Sweetie took the chance to run back to town. She ran as fast as her metallic legs could carry her.
With no restrictions spells on her, it did not take long for her to reach the outskirts of town. No fatigue kicked in. No exhaustion or simulated lactic acid.
Without restrictions, she could run forever.
It was such a liberating feeling – To hear the wind whistle in your ears. To have the air caress your smooth alloys. To feel it tugging through your hair and tail as you darted through the landscape.
… Except, she did not have any hair, Or mane, or tail.
She realized she would have to pick up her skin, Which would still be back at Twilight's castle.
Rarity would not appreciate if she came back home 'naked'.
However. Twilight might be back there. As soon as the alicorn had finished her argument with Rainbow Dash she would surely return to her castle. It might not even take that long for her to remember that she had forgotten to renew the Restriction spell on little Sweetie. And she might at any moment come flying out looking for her.
Well … Before any of that happened. Sweetie decided to have a little fun.
Instead of going into town, she steered towards the paths around it. She darted through the air like the well oiled machine that she was. Her pistons pumped. Her gears spun and the ball-bearings in her joints tingled as energy flowed through her body.
The freedom was exhilarating. It did not take Sweetie too long to make a lap around the town.
Then she made a second lap, then a third, as she imagined herself being chased by an angry alicorn Blasting restriction spells after her. If that alicorn wanted to come and take her fun away, she was gonna have to catch her first.
Sweetie did not know how fast she was able to go. Definitely not as fast as Rainbow Dash, Yet faster then any foal her age. Her real strength was being able to run forever. She imagined would have been able to run all the leaves of the trees during the Autumn annual Running-of-the-leaves.
Warning – energy reserves at 50%
As long as she did not run out of energy, that was.
Sweetie slowed down in the middle of her third lap, and sighed. Running on full power came with the unfortunate side effect of draining her battery far more quickly. No Imaginary alicorn (that-was-in-no-way-a-reprecentation-of-some-sort-of-resentment-against-her-situation) would have too big of trouble catching her if they just had to wait she ran out of power. Not unless she found someway to recharge herself.
Sweetie spotted a rocks in the middle of the grassy field she had been passing through. It was sitting alongside some other rocks, doing what rocks do best - which is, not much at all. However, this rock, that had caught Sweeties eye, stood out a little from the other rocks in that it was shaped in a way that - with the right level of imagination, or the right state of mind - might be taken for an incredibly large gemstone.
It had been dumped here by an elder sister that had made very clear that no-pony was ever to speak of that thing again.
Sweetie walked up to the rock. Rarity's actions had made very clear that there were no traces what so ever of any valuable minerals inside this boulder. Rarity knew what she was talking about. Her innate magical ability was to find gemstones.
Sweetie wondered what it would be like to have some of her sisters magic installed into her horn. Then she would have been able to detect any gems hiding in these rocks without problem. Not that there would be any in these rocks. But maybe under them?
The rock was easily twice as tall as she was, and four times as wide. Sweetie dug her hooves in under the boulder and started to heave. Her body clicked and crabbed as the vertebrae sections in her spine shifted into position for the effort.
Slowly the boulder rose from the ground. Sweetie pumped more power into her forelegs as she exceeded her normal strength parameters.
'Normal'. Sweetie snorted. It was but a setting that others had magically plugged into her. Sweetie had seen 'normal' ponies with way more strength then she was allowed to yield. And if some ponies were gifted with enough strength to lift a house, despite being made of nothing more then flesh and bone, then she must have enough power to lift this boulder. She was made of Titanium. This little boulder would not break her.
Determined, she blew some steam out of her nostrils before giving the boulder another heave. This time lifting it like a jackhammer, as high up as her little body would allow.
Sweetie stared into the dark shadow under the rock. For some reason, rocks in Equestria seemed to be completely flat on the underside, like the forces that had created this land has once cleaved all the boulders in the world with their magical tools before setting them down where they though it made science. Maybe Discord would know something about this? He must have been one of the forces that had shaped this world (shaped it to his own liking that was.)
Sweetie looked through the shadow, at the opposite end of the boulder who was still tilted on the ground. and desired that it was not enough.
She gave the rock a push, and ran in under it. The rock came down with all the force that gravity would grant it. And for a second it looked like sweetie might be buried under it weight as it landed on her back.
Her knees bent a little, but only because she allowed it. To soften the impact – for the rock's sake.
Sweetie straightened out her legs, lifting the rock above her. Not just tilting it up – but lifting it clean of the ground.
Success.
She took a few steps with the rock on her back. Carefully to find the balance. Then realize she could easily pull this rock all the way home. Nit that Rarity would appreciate boulders in her garden. Especially not this boulder. She always seemed to have a thing against big boulders ever since that time which should never be spoken of again.
Sweetie bounced the boulder up off her, rolled over on her back, and then caught the boulder on her upward-stretched legs.
Sweetie bent her legs, letting the rock descend slowly towards her chest. Then pushed it up again.
She repeated once... twice... three times...
She could do punch ups till she got bored.
And bored she got pretty quickly.
Sigh...
On one side, she was glad to be free of the restrictions. On the other side she did not seem to have much joy out of it other then the knowledge that they weren’t there. It was not like she got anything from trying to put Bulk Biceps to shame. Her synthetic muscles would never grow no matter how many protein shakes she downed.
So why was she doing this? Just because she could? Just because she wasn't allowed to? There wasn't exactly much point in being rebellious when there was no one around to impress, or annoy.
Sweetie looked down on the ground below her. There were no gems hiding under this boulder. There was however a couple of worms looking up at her with the great annoyance that somepony was bench pressing their roof. And seemed to be begging her to peace put their house back down.
Sweetie moved out of the way, and gently put the rock back down where it belonged.
The only thing she had gotten from her efforts was a steep drop in her remaining power supply.
Sweetie sighed again. It always seemed to be coming back to her limited power supply, didn't it. In the end. It was that which always regulated how much she could actually do in a day. She had already been close to one blackout today, and did not fancy another close call.
Her logic center told her that maybe Twilight was right. Maybe she still didn't quite know how to balance her power. - Sweetie gagged that thought and put in in the naughty spot of her mind, and let the core part of her mind return to the subject of crystals.
Rarity would surely have some crystals in store for her. But she could not come back without her skin.
Her skin was still at Twilight's castle. If she hurried, she might be able to get there before the alicorn finished her argument with Rainbow Dash.
***
Sweetie cursed herself for playing around as she walked up to the castle doors. If she had just come here immediately, she might have been able to avoid Twilight. By now, the alicorn must surely have returned to her castle.
Sweetie carefully pushed the castle doors open, expecting to see Twilight waiting for her inside.
Yet – The entrance hall lay empty. In fact, the whole castle seemed abandoned.
Sweetie did not bother calling out for anyone as she made her way to the library. Maybe Twilight wasn't back yet? Maybe she had taken Rainbow Dash out for a friendship lesson? Maybe she had dozed off with a book somewhere - still not remembering the restriction? She would not hide to get the jump on Sweetie … right?
Sweetie did not find anyone in the library, and as she made her way down the 'secret' starway, she found that even the lab was devoid of any alicorns. The only occupant numbering in her own semi-organic skin that hovered like a ghost in the suspension field of maintenance station mark zero.
Sweet.
Sweetie quickly got into the maintenance station and got dressed. Once she was back in her skin she hurried back out a little faster then she had been going in.
She was heading for the exit when she heard a sound rolling through the empty halls. It sounded like the distant echoes of a lost unfortunate soul.
It made Sweetie tense up (and her newly acquired hair stand on edge), until her sound receivers told her that the echoes did not sound like the typical 'boooo' of a scary ghost. But in fact sounded like a very loud, very long, sigh.
Sweetie homed in on the sound, and found that the tortured sigh's was not coming from the 'other side' - But from the royal kitchen.
Wondering who or what that could sound so distraught - she pushed open the kitchen doors. Only to find Spike the dragon. Sulking at the table.
His chefs hat were hanging limply from the side of his head. And he was distantly poking his claw at some dry cake basses that lay stacked and unused on a silver tray. Another absent sight rolled out of him. It wasn't a typical sigh rolling off his tongue. It sounded deeper, like it was coming far down from his belly. Like the coal – Or whatever it is that dragons have that allows them to breathe fire – was rolling around in disappointment. (it was a sigh that Sweetie suspected only dragons would be able to do – A sigh that should perhaps have been accompanied by some black smoke if the little dragon had been a little bigger.)
“Spike?”
The purple dragon jumped in surprise, and let out a loud burp and a cloud of sooty black smoke that must had been building up with those sighs.
“What! I wasn't...!” Spike cried out as he grabbed his nostrils. “Oh, Sweetie. I didn't hear you come in.”
“I just came to get my skin” Sweetie said casually. “Me and Twilight were done for today, So I though I just came here and … Get dressed, you know.”
“Oh … Well. Yes of course.” Spike stammered, waving a claw to disperse the smoke that were slowly sinking towards the table. “So... Twilight isn't with you?”
“No. She had … Other thing to do.”
“Oh .. I see … did any of those things involve getting a little something for her number one assistant and most trusted dragon in the whole wide world? ”
Sweetie didn't know.
“Nooooo … ?” she said. That had not seemed to be the thing on Twilight mind last time she saw her.
“Oh … I see.” Spike said. Trying to hide his disappointment.
“Are you ok Spike?” Sweetie asked “What are you even doing here?”
“Oh nothing … I was just about to clean up and then … ” Spike let out an actual sigh this time, and took of his chefs hat. “You know what … I was about to bake the most delicious victory cake to celebrate you and Twilight's 'achievements'. It was gone have crystal frosting and crystal cherries and everything – Not actual crystal cherries as I have already used form the last shipment from the crystal empire – But that's not the point. My point is that somepony had to take my 'cherry' away from me – And then somepony had to eat all of my frosting.”
Spike crossed his arms. Sweetie had to cover her mouth to hide a little smirk from spreading across her organic lips.
“Still. Weren't you the one who took those crystals from Twilight's lab in the fist place.”
Spike scratched the back of his head.
“Maybe … But only because she told me to … She wasn't clear enough about NOT to take them, I'm a dragon after all.”
“Right” Sweetie let the smirk spread forth “Are there really not any other crystals around?”
“Nope” Spike said with surety “You can't fool this nose.”
Sweetie looked around her. At the big crystal room with the big crystal fireplace, and the big crystal cooking pace and the big crystal kitchen sink and the big crystal oven and the big crystal freezer.
The only thing that were not made of crystal was the rusty farming was the kitchen ware itself, and equipment the rusty farming equipment that had been used to decorate the place ( courtesy of an over enthusiastic farming pony). Even the table and the chairs surrounding it looked like they belonged in a barn. (which – given the haystack in the corner – this room wasn't too far away from becoming)
Something clinked in Sweeties logic center.
“Spike … your nose is useless in this place, isn't it?”
Spike started to look a bit nervous.
“Well … You see …” He sighed again. “Can you keep a secret? I actually forget to get a new stack of gems sometimes, just because there is always all this around.” He gestured around him. “I mean, there is literally crystals growing out of the tree – Because the crystal IS the tree! But I am not to eat it. Twilight was very clear about that.”
“Really? You've through about eating your home?”
Spike smiled nervously.
“Can you keep another secret? I kind of did a little more then just thought about it. Especially in the beginning. Just to see what it was like. But I quickly got over that, since Twilight want to found of me destroying her home. I mean, I could quite literally eat Twilight out of the house.”
He put emphasis on the word 'her'.
“But I won't. This little dragon's got self control coming out of his scales. And besides, If I did, I wouldn't have anywhere to live either.”
He coughed in his claw, and straightened his back trying to look like the personification of a perfect dragon.
Sweetie was about to say something about that, but stopped herself as she realized that this place was basically a dragons greed incident waiting to happen. This had to be the best 'cave' a dragon could ask for. Just how did he get through her days without some instinct taking over? Hopefully it was as he said and no dragon in his right state of mind would destroy their own home.
She quickly steered her thought’s away from the castle. It was not fair of her to think of Spike like a ticking time monster bomb. – Especially not considering what she was.
“So … I'm guessing there wont be any cake.”
“No. I guess not. Not unless I can find any more gems.”
Sweetie did feel kind of bad for Spike. That cake would have been delicious.
Actually, it still could be.
“You know. Rarity always keep a secret stanch around for me.” Sweetie said. “Why don't you bring that cake over to my place, and we'll finish it together.”
“Does she now!” Spike said with a hint of menace “I mean, Of course we can! That sounds like a great idea. Just allow me to get my things and well head right over there.”
There wasn't exactly much to get. As the only things they needed to bring, that wasn't already at Rarity's place, was the cake-bases. Yet. It could not hurt to bring a little extra lades and buckets, just to be sure. And a few extra bags of flour, some eggs, baking powder, cocoa, yeast, salt spoons, cups, sugar spice and everything nice in the way of baking necessities, just in case Rarity was out of stock.
They looked like quite the pair as they stumbled forward through town. Well. Spike stumbled trying to balance the silver tray on top of his head. Sweetie, who carried most of the load of her back, Didn't remember to fake any difficulty, as her mind was seat on cake - and didn't even notice that the weight might have exceeded her restricted carrying settings.
“Wait, Why did you tell me about that secret stash? Spike asked. "And if its supposed to be a secret, how come you know about it?”
“Well” Sweetie said. “Since you shared a secret with me ...”
***
Rarity's kitchen wasn't out of stock. In fact it was stocked quite well.
So much better - Sweetie thought, as she unloaded a castles worth of baking goods onto the table.
It only meant they had they much more to work with.
And work they did.
Black smoke filled the kitchen as Spikes cooking skills clashed with Sweeties enthusiasm.
Nopony had told her that flour could be highly flammable when exposed to dragonfire.
In retrospect – It might have been a bad idea to pour the entire bag of flour into the mix – thus causing a massive cloud of white to spread across the kitchen and get into the dragons nostrils.
It was just bad luck that he had sneezed right at another bag of flour, which responded quite explosively.
Explosively was also a way to describe the chemical reaction that took place inside the first set of tins that went into the oven. As they stared at the massive amount of dough that spilled forth like lava from a volcano. Sweetie realized that they might have used a little to much yeast.
Another set was lost as Sweetie had somehow managed to deadbake the mixture by stirring too fast. She had thought that the lack of restrictions would increase her efficiency as a baking machine. But the results of her efforts now had to be scraped of the walls in big smeary chunks. But her enthusiasm wasn't stopped simply because the whisk she had used broke at the handle.
The enthusiasm only worsened when Spike got to lay his eyes upon the Secret stash of emergency crystals that Rarity stored in a purple, heart shaped box under her bed. Rarity had been saving up for a rainy day, as the box containing more then enough gems as to fill a simple cake five times over.
Whatever simple recipe that the little dragon had on his mind was quickly forgotten. As was any sense of restriction. This was an emergency for two starving, crystal eating creatures. And they planned to solve the crisis of their craving with style (and way too much sugar.)
It had started out small. With Spike only putting 'one more' crystal into the mix. One soon became two. And then three. And as they poured too much of one ingredient into the mix, the dosage of the rest would simply have to be increased as well.
Exactly how much baking goods that was lost in that kitchen would be a mystery for future generations to solve. It turns out that 'improvisation' is not so easily applied to the delicate chemistry of a cake recipe.
But all their endeavors paid off, for the cake finally stood, five stories tall and then some, with extra crispy frosting and and a lot of crystals sprinkled whip cream. Sweetie had even had the bright idea of adding a few sections using crystal infused cake basses.
All of Rarity's secret stash had ended up being used. A layer of pure crystal had been added to every section of the cake, glued in place with honey that had been hardened with dragon fire. And the outside of the cake had been decorated with so many sparkling gems that it no longer looked like a cake. It looked more like a rainbow colored Stalagmite from a crystal mine.
Ir rose like a shining beacon of hope in the wasteland of flour and burned furniture that the kitchen had been reduced to. Blackened spots dotted the walls and broken kitchenware were strewn about the desert of dough that covered the floor.
Sweetie did not see any of that. All she saw was the masterpiece in front of her. That delicious, crispy pillar of crystal goodness.
“Its … Beautiful” Spike said beside her. His eyes had practically turned into gemstones, and saliva was dripping from his mouth.
“We should name it something.”
“But what do you name such a masterpiece? What do you call such a delicious, crispy pillar of crystal goodness?”
“ 'Pillar of Crystal Goodness' sounds good to me.”
“yes … It sounds goooooooood.”
“Almost to good to be eaten”
“Almost.”
-::Warning – power levels at 10 percent – and dropping::-
Sweeties belly let out a rumble as the gears inside her stomach turned in a start up sequence for the re-energizers she would need to devour less she fancied another blackout.
Not feeling like shutting down just yet, Sweetie grabbed a cake slicer and greedily cut into pillar of goodness.
Beside her, Spikes belly joined in on the chorus. Growling at her like a predator that was trying to scare away the competition from its prey.
Sweetie quickly handed him the slicer, and he cut an even bigger piece out of the pillar of goodness. Right next to the hole that Sweetie had made.
Both of them started to chew down on their slices of cake. The kitchen was filled with sounds like the shattering of glass as the gems were grinned sand in their mouths.
The sand flowed down Sweeties Throat pipe and entered her stomach, where her gears went to work like a rock crusher and grinned up the food into even tinier particles. And the energy that lay hidden inside these compressed minerals were released through waves of cybernetic magic – and absorbed by Sweeties systems.
Sweetie turned on a little icon of a battery in the corner of her vision, and watched in joy as the bars on the ikon rose as her battery recharged.
There were so many crystals in the cake, that just one big slice almost recharged her entire battery.
Sweetie licked her lips, and looked up at The Pillar Of Goodness again. Her systems might have been satisfied. But her sweet tooth wasn't.
Beside her. Spike too licked his lips, and let out a very satisfied sigh.
“A gem a day, keeps the doctors at bay” He said, and patted his belly.
“A gem a day keeps the blackout away.” Sweetie echoed.
She grabbed the slicer, and cut out an even bigger slice then before. More then would have been necessary to filly up the remaining charge. She normally did not have these many gems in her diet. But ever since finding out about her true nature she had begun to develop a taste for them. Perhaps that's why Rarity had tried to keep the stash a secret. Else sweetie would overdose on these expensive little rocks.
As her battery charges reached maximum, The surplus of crystal dust settled in her stomach, along with all the remains of sugary dough, whip cream and other things that her systems could not extract any use for. In time, these surplus products would be compressed into slag and pushed out her 'rear tube' (and down whatever toilet she was occupying) In the meantime the would just sit there and wait to be expelled.
It would be such a waste. The slag products might be one thing to get rid off, but the crystal fragments still contained energy. It would be better if she could just store them inside her body...
A thought sparkled to life in Sweeties cybercore. What if she simply used her belly as a storage component, rather then just a food-processor. Then she could simply re-process the crystals she had on layer as her powers dropped – And last longer without a recharge.
She quickly took another big slice of cake, and shoved it into her mouth.
“Um... Should you be eating that much?” Spike asked, a bit worried.
“Don't worry about me. I just had the greatest idea.” Sweetie answered in between mouthful’s of cake“If one gem keeps the blackout away for one day … then how long will many more gems sustain me?”
She handed him the slicer, and started to simply shove the crystal filled dough in with her bare hooves.
“Hey! Don't eat everything by yourself!” Spike shouted, and threw the slicer over his shoulder.
He joined Sweetie in this frantic eating contest that had silently been issued between them. Their hooves and claws dig deeper and deeper into the base layer of the Pillar of Goodness. Until the whole cake let out a groan. And begun to sag.
The two looked up and was that the Pillar of Goodness had begun to lean in over them.
The hole they had cut in the base the had caused the spire to become unstable. The pillar Of goodness swayed as its foundations sagged, and the whole thing tipped over.
There was not time to get away. The cake-avalanche was upon them. And it crashed down upon them with the vengeance of high cholesterol and diabetes combined.
Spike ans Sweetie popped their heads up above the soggy sea, and looked around to see that the Pillar of Goodness had joined its predecessors as a giant mess on the floor.
Only now did Sweetie become aware of just how big the giant mess had gotten.
“We have to do something about all this.” She said. Rarity will not be happy if she sees this.
The mentioning of Rarity got Spike to his feet. He quickly pulled a dustpan from the closet and begun to sweep up the dough from the floor.
Sweetie sighed as she took a handkerchief to a hooffull of dough covered crystals.
“We should do something about all these gems” she said.
“Yeah. It would be such a shame if all this was to go to waste.” Spike agreed.
“Put it all into the sink, and help me wash them off. ”
Spike Turned on the tap in the sink, and begun to pour dough into it. As he swiped dough covered crystals in his claws. He absentmindedly put one of them in his mouth.
Sweetie looked at him, and then she too picked a big hoofull, and shoved it into her mouth.
Spike took another.
So did Sweetie.
And another.
And another.
“Such a shame indeed.”
They bout got a playful smile on their faces.
Oh it, is, on!
The sink was forgotten as the two of them resulted to shove crystal straight into their mouths.
Spike was eating just as greedily, and his belly was beginning to bulge outwards.
Sweeties belly couldn’t bulge. One of the advantages of her design was that she could not get fat, no matter how much she shoved down her throat. She could however – get full.
The gears in her belly ceased to turn as the sand reached up past the stomachs maximum capacity. With no more space to fill, the half-chewed pieces of cake were starting to fill up Sweeties throat pipe. Any ordinary pony would have been well past the point of choking and puking. But Sweetie had long since deactivated any such responses.
She looked over at Spike, who was still shoving crystals down his throat like there was no tomorrow, And desired to do the same. She wasn't gonna loose this game. Her throat pipe groaned as the levels of cake reached up past her uvula, and started spilling back into her mouth. Sweetie still tried to chew, but realized that the contents were just falling out of her mouth. To stop the flow, she took a whole crystal and jammed it down her mouth to cork up her throat – and then simply started to put the crystals whole into her mouth.
Beside her. Spike was starting to look as wide as he was tall. His face was turning colors that you would not believe scales could turn into. In fact, the whole dragon had started go glow. Small streams of green fire was shooting out of his nostrils with every breath. Sweetie did not know what the energy inside crystals did to a dragons body, But Spikes biological systems must be going into overdrive digesting all that energy.
Despite being on the borderline of puking, His eyes were glowing with determination as he put yet another crystal in his mouth. It was some for of dragon greed perhaps. Or perhaps just the same childish stubbornness that Sweetie shared - That made her made her match him crystal for crystal, until her cheeks were bulging out so much that the skin threatened to tear. She was lucky she did not have to breathe, else she would have suffocated long ago.
Actually – since her air pump was currently going unused – maybe she could use that as a second storage device?
Sweetie was about to open the port to her air canal when a loud shriek filled the kitchen.
It was a loud feminine shriek of the glass shattering quality.
Bouth contestants in this eating contest turned to see Rarity standing in the doorway, mouth aghast, and shrieking until she ran out of breath. She then gasped a few times, and shrieked some more, before turning her shriek into words. Words that still carried the same high pitched tone of her shrieking.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?”
Neither Sweetie Belle nor Spike could answer. Both their mouths were filled to the brim with gemstones. Spike face was locked in an expression of horror, the color upon it had shifted in color from green to red. And was getting redder by the second.
It was in that moment That Sweetie realized what state the kitchen, and its two smallest occupants were really in. Dough were sagging from the walls, the floor was covered in a wet mixture of cake and spilled baking goods, and was only getting wetter – as what dough that had been shoved down the sink had clogged up the pipes, and water was now leaking over the edge and onto the soggy floor.
-::Shame sequence activated::-
Rarity stomped into the kitchen, wet splotches marking every step. She magically picked up an uneaten crystal from the smear, and examined it with horror on her face.
“Are... Are these?” She looked back at Sweetie. “SWEETIE! DON'T TELL ME YOU USED THE GEMS FROM MY SPECIAL STASH! ”
Sweeties mouth, Might have been filled with gemstones, and her air pump turned off, But her voicebox, That generated her distinct, slightly squeaky voice. Did not require any of those things.
“I'm – Sorry. But we only used the gems from my special stash. The one you kept a secret for me.”
“NOT THAT SPECIAL SECRET STASH!” Rarity shrieked. And levitated a pot marked 'S' down from an unnoticed spot on top of the freezer.
“THIS IS YOUR SPECIAL STASH!“
She shoved the pot in Sweeties face. Inside was a small, untouched collection of smaller gems. It would certainly been enough for a meal between one Bot and one Dragon. Perhaps even enough to make some frosting for an average sized cake. But nothing on the levels of The Pillar Of Goodness.
“WHERE DID YOU GET THESE FROM!” Rarity shouted “DON'T TELL ME YOU GOT THEM FROM A PURPLE, HEART SHAPED BOX!”
Sweetie bent down and let the gemstone fall out of her mouth. She closed the hatch to her throat pipe, ensuring that no more substance would leak out of her. She didn't look back up at Rarity, Her shame protocols would not allow her. She just stared at that untouched pot of gems. She always knew Rarity had to put some gems away for her little sisters sake. She had known there had to be a special stack of gems hidden away somewhere that wasn't the Boutique, As Sweetie was not allowed to eat any gems that were to be sown onto her expensive dresses.
The beedroom had just seemed like the most logical choice to look for a little box of love dedicated to her little sisters nutrition. And what spelled love more then a purple heart shaped box under the bed … She knew Rarity loved gems … but not that much...
-::Warning – An Error has occurred::-
“THAT WAS MY SECRET SPECIAL STASH, SWEETIE!” Rarity cried.
“THOSE WERE FOR THE GLAMMER GLAMORE! SAPPHIRE SHORES NEW DRESS!”
"Oh..."
“DO YOU KNOW HOW EXPENSIVE THESE WERE? GEMS DO NOT GROW ON TREES, SWEETIE! ESPECIALLY NOT HOOF CRAFTED - SPECIALLY ORDERED - TAILOR READY GEMS! “
-:.Warning – A Big Error has occurred::-
"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS SWEETIE?"
-::Shame levels approaching maximum efficiency::-
“I ... I'm sorry..”
"WHY DO YOU HAVE TO MAKE SUCH A MESS OF EVERYTHING!?"
"I'm sorry … I'm really, really sorry … Really, Really, Really Sorry!"
“SORRY ISN'T GONNA HELP ME GET ANY NEW GEMS!” Rarity cried out. “WHY ARE YOU EATING ME OUT OF THE HOUSE!?”
“I'M SORRY THAT I'M A ROBOT - OK!” Sweetie snapped.
Rarity looked like she had been punched in the gut. Sweetie covered her mouth as she realized to late what a stupid thing she had just said.
“I'm sorry … Its just that … I … We... We did some thing today and I … I ran out of power and I … Needed to Recharge. So I just thought I, bake a cake … And...”
She thought Rarity was about to yell even more. But whatever her big sister was gonna say, she swallowed it. And then she just stared. Something dark was stirring behind those eyes. Something that weighed down on Sweetie like a ton of bricks.
Sweetie almost winched Rarity would go back to yelling, as she felt like she was gonna get crushed under that stare.
“I'll make it up to you somehow!” Sweetie finally said. “I'll just clean up here and...”
“No Sweetie” Rarity said in a low, uncomfortable tone. “You have done enough for today.”
She gestured towards the door.
“Just go. Okay. Just go and … let me be alone for a while.”
Sweetie got up on her hooves, and moved out.
“Its Okay Rarity.” Spike said, trying to get to his feet. ”I'll help you clean up and...”
“That goes twice for you too, Spikey Wikey.”
The way she said his nickname carried the same dark undertone.
Spike gulped in shock. And then he also headed for the door, groaning in pain with every step as he grabbed his swollen belly in his tiny claws.
Sweetie help up the door for him. And they both exited together.
“Just so you know. I'm not angry at you two, I'm just very, VERY, disappointed right now.”
Rarity's words followed them out as the door slammed shut.
Spike and Sweetie went their separate ways without saying anything to each other. Spikes Belly looked too heavy for him to do much besides groan as he wagged his way through town. Both of their Bellies were full of precious gems that Rarity clearly mourned.
But above all else - Sweeties Heart Drive was heavy with guilt.
If only gems were not the only way she knew how to recharge. Then they would not look so tasty. Then Rarity's boutique would not have turned into a constant temptation. Had she finally given in to that temptation? Was this how Spike felt like living in that castle made of crystal?
From inside the Boutique, Sweetie though she could hear Her older sister throw herself onto her couch in one of her over dramatic - But this time justified - tantrums.
Sweetie's conscience told her she had to make up for her mistake. And while she might not be able to restore the gems she had grinded up. She could put her over stocked energy reserves to use.
Gems might not grow on trees.
But she knew in what ground they did grow.
Time to put those unrestricted gears of hers to some real use.