged himself in an evil laugh. “Come, I’ve got a speech to give.”
They walked into town while the sky turned red, meandering through the streets until they reached town hall. Dozens of ponies were gathered there, including the Element bearers and Sweetie Belle’s friends. Mayor Mare was giving a speech about not giving up the effort to find her, the bitter irony being about all Sweetie could think about. A gesture stopped her behind the crowd while Machinations went to the stage. He walked up the stairs, then to the podium, pushing aside the confused mare.
“Ladies and gentlecolts, I am Curtained Machinations. You don’t know me, but I know every one of you. I’ve come to take what’s mine. Sweetie Belle?” He gestured to her, the crowd gasping when they saw her. “Kill them all.”
“No, I wo-” And then darkness, cramped and cold, as her subconscious took over. In her mind, she cried. She knew what was happening, imagining the sight of her robot self using those horrid weapons to raze her home. She imagined Rarity crying as her friends dragged her off, she saw Apple Bloom and Scootaloo pleading with the uncaring machine and getting cut down… her heart collapsed, the cold and dark rushing in to fill the void with despair.
And suddenly, a light. The warm light of the crescent moon. “You are not alone, Sweetie Belle! We will save you! Don’t give up!” The darkness burned with rage, charging to snuff out the voice of the night itself. “I will come back for you!” The moon vanished, leaving Sweetie Belle in the dark, afraid, but not alone.

She next came to in a dreamlike state, seeing herself in Ponyville. She instantly knew what she seeing- what she saw when she destroyed the town. It started so simply- the missiles went first, then came the cannons. Things were already burning. Scootaloo tried to stop her, Rainbow Dash scooping her up just before an energy beam would’ve killed her.
No, no, stop! What are you doing?! Stop!
But there was no stopping the torture. She watched as the whole town was reduced to rubble and ash, ponies fleeing in all directions. 
But there was an oddity. 
Despite the orders given to her, Sweetie Belle didn’t think anypony had actually been killed. And just as odd, she had left the Carousel Boutique standing.
But the rest was carnage. It was all over in thirty minutes. Machinations had her land, then they walked back into the forest. It was at this point that the replay stopped, and Sweetie Belle regained full consciousness.
“Enjoy the show, bot?” Tears were streaming down her face, but Machinations and the other Sweetie Belle looked on without pity. “That was you, you know. Everypony in Equestria hates you now- trying to kill the Princess of Friendship! Why, you’re public enemy number one.”
“Actually, that would be you.” Everyone jumped a bit, then turned to look at Discord. “I’m afraid that you’ve severely underestimated the Royal Sisters, especially Luna.”
“But what can they do?” the other Sweetie taunted. “Even if they do know it doesn’t have free will, they can’t do anything about it.”
“Well, I could, but where’s the fun in that? It’d be unsporting to put a murderously angry deathbot in this room with you. Really, I came to ask what can you do? You burned down a village, but overthrowing the diarchs is a much harder task.”
“Why would I reveal my plan to someone on the other side?”
“Oh, you’re no fun at all, are you? Every good villain reveals their plan to the good guys before setting it in motion, that’s why they loved me!” Discord giggled, then snapped his fingers. A thought jumped into Sweetie Belle’s mind: get to Luna. A flying wrench appeared at the same time as a diversion, then Discord said something about being late for tea and vanished.
“What a jerk,” other Sweetie said. “Didn’t even think to bring the bot with him.”
“Indeed. Anyways, the next step of the plan is to attack Canterlot itself, and fast. We don’t want to give them any more time to prepare than they’ve already gotten.”
“Please… no… I can’t do that to them…” He was arrogant, so Sweetie Belle tried to goad him. She pushed her plan out of her mind for safety.
“Oh, but you can! And you will. Go perform recon, bot, and tell me who’s at Canterlot I might have to fight. Me and the real Sweetie Belle will stay here and prepare.” He left the room, and Sweetie went to leave but was stopped by the other one. 
“If you’re as smart as you seem, the rear armor over the core is too thin. Forget that.” Sweetie Belle had hardly heard it before she did as told, then left for recon, spectating as her subconscious led the way.

Canterlot was at full alert, as was to be expected. Sweetie Belle hovered a ways off, her body using various zoom functions to closely inspect the defences. For a reason she was choosing to forget, Sweetie knew she had to get into the throne room to talk to ponies there. If nothing else, that would give her a better report on the most powerful ponies there. With that thought, control was returned to her, and she flew in to land in the throne room. She weaved through the fans meant to keep pegasi out, then crashed through a window and landing hard on the stone floor.
Celestia, Cadance, Shining Armor, Discord, Flurry Heart, Element bearers, Starlight, Starswirl, and… Luna. She completed the tally in her head, then waited for somepony to speak.
“Are we speaking to Sweetie Belle?” Luna asked.
“Depends. She can’t speak freely, if that’s what you mean.”
Twilight took over. “The how do you mean?”
It was obviously planned- they knew Sweetie Belle was in there, they just had to figure out how to liberate her. “Her actions are free up until they interfere with the plan, at which point deeper programming takes over. Her consciousness is sent into a pseudo-unconscious state, like a cramped dream,” she said with subtle and careful emphasis, “in which she cannot even observe her body’s actions.” 
She dared to glance at Luna, whose visage changed slightly. Twilight continued. “Would she describe it more as being replaced or as something else taking control?”
“Like something deep inside was seizing control, a deeper-”
Darkness. She had gone too far, and control was taken. But she hoped it had been enough. It had to be.