//------------------------------//
// Fragmenting the Past 
// Story: Lifesparks 
// by Sythax 
//------------------------------//

"Apple Bloom, why is everypony staring at me like that?" asked Sweetie Belle.
Apple Bloom's eyes bulged, her mouth hanging open in shock.
Sweetie Belle frowned and moved on. "Scootaloo?"
"B...Bu-..." stuttered Scootaloo.
"Cheerilee?" asked Sweetie Belle hopefully.
Her voice seemed to knock the teacher from her staring. She composed herself, clearing her throat. "Everyone, indoors now!" she cried. When nopony moved, she turned to them angrily. "I said NOW!" she yelled.
The fillies and colts jumped, not willing to risk Cheerilee's wrath to satisfy their own curiosity. Everypony whispered and stared as they walked back into the school.
"Not you two," she said, holding Apple Bloom and Scootaloo back. "I need your help with this," she continued quietly. The two fillies nodded and turned with their teacher to the confused Sweetie Belle.
"Sweetie dear, what do you remember?" asked Cheerilee.
Sweetie Belle raised a hoof to her chin, the rubber of her joints rippling as the motors moved beneath them silently. She thought carefully, trying to recall the last few minutes. She remembered Scootaloo crying out, the splash of water... then nothing. She just remembered waking up with everypony staring at her.
"Um...not much," she replied. "What happened? And why does my voice sound funny?"
Cheerilee looked to the other two, not sure what to say. She barely knew what had happened herself. Sweetie Belle was a Celestia-be-damned machine, one with a level of sophistication Cheerilee had never seen before. How had nopony noticed? Did Rarity know about this, or was this the doing of some external force? Questions flurried around her head; she was sure Sweetie Belle was in a similar position. However, the ramifications of what was said to Sweetie Belle were much more serious.
"Cheerilee, what's going on?" asked Sweetie Belle, concern rising in her voice. "Why was everypony staring at me like I'd grown another head?"
Cheerilee thought about how much more preferable that scenario would have been. At least she wouldn't have had to explain what had happened; it would have been pretty obvious.
"Sweetie Belle, look at your legs for a moment."
"Why do I nee-…" Her voice faded out as she looked at her front legs. She lapsed into silence as she lifted her right leg to examine the black bands of rubber around her joints. She flexed the joint experimentally; it moved with complete silence, just like it had for her entire life.
She swiveled her head around and spotted similar bands on her back legs as well. She felt her neck with her hoof and felt the rise and fall of deep grooves in her skin. She looked at Cheerilee and her friends, fear on her face.
"Cheerilee... What am I?" she asked quietly, her eyes wide as tears formed.
"I don't know," replied Cheerilee softly.
Sweetie Belle fell to her stomach, covering her face with her segmented front legs. Cheerilee looked at the other two and nodded in Sweetie's direction. Slowly, they approached the filly, sobs racking her body.
"Don't worry, Sweetie Belle," started Apple Bloom. "Rarity will be here mighty soon."
"Yeah!" said Scootaloo "Rarity always fixes everything."
Sweetie Belle just continued to cry, the servos of her legs twitching to simulate her body shaking. The two fillies looked at their teacher in despair. Just then, a lanky orange unicorn stumbled into the yard, Rarity close behind him.
"Sweetie Belle!" cried Rarity, rushing over to her sister. She picked up the crying filly, obviously unfazed by the rubber tubing on her legs.
"Snails, inside now," said the teacher, dismissing Snails to the school building. She glared at the windows as twenty sets of eyes quickly ducked down below the sill. She was going to have a hell of a time explaining this to the class. She turned back to the problem at hand as Sweetie Belle sobbed into Rarity's shoulder. The older unicorn patted her sister’s back gently, trying to hush her. Slowly, she untangled herself from Sweetie Belle and reached up to her sister's hair. She reached into the pink and purple mane, Sweetie Belle staring at her.
"R-Rarity, what are you doing?" asked Sweetie Belle, her face streaked with tears.
"Shush now, everything is going to be fine. I’ll explain everything, I promise," whispered Rarity.
With a final shove and a loud click, Rarity found what she was looking for. She removed her hoof from Sweetie's mane and lay her sibling down gently.
"Sleep now, my dear—just sleep."
Sweetie Belle relaxed, her irises dimming until only the faintest green glow shone from her slowly-closing eyes. With a loud beep, her eyes shut completely and she fell limp.
Rarity stared at her sister, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm so sorry, my dear. I hate to do this to you," she said softly.
"Rarity..." said Cheerilee as she approached, "what is she?"
Rarity looked up at the concerned mare and the two fillies behind her.
"She's unique," she said.





The boutique was dark when Rarity opened the front door. Getting from the school to the boutique unseen have proven to be much more challenging than she had expected, especially with her sister's limp body draped over her back. Many times, ponies had nearly seen her as she darted through alleys and around corners.
With some luck and a huge amount of running, she had finally made it home. She busied herself with lighting up the room, placing Sweetie Belle on a bed of cushions. She passed the dress she had been working on when Snails had burst into the shop shouting something about Sweetie Belle and water. This was not how she had expected the day to play out.
She hurried upstairs and into her room. She dropped down to her stomach and stretched a hoof under her bed. After a moment of searching, she brought out a small blue chest, its gold-edged lid covered with years of dust. She blew on the top, coughing in the resulting dust storm, and made her way back downstairs.
Sweetie Belle looked so peaceful; Rarity did hate shutting her down. It just felt wrong. But the situation had called for it; she was in a state of panic. Who knew what she could have done?
Rarity once again reached into her mane, feeling for the switch that sat upon her head. With a click and a beep, she began to boot up. Rarity sat back and waited, preparing her explanation, not just for what she was but why she never told her. Sweetie Belle twitched, her ears moving back and forwards as she diagnosed any potential problems. When the system was sure everything was optimal, Sweetie Belle opened her eyes, their green glow returning. She looked around groggily as she lifted her head.
"Uh... What happened?" she said slowly. "I had the weirdest dream. There was water and sparks. And I had rubber on my legs-" Her sentence died as she once again saw the black rings around her forelegs. She looked up at Rarity, confusion in her eyes.
"It wasn't a dream, was it?"
"Sweetie Belle…" started Rarity, but Sweetie Belle cut her off.
"What am I?!" she demanded as she stood up. "Why do I have rubber in my legs?!"
"Sweetie Belle!" cried Rarity "I will explain everything, but first, you must calm down!"
Sweetie Belle closed her mouth and sat down on her haunches. Even at a time like this, she knew when to obey her sister.
"I know you're confused. So was I when it happened. I want you to know that no matter what I tell you here, tonight does not change anything. You are my sister, forever and always."
Rarity brought forward the blue chest, opening its lid slowly. "Many years ago, our family went on a trip to Manehatten," started Rarity "I was just a filly at the time; Sweetie Belle had just been born. We were happy." She smiled at the memory. She brought out a photograph, its corners curled with age. It showed four ponies, her parents, a young Rarity, and her wrapped in a blanket, cradled in her mother’s legs.
"Wait a minute, my eyes are blue in this photo!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle.
Rarity smiled sadly. "Yes, Sweetie Belle had the most beautiful blue eyes."
"Had? I'm right here! Why do you keep speaking like Sweetie Belle is a different pony?" cried Sweetie.
Rarity's mouth dropped as she continued with the story.
"We were going out for dinner one night. It was dark. Mother never saw the carriage. It hit her at full speed."
"But I saw Mum the other day! She's fine!"
"Yes, she is. Mother survived the accident." Rarity looked at Sweetie Belle "But Sweetie Belle did not."
Rarity watched as her sister failed to comprehend what she was saying.
"B-but I'm here... right?" she stuttered.
"All in good time, my dear," said Rarity comfortingly "The accident, however, did not leave Mother unscathed. She was left infertile, never to have a foal again."
"Mum can't have foals?" gasped Sweetie Belle.
"Not anymore," replied Rarity "She was shattered, to lose her foal and any chance of healing the wound left behind."
Sweetie Belle looked confused. "So what happened?"
"She was given another chance," said Rarity. "A nearby research facility offered to help her recover what she had lost."
"How?" asked Sweetie Belle,
Rarity sighed and reached back into the chest, pulling out a long roll of blue paper. She rolled it out and placed it in front of Sweetie Belle. The blue paper was covered with a white grid. Upon the white grid was a cross-section of a pony, the writing around the edge detailing the various mechanics that made up its body.
"What is this?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"They're blueprints."
"Blueprints of what?"
Rarity sighed again. "Blueprints of you, dear."
Sweetie Belle looked at her sister in horror, the pieces of the puzzle falling into place.
"You weren't born, dear," said Rarity sadly. "You were made."





"NO!" screamed Sweetie Belle, chucking the blueprints away. "I don't believe you!"
"Sweetie Belle dear, please calm down."
"CALM DOWN?!" yelled Sweetie. "HOW CAN YOU EXPECT ME TO CALM DOWN?!"
"Just listen to me!" pleaded Rarity.
Sweetie Belle crouched down on the floor, covering her ears with her hooves.
"I won’t believe it, I won’t believe it..." she chanted.
But it was already too late. The illusion of life was shattered as her conscious mind connected with her subconscious systems, uploading a stream of data to her vision. Sweetie Belle gasped as her eyes became filled with readouts and information. Temperature, humidity, even Rarity's heart rate—it was all there.
She stared at her new overlay, shocked into silence. She sensed Rarity move towards her and felt her hoof around her shoulders. The touch felt different: one side of her mind felt it like she normally did, while the other side merely saw it as a combination of activated pressure points.
"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Sweetie Belle quietly.
"Would you have believed me?" replied Rarity as she hugged her.
"Probably not," said Sweetie Belle.
The two of them sat in silence, not sure what to say.
"I suppose this means I won’t be getting my cutie mark?"
Rarity chuckled. "No, I suppose not. Does that bother you?"
"Not as much as I thought it would," she admitted.
Another lapse of silence occurred, this one much longer.
"Rarity, what about emotions?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do I actually feel emotions, or is it just a program?"
Rarity pondered the question. "I don't know. Dresses are my forte, not robotics."
The word “robotics” seemed weird now—so distant, yet so very close. It bugged her that her feelings may not be her own, maybe her own mind was just a front for a complex matrix of operations.
"So what now?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Nothing— we continue on as before. You are my sister, forever and always. No amount of programming is going to change that."
Sweetie Belle forced a smile while her mind literally whirred away, worried that her feelings for her sister were as fake as her synthetic skin.