Sweetie Bot - A Heart's Warming Tale

by Grimweird

Chapter 30. Mark of Life

It took a while to replace the equipment Sweetie had broken in her outburst. Though complaints were to be had, they were all happy Sweetie had not damaged herself.

Cardiac started holding sessions with the Belle family. Allowing them to talk out about their situation with a real psychologist. Screwloose joined them in the middle of the session. As happy as ever to see Sweetie, despite her current state. She even liked Sweetie's oily tears away.

After restoration of the equipment was completed – repairs could finally begin.

They had to prioritize reconstruction of Sweetie's own repair system.
Twilight had to teleport with Dr Pain back to his scrapyard and get an industrial sized maintenance crystal, that they hooked up to Sweetie. With it she was able to start recharging her own repair crystals.

She discovered that the titanium that had been drained from the armor had not just fused into her frame but refilled her restoration buffer as well. They asked her to make her repair systems to scrape of some of that raw material from her frame and use it to repair her stomach.

They told Sweetie to focus restoration of her belly and distribution system. Since they feared their combined programming skills would be lacking in practical knowledge of such advanced Technology. And its creator, Molten Metalhoof, wasn't exactly in any way capable to help.

Luckily she found that the cause of her belly's leakage was but a tiny hole that proved easy enough to restore.
And with her distribution system restored it was simply a matter of feeding her raw materials.

Her belly rumbled like a cement mixer for hours on end, and her diet consisting solely of scrap metal scavenged from the factory. Since she did not have a jaw or a throat they ground it up into tiny pieces that they spoon fed directly into her belly through her open stomach. Sweetie could hear the belly rumbling like a cement mixer all day and night long. The Mechanic had not been kidding when he said her belly was a work of art. So small yet so efficient.

The repairs proceeded smoothly, with Sweetie's own repair system standing for most of the reconstruction. And with her own expert knowledge of her own inner workings guiding the repairs, as everypony did they best to help the repair magic along by welding and stitching pieces of metal and wires in place. Rarity proved surprisingly good at using her magic to meld together broken circuity crystals.

The only parts she couldn't reconstruct were those that were missing, or had been completely destroyed.

Twilight insisted that they used as many of the original parts as they could find, as those parts would have traces of the same transformation she had undergone. Even the parts of her that hadn't been attached when that strange light-show occurred would still have the traces of the Metalmorphosis caused by the electrical magical radiation, and thus contain bits and pieces of Sweetie's data in their circuits.

Digging through the rubble of the ruined factory, they managed to find her jaw and most of the teeth for it. And after some denting, they were able to reattach it.

Screwloose even managed to sniff out and dig up her missing right foreleg from the rubble.

Rarity wanted to reattach it but Twilight stopped her. She set the arm down next to Sweetie and asked her to try and pull herself together.

To see her own arm lying there might have freaked her out once. She remembered how badly she had wanted to be rid of it. To pull all the mechanical pieces out of her so that the flesh could grow back. How she had bitten through the circuitry and sent herself into a frenzy that had scared Rarity so bad she had punched her. Now Sweetie wanted nothing but to punch herself in the head for being so stupid.
But to do that she needed her arm.

She picked it up and examined it.

The metal bars that formed her skeletal base structure had broken clean off in a way that would have to be welded together.
But they still asked Sweetie to try and attach it to herself.

She didn’t know if she could do it. Her Maintenance spells weren't designed for damage this big.
She had self repaired internal damage. Never a missing limb.

Could she do it?

At least she had to try.

Even detached, she feel a longing for it. This was a part of her and it wanted to be back in its place.
She held the broken limb up to the corresponding break in the stump hanging from her shoulder. Carefully twisting and turning to mach the cracks like when reassembling a broken vase. Now, if she only had some glue.

She called on her repair program and sent the energy down through the stump. As expected the she was not able to extend her energy further than the edge of the stump. But the area where the two pieces met started to glow in a faint pink light. That was a little surprising, since last time her repair spell-program had been blue. It must have changed along with the rest of her insides.

At first nothing happened. But Sweetie patiently held the leg in place. It was becoming part of her, one way or another.
Rarity took a step forward to help her. But Twilight and Hobo Bobo put a hoof on her shoulders and shook their heads. Then turned to Sweetie with a reassuring smile. Filling her with confidence that she could do this on her own. She sent more energy down her stump. Making the pink glow brighter and brighter.

And finally she could see the bars merging together. The cracks growing thinner and thinner until they disappeared completely. She let go of her leg, seeing it was not failing off.
On the inside, the repair system told her the metal skeleton had become whole one again. But connection could not be established due to the broken cords.

She picked up the torn cords and wires one by one and started fitting them together with their corresponding counterparts. As the wires began to meld together in that pink glow, so did she feel her systems extend into the missing limb. Not only registering, but recognizing it.
The mechanic muscle pistons and sinews that had laid dormant reawakened as motion was restored to the broken limb.

She lifted it above her head and twisted the hoof around her fetlock. It squealed and creaked like a rusty tumble dryer. It was the best sound she ever heard. She pulled it close to her chest and hugged it with her other leg. All thought of hitting herself with this beautiful little hoof where forgotten in another overload of happy emotions that once again sent tears of oil running down her cheeks. Sweetie had never been so happy for her right leg.

The others gathered round and congratulated her on her effort.
As she let go of hugging her own limb, Sweetie, and all gathered, gasped in unison. Streaks of a glowing swirling green pattern where slowly spreading from her shoulder down her reattached leg. They were witnessing the Metalmorphosis occur before their very eyes.

When energy was fully restored to the leg, its inner components had gained the same glowing pattern that her other insides had. examination showed that her leg had also gotten the same qualities as the rest of her.
Sweetie happily allowed the rest of the titanium in her buffer to go into the right leg. So that it would become equal to her other limbs.

“I would sure like to study her.” Said Dr Pain. As he was in the process of removing Sweetie's broken air pump for welding and cleaning. “It was not like the armor was useful. Examination showed that it had not received the Metal-morphosis. Rather, it had been just been drained of titanium. But if I could just take a part of her for study. Who knows. We might be able to unlock the secret to cybernetic Life?”

“You will do no such thing” said Rarity. “Any parts of my sister belongs to her.”

Despite Rarity yelling in his face. He kept smiling the same way he always did.

“Speaking of parts” He said as he removed the air pump. This is an opportunity for you to improve yourself. "You don't need an air pump any longer."

“Yes I do” Said Sweetie “I might not need to breathe. But what if I need so save somepony from drowning? or blow up a balloon? Or a birthday candle ...”

“You heard the young miss!" Rarity yelled . “You will clean that airfilter and you will put it back in! You and your pack of fiends have done all the damage you ever going to do!"

“Fine!” He hissed.

As they took out the air pump, Sweetie could see the desires in his eyes. But it faded away as the cybernetic energy and swirling panthers did the same. Upon examination, there was not a single trace left of the energy in the detached component.

Disappointed he put it back.

"Still." Said Bronco "If there is anything you want us to change, now that we have the opportunity... "

Rarity was on him like a wolf.

“NO! She will be restored exactly like she was! ”

At first, Sweetie's own response would have been similar. She did not want anything to change. She just wanted things to go back to the way they where. But then she began thinking.

She looked up at her own heart. It was weird having the source of all your emotions hanging above you like an nutrition infusion bag to some hospital patient. (But in many ways - that's what she was.)
It was slightly bigger than her old and would have trouble fitting into her chest.

A memory surfaced about how she would soon become the shortest in class. Outgrown by her friends.

With those things in mind she came to a conclusion.

“Actually... Could you make me a little taller?”

Finally, they were able to put her new Heart-Drive back in her chest where it belonged. (It was almost a shame that such a work of art would be hidden inside her.) As they did, they saw that small lines of cybernetic energy had already begun to form upon the outer edges of the Heart-Drive. But this time everypony smiled about it. This time, there would be no firewalls or containment spells around it. This time they knew the metalmorphosis was perfectly natural for her.

With no more original parts to be found, they had to find replacements. Parts they had to scavenge from the destroyed foal bots on the factory line.

Twilight was actually worried that new parts might be incompatible with Sweetie. That she would reject them due to them not sharing the same energy structure as the rest of her.

She did not need to worry. Sweetie was able to extend herself into the new parts just like she could extend herself into all electronic devices. And made them part of herself. Who knew. Perhaps with time they would undergo the same transformation.

In truth Sweetie was a bit excited to receive new parts. It was like receiving Hearth's Warming gifts.
A new battery, a new digestion tube, a new ear, a few new teeth, some nuts and bolts. And a new eye.
Though by far the most interesting of the new parts was a new voicebox.

Sweetie played around with it and had some fun when she found out the voicebox had many tones and pitches – including some very deep once that could make her sound like a sound like a colt or an old stallion. Though she had trouble getting it to sound exactly like her old voice. Perhaps the difference lay in that the sound no longer traveled through layers or organic skin. Perhaps it was that it had not undergone the transformation as the original. It didn't matter too much. It was far better than to hear the horrid rasping of an old broken voicemodule.

Dr Cardiac comforted her with the thought that all little girl's voices change as they grow up.

She was in the middle of fine tuning and syncing the voice up to her jaw movement when her parents came with another gift for her. A set of eye lenses, with green irises similar the one she had lost.

Sweetie could not even remember when she had lost her eye lenses. But she remembered a question that had bugged her, ever since somepony had said that she had her fathers eyes. She wondered what that meant, since she and dad had a completely different eye color.

Father smiled when she asked.

“That's because I picked your eye color darling.”

“Oh..." Sweetie sighed, and lowered her head. " I'm sorry for losing them … and my voice … and my skin.”

“Sweetie my dear.” Mother comforted. “It does not matter what color your eyes are. Or how your voice sounds. Or how you look. The only thing that matters is that you are alive.”

She and dad leaned in and hugged their daughter.

Sweetie had always thought her exterior defined her. Her flesh and blood had defined her as a pony until recently. But maybe what truly defined her came not from the outside. Not even from the gears and circuits inside. But from what flowed forth from the very depths of her being. In that case – if one counted from the inside and out - her exterior shell was a very low priority.

After much conversing, her parents fell asleep on the edge of the bed.

With her guardians asleep, her heart drive in place and the final repairs dragging out on time, Sweetie found herself processing a new feeling: Boredom. Though she was never alone, as the Belle family took turns by her side and talking with her, they eventually all had to sleep after the trying week. Like her mother, who had fallen asleep with her head on the bed.

Deprived of the ability to sleep, Sweetie was left to her own devices. She wished she could go out to see the snow that was no doubt falling outside. But even though her chest was closed, and her internal parts in place, she was still hooked up to a lot of equipment. So if she could not go outside, she might as well go inside. Inside all the electronic devices. With nothing left to do anyway (and to save herself from pondering) Sweetie set out to explore the systems she was connected to. Most where just boring monitoring stuff. But she did find a surveillance system that allowed her to peek into the other rooms.

The cameras had both audio and video receptions, so she could both hear and see what was going on.

“...so it was the crystals that drove everypony insane?" Said Bronco.

“Yes.” Said Twilight. The artificial crystal had the power to slowly transmute anything that sent electric signals through them. Like the synapses in a brain."

Sweetie had apparently entered mid conversation. They were standing in a big room with more Computer terminals. Presumably the room they had gotten all the spare once from after she destroyed the first set.

Twilight was standing next to Bronco, who was typing on the mainframe. The Mainframe wasn't connected to any systems Sweetie had managed to get access to. She wondered what he was doing in these dark and dusty halls. Or what he was typing.

Apparently so did Twilight.

“So what are you doing down here anyway? You are not looking for more fuse boxes to fix I presume.”

“I'm just making sure these mainframes are cut of from the rest of the facility." Bronco explained "Here, we stored all our recordings from the blue disks. And I just don't want her to see what's in here. From the way that little mare can extend herself into all electronic systems she is connected with, I wouldn't be surprised if she tried.”

They both looked up at the camera. Sweetie suddenly felt like she had been caught spying and wondered if she should back away. But then their attention returned to the glowing screen.

“Then why not cut the power?” Twilight asked.

“Don't worry. They run on their own generator.”

“And why are they turned on?” she asked skeptically.

“I'm just Making a note here about what a huge success this project was.”

“Why?” Asked Twilight. “Its not like any one of us are going to come back here. In fact I don't know what will happen to this place once Celestia gets here.”

“I just need to get a little closure on a chapter of my life. That is all.” He said as he finished typing.

With a final click he entered the final log he closed down the mainframe with a most relived smile on his face. His whole body eased up like a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

“Satisfied?” she asked.

“Its hard to overstate my satisfaction.” He Answered. "Now I'm finally able to cross this bridge - and move on.”

Sweetie zoomed in on the Hobos flank, now that he was no longer wearing a trench-coat - his mark had been laid bare.
Strangely enough - It was not of a wrench or a computer, or anything one would associate with science - It was a bridge, plain and simple.

Apparently, his statement made even Twilight cast a look towards his behind.

Bronco laughed.

"You can not cross a bridge until it's finished." He continued "That you might say is my specialty. Or in some cases my greatest weakness. I never could leave anything unfinished. Only now that I know this project has come to its most satisfying conclusion, am I finally able to cross that bridge onto the next path of my life.”

”And, what path is that?”

”Who knows? The road ahead is full of branching paths. You just have to walk them, to find out where they lead.”

Twilight tilted her head with a questioning look.

“I know what you are thinking.” Said Bronco. “You are thinking about scanning my head like the others. You are thinking I must be as brain damaged as them.”

“Not at all. I have a friend who is a thousand times stranger. Only difference is she would not be able to sit still for five minutes less her life depended on it.“

Bronco nodded in understanding, and took a long relaxing breath. Then he lost all composure, lowered his head and started crying.

“Whats wrong?”

“Nothing at all.” He sobbed. “That's what is so beautiful. Nothing is wrong with that little mare. Not even after what she went through has she forgotten how to smile.”

She saw Brick and Dr Cardiac walking around with Screwloose following closely behind.

“… and all the patients are accounted for?” Cardiac asked.

“Yes boss." Said Brick "Mr Trunk's agreed to watch over them for now. And I got to say, we got ourselves the craziest bunch I ever seen. Our old friend Mad Marrow clearly feels desperately drawn to the green one - Metalhoof. Who in turn is absolutely fixated with his power fantasies and patriotic paranoia. But still not as deluded as that fanatic Shockwave. Sully was having full time just patching up what was left of that wreck.

Then there was the lovely couple of Teddy and Neurosa of the Screw 'n Bolt Family. Or "Screwbolt" for short.

Cardiac corrected his glasses.

"Yes - I went over the family records that was stored in the mansion - Apparently she comes from quite a successful family of tinkerers and toy-makers. And while she inherited both her family's fortune and their wit, she also inherited another family trait."

"Let me guess." Brick tapped his forehead. "They all had 'a screw loose'? "

The mare behind them barked at the mentioning of her name.

"A little looser for every generation" Said Cardiac. "Neurosa was suffering from a pressure that she had to excel, like her family had done before her. Whether this pressure was forced on her by her parents - Or if she simply imagined it, I do not know. Either way she believed she had to carry on her family name. "

"And to do that - She would need an heir," said Brick.

"And that's where our lovely Mr Teddy comes into the picture. A stallion with a sense for economy and marketing."

"But lacking in the taco making department..." Brick cut in.

"I can't speak of how healthy their relationship was before." Cardiac continued. "Maybe she only wanted him for his
financial benefactors. Maybe they really loved each other. But once they had their daughter, everything changed."

Behind them, Screwloose started to whimper.

"Her daughter's mental illness became the final nail in Neurosas already strained mind. It spelled the end for her marriage, her business, and her fortune. She became obsessed with creating the perfect daughter and ... well, you know the rest."

"Strange that she already had a husband" said Brick. "Because our last patient wont stop talking about how he and Neurosa are gonna marry. He is as fixated on a perfect future with her as Mad Marrow is with Metalhoof. Prism Prestige he calls himself ..."

"The one you tackled of the Balcony?" Cardiac asked "Yes - Quite the superiority complex, sprinkled with some obsessive composure. "
The stern professionalism melted off his face and was replaced by a childish grin. “...And I must say you really know how to tackle Brick.”.

“Like you tackled that green fella Metalhoof? You must have been a really good linebacker yourself boss. Maybe we should play a few games you and me.”

“That doesn't sound bad at all. Maybe we could arrange something with the staff. The doctors vs the caretakers.”

“What about the nurses? Think we can get them to join to? ”

“If not, we'll always need a good cheerleader team.”

They both laughed at their 'grown up humor'.

Screw Loose walked up beside Cardiac and rubbed her cheek against his shoulder- Cardiac put his front leg around her and scratched her behind the ear.

“Should you really be treating her like that sir? What about not encouraging delusions?”

“You know what. Given what I've learned I'm not sure it is a delusion. Its just who she is. We can't change who a pony is. But we should not think any less of them for that. Sometimes we should just let them be who they are and they will be better of fore it. Sometimes its we who need to change and adapt.”

“Cant cure them all, I guess.”

“Sometimes proper care, and a little sympathy, is the only cure”

Brick tilted his head.

“Are you speaking about her, or the little one?”

Cardiac smiled.

“Both.”

Rarity was talking with Madame Macadame. From the look on big sister's face, she did not like where the conversation was going.

“What do you mean we can't restore it?” She yelled.

“I'm sorry miss Rarity." Said Madame Macadame "But without anything to clone from, we have nothing to recreate a new disguise.”

“Its not a disguise! its part of who she is!”

Twilight entered the frame. Apparently she was done down by the mainframe.

“Can't we use the regeneration crystals of hers? Shouldn't they have all the data we need to create a new skin?”

Madame shook her head.

“We cant recreate anything from data alone. And if you are thinking about magicing up a new skin from the energy in the crystals, I'm sorry, but you know no unicorn can read the energy coming from her. As for using an entirely new tissue, I fear your theory about rejection might come true miss Sparkle. Those crystals have been connected to the energy of her skin through her entire life. They might not be compatible with any other tissue. And as of the metalmorphosis she has undergone, I don't think we can reprogram any part of her. Maybe if we could teach her to reprogram herself to accept a new tissue...”

"But it still would not be the same!" Rarity aborted.

“No. It will not. If we had but a single drop of blood or a straw of straw of hair of the original tissue we would be able to regrow the whole thing. But without that....” She shook her head.

Twilight sighed. “Well. There is always illusions I can cast. We could rely on camoflaging spells or holographic prism stones. But..."

“THERE IS!” Sweetie screamed at the top of her voicebox. ”THERE IS SOMETHING LEFT!”

Her mother shot up from her slumber and everypony came rushing into her room asking what was the matter.

Sweetie explained:
“There is something left of me! Somepony cut my tail off and put in on his wagon. It was a garbage collector who drove me to the trash site! You can use that to restore my skin!”

“How did you know what we were talking about Sweetie?” Asked Rarity “We where in the other room.”

”Oh. I saw you.” She said. ”On the video cameras “

If she could blush. She would have.

“Amazing.” said Dr Pain. “She is able to extend herself into any system.”

“Why is the camera system connected to these monitoring equipment?” Asked Twilight.

“So we could monitor and record visually, of course.”

Twilight had a very strange letter to write to White Tail Woods garbage disposers. In it she declared for all their wagons to be searched for a Pink ponytail. She wrote especially for the search parties to keep their eyes open for any wagon decorated with tails. And upon finding said pink tail, they were to bring it to her. By royal decree.

Sweetie could not thank Twilight enough. There was hope, that she would get her old look back.

Still, Even if we are able to get a sample and it is good enough to use, it would still take months to regrow.

At first Rarity said that Sweetie simply had to be hospitalized until then. But Sweetie had no intentions of remaining in this dusky depressing place for that long. Not while she had a fully functional body again. If she had to she would walk out “naked” for she had no intentions of hiding her true self anymore. She did not care what her exterior shell would be any more.

“I want to be able to feel a mothers hug again! Don't make me wait months for that. Not when I know there are alternatives!”

“I know they made something so that robots could sense touch”

She read their questioning looks before they opened their mouths.

”Blue Disks." She said - With a look at Bronco. "I found them wherever you guys have been. You liked to talk to yourselves a lot!”

“Its true.” Said Bronco. “We did work on some alternative exterior shells. Before Neurosa decided to use the skin that Dr Heartache - or as you know her - Madame - had conjured up with her alchemy. I never knew why she would have needed so many alchemicaly created bodies ... ”

Everyponies minds seemed to venture out into the factory hall, where the skin sown onto the dolls still lay amongst the parts.

“In ANY case”. Said Rarity, as she finally yielded “We are going to make you the best exterior shell one can get. But don't get to used to it. Once your skin is restored you are back to looking like yourself again.”

Bronco went to the storage area and came back with what in Sweetie's eyes looked like an ordinary metal plate. But the underside was covered in a layer of cybernetics.

“This” He explained “Is an experimental touch sensitive metal. Magically crafted to be as flexible as a pony's skin. We had these made, in case we would lose your biological skin. They should give you the sense of touch back, until we are able to recreate your organic tissue.”

“Why do you even have that?” Rarity asked.

“Since we were already experimenting with nerve cluster crystal and other ways to mimic body functions into circuitry. Marrowline came up with the idea of making a skin prototype that could sense all that we can. The lower surface is filled with hundreds of microscopic nerve-crystals, copied from the skin in a pony.

“How did you do that?” Asked Rarity

“Please don't ask.”

“Are we really gonna put more ponies' suffering into our daughter?” Dad asked in an unnerving tone. That made Sweetie flinch in her decision. But Bronco was quick to silence their worries.

“Don't think about it like that. We all gave of ourselves willingly, because we wanted this project to succeed.”

“Sacrifice in the name of science.” Said Pain ”You would not let our sacrifice go in vain, would you?”

He was about to get another blow to the head for trying to guilt trip Sweetie. But the blow - again - stopped mid air. Dr Pain actually looked more hurt by this than if he had received it.

By a series of wires, Bronco connected the plate to Sweeties foreleg, to the sensory ports that had once housed her organic nervous system. Then asked her to extend herself into the new component.

She complied but did not understand how a piece of metal was ever gonna replace her fur. At first she didn't feel a thing. But when he stroke his hoof over the plate it sent an electrical tingle down her spine that made her body shiver in satisfaction, in response. Like a cat would purr when stroked by its master.

She felt him stroking her leg. It was weird, since the plate he was stroking wasn't even on her leg yet. Weirder still, since it felt cold and exposed without any fur.

It was gonna take a long time to get used to. But just the feeling of touch brought her great happiness.

After the successful test - construction on Sweetie's new metallic exterior started. They bent and cut the plates into physiologically correct pieces and dyed them white after her original color.

Rarity insisted that reconstruction of her face came first, since it required the biggest and most careful work. Sweetie felt like she was back in the boutique being drafted as a living mannequin, as her sister critically dismissed option after option trying to find one set that would bring her face closest to its original form. (At least she could leave her body and go mess with one of the computer terminals.)

It was slow and tedious work as they attached, removed and reattached the new plates to her facial frame and the synthetic muscles that controlled her facial expressions. Which Sweetie had to disengage so they could work properly and then reactivate so they could see the result. Though they told her to not turn on her touch sensors on until construction was completed, since she might not want to feel the welding, the tightening of screws or the potentially very awkward coupling as they connected the plate's optic fibers to the sockets that had once holstered clusters of her organic nervous system.

Sweetie was more concerned with that she had more hooves in her face than Rarity when she did makeup.

(Needless to say, Dr Pain was not allowed to be present during this part.)

When she was finally done Sweetie received a mirror to see the result of her facial reconstruction.

She looked into the mirror. Into those green eyes. Despite knowing they were magical lenses, they looked as lively as they always had. Above them, she had two curved pieces for eyebrows. They bent a little in response to her anxiety. She looked like a doll. A bald doll. The white plates that was her new face glistened like new polished porcelain. She would have thought it would take a million pieces to recreate the many many ways a face could move. But it actually only required a few big pieces for her cheeks, muzzle, chin and forehead. She was afraid her face would be stiff and unmoving. But the flexible alloys lived up to their name as they bent and stretched without resistance when she moved her mouth and yaw around.

She blinked. And a set of round plates that were her new eyelids came down and covered her eyes.

Curiously she extended herself into the face and instantly began to feel the new pieces move. Her systems began transmitting and receiving new data from the plates, as her energy circled around the new parts like blood to an organ. Sweetie poked the face and felt her hoof scraping over her cheek. It felt cold. Sleek and exposed without any fur. Yet, in a way she could not explain, it felt right. Like this was the way things where supposed to be. Despite everything, she felt happy with her new look. The line that was her lip-less mouth bent upward into a smile.

She sat with the mirror and tested emotions. Angry, sad, smiling, frowning, sticking out her tongue...

... Or what was left of her tongue.

She opened her mouth wide and studied the black hole that had once been filled with rosy gums. Though the had rows of new perfectly wight teeth - they contrasted poorly with the black burnt stick that had been the core of her tongue.

At that moment Madame Macadam came in, carrying a tray of mugs of refreshments for the overworked repair crew.

Sweetie threw the mirror across the room. It knocked the tray out of Macadam's grip and both mugs and mirror shattered on the floor. The changeling got so scared she jumped out of the form of the traveling alchemist and into the form of Dr Heartache.

Sweetie buried her face in her hooves and burst into sobs. Once again the lubrication lines in her eyes bust and oil stated dripping like tears. To the credit of her new face - she actually felt the sticky substance on her cheeks.

Rarity scolded Dr Heartache on breaking their promise of not waving anything edible in front of the “starving” filly. Macadam begged a thousand times apology (saying that the stress had made her forget) before she ran outside to puke because of the negative vibes.

Meanwhile, Bronco moved to comfort Sweetie.

“He... He deleted my taste.” she sobbed. "M...Metalhoof ... He deleted everything."

“No he didn't Sweetie.” Said Bronco. “He might have turned off your taste sensors. But I doubt anypony – least of all him. Could delete anything from you”

“But.. But I tried to eat later … And I could not taste anything!”

She started so shiver.

“I will … Never eat again...”

“Didn't you say that you tongue got destroyed after you licked on a storm tower?”

Sweetie nodded.

“Well then there's your answer.”

“But now I've lost my taste sensors!”

“So you have lost your hardware. But you still have your software right?”

“What?” She did not understand what hard and soft wares he was talking about.

“I mean you still remember how everything tastes don't you? And I think your sense of taste is tied to that data.Remember what Twilight said. You still have all that makes you who you are inside you. So if you upload those memories to a set of new taste sensors I'm sure you will be able to enjoy all the sweets in the world.”

“You think that will work?”

“Sweetie. You were just recently able to regain all your feelings by loading up your memories into a brand new Heart-Drive. You regained your sense of touch by extending yourself into a metal plate, something you where never programmed for. You were also able to restore memories that should have been lost to you, because you remembered them in your heart. If you are truly able to recover entire files from ghost code and fragment that must be attached to your memory - then is it not fair to assume that you can restore your taste data to a pair of new sensors from memory?”

Sweetie sure hoped she could. After all - had she not restarted her heartbeat simulator after the evil mechanic had deleted all data from it?

Bronco booped her nose.

“Now, promise me that you wont cry until you at least try.”

Sweetie nodded. Bronco smiled and wiped the oily tears of her cheeks.

“In the meantime I'm going to make a way for you to cry without damaging yourself. And I want to promise you, that the next time you cry, its gonna be tears of joy.”

Rarity put all reconstruction on hold. Telling everypony to focus on making Sweetie a new tongue.

This tongue would be made out of the same alloys that were to become her new skin.
Sweetie thought it weird. Did that mean she would be able to feel taste on her entire body?

The professors explained that the tongue would be the only part of her connected to her taste sensors. So she would not be tasting any food she spilled on herself or any mud she got on her hooves.

That was true. She had not been able to taste the oil on her cheek.

Her mouth got a thorough reworking too. Apart from replacing the taste sensors, and missing teeth, her palate was outfitted with a touch sensitive synthetic rubber. That way, she was able to feel her tongue moving inside her mouth.

The new tongue was the only part of her they did not dye. So it carried the silver like glow of the metal. Brick made a joke about how they had to watch out for Sweeties silver tongue in the future - And was called a prick by Sweetie's parents.

Her new silver tongue proved flexible as she was able to count her teeth with it, and she could feel her breaths run through her mouth with her new air pump. Sweetie was sure it would be weird to eat with a tongue of metal. But it was better than never eating at all.

In preparation for the test. Her mother had been baking cookies (it was her specialty after all).
A whole tray of minty, lemon, carrot, strawberry, blueberry, lemon and the entire rainbow of the taste spectrum was placed before her. Along with several drinks ranging from milk to juice to water. As well as some bitter looking fruit and vegetables.

Never had Sweetie felt so nervous to take a bite of a cake. Not even when she got caught with her hoof in the cookie jar. The whole family was watching her and the doctors where watching their monitors. All anxiously awaiting her reaction from that one first bite.
It would be her very first thing she tasted with her new tongue. She felt a longing for sweetness, and licked her mouth. But it was awkward to have no lips to lick. Or any saliva watering her mouth.

She closed her eyelids and focused inwards. She ran her energy through the new taste sensors as she thought of everything she could remember eating - ever. She carefully reconstructed everything - remembering how her she had made her taste sensors reacted in the diner. Except this was more than muffins - this was everything. And she feared it would become nothing but a pseudo taste. That just like without a heart drive she would feel nothing but the memory of taste. The same old data being replayed over and over again.

Therefore, to not let her mind load any old memory’s, she kept her eyes closed and picked a cookie a random.

Sweetie took a big bite, chewed, and let the chocolate melt her tongue.

Chocolate...

The sensation hit her as hard as when her new heart drive had come online.
Everypony gathered held their breath as her eyes went wide and the cookie fell from her hoof.

“Sweetie... Does it taste like you remember?” Asked her nervous mother.

“No” she said “It tasted better!”

Like a starving glutton she threw herself over the rest of the tray. Taking a bite out of every cookie and a sip from every drink. Not even bothering to finish one before biting down on another. Just wanting feel the taste of everything. Her mind was overwhelmed by several flavors at once. The professors where complaining that she was going to fast for them to study properly. But Sweetie told them, beyond doubt, that her mouth was working just fine.

Sweetie filled her belly until her body functions processor and stomach nerve-cluster crystal told her would get a tummy-ache.
She turned them off and filled herself until she was literally full to bursting. Then she laughed about not being able to get fat. When Rarity afterwards handed her toothpaste and toothbrush she tried to dismiss it.

“My teeth can not get any holes!” She said, “I don’t have to brush any more.”

“Yes you do little miss. Old food between your teeth will give you a horrible breath”

Sweetie pouted “I don’t need to breathe.”

“But it still smells!”

Eventually she stood. Reconstructed from hoof to horn. The last plate attached to her frame and polished to perfection. Unlike her armor, her new form was smooth and slender and gave her the proper proportions of a filly. The cherry on top was that she had even gotten an artificial mane and tail made of fiber cords.

It felt like a wig, except it was bound directly into her cranial plate, woven with cybernetic wires of her own design. Except, apart from the mane of copper she had worn, that only really felt electric signals, this mane and tail was connected to her touch sensors and should allow her to regain the scene of having hair again. (Like the plates that made up her new frame.)

Rarity had taken the liberty of styling and dying it into a copy of her old hairstyle.

All that was left was extending herself into it.

Sweetie had not turned on her scene of touch since the fire. But if Twilight was right, she only needed to extend herself into her new parts and copies of her programming that would have remained in her memory would load onto their hardware and do the rest. Just like her sense of taste with her tongue. She would only need to pull it up from deep inside of her.

Sweetie closed her eyes, and went on a inner journey - channeling her energy through herself. Feeling all that she was. From the deepest smallest cybernetic crystal to the alloys of her frame, out the plates of her new skin to the tip of her fiber cord hair straws.

As she did - there was suddenly a spark from inside her that she couldn’t identify. A tingling feeling from her behind.

Sweetie opened her eyes, and looked down at her flank-plate just in time to see a symbol appearing. A mark being burned into the alloy from the inside and out. The metal twisted and reformed as her repair program worked out a design that had been added to the very core of her being.

On her hips - a mark appeared.

It was a symbol of a heart. And not just any heart. It had the outline of her heart shaped crystal heart-drive. Framed with a background shape of a cogwheel. the whole symbol gleamed on her new polished flank-plate, contributed to that on the heart - thin swirling cybernetic lines could be seen - pulsing with energy.

She couldn’t comprehend this. Robots couldn't get marks. It was logically impossible! Yet there it was. And she could not believe its existence. No schematic indicated that it should be there. She scanned her interiors several times. But there was nothing wrong. No file errors, no glitch in her repair programming. Nothing wrong with her visual system.

She rubbed the hip with her hoof. But the mark did not come off. She closed her eyes several times but it did not go away
She looked over at her other hip and saw a symmetrical identical symbol emblazoned there as well.

She finally had her mark.

Words could not contain her excitement. Her Heart-Drive overflowed with a joy that pushed every other feeling out of her mind as she jumped up and down in the bed. cords and wires wobbling from her back.

Everypony was staring at her. At her flank. She didn’t care She wanted to show off her mark. The grown stallions could stare all they wanted.

Rarity approached from the crowd. Only the wires on her back kept Sweetie from launching herself of the bed into her embrace.

“Sis! sis! I got my mark! I finally got my cute little mark!”

Rarity walked up to the bed and gave her the biggest, longest hug since forever. Big sister had never felt so warm. Sweetie's fibercord mane tickled with static electricity under the gentle strokes she gave her. She never wanted to let go. And apparently neither did Rarity.
She leaned in even closer and whispered softly into her ear.

“Yes Sweetie. You got your mark. I'm sorry for not telling you about this earlier. But I believed you needed your heart to fully appreciate it.”

Sweeties mane registered a wet dripping as Rarity's tears started to fall upon it.

“Truth is I wanted to get your skin, in hope that the mark would appear on it. I had no idea that this could happen.”

“Fassssshinating” Dr Pain hissed, his eyes on the console, and not on Sweetie “I've never seen data like this. This program could revolutionize the research of cutie mark acquisition. Perhaps this can give me understanding to giving my little darlings their own purpose.”

Rarity gave her a big long kiss on the forehead.

“Happy Hearth's Warming Eve Sweetie.”

“Yes." Sweetie cried in response "My heart is warm this evening, sister. My heart feels so warm! I feel so happy and warm and ….”

She looked up at Rarity. She had totally forgotten about Hearth's Warming Eve. Was that today? She had lost all sense of time being hospitalized in this facility.

“I... I got my heart … On Hearth's Warming Eve?”

“Visibly yes.” Said Twilight ”But I'm sure you had it in your system even since the metalmorphosis reformed your inners ...”

Rarity raised a hoof to Twilight's lips.

“Hush darling. Don't ruin the moment.”

Sweetie was too busy reeling in happy emotion to let the eggheads theory’s get to her. She felt her own cheeks getting wet. Not from oil. But from a water like substance. Small ports had opened in response to her cry sequence and let a tear like lubrication leak out from a set of small artificial tear sacks that Bronco had installed under her eye sockets.

"Look Bronco!" She cried as she leaned over Rarity's shoulder. "Tears of joy!"

“Oh Sweetie. I hope you are not just initiating cry sequence again.” Said Rarity.

“No. But I am setting phazers to hug!” Sweetie shouted as she hugged her sister back with all her might.
Rarity gave up a yelp as she was lifted up by all of Sweeties mechanical strength. Sweetie eased her grip as to not hurt her sister, and they both collapsed onto the bed in laughter and tears.

The others gathered round the bed. Twilight magically made some candles appear floating in the air, lit with a purple flame.
Then disconnected the wires from Sweetie. No more tests. No more experiments.

As she was disconnected from the computers and generators, (and by extension from the entire complex) Sweetie felt smaller. But at the same time, bigger than she had ever been.

She untangled from Rarity's hug and jumped down on the floor. She registered the cold air temperature in the complex. Her metal skin felt exposed and naked. Her voice sounded a little bit off and her new tongue was more sensitive.

Everything about her felt off in some tiny way, perhaps it could all be categorized under the big notion that she would never feel like a normal little filly again. Because she wasn't. Yet that thought did not bring as much sorrow to her heart as it should. For she had found something inside herself that she doubted many others had. She would just have to get used to the rest. She was happy just to be alive. And she finally knew that she was alive. And that she was with friends and family that she really loved.

Love...

With a big smile she turned to Dr Cardiac.

“I'm the only pony who's emotions actually comes from the heart!” She shouted.

The two of them laughed, as everyone else just looked confused. Only Twilight and Bronco seemed to get the joke - after a few seconds of thinking.

Sweetie then turned back to Dr Bronco, showered him with thanks in a way only an over-exited filly can do, and she told him that she had found the things that keeps her heart warm.

In the spur of the moment she individually thanked every one in the room. Even Dr Pain and Madam Macadam. The changeling looked so jealous that she could not feed of all the joy radiating of the cybernetic filly. But she still remained to take part in the festivities. And bask in everypony's shared happiness.

Mr Trunk's brought down an old gramophone from the mansion above. On it, he played an old record of an instrumental chorus of the familiar Hearth's Warming carol. And together, they all stared singing.

Sweetie joined in, and her volume rose till her voice dominated the room, as she sung the lyrics from end to end. Except for the last verse, she started composing her own version of the Hearth's Warming carol.

“The fire of friendship burns in my heart
As long as it burns I shall not drift apart.
Although steel an circuit might be taboo
I know singing and laughter will see me through ...
… Will see me through.”

In a weird way, this felt like it had been the best Hearth's Warming Eve ever.

Mom and dad had baked a cake for her. Twilight brought one of the candles down on top of the cake. And they asked Sweetie to make a wish.

She said:

“I don't need to wish for anything. I already got everything I wished for. I got a family!”

Though if she had to wish for anything. It would be that she got to stay with them forever.

With that wish she blew out the candle.

Celestia arrived early by chariot at the Screws n' Bolts toy factory.

It was very rare for her to make a trip to such a secluded area, though she believed this was an errand she had to oversee personally.
Guards had arrived before her to secure the sight. She had left Twilight in charge of them until she arrived.

A prison wagon was being pulled up to the front door where a row of shaggy looking characters where lined up.

An armored stallion marched up to her and bowed.

“Your highness. We have secured the prisoners and they are ready for transport”

Celestia let her eyes slide over each and every one of them as they were escorted out of the building.
It was not her job to judge them. Courts and prosecutors would see to that they revised proper punishment. But they had hurt the family of one of the bearers. One of Twilight closest friends and the littlest one at that - she did not rob them of the illusion that she could have cast judgment on them here and now.

As they passed her by, one of the prisoners, a pegasus reeled in a wheelchair since both his wings, forelegs, face and torso was covered in bandages - threw himself out of his medical chair and fell to the ground in deep bow, and started praising.

“O great Celestia. O holy Celestia. Though wise and merciful, You graze us with Your presence. Inside lies a demon in wait. I have failed to disperse it. But now that you are here I know that my cause is just.”

Celestia held in a sigh. She had not had to deal with fanatics in many decades.

There was a time when once she might have ravished in such divine attention. But that was before she saw the unhealthy nature of such ways. Before she saw how much it could hurt others. How much it hurt her sister.

She did not want to encourage such things from her subjects. She might be a powerful sorceress with control of the sun. She might have discovered the secrets of immortality, but she was no god. Though she always did the best for her subjects, she was no all-knowing deity. She made mistakes. And there was nothing more dangerous nor stupid than to put blind faith in someone who could make mistakes.

She wanted to tell him his place. To tell him how wrong he was.

But fanatics had a way of twisting everything she said into some riddle with a deeper meaning than suited their point of view.

She handled him the only way she could.

She just walked on past him, without even looking at him, and headed into the building.

The inside of the factory was not a pretty sight.

The clean up team had only begun surveying the damage. The factory halls where a burned wasteland of twisted machinery and broken conveyorbelts. Soot covered everything from the walls the windows and the roof. The place had a foul smell of burned rubber, oil and heated metal. Gray dust particles were falling like a crude imitation of the snow outside.

Parts of what looked like mechanized ponies, big and small, were scattered over the floor. And there were clear signs of combat with weapons and projectiles of several unknown types littered the sight. Like there had been a massacre of mechanized children, by the hoofs of what looked like several large suits of armor.

In the middle of it all, it looked like a big explosion had taken place. The floor was covered in a big burn mark.

An oddly shaped burn mark, with the outline of a cogwheel - and the inner line of a heart.

Even so, through the destruction came a distinct sound of holiday carols.

Celestia followed the sound of cheering and music through the ruined factory. It brought a smile to her face that even in such a dystopian place there could be found joy.

A few guards where standing watch in a hallway entrance to the deeper parts of the facility.They told her that Twilight had barred off the inner parts of the factory. Forbidding anyone from entering that area. She suspected she knew why.

In respect for Twilight's secrets, Celestia told her escort to leave her be and continued down the hallways alone.

It didn't take long for her to reach the source of the festivities. Everypony was apparently crammed into only one room in the whole complex. And were all singing a chorus of the old Hearth's Warming Pageant accompanied by the music from some old gramophone.

As she rounded the corner, she added her own vocal talent to the final lyrics.

Her eyes were instantly drawn to the little mechanical filly who danced and sung so in the middle of the room. Despite having a skin of steel and hair of fiber, Sweetie Belle looked so close to her original self. Whoever had designed her face was an artist, as she was able to smile from ear to ear beaming with happiness.

The same face instantly turned into an expression of stunned surprise as their eyes met. Everypony else turned around to see her standing in the doorway. The sound of music ended with a harsh scratch as somepony bumped into the gramophone.

Most of the attendants dropped their heads in a respectful and somewhat nervous bow.
Those who didn’t was Twilight, Sweetie herself, and Rarity - who moved over and tried to hide the little mechanical filly behind her tail.

“Twilight.”

“Celestia.” Twilight nodded. “What took you so long?”

“I wanted to give you some privacy.”

“Have you seen to the criminals?” Twilight asked matter of factly.

“They have been taken care of, and are being transported off this property as we speak”

“Good.“

Celestia detected something morbid in Twilight's voice.

“Yet you don't sound to excited.”

Twilight sighed.

“Its all so sad princess. The horrible things those ponies did to Sweetie. And the horrible things they did to themselves, that made them as mad as they are. In a way I feel sorry for them. They were driven mad by their own accomplishments. And now... all that skill, all those talents, all wasted.

“Not all wasted." Celestia stated. "They did make progress after all. And they did produce the most amazing result. That progress, that accomplishment, have not gone away.” She looked down at Sweetie when she said it.

“However. They have proven that it is highly dangerous field with applications we do not understand. And with the minds behind it gone, we can not let it leak out.”

Celestia spoke out to the entire room. Her voice firm and sure as she made her statement.

“That's why I hereby confiscate everything in the name of the crown. Everything regarding this research is to be transported to the royal institute for cataloging and examination. All those who have been involved in this project are free to continue pursuing development in a more controlled environment. Otherwise you are free to go. But you are to surrender all material and information you have regarding this project.

“Does... Does that include me?”

Celestia turned her eyes back down to the little mechanical Sweetie.

Rarity hugged her closer. The elder Belle's moved in around her. The elder pair hung their heads in pleading submission. They did not want to be separated from their child but at the same time knew they where powerless to stop Celestia.

Rarity on the other hoof stood straight with eyes both dark and fierce.

It was a look Celestia rarely ever saw these days. A look that said she was ready to fight Celestia herself to the very end. A look that dared her to take another step.

Celestia did not take another step.

Instead she lowered her long neck till the was on the same level as Sweetie.

She looked her in the eye, and smiled warmly.

“I said every-thing. Not every-pony.”

With that she turned to talk with the rest of the grownups. Rarity exhaled and let go of Sweetie to join the conversation of what was to be done next. Their parents looked like they just regained the ability to breathe.

“Come, we need to discuss a thing or two about Sweetie”

Sweetie didn’t even notice what was being said between the elders. She just stood there silent as she very slowly processed what had just happened.

“She called me a pony.”