//------------------------------// // Chapter 4. Emotional Overload // Story: Sweetie Bot - A Heart's Warming Tale // by Grimweird //------------------------------// Those eyes. They all had those eyes. Sweetie cried as she ran through town, but her tears where washed away by the rain. The last Autumn rain that had finally arrived at Ponyville. And Sweetie had ran straight into it. The clubhouse was on the outskirts of Sweet Apple Acres in the west part of town, and had been the last place to be hit by the bad weather as it poured in from the east. As she ran through town, the weather quickly worsened. The air got colder, the raindrops got bigger, and the rain itself intensified until it was like running through a shower. The dirt roads where turning to mud under her feet and puddles had already began to form in the streets. And Sweetie plowed straight through them. She had to run. She had to get away. She had to get away from everything. Away from this nightmare she had been trapped in. Away from the horrible things she had seen in class. Away from the fact that her secret was not only out – but that it had worsened. Her worst fears had been made truth in the green, ghostly light of Nurse Brittlebones X-ray spell. She had to get far far away from her screaming friend. Away from the heartbreaking harsh words she had screamed, and the horrifying truth behind them. The implications of the evil neglectfulness of needing orphans made by her own family. The nightmarish implications of what it meant for her own existence. The terrifying idea that she would never get a mark. An idea so scary she had not even been able to consider it. Yet of all this things it was the eyes she had to get away from the most. More so than the fact that her friends had abandoned her. More so than that her secret was out. Even more than the horror of her very being. Was the way everypony had looked at her. The eyes of Scootaloo. Of Applebloom. Of Cheerilee and Nurse Brittlebone and every filly and colt in her class. The looks in their eyes had stung her worse than a thousand needles. It hurt the most was not the things Scootaloo had said. Or even the horrible truth behind it all. Those horrible, horrible eyes. Everypony who had seen her had them. And they would soon tell others. The Colts and fillies would soon run home and tell their families. The grown ups would tell their coworkers. And their families and coworkers would in turn tell their friends. And Soon the entire village would know. The entire Village would have those eyes. The rain slicked streets of Ponyville laid empty and bare. Nopony wanted to be out in the freezing, hard rain. Not a single market carriage stood in the streets. Not one parasol had been left out by the cafe. Every flag and streamer had been pulled down. Every shutter had been closed. Not even a flowerpot had been left out, less it would drown in the rain. Ponyville was like a ghost town. But once the storm had passed it would become full of life again. Full of pony's … and eyes. Sweetie thought she saw something move inside one of the uncovered windows. And she just knew that it had seen her. She just knew that it knew. It made her increase her speed even more. Before somepony put their head out the door or out the window. She had to get away before they saw her. Before they started screaming after her. Before they gathered their pitchforks and torches and came after her. She had to run. She had to get away. Away from it all. Away from the nightmare she was living in. Away from the taunts and those horrible horrible eyes. The only thing she could not run away from was the voices in her head. -:: ... Power ... leakage ... Cry sequence ... ::- The ice in the back of her mind was rattling like an orchestra of maracas. Visions bounced inside her head. Visions of the nightmarish reality of her own body. The echo of Scootaloo's words. In her head a thousand eyes followed her. Staring. Judging. She had to get away from them. She had to get home. Home was the only safe haven remaining. *** She was already rain soaked once she reached the Carousel Boutique She busted in through the door. Nearly sending the doorbell flying of its hinges. She bolted straight up the stairs and into her own bedroom. She threw the door shut, threw herself into bed and cried. Please let this all be a horrible nightmare. She pleaded ans she pinned her eyes shut. Please let this all be over soon! Please let this whole horrible weekend just be a really, really, really bad nightmare she would have to wake up from. Please wake me up! She thought as she buried herself in the blanket, Twisting and turning as she was trying to tell herself that's what she had been doing this whole nightmare. That through the whole ordeal she had just been twisting and turning in her bed. Like she was doing now. She was gonna wake up any minute now. In just a few seconds she would wake up from this horrible nightmare and everything would be back to normal. And when she awoke she was so gonna have twilight wright a letter to princess Luna about not doing her job! A loud knock broke her thoughts. “Sweetie!?” her older sister called. Sweeties ears stood up. Rarity was calling from downstairs. Yes! Rarity was coming to wake her up and this nightmare would end. “SWEETIE!” Big sister was closer now. And angrier. Sweetie must have overslept. She untangled herself from the blanket and sat up in bed, her eyes still shut tight. “Just a nightmare.” She told herself. “Just a nightmare. Just a nightmare. Just a nightmare.” She repeated the phrase over and over as she slowly opened her eyes. At first everything was normal again. Then she saw the trail of brown trail of hoofprints leading to her bed. She looked down on her hooves, only now noticing the mud that had gotten stuck on her socks and smeared all over her bed and the floor. Rarity had also noticed them. “SWEETIE! LOOK WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO MY CARPET!” The door to her room flew open. And there stood Rarity, her eyes filled with murderous intent. “What are you thinking Sweetie Belle!? Running around indoors with muddy shoes! Awww, its gotten into my carpets! My poor poor carpets!” Her voice instantly softened to a whining as she laid down on the floor trying to hug the carpet. When she looked up again her eyes where filled with sour disappointment. “And what are you thinking rolling around in the bed like some pig! What has gotten into you? Did you not even remove your shoes?” With a frustrated growl she magically grabbed the blanket and pulled it, and Sweetie, out of bed. She was about to continue her lecturing. But one look at as Sweetie made her gasp in shock. “OH Sweetie what have you done to yourself? Where... Where are your shoes? Where is your other sock!?“ She gasped again. “Your leg! Sweetie what have you done with your leg!?” Sweetie looked down on her right foreleg. The sock that had been on it had disappeared and she could not even remember when or where. Exposed was the now muddy package of bandage she used to cover with that sock. A cruel reminder that she was still very much in this nightmare. She jumped back into her mud smeared bed and pulled a pillow over her head. -:: Crying sequence initiated ::- "Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!" She screamed as she punched herself through the pillow. But the voices would not leave her. And She just couldn't get the sound of ice filled maracas out of her head. The noise in her mind almost overpowered her sisters worried plea. “Sweetie! Please stop and tell me what has happened. What ever have you done with your leg? Have you been crusading again?” Crusading. The word made her want to vomit. -:: Activate stomach rejection Y/N? ::- She screamed into the pillow. “And whatever has gotten you so upset?!” Her sister stammered on. “Is it about the colts?” -:: Anger levels rising ::- Sweetie threw the pillow at Rarity's face. “NO! IT ISN'T ABOUT ANY STUPID COLTS!” She screamed. The pillow left a smear of mud as it fell away from Rarity's dumbstruck face. “Its about... About...” Sweetie pulled another pillow over her eyes. Somehow not looking directly at Rarity made the words come out easier. “Sister... was I ever in some big accident?” She did not dare to look up from the pillow. She did not want to hear what Rarity had to say. But Rarity only answered questioningly. “Wha... whatever do you mean Sweetie?” -:: Fury levels rising ::- Somehow that only made her angrier. She had considered the possibility of Rarity not knowing. But some part of her had deemed that an impossibility. If she really had been in an accident then it was just no way Rarity could not have known about it. “Was I ever in some kind of accident, that was so big that I had to have a part of me replaced? So big that i had to have ALL OF ME REPLACED!” “Sweetie, Wha... what are you talking about?” -:: Hate levels rising ::- Sweetie threw the second pillow at Rarity. And when it fell away Sweetie saw that her pupils had shrunken to the size of pinheads. One eyelid was twitching, as was the pupils. They where shaking so bad it was like her eyes where having a stroke. Without thinking any further Sweetie jumped of the bed, and grabbed her bandage. “I'M TALKING ABOUT THIS!!” She ripped the bandage of her. Exposing the chewed up skin and the mechanical leg underneath. “PLEASE TELL ME THAT IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF SOME ACCIDENT! PLEASE TELL ME THAT I AM NOT A ROBOT!” Rarity did not answer. The sight of the mechanical leg seemed to have sent her into shock. for several song seconds she just stared at Sweetie with a look of utmost horror. But what came next was even worse. The expressions melted of her face, leaving her almost completely blank. Except for the eyes. they stared at her leg in a way that was almost reminiscent of Deja vu. Like a form of recognition. -:: She knows ::- No. This wasn’t right. Big sister was suppose to protect her from all the bad stuff. Not be part of it. “Please tell me its not real!” Sweetie all but whispered. No response. Rarity looked like she had lost the ability to speak. In fact It was almost like she had lost the ability to breathe. Only the fact that her face was not turning blue meant she must still be getting air from somewhere. She was deflated, paralyzed, almost like her mind had shut down. “Did you? … You knew … You always knew didn't you? DIDN'T YOU?” Sweetie screamed at her sister. Nothing. Rarity just continued to stare at her. Her eyes so round that they looked like their would roll out of her skull. Pupils so small they where almost none existent. -:: ... Initiating despair protocols ... Heavy heart simulation ... Hyperventilation ... ::- Not even the ponies at school had reacted this way. They had screamed and fainted and even thrown up. She wanted Rarity to do that to. She wanted to have her big sister scream at her. She wanted her to cry and whine and shout and wave and hyperventilate and sweat like the massive drama queen she always was. Anything other than this. Anything other than that look in her eyes... “This can't be what I am... It just can't! … You just can't...” Still no response. Her silence was almost more conformation than anything she could have said. It was there in her eyes. Those horrible, horrible eyes! The ice cracked. Even her sister Rarity had those eyes! “No. This can't be me. Get it out. Get it out of me! GET IT OUT OF ME!” In a desperate fury she grabbed her right hoof with her left. Not caring that she fell over as she did. She rolled around on the floor and pulled and pulled. Trying to rip the monstrous mechanics out of her. And when that quickly produced nothing she brought the hoof up to her mouth and bit down on the gears. She gnawed all over looking for somewhere to sink her teeth in. Anywhere. And to her amazement the teeth sank into the metal. -:: ... Taste analysis... Metal ... Warning ... Self harm inflicted ... Pull away ... ::- -::OVERRIDE::- Sweetie resisted the sudden urge to pull away with a furious desire to her it all out of her body. These machine parts where preventing real tissue from growing back. If she could just rip them out of her body then she would be able to heal. The muscles and meat would grow back. She could go to twilight and magically have some bones installed. Zecora must have some bone growing mixture. She would get a real heart transplanted into her chest. And there would be blood running through her veins again and nerves and... A lubrication line burs and filled her mouth with gooey lubrication liquid. She coughed and spat. She spewed dots of brown oil onto Rarity's precious carpet. She just barely managed to not swallow any of the stuff. Regardless the taste analytic in her head reminded her of what was in her mouth, and her belly once again insisted on rejecting its content. The feeling of puking almost made her cease her self destructive assault. But then a blue light appeared around her bite marks. -:: Damage detected ... Lubrication line ... Front right leg ... Initiating self repair and restoration program ::- “OH NO! Not this time.” She thought. -:: OVERRIDE ::- She sunk her teeth back into the steel. She wasn't going to allow whatever magic it was to hold the machines in piece. She was gonna destroy it. She was gonna destroy it all. She managed to get her teeth around a set of wires, and pulled. The wires burst, and sent a shock of electricity into her mouth. The shock it gave her made her jerk away. But the tiny wires had gotten stuck between her teeth, And they shot electricity right up into her gum. She tried to yank her leg away. But she only managed to rip the wires further out of her cybernetic muscles. They where now hanging like loose strings from her elbow up to her mouth. And the electric cramp in her yaw only increased with the effort. For it had caused more energy to run through the leg and out the wires. The pain was unbearable. Her tongue seized as it got zapped, the gum felt like it was being fried as the shock ran through it. and the electricity rolled over her tongue and into her throat. And from there she could feel the shock bouncing around in her head. A head that was echoing with voices. -:: Danger ... connection to right hoof lost ... // Panic pressure increasing ... // Response ... Pull away from harm ... Error – Command Override ... // Harm self inflicted ... Activate reflexes ... // Power fluctuation in jaw ... // ... Diverting power ... // ... ::- Sweetie was screaming. From somewhere far away Rarity had started screaming. And the voices in her head would just not be quiet. And the the drumming of ice maracas was only getting louder. “Shut up. Shut Up! SHUT UP!” -:: OVERRIDE ::- -:: Program halted ... // !Warning! // Pain threshold approaching ... Repair protocol - !Error! - Command Override // !Warning! // Data leakage ... Wall breach imminent ... ::- The frozen wall in the back of her mind was trembling. What had started out as nothing but a crack had grown to a hole. A hole sweetie herself had dug. A hole through which the voices where sipping. And the more she screamed at them to stop, the louder they became. The hole only grew from the pressure as the two streams crashed against each other and against the wall meant to separate them. Until eventually... the wall came crumbling down. And like peaceful city below a rupturing dam holding back the ocean – Sweeties mind became instantly flooded. It was as if somepony had bashed a radio into her head and stuck it with lightning. As if she could hear every radio station in Equestria and the world all at once. In an instant she lost her perception of the world around her. She was swiped away from her own eyes and her own skin. All her perception was instead pulled inwards. All at one she became aware of every last wire in her being. It was like seeing her body from the inside. She saw through her eyes. She was here eye's. Then she was pulled away into herself. She was her stomach. She was her touch sensors. She was her balance modulator. She was her airpump. She was her hoof. She was her battery. She was her ears. She was her sound receivers. She was her tailbone. She was her buffer. She was her power distributor. She was her voicebox. All of these things were running around like an endless stream of rodents now that they had been released, and they pulled Sweetie along for the ride. All these things she saw, and she did not like what she saw one bit. -:: What is happening to me? ::- -:: What even are half of these tings!? ::- She was her right foreleg. She was her cybernetic biceps. She was the damage being chewed on. She was the wire that was pulled out. She was the broken end that was stuck in her teeth. She was flowing over her tongue. Next, she was back in her head again. She saw through her eyes for the blink of a second before being whisked away again. So it went. Up and down, in and out. She was trapped on an eternal roller coaster through her own body. Her o so mechanical body. The horror of not being in charge of your own body, of being trapped in it like a prison, Was overwhelming. Try as she might to regain control the sheer shock was rendering it an impossibility to think clearly. And her confusion only spread out to all the systems. Things that had operated automatically for so long, separated from her consciousness, shielded from her emotions, where now being disrupted by her interference. Her emotions where leaking out into the circuits and corrupting the data. Causing glitches and contradictions in the streams. The very energy that flowed through her wire was being upset as the power regulations started to misbehaving, causing further confusion. And every system turned to her for advice, for conformation, for information. They bombarded her with their mere existence and pulled her in every direction at one. And as a result they started to interfere with each other. Like a snowball being kicked down a mountain it gathered mass and momentum as it rolled down the slope. The disaster only grew and grew until it became an avalanche of corrupt data. Power fluctuations and contradiction information until her own thoughts where glitching out. What few straight thoughts remained could be summarized in a single sentence. -:: WHAT AM I!? ::- She wanted to ask these questions. But her mouth would not form the words. “RrrAAaaaRrrrrriiiiitt-T-T-T-T-yyYYyyyy!” Her ears registered something coming from her mouth that did not sound like her voice. It sounded like several voices at once. Like somepony playing with a broken radio that has gotten caught between two radio stations. Things like regulating her volume, strength and tone of voice had become an impossibility on top of everything else. Something even told her that her yaw where no longer in sync with the words being spoken, but flailed around uncontrollably. It all became to much for the system. -::OVERLOAD IN PROGRESS! ::- -:: !!ALL SYSTEMS REACHING CRITICAL LEVELS!! ::- -:: !!EMERGENCY SHUTDOWN IMMINENT!! ::- -:: Fainting protocols initialized ::- The emergency procedure protocols said that the right cause of action to prevent an overload was to faint. It was the right responce to the overwhelming shock she was exposed to. So It told her body that it was gonna make it faint. At least... It tried to. But with all other things screaming for attention the body wasn't listening. Sweetie wasn't listening. She wanted out. Out of this prison that was her body. She wanted it gone. All the things in her head. All the things inside her body. She did not want to be here any more. She did not want this to be the truth. She did not want this to be her life! She wanted it to end. This lie that was her life. She wanted it to go away. If it would not go away, then she would. She wanted to be away. To be far, far away from it all. Away from all the pain, the shock, and sadness that had accumulated inside her. Like a second snowball been kicked down the same mountain it gathered mass and momentum as it rolled down the slope – getting bigger and bigger until it became an avalanche of emotions that threatened to swallow the first one. An avalanche of emotions. Stress became panic, and panic became shock. That, Piled upon the horror of having a body that was made of metal and gears. Piled upon the horror of the past dreadful few days. on top of all the sorrow she felt for the past few days. The realization that her life was a lie. She horror and of having seen all the mechanical parts under her skin The shame and sorrow and pain she had caused herself trying to keep it a secret and trying to rid herself of her dilemma. Only to have all the hopes that there was any other explanation being crushed before her very eyes. The humiliation of that all the kids had seen the same things as she did in the light of the X ray spell. The heartbreaking of hearing Scoot call her a bot. A family stealing, orphan hating bot. And the utter despair of having her home and her sister, her last hope and safe haven, fail to provide any comfort or consolation. It all became to much... -:: !!!HEART-DRIVE OVERLOADED!!! ::- -:: !!!SYSTEMS CRASHING DOWN!!! ::- -:: !Emotional registration and response protocols disengaged! ::- -:: !!BATTERY OFFLINE!! ::- -:: !Heart-Drive disengaged! ::- -:: PRIMARY BODY FUNCTIONS SHUTTING DOWN ::- -:: Secondary body functions shutting down ::- -:: REBOOTING IN ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ::- *** ... ... -:: … Rebooting ... ::-- “S...Sweetie?” The sound receivers registers a voice. The eyelids opened in respond to the voice. The eyes found that their eye-level was in tune with the floor. This must mean that the body was lying on the floor. This was an error. There was no memory of how the body had ended up on the floor. The memory of the last few moments where hazy at best. The memory bank had not been able to save any data after the overload started to occur. Slowly the head turned. -::Analyzing surroundings // Compare to memory // Recognition established // Sweetie Belles bedroom ... My bedroom // Loading corresponding data // Resting place, Playroom, Storage - Room inside Carousel Boutique - Rarity's Workshop, Sisters home ... ... My home // Safety // Safe haven ... ::- -:: Loading corresponding emotions ... // !Error! // Heart-Drive still offline ::- The head continued to very slowly turn until It could turn no more. The eyes had not been able to visually identify the source of the voice. And the analysis of the voice clip provided no mach. The voice was to ... torn up to be recognizable. The body would have to stand up to be able to turn around. Most of the system where still offline. Only the main, basic functions where rebooting as the many smaller systems and subsystems where still recovering from the overload. The balance modulator was unresponsive. But there where still data on how to stand up. A command to was sent to the four confused, sprawled legs to pull themselves together and get all four hooves under the torso. One of the legs had a malfunction. the wires where torn and stuck between the teeth. This was an error. The eyes moved to visually confirm the wires. The left hoof slowly rose and moved to grab the wires and pulled them out of the mouth. The damage to the wires was severe, but wound not hinder the process of rising. Slowly the body rose. Careful to not tip over. And once all four legs under where firmly placed under the torso, and visual conformation that the body was not tilting or falling over had been made, the eyes began to scan the room once more. Slowly the head turned towards the sound, and the eyes came to see a wight mare with purple curly hair. -:: Recognizing profile // Identification :: Rarity // Loading corresponding file // Sister,Friend, BSBFF, Caretaker, Older sibling ... ::- The list when on. There were many, many words that described Rarity. But those words where just words. Individual lumps of letters. They meant nothing to her. -:: Loading corresponding emotional data ... // !Warning! // Heart-Drive still offline ::- She looked at Rarity and she felt nothing. Only data. Raw data streamed into her mind. And with nothing but data and words to go on her mind started to look for more of that to go on. -:: Loading recent file // LIAR,LIAR,LIAR,LIAR,LIAR,LIAR,CHEATER,UNFATEFUL,UNHELPFUL,UNGRATEFUL,MEANY-BEAN ... ::- Strong words. Perhaps stronger than the others. And most certainly newer. New data had to be more relevant right? -:: Loading corresponding emotional data ::- -:: Heart-Drive back online ::- -:: Rebooting in progress // 1% complete ::- -:: Loading corresponding emotional data on Rarity ::- -:: HATE ::- -:: Loading HATE ::- -:: HATE // HATE // HATE // HATE ... ::- The simple raw emotion booted up inside of her. at the same time the facial features started to come back online. And her facial features adjusted accordingly in response to her one emotion. Her brown frowned as deep as it could. Her teeth creaked and her lips pulled as deep down as they could. The behavior protocol deeming what she should do in this situation deemed that the logical thing to do was to attack the mare in front of her. With words, with pillows or with bare hooves if that's what it would take. There where many many record supporting this. memories of there being emotions like this harbored towards the mare. Records of desires to hurt and even destroy this mare in various ways. Memories of fighting. Arguing. Of Rarity refusing to comply with reasonable wishes. Of Rarity denying things that where desired. And most recently: of Rarity not providing the answers sought. -:: Set phase to attack ::- She bent down. Ready to pounce the mare in front of her. Set on "beating the shit out of her" as the records stated. But in the records there was also a ton of more data saying that this was an ill conceived course of action. Memories of these hatefull feelings always diminishing. Data that said that sorrow and regret would always follow in their wake. Those where bad emotions. Things to be avoided. Through this, data of another emotion was making itself percent. One that did not want to hate Rarity. -:: Conflict created ::- More emotional data of this one feeling was beginning to load onto the slowly rebooting Heart-Drive. Enough to push the hate aside. This data said that she did not want to attack Rarity. It said that all she wanted to be held in Rarity's arms and be protected from this harsh world. Information corresponding with this emotional data confirmed that Rarity was here to comfort her and embrace her in a time of need. It said that Rarity was her last outpost of hope in desperate times. "RAAARIIIIT-T-T-YYYY!" So many systems where still offline - unresponsive - glitching - or not working correctly after the overload. One of them was her voice. But more and more was coming back online. And with them came the colective data on the glitching and errors that had occured. Memories and emotional Data spoke of something awful that had happened. The memory of what, was hazy at best. Corrupted by the overload. Her mind was not able to properly process it yet. The rebooting was far from done. With this conflict the facial features became confused. Something in the memory told her that the crying sequence should be running on full. The sequence tried to boot. But a glitch just made the eyelids twitch. Likewise the whole face - eyebrows, lips and muzzle - started to twitch, unsure of which emotion they where suppose to form. The voicebox was unsure what tone of voice it was suppose to make. There was simply to much confusing data renaming to decide a course of action. But her heart drive said that it had enough information to decide a course of action. It said that she wanted to love Rarity. And that Rarity loved her back. It said that she wanted to be hold in her arms and be protected from this evil that had become her. -:: Set phase to hug ::- She jumped at Rarity. Rarity screamed. Her hoof came up. And Sweetie was knocked away. Away from that safe haven that was her sisters embrace. Away from that warm hug that should have been waiting for her in her time of need. Her systems failed to recognize what had even happened. Her touch sensors where still offline. Unable to register any force making contact with her skin. Suddenly she was on the back. Skittering across the floor. Confusion loaded all over her Heart drive and her mind. What had just happened? Had Rarity not embraced her? Why? Did sister not love her back? She raised her head to look at Rarity. Just in time for the facial feature reading software to come back online. only now was the eyes able to read the expression on Rarity's face. And what they read was something that should make the cry sequence overclock. No. Sister did not love her. Sister did not recognize her. -:: Why? ::- Because she had those eyes. This was new data. There was no previous records on what to do in a situation like this. But Rarity had suddenly become a rouge element. She had acted against all predictions. All data on the mare had to be considered invalid. There was no information on what she could do do. Wait. Yes there was. -:: Loading memory ::- The imagery of Rampony Mactails massacring robots appeared into her mind. Alongside the memories of how the children at school had screamed at her. Of how her friends had treated her. Memories of those eyes. Those eyes that only meant bad things. Those eyes meant that pain and suffering would come. Those eyes was something to be avoided. There was only one response registered on what to do when encountering those eyes. -:: Loading latest directive ::- -:: Run ::- That was a thought backed up by such strong emotional data that it was the only logical solution. To run. To be away from everything. To be far, far away from those eyes. -:: RUN ::- On this the Heart-Drive had no objections. Her safe haven had failed to protect her. Rarity had failed to embrace her. Those eyes had corrupted everything. She had to leave this room now. But Rarity was blocking the way to the door. And the feeling in the Heart drive still said that she could not attack Rarity. Logic said that she should not go near Rarity. Because that would be to go closer to those eyes. And that would be counter to the directive. But the door was not the only way out of this room. In her memory was a clear map of the room. A room she had been in many times. She knew that there was a window on the outer wall. Without even looking she got up and made a run for it. She jumped and smashed through the window. She rolled over the roof of the wider floor below and landed in the muddy street. She got up, ran, and disappeared into the cold, rainy night. *** Rarity awoke in her bed. She did not know if she had been sleeping for hours, or minutes. She felt exhausted. Not just physically. But mental as well. Yet some part of her mind told her that at least a few hours had passed. She must have had the most horrifying nightmare. But whatever it was about she could not remember. The dream was just a distant memory now. Fading into the past. A sharp pain shot through her brain. As if just thinking about the dream was a painful act. She quickly put a lock on her mental closet, to stop the skeletons from last night from coming out. There was no need to think about the dream. It was, after all, just a dream. And there was no Reason to be sleeping the day away when she had work to do. She raised her hoof to remove her sleeping mask. Only now realizing she was not wearing it. When her hoof touched her cheek she felt it was moist and sticky. She held out her hoof to see that it was covered in mascara. Her eyeshadow had been running down her cheek. Had she been crying? The closet in the back of her mind rattled. She got out of bed and headed into the bathroom. A gruesome sight awaited her in the mirror. She looked simply awful. Her eyes where red ans swollen. And black lines had begun to form under them. The mascara itself was smeared all over her face like some sort of warpaint. She had not just been crying. She had been dragging her hooves all over her face. Why had she done that? The closet rattled harder. Rarity had to put a chair in front of it. Focus on the face now. She thought. Oh how where she ever going to fix this mess?! She pulled out a napkin and started wiping her face clean as she mentally complained in her usual over-dramatic way. She was gonna have to get cucumber slices for her eyes. She would have to get a makeup for her face. She would have to spend all day at the spa and... She was awoken from her daydreams by the sound of knocking. The knocking was coming from her front door. She had costumers. The spa was gonna have to wait. I a rush she made herself presentable. She used magic to quickly apply a new layer of eyeshadow and poured a few eye-drops into her eyes to ease her red swollen eyes. She grabbed a brush and a few other style products in her magic to stylize herself hair as she walked. Simultaneously combing her hair while spraying herself with perfume and scrubbing her chins with napkins. “I'm coming. Just a moment!” She said in the best sing a song voice she could manage – only now noticing her voice was rasp and her throat felt like sandpaper. As she walked past Sweeties room she felt a cold draft coming from under the door. The closet in the back of her mind rattled like crazy. But she hushed it and told herself that it was nothing to worry about. She would pay Sweeties room no mind. She knew Sweetie was not there. Sweetie was in school now. Like normal. Everything was normal. It knocked on the door again as she descended down the stairs. “Just a minute” She managed to say without sounding hoarse. Even that was a strain on her tongue. She took a detour into the chicken. Poured herself a glass of water, gurgled it, and spit it out in the sink. Then, she drank a few sips and gave herself a dose of mouth spray. Much better. It knocked on the door a third time. “Coming, coming” she said as she doused herself with a little perfume to hide any sent of sweat she might be carrying. Next, she hid all the products under the sink and hurried to the door. Careful to not seem in a rush as the knocking was heard yet again. With a practiced smile she threw open the door. “Welcome to my Boutique dear...” The next word (costumer) died in her mouth. For whom was standing on her doorstep was no customer of hers. “Well thank you kindly dear” Said a mustachioed, slightly overweight stallion in a frightful flower shirt and Strawhat. “We where beginning to fear you leave us out here in the rain.” “Dad?” “The one and only.” He said with a laugh. And gave Rarity a hug. Without further ado he made his way into the the Boutique, quickly followed by his wife. An equally round mare with a red shirt and a set of seashells as jewelry, and the ugliest handbag rarity had ever seen. “Mom?” “So you do remember us” She said, and gave Rarity a second hug. “we where beginning to worry you forgotten about us after we'd been away for so long.” Rarity continued to stare out her door. At the third pony standing there. A purple mare with a glowing horn. Behind her she was levitating a whole trains worth of luggage. “Twilight?” “Lovely parents you have” Said her friend as she to walked into the boutique. “I met them in the street. Their trailer got stuck in a puddle when the rain started, so I offered to help.” The long row of luggage followed twilight in through the door like wagons following a locomotive. Despite the heavy rain falling outside none of them where wet. Neither the bags nor the ponies had as much as a drop on them. The levitation aura around each bag must have doubled as a protective rain-sheet. Looking up Rarity could also see a faint purple aura acting as an umbrella above the three ponies. “Yes. You have really been most helpful miss Sparkle.” Mom said as Twilight set all the bags down in the middle of the room. Neatly stacked in pyramid form with the biggest in the bottom and the smallest on top. “You really are lucky to have such friends.” “Please. Its nothing.” Said Twilight. Blushing a little from the compliment. “And please. Call me Twilight.” “Ok miss Twilight, its been a pleasure.” Dad said. “I thank you again for the help. But unfortunately I must bid you adieu. Its been a long trip and we like to have some private time with our daughter. Family maters. You understand.” “Of course. Cell me if you need anything else.” Twilight said and made her way out the door. Which still was open, with Rarity still standing, staring in disbelief out into the rain. Until twilight said goodbye and closed the door right in her face. “Bye.” As soon as the door closed behind Twilight, Rarity turned to face her parents. She could still not fully believe they where here. A part of her did not want them here! ”Its so dark in here. I don't understand how you can work i this dim light.” Dad said. He moved and pulled some of the curtains open. Letting in the sight of the gray rainy skies outside. Rarity only now noticed they even where all pulled shut. Had she done that? When? Why? Her mother let out a moan of discomfort. ”Somepony have made a mess of your carpet.” She said. Drawing attention to a brown trail of hoofprints that dotted her wall to wall carpet. "Honestly. Ponies should learn to wash your their hooves." "Yes... They should." Rarity answered. Dad traced the hoofprints with his eyes. They led directly from the door to the stairs. The closet in the back of Rarity's mind rattled like never before as the skeletons inside had started banging on the doors. He wrinkled his mustache in a skeptical manner as his eyes lingered on the top step. But then he shrugged and turned back to Rarity. “Is Sweetie out?” He asked. “Yes … She is … Out.” “Good. We figured it would be best if we came while little Sweetie was still in school.” ”Yes... In school” Rarity Echoed. Sweetie was suppose to be in school right now. Nothing out of the ordinary. The closet in her mind was no vibrating so hard that it was setting itself on fire. And her parents presence only added gasoline to the mix. ”Why? Why are you here?” She let out. Sounding way more panicking than she intended. “We wanted to spend time whit you on this heart warms eve” Her father said with a chuckle. But his face became stern ans serious. As did her mothers. They bout smiled so warmly as their eyes prematurely asked for understanding of what they where about to say. A look that finally ignited the spark and set Rarity's closet ablaze. “And Rarity...” Mom said with the longest pause. “... Its time we told her.”