"...and that, class, is why our sun orbits us instead of the other way around." Cheerilee put her chalk down, turning to the fillies and colts at their desks with a wide grin. "Do any of you have any questions?"
The foals all stared at the board, blinking as they tried to process the equations on them.
After a moment, Cheerilee sighed. "The first sun was dying, so the precursors built another and made it go around us."
"Oh!" Scootaloo chirped brightly. "That makes sense!"
"Ah kinda got that from all her chatting," Apple Bloom pointed out. "What Ah don't understand is how one pony manages ta keep tha thing from entering our atmosphere."
"Wait," Sweetie Belle interjected, "the precursors are real?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact. You've even met one!" Cheerilee nodded out the door. "The Draconeuuqii were once quite widespread--"
The school bell suddenly chimed, a signal that caused all the foals to start shifting out of their desks. The teacher rolled her eyes, stepping toward the front door. "Alright, recess has started. Everypony form a single file line, don't shove, and remember not to start fights!"
Scootaloo stretched her wings and yawned, flicking an ear toward Apple Bloom as she passed. "Right, so yeah. Sorry about yesterday or whatever." She shrugged. "I can be a blockhead at times, yaknow?"
"Yeah, you sure can..." With a sigh, Apple Bloom walked out after her friend. "Look, if ya want ta tease with me that's fine, but... you really shouldn't say things like that about Sweetie. It could--"
"Apple Bloom," Sweetie Belle interjected as she left the classroom, "it's fine. I mean I was totally embarrassed, yeah, but it's Scootaloo. I know she didn't mean any harm by it!"
"Hey, blank flanks! What're you talking about?"
Sweetie Belle frowned. "Her, on the other hoof..."
"None of your beeswax, DT." Scootaloo snorted and turned her gaze away from the approaching pink pony. "Come on, let's go get a table somewhere over there."
"...DT?" The filly rolled her eyes. "Sounds like some lame rapper name."
"Well," Scootaloo said smugly, "diamonds shine and glitter with refracted light, and tiaras are the mark of a true princess. I figured DT was more your wavelength." She gave the earth pony a mock salute. "Can't wait to hear your next album!"
"Huh, you're right," Sweetie mused. "DT fits her so much more than Diamond Tiara."
The pink filly fumed. "Why--You can't just--you are so going to get it!"
"Get what?" Apple Bloom asked innocently. "We're just complimenting your artistic skills."
"Diamond! Sorry I was held up." A grey filly galloped up to the group, breathing just a touch heavily. "My lunchbox was kind of jammed into my cubbyhole in a weird way--"
"Hello Silver Spoon." Sweetie waved happily. "We were just discussing Diamond Tiara's promising musical career."
Silver Spoon adjusted her glasses. "Wait... Really?"
"What? No!"
"Well for what it's worth, I think you would be a very good singer," Sweetie Belle assured her. "You've got a good voice, you just need to train it a bit. Rap is good for that," she added with a smirk, "easy to find a rhythm, there's not a lot of pitch variation--"
"AAAAAAAUGH!" Diamond threw up her hooves. "I AM NOT A RAPPER!"
Scootaloo shrugged. "Hey, no need to broadcast your disappointment."
"NARNIGHFLIRKNSHEMARFISDA--!!" Diamond took a deep breath, held it for five seconds, and let it out slowly. "Right. Clearly you lot are beneath me. I think I shall remove myself from your presence."
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that," Apple Bloom snarked at Diamond's retreating form. "Denial's perfectly natural, after all!"
Scootaloo gave Apple Bloom a strange look. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh, ya know, it's just... Mah sis says a lot of ponies would get in a lot less trouble if they was just honest with themselves."
Sweetie Belle tapped her chin thoughtfully. "You know... that's actually pretty deep."
Scootaloo rolled her eyes as she sat at a table. "Yeah, sure it is. So! I motion we figure out the most epic way to find our special talents."
Apple Bloom sat down next to her. "Ya ever wonder if'n we've found our special talents and just haven't realized it?"
The pegasus leaned away, horror evident on her face. "Apple Bloom... that's crazy talk. I mean, if we'd found our special talents, obviously we'd realize it, right?"
After a moment, the yellow filly reluctantly nodded. "Ah guess you're right... Um. No offense Sweetie."
Sweetie Belle sighed, sitting across from them and letting her head rest on the table. "I'm going to have to get used to it anyway. Maybe I'll look into how griffons figure out their special talents... if they have any..."
Scootaloo rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. Apple Bloom bit her lip, glancing away.
For a moment, the sounds of the other foals playing were drowned out by their own somber reflections.
"...Didn't... Those Saddle Arabian ponies," Scootaloo offered, "the ones that came that one time after Trixie took over... didn't they have blank flanks? Maybe they have a way to find special talents without getting cutie marks! Or... something...?"
The unicorn didn't lift her head, but her eyes did roll to give her friend a flat look.
"Look, I'm trying to help here. I really don't know what to say, Sweetie Belle, I just..." Scootaloo waggled a hoof in the air, desperatly searching for the words that would communicate her point.
"Yeah, yeah. I get it." Sweetie sighed. "Just... can we not do this now? Can we just have an ordinary lunch?"
Apple Bloom frowned. "Sweetie, ya can't just ignore this."
"I'm not. I just don't see what it has to do with anything right now. We're here to eat lunch and talk like friends do, and..." Pushing her head off the table, Sweetie Belle let out a little sigh. "I want to be normal right now. Maybe later we can talk about my thing, but right now, let's just... I don't know, talk about our favorite musicians?"
Scootaloo shrugged. "Alright. So, either of you catch that last Sapphire Shores album?"
"Was that 'Watch Mah Flank' or 'Sass Me Ah Dare Ya?'"
"Actually, I was talking about 'Schoolyard Sweethearts'. It was a bit of an out of genre experiment for her, but it really worked." Scootaloo shrugged with a smile. "I mean, yeah, a couple of the songs were way too mushy, but the beat was pretty good, and she worked out some great tunes. Dunno bout the lyrics, though."
"Wait, that was a Sapphire Shores album?" Sweetie Belle's ears perked, the faintest smile coming to her face. "I thought it was a disk of old movie tunes, from back when colored film was still kinda new..."
***
Diamond Tiara snorted as she entered her mansion, absently handing off her saddlebags to the stallion on her right. She didn't even spare a glance as he started taking out the schoolwork and organizing it into stacks, instead choosing to stomp forward for a few steps. "Those... those.... THOSE...!"
Silver Spoon gave the butler a questioning look. He nodded for a brief moment. With a sigh, she raised her hooves to her ears.
"THOSE SELF-ABSORBED PRANCING PANDERING TALENTLESS TRIO OF CHARLATANS I SWEAR TO CELESTIA THAT THEY DELIBERATELY GO OUT OF THEIR WAY TO SABOTAGE MY EVERY EFFORT AND HOW IN THE HAY WERE THEY CHOSEN TO BE PRINCESS MI AMORE CADENZA'S FLOWER FILLIES WHY AM I ALWAYS JUST PUSHED ASIDE BY THE GROWN-UPS WHY DO THEY LISTEN TO THEM JUST BECAUSE THEY RUINED MY CUTECENARA ARGBLARGLFRAGLEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The grey filly opened an eye, peering at her friend carefully.
"...Alright. Alright." Diamond took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I... am cool now. I'm cool. And I'm sorry you had to hear that, Randolph, that was quite... extreme of me."
"Not a trouble, miss Tiara." The butler placed a stack of papers in front of the filly. "The top portion is homework that is due tomorrow, as per usual, but the packets on the bottom will require considerable effort and time to complete; I simply felt it would be best for you to start work on it now instead of later."
"Thank you very much." The words were automatic, casual, and even as she said them Diamond had picked up her papers and started to walk into the living room. "I don't know what irritates me about those blank flanks, Silver, but every time I see them I get this overwhelming feeling of... of..."
Silver Spoon put her forehooves back on the floor. "...Of what?"
"...I don't know! It's like I'm jealous except that they don't flaunt what I'm jealous of! It's... they're so... do they even realize how lucky they are?! Two of them are related to national heroes directly, both of whom are independently wealthy, I'm pretty sure Princess Twilight was willing to teach them at one point... They have a huge social network and they never use it except for these frivolous 'crusades' of theirs! It's like seeing a pony walk up to a high class buffet and ask the chef for a donught!"
Silver nodded as the two of them sat on a couch. "I can see how that would be frustrating. I myself often find the lack of knowledge about our world that most ponies exhibit to be incomprehensible. The fact that so many disciplines have solutions to problems other disciplines struggle with is a constant reminder of how poor communication can hamper a society to an almost unbearable point."
Diamond stared at her.
"...was I using the big words again?" Silver coughed. "I'm sorry, I'll try to be more relateable."
"No, it's fine Silver. It's just us in here." Diamond started sorting through her homework, absently filling in the proper answers. "And yeah, I totally get what you're saying. You know, I think the crusaders could fix that too? If only they'd focus for one measly month!" She groaned, setting aside a finished paper and working on another. "Honestly, at this point I kinda expect they'll become alicorn princesses before they gain their marks. Can you believe I ever--?"
She snapped her mouth shut.
"...Ever what?" Silver asked.
"Ugh. It's nothing. I'm disgusted to even think about it." She waved a hoof. "Let's just get this all done."
Silver frowned. "You're already halfway through your stack, Diamond. I'm still not complete with my first assignment."
"Huh. Really?" Diamond glanced back at her pile of papers. "...well, it just goes to show that I'm naturally very smart, is all."
Silver frowned. "And I'm not?"
"No, you're smart in a different way. I mean, you do a lot of research and I just... see patterns is all. Honestly, most of this is just guesswork." She shrugged. "It really helps when talking to ponies."
"Huh. Patterns, huh?"
"Yeah, it's always been that way for me."
"Neat, I guess...."
***
"Sir, we're getting a report from a listening station. The keem'Potriitch are headed in Equestria's direction."
"Hmm. Have they given any sign of recognizing our activities there?"
"...we don't know, sir. Their transmissions are coded."
"Keep me updated on their movements. If they enter the third sphere, prep for mass drone termination, but don't do anything before then."
"Sir, what about--?"
"You have your orders, lieutenant."
"...Aye sir."
I was VERY Surprised!
damn. This story is so old, i mistook it for a different sweetie bot story, (Thunderstruck) and went 1/2 way through thinking it was some tie in to pony world.
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I have been CONSTANTLY working on this update since the last one. There was this big wall there, but I think I finally cleared it. The updates should come in more regularly now.
This seems so far like a rather believable portrayal of those two~
6096724 Let's hope so.
It lives! You have made me a happy banana.
Heeyyyy! It's still alive! And yes, I was quite pleasantly surprised when I saw it in the feature box!
Good to see more of this. I quite like what you've done with the bullies. It's nice to see them do something independent from the Crusaders.
As for Sweetie, maybe she should look into updating her graphics card.
Also, that ending intrigues me.
It lives! (No Frankenstein reaction video this time.)
Also, quick poll: Who will be the next robo-filly reveal, Diamond Tiara, or Silver Spoon?
Huh, it looks like all Sweetie needed was a reboot. Funny how that seems to fix so many dead computers!
Also, "mass drone termination" does not sound good at all.
Your face is surprised!
Diamond Tiara:
Now I kind of want a Diamond Tiara "redemption" story where she become a rapper...
Well, well, well... Look what came prancing back after more than a year away. How could you abandon us like that?!
Great chapter, though. I wonder what's up with DT and Silver.
I'll keep an eye on this, but so far, the whole organization behind the scenes is really just tacked-on, since we're not seeing any real-time effects of It, only a few lines of text at the end of each chapter - Which is kinda like not mentioning that Dumbledore died in Harry Potter until the last book, and then adding a line on the last page saying "Oh, and Snape killed Dumbledore."
Man, I had forgotten pretty much all the plot lines in the story.
Yeah, because that bit of insanity was needed. Seriously, I'm loving this story (despite the fact that it's apparently going at a rate of 1 chapter per year :P), but all of these additions (plots, exposition, etc.) are starting to just weigh things down and make them unnecessarily complicated.
I mean, what was up with that opening bit? Seriously, why do stories like this seemingly feel compelled to force in a bunch of fanon or otherwise twist canon around in an otherwise fairly canon-like Equestria? So now it's not the princesses controlling things, no, it's freaking aliens.
That whole evil council thing was strange enough, but now we've got all this stuff tossed in as well. I don't mean to sound so critical, but it was just so jarring to have the first thing being said, "Ancient aliens basically made our solar system and all the important people you know about are also aliens/whatever else, and it's already common knowledge despite the fact that the exact opposite is shown and none of this has ever been mentioned before now." Just saying that makes me feel like it's a joke or something.
Alright, after finishing this chapter, I'm afraid I have to admit that I didn't really enjoy it. It wasn't bad at all, but it just doesn't feel like it fits here. I feel like I've just read the chapter for an entirely different story, and that feeling only got worse and worse the more I read. It was all well written and interesting, but that still doesn't change the fact that everything seems so different.
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yeah but sleeper agent isn't a catch phrase anybody shouts out in tf2
What the actual BUCK just happened????
a stroy of robo belle turned to a histograph of DT and her willingness to be frends with the crusaders.
wait! I must re-read to ensure i am not confusing stories again.
I'm very glad to see this finally updated. I hope you plan on updating more often now. Nice chapter by the way, I'm looking forward to the next one.
Back to being caught up. And Is it weird that I mentally in visioned sweetie bots cutie mark?
A microphone with a gear for the mice cover.
mic for singing gear for robot.
There have been confirmed reports of..nuclear detonation, stand by.#
Sorry, couldn't resist
Sapphire Shores ...in the life of Hood Rat.
img.ccrd.clearchannel.com/media/mlib/2135/2015/03/default/garth_brooks_chris_gains_0_1425994699.jpg
Oh come on! It's just Sapphire Shores wearing a hoodie and a wig!
Dig the swell hoodie.
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With DT's pattern recognition I think that was foreshadowing that she may be a robot as well.
No Young Frankenstein?
K. Considering that Diamond has a new career in the music industry, that just makes this more fitting.
Yknow..
This whole section is pretty neat. They are aware of these perks, and DT is annoyed the CCC are utterly blind to that potential. And yet are still doing perfectly fine (but coul dbe so much more)
Plus them (dt and ss) being shown being smart and educated? Yes.
Good chapter overall.
6100154 I don't know. That sounds too obvious.
6100154
Actually, I think Silver Spoon.
I love this story so much.
Also, very interesting portrayal of DT and SS, very interesting indeed.
You know what would be super epic? More chapters!
Why would anyone implant a thousand foal sleeper cells? You.. Hmmm...
Keep going! ;)
*Insert obligatory "It's Alive" quote here*
Well uh, good job I guess. No progress on Sweetie's situation though. And the humans are growing ever antsier. I can't help but think that "mass drone termination" would be a lot more horrifying to Ponyville than just Sweetie Belle being forced to explode all by herself.
I was surprised. I admit I kinda stared at my screen for a while before accepting that it had, in fact, been updated.
Creative... Er, how 'bout, "You were dead!"
"I got better."
Diamond's secret jealousy of the Crusaders is interesting, if not entirely unique.
This, however, is an angle I don't know that I've seen before.
6135287
How about, "Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated" ?
6251816 Ooh! A classic!
IT'S ALIIIIIIIVE!
Plot twist, Draconeuuqi are humans in 200,000 years.
Also, the whole 'unknown random group spying on ponies with drones' seems kinda pointless... Couldn't Sweetie Belle have just been some kind of mad scientists creation that was thrown out while said mad scientist was being arrested for illegal genetic manipulation and forgotten about or something
Tracking the target. Subject was presumed to be dead, but now has undergone an unanticipated arrival.
Well this is .. I dunno. I like the premise of the story, but the "mysterious contacts from mysterious people ooh look at me I'm so mysterious" thing just feels tacked on. I realize that it might have been explained in whatever ask tumblr you were running, but I am of the belief that you should be able to write a self-contained story without having to have your readers fo through another work to understand what's going on.
Edit: and the other thing that was bugging me: the draconequii being involved with the history of Equestria comes out of nowhere and it doesn't seem to mesh with the rest of the world. World-building like that needs buildup, you can't just drop it down as an "oh by the way" sort of thing.
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Oh, and this feels a bit strange, going from sweetiebot to aliens or whatever.
More!
MORE!!! NOW!!!!!
A rather interesting tail that I would love to see more of as soon as possible though I feel I will be let down in that regard perhaps using all caps will communicate my emotion thoroughly. I WANT MORE OF THIS
I have to say, this is quite a story so far. I am eager to see the next chapter as well.
Something tells me the termination code won't work on Sweetie Belle, or just simply cause minor damage.
Another chapter would be nice...
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Don't worry, Masterweaver. I am hard at work designing a keyboard that reacts to ectoplasmic hooftaps.
When you eventually die of old age and get stuck because of all the unfinished-but-awesome stories you left behind, there will be a way for you to finish them and move on!
..it may take a few centuries to work the bugs out. I hope you don't mind...
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You realize all the dead authors are going to drown the world in scrolls of untold stories, right? Or at least crash the hypernet.