• Published 5th Apr 2016
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Sweetie - The Magical Little Bot - Grimweird



Can a Robot learn Magic?

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A plan in Spin.

Sweetie walked down the path, and wondered about what she should do. When suddenly – She was beset upon by a large 'whoosing' sound. The air spun all around her like a tiny tornado, and an orange blur scooted past her vision.

After she had whipped the hair out of her face, she got a clear look at her friend Scootaloo. The energetic pegasi was beaming at her from top of her blue scooter. Her wings only slightly turning down in their energetic buzzing. She had a pair of racer goggles over her eyes, and a blue bag on her back. A specially made pegasi backpack that allowed her wings to flap – Or in her case buzz - unhindered at her sides.

“Morning Sweetie” The orange filly said, still doing laps around Sweetie. “Everything alright?”

“Yeah” Sweetie answered, lying through her smile.

“Really? Because you were sulking like you've sold the Lillie's and dropped the money. ”

Sweetie dropped her smile.

“More like lost all my energy and eaten all the gems.”

“What?”

Sweetie sighed. And tried to explain.

“Basically I ate all of my sisters gems and now she is super mad at me, So I think I have to go and find some more gems to make up for it.”

“Sounds like you are in quire a predicament.” Scootaloo said. “Wanna talk about it back at the clubhouse?”

Sweetie nodded. And Scootaloo told her to get on her scooter, and hold on tight to her backpack.

The buzzing of Scootaloo's little wings increased, and it was not long beforore the streets of Ponyville was flying by them.

She might be crippled – But nothing could beat Scootaloo in terms of speed.

As Scootallo spun away down the roads – Sweetie realized that even with her gears unrestricted – She would not have been able too keep up with scoot on her wheels.

***

“And so … that's the story.” Sweetie Belle finished.

She had just retold the events of earlier today to her friends. And the three of them were now sitting in their clubhouse discussing the problem.

“...Rarity says I'm eating her out of the house. And she is right. All these upgrades are running me dry. It used to be that a gem or two could power me for a whole day. But these new magic crystals require so much energy to function.”

“But … Isn't crystals kind of easy to come by?” Asked Applebloom “Don't they like, grow in the ground or something? I've read somewhere that there are some energies in the earth that compresses itself into crystallizing … somehow.”

“Yeah.” Didn't Pinkie pie use to be a rock farmer?” Scootaloo cut in. “don't they like – mold the rocks so that they become crystals or something … with their earth pony magic?”

She gave Applebloom a long and trying look.

“Every earth pony does not have the power to mold rocks.” The red haired filly eventually said.

“How do you know? Have you ever tried? Maybe that's like your super secret special talent or something?”

“No!” Said Sweetie Belle. “It doesn’t matter if it was your power to shape crystals out of thin air ...”

“Awesome!” Said scoot, and started slamming her hooves together, trying to compress the air between them into something.

“... Because I don't want to take anyone else work. Rarity spent a lot of time and bits to get those gems just the way she wanted them. And she cant spend every day digging up gems for me. I don't want to ask anyone to spend their time for me. I don't want my problem to become somepony else problem.”

“No – I should just go, and find some on my own. Maybe build a stockpile or something. But not-in-a-dragon-hoard sense. More like … something like a stack for emergencies. And then they'll be all mine and no one else would have to say anything about me using up their gems.”

“Ah, so you want to be … Whats the word … independent.”

“Yes … Or maybe its more like , I don't want to have to rely on any pony else … Either way. I Have to go and find some gems on my own.”

Sweetie rose from the floor, and started walking towards the door.

Scootaloo was quickly on her feet, and threw her hood around Sweeties neck.

“Don't be stupid, Of course your problem is our problem. What are friends for if not to help? You might have your cutie mark. But we are still a Team, We ate the Cutie mark Crusaders. And we are not gonna stop until we all have our marks!”

The orange Pegasus grabbed a hard hat and a pickaxe from the corner of the cloubbhouse that all their stuff was usually stored in.

“Now come on. CUTIE MARK CRUSA...”

The declaration was stopped dead as Applebloom shoved her hoof in Scoot's mouth.

“Where would you even find any gems?” She asked.

“The quarry, of course.” Sweetie answered “Rarity always finds her gems there. Usually she brings Spike, but I know where it is”

“The quarry is a pretty big place.” Said Applebloom “your sister has a talent for finding gems, and Spike can sniff them out. What are we gonna do? We could just dig up the whole quarry and hope that we find anything. But wouldn’t it be faster if if we could, say, locate the gems before the digging?”

“Yeah” Said Scootaloo. “Can't you go and ask your sister if you can borrow some of her crystal detection?
About having some of that crystal detecting spell of hers transferred into a crystal or something?

Sweetie made a face. Going back to ask Rarity for anything was not a viable option right now.

“No. The whole reason I need to find so many gems is to make up for the damage I've done. And to make an Emergency stack of my own.”

“That a lot of gems.”

”And a lot of digging.”

It was easy for them all to mentally picture a quarry filled with a thousand holes, and three exhausted fillies with only one gem to show for it. - Two exhausted fillies and one powered down cyber-filly that was.
Even is Sweetie did all the digging herself, there would be little point to it if she just blacked out before finding anything.

Scootaloo looked at her pickaxe

“I have a feeling this is not gonna cut it.”

“So what are we gonna do?”

The trio moved over to the other corner of the clubhouse. It was a corner so sufficient at helping them coming up with ideas, that they had marked it with a big red bulls-eye.

After about three seconds of intensive thinking, Scootaloo raised her hoof.

“I got it! We just have to use something bigger.”

“Like what?”

Scootaloo pulled out a piece of paper, and started scratching down her idea with crayons.
What she drew was a big yellow machine – Similar to those heavy construction vehicles with cartepillar threads used at build sites.

(there were always a lot of those around, given the accident prone natures of this town – where entire buildings might need reconstructions at a moments notice. )

The difference was that instead of a long crane – The front instead had a large horizontal triangle brawn in gray.

“Like THAT!” Scootaloo said. “Why don't we simply use a drill?”

Sweetie liked the Idea. But Applebloom was not so sure that the town would let them borrow such a heavy vehicle. And after convincing the others that that the only thing they would end up getting would be cutie marks related to jail time, she voted for another plan.

“So – why don't we simply build one of our own?” Scootaloo suggested.

“And how do you suppose we get the thing to move? Pedals or something?” Applebloom said sceptically.

“I don't think anyone would be happy if we drove around town in a big mining vehicle – even if we made it ourselves.” Said Sweetie. “Even if I would have been able to power that thing myself.”

The trio sat down and started thinking again. Heavy vehicles would be out of the question, since they were too young to drive. As would using dynamite – As the CMC weren't allowed to come withing 200 yards of the fire cracker store having caused some of those accidents that this town was so prone for.

Sweetie though. Hard. And when she thought so hard – She tended to hold her breath and poofed out her cheeks. She though so hard that the skin on her face turned red. And as she though harder, She pumped more energy into that cybercore in her head. It sent sparks running back and forth down the nodes, looking for an answer. Some of that excess-energy escaped and had to be redirected out her horn. And as she though so hard her horn begun to sparkle and crackle with energy.

“I GOT IT!” Shouted Applebloom, who had been watching Sweeties intense thinking. “You could be the drill!”

Her friends shouting drew Sweetie from her thinking.

“What?”

Applebloom was up in Sweeties face before she got an answer to that question.

“Think about it – If we simply connect the drill to you, the you'd be able to power it all on your own. “

She grabbed Sweetie cheeks, and and stared at her horn, at the at the intertwined spiral shape that spun from the bottom of her cranium to the top of that cone shaped, pointy trinket.

“Why! You could become the first drill-pony in history!”

“How would she be able to do that?” Said Scootaloo, Pulling The over exited apple of her friend before turning to Sweetie. “I thought Twilight restricted your abilities after that hoofball game.”

Sweetie blushed a little

“Well – you see – She kind of forgot to put them on.”

Scootaloo shone up.

Then, This is perfect! CUITE MARK CRUSADER DRILL CONSTRUCTORS YAAAY!

“Are you sure?” Sweetie asked. “I don't think Twilight would be too happy.”

“Why wouldn't she be?” Asked applebloom.
“If she didn't reassure any restriction spells – then clearly she wants us… you. To do more experiments and receive more upgrades. What would this be if not another upgrade?”

“In fact – I'm sure Twilight would want you to continue testing.” Said Scootaloo “Why else would she have let you go unrestricted?

Sweetie though about it. She did not fancy seeing herself as a piece of hardware. And she even less fancied anyone else seeing her that way. But – This was a time of emergencies. And she did want to do all she could before Any restrictions were put on her again.

Besides, after today’s earlier failure with telekinesis, she was eager to make something useful out of that appendage on her forehead.

“For science?” She said.

“For science” Applebloom answered

“Right?”

“Right!”

“Yes.” Scootaloo pumped her hoof “This is gonna be awesome! Who knows. If we keep experimenting enough. with cyber pony technology for long enough. We will get our marks in Cyber pony engineering.“

Sweetie felt a small sting of guilt at that. but but decided not to think about it.

Together, they started drawing up their main concept of the drill. With all the graze and precision of throwing ideas onto a wall and see what stuck.
They would need an engine. And it would need to be attached directly to sweetie so that she could power it. And then there would need to be a big spinning thing. In fact, the whole thing needed to be a big spinning thing. That's what a drill was. a big spinning thing. And it needed some blades and spikes which could dig through the dirt.

In the end. The spikes were scrapped from the final product, as they would just be in the way. Regardless of how cool they looked.

Sweetie's horn would not be spinning itself, It would merely serve as the attachment rod. The spinning would be done by the drill itself.
The drill would have an internal engine sitting in the center of a few rotation blades that connected to an exterior shell which was the main trill-head with all the swirly patterns.

Applebloom might not know much about drilling. But she knew her carpenter tools. And a drill needed to have a spiral shaped panther that could dig in and push the wood (or dirt) out of the way. Otherwise, you just have a big cone shaped piece of metal.

There was also some argument about the size. It would need to be big enough to make a tunnel that they could stand in. But it could not be too big as to not put too big a strain on sweetie or the engine. A too heavy drill would not be able to spin - nor be able to hold together.

In the end, it was decided that the drill wold have to be just slightly bigger then themselves. So that An average filly would have been able to stand – Just barely- inside the wide diameter of the bottom of the cone that was to be the drill-head. So that they would be able to walk head up in whatever tunnel they would be digging.

“But...” Said Applebloom, a bit skeptical to this plan “where do you suppose we would find enough materials for that?“

Scootaloo smiled.

***

A few minutes later. Scootaloo kicked the door up to the Scrapyard.

Contrary to its name. The scrapyard was not a yard at all. Rather – It was a large, barn like building, where a lot of old and broken junk got discarded and dismantled before it got reconstructed into new things. In the accident prone little town Where a monster might come stomping through any day – The impromptu place had become somewhat of a necessity, where ponies could leave stuff that was too broken to be repaired again.

The interiors held all sorts of things - Ranging from wagons to coffee pots. And even a few heavy construction vehicles that had been dismantled, and its parts rearranged in neat little stacks. There were also a lot of tools available for the varying tasks do deconstructing and reconstructing things.

The trio stood over the raw materials with a professional look on their faces.

“Hammer?” Said Applebloom.

“Hammer.” Scootaloo answered, and a hammer was passed by Sweetie belle to Applebloom.

“Cutter?” Sweetie asked.

“Cutter.” Scootaloo awnsered, and passed her a cutter.

“Weld?” Scootaloo finally said. And picked up a gas powered weld with a matching protective helmet.

“Weld.“ She repeated, and folded down a welding helmet over her face.

She lit the weld – and the epic construction montage of the moment began. That kind of moment that all percent would only be able to recollect bits and pieces off. As time seemed to disappear and the work seems to unfold on its own in a bizarre choreography, and you can for some reason remember hearing music in the background. That you might or might not have been singing along to as you worked.

Such was the power of pony music. A magic more strange and subtle then the power of Friendshipp -Able to bend space and time in a way that would make discord blush.

The stokes of hammers and the sparks of welds filled the workshop as metal was bent and broken and put together again into shape. Before finally The drill lay ready in the center of the Scrapyard, on top of some wooden wooden trestles tables

Now. Reflect for a moment over the fact that three little fillies were able to construct a piece of heavy mining equipment, without any prior knowledge in doing so.

The achievement should certainly be worthy of a cutie mark.

The two organic fillies looked down on their flanks in anticipation.
A double sigh of disappointment followed.

“Ok, So, How are we even gonna get this thing to the quarry?” Scootaloo said, biting eminently onto the next problem that had arose.

The drill was clearly to big and heavy to be easily transported out on their scooter-pulled wagon.

Sweetie looked down on her foreleg.

“Thanks Twilight.”

She rolled up the skin on her foreleg, like anypony might have rolled up the sleeve on their sweater. She opened the small port on her leg, and out came the screwdriver she had installed this very morning. The red handle shone from the little decompression crystal inside.

Sweetie removed the screwdriver from the arm that connected it to her port. Then she twisted the end of the handle off- like the lid off a peanut jar. Then she removed the crystal from the screwdriver.

So small it was, to the naked eye. Yet it held such power.

Scootaloo. Who had never been a part of the whole crystal experiment yet, whistled impressed over the glowing little rock. In one swift motion she grabbed the gem out of sweeties open hoof.

“It doesn’t even feel like a normal gem” she said with some satisfaction, before passing it on to Applebloom.

“I know right” Said the earth pony. “it must be the concentrated levels of magic. Its like rubbing a balloon against your hair.”

“Its making the edge of my feathers tingle.” Scootaloo said with a nod, as she ruffled her wings.

“If you girl are done gauging over the thing ...” Said Sweetie Belle “then, would you please … ”

She pressed down on the top of her horn – causing it to split apart and open up.

“I would do it myself, but I cant really see. Not without a mirror”

Applebloom carefully inserted the crystal into Sweeties horn, and closed it up.

“What are you thinking about now?”

what was she thinking? Well, what she was thinking was quite easy, She was gonna shrink down the massive drill.

Would it work? That, they were about to find out.

Sweetie inserted her horn into the slot of the drill. And let her energy flow out the top of her head.

She needed to push a large amount of energy out through the crystal. It felt like she pressed the magical energy out through her horn – A most refreshing feeling, since this was what she had dreamed of, using magic, like other unicorns do.
She needed to push it further then her horn though. She did not need a repeat of the levitation fiasco she did this morning – else she might surround herself in another magical aura – and shrink herself.

Still – If she had been able to extend a magical field big enough to cover herself, Why not do the same for this drill? It was just a 'little' bigger then she was. She told herself.

-::And a lot bigger then the screwdriver::- Said her logic center

That's right. Surround the drill with you magic, fill it with your magic, Just like the screwdriver.

The drill was connected to her horn by wires. It was these wires the pushed the magic down. Pushed it like gravel being flushed threw the stream of a pie. The energy traveled threw the machinery, and begun to spread from the bottom of the drill to the top. Filling it from inside and out.

She could feel it, Hay – She could see it. See it with her third cybernetic eye. As the energy jumped out from the wires and spread across the metallic construct as the whole thing became electric.

“Sweetie its working – Its working!”

Sweetie opened her two real eyes, and stared up into the drill, to see the magic energy begin to spread out from her horn, and slowly cover the drill.

At the same time she noticed that the effort was taking a lot of energy, both from her own battery of from the magic in the crystal.
Her belly started to rumble as it crunched up some of those gems she had stuffed herself with in order to replace that energy – and Scootaloo got worried that it was the drill starting.

She knew that that the energy needed to shirk this big drill would be quadrupled over that of the screwdriver.. And she knew she would burn out the crystal a lot faster with an object this size.
Luckily. The energy inside was still like a sun.

”Tell me when the magic surrounds the top.” she yelled to her fellow crusaders. She did not know why she yelled. Magic auras aint exactly known to be noisy. Perhaps it was just the thrill of the moment, or the strain of the effort. Either way she did not want to run on idle and consume more energy then nesesarry. Else she might risk a blackout.

”OK! Its done!” Applebloom yelled.

-::Not a second to soon::-

Sweetie saved the settings and then gave the energy the same lovetap needed to activate the spell.

There was a flash, And a brief moment – no more then a few seconds - when the drill did not disappear, but very swiftly shrunk- when the drill didn't simply shrink, But folded into itself in a way that no solid object nor the laws of physics should allow. Making several sounds that metal and gears hold not make along the way as its mass was rapidly decompressed to a much smaller size. And very swiftly sucked backwards into that one place where it connected to something whose mass remained unaffected by the sudden change.

Sweeties head was flung backwards as that mass - And the force of the movement as the mass magically sucked backwards into a very small point - And some other quantum science stuff - bounced into her forehead like a high speed hoofball.

And then it was over.

-::Decompression complete::-

'Decompression', that's that Twilight had called it. It wasn't a simple shrink spell. This was, something else.

Sweetie remained sitting, staring up into the roof of the workshop with her forehooves in the air, like she had failed to catch that big beach ball that had been thrown at her face. Recovering from the small shock as she heard her friend call out. - One of them for her - The other calling out in thanks to the gods of awesomeness for granting her the audience of this event.

“Sweetie? Are you ok?”

Sweetie leaned forward and got her forehooved back under her. Her horn was smoking with the afterglow of magic energy. And she had a big smile on her face.

“I'm Better then Ok” She said. “Im..”

a brief second passed as she searched for a good answer.

-::”More?”::-
Technically true, she was a little more now then a moment before, now that she had a new component inside her.

-::”Heavier?”::-
Strangely not. Her head didn't feel heavier. The weight of the drill had been reduced along as its physical mass.

-::”Better?”::-
Again – Technically. As she was now upgraded to do something she had not been able to do before.

And that something became her answer:

“I'm ready to do some drilling!”

“Some awesome drilling!” Scootaloo cried. And threw her hoof into the air.

The other two followed her, and they all cried out in tandem:

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS GEM MINERS. YAAAAAAAAAY!!!”

***

The quarry lay a few minutes outside of town. A few minutes if you are riding on the back of a cart being pulled by by the fastest scooter rider in town. And that was just what they did.

Scootaloo pulled them out into the middle of that large empty sandbox. Not a creature could be heard stirring for miles. They would have this place completely to themselves.

Applebloom pulled herself out of the wagon, pulling along two sets of saddlebags that they hoped to fill with gems by the end of the day. She also pulled out a pair of hard hats that they had brought for safety precautions. As well as a pair of flashlights and some small chisels hammers and pikes. Just in case.

”Ok Sweetie. Whenever you are ready”

The other two put their hard hats on – and Sweetie activated her drill.

To the outside viewer. It was like if her horn grew to several times her size.

Sweetie smiled. … And then she tilted.

-::Warning – uneven load!::-

She took a few steps right- then a few steps left, trying to keep her balance. But with the weight of the drill sitting so unevenly on the top of her forehead – It proved an impossible task. And it weren’t long before she stumbled over her own hooves, and fell face first in the dirt – Or would have, if the drill had not been in the way.

Scootaloo tried to conceal a snicker. - That kind of made it personal.

Sweetie braced her hooves on the ground. And locked up her joints. Then she raised her strength levels to its unrestricted heights, and begun to lift her head. She cranked her neck like a jack-lift, one vertebra at the time, and the drill rose from the ground, until she held the whole weight it proudly over her head.

That shut Scootaloo up.

Then she started to tilt again.

-::Warning – Top heavy!::-

Even with her robotnick strength, Sweetie did not have enough mass to counter the weight she balanced on her forehead. The drill fell – And Sweeties locked-up body simply tilted along with it.

This time, Scootaloo could not conceal her snicker.

Sweetie sighed in defeat and let her body go loose, to get all four hooves on the ground again.

“Um, a little help here?” she said, feeling like a moron standing there with her head stuck to this weight.

“Why?” Said Scootaloo.” You got the drill in the ground, just start it up already.”

There was nothing more to it, she supposed.

“WAIT DON'T …!” Applebloom cried.

But Sweetie had already let her energy flow out the top of her head, and activated the engine. There was a click and a whir as the rotation blades inside the drill started up. And then the whole thing started rotating – Fast!

There was no gentle start up sequence. The drill spun pretty much immediately into high gear. And started spewing up dirt and sand to its right as it spun in a violent counter clockwise motion.

A big wave of sand washed over Applebloom and Scootaloo, burring them as the drill dug a trench.

Sweetie, who had not been prepared for the violent start, was shaken like a asp leaf as the force attached to her forehead powered through the dirt. She was taken so completely by surprise by the amount of horse powers she was packing, that she forgot to let go of the throttle. She was just reflexively trying – and failing - to hold onto the ground, when then the drill decided that it had other things to do – And bounced out of the trench and carried off across the quarry – Dragging Sweetie along for the ride.

While lying on the ground, the thing essentially became a big wheel, and wherever it wanted to go – It wanted to get there fast.

Two other ponies poked their heads out of the sand and stared as their friend powered through the quarry.

“HOW DO YOU STOP THIS THING!?” Sweetie cried over the roar of the drill.

“Cut the power Sweetie! Cut the power!” Shouted Applebloom.

Sweetie did so. But the drill was not as quick to wind down as it had been starting up. And the sheer momentum of the thing let it power through just a little further.

She came to a stop in front of her friends in the sand-pile.

“That was AWESOME!” Scootaloo cried.

“No … No it wasn't.” Sweetie mumbled.

She retracted the drill into her horn, and let her face fall limp into the dirt.

“Why didn't you do that before?” Said Scootaloo, “If you wanted to come to a stop. Why didn't you just shrink the drill?”

Sweeties drew a blank.

“You try to come up with Ideas while you are plowing through the ground at 100 miles per hour!” she answered. “At least tell me we dug up some good gems from that” She muttered into the sand.

“Unfortunately, no.” Said Applebloom, pushing her way out of the sand. “I don't see a single gem.”

“WHAT!? But this place is supposed to be full of gems!”

The trio looked around at the empty sand around them.

“I think they might be further down.” Said Applebloom.

“In that case - I think we need to rethink out entrance strategy. It clearly does not work to just place the drill flat on the ground.” said Sweetie.

“Obviously drills don't work like that!” Said Applebloom. “If you want to drill a hole, you need to put the head of the drill in first.”

Scootaloo tapped her cheek in pondering.

“So... we just we need to get the top of the drill into the dirt first, right?”

“Yeah. But I can't bend my neck that far.” Said Sweetie. “The thing is too big.”

“Then we simply have to turn you upside down.”

“And now to you suggest we do that?” Snarled Applebloom.

The orange filly looked around at the high hills, that surrounded the ravine.

The quarry was basically a big hole in the ground. A crater surrounded by steep cliffs. And steep drops.

“I got it.” She said, and pointed.

***

The trio soon found themselves standing on the top of a hillside, that ended with a steep drop into the quarry. Not too high. Just high enough that sweetie could fall with her head first – Drill pointing down into the dirt.

“I'm not sure about this.” Said Sweetie. “I'm not sure I dare.”

“Why? Its not like you're gonna break from this height” Said Scootaloo “Besides. If you do – We can just repair you again.”

Sweetie shot Scootaloo a very scorn look that caused her to back off.

“Look, you're the one who needed those gems for your sister right?” Said Applebloom. Trying to be a little more encouraging.

Sweetie swallowed. And looked down over the cliff again. Her instinct protocols were telling her to told on to the ground below her. And her hooves were gripping the grass on the hill harder.

Sweetie swallowed, and closed her eyes.

Sweetie activated the drill, and let go of the ground, fighting against all instincts to try and hold onto something – Or land on all four.
She simply let the weight of the drill carry her over the edge of the cliff. Simply allowing gravity to make sure it hit the ground before she did.

There was a short drop, made even shorter by the weight attached to her forehead dragging her down faster then she would have liked. Then there was a slam as the drill impacted with the dirt. And the weight of Sweeties body felt like it was pressed into her head.

She opened her eyes. And that she sky had switched place with the ground.

The drill … And her body was hanging over her head. Supported by the locked up vertebrae in her titanium neck.

There was a few nervous moments when she waited for the drill to top over. But it didn't. The tip must have buried itself a sufficient amount of way into the ground.

Her legs waived around, searching for something to grab onto, but found nothing.

She looked down – which was actually up – between her legs to see two heads peaking out over the cliffedge. One of the heads were bearing a big smile.

“Well – that didn't work.” Said Applebloom. Who wasn't smiling.

What are you talking about?” Said the beaming Scootaloo “We got the drill into the ground, didn't we?”

“So now what?” Yelled Sweetie. From her upside down position.

“Just start up the bloody drill already.”

Sweetie would have nodded. If her head weren’t stuck in its position.

“NO WAIT … !”

But there was already a click and a whir as the rotation blades inside the drill started up. And then Sweeties world became a spinning, upside-down carousel of industrial strength. A carousel that – Had she not been attached directly too it – she would have been thrown off by the speed.

“You are doing it wrong!” Yelled Scootaloo. “The drill is supposed to be spinning, Not you!”

“Sweetie! Turn it off! Cut the power!” yelled Applebloom.

Sweetie had already cut the power. But the well oiled engine had several spins left in it before winding down. Sweetie didn't want to wait for several more spins. She wanted off this joyride NOW.

-::Decompression spell activated::-

The drill vanished from the ground and retracted into her horn. Sweetie continued to spin a few laps around her own axis before she fell the last few feet down to the ground, and to the hole that she had made.

Sweetie stumbled around. The spirit levels in her balance systems were doing little laps inside her head. She wobbled over to the cliffside wall And she rested hear head against the cliff side, waiting for the dizziness to stop.

“Well that didn't work” Came Scootaloo's disappointed voice.

“I noticed.”

“Then we'll have to try something else...”

“NO Scootaloo. No more Ideas! You've had your turns, let Applebloom come up with the next!”

Once Sweetie's eyeballs had stopped spinning in their sockets she lifted her head and focused her gaze on the small hole that her horn had made in the soft gravel of the cliff wall.

That's when she got an Idea.

She backed up a sufficient distance, braced herselves. And aimed her horn at the cliff, just a little below the hole her horn had made, just where the cliff met the ground.

We are going to be traveling downwards, we need an angle... Sooooo.

-::Activate decompression spell::-

The drill folded out of her horn, and proving that her eye-measurement weren’t off, the tip impacted with the cliffside.

Sweetie begun to sag under the weight. But she braised herself - Locking up her neck and spine, and gripping the soil beneath her to steady herself as she pushed the drill into the cliff, ensuring she could not fall forward. And once she was steady enough on her hooves, she activated it.

The roar thundered in her ears and dirt and rocks were split apart and thrown aside. The drill rocked like a jackhammer against her scull as she Sweetie took a step forward and pushed the drill even further into the cliffside. struggling to keep herself steady.
She even activated the earth pony crystals in her hooves, its energy somehow strengthening her grip on the soil and helping her stand firm.

Waves of Rock and soil was thrown past her as she took yet another few steps, and smoke was billing up from all the sand and dirt being tossed around. Sweetie noticed her cheeks were getting wet. Here eyes were filling with tears from all the dirt in the air. Only by deactivating her pain sensors could she keep them open.
Not that she could see much anyway. Her vision was filled with the underside of the drill, spinning in front of her.

She continued pushing the drill in front of her, until the world grew dark around her.

She stopped, and looked up. Seeing that the cliff had disappeared out of view. And that she was now staring up into the same solid dirt that covered her left, and her right, and her below.

Sweetie. retracted the drill again, to be able to turn around, and see herself standing a little bit into a hole in the cliffside. At the beginning of a tunnel of her own making.

Two more figures entered the tunnel. Beaming with joy.

“Sweetie! You did it! You did it!” they cried.

The three of them hugged.

“I believe operation, Earn out marks in gem Mining is officially A go”

Sweetie could already feel her belly rumble in anticipation of all the gems they were gonna find down there.

Or was, that something else?

They all looked down on her belly, the gravel of gears was much louder when they were grinding up yet another portion of her internal stockpile

Sweetie blushed. Using the drill did sure not come cheap.

“Sounds like we better get going.” Said Scootaloo, with a meaning smile.

“Girls. You might need some eye protection. Its gonna get mighty dusty down here.” Sweetie warned them, rubbing the muddy tears out of her own eyes.

“Way ahead of you”

Scootaloo Reached behind her wings and pulled out a pair of extra goggles out of her backpack, and handed them to Applebloom.

“And these are for you Sweetie.“ she said, and pulled out a third pair.

Sweetie almost refused them, on the prospect that she did not need them. But, it would be bad if she got a lot of sand in her eyes.

“Why do you have so many goggles?” Applebloom asked

“I always carry a set of extra goggles around in case of goggle emergencies.” She said.

The other two rolled their eyes.

Once the goggles were strapped around her head. Sweetie turned around into the hole she had made. And activated the drill one again. Once if filled the end of the tunnel. Sweetie noticed that it had become a lit easier to manage. The soil around them helped take a lot of weight of the drill. All sweetie had to do was provide momentum. The drill did not even rock that bad, now that it had been firmly placed into the ground.

And so the CMC descended down into the unknown. Sweetie in front and the others tight behind, as their quest for gems got started.

Author's Note:

'Quest for Gems' was the alternative title for this chapter.