A Piece of the Puzzle
Twilight Sparkle expected to see a lot of things under that cloak. She expected to see the effects of poison joke, an embarrassing pimple, or a wicked wasp sting. Maybe even leeches, a rash, or baldness. But not one single scenario she could come up with would ever amount to this. What was there in the library went against nearly everything Twilight had ever learned, it didn’t make any sense, it was impossible. Yet, there it was, standing before her very eyes. However, it’s not like the amount of knowledge and facts she possessed haven’t let her down before. But it only made it feel all that more surreal.
The purple unicorn’s hooves instinctively dug into the pillow she was sitting upon, her mind was screaming at her. She could feel her brain throbbing against her skull as hundreds of reasons for this horrific situation swam inside her head, but none could make her believe, without a doubt, it was actually possible. All she could do was silently stare at the little filly as she fought a war within herself, the ticking of the clock constantly breaking the tension of silence. All of these factors created an unbearable tension in the air that made Twilight want to gouge her eyes out.
Sweetie Belle, hope spread across her features, looked deep into the unicorn’s pair of wide amethyst eyes. She waited for the mare to suddenly stand up and give a long and detailed explanation for her condition, but no such thing happened. The prolonged silence crushed what was left of the mechanical pony’s spirit. If Twilight, the smartest pony in town, didn’t know, then who would? Her gaze slowly left the librarian and dropped to the floor, all of her optimism replaced by pessimism. Sweetie Belle could feel tears beginning to well in her good eye again as her vision blurred. She was angry because she wouldn’t be able to find out what she was. She was sad because she felt alone, being so different from everypony else. But above all, she was scared.
Was her family actually hers? Was Rarity really her sister? Did they know? If they didn’t, would they accept her? Would she ever return to normal? Was she even the real Sweetie Belle? If not, where is the real one and why is she in her place? These questions began to resurface to the mechanical pony’s mind, having been pushed away ever since the incident in the Everfree Forest. She didn’t want to think about those possibilities, it only scared her more then she already was. But she couldn’t help it, she wanted answers, none of which Twilight, her only hope, could give.
Sweetie Belle silently sank back on to her haunches, leaning her horn against the wooden floor as she failed to fight off tears. Scootaloo rushed to her friend’s side and placed a comforting hoof on her back. The orange pegasus looked up towards the aghast purple unicorn with pleading eyes. Twilight stared back as she tried to grasp the situation that was unfolding before her. But she could not muster up the words to explain herself, every sentence she attempted to form died in her mouth. She could only sit there, motionless.
“Don’t give up hope, Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo encouraged, patting her friend on the back “Twilight’s gotta know something, she’s just-”
“No she doesn’t, Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle shouted as she stood up and glared at the pegasus eye to eye.
“B-but, Twilight knows everything.”
“Well that’s obviously not true! Look at her!” Sweetie Belle barked, pointing at the unmoving pony, “She has no idea what I am! It would have been better if I never found out!” Sweetie Belle continued, “Then I could have lived the rest of my life without knowing I’m some sort of freak. Nopony else would know either. I wouldn’t have to fear myself or others for what they would do to me. There are too many questions without answers. Answers I feel I’m never going to get and it’s tearing me apart!” Sweetie Belle continued with a woeful look, her tears threatening to overwhelm her. “Like you said before, Scootaloo; ‘How am I supposed to know if I’m the real Sweetie Belle or not?’ The real Sweetie Belle could be on the other side of the planet. For all I know, she could be dead. Why am I in her place? Is my family even mine to love? W-Why am I… I…” she said before she could not speak through her sorrow any longer.
“Hey,” Scootaloo began, placing a hoof on Sweetie Belle’s shoulder, “you’re going through a lot, Sweetie Belle. But you won’t have to face it on your own,” she paused, lifting the mechanical unicorn’s head till their eyes met. “We’re here for you, me and Applebloom. We won’t abandon you. It’ll be hard work, but we’ll find those answers, together. I promise you on my life.”
Sweetie Belle took in her friend’s words gratefully, allowing a small, comforted smile to spread across her face. However, it wasn’t long till the tender expression faded away. “I just want things to go back to the way they were,” she spoke longingly.
Suddenly, before anypony could act, white sparks flew from the gash in the side of Sweetie Belle’s steel skull. Scootaloo automatically backed away, shielding her eyes from the unforeseen light. When her vision came back, her knees locked up and she froze.
Scootaloo stared in disbelief, not wanting to accept that something more could go wrong today. “S-Sweetie Belle…” Scootaloo stammered, “Y-Your head’s on FIRE!!”
“W-what?!” Sweetie Belle shrieked, swinging her neck towards a nearby mirror. There she could see a blaze quickly growing in size and ferocity on her mane. Without the rain to extinguish the originally small flames the wires caused, there was nothing stopping the broken machinery from catching her inflammable mane on fire. The unicorn filly let out a scream of terror as she thrashed about, trying to put out the flames. Scootaloo sprinted into the kitchen to get something to put out the fire.
The panicked situation that was playing out in the library snapped Twilight out of her bewildered state. Her instincts kicking in, the mare jumped out of her seat and her horn lit up in its signature magenta aura. Orbs of magic quickly swallowed up the flames and smothered them out. The magic faded almost as quickly as it appeared, revealing the damage that had been done. A good amount of Sweetie Belle’s mane was burned away in the blaze. The parts that remained were scorched heavily.
Sweetie Belle felt like she was going to throw a tantrum from all the events that had happened today. The mechanical filly shrunk to the floor and crawled under the discarded cloak. Standing up, she flipped the hood over her head and tied the string holding it together, not wanting to look at herself anymore.
Scootaloo came galloping out from the kitchen with a medium sized glass of water clenched in her teeth. Seeing that the problem was solved, the pegasus slowed down to a walk before coming to a full halt. With a sigh of relief, she gently set the glass down on the floor before looking up at Sweetie Belle with a calm expression. The cloaked crusader turned towards the orange pony with a solemn look on her face. Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow as the glass of water caught her attention.
Scootaloo laughed nervously before explaining. “Sorry, Sweetie Belle, it’s all I could find. Um… ya thirsty?” she joked with a quickly dying chuckle, her attempts to lighten the mood having failed.
Sweetie Belle dismally looked back at Twilight with sadness clearly displayed on her face. To her surprise, the lavender mare no longer sat staring blankly. Instead, the unicorn wore a truly concerned expression now that her mind was no longer at war with itself. Twilight breathed in deeply to keep her mind calm and any logical thoughts at bay, for now. Slowly, she made her way across the room till she was just a foot away from the mechanical filly. With her magic, Twilight pulled back the hood that hid Sweetie Belle’s injuries, she was ready to speak.
“Sweetie Belle…” Twilight began, “I-I’m sorry, I don’t know what this is. I’ve never seen anything like it before.” Sweetie Belle began to lower her head, those words struck her hard. However, before she could be consumed by her emotions again, Twilight lifted the filly’s chin. “But perhaps we can find out, together. Can you please tell me exactly what happened?” the mare asked.
Sweetie Belle sighed, not wanting to relive her experiences today; however, she knew she had to. “It’s a long story,” Sweetie Belle started, “It all started with another crusade. You know that Mythical Creature Encyclopedia you let Scootaloo borrow? Well, we thought it would be another good chance for us to earn our cutie marks. So we read about a few of the monsters in there and decided to try to catch this thing call an orthrus.”
Scootaloo pulled said book out of her saddlebag while she made her way to Sweetie Belle and Twilight. Flipping to the proper page, she dropped the book on to the ground. “See?” she said as she pointed at the illustration of the twin headed beast.
“After a week of preparing, we decided to go looking for one in the Everfree Forest,” Sweetie Belle continued, “But, as you can see, things didn’t turn out so well.”
Applebloom impulsively pushed a couple of peas around her dinner plate with a fork, her mind wondering vastly. She had barely touched the meal; she didn’t even want to think about eating after everything that had happened today, despite her protesting stomach. Sighing, Applebloom stood up and pushed herself off of her bed. Planting her hooves on the wooden floor, she roamed over to the window and lifted up on its wooden frame, opening it up again. Immediately, the crisp coolness of night brushed against her coat, driving a tingling sensation through her body. Leaning against the sill, the farm filly gazed out at the lights of Ponyville that glowed in the dark sky.
Even though Applebloom was able to get the cloak to Scootaloo, she still couldn’t shake the feeling that she didn’t do all she could. Not to mention, she couldn’t stand not knowing what the situation was with Sweetie Belle right now. She could still need her help for all she knew. Should she have gone along with them anyway? “Did Ah make the right choice?” Applebloom thought aloud.
“’Bout what, young’un?” an old voice sounded from behind the filly.
Applebloom nearly jumped out of her skin from the unexpected question. Quickly jolting around, her eyes fell upon a familiar, wrinkly figure standing in the doorway.
“G-Granny, h-how long have ya been standin’ there?” Applebloom asked, worried.
“Long enough,” Granny Smith responded as she walked into the room, glancing at the nearly untouched dinner plate on the bed. Applebloom sighed, knowing she’d have to spill the beans again. There was no way she could slip something like this by the old mare. “What’s the matter, Applebloom?” the old mare asked.
“W-Well… Scootaloo an’ I got inta another fight, in the Everfree Forest of all places. We were…”
“Applejack already told me everythin’ ya told her,” Granny smith interrupted, “Ah know it’s the truth, but Ah don’t think it’s the whole truth. Ah know you’ve gotten inta little scuffles with her before an’ goin inta the forest ain’t nothin’ new to ya, either. So what’s causin’ ya so much grief, Applebloom?”
“Y-You wouldn’t believe me if Ah told ya.”
“Ah’ve been around for a very long time, Applebloom. Ah’ve seen the unbelievable many times.”
“Ah... don’t think Ah have the right ta so what it is, anyways.”
“Why not?”
“Well, it’s very personal to her an’ Ah don’t think she’d want everypony to know about it.”
“Who? Scootaloo?” Granny Smith speculated before moving the tray of food onto Applebloom’s dresser.
Feeling that keeping any questions regarding Sweetie Belle out of the conversation would be the best course of action, Applebloom decided that she needed to do just that, even if it meant lying to her grandmother. “Y-Yeah, Scootaloo,” Applebloom answered nervously.
“Ah see. Is this ‘secret’ of hers the reason why the two of ya fight?” Granny Smith asked as she took a seat on the edge of Applebloom’s bed.
“Ah…” Applebloom paused, processing the old mare’s question thoroughly. “Actually, Granny, A-Ah don’t really know why we’ve been fightin’ so often,” she confessed.
“Are ya sure ya can’t thank of anything?”
“Well, Ah start ta get a little upset when she starts sayin’ things that aren’t true.”
“Are they about you, Applebloom?”
“Not all the time, Granny. But… Ah think most of the time Ah’m the one who starts trouble,” Applebloom admitted as a worried expression crept onto her features.
“Oh?”
“Ah would look for little things in the stuff she says ta get mad at her for, an’ for no good reason, too. Granny, what does that mean?” Applebloom asked, moisture forming in her eyes. “D-Did Ah almost lose her friendship?”
“Oh come here, sugarplum,” Granny Smith said, seeing her granddaughter’s distress. Applebloom trotted across the room and received a gentle hug from the elder pony. “There, there. No need ta get yerself all worked up. How did it all end this time?”
“W-Well, we apologized to each other after our fight,” Applebloom sniveled, climbing onto the bed and sitting next to her grandmother. “We really meant it this time, too. We hugged it out an’ let all our aggression go.”
“Why are ya gettin’ so upset then, Applebloom?”
“It’s just… it scares me ta think how close Ah came to losing her. Ah don’t wanna lose her. Is it normal for friends to fight like this, Granny?”
Granny Smith let out a small chuckle, Applebloom looked up at her, confused. “Ah guess ya can call it an Apple Family Tradition,” she explained, “Your mother did the exact same thing when she was your age.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, she sure did. She met a pegasus named Cloud Bumpkin in school. They connected real nicely; however, they still argued and pushed each other around here an’ there. But even with their hiccups, they still turned out the best of friends. Yer sister was also the same way with Rainbow Dash, too.”
“Ah never woulda thought that. Did you ever have a friend like that, Granny?”
“No, Ah didn’t. Yer great grandpappy never really liked me ta hang around with different pony folk that often. After a lot of convincin’, he finally gave in an’ let me visit with a pony that’d you’d know as yer Grandfather. Did ah ever tell ya the story about how we first met? Why, it was our first year celebrating Winter Wrap Up…” Granny Smith began. Applebloom slightly cringed. She knew it was too late, there was no way she could stop her granny now. She was in for a long story. “But, that’s a story for another time, Applebloom.”
Applebloom looked at the elderly mare, surprised that she hadn’t continued. A silence fell upon the two, allowing each to think their own thoughts and prepare for what was going to happen next. Applebloom knew that Granny Smith wouldn’t stop one of her stories for just anything. Whatever made her stop had to be of the utmost importance. Applebloom’s mind began to wonder at the possibilities of what it could be, even though she felt she knew what it was already.
“Applebloom,” Granny Smith spoke, gaining the fillies attention, “Is Scootaloo the real reason why you’ve been so upset?” Applebloom froze. She knew her grandmother would see through her lie, but she had nothing to say in return. The red-maned filly lowered her head dejectedly, slowly shaking it left to right to confess her wrong doing. “So, is it Sweetie Belle?” Granny Smith asked. Applebloom nodded in response. “So, what happened with her?”
“Ah… Ah… Ah can’t say, Granny,” Applebloom said, turning away from her grandmother, “It’s somethin’ Ah don’t think everypony should know...”
“Ah understand, Applebloom. Ah’ll leave ya ta yer thoughts if ya wish.”
“Yeah… Ah think that’d be best…”
With that, Granny Smith gently brought herself off of the bed. Before heading to the door, she glanced over at Applebloom with a concerned look.
“Ah hope ya find a way ta ease yer troubles, young’un,” the old mare uttered.
“Me too, Granny. Me too,” Applebloom concurred before her grandmother made her way across the room, taking hold of the now cold tray of food as she passed it. Setting the meal on her back, she left the room, closing the door softly behind her.
With a heavy sigh, Applebloom turned her attention back out the window. She watched the populated part of Ponyville as her imagination ran wild, thinking of the worst possible outcomes coming to life. She couldn't help but think of such horrible scenarios, not knowing was pure torture.
“…After that, we made our way here,” Sweetie Belle concluded.
Twilight had been listening carefully throughout Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo’s story, looking for anything that seemed to stand out, aside from the fact that Sweetie Belle was a machine. The purple unicorn tapped her chin as she dug through every amount of knowledge stored in her brain. Yet, she still was unable to make heads or tails of this whole dilemma. None of it made any sense; it was all fiction to her. Suddenly, something clicked in her head. It was small spark of light in a void of darkness, but she knew there was something there. All this was clearly displayed on her features, catching the fillies’ attention.
“What is it Twilight? Did you figure it out?” Sweetie Belle asked with excitement in her voice.
Twilight racked her brain, there was something she was leaving out and she knew it. But what was it? None of her memories based on facts and science offered any answers, so instead she searched through her memories of fiction, something she rarely does. There was a small connection there, a story, no doubt. A tale passed down from generation to generation originating from rumors around a group of foreign ponies visiting Equestria. Then, it hit her. ‘Fiction’, that’s what she needed to look for all along. Quickly, Twilight bolted across the room to the books organized under the ‘Fiction’ category.
Scanning over the books titled in alphabetic order, she easily found the novel she was searching for. Pulling the book from its shelf with her magic, she levitated it over to the center table. Setting the navy blue hardcover down on the wooden table, she beckoned the fillies to come closer. The book was titled ‘The Living Metal’ while the author’s named remained anonymous.
“’The Living Metal’,” Sweetie Belle read, “Is this going to help us figure out what this is all about?”
“I don’t know,” Twilight responded, “but it’s all I could think of.”
“Then I guess it’s worth a shot then.” Scootaloo added in before noticing the thickness of the book, her determined look being replaced by a grimace one. “Um, this book is way too big for us to read in one night. Maybe we should just read the preview thingy,” she suggested, flipping the book open.
“You mean ‘the synopsis?” Twilight corrected.
“Yeah, that thing.”
“Unfortunately, there is no synopsis in this book. Thankfully, I’ve already read it before. I’m sure I can give you a brief description.”
“Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s hear it.” Sweetie Belle urged.
“Okay, so the story starts out with a university accidently receiving a large crate from an unnamed country. Curiosity getting the best of some of the older students, they sneak the crate to the institution’s science lab after everypony else had gone home. When they open the crate, they find a large, pony shaped, metal figure in it. It gave them the chills just to look at it. Nailing the box back up, the students made their way home until the next day. When returning in the morning, they were horrified to see-”
All of a sudden, Twilight was interrupted by the front door of the library flying open and slamming against the wall. Spinning around to face the intruder, Twilight’s face was nailed by a carmine red hardcover book. The unicorn staggered backwards from the sudden collision, her vision a mess. Sweetie Belle galloped to the other side of the room, hoping not to catch the infiltrator’s attention. Twilight managed to sustain herself after a few seconds of wobbling around, her nose hurt like crazy. Looking down at her hooves, she was able to see what book was hurled at her.
“’Daring Doo and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’, are you freakin’ kidding me!” shouted a scratchy voice. Twilight raised her head to see the speaker. There in the doorway stood a pegasus with a cyan coat and a rainbow streaked mane and tail. It was none other then Rainbow Dash, a very displeased expression on her face.
“R-Rainbow, what are you-”
“After a whole series of totally awesome books, it all had to end on THAT?!” Rainbow Dash spat, walking across the room. Scootaloo rushed over to the wide open door, quickly closing it to avoid drawing any more attention to the library.
“While I agree it wasn’t the best of the books, it still has its fair share of g-”
“No, Twilight. This is just unbelievable how bad this one is. They should have called it ‘Daring Doo and the Nuclear Snorefest’!”
“Now, I don’t know how nuclear bombs work, but that seemed like a very reasonable way to-”
“Nukes don’t work like that!”
“Rainbow, as much as I’d love to hear you rant about griffon weapons of war, now isn’t a good time. I’ll gladly continue this conversation tomorrow. It’s late.”
“Late? It’s not even seven-thirty.”
“Erm… early to bed, early to rise.”
“Ok… that was really lame, even for you, Twilight. Alright, what’s the deal?” Rainbow Dash asked, giving the unicorn an unamused look.
“W-What’s the deal with what?”
“You’re totally hiding something, and I’m gonna find out what,” Rainbow Dash explained before looking around the room. Easily, she spotted the hooded Sweetie Belle standing in the corner. “What’s with the cloak, kid?”
“U-Um… I-It’s a little chilly outside,” Sweetie Belle responded, keeping herself casted in shadows.
“Well, I don’t know how you can see with that thing in your face,” Rainbow Dash said, pointing at the hood shrouding the filly’s head.
“Oh, I can see just fine,” Sweetie Belle fibbed with a nervous chuckle. The silence that followed was filled with a strong sense of doubtfulness that flowed from the multicolor-maned mare. Rainbow Dash’s eyes were like knives ready to jab at the filly at any moment, only if there wasn’t a hood blocking her view. The pegasus shot glances at each of the other ponies occupying the room before quickly growing bored.
“Whatever,” Rainbow Dash snorted as she made her way back to the entrance of the library, “You all are acting weird, I’m just gonna go home.”
Once she heard hoofsteps heading away from her, Sweetie Belle lifted up her hood enough to see. She watched as the pegasus reached for the handles on the burgundy red door. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash froze, not sure if she was seeing things right. She had spotted something out of the corner of her eye; the mirror’s reflection. Slowly, her red-violet eyes began to focus on the hooded filly in the glass surface. Her cyan legs began to quake and her breathing quickened, she was absolutely terrified.
Quickly realizing she had made a terrible mistake, Sweetie Belle yanked her hood back over her face, hoping the daredevil hadn’t gotten a good look at her. Unfortunately, in her haste, she pulled the fabric right into her horn, ripping the hood in half, rendering it unusable. With her disguise ruined, Sweetie Belle’s robotic face was completely visible to everypony in the library. The filly looked at Rainbow Dash nervously, scared and unsure of what will happen next. The mare slowly turned around to face the mechanical pony, her expression that of a scared filly. Without a word, Rainbow Dash swung back towards the door, gripping its handles.
“Rainbow, wait!” Twilight called out in an attempt to stop the pegasus from doing anything hasty. Rainbow Dash relaxed her muscles, leaving only her right hoof gripping one of the handles.
“J-Just fix all the wires b-but the brown one,” Rainbow Dash said through erratic breathing. Without giving anypony time to question her, she flung the front door open and ran off into the night, leaving the ponies in the library with even more questions. Scootaloo, worried, watched as her idol flew out of sight in a matter of seconds. Closing the door again, locking it up this time, the young pegasus walked back to the center of the room.
“W-What just happened?” Scootaloo asked, “I’ve never seen Rainbow Dash so freaked out before.”
“I… I can’t say for sure, but her fear may have come from some sort of childhood trauma,” Twilight speculated, concerned, “But the wires…Sweetie Belle, will you please come here into the light?”
Complying, the mechanical filly walked closer to Twilight so her mechanical features could be viewed in proper lighting. Moving the shredded hood out of the way, the brainy unicorn took a close look inside the gash in Sweetie Belle’s metal skull. There, multiple wires could be seen, three of which were severed. The three wires were each differently colored green, purple, and brown.
“H-How did she know?” Twilight questioned to herself.
“There’s a brown wire?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Yes, it’s also split. So Rainbow also somehow knew it would need repairing.”
“But she said not to fix it,” Scootaloo reminded.
“I know, I know. But it just makes me wonder how she knows all this. Whether she likes it or not, I’m going to have to find out what she knows about this.”
“What do we do then?” Sweetie Belle spoke up.
“What Rainbow said is the only thing we have to go off of. Do you want me to fix the other wires, Sweetie Belle?”
“I say we should give it a try, Twilight. I’m ready whenever you are,” Sweetie Belle responded.
With that, Twilight nodded her head in acknowledgement, ready to begin the procedure. Her horn quickly lit up with magic as the green and purple wires were surrounded in a magenta aura, the tips of each strand matching up to their corresponding color. With one flash of light, the wires fused back together, looking as if they were never damaged in the first place. The ponies all stayed silent as they watched and waited for something to happen.
“How do you feel, Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo asked out.
The pegasus patiently waited for an answer from her friend, but it never came. Instead, her ears were greeted by the cruel silence that had plagued her throughout the day. Sweetie Belle wasn’t showing any signs of life, her legs were locked in place, while a blank, emotionless stare was stuck on her face. She didn’t blink, nor appear to be breathing; it was almost as if she had become a statue. It wasn’t long before anxiety crept up on Scootaloo again; the feeling made her sick to her stomach.
“Sweetie Belle?” Twilight called out as the filly’s paralyzed state persisted.
The librarian received the same response of silence. Just before the mare was about to check the wiring again, a low hum began to emanate from Sweetie Belle’s body. Then, a dim light began to flicker to life from the bulb of the filly’s left eye. The light gradually started to grow till the entire bulb was illuminated, displaying a color that matched that of her right eye to a T. Soon enough, the humming faded away and the mechanical unicorn began to blink again.
Sweetie Belle was completely distorted, everything felt odd to her. Taking a moment to compose herself, she slowly turned her head around the room, adapting to these new feelings. As her eyes skimmed over the various books that sat on the shelves, the titles seemed to jump out at her now. Normally, the titles of the books would be very difficult to read from this distance and lighting, but when she focused on them, they appeared crystal clear. The names sprawled on the each book’s spine even lit up in a lovely green glow.
“Whoa!” Sweetie Belle squeaked, slightly startled by the sudden change. But all that quickly turned to curiosity as she gawked at all the things she was able to see.
“What is it?” Scootaloo asked. The pegasus’ voice sounded extremely clear in Sweetie Belle’s ears, far better than ever before. She quickly turned to her feathered friend, eager to answer her question. But before she spoke, she spotted a green box over Scootaloo’s head with ‘SCOOTALOO’ spelled out inside it.
“D-Do you see that?” Sweetie Belle asked pointing at the box. Scootaloo, with a quizzical expression, looked up to where her friend was pointing. However, nothing appeared any different from before.
“See what?”
“Your name; it’s spelled out above your head. Yours too, Twilight.”
“Hmm, and you’ve never been able to see this before?” Twilight questioned.
“Mm-mm” Sweetie Belle responded, shaking her head.
“Hmm, I wonder what the brown wire could do.”
“Should we fix that one too, then?”
“No, I don’t think we should do that till we know exactly what it does.”
“Alright,” Sweetie Belle concurred before looking around the room again, reading every word that popped out at her. Inadvertently, her eyes crossed over the open copy of ‘The Living Metal’. Within a millisecond, Sweetie Belle had read the entire first page of the book. She shook herself, caught off guard by this new information she found in her memory. Curious, the filly walked closer to the table. Flipping to the next page, she immediately absorbed all the words that the collaborated papers held.
“Sweetie Belle, I don’t think that’s going to hold the answers you’re looking for, it’s just fiction,” Twilight spoke up, “I think our most reliable source will be Rainbow Dash.” Ignoring what the studious pony said, Sweetie Belle quickly flipped to the next pages and learned everything on them before the paper had even settled. Suddenly, an idea sparked in her mind.
“Hey, Twilight. Could you flip through all of the pages to the end of the book, please?” Sweetie Belle requested.
“Uh… sure. But I really don’t think there’s anything back there,” she responded as she began to do just what the filly had asked.
Thousands upon thousands of words flew by Sweetie Belle’s eyes as the pages turned rapidly in front of her, bringing her deeper and deeper into the story with every passing second. Finally, she reached the book’s endpaper, many different emotions flowing through her body. A saddened expression enveloped her face, her mind understanding what she had just read.
“See? There’s nothing there,” Twilight pointed out, staring at the blank endpaper. Noticing the filly’s silence, the mare looked over at her, quickly seeing her sad look. “S-Sweetie Belle, I’m sorry it wasn’t what you were looking for.”
“No, it was exactly what I was looking for,” Sweetie Belle corrected.
“What do you mean?”
“I… I read the whole thing.”
“Wh…? How is that possible? I thought you hadn’t learned any magic yet.”
“I didn’t use a spell, Twilight. My new ‘features’ let me do it.”
“Oh… I see. Sweetie Belle, I want you to know that all of that stuff in that book isn’t true. Okay? It’s all make-believe.”
“I-I know, Twilight. It just scares me to think that I could hurt other ponies like that.”
“Like what?” Scootaloo asked.
“Sweetie Belle, you are nothing like that,” Twilight assured.
“Like what?” Scootaloo reiterated.
“I hope so, Twilight,” Sweetie Belle prayed.
“Like what?!” shouted Scootaloo, feeling left out of the conversation.
“It’s… grim, Scoots,” Sweetie Belle explained, “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Ok, I get it, Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo understood, slightly disappointed.
After that, the ponies grew quiet and the library was silent yet again. This allowed Twilight some time to contemplate what connections Rainbow Dash could have to this. However, she was snapped out of her focus by the itching feeling that she was forgetting something. It was something important, but yet it didn’t necessarily have any effect on her. It was a request from someone else, a friend. Then, it clicked. She was supposed to tell Sweetie Belle to be home by 7:00pm. But how could she? After everything that happened to the filly today, there was no way Twilight could put any more pressure on her. Not to mention, Sweetie Belle was in no condition to see her family.
“Oh no, I was supposed to be home by seven,” Sweetie Belle suddenly said, looking up at the clock. Twilight sighed, feeling like she put herself under more mental strain for nothing.
“Hold up. There is no way you want your parents to see you like that, Sweetie Belle,” voiced Scootaloo, pointing at the unicorn filly’s exposed robotic body.
“I know, Scootaloo. But I don’t want to worry them any longer. Besides, maybe by the time I walk home it’ll have fixed itself,” Sweetie Belle suggested.
“And if it doesn’t?”
“Well… then I’ll just have to lay it on them lightly. I can’t keep this from them forever.”
“But what about your cloak, I don’t think parading around Ponyville like that is a good idea.”
“If you’re really sure about this, I could try to fix it for you, Sweetie Belle,” Twilight offered, “I have a basic sewing set upstairs.”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Sweetie Belle replied, removing the torn cloak from her back.
“Ok then,” Twilight acknowledged, levitating the fabric away from the filly’s hooves. The librarian made her way up to the stairs to her bedroom where she kept her sewing equipment. Grabbing a needle and black thread, she quickly pulled the split fabric back together. It wasn’t a Rarity quality fix, but it was enough to get Sweetie Belle home. Quickly trotting back down the stairs, she put the hood and cape back on the filly, readying her for her trip across town.
“I appreciate everything you’re doing for me, Twilight,” Sweetie Belle remarked to the mare before turning towards the door, “We should probably go.”
“Good luck, Sweetie Belle,” wished Twilight.
“Thanks, I’ll need it,” Sweetie Belle replied as she carefully pulled the hood over her face. Scootaloo unlocked and pulled open the front door, leading her friend outside after giving Twilight one last thankful look. The mare nodded her head understandingly as she watched the door slowly close back up, leaving herself alone in the library again.
“I really hope this fixes itself, I just want this to be over,” Sweetie Belle confessed with a sigh.
“Yeah, I hope so, too,” Scootaloo concurred before checking which direction they needed to go. “C’mon, this way,” she instructed as she grabbed her blinded friend’s hoof, directing her down the proper streets of town. The girls walked quietly through the dark Ponyville, the light from homes illuminating their path.
“Hey Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle spoke up.
“Yeah?” Scootaloo responded.
“I just wanted to say, thanks. You and Applebloom have done so much for me, even after everything that’s happened. Neither of you gave up hope.”
“We’re here for you, don’t you ever forget it.”
“I know… I know.”
“Oh, Sweetie Belle! There you are!” came an elegant, familiar voice. Sweetie Belle gulped the moment she heard it, easily recognizing who its owner was.
“H-Hi, Rarity,” Sweetie Belle stuttered, not ready to run into her sister. The beautiful unicorn trotted over to the fillies, happy to hear her younger sibling’s voice.
“I have been galloping all over town looking for you. Where have you been? Father and Mother were growing oh so worried. So was I.”
“Sorry, we ran into some obstacles,” Sweetie Belle explained as her older sister drew closer.
“Well, you’re here now, so it’s time to…to… Dear Celestia!!” Rarity shrieked, stopping Sweetie Belle’s metaphorical heart, “Why are you wearing something so dreadful?!”
“Oh… I…um…” Sweetie Belle stammered, not sure what to say.
“No, no, no. This just will not do,” Rarity announced. Her horn lit up in an azure blue, forming an aura of magic covering the cloak. By the time Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo realized what was happening, it was too late. With a small burst of magic, Rarity untied the cape and lifted it off the mechanical filly’s body, levitating it into the air. Sweetie Belle faltered back and squinted her eyes shut in anticipation for the storm she was about to receive. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. Such a poor sewing job, no pony should have to wear something so hideous,” uttered the fashionista, “I’ll turn this old thrashed thing into a masterpiece, just for you, Sweetie Belle.”
Sweetie Belle slowly opened one of her eyes, unsure she heard right. Looking at her older sister’s face, she saw no signs of disgust or fear within her majestic blue eyes. Confused, the filly stood up straight and gave Rarity a quizzical look.
“What’s wrong, Sweetie Belle? Don’t you want a new cloak?” Rarity asked.
Quickly, the unicorn filly looked down at her hooves. Her front legs stood side by side, appearing completely identical to one another, not even a single scratch on them. They looked exactly how she remembered them from this morning. Slowly, she brought a hoof to the left side of her faces, immediately feeling the softness of her coat she had been missing from that spot. A warm smile began to spread across the filly’s lips as tears of joy formed in both of her eyes, blurring her vision slightly. Swiftly wiping her eyes, Sweetie Belle looked back up at her older sister with a happy grin on her face, an ocean of grief and fear draining away.
“Yeah, that would be nice, Rarity. Thank you,” Sweetie Belle responded.
“Glad to hear, Sweetie Belle. Now then, we shouldn’t keep Father and Mother waiting any longer. I’ll escort you home to make sure you don’t run into anymore ‘obstacles’ along the way.”
“Okay, sis.”
“Hey, Sweetie Belle, now that things are in order, I think I’m gonna split from here,” Scootaloo spoke up, “It’ll be easier for me to get home this way.”
“Alright, see you tomorrow, Scoots,” Sweetie Belle said.
“Yeah, see ya tomorrow, bye,” Scootaloo responded.
“Bye,” Sweetie Belle reciprocated with a farewell wave. Scootaloo gave one last nod before turning towards her destination and running off. The feathered filly felt bad for leaving before she brought Sweetie Belle home, none-the-less she was relieved that her friend at least looked herself again. With the departure of the pegasus, the unicorn siblings were left alone in the empty street.
“So, shall we go?” Rarity asked, slinging the poorly sewn cloak over her shoulders.
“Yeah, let’s go,” Sweetie Belle agreed. With that, the sisters began their gait through the still town, side by side.
“So, Sweetie Belle, did you do any crusading today?” Rarity asked, hoping to have a nice chat with her little sister.
“Yeah, we did. But none of it went as planned.”
“Oh, I see. I’m sorry to hear that. Do you want to tell me about it?”
“Nah, it was really dumb.”
“Oh, okay Sweetie.”
Shortly after, the sisters fell into a silence as they continued their walk to their parents’ home. Sweetie Belle let her eyes wander; scanning over each house she passed by. Looking through the windows, she saw ponies of all ages and races sitting together, enjoying dinner and telling stories about their days. Friends and family members were all gathered to bask in each other’s love and company, it was so joyful. Sweetie Belle envied them, it had been a long time since her entire family had had dinner together, despite living so close.
“Hey, Rarity?” Sweetie Belle spoke up as their destination came into view.
“Yes, Sweetie Belle?” Rarity responded.
“Are you going to be staying for dinner tonight?”
“I’m afraid not. I have far too many dresses to complete. Not to mention, I have a certain baby dragon on my hooves.”
“Oh…” Sweetie Belle replied, dropping her heading.
“I am very sorry, Sweetie. I know how much you love it when we’re all together, but it has gotten very difficult for me to find time with my busy fashion career. I will have much more time after I deliver those dresses to Manehattan next week. I’m sure we can schedule a day after that.”
“O-Okay.”
“But… if you can’t wait that long, I suppose I could take you to Manehattan with me.”
“Ohmygosh, I’ve always wanted to go there! Do you really mean it?”
“Of course I mean it, Sweetie Belle. The two of us haven’t been spending much time together as of late.”
“Oooh, I can’t wait! Thank you, Rarity,” Sweetie Belle squealed as she wrapped her hooves around her older sister in a cheerful hug.
“Oh my stars, Sweetie Belle, you’re freezing! We must get you home immediately,” Rarity exclaimed, taking the filly by the hoof and pulling her along. Quickly, the ponies reached the front door of their parents’ home, Rarity eager to get her sister into the warm building. “Now, you should hurry and get yourself bundled up before you catch a cold. I’d love to stay and chat, but I simply do not have the time. Please, give Mother and Father my regards.”
“Ok, Rarity. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity responded with another hug.
Leaving her sister’s embrace; Sweetie Belle walked up to the house’s entrance and reached up for the handle on the brown wooden door. Turning the knob, the door slowly creaked open and the smell of an extravagant meal filled her nostrils. But it didn’t smell appetizing to her, even with an empty stomach. Stranger still, she didn’t even feel hungry at all; the concept of eating didn’t interest her. Sighing, the filly calmly stepped into the house, wanting to do nothing but lay in her bed. Peering over her shoulder, she looked at Rarity one last time before gently closing the door. Oddly, the house was dead quiet.
“Mom! Dad! I’m home!” Sweetie Belle called out.
“We’re in the dining room, honey!” her mother responded cheerfully.
Sweetie Belle slowly walked across the plush living room carpet until she reached the dining room doorway. Her Father and Mother sat next to one another at the center table; the furniture’s exquisite design was always a pleasure to see. Three untouched plates of food sat on the wooden surface, each prepared in an elegant manner. Her mother’s cooking always looked like a work of art, she sometimes felt bad for eating it.
“Hi, sorry I’m late,” Sweetie Belle apologized.
“It’s alright, no need to be sorry, the food’s still hot.”
“Actually, Mom, I’m not really in the mood to eat.”
“But it’s potato rajas and avocado tacos, your favorite.”
“I know, but I’ve had a real crazy day. I just want to go to bed. Is that ok?”
“Oh… okay, Sweetie Belle. Do you want to talk about it? Maybe it’ll make you feel better.”
“No Mom, I really don’t. I’m just going to go to my room now,” Sweetie Belle said before making her way to the stairs, “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight,” Sweetie Belle’s parents responded with worry in their voices, troubled by their daughter’s odd behavior.
Sweetie Belle slowly ascended the stairs, each step causing the boards to creak beneath her hooves. Reaching the second floor, she immediately saw her parents’ bedroom to her left. She remembered spending some nights in there when she was really little after having a bad dream. To her right was another set of stairs that led to the third floor, which would bring her to her destination. Rounding the safety railing, she began to climb the second set of steps. Making it to the top, she was met with a purple door. Turning the golden knob, she pushed open the door that led to her room.
Immediately, Sweetie Belle was welcomed with the comforting atmosphere of her dark bedroom. Entering the tranquil area she promptly turned to her right where a bed with pink comforters waited. Softly closing the door, she trotted up to the luxurious bedding and slipped under them, covering herself in the material. Laying her head back on the heart patterned pillows; she stared up at the design on her ceiling, allowing her mind to settle down. She slowly closed her eyes and waited for the blissfulness of sleep to take hold of her.
However, the events that took place today continuously replayed in Sweetie Belle’s mind, no matter how much she tried to ignore them. The fear she felt when being chased by the manticore, the sensation of her skin being torn away from her body, the horror she experienced when viewing her reflection, everything she had read in that book, it all had begun to break her down. She was able to keep up her strength with her friends and family at her side, but without them the miserable unicorn was helpless against the cruel wrath of reality.
Tears of agony streamed from Sweetie Belle’s eyes as she relived every moment of the day over and over again, it threatened to drive her insane. She pressed her hooves against her chest, feeling for the beat of her heart to try to fool herself into believing she was like everypony else, just long enough to bring her into the realm of sleep. But she never felt a pulse, not a single drop of blood was flowing through her body, leaving her colder than stone. She curled up into a ball, slowly rocking herself, as she sobbed into the pillows she rested her head upon.
“Hush n-now… q-q-quiet now, it’s t-time to lay your s-sleepy head,” the filly quietly sung, “Hush now, q-quiet n-now… it’s time t-to go to bed…”
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More questions! More mysteries! More sadness! Will Sweetie Bell ever be able to find out what she is? How does Rainbow Dash know about mechanical ponies?
Find out next time, on dragonbal-.......erm..... My Little Pony: Flesh Is Irrelavant!
In other news, I'm really loving this story! I really can't wait for the next revelations you decide to drop upon us!
Poor sweetie bell...
4.bp.blogspot.com/-JF0QAtd7eOw/T7AYSrK5mxI/AAAAAAAApmQ/Wt-e0XIDehs/s1600/184918+-+artist+HemmaMann+ouch+robot+Sweetie_Belle+Sweetie_Bot.png
Dang, serious break the Cutie is coming, I hop Sweetie Belle will make it.
Took you long enough...
I'd be angrier, but this is a great story
As Luna said when she noticed the size of Celetia's flank: "The Plot Thickens"
Ah, so you DO want us to pity the poor filly. *hug a bot*
For the curious, the lullaby was added in after prereading by your-truly. The original ending to this chapter was:
But I recommended having her sing it if he would prefer readers to have that "want to hug the poor girl" feeling. It just seems like a better capstone to her troubles this chapter.
I am truly enthralled with this story, Sweetie Belle gets all the best concepts. Sweetie Bot, Sweetie Gold~
I think you accidently the whole sentence
its just that damn doctor nefarious again that guy just never give up
2085389
Wow, I guess that's what happens when you're up at 3:00am writing. Thank you for pointing that out.
Flesh and Blood! It lives!
Oh Sweetie Bell; my heart goes out to ya lass.
As for Rainbow Dash, something horrible must have happened for her to have reacted hat way...
encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS-7f6l3OMMyIdY74Sy9K-jFnDOIjosUd1R3jOzsTYWjokrztjmIA
damn another amazing chapter this is quickly become my favorite story on the site. keep it up
i think Rainbow dash saw an accident that showed Rarity was a robot when she was little so that's why she knows about sweetie bot, and i think their parents are geniuses who created robots because they couldn't have children
keep the good work
All of my Aaaaaws go out to you, Best Crusader.
Cuteness... and Sadness...
goddammit....GODDAMMIT GODDAMMIT GODDAMMIT!
More more!, oh for the love god, more!
2085501
Or this has something to do with her understanding of advanced Griffon weapons. 'Termarenator: The Sweetie Belle Chronicles', anyone?
I like it. Sad but really awesome too. The most interesting part is the Terminator-esque HUD that Sweetie Belle now has.
For some reason, I have a feeling that Dash is a equuroid (from Latin equus, meaning "horse") like Sweetie Belle but she likes to think of herself as a living pony.
A mystery that only gets stranger.
hmmm... where'd this whole sub-genrethingy come from anyways? I've noticed a few pictures and stories like this but never really understood them.
2085669
Sweetie Bot? Go watch Friendship is Witchcraft.
2085389
Wow... embarrassing. No idea how that got by me. Sorry, 2085419
“Ah guess ya can call it an Apple Family Tradition,”
So Apple family members tradition is to get a close pegasus friend and have a fight with one another a lot over small thinks, good to know.
Also, wow, Sweetie Bell have aces to her data base and now she can see names and informations on other ponies, what's more her vision and other senses improved, and she can remember entire book in mere seconds, on one side, Twilight would love to have this ability, she would be able to read and memorize books from entire world, become the smartest pony in the world in very short amount of time, but on the other side, if she would read so fast, she would end up without any books to read, and since she love reading, she would be bored, forced to find another hobby.
Anyway back to the point, improved senses, incredible memory and speed in gathering data, having instant data on every pony, and her body is repairing itself far faster then any other pony can heal him/her-self, and if it is not enough, she survived being torn apart by Manticore, wow, what else she can do, will she get aces to laser beam from her horn, would be very useful in case of another changeling invasion, all her powers are very cool, how sad that Sweetie Bell can not enjoy them, as it end up to be the biggest challenge in her live.
I just hope that Sweetie Bell will get a chance to safe some pony life with her new discovered powers, RainbowDash did it a lot with her speed and being a hero will sure help her being accepted as a robot, or at last not feared so much.
PS: I hope we wont need to wait for next chapter as long as we had to wait for this one.
2085182
Maybe RainbowDash read it in one of Daring Doo stories, on the other hand, Twilight already read them all so she would know, it must be something else.
So her skin regenerates extremely fast if not destroyed?
I see we've got Sweetienator, not just Sweetie Bot.
2085501
Nah, Rarity is part of mane 6, ponies who are send into suicide mission, if she was a robot, receiving damage would show up her true nature.
2085627
I wonder what other powers Sweetie Bell have, self recovery was probably result of nano-bots, but you can not do repairs form nothing, should not sweetie bell eat to gain biological materials for her skin and mane repairs ?
So part where she does not fell hungry seems weird to me, how can she self repair on empty stomach.
2085678
I looked into the dark abyss...
... and it stared back.
sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/600804_407483162626952_1212724903_n.jpg
2085729
Well, as super advanced robot, she probably have nano bots what take care of biological repairs, but I wonder why Sweetie Bell does not fell hungry, after all you can not repair skin from nothing, nano bots need to have aces to biological materials to fix her biological features, so I think Sweetie Bell not eating is a bad idea.
Sweetie-nator.
Poor thing needs a hug.
2085780
My guess would be, the brown wire handles the superfluous biological functions like eating, sleeping, and filtering sensory input down to normal levels.
Another guess is that Rainbow found out the she is a ponybot after a crash, and had to figure out how to do self-repairs on her own. Thus, she knows all of the cool malfunctions to have.
Soooooo... many feels!!!!!!
I bet the brown wire was some kind of limiter intended to block her abilities at the level of a normal pony. Rainbow said not to repair that one because sweetie needed her self repair function to repair her skin.
Poor
Also the thing with Dash is beyond interesting, MOAR! 
I am Definitely interested!!! So far, the story is quite interesting and I am really anticipating the continuation of the story-line!
,
All The Best to You,
Brony and Dashing Proud
Lightning Flash
Was not expecting this to update today very happy it did.
Need Moar!
I'm totally gonna call it, but the brown wire is the wire that would allow her her robotic strength and supernatural abilities. It also would probably be the wire that activates her true robot mode.
Why can't I hold all these feels!?
Love this story!
Rainbow Dash knows about the wires
media.animevice.com/uploads/0/4328/178076-what_a_twist_super.jpg
"not wanting to except that something more could go wrong today." -> "accept"
"Should she of gone along with them anyway?" -> "have" not "of"
"Ah never would of thought that" -> "have" not "of", though if you're trying to simulate the accent just use "woulda"
"had to be of the up most importance" -> "utmost"
"You’re name; it’s spelled out above your head." -> "your name"
"Peering over her should, she looked at Rarity one last time before gently closing the door." -> "shoulder"
2086700 Wow... I messed up big time... thanks for the corrections.
She's a CYBERMAN!
but probebly not......
>>>“Okay, so the story starts out with a university accidently receiving a large crate from an unnamed country. Curiosity getting the best of some of the older students, they sneak the crate to the institution’s science lab after everypony else had gone home. When they open the crate, they find a large, pony shaped, metal figure in it. It gave them the chills just to look at it. Nailing the box back up, the students made their way home until the next day. When returning in the morning, they were horrified to see-”>>>>
This sounds like the plot of one of those really bad Sci-fi Channel movies.
2085182 Apparently, basic knowledge of machinery and computer science is also irrelevant.
This whole scenario is so unbelievable. The Terminator at least had living flesh and blood over the robot so it could blend in. Heck the Cylons of the "Battlestar Galactica" remake were so well disguised, it was almost impossible to uncover them.
This is just... lazy.
Oh Rainbow Dash you are going to get such a interigation
Soooo...somehow Rainbow Dash (of all ponies) knows about Sweetie AND knew what to fix but also know what NOT to fix and Sweetie now has new features she didn't have AND self repair systems...which I'm going to say are not a "new" feature because obviously she would need to have that to appear organic and well, living ponies need to heal. Well, this is interesting. We still need to know how, who, WHY and if there's another Sweetie Belle and if there was, what happened to her and also what this all has to do with Dash knowing.
Rainbow Dash has a PhD in Biomechanical Engineering, and Pinkie Pie served as an Artillery Sargent during the Zebrican campaign of the Great War.
“’Daring Doo and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’, are you freakin’ kidding me!”
i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/377/763/3ab.png
Oh that slaps me on the knee!
I really like how this story is progressing at the start it seemed like you didn't have much to say, but these new developments are definitely holding my interest.