• Published 25th Mar 2023
  • 469 Views, 15 Comments

I Only Wanted to Stay your Sister - IGIBAB



Despite the many problems sisters can encounter, they stay linked. Rarity learns, to her own expense, that she should have treated her sister better, as to not find herself with that vague half-robotic copy holding her sister's soul.

  • ...
3
 15
 469

Are you really my sister?

Rebooting system. Program SW-alpha_00.00128.bot. Recovering memory. Error detected in the movement processor. Automatic repairs impossible. Battery left: 4 hours. Thoughts and emotions algorithm launched.

"I'm nothing. I thought I was alive. I am not a living being... thing?"

Grammatical conflict detected.

"A robot, a mare."


Summer. A warm afternoon in Ponyville. Rarity is sat down and looks at her sister gambolling in the plain, with tenderness in her eyes. For once, she has some free time in her work to take care of her sister. She takes a break. She would have given everything to have more sooner.

"Raaaaarity!"

Sweetie Belle galops towards her with a flower in her mouth.

"For you!' she says while handing over the blue flower with magic.

Rarity's smile widens and she carefully takes the flower with her hoof.

"Thank you Sweetie Belle."

"You're welcome-ome-ome-ome-ome-ome..." Sweetie Belle repeats on a loop.

Rarity loses her smile, the latter morphing into a sad grimace. She takes her sister in her arms and holds her close.

"I miss you Sweetie Belle, so much!" she sobs as tears come to her eyes.

Her sister finishes to bug, because it's indeed a bug that she has, like a robot, because she is a robot.

"Rarity, why are you crying?"

Rarity wipes her tears.

"Because I haven't been a good sister to you..."

"You're the best sister in the world, Rarity!"

A simple answering program. Those are not real emotions, at least not entirely, but rather millions of different cases, possibilities, being treated and calculated in real time.

The sound is the same as Sweetie Belle's, same voice, same intonations, reactions made from her personality and yet, it's not her sister that Rarity is holding in her hooves, not quite.

By raising the mane of that Sweetie – that one could qualify as a Sweetie Bot – one can see a scar in her neck, reminding of that fateful day.


It was during spring. Rarity had asked her sister to not bother her during work, once again, and Sweetie Belle got offended and slammed the door while leaving. Rarity looked at her passing by the window, Opalescence was right next to it.

"You think I shouldn't have said that?" Rarity said, a bit sad.

Opal looked at her with her usual unconcerned face, then looked at Sweetie Belle, that could still be seen going away.

"Meow!" suddenly made the cat while pointing at Sweetie Belle.

Rarity wasn't close enough see her by the window anymore, but she still answered:

"Yes, it's Sweetie Belle, who is leaving because she's angry. You only got that now?"

"Meeeow!" insisted the cat with a serious face, still pointing at the sister walking fast, cut to the quick.

"Anyhow, she'll come back," Rarity said to Opal.

"MEEEEEEOW!" screamed the cat, seemingly panicking.

"What now!? What do you want, what's wrong!?"

Rarity went to the window and looked at where Opal was pointing.

"So what? It's Sweetie Belle who's walking and who..."

Her sister went into the forest and disappeared.

"Who heading straight for the Everfree Forest!" panicked Rarity as well.

Opal rolled her eyes, as if she was saying "Finally!".

"But what's getting to her!? Why is she doing that!? I told her a thousand times to not go there!"

Opal lifted her paws, seemingly saying "And what are you waiting for to go and bring her back!?"

But Rarity was already out to find her sister. Because of her anger, Sweetie Belle had gone without even paying attention as to where she was going. Rarity chased her sister into the forest, galloping inside without hesitation.

"Sweetie Belle!" she yelled, hoping her sister would answer.

The only answer she got was a horrible cry coming from her sister, followed by an ominous howl. Terror arose in Rarity, she galloped towards the place where the cry had come from and arrived in a small clearing.

A pony was there, looking distraught. He was leaning over a small thing. Rarity came closer, panting, not from her run, but from the fear she had. As she was approaching, she realised that the little thing in question was her sister. The body of her sister.

"No..." said Rarity with a broken voice.

The pony heard her and turned toward her. He had tears in his eyes.

"I-I couldn't do anything... The timberwolf had already..."

Rarity was shaking on her legs, staring with wide opened eyes at the body of her little sister. She came, less than a meter away, fearing to come any closer.

"S-Sweetie...?" she called.

"It's too late," answered the pony, regretful. "She died instantly."

Died. That word echoed in Rarity's head as something unreal. She rushed to her sister, who only looked like she was asleep, and wanted to shake her, to wake her up, to break that unbearable picture of her lifeless little sister. But as soon as she took her, she saw the little stream of blood running along her neck.

Rarity fainted. It was too much for her. She passed out.


When she woke up, she was at her house. She needed time to get her thoughts perfectly together. Once the fact that her sister was dead came back to her, tears went to her eyes.

"Rarity!" said her sister, trotting towards her.

Rarity couldn't believe her eyes. Her sister had died, yet she was now standing in front of her, perfectly alive. Maybe she had a nightmare, due to some overworking condition?

Her sister jumped in her arms. It really was her, alive. She hugged her in her legs.

"I was so scared for you Sweetie Belle!" sobbed Rarity.

"What are you talking about Rarity?" asked her sister with an inquisitive look.

"Nothing... About nothing. All is fine now," smiled Rarity, wiping her tears, happy that all of this had only been the worst nightmare ever.

"By the way, someone told me to give you this."

Sweetie Belle handed a parchment roll to Rarity, which she unfolded and read.




I tried my best to give you back your sister as she was. I replaced some of her organs with robotics. The personality is based on your sister's, her memories are the same.

Don't ever tell her that she died, or that she's some kind of robot/pony hybrid. And of course, don't tell a word to anypony, people might not accept that.

Sorry again.




The letter wasn't signed. Rarity didn't understand right away. What was this message? It was a dream, come on! Her sister hadn't died since she was right in front of her, right now. And, seriously, a robot? That kind of thing only exists in sci-fi stories! Rarity looked weirdly at her sister and, despite everything, with a bit of apprehension.

"Anything wrong, Rarity?" asked Sweetie Belle.

A slight synchronisation error made her blink her eyes not at the same time, without her noticing. But Rarity did and a doubt gained her. She took her sister by the shoulders and asked, with great worries in her voice:

"Sweetie Belle, did you went to the Everfree earlier?"

"Yes, but I don't remember what happened after, why?"

Did that really happened? Had she died? Was she now a... robot? No, it was silly, come one. But, what if...?

"It's dangerous, Sweetie!" said Rarity, distraught, shaking her a bit. "You must not go there!"

Sweetie Belle took on a guilty face.

"I'm sorry, I didn't pay attention, I was angry at you..."

That was worse than everything. Rarity realised that it was her fault if her sister had gone into the Everfree Forest, her fault if... No, she still couldn't accept it. Her sister was in front of her eyes, alive, and she wasn't a robot!

"Are you mad at me-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e?"

"What did you just say!?" panicked Rarity.

"Are you mad at me?" she repeated with the exact same tone, as if someone had activated some kind of loop function.

Rarity panicked more and more, she had trouble breathing. She wasn't even sure to have her own sister in front of her.

"Update required," then said Sweetie Belle, with a voice that could not be qualified as natural.

"What?" made Rarity, facing a truth that was less and less deniable.

"I said nothing, Rarity," answered Sweetie Belle with her normal voice, before continuing with her robot tone, "Rebooting."

She shut down, standing still, with an empty stare. Rarity, facing the inert yet seemingly alive body, was forced, after many attempts to get a reaction out of here, to accept it. Her sister was no more. Instead, there was this robot. She cried, as Opalescence was patting Sweetie Belle's hind leg with curiosity, feeling that something was different indeed.


It's now been nearly three months since Sweetie Belle has been replaced by Sweetie Bot. Nobody knows, except Rarity, and no one must know. After a few updates, coming from who knows where, Sweetie mostly doesn't... bug anymore.

She eats, she sleeps, she talks like everypony, she can even use magic. One could swear she's really Sweetie Belle. And yet, something is off. Maybe it's only because she knows the truth, but Rarity can't fully consider her as her sister.

She tried to contact the pony that did it, to know why, and also how he managed to do it. But he was impossible to find. She doesn't have his name and she never came across him in Ponyville. She regrets. She regrets that she didn't have more time to dedicate to her little sister, to take care of her, to play with her, when she was still... her.

Seeing this robot is almost more cruel than if her sister was dead and buried. Seeing it gambol around, speaking like Sweetie Belle, is unbearable to her.

She also has to lie. When someone finds that she acts weirdly, when she's rebooting all of the sudden for example, Rarity simply answers "Oh, she's always been a bit weird you know.", "She can't stay in place." or "She always makes up stories to play.". She has had enough with lying to her friends, but who to confide to? Applejack? Twilight? Definitely not Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy would probably be too shocked by the news.

"I love you Rarity!"

That too, it's enough. Her sister never said that this often, and that robot repeats it again and again, non-stop. Rarity's nerves give in.

"Stop saying that!" she abruptly says.

The robot moves back and takes on a sad and scared face.

"Why are you saying this Rarity?"

Rarity's fixating that pale imitation of her sister. She's sad, but also angry. Angry at this robot, that image that constantly reminds her of her sister, that reminds her, Rarity, that it is her own fault if her sister is not there anymore. She wants to end this, turn her off, make her disappear from her view. But she has no idea on how to do it, so instead she lets go of everything that's weighing on her.

"You're not my sister! My sister died three months ago in the Everfree! You're only repeating sentences without even understanding their meaning! You're just a robot! Not my sister!"

At least, it's relieving.

Sweetie Bot looks her sister into her eyes.

"Contradictory data assimilated. Psychological instability. Safeguard protocol number seven: going in sleep mode until system's repair."

Here's the robot's answer. Yet, its face isn't saying that. Its eyes are wide opened, she seems shocked and sad, even though this robot has never shown such signs of sorrow. Rarity doesn't understand what's going on. She realises that she has done something terrible when a tear starts to flow on Sweetie Belle's cheek. Her sister is still there, somewhere behind that robot and those algorithms based on her personality, and that same sister is slowly understanding that she's not alive anymore.

"Good bye, big sister," says Sweetie Belle with a broken voice, overwhelmed with emotions that no program could ever recreate.

And with these words, she shuts down. All functions cease, aside from breathing, the rest being done by auxiliary processors. Her eyes close. She's dormant, like a sleeping pony.

"Sweetie Belle?" asks Rarity, anxious.

She doesn't know what she has caused, but she's sure of one thing: It is her sister who talked before that robot shut down. Maybe she can still retrieve her?

"Sweetie, answer me!" she says as she takes her by the shoulders.

But she doesn't answer, her head is lowered, she's not moving. Rarity tries everything she can, she shakes her, she talks to her, but to no avail, her robotic sister doesn't wake up.

They shouldn't stay here. Ponies could come and ask why is Sweetie Belle sleeping in broad daylight in the middle of the plain? Rarity carefully lifts her with magic and brings her back home, not knowing what else to do.

What would anyone say if it was discovered that Sweetie Belle is a robot? Would she be blamed for her death? For experimenting on her, on her own sister? For lying to her friends? Rarity is asking herself all those questions. She broke down at the worst moment, but she couldn't take it any longer, this was bound to happen.

If she had could, she would have refused that robot, she would have thrown it away in a scrapyard, to never see her again. But it was her sister, she had accepted it, and now she can't resolve to do so, especially after what her sister said. Those words are still echoing in her head.

Once home, Rarity puts Sweetie Belle in her bed and covers her. Usually, when this robot enters sleep mode, it wakes up by itself at some point, she just has to wait.


A week passes, without Sweetie showing any signs of activity. She doesn't move, in her bed, only her slow and regular breathing allows to really differentiate her from a corpse. Thankfully, school is over, otherwise it would have caused some problems if Sweetie Belle had gone missing from class.

Despite that, Rarity is not doing well. She tries to make do, to keep hope, but it's a struggle, such a hard time to live with some kind of an undead sister.

She's in her workshop, she's making new dresses, trying to drown herself in work, to not think about anything else. Opal is looking at her with its neutral eyes, even though this time it seems to be the result of a true emotion rather than some usual expression.

Someone knocks on the door.

"Who could that be?" Rarity asks, intrigued, a small spasm cause by her fragile mental state shaking her right eye.

She walks to the door and opens.

"Hey Rarity, hope 'am not botherin'?"

"No no, absolutely not Applejack," answers Rarity, attempting a smile that looks more like a grimace than anything. "How are you?"

Applejack raises an eyebrow while looking at Rarity's spasm, but she still answers:

"'Am fine, but mah sister is worried, it's been a week since she saw Sweetie Belle. We're wondering if everythin's alright."

Rarity's spasm comes back when hearing that name, but she does as if nothing was happening and gives the answer she prepared in case:

"She's sick, so she's not going outside."

"Oh, I see... Poor sugar cube," saddens Applejack. "Must be a hell of a sickness to last a whole week."

"Yes, and actually, I'm coming to visit her and see if she's doing better," suddenly says a voice behind Applejack.

She turns her head and sees a brown pony with blue mane behind her, wearing a hat similar to her own.

"You're the doctor?"

"Precisely!" confirms the pony while smiling. "I'm the one taking care of Sweetie Belle's sickness, isn't it miss Rarity?"

Applejack turns back to Rarity, which seems completely shocked, mouth slightly opened and eyes wide.

Of course she didn't call any doctor, it's just an excuse, a real doctor examining Sweetie would have been the best way to blow the whole story. Yet, she knows that pony. It is him that was beside her sister's body after the timberwolf's attack. He puts a hoof in front of his mouth, with a serious face, inviting Rarity to not say anything and go along with his story.

"Y-Yes," stammers Rarity.

Applejack frowns. Something isn't right, she can feel it. She turns back, the pony instantly regains his joyful face, and she starts to inspect the so-called doctor. She notices his cutie mark, representing two puppets.

"This ain't really a doctor's cutie mark, I find."

"Indeed," says the pony, "My first talent is to entertain children, which is why I specialised in childhood diseases. That way, I heal them and make them laugh at the same time."

"Ah don't recall ever seeing you in town."

"It's normal. Technically, I'm just passing by, but I just so happen to have discovered Sweetie Belle's problem, and I know that here they don't have the necessary cure to heal her. So I'm coming from Canterlot every two days to see if everything is going fine."

"Why not simply take her to Canterlot directly?"

"It's a very treatable disease as long as you have the appropriate medicine, no need to move her for that," he answers in a light tone.

Applejack stays suspicious of this pony. She doesn't know why, but she doesn't like him. She can smell he's hiding something.

"Not to be rude, but you seem shifty."

"Do I?" says the pony, faking astonishment to the perfection. "I'm just a doctor visiting a patient, I don't see anything shifty with that."

Applejack judges him with her eyes. He's too smiling. It's unnatural. She turns back to Rarity, who still hasn't moved, keeping the same expression.

"What in tarnation is going on in here!?"

Rarity doesn't answer. It exceeds Applejack. She forces her way in, having no troubles walking around Rarity, who is yet to move, her eyes stuck on the pony. The later rushes after Applejack, getting a grunt from Opal whose fur bristles, as she walks upstairs into Sweetie Belle's room.

She quickly enters the bedroom and walks to the bed where Sweetie is in sleep mode. She looks at her carefully. Sweetie is sleeping in a normal way, her bedsheets going up and down to the rhythm of her breathing.

The doctors enters after her, a little more seriousness on his face.

"Careful!" he whispers. "You're going to wake her! She needs rest!"

Rarity comes in as well. Applejack is doubtful, nothing seems weird with Sweetie Belle. And it's true that, from an external point of view, she seems perfectly normal. A simple filly asleep.

"So, convinced?" asks the doctor.

"Everythin' looks... normal," admits Applejack.

"Great. Now, I need peace to examine her. Miss Rarity, please see your friend out while I check that everything is alright."

Rarity gains back composure and tries to look as natural as possible, getting Applejack back to the door. She follows, while giving a last glance at the doctor when going out of the bedroom, as he waves her goodbye, before putting his bag down and searching in it.


"Ah find this doctor strange."

"Well, it's just a pony from Canterlot, they all act a bit different than us you know."

"If you say so... Ah'm probably not used to city people..."

"Surely. Don't worry, if anything was going on, I would tell you. I am your friend, aren't I?"

Rarity displays a smile and talks with conviction, but behind that, her mind is about to give up once more because of that horrible lie. Yet, it convinces Applejack who tries a little smile.

"Yeah. You're right, I worry for nothin'."

She laughs.

"Ah'm going to go home and tell Apple Bloom what's wrong. Let us know if things evolve."

"No problem!" answers Rarity.

Applejack goes out and closes the door. Rarity sees her by the window, going in the direction of her farm, then sighs from relief. Her hind legs are shaking, the twitch in her eye has come back, her heart is beating so fast. Opalescence stares at her with disapproval, but she doesn't pay attention to it. She runs up the stairs two at a time and goes at full throttle into the bedroom. The "doctor" is leaning on Sweetie Bot.

"You told her the truth? To your sister I mean, not this too-curious farmer."

His tone is not as warm. Almost a little rude, even.

"Y-Yes."

"Why? I told you not to!"

Rarity hesitates. Then finally, all her stress suddenly transform into rage, and she bursts:

"You! Why did you do that!? Why do that to her!? Why do that to me!?"

The pony looks surprised, a true surprise this time.

"I wanted to do well. I thought you'd prefer to have your sister, rather than her dying."

"But she died! My sister died! And this thing, this robot, is not my sister!"

The pony frowns and stops what he's doing to look Rarity in the eyes.

"Are you sure? At no point did you see your sister through that "robot", as you're so prone to call her?"

The memory of Sweetie Belle telling her goodbye before shutting down comes back in Rarity's head.

"I-It happened... But it's only sometimes. The rest of the time, she doesn't act like my sister."

"It's because her program isn't performant enough to copy to perfection your sister's emotions."

The pony goes back to his repair of Sweetie Belle, searching in his bag.

"But I've had enough! I can't stand anymore seeing her even though she's dead! I can't stand lying to my friends!"

"She's not dead! Believe me, your sister is still alive, somewhere, and that's what I'm striving to find. I just need more time to perfect the program."

"Let's talk about this program! How can you bring someone back to life? You told me that she died instantly!"

The pony sighs and turns to Rarity.

"Puppet Owner. It's my name. I've worked all my life to find a mean to bring back the dead to their families... And to that end, I do immoral experiments, yes, I admit it. I was able to save your sister because her death was recent and her body wasn't in a bad state, so I could act quickly. Does this answer suit you?"

Rarity is troubled by this answer. He does experiments on the dead, yes it's bad, Rarity's conscience screams to her that this pony is dangerous and he should be stopped. Yet, it's thanks to him that she could find back her sister. It's not evil to want to bring back dead people to those who cared for them, is it? Deep down... this pony acts for the good of all, no? Rarity is doubting.

"I'd advise you to not come close," warns the pony, pulling out some kind of box cutter. "It's not well tolerable if you're not used to it."

"W-What are you going to do to her?"

"Access her main program, and remove the informations that caused the bug. Afterwards, she'll work like before."

He deploys the tool with his hooves, a long sharpened blade he approaches to Sweetie Belle's neck, as she still sleeps.

Rarity turns away immediately. She doesn't want to see that. The sound of something tearing apart. Rarity tries to think of something other than the present moment in which her robotic little sister is getting the nape of her neck cut open.

She hears the doctor manipulate something in her sister. Her mind, against her will, pictures some kind of metallic brain with pieces of real brain hanging from it. She gets nauseous.

"There!"

Puppet sews back Sweetie Belle's neck, putting his tools away.

"Now, it's only about waiting for her to wake up as usual. Don't ever say the truth to her again. I will probably fix the problem in a next update, but for now, if you want to keep your little sister, don't say it! And once again, not a word to anypony."

"Understood," answers Rarity, holding a hoof in front of her eyes to avoid puking.

"You don't have to say thank you for now. I know what I'm making you go through, but it's needed if you want to have her back. At that moment, I'll let you thank me."

Rarity nods, without looking at him.

"Goodbye."

He hands a hoof to her.

"Again, sorry."

She hesitates, then finally shakes his hoof.

"Good luck, miss Rarity."

Rarity doesn't answer. She looks Puppet in the eyes. She still doesn't know if she's right to trust him or not. For now, she has one hope, of getting her sister back, and it's enough to keep her together for now.

If she wasn't so in her own thoughts and turmoil, she would most likely see the shadow deep in Puppet's eyes. It is a sorrow way more profound than the simple compassion he is feeling for Rarity.


Three new months have passed. Sweetie now works to perfection, she doesn't have any bug. Rarity still experiences difficulties seeing her as a robot and as her sister at the same time. Those are updates, she understands it, and it is her sister, she understands that too, but she can't reconcile the two. Sometimes she sees her as her sister, and sometimes as a strange robot. Personality wise, Sweetie Bot seems to become more and more like Sweetie Belle. She can take her character traits better and better, her reactions are more "pony-like" than before. Everyone ceased to say she was acting weirdly and is convinced that she's the real Sweetie Belle.

Rarity now loves her sister. She wants to keep her. Catch on everything she couldn't do. She knows there's going to be problems, when she'll grow for example. Surely, robots aren't made to grow. Then people will wonder why Sweetie Belle stays a filly. But for now, she doesn't worry about it. She just wants to spend time with her sister.

One day, as she was working in her boutique on new outfits, Rainbow Dash came in without even knocking.

"What can I do for you Rainbow Dash?"

"You have to come, Twilight received a letter from princess Celestia saying we all have to go to Canterlot as soon as possible."

"Oh... And I was about to finish this new dress."

She sighs, but its a demand from her friend.

"Well, fine, I'm coming."

Sweetie Belle must be playing with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, she can go with peace of mind. She follows Rainbow Dash to the train station where the rest of her friends are waiting. Twilight looks worried.

"I hope it's not too serious of a matter."

"No, don't worry, princess Celestia is just inviting us for some tea!" says Dash ironically.

"Oh, great! We'll be there just in time for tea as well!" rejoices Pinkie, bouncing up and down.

"What I mean is that, I hope we can settle it easily."

"Don't worry Twilight," reassures Rarity, "We are all here to help if needed."

"Exactly!" says Applejack.

The train whistle resounds, announcing the departure. Everyone climbs in the train for Canterlot.

"Wait for me!"

Spike comes just in time, running while carrying a small box, and jumps in the train as it starts to shake, before it gets going to the capital.


Canterlot's castle. In a great room with, at its centre, a round table. Tall ornaments on the walls, stained glass, and the princesses Celestia and Luna gathered. Cadance taking care of the Crystal Empire, she couldn't come. Twilight and her friends walk in.

"Princesses, here we are."

"Twilight," says Celestia, "Thank you for coming so quickly."

Twilight briefly bows in front of the princesses, then follows up immediately:

"What is the problem?"

"We don't know for sure," indicates Luna, worried. "But something is brewing."

"What kind of thing?" asks Applejack.

"The dead are coming back to life," announces Celestia with a serious face.

All are in shock.

"Oh my goodness..." shakes Fluttershy. "Z-Zombies?"

"Not exactly," corrects Luna.

"Ponies missing or dead are suddenly reappearing, in great shape, and acting like nothing had happened," continues Celestia. "When presented with the fact that they are dead, they say they don't understand."

"Wow, that's straight out weird!" says Rainbow Dash.

"We don't know if they have been resurrected, or rather recreated, or something else. They are here, that's it."

"Do you have any idea as to who is at the origin of this?" asks Twilight.

"A pony seems to be responsible for it. A mare from Filly Deplhia received a letter right after her coltfriend was brought back to life. The letter specified to not tell the stallion he was dead, while wishing happiness to the mare."

Rarity freezes when hearing all this, but no one notices. This situation is just like her own. She understands that her case is not isolated. Puppet seems to be acting in all of Equestria, and not only for Sweetie Belle."

"But how can he do it?" questions Twilight.

Celestia shakes her head in a sign of ignorance.

"We do not know. But someone is resurrecting ponies and he has to be stopped quickly!"

"Oh, please! For once, someone is acting for the good of all, maybe you could let it be, no?" then says a voice.

All turn to the entrance. Puppet is standing below the framing, smiling, holding his hat in a hoof.

"Who are you!?" immediately interrogates Luna. "Who let you in?"

"Who?" repeats Puppet, laughing. "But the guards, of course. As to know who I am, well, I'd say you were talking about me right before."

"You are at the root of all this!?" shouts Twilight.

"Oh, we have an almost clever one, don't we?" replies Puppet.

He's totally different from the way he behaved when he was at Rarity's. Incidentally, she's in great distress since that pony entered the room, and only Applejack notices it.

"Ah knew there was somethin' fishy about that pony!"

"You know him?" asks Rainbow.

"He was at Rarity's home the other day! He was comin' to see Sweetie Belle! So that's what it was all about! Apple Bloom told me the Sweetie Belle was actin' up sometimes!"

"Come on Applejack," says Twilight, seemingly not believing her friend, "Only the dead are affected. That would mean Sweetie Belle had died. Rarity would never hide that from us, right?"

As she speaks, she turns to Rarity, whose eyes are wide opened. The others start to look at her as well. Rarity is at a complete loss. She doesn't know what to say, how to explain, how to justify herself. As tears come to her eyes, she simply says, all shaking, while looking at Twilight:

"She almost acts like Sweetie Belle... It's her... She's still alive..."

All the others can't believe those words. Rarity lied to them, for all this time. Worst of all, Sweetie Belle is dead!?

Puppet simply laughs, before following with:

"She wanted to see her sister again, and that's fairly normal. And she'll keep on seeing her. Everypony will be able to act as if nothing had happened, as if no one had died, if I obtain what I want."

"And what is it?" inquires Celestia, looking at him defiantly.

"Alicorn magic. You see, the corpses that are the easiest to resurrect are those of unicorns because they still aggregate magic. But past a few months, nothing can be done, the corpse is as good as wasted. But alicorn magic could allow me to go back even more, way more."




Twilight boils with anger when seeing the state of her friend. Rarity had to sit down, having trouble breathing because of the stress, and is holding her own head, tears falling from her eyes, completely overwhelmed by the situation. All that because of that pony. Twilight turns around and yells:

"For what purpose are you doing all this!?"

"So that no one will be sad, of course. No more deaths, no more sorrow, and everyp..."

But Twilight interrupts him.

"No more sorrow!? Are you kidding me!? Look at my friend! Look what state you put her in!"

"Resurrecting the dead will never be a solution," adds Luna. "A life is meant to fade away, to live too much is to fall into madness. Death is a part of life."

"Is a life meant to fade away at six years old?" interrogates Puppet, getting angry. "You should understand me better than anypony else, you immortal princesses, who see all their subjects come and go, one after another!"

"I don't know your motivations," answers Celestia, slightly raising her voice, "But going against nature will only break the balance of the world, and I'm not even talking about the overpopulation it would cause!"

"I'm not asking for your opinion anyway."

Puppet pulls out of his hat a small remote. He quickly presses a few buttons. Behind him, from the door, then come two guards.

"Guards! Arrest him!" orders Luna.

The guards don't even bat an eye and walk by Puppet who's putting his hat back, as they don't even seem to notice him, going to the princesses.

"What are you doing? I told you to arrest him!"

Celestia frowns. A fraction of a second later, the guards jump on the princesses. Celestia dodges by flying off, having understood at the last moment, but Luna is caught completely off guard and the guards violently tackle her on the ground.

"You didn't even thought about asking me how I resurrect the dead," sighs Puppet. "I'm disappointed in you, princesses."

"He... He uses robotics," then says a shaky voice.

All turn to Rarity, who's wiping her tears, sniffing:

"He puts mechanical pieces in the bodies, they replace what no longer works."

"And he can control them," concludes Celestia, still in the air.

"Replacing those guards was so easy," laughs the poney. "You didn't even notice."

"They are still living beings!" then shouts Luna with her Canterlot voice, her eyes becoming white.

She creates a magical explosion, repulsing the two guards on her, and stands up.

"You are playing with life! And for that, we will never forgive you!"

"I wasn't going to wait for forgiveness," replies the pony, "I'm waiting for my sister, or rather, she's the one waiting for me, and I'm already way too late."

Upon those words, the stained glasses shatters, letting in ten pegasus, all diving on Celestia who is caught off guard and is now the one getting knocked down on the floor, the pegasus holding her down firmly.

Other ponies turn up from all the doors, some are guards, others perfectly regular earth ponies or unicorns. All jump on Luna, who gets overwhelmed and immobilised.

Celestia moves her head, the only part of her body that is free, and gives Puppet a scornful look.

"You won't get away like that!"

"Oh of course I will. You, however, I don't know, to be honest."

"Come on, girls! It's our turn!" suddenly says Twilight.

Puppet turns to look at them.

"I almost forgot about you with all this. What are you planning on?" he says with a smile.

"Stopping you!" replies the unicorn.

Puppet wants to laugh, but he notices something that cuts that quickly. Each of them is wearing a necklace. Her Element of Harmony.

"Come on Twilight!" encourages Spike from a corner of the room, an empty box at his feet.

Twilight told him to bring the Elements, just in case, and in the end she was right to do so.

"You little...!" starts Puppet, but Twilight already activates the Elements of Harmony.

They all begin to levitate, their necklace dazzling, linked together by a rainbow. Twilight's eyes become white.

Puppet shows his teeth. He can't fail here. Not that stupidly. The beam is going to take care of him if things go on, and without orders, his robots are going to become harmless! He looks for a way out, frantically searching an exit with his eyes. Suddenly, he lays his eyes on something. He smiles again, then laughs in an almost crazy manner.

"I think someone is asking for you, miss Rarity!"

Rarity opens her eyes and so do the others, as the beam is still charging. Sweetie Belle is by the door, walking slowly, looking like she's barely conscious.

Puppet had planned in advance, by making most of his robots gather in Canterlot, to have support. Sweetie Belle was in the bunch, but he hadn't even notice her. And when he had given the order to attack the princesses, Sweetie Belle had received it like the others.

"If you stop me, your sister is gone! Goodbye Sweetie Belle!"

Of course, it's a lie. The robots would survive without him, they are autonomous, but he's trying to destabilise her, and it works.

Rarity doubts. Her Element crackles, then completely stops shining, breaking the rainbow and the beaming charge.

"What's going on now!?" curses Applejack.

"I-I don't want Sweetie Belle to vanish," sobs Rarity.

Sweetie Belle hears those words from her sister and turns her head towards her. Her eyes look empty. Her jaw is hanging, mouth opened. Her voice is the robot one.

"Ra-a-a-a-a-a-a-rity?-y?-y?"

Puppet frowns as he looks displeased. He goes up to Sweetie Bot.

"Normally, everything should work properly now. Why is she bugging?"

Twilight ferociously stamps her hoof.

"We're still here!"

"Er... Twilight?" makes Rainbow Dash's voice, which sounds a little out of breath. "Maybe you should be careful."

Twilight turns around and sees with horror that all of her friends have been immobilised by resurrected ponies. Each is held down by two ponies. Four are going to the purple unicorn, who's moving back, back to the wall.

"Ra-a-a-a-a-a-a-arity," repeats the robot.

Puppet's upper lip spasms. Why is this robot having a problem? Everything is supposed to be fixed! If the robot doesn't work properly, his plan is useless.

"Vocal command activated," he enounces out loud without even paying attention to the ponies diving on Twilight, to immobilize her as well. "Oral description of the problem requested."

Sweetie Belle's eyes become red for a brief moment, then she resumes with her robot voice:

"Conflict of unknown origin. Conflict of unknown origin."

She repeats this sentence again and again. As she repeats it, a tear starts to flow from her right eye. Then suddenly, Sweetie Belle talks with her normal voice, yelling in despair:

"Rarity! Stop him!"

Before going back to her robotic speech. Her whole body is shaking.

Rarity, still held against the floor by two ponies, looks at her sister, with an infinite sorrow in the eyes.

"She's right, Rarity," says Fluttershy, shaking.

"We have to stop him!" follows Pinkie.

"He's gonna turn all of Equestria into robots if this keeps up!" says Rainbow.

"If you get together, you can defeat him!" adds Spike from a corner of the room he deems safe.

"Just think for a moment, Rarity!" reasons Applejack. "Is that how you want to see your sister!? She can't even control her own actions!"

The last words from Applejack echoes in her head. Her sister is alive, yes, but she's been manipulated by this pony. She must stop him. Maybe her sister will vanish, but she can't let her get used like that!

She blinks to dry her eyes, before nodding to Applejack, meaning she's ready.

"Twilight! Here we go!"

Twilight, kept in place by four ponies, looks up to her friends, then smiles before closing her eyes to focus. The Elements activate again and, this time, all goes as usual. The rainbow forms, the necklaces sparkle.

Puppet, who was still looking at Sweetie Belle without understanding that the unicorn's mind was fighting against the artificial intelligence, abruptly turns around when hearing Applejack's words. He sees the rainbow take shape.

The power of the Elements push back the ponies that were holding the mares on the floor. They hover a few centimetres above ground. The rainbow finishes to form. Rarity opens her eyes, to give a cold and harsh stare at Puppet, a stare that he gives backs to her. She speaks, with a voice filled with rage:

"Never again will you touch my sister or my friends!"

The multicoloured beam heads straight for Puppet, turning him practically instantly into a statue made out of stone. Right before that, his expression softens and a sad smile appears on his face.

"Sorry little sister..." he thinks. "I couldn't bring you back. All those ponies prevented me from doing it. Such a shame, I only needed alicorn magic, and you could have been back. Goodbye."




The rainbow stops. The mares softly lands on the floor, aside from Rainbow Dash who prefers to stay in the air. All the robots present gain back a semblance of consciousness. Those who were stopping the princesses suddenly move away, not understanding how they came to act so disrespectfully towards the princesses. Most of them wonder what they are doing here.

Rarity rushes to her sister to hug her in her legs, and she returns her embrace. The princesses get back on their hooves and walk toward the mares.

"Thank you all," says Celestia. "Once again, you've prevented a disaster."

"Equestria can count on us to stop the troubles!" replies Rainbow Dash as she slams her hoof into the other, like she was ready to fight again.

Twilight looks at Puppet's statue, with sadness in her eyes.

"Something's wrong, Twilight?" asks Luna.

"I don't know... Even if he has hurt people, I feel like his actions didn't came from a bad place..."

"Something must have blinded him at some point," wisely answers Celestia. "It is why he strayed away from the right path, despite good intentions."

"The question now is: what are we going to do with all these robots?" adds Spike, who took the opportunity to come back, now that the place is safe.

"Despite them being ponies at one point, today they are aberrations," explains Celestia. "We'll need to deactivate them one by one."

Twilight gives a worried look at Rarity, who seems to be talking with Sweetie Belle. She then looks back at Celestia.

"Couldn't we make an exception...?"

Celestia leans forward to look at her student right in the eyes, her face right in front of hers.

"Twilight, I understand that you want to avoid a painful moment to your friend. But her sister is dead, and nothing will be able to change that. We must not let a sweet dream hide a too painful reality. The more we wait, the harder it will be to separate them."

"I agree... But..."

"Sweetie Belle!" suddenly yells Rarity.

All the ponies present turn towards her. Sweetie Belle walks out by the door, galloping, and runs away, Rarity reaching out a hoof to her, tears in her eyes.

"Catch up to her!" orders Celestia.

The guards who were manipulated obey without hesitation and go after the filly, passing by Rarity who is displaying an inexplicable small and happy smile.

She smiles because of what they told each other right before, when they were hugging.




"Sweetie Belle, thanks for being there."

"Rarity... Am I dead...?"

"Yes," cries Rarity, hugging her sister. "But you are still alive. You're a robot, but also my sister. And that is why you'll have to run away."

"But... Why?" asks Sweetie, before following with her robotic voice: "Worrying level rising."

The vocal description hasn't been deactivated when Puppet was imprisoned, and only his voice can turn it off. So the robot side of the filly sister keeps on giving information about the system. But Rarity doesn't pay any attention to it.

"The others are going to want to deactivate you. I don't want to lose you again. So run. Gallop without stopping. Forget everything I may have told you: you're perfectly able to manage on your own. Once you'll be safe, find someone to take care of you, ask help from ponies, but watch out still. And live your life, that life that was given back to you, despite my error."

"Presence of strong emotion," announces the robot. "I don't want to leave you, Rarity!"

"It must be. So go, my sister. Quick!"

Sweetie Belle lets go of her sister, and takes a few steps towards the door, then turns her head to her sister, who invites her – smiling and with tears at the edge of her eyes – to continue, with a nod. Sweetie Belle looks away from her sister for the last time and rushes down the hall.

The guards chase after her. She manages to get out of the palace and runs at full speed in the city's streets, looking for a place to hide. She doesn't have time to stop, the guards are on her heels. She goes out of the city, trips over, and her small half-robot, half-pony body bounces for a few meters, before tumbling over the cliff, falling into the void in a cry of terror.

She crashes many dozens of meters below, knocking herself out in a metallic "klong", her body laying behind a rock, hiding her from the guards who lose her track. The fall wasn't without damages. Two legs are broken, the back of her neck was also hit, her system is bare, revealing the network running through her body. One of her legs is almost entirely robotic.

Her batteries, which usually recharge with sunlight, are now draining, pierced. Many hours later, she awakes.


Rebooting system. Program SW-alpha_00.00128.bot. Recovering memory. Error detected in the movement processor. Automatic repair impossible. Battery left: 4 hours. Thoughts and emotions algorithm launched.

Sweetie Belle sits down and tries to put her thoughts back together.

"I'm nothing. I thought I was alive. I am not a living being... thing?"

Grammatical conflict detected.

"A robot, a mare."

She feels weak. Very weak.

"I lost everything... My sister... My friends... My life."

"Faulty power supply. System shutdown in progress."

"It's over... No one will come to save me."

"Main processors off."

"Rarity..."

"System shut down."