Sweetie Bot - A Heart's Warming Tale

by Grimweird

Chapter 3. Revelations

Sweetie was in an ice-cave. A long narrow passage she had been digging with her own hoof. Again and again she hit her front right hoof into the solid ice in front of her. Step by step she advanced a little further. Smoke rose from her mouth with every breath, yet sweetie felt no cold, no exhaustion, nor the frozen shards that cut into her hoof with every blow. All her mind was on breaking through the ice.
She did not know how far she had left, or how long she had been here. Behind her stretched the cave she had dug, so far she could not see where she had begun. The air itself was dry and silent. in fact the only sound was her own breath and her constant, rhythmic hoofwork.

Suddenly the tunnel gave up an ominous rumble and the air electrified. Waves of sparkling blue energy shot through the ice as Sweetie became aware of something in front of her. A dark shadow has appeared on the wall in front of her. Like a spot of ink in the otherwise so crystal clear ice.
Something was buried in front of her. With renewed interest she continued forward. striking the frozen wall again and again. and after a few more blows the tunnel was filled with a loud clang as she hit something metal.

She scraped away the ice to revealed a leg made of steel.
A right front leg to be precise.

She looked down on her own leg. The one she had been using to dig through the ice. It was mangled and broken. The hoof was cracked to the core, the joints dislocated, and bone fragments where sticking out of puncturing wounds.
It was useless.

Indifferently she removed the leg from her body and attached the metal leg instead. She stretched and twisted her new limb a few times. From the shoulder to the hoof the leg moved smoothly, like it had always been a part of her.
Looking back up at the hole where the mechanical leg had been she saw that the ice behind in had started cracking on its own. She smiled as this would ease her burden. But before she could get back to work she felt a basking heat on her back. Behind her a blinding light was coming through the tunnel. A light so bright that it engulfed everything around it.

In a flash it was over her and she felt herself being pulled away out of the tunnel ...

Sweetie Belle awoke in her bed. Light of the morning sun shone through the window into her eyes.
She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and tried to grasp what the dream had been about. But it eluded her, like all dreams do. Something about Ice and a leg...

At one she was clear awake!

She looked under her blanket. The bed was dry. At least she had not been leaking oil tonight.
She removed the sock. The mechanical limb was still there. And the bandage did not appear any more sullied by brown oil then it had yesterday. Curiously she opened up the wrapping just a little bit to survey the damage. But found none. The damage fuel tube from yesterday was back in shape. Like it had never been ruptured.

She realized the similarities between this metal leg and the one in the dream. The one she replaced her broken real leg with. What did that all mean? That it really was a prosthetic? Was she finally starting to remember where she had gotten it from? She hoped so.

She got out of bed and walked up to the window.
A thin layer of frost had formed upon the glass. But there was not a snowflake outside. Winter was still being kept on hold till the last Autumn rain had passed. As was any sighs of holiday preparations.

The trees where bare of leaves, and the houses where bare of decorations. Nopony wanted to get their Hearts Warming trinkets sullied by the coming rainfall. The streets themselves where bare of ponies that had yer to leave for their daily activities. Even the sun looked reluctant to leave the horizon. Its early rays put the empty town in a dim light of long shadows and dull colors.

Ponyville rarely looked so bare. The sight did not ease Sweetie's mood. It was if as the fun times themselves had been put on hold. There would be no snowball fights or ice skating until the storm blew over.

Ice... her thoughts returned to the dream. The ice... all answers laid behind that ice.

In secret she wished the time had been put on hold. That it did not have to be school day. That she could hide from the world under her blanket.

But she could not. Anny moment now Rarity would come knocking and forcing her out of bed. She rather not be caught unprepared.

She made sure all her socks sat tight on her legs, and made a horrifying discovery. She only had three socks.

In a flash she remembered what had happened yesterday. She had wrestled with Scootaloo, and the sock had been torn apart. She had to use another sock to cover up her bandage. She remembered standing before Rarity with an explanation in mind. That she had lost it.

But Rarity had not asked. She had not seemed to even notice. It must have been because she was so caught up in her work she did not have time for anything else. That was why there had been no point in asking about her metallic leg. She could just as well have been screaming "By Celestia I am a robot! I blew myself up! I walked through Everfree Forest alone and then i got eaten by a wolf" and Rarity would not have reacted.
At least that was what Sweetie told herself.

But Rarity would react now. Don't panic, she told herself. If Rarity asked what she was doing up so early she would blame it on a bad dream. A nightmare would also help explain her sullen mood. Although that could be blamed on the fact that the weekend was over. A half truth. And if she asked about the missing sock, then the old explanation still stood - she would say that she had lost it.

Rarity did not ask. Downstairs her big sister was asleep at her workstation. She had pulled several half finished dresses over her as a blanket and was using one of the manikins as a pillow. She must have worked up all night.
What could prompt her sister to work herself into exhaustion like that Sweetie did not know. But she did know it was not the first time. It must be the Hearts Warming Eve rush.

Sweetie took this opportunity to sneak over to her coat and pull out the ruined sock from its pocket. Then She took some needle and thread from the workstation. Memories of what she had done the night before flashed through her mind as she looked at the pile of dresses rise and fall in tune with her sisters breath. She could still not know what she had been thinking.

She went into the kitchen and started to patch the sock together. A few stitches later and it was as good as new. (as far as being a ruined scarf used as a sock could make it new.)

With her socks on she sat down at the dinner table and made herself a breakfast. Just some cereals and milk.

As she chewed she started to think really hard about the taste.
How could she possibly feel any taste at all if she was a robot? Robots could not feel taste could they?
Unless they where programmed to. But how would you program that?

She looked down at her cereals. Where she programmed to like them? the thought was absurd. Yet it would not leave her.
If she had been programmed to know what these cereals tasted like then ... How would she know that she was not programmed?

She needed to preform a taste test. She needed to eat something she would not normally eat.

She pulled out some salad from the fridge and started to munch on one of the green leaves, feeling the wet, slightly bitter taste.
Even though she was a herbivore she had never been to found of the idea of raw green food. It was something she always saw grownups eat. Sugary canny, ice cream and cake on the other hoof. That was real foals food. That was what she liked.

That was what she might have been programmed to like.

She then pulled out some carrot and tomato and ate them too. They were all vegetables. All green food that she would never eat raw. Yet they all had a taste to her. And they all tasted differently.

She moved into the back of the fridge. Pulling out some sauerkraut. True to its name it tasted sour. Sweetie's gag reflex kicked in and she spit it out into the sink. Now that was something she would never have eaten. Something she could not have been programmed to know the taste of.

She swallowed some water from the sink-tap and tried to wash the bitter-sour taste off her tongue. Yet it would not leave her. She needed something else to wash that awful taste from her mouth.

Her eyes looked up upon the pantry.
Time for another taste test.

She pulled a stool up to the pantry to be able to reach the top shelf. She listened one more time for sister's sleeping rhythm before climbing up and getting in reach of the prize placed on the top shelf. The cookie jar - filled to the brim with mothers special home baked cookies. A token from their parents who, along with leaving Sweetie in the care of her older sister, had also left a jar full of Sweetie's favorite chocolate cookies.

They truly tasted like nothing else. Not a single snack in Sugar Cube Corner could be compared with the heavenly taste of mother's cookies. Sweetie absolutely could not get enough of them. Even though it had been long since she last saw her parents, before they left on their tour across the world, mother would send home a package of her cookies on a regular basis - along with a letter detailing their journeys. Lest the household would have run out of cookies long ago.

Rarity herself was not to found of keeping sweets lying around the house. She said they where bad for bout figure and health. The cookies from mother was the only exception. And she always stored them way out of reach. Lest Sweetie would devour them all.
It was only because of her efforts to keep the cookie consumption to a minimum that they lasted from one delivery to another.

Well... She would not eat all of them. Sweetie thought as she brought a cookie out of the jar and into her mouth. Just one.

She chewed slowly, feeling the crunching between her teeth and the chocolate melt on her tongue. The taste was heavenly. The chocolate washing the sour tastes from her tongue The cookie crumbs scrubbing her throat clean. The whole sugary goodness neutralizing the bitterness in her belly. And ...

Sweetie almost spat out everything in pure shock.

Who said that?!

She looked around the room. But it was empty. She could still hear Rarity sleeping out in the Boutique.
Strange. She knew she heard something. She could have sworn somepony had just snuck up behind her and whispered into her ear. Was Rarity was talking in her sleep? No. She would have been standing right here In the kitchen if she did. Was there somepony else in the house besides the two of them?
Did they have a burglar? Should not burglars normally come during the night when everypony was sleeping?
Then again. It was far to early in the morning for any sane pony to be up.

But nopony, no mater how skilled of a burglar, could have moved fast enough to disappear from the room in the split second it took for her to turn her head. Unless it was a unicorn burglar who had teleported in and out in the blink of an eye. But why would a burglar make their presence known anyway?

Sweetie pulled away the stool and closed the pantry door. All thoughts of cookies where gone from her mind.
She knew she heard something. The voice was right next to her head.

In fact, it was almost like if it was in her head.

Sweetie put her hooves on her temple.
She must be imagining things. No. She was just analyzing the taste. That's right. The word had just popped into her head.

"Analyzing." She whispered to herself and forcefully giggled. She really was a dictionary sometimes. Funny word. Ha, ha.

She shook her head. Wow. She was thinking way too much about this.

As she stood there analyzing her own thoughts she realized she had a entire meal's worth of half eaten fruit and vegetables on her hoof. Everything she ha taken a bite out of had been thrown out of the fridge and onto the kitchen floor.

What was she to do with all the things? Rarity would be so mad at her, both for dirtying the floor, and for wasting so much food.
Therefore she could not just simply throw it all away. Rarity would notice it it all went into the garbage can.
She was gonna have to make use of it. She would simply have to shove it all into her lunchbox and eat it at school. Rarity would not be mad at her for making her own school-lunch after all. It would be a bitter, sour tasting lunch. But it was better then facing sister's wrath.

But then she noticed her lunchbox, already packed and waiting for her on the sink. Along with a note from Rarity. She must have stayed up so late that it had become morning, and prepared Sweeties school-lunch for her, before falling asleep under her work.

Panicking, Sweetie swooped all the half eaten vegetables off the floor and shoved them down into the box anyway. And by some miracle managed to close the lid. She would have to eat an extra large lunch today. Or maybe just throw away the bitter-sour things once she got to school.

She secured the lunchbox with a belt she borrowed from the shop and shoved the package into her saddlebag. She then borrowed the same couple of boots from yesterday under the not-at-all made up impression that it was gonna get rainy outside.

Rarity was still asleep as Sweetie was about to leave. The pile of dresses rose and fell in tune to her breathing. Sweetie did not feel like waking her sister. She very carefully opened the front door, mindful of the bell just above it. If she was careful she might just be able to squeeze through the gap without setting it off.

She pushed her saddlebags out in front of her and was about to squeeze through herself when a strong gust of wind threw the door open.

In Sweeties ears the bell above the door sounded louder then it ever had before.

Rarity jumped up from underneath her pile.

“Yes! Yes!... Welcome to my boutique....Um.. Excuse me just a moment... I'll be with you shortly.” She rambled while trying to brush her hair with her hoof and magically float all the dresses up from the floor and levitate them side by side in a displaying fashion.

“They will be ready soon. Just...”

Then she realized it was not a customer in her doorway. But her sister.

“Oh! good morning Sweetie. You are up early.” she said as a professional business smile spread across her face.

“Yes! It's a school day” Sweetie answered. Forcing herself to smile back. In the time of Rarity's drowsy disorientation, Sweetie had managed to strap the saddlebags onto herself.

“Yes... Yes it is.” Rarity answered. Thankfully not looking at the clock.

The two of them stared at each other. Fake smiles taped to their faces. An awkward silence filled the air. That awkward silence that comes when both parties knows somepony has done something wrong, but neither want to be the first to bring it up.

The wind rung the doorbell a second time. Snapping them out of their trance.

They both diverted their eyes.

“Well. Goodbye!” They said in unison. And Sweetie closed the door.

It was still early in the morning. Far to early to be time for school. But Sweetie had nowhere else to go.

The wind seemed to have gotten colder still since yesterday and Sweetie regretted not having borrowed the same coat as then.

She looked around her. The dark blue sky over was clear over Ponyville, but in the east a wall of black clouds rose over the horizon. A precursor of an ominous storm that seemed to bear promises of ill times.

As she walked through the empty town she was surprised when she noticed another figure so early walking the street towards the school. At first she thought it was her imaginary burglar. But then she recognized the orange and purple colors of her friend.

She hesitated. She had promised Applebloom not to talk to Scootaloo. But it did not feel right to ignore each other. They could at least walk to school together without saying anything. In fact not saying anything was probably for the best.

I wont talk to her .She thought. I will just say hi.

“Hi Scootaloo!” She called out.

She received no answer.

She called out again. This time Scoots ears perked. She turned around and clearly saw her. But instead of waiting for her Scootaloo began to speed up.
Sweetie increased her own speed.

“Scootaloo! Wait for me!” she called out.

But Scootaloo only started running even faster and soon both fillies were galloping towards the school. Was this some kind of a race? She had raced with her friends to school before. A part of her wanted to believe this was just like those times. But an uncomfortable knot had started to from in Sweeties belly. a knot brought on by an equally uncomfortable thought.

That Scootaloo wasn't racing with her. She is running away from her.

Scootaloo was fast. Even without her scooter. She could flap her underdeveloped wings to give her a speed boost even while running.
Sweetie was no runner. But she was a CMC and had the driving force of ten fillies if she put her mind to something. And right now she wanted to catch up to Scootaloo.
Because this was getting ridiculous. They might have agreed not to speak to each other. But that was no reason to hide from each other.

Scootaloo looked behind her and increased her speed. In turn Sweetie had to push herself even harder. She was not letting Scootaloo get away. Little by little her speed increased. They both ran so fast that all the leaves would be yanked from the trees if the running of the leaves had not already passed. And they had the strong autumn wind in their back. As she ran she could swear she heard the wind whisper through the naked branches.

Sweetie didn't have time to look for whoever was whispering. Her entire focus was on the purple tail in front of her.
She was beginning to catch up to Scootaloo. But the school building had appeared between the trees. Scootaloo made a dash for the gate in the fence that had so many times before been their finish line.

But Scootaloo did not stop at the fence. She dashed past it, right towards the school doors.

With all her determination, Sweetie willed her own legs to move even faster. And somehow they did. She made her own dash past the fence and leaped the last distance to the door threshold just as Scootaloo put her hoof on the handle.

They both crashed into the school and preformed a double pony somersault through the corridor.
Sweetie's lunchbox flew out of her bag, the rem burst and the contents splattered over the floor.

Scootaloo got on her hooves and made a break for the classroom door. But Sweetie was able to catch her just before she reached the handle. She pushed her away from the door and up against the wall.

“You win!” She gasped. “Bravo. Hurray. You really are the fastest!”

“Let go of me!” Scootaloo hissed. Her voice was full of fury. But Sweetie could see the tears in her eyes.

“I know we are not to speak to each other. But Please don't cry... I know you feel sorry for me but ...”

That somehow only seemed to made Scoot angrier. She grimaced against her as she tried to break free of sweeties grip. But she would not let go.

“SWEETIE!”

The voice came from the door. Sweetie turned to see Applebloom standing in the open doorway, with a look of utter horror in her eyes.

What was she doing here so early?

“Let go of her!”

“Not until you all stop looking at me like I'm a … a ...”

“Sweetie... You are choking me...” Scoot said with a whisper.

Sweetie looked down on her hooves and realized that she was not just pinning Scootaloo to the wall. One hoof was pinning Scoot's foreleg away. And the other – her right foreleg – was pushing up right underneath Scootaloos chin.

She all but leaped back from her friend. Allowing Scoot to fall to the floor.

“I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!”

Scootaloo gasped for air. Sweetie stretched out her right hoof to help. But Scoot pushed it away.

Sweetie didn't know what to do or say. She looked at Applebloom for guidance. But she looked like somepony had just told her that Santa Hooves wasn't real.

“I'm not a Bloodbot.” Escaped her lips.

That's when the classroom door swung open and Miss Cheerilee stepped out into the hall.

“Oh!” she said in surprise. “I thought I heard something but did not realize it was you three. What are you doing here so early?”

The trio looked at each other.

“We could not sleep.” became the collective answer.

Cheerilee chuckled “Well. Since you're here you might as well wait in the ...”

She gasped as she looked down the corridor and saw where the lunchbox bomb had exploded. She turned back to them with a frown on her face.

“What are you doing...?”

“It was me!” Sweetie confessed immediately. “We... Raced to school and I... Dropped my lunchbox.”

“Well. In that case I guess you are just gonna have to clean it up before class starts. The rest of you can wait inside while I finish up preparing for today's lesson.”

Cheerilee went to fetch some things from the janitors locker. In the short time they where alone Sweetie continued to plead forgiveness from Scoot. But the only thing she got was a harsh look.

“Don't speak to me you... you...” Scootaloo bit her lip. Whatever she was about to say she swallowed it, turned away and entered the classroom.

“You should really leave her alone”. Said Applebloom.

“Why. Does this have something to do with yesterday?”

Applebloom bit her lip. She clearly wanted to say something. But she could not.

Sweeties heart sank.

Cheerilee returned with a bucked and a mop. Then closed the classroom door behind her. Leaving Sweetie alone in the corridor.

As she cleaned up the contents of her school lunch she tried to contemplate just what was wrong with her today. She had just pinned her best friend to the wall like a bully trying to steal your lunch. And the look in Scootaloos eyes had only made her push harder. She had wanted to squeeze that look out of her eyes. To squeeze some sense into her and, Oh Celestia, What was she thinking? She would never do that to them. They where friends, right?

But then why were both of them coming to school before everypony else? Were they having some sort of secret CMC meeting? Without her?
Sweetie shook her head. She could not be thinking of her friends that way.
And why, why, why had she not asked Rarity how to remove the prosthesis? She needed that information. She was suppose to prove it to Scootaloo today!

Sweetie grabbed her foreleg. From somewhere far away she could hear the sound of ice cracking

She finished cleaning up just as the school bell rang and all the other students started arriving at school.
Sweetie put away her shoes but pulled up her socks to make sure they would not slide down. She would be mocked for them. But she would rather be mocked then have the entire school find out she had a fake leg.

“Good morning class. Today we are going to talk about anatomy”

Cheerilee pulled the blanket of a billboard she had set up in the front of the class. On it was the explicit images of the insides of a pony. The display drew a collective “Eeeeeew” from the class.

“Oh I know. But that's how everypony looks on the inside.” she said as she pointed a hoof to the billboard.

“On the outside we all have different colors, heights, weights and looks and many other distinctive marks that make us unique. But on the inside we are all the same. Not just all of us ponies. Every enquine creature shares this physiology. Zebras and Griffons included. In fact we share this physiology with just about every creature on the planet.”

She removed the billboard to reveal another one. This one showing the insides of some animals and monsters.

“From Rabbits to Wolves, to Manticores and Hydras, and even Dragons. All creatures share this physiology in some way. All have a heart and a brain and lungs and …”

A little yellow hoof came up.

“Yes Goldwing?”

“Miss Cheerilee. I thought we where talking about anatomy and not physics”.

Cheerilees giggled in her cheery tone. She then went on to explain that the two where connected.

Sweetie wasn't listening. She was too busy sulking at her desk.

In the row in front of her Scootaloo was sulking in her own desk by the windows. Her head leaning on her hoof. She was looking out at the approaching rainfront. Sweetie could see the reflection of her eyes in the glass. Not dreamy like usual, But heavy and dark as the clouds outside. Scootaloo had not even responded when Diamond Tiara made her usual comment about their blank flanks. Something that normally always ticked her off. She was just too sad to care.

It made Sweeties heart sink so hard she thought it was gonna burst through her gut and burrow into the floor.

She looked down on her sock studded forelegs. Diamond Tiara had tried to pick on her for those socks. And truly she looked ridiculous wearing them when nopony else did. Sweetie blamed the cold. But could still feel herself becoming the unwanted center of attention. A place she did not want to be in. Even as the teacher was speaking she could feel the pressure of everyponys eyes on her. If felt like if they knew already. Like they where all just waiting to jump her and pry of her socks. Sweetie tried to hide her hooves under her desk.

She could just not stop pulling at the socks. As if she stopped they would fall of and reveal her secret to everypony.

She could almost see the metal even through the her desk, the fabric and the layer of bandage. She wondered how much she would be picked on if everypony got to know she had an artificial limb.

She silently cursed herself for not asking Rarity.
If only she had learned of how to remove the prosthesis. Then she could have shown Scootaloo before everypony came. An then nopony would have needed to feel so sad.

She felt like her tears was about to fall.

Sweetie almost jumped out of her desk. Who said that? She looked around the class. But nopony had said anything. But this time she knew she heard something. That word. That sentence. It had appeared in her head like one of her own thoughts. But it wasn't one of her thoughts. Not at thought she would have ever thought of thinking.

The words faded in and out like a wrong tuned radio that couldn't quite receive the radio-stations wavelength.
There was something or someone in her head. Did she have a radio in her head? Was something trying to communicate with her through telepathy. Or had she suddenly developed telepathy herself? Or was her prosthetic leg picking up radio broadcast now? Please let it be telepathy. Pretty please with sugar on top let it be the third option. She would like to have a special talent of mind reading. What would a mark for that look like?

“...and that's why I have summoned an expert in the field. Class, I want you to welcome nurse Brittlebone”

All attention was turned to the front of the class as the door opened and a wight unicorn mare with stepped into the classroom. Her red mane was gathered up in a hair-net behind her neck. She had an X shaped mark of a bone crossed with a plaster. And behind her horn she wore a nurse cap with the typical red health care cross.

“Thank you for coming here today. I'm glad you could make the time”

“Not a problem miss Cheerilee” Said Brittlebones “Its my duty to inform the young ones of the body. After all, The best way to prevent injury is to teach about the severity of them. And please. Call be Britty.”

She turned her attention out to the class.

“Now. In the field of anatomy, we frequently look inside the body to learn more how all our little parts work together. And that's what we will be doing here today.”

A nervous looking little green colt reached up his hoof.

“Miss Britty. Do you mean dissecting? I mean I read that some examine the insides of animals by … cutting them up.”

“We are not actually going to cut into real animals! Are we?” Yelled another.

“Oh good heavens no!" Said Britty. "Not Since the Animal Rights Organization banned all use of actual dissecting of live animals. It is true that “cutting into animals” once was the only way of studying their anatomy. We even used to cut into dead ponies too.”

Miss Cheerilee gave Britty a nudge in the side. “Oh, sorry. Anyway...” she continued as the colt turned greener then he already was. “...Today we instead use spells to see what the insides of the body looks like.”

Nurse Britty's horn lit up in a green glow.

“Now. Does anypony want to see what their skeleton looks like?” she said with a smile that seemed almost sinister.

The whole class recoiled in their chairs.

“Don't worry children. Its a completely harmless little X-ray spell”

“Yes. And as their supervisor I believe I will be the first ” Said Cheerilee.

Nurce Britty cast the X ray spell. Bathing Miss Cheerilee in a green light. Before their eyes she turned transparent. As she faded out her skeleton became more and more visible until it was the only thing that remained solid. Only a green ghostly contours remained visible of their teachers body.

“Oh my.” Said Cheerilee, raising a transparent hoof. “Have you ever tried that on a nightmare night?”

Miss Britty giggled.

”That not all this spell can do. I could change the strength of the spell so that we could see the inner organs, or the muscle tissue. But I think we should start at the core. Most tend to find that less gruesome then the softer bits.”

The colt in the back turned even greener. Cheerilee asked him if he wanted to leave. But he just shook his head. Apparently he did not want to appear weak in front of the others.
Cheerilee then said that anypony was allowed to leave the classroom if they wanted to. And nopony would think less of them for it. Sweetie knew it wasn't true. Cheerilee might always praise respect and everyponys equal value. But there was a strict hierarchy in the class. Of who was the prettiest, the strongest, the wealthiest, the most daring, and so forth. Everypony wanted to be looked up to and nopony wanted to be looked down on. And non wanted to look weaker then the other out of fear of being teased for it. Regardless of how well Cheerilee held the class together she could not prevent them from picking on each other after school.

Miss Britty canceled her spell, and the normal looking Cheerilee said out to the class.

“Now you can all come up here and try children. And If there is anypony who feels like they don't want to, then that is ok. Anypony who needs to puke can leave. Remember, Its all voluntary. No pony will think less of you if you don't want to.”

Sweetie felt panic slowly creeping up her spine. If she did that X-ray examination then everypony would know about her artificial limb.
And If everypony knew, then nothing would be the same again. Technically nothing would already never be the same again for her. But it would be far, far worse if everypony knew.
That's why she never wanted to go to any magician or doctor, because she would have to tell them her secret.

She would rather have it just be her and her closest friends that knew of it.

Scootaloo raised her head. Sweetie could almost feel her willing her to go forth and prove her theory correct.

Maybe she really had developed mind reading after all?

Sweetie was beginning to sweat. She was torn between not wanting to reveal herself to anypony and not wanting to abandon Scootaloo. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity to prove that it was just a prosthesis. At least until she could learn that spell for herself. But that could take years. And she could not bear seeing her friends acting like this for that long. What was she to do?

She raised a hoof.

“Yes Sweetie?”

“Miss Cheerilee. Can I talk to you. In private.”

“Of course.”

As sweetie walked through the class she heard Diamond Tiara giggle.

“Looks like Sweetie can't stomach it.” She whispered to Silver Spoon. And they both hid their smiles behind their hooves.

Sweetie exited out into the hallway with Cheerilee tight behind.

“What is is Sweetie”. She said, looking a bit worried. “You and your friends have been awfully down today about something. But none of you will say what. Is there something you want to tell me?”

“No! Its that... I have something to tell you... About the X-ray.”

“Is it that you don't feel like attending? That's okay. You can wait out here.”

Sweetie almost said yes. But the words would not leave her mouth. She glared behind Cheerilee, into the classroom. It felt like every prying ear in there would hear them. She had to be discreet.

Slowly she removed her sock.

Cheerilee gasped. A little to loud in Sweetie's ears.

“Oh Sweetie. What have you done?”

“Crusading.” She mumbled. “And I … Broke my leg.”

The lie just slipped out of her. But suddenly the idea to get sent home didn't seem so bad. Perhaps then she could work up the courage to ask Rarity.

“Is there a problem out here?”

Miss Brittlebone had suddenly stuck her head out into the corridor. Behind her Sweetie could see all the foals in the front row leaning forward to see what was going on. (and a few from the back rows where leaning over them)

“Is somepony hurt?”

“One of my students has injured herself again” Cheerilee sighed.

“Well, then its a good thing that then nurse is in.” Britty giggled.

She magically grabbed a hold of Sweeties leg and removed the sock.

“My, my. That's quite a package." She said as she examined the bandage. "Did you make it yourself? Not to bad I must say.”

Sweetie didn't respond. She realized her secret was inches from being discovered. Yet she didn’t dare to object out of fear of drawing more attention to herself.

“Though I must say I'm surprised you can walk so straight if your leg is as broken as you say. You are probably just overreacting. You fillies tend to do that. It might just be sprained or something.”

Her horn lit up.

Sweetie braced herself like she was about to be stung with a thousand scary needles. At least they where doing the X-ray spell out here so the entire class did not see. But she had no idea how Cheerilee or nurse Britty would react once they saw her mechanical parts.

“Um... Miss Britty. Before you do that X-ray stuff. There is something you should know...”

Looking past the two grownups she could see Scootaloo in the front row. She was looking on with interest similar to the other kids, But for far different reasons. Sweetie could almost hear her plead.

Then she noticed Miss Brittlebone canceled the spell.

“Actually This gives me an idea.“ She said as she turn and head back into class, her magical grip not ceasing from Sweeties leg. “This proves a perfect opportunity to show you all how to properly mend a broken bone. Come on now. I help you hold that up so you don't strain it further.”

Miss Britty was leading her back into class by her mended leg. Sweetie did not dare to resist out of fear that the bandage would slip of in her magical pull. Even though very fiber In her being was screaming at her not to proceed a single step further.

“Please. No. I don't want to. It doesn't hurt. I just need to go home and rest for a while” She said. (And this time she really would have a talk with Rarity.) She looked pleadingly at Cheerilee. But she shook her head.

“Sweetie. You really should let the nurse have a look at that.”

“Yes. Now come here deary.” Said Britty as she pulled her up to the front of the class “A little injury is nothing to be ashamed of. But you should never keep it a secret, or it might get worse. Now what was it you wanted to tell me?”

She looked out over the class. The pressure of their eyes all weighing down on her with crunching force. Pushing her to get of this stage and leave before she made a fool of herself.

Voices in her head where screaming at her not to do this. That there would be no turning back. Everypony would know. But then she found the eyes of Scootaloo. The hurtful look on her friends face sealed her determination. She could not stand that look in Scoots eyes for a second longer. Not even for a second. She swallowed and pushed all other options out of her mind, and focused solely on the one thing she had been telling herself from the beginning.

“I have a prosthesis!”

The whole classroom fell silent.

A little yellow hoof came up.

“What is a prosthesis?”

“Um... Its an artificial limb, Goldwing.” Cheerilee answered. Surprised at Sweeties claim.

“A what?”

“Its a pegleg.” Somepony else shouted from the other end of the class. “Like a pirates leg... Arrr!”

“That's impossible” Said nurse Britty. “I have seen plenty of ponies walk with prostheses in my line of work. You do not hold yourself like that. Now hold still...”

Her horn lit up again.

Sweeties heart was pounding like never before. She was amazed nopony else could head the drum solo. Don't back out now, she thought as she looked eyes with Scootaloo. Her Pegasus friend was stunned at what she was about to do. Scared even, from the looks she gave her.

“I promised you I would show you.” Sweetie thought as loud as she could. If she really had developed telepathy then she wanted Scootaloo to hear her. She did not care if she was bullied for the rest of her life.

She never wanted to see that look in Scoot's eyes ever again.

She held out her leg. And the X ray spell shone over it. Revealing a metal hoof, and a mechanical fetlock.

“Oh ... my.”

The whole classroom fell silent as the light climbed up her leg. Revealing more and more machinery, pistons wires ans synthetic muscle that the ray could not penetrate. To some credit, the synthetic muscle did sort of look like the muscles on the anatomy billboard.

“Soon” She told herself. Soon they would all see where the flesh joined the machine. Her pulse increased as the ray continued to climb. Past her elbow. Up over he shoulder.

No.

The Mechanism did not stop at her shoulder. It continued over it. Her entire shoulder was mechanic. A clockwork of gears wrapper in a metal ball-joint underneath a solid piece of metal where the shoulder-blade should have been.

She looked over her shoulder. She was basking in the X-ray spell. And the mechanism continued Far past her shoulder.

Her back.
Her Spine
Her ribs.
Her back legs.
Her flank.
Even her tailbone.
They where all metal.

She nearly twisted her neck out of line trying to look herself over. Her panic increased with every screw she saw.

“Please stop kidding now miss Brittle. Its not funny … Please … Stop.”

But miss Brittlebones did not stop. She was frozen in shock. Unable to even cancel her spell. Her yaw was hanging open and her eyes where so round they looked like they would pop out of their sockets. Cheerilee had an identical expression. As did the entire class. They all sat there frozen. Like time had suddenly stopped. With all their eyes staring at her.

Those horrible, horrible eyes.

“Please … Stop.”

Sweetie's hoof trembled as she brought it up to touch her cheek. It felt as soft as it always had. She looked over at her other leg.

NO!

She fell down on her haunches when she saw that it was identical to her right. She held both forelegs out in front of her. The same metallic muscles, the same steel skeleton, the same veins of wires endowed underneath both of them.

The skin removed they where identical.

She rubbed her left leg. She could not feel the metal even though she clearly saw it.

“Please stop looking at me.”

She looked down on her chest.

She had ribs. A metallic conjunction of metal bars weaved together around her chest in a fashion somewhat similar to a ribcage. Underneath was nothing but clockwork and cables. And it all shimmered in a green inner light. A light that in combination with the green X ray spell gave her body a shimmering, ghostly and skeletal appearance.

A skeleton with no lungs. No liver. No heart.

Only a small circular devise could be seen in the center of her metallic ribs. Pounding in rhythm to her heart.

No. Not in rhythm.

It was her heart.

And it was pounding faster then ever before.

Slowly the horrible thought sank in. All those things where inside her! Why!? Why was she stuffed full of metal!?

“Get them out. Get it out of me!”

She began rubbing her leg harder and harder. As if trying to dig out those mechanical things out of her body. But all she got was a burning pain in her skin.
Her skin...? What was her skin anyway? Just some organic fabric stretched over a mechanical doll? Was the skin the only part of her that was alive? Was she just a thin layer of skin over a mechanical body?!

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

This could not be real. This all had to be some sort of terrible nightmare. She must still be in her bed and having the most terrible nightmare of her life. Please let it be over soon. Please just let int end!

The only thing that ended was the X-Ray spell as the light from miss Brittlebones horn flickered and died.
Her eyes rolled back into her skull and she collapsed onto the floor.

Then the classroom exploded.

A filly passed out. The green colt puked. And a third screamed “BLOODBOTS! ITS THE BLOODBOTS!”

The class began to move. A tidal wave heading for her. For the door. Even for the window. Desks where being toppled and crayons where flying everywhere. The alarm where deafening as all where shouting to be heard over the next.

“OMG its a GHOST ROBOT”
“Can robots even be ghosts?”
“This is so Cool!”
“The horror. The horror”

Cheerilee tried to regain control but was to much in shock to even regain her own composure. Some of her class rushed past her out the door. Some hid underneath the desks or barricaded themselves in a corner with the them. And some even jumped out the windows.

A flock formed a circle round Sweetie and began poking and pulling. Some tried to remove her other socks while others tried to pin her down.

“Kill it, Kill it!”
“Are you real?”
“Get away from me!”
“Have you been a robot the entire time”
“Please don't kill me.”
“Why did you never say anything?”
“They will destroy us all! Destroy us all! Destroy us all! Destroy us all! Destroy us all! Destroy us all!”

Sweetie was swept away. Her mind overburdened by what was transpiring.

Then she saw it. In the back behind the tidal wave of panicking foals, stood Scootaloo. Pranced on top of her desk as a lost sailor on a lonely rock in a storm. Her face becoming more and more torn up by the second. She was gritting her teeth and struggling against tears that had already began to fall.
Then she jumped, and disappeared amongst the chaos.

Sweetie Screamed. And her scream made all the foals let go of her. She got up and began to run after Scootaloo. The horde was driven into a mad gallop in front of her as everypony tried to get away from her. They tore down the lockers in the crammed hall, knocking down foals who had tried to save themselves up on top of them, or even in them. Some even tried to climb the walls by grabbing hold of the clothing hooks. They scattered from the School the moment they where out of the building - like confetti shot out of a party canon. Sweetie halted on the doorstep and scanned the playground.

Scootaloo was nowhere to bee seen.

Sweetie jumped of the threshold and started running anyway. She shot straight through the playground. Out the fence and into the trees. She knew there was only one place Scootaloo could have run off to.

She did not hear Applebloom screaming after her to stop.

Sweetie ran west. In the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.
As she ran the bad weather was beginning to catch up to her. The clouds that had only hung over the horizon in the early morning now loomed like a dark blanket over the village. Sweetie felt the first few drops hit her back as she ran between the naked trees.

After a few minutes of running she spotted the clubhouse between the trees. It was easier so see from a distance now that all the trees where bare of leaves.

She hurried up the stairs and ladders and almost hit the door frame as she skittered into the clubhouse.

Scootaloo sat in the middle on the floor. Sobbing loudly with her back to the door.

Even though she had promised Applebloom to not say anything she could not stay silent any more, not after what just had happened. She had to do something. She had to comfort her friend.

“Scoot?” She whispered “Please don't cry. I know this is scary and I know you are sad but please... don't cry for my sake.

The sobs started to turn into snorts.

“You think I'm crying for you?”

There was a harshness in her tone Sweetie had not expected.
Then, the snorts turned into a laugh. It was a dry, hollow, joyless laugh.

“You think...” She stammered “You think I feel sorry for you?”

Slowly Scootaloo turned around. She had a horrid grimace on her face. Her eyes where red. Her cheeks where damp from tears streaming down them. But her brows where frowning like she had never frowned before. The v shape they made went all the way down to her muzzle. And her teeth gnashed.
In short, Scootaloo was furious. More furious than Sweetie had ever seen her. And her fury was directed at her.

“I'm not crying for you! Why would I ever cry for you?! Why would I ever be sorry for you!?”

She turned the rest of her body. Slowly getting on her hooves as she stared down Sweetie.

“You live in a perfect nice house with your perfect rich family. You have your own big warm bed and your own big warm meals and big perfect sister who looks out for your every need! A sister that is so perfect and pretty that she is worshiped by every stallion in town! That runs her own snobby perfect business selling expensive clothes to movie stars and royalty! She even endows her dresses with gems for Celestia's sake! GEMS!! Your family is practically swimming in money. You are able to afford everything you ever look at!”

She let out another of those forced dry laughs

“... And you actually think that I Would cry for you. Why? Why should I feel sorry for somepony who has everything!”

Sweetie was taken aback. Never in all the time they had known each other had Scootaloo expressed any kind of jealousy towards her. That was something reserved for fly-able Pegasi. Or for the foals that just got their marks. And even that was more of a longing than jealousy. A longing Sweetie knew herself. This was something she did not know. This was hostility.
It was nothing like when Scootaloo had tackled her to the ground and called her Bloodbot two days ago. Then she had been confused and scared. Then she had been sad.

Now she was oozing with contempt. And it was Sweetie who was scared and confused. Her family wasn't that rich. And big sister most certainly did not look out for her every needs. She made her do the dishes, do the bed, clean the rooms (the only thing she wasn't allowed to do was the laundry and the food) and otherwise used her as a servant when she was to busy with her clothes. Whatever riches they might have had she spent on expensive fabric. And she most certainly did not buy Sweetie everything she looked at.

“... And the worst part of it all is: It could all have been MINE!”

“What are you talking about?" Sweetie stammered "Its my family... I was born into it.”

“NO YOU WEREN'T!” Scootaloo screamed “YOU WEREN'T BORN! YOU WERE MADE!”

The words hit Sweetie with the weight of a sledgehammer. She was knocked back by the sheer force of Scootaloo's voice. She would have stumbled out the door if she had not bumped into somepony.

She looked behind her to see that Applebloom arrived. And from the look on her face she realized she was too late.
She did not catch Sweetie. She pushed herself past her as if she was something poisonous. Instead She positioned herself in front of Scootaloo. As if trying to become a wall between her and Sweetie.

"Scoot. Please stop" she said meekly.

Scootaloo did not stop. She let out a third dry laugh and continued her verbal assault.

“Who am I kidding! Your family would never have adopted me. You would never have adopted anypony! Just to think! Your rich perfect wealthy unicorn family would never ever thing of taking in a filthy, dirty, crippled Pegasus orphan! No. you upper class snobs would never settle for anything less than a perfect foal. So instead you used up all your wealth to make a perfect, beautiful sparkling, dreamy, unicorn SWEETIE BOT!”

Sweetie Belle was speechless. She would rather Scootaloo called her a Bloodbot than this. Never this.

Tears where flowing from her eyes with such volumes the thought her her eyeballs would pop pot to make room for the flow. Her heart was knitted together so hard it had become a knot.

Scootaloo wished she had her family. She wished Sweetie never existed. She not believe she was a pony. She had called her a Bot

Sweetie could barely get the words out as her throat felt like it was being clogged with sobs.

“What are you talking about...?" she stammered. “I'm not perfect! I don't even have a mark.”

“Oh I'm sure they will install one whenever they what to. That what you rich pony’s can do right! You can probably just buy a costume mark from some secret cutie mark craft club for rich ponies only!” She spat.

“You only used that so we could be friends right! You chose to be a blank flank so you could get together with the other blank flanks who are to stupid to figure out what you really are! You family Stealing BOT!”

“That's horrible! The Reason I don't have a mark is because... Because...”

The horrible realization crashed down on her before she even said it.

They where all thinking the same thing.

Robots don't get cutie marks.

The ice crackled so hard that Sweetie felt like her own head was splitting apart.

“Please... Stop. I'm not..."

She could not finish the wishful sentence. For now she knew it was a lie. It was all a lie. And so did everypony else. Every pony in school had seen it. Applebloom and Scootaloo had seen it.

“Please stop looking at me.”

Scootaloo and Applebloom had that look in their eyes. Much clearer now than before. The same lock that everypony in school had. And soon the entire village would have that look in their eyes.

She could not stand that look.

Crying she ran out of the clubhouse and into the worsening rain.

All the time her friends had been arguing, Applebloom had stood like rooted into the ground. Not knowing which way to turn. Now she was torn between chasing after Sweetie or staying with Scoot. But as Sweetie got further and further away she realized that the choice was made for her.

Finally she turned to Scootaloo. At least her problems where something she could relate to.

She knew what it was like to grow up without parents.

But it was not the same thing. She still had her sister and brother and Granny Smith. And if they had not been there, then the whole tree of the Apple family that would have been there to catch their fallen apple.
Scootaloo had no one. No mother. No father. No family nor relatives that waited for her when she came home after a long day with her friends. She grew up alone at Ponyville foster home. It was a home well sponsored and there was so shortage of welfare for its only child. To Scoot it was almost like having an entire house to herself. But what might seem like a foals dream, to be home alone Unsupervised, quickly became a nightmare of loneliness.

She had nothing beside an old superintendent at the home. And her friends.

And now one of does friends had been run of. Torn to tears by Scoots harsh words.

Applebloom moved in to sit besides Scootaloo and hugged her close. Trying to provide some solace for her friend. The friend that had made her promise not to tell anypony anything about her true feelings.

Finally Scootaloo hugged her back. She pulled herself close as she cried onto Applebloom's shoulder.
All the while she was sobbing “It isn't right... It isn't right... It isn't right...”

Applebloom just sat still in silence. Not knowing what to do or say. Only knowing that right now Scoot needed comforting. Sweetie was something they had to deal with later.

Some-pony, not some-thing, she had to remind herself. But she didn’t actually know what to think of Sweetie any more.

Memories replayed in her mind of the events leading up to this.
After their unstable fireworks accident had revealed a horrifying side inside Sweetie - the two of them had spent all night at the clubhouse debating what that meant. To them there could be only four logical explanations.

1. It really was Discord all along
2. Sweetie did have a mechanical leg
3. The Real sweetie had been abducted and replaced with a robot replica in preparations for a massive Bloodbot invasion.
4. She really had been a robot all along.

The implications of that last one was something more than Scootaloo could bear.

She did not want to hate Sweetie. But she could not help it. If ponies really where making robot foals instead of adopting, then her chances of ever getting a real family where as good as gone. She was reminded of this every time she looked at Sweetie.

Still they hung on. They clung to hope beyond hope that it was not so. But the X-ray today had shattered all hopes. And in turn it had shattered the Crusaders. One third of their little group had been driven out the door by the other not able to hold in her feelings any more.

Applebloom realized that scared her more than anything. Even more than that their friend being a robot. The CMC was a foundation to her as much as to the others. For without it she had nothing. Without them she was just a lonely blank flank.
And poor Sweetie? Did this mean she would be a blank flank forever? The look in her eyes as she ran away was something that was gonna give Applebloom nightmares. She knew that.

But sweetie was the one actually living in the nightmare. Sweetie was the one who this was all happening to. And here they where sitting feeling sorry for themselves. that thought made Applebloom feel awful.

After a while Scootaloo's tears dried up. And she was able to speak again.

“I always thought we were something. Proof that all ponies can live together in harmony regardless of class differences. We were a trio of me, the homeless orphan. You, with your middle class family. And Sweetie with her rich sister.”

“Ain't we still!?” Exclaimed Applebloom. “You said yourself that she is something the rich and wealthy created. And she still chose to be with us. To be our friend. Doesn't that prove you’re right?

"But ... but ... She is a robot. She has lied to us this entire time."

"Has she? What if she really didn't know? You saw how surprised she was when our stupid firework blew up in her face. What if her family really did never tell her. Sure they might have built her instead of adopting you. But that ain't Sweeties fault now is it?”

She grabbed Scootaloo by the cheeks and looked her square in the eyes.

“I do not want to loose a friend. And I know that you don't either!”

“But she isn't real. How can her friendship be real if she is not real? How can her feelings be real if she is not real? What if she is like a changeling? Someone that pretends to be your friend and then BANG!”

Scootaloo clapped her hooves together for emphasis.

“I don't know. Which is why we are going to go over there and ask”

Applebloom got on her hooves, and she pulled Scootaloo up with her. But before they could march to the door Scoot grabbed her.

“Wait! What if there is more of them out there? What if her sister is also a robot?"

She wiped her tears. Now that her sorrow and rage was ebbing out it was being replaced by something else.

"What if its her whole family? What if they are all a family of secret-undercover-changeling-robot-invaders from space!"

Applebloom could see the imagination starting to wind up in Scoot's eyes.

"What if they want us to chase after Sweetie right into a trap? And then they will harness all our blood and make replicas out of our skin to fuel their growing Bloodbot army that are currently residing in the village just waiting to take over!”

"This again? I thought we had already considered theory three?" Applebloom sighed. Less than optimistic about her friends delusional ideas.

"No! I'm pretty sure we jumped straight to theory four. Now that it has been proven true we have to consider the possibility that they are ll robots." Scoot said. Trying to sound like some detective in a cheep Noire movie.

Her imagination was now running wild. And even though Applebloom did not believe in her ideas she did not dissmis them. It was better than seeing Scootaloo down and depressed. Still, she still had a feeling this was gonna go to far. Like it always did with scoots ideas.

“We got to uncover the truth. Before its to late!” Scoot determined. "But we got to be smart! We got to be fast! We got to be just like Rampony Mactails! Uncovering the mystery behind the Bloodbots!”

Whit her head held high and her wings spread wide she marched out into the rain.

"Come on Applebloom, All of ponykind is depending on us!"

Applebloom sighed and followed her friend out the door.

“Your head's in tha clouds Scoot.” She muttered. “Sometimes I think it's a pegasus thing.”