Bolted Hearts

Thousands of images containing the history of countless races flashed across her mind, yet she did not know herself. Languages she could not use, tales she could not retell, and wisdom she could not understand filled her thoughts to the brim as the question repeated within her mind.

Who was she? What was she?

She had no concept of time, so judging the amount that she was trapped in this void of information and darkness was impossible. All she knew for sure was that she was meant to learn. For what purpose, she found no answer. Searching through the endless stream of images, text, and concepts there came more and more questions with no answers.

Where was she? Why was she?

Suddenly, as if her inquiries were heard by some force within the darkness, there came something. Within her thoughts, she knew it to be called a sound. "I believe she is activating, darling," they said. The words held no meaning to her - with all of her knowledge of a particular written language, the sounded-out words that pierced her mind held no purpose nor answers.

Another thought came to form within her mind - just how was she thinking? She knew no voice of her own and still there was one within the void spouting back her inquiries - as if she held it within her grasp only the never reach it fully. Soon she came to the realization that there was innate knowledge abound within her mind, with more and more of it pouring forth in an unending torrent of teaching and learning.

"Careful now. We don't know how she'll respond to sight at first. Keep it steady," another voice rang out through the darkness. But it was more focused now - more clear. She understood her position, wherever she was. The sound was emanating from above her perspective and it was pointed down. Recalling the voice from earlier, it was identified to be even closer - perhaps just a small distance away from her.

Then it happened. The void around her shifted and transformed - somewhere in the back of her mind a word appeared that described it only as "light". Something stirred deep within her as she struggled to take in the onslaught of images that were around here. Concepts labeled as "colors" were digging deep through her thoughts as the images shifted around her.

It wasn't until the sights around her slowed to a crawl did she realize she was manipulating not the images around her, but her sight itself. As she gained more and more clarity over herself, so too did the sights around her become more clear. Above her were two beings, both designated as unicorns within the knowledge she had been given.

"Calm down, SC-4. Can you speak?" one of them asked. Her vision darted over to the white unicorn addressing her currently, then over to the purple one standing beside her before traveling slowly back down. She could not speak. She did not understand what it meant to do so, or how she might go about it. All she knew is that she could not.

They picked up on her negative response, or lack of one, and Rarity leaned in close to her. For only a moment, a new sensation overcame her. She identified it as "smell" and made quick work of understanding this new anomaly. Coming from the white unicorn above her was a variety of aromas that assaulted her new sense in odd ways. Something within her identified the scents as pleasant and she assumed it to be a positive reaction.

Suddenly, a new sound filled the room. It was a very peculiar sound in that it matched nothing that had filled the room before. The purple unicorn recoiled at hearing it. "Turn it off, Rarity!" the purple unicorn said rather loudly, directing her voice towards the white unicorn.

"I am trying, Twilight!" the unicorn known as "Rarity" replied. She heard the sound of something scraping nearby and understood it to be directly behind her, perhaps upon her, but did not receive any new sensations. The peculiar sound, however, died out. "There. Try again, sweetie," Rarity said after leaning back and rubbing the back of her arm against her brow.

"Try saying, 'Hello', Scootaloo," Twilight asked, her expression changing subtly. She could not understand who she was speaking to, or who Scootaloo was until she realized Twilight was looking directly at her. Was "Scootaloo" her name?

"So that's what we've taken to calling her, then?" Rarity asked, turning to face Twilight with a look of optimism. The purple unicorn placed her hands upon her hips and sighed.

"Rainbow Dash seems to like the name and it kind of grew on me," she answered with a movement of her shoulders and a dismissive tone. Once again her gaze turned to Scootaloo and now she wore a confident expression. "Hello," she said slowly, stressing the sounds that were required to make the word real.

Pulling forth a new knowledge deep within her, Scootaloo could only assume that Rarity had done something to adjust her abilities. Soon she found sounds emitting forth from herself and tried to rework them into the word Twilight was requesting her to say. With a bit of adjustment from Rarity and a repeat from Twilight, Scootaloo soon heard her own voice speak the first word that would lead to many.

"Hello," she said. Her voice reverberated faintly and quickly, adding to the notion deep within herself that she was not quite like the two unicorns before her. "Hello," she repeated, adjusting her tone to match that of Twilight's. Her mind went into overdrive. She began to string together words in her thoughts that she could try and speak aloud.

Rarity's lip quivered and soon she dabbed at her eyes with a small cloth produced from a slot upon her lower clothing. "I'm sorry," she said after waving her hands towards Scootaloo, "I'm just so proud. What's the next test, Twilight?"

The unicorn in question's horn glowed a lighter shade of purple and a small, rectangular object floated towards her alongside a cylindrical one. She took the latter in hand and began to press it onto the former with dizzying speeds before looking up and saying, "Now it's time for her to experience touch."

"Alright," Rarity said with a sigh. "Now, Scootaloo, this is very important. What you're about to experience is going to potentially alarm you and possibly scare you. But I want you to know that you're doing great and that we both believe in you." Her voice carried with it an expression, a note of sincerity that made it clear she meant it.

She did nothing but stare ahead at the white unicorn, who leaned over to her and adjusted something behind her. She heard the sound of crackling and something making a sharp, quick sound. Finally she heard Rarity whisper, "Stay brave, Scootaloo. It'll be over before you know it."

Everything began changing. The term "pressure" became known to her and its force was overwhelming upon her body that she had previously felt absolutely nothing. The peaceful void of touch was lost upon her until only now where she felt the coolness of the air around her, the gentle prodding from Rarity pressing a hand upon her shoulder, something pressing down onto her forehead. She turned her eyes upward in hopes of seeing what pressed to her but saw nothing that she could discern easily.

She involuntarily voiced her opposition, the sound sharp and guttural. It sounded like a wounded creature of unknown origin, or at least that of a very confused one. She was unsure of which category she fell more towards at the moment, but it did not matter when the newest sensation fell upon her.

She looked down for the first time and noticed her own body. She estimated she was just as tall, if not taller, than the two unicorns that presided over her so carefully. Her skin color was a well-defined orange that had the slightest gleam that suggested she was not all like her two caretakers. Where her limbs might bend, she noticed the coloration shifted suddenly to a deep black, like the void she had been entrapped within previously. Looking over at Twilight, she realized that this feature was unique to her. She was different.

The sensations around her dulled as she felt the subtle pulling upon the back of her head, most likely from Rarity performing one task or another. More notably, Scootaloo focused upon the peculiar reaction that she had performed. At the end of her right arm, she saw that her hand had clenched itself into a fist without being commanded to. Just before it, she also saw that a thick binding was wrapped over her wrist.

Noticing the direction of her gaze, Twilight decided to answer her unspoken question. "We had to make sure you didn't react poorly to feeling sensations that were totally new to you. If you got scared or even malfunctioned, well.." Twilight explained, her voice dropping off as she crossed her arms across her chest. "Fortunately, you passed all tests with flying colors! Let me undo these restraints for you."

"Oh, you did so well!" Rarity exclaimed as she came back into Scootaloo's field of vision, taking a seat upon a round chair beside her. Scootaloo listened and watched intently as Twilight undid her bindings, forcing a bit of magic into each lock that held her in place. Even as the restraints were removed, she felt no change; her fist remained clenched and her body laid still.

"Now I know this might be a bit difficult, but I need you to try and sit up. Can you do that for me?" Twilight asked as she moved over to and picked up the rectangular object once again. Scootaloo tried to summon the force that she mustered earlier to speak, but nothing of the sort came. She did not even have the words to properly give voice to her inability to do so.

Fortunately for her, Rarity understood well enough the difficulty that she was going through. Scootaloo looked towards her as she made a low, humming sound that signified contemplation. She held one arm across her chest and one rubbing her chin in thought. "If you cannot sit up, what about unclenching your fist? Can you do that?" she asked after some consideration, pointing a slender finger towards the fist in question.

Scootaloo turned her gaze towards her limb and focused all the thought she could into unclenching it. She had moved it instinctively and she was sure that she could do so manually. Slowly, in a manner that involved some twitching and a bit of backpedaling through memory, the fist became a flattened, extended hand. She repeated this motion a few times over until it became natural and comfortable to her.

"Fantastic," Twilight said with a smile. She watched as Scootaloo slowly and instinctively applied this new-found knowledge to the rest of her body. In a matter of minutes, with nail-biting silence filling the air, she finally pulled herself to sit upwards and dangle her feet over the side of the table she was laid upon. "Absolutely fantastic," she repeated with a bit of glee seeping through her voice.

"Fantastic? It's absolutely astounding! It's positively incredible! Oh, I'm so very proud, Scootaloo," Rarity said as she fidgeted a bit in her seat before standing up to properly express herself through a wide array of movements. Scootaloo looked on observantly, taking note of the dozens of different expressions one could make with a simple sway of the hand or leaning of the torso.

She was taken by surprise when Rarity leaned back towards her but did not stop to adjust anything upon her. Instead, Scootaloo felt two long arms linking behind her, with the unicorn's head pressed up against the side of her own. Following her lead, she slowly brought her arms up behind Rarity and returned the gesture by laying her arms stiffly against her clothed back. She noted that the clothing she wore was remarkably soft and comfortable to feel pressed against her hands.

"Rarity," Scootaloo said with a bit of uncertainty, not knowing the proper way to express her enjoyment of the fabric she had felt. The unicorn pulled away with a surprised expression, clearly taken aback by her sudden interest in her alone. She reached over and ran her hand along the sleeve of Rarity's coat before choosing a simple word to express her approval. "Fantastic."

Water freely flowed from Rarity's eyes as she gave a tremendous smile and wrapped Scootaloo in a warm embrace once again. "Thank you, darling," she choked out behind the happiness that was swiftly overwhelming her in the heat of the moment.

"I'll go let Spike know how the tests went. He'll want to know that it was a success. And he'll want to meet you too," Twilight said with a happy finality before spinning on one heel and gracefully making her way out of the room, leaving she and Rarity alone with one another.

"I'm sure you have many, many questions, Scootaloo. And we're going to teach you everything you could possibly want to know. I have very high hopes for you, believe me," Rarity said excitedly, grabbing at the same cloth she had used earlier to wipe at her eyes. It was more of a courtesy now, considering the fur upon her face was stained with a black liquid that had made its way down her face along with her tears. "But first, I'll have to introduce you to someone very special; my sister. Her name is Sweetie Belle, and she is going to be so excited to meet you that I do believe she may very well outclass even me in terms of drama."

"Is.. Is it safe?" a voice called from around the corner of a nearby doorway. Tilting her head towards the noise, Scootaloo spotted a pale white face peering back at her. upon being seen, the short creature backed away with little more than a squeak.

"It's okay, Sweetie. Come and meet your new friend, Scootaloo," Rarity said softly, beckoning the frightened girl over with a gentle wave of the hand. After some careful convincing and kind wording, she came into view from her hiding place. In full sight, Scootaloo took in the fragile-looking creature before her. Just like Rarity, she stood upon two legs and had pale coloration. Unlike Rarity, she had a swirling color to her curling hair that looked oddly befitting of the gentle nature she let off.

Sweetie Belle held up a hand and shakily greeted her with a soft, "Hello." Scootaloo looked at the raised hand and attempted to reciprocate with a gesture of her own. She held up her hand and spread her fingers wide, mimicking Sweetie appropriately.

"Hello," she offered, her voice faintly reverberating just as it had before. At this, Sweetie seemed to shrink back ever-so-slightly, but made no move to exit the room. Instead, she tried to offer more conversation.

"My name is Sweetie Belle. It's nice to meet you," she said as her voice trailed off steadily, sliding into nothing more than a mere mumble. Scootaloo didn't quite understand how to reply to such a statement, so she went back to basics.

"Hello," she repeated, lowering her hand as she saw Sweetie Belle had done the same. The young girl did not respond for a few moments, but it was hinted at that she enjoyed the reply, as she began to let out a pleasant noise in response.

"Now, Sweetie Belle! Don't laugh - she just doesn't know how to properly converse just yet. We'll get you up to speed in a jiffy though, won't we Scootaloo?" Rarity said as she made a series of hand-gestures to enhance her speech. First with the waving a one finger towards Sweetie Belle, then the raising of her thumb at Scootaloo.

In response, Scootaloo raised a thumb just as Rarity had and went with the tried-and-true reply of, "Hello." Rarity seemed to stifle a laugh at this, but made no comment as she set to work. Scootaloo watched as she stood, lifted the chair with a bit of a struggle, and hastily bringing it over to a nearby table before putting it down with a sigh.

"Now! If you were to take examples from any of the others, they would merely teach you how to walk - I intend to teach you how to stride, my dear Scootaloo. Can you stand from the table?" Rarity said with a bit of giddiness trailing behind her voice. Following her example, Scootaloo slid her legs to dangle over the side of the table and pushed off.

Instinctively her legs locked up under the weight of her body and she wobbled in place for a moment without making a sound. After catching her balance, she lifted one leg after the other in an attempt to further understand this new stance - it was more comfortable in some ways but restrictive in others.

"Perfect!" Rarity exclaimed whilst pushing her hands together. The result was an audible, sharp boom that made Scootaloo wish to replicate it. The result was a dense, loud crack that filled the room and made Rarity visibly jolt from surprise and Sweetie Belle took a step back in preparation of something gone wrong.

"Is everything alright?" a deep, frightened voice shouted as soon as the noise died down. From around the same doorway Sweetie Belle had trailed in from, a creature unlike any of the others came rushing into the room. His coloration was purple, but he did not have a horn like the three others Scootaloo had seen.

His body was only slightly larger than Sweetie Belles, but it was also different in its structure. Running along his back was a series of protrusions that were colored a bright green, with an extra limb snaking its way down and away from his back. Scootaloo looked from him to Rarity and only now noticed that she too had some kind of extension from her back, though it did not flex and move as this creature's did.

"No, no, Spike. Everything's alright. Scootaloo here was just trying to clap and, well.. Metal slamming into metal equates to a rather large boom," Rarity explained to the new visitor. Scootaloo looked back to him as he was spoken to and found he was staring back at her with his eyes wide open.

"Hello," she greeted him, raising her hand as she had learned earlier. His expression softened and he relaxed his tense posture, his spinal limb swaying gently and in a fluid motion.

"Hi," he replied, giving her a new response to being greeted. "So you're finally online and functional. It's a pleasure to finally meet you; my name's Spike! I'll be the one who fixes you up and tends to you whenever something goes screwy." He moved over to her and held an open hand towards her, perhaps in a further form of greeting.

She simply stared at him with a blank expression, not understanding how to properly answer the call for this greeting. It was a few moments before Spike took the initiative and reached out for her right hand and pulled it towards his. She copied his gesture and opened her hand, to which he smiled at and gripped her hand gently. To which she naturally gripped back.

It wasn't until a moment later in which Spike's expression changed from a smile to a grimace did Scootaloo understand that, no, one did not need to apply all of their force into the gesture. He recoiled too quickly, perhaps as a reflex, and tried to pull his hand backwards and away from the pain, only for Scootaloo's arm to be pulled along with it.

She made not a sound nor an expression as she lost her balance and stumbled forward, much to the distress of all those in the room that watched the gesture. Spike let out a yell of surprise whilst Sweetie Belle and Rarity inhaled sharply. Instinct, however, kicked in at the perfect moment - all at once, Scootaloo released Spike from the death-grip she previously held him in and spun her body away from his by twisting her foot and torso simultaneously.

It wasn't enough to avoid total injury, but Rarity let out a sigh of relief when all that came from the incident was Spike letting out a very quick exhale as his back made contact with the ground. Scootaloo made a solid thud as she made contact with the wooden flooring beneath her, her expression unchanging as she rolled over and onto her back. She watched as both Sweetie Belle and Rarity came to her aid, seemingly forgetting the creature beside her. they grabbed at her arms and heaved backwards as they lifted her. Knowing enough now that she could balance herself, Scootaloo shifted her footing in an effort to help them along.

Now on her own two feet, she immediately turned and repeated the gesture towards the fallen Spike, holding out her hands in an attempt to assist the dragon to his feet. As if reflexively, she noticed that his hand jerked back as soon as hers were near. Just as reflexively, her hand closed around empty air and she watched as he pushed up with his hands and bent his knees a certain way to lift himself off the ground.

"Oh, Spike, I'm sorry! She didn't mean it, I promise," Rarity explained as she brushed a bit of dust from his shoulder and back, earning an honest smile from the strange, enthusiastic creature that she had pushed down.

"It's alright, don't worry! She's just got a way stronger grip than I expected," he replied with a bit of a laugh, rubbing the palm of his hand with his thumb. Scootaloo watched as he clenched and unclenched his hand in some sort of exercise, seemingly to test the functionality of his injured hand. "Anyway; like I was saying," he continued as if he was uninterrupted, "my name's Spike. I'm your mechanic, pretty much. Anything you need fixed, I'm your dragon!"

Dragon. She was only familiar with the term in word only - some of the stories imprinted within her mind contained the word, but the image associated with it was that of a creature of massive proportions with horns, armor, and a rather negative demeanor. This dragon seemed entirely different - he was half her height, had a very kind disposition, and had no horns of any kind. He did have pointed protrusions upon his back, but she did not know if that qualified.

"Spike's really nice," Sweetie Belle chimed in, "whenever I need help with my homework, he always makes time for me! And he's really good at hide-and-seek! I bet you'd like hide-and-seek." Scootaloo listened as the young girl listed various reasons as to why Spike was a kind individual, but most of them held no meaning without context. She did understand, however, that the statements coming from Sweetie Belle were honest.

"Now, Sweetie Belle. You'll make the poor boy blush before too long," Rarity interrupted playfully, running her hand along the top of Spike's head. The dragon seemed to tense up at the affection, rubbing the back of his neck with a nervous laugh. "Why don't we let Spike get back to Twilight and we'll teach Scootaloo a few more basics."

"Uh, right! I should.. I oughta get back to that. Right," Spike stammered out as he backed away from the group, turning on his heel and exiting the room after clearing his throat. With that, Sweetie Belle and Rarity set into motion a more refined plan of how they might teach Scootaloo about what they called "The Basics of Life".

Over the course of four so-called "hours", Scootaloo was taught how to properly walk, talk, and act towards others. She was an extremely fast learner and by the end of their crash-course, Scootaloo was able to string together sentences and even converse between the two.

Then Sweetie Belle let out a yawn, followed by Rarity repeating the gesture shortly after. "Goodness," Rarity said as she wiped a bit of moisture from her brow. "I hadn't realized how late it had gotten," she said as she glanced at the clock hung upon the wall. "Let us call it here and pick it up tomorrow."

Spike and Twilight had both left quite some time ago, giving their regards to all three of them as they went. Spike assured Rarity that he'd visit soon to check on Scootaloo's software to make sure all was right, and then told Sweetie Belle that he'd be able to "go crusading" with her soon enough. Goodbyes were exchanged and Scootaloo had even received a hug from them both. Twilight spoke of how proud she was whilst Spike told her he looked forward to seeing her again.

"Can Scootaloo sleep in my room tonight? Please?" Sweetie Belle asked Rarity with her hands clasped together. Her lower lip pouted outwards in an exaggerated manner as she asked, but it didn't seem to be enough to convince Rarity otherwise.

"I'm sorry, Sweetie Belle, but I need to monitor Scootaloo and make sure that she can properly sleep without any problems. If something happens, I'd like to be right there to fix it," she explained with as gentle a voice as she could muster. The young girl hardly put up a fight considering how exhausted she seemed to be, then made her way up to her room.

She then picked her head up as if she remembered something and hurried back towards Scootaloo, embracing her in a tight hug. "Good night, Scootaloo!" she called as she backed away and smiled, running back to her room with a smile still upon her face.

Rarity seemed to glow with happiness, but the exhaustion in her eyes was rather apparent to Scootaloo. "Sleep?" she asked plainly, half-suggesting and half-curiously as she wondered just how it was that she was going to sleep. After all, she didn't feel anything that registered as "tired" in her mind. If anything, she just felt empty as usual.

"Ah, yes! Follow me, dear. I'll show you to the room you'll be staying in. For the time being, you and I will need to share a room but I assure you that it will be very comfortable. Come and see," Rarity said as she beckoned Scootaloo to follow. She took in the decorative surroundings as she moved through Rarity's home - the Boutique, as she had named it.

There were all sorts of colors, smells, and shapes around the shop-turned-home that perplexed and intrigued Scootaloo, many of which she had to actively resist the urge to immediately stop and study further. It wasn't long at all until she was ushered into a warm room filled with equally colorful decorations. She she swiveled her head about and took in all that interested her, Rarity went about the room picking up various junk that had cluttered upon the floor.

"Oh, what a dreadful mess! I had meant to clean up but entirely forgot when I went to activate you today. Oh, this is just the worst possible thing," she cried in a tired and stressed voice, her volume fluctuating each time she bent down and rose up to pick something up or put something away.

"It's fine," Scootaloo responded calmly, doing her best to reassure Rarity with the limited vocabulary that she possessed. "I like this room," she added on, trying to comfort her further with a compliment. Sweetie Belle had shared with her in private that Rarity enjoyed compliments to a rather substantial degree.

"Oh, you're too kind, really. I just wish I had a bit more time to prepare," she replied as she tossed the last bit of a large mess aside, ready to be cleaned more thoroughly at another time. "But tonight isn't the night to fret over such things. I intend to teach you everything I can."

Scootaloo was ushered over onto the large bed against the far wall of the room and she took note of just how smooth the material was. She wondered if Rarity was addicted to things that were soft and smooth, but made no effort to inquire about it. Instead, she spent her time running her hands over the fabric repeatedly.

"Do you like it? It's called silk. Something that I absolutely adore working with, but it can be a pain to acquire in large quantities," Rarity said as she moved towards a wall with two doors built into it. Upon reaching it she pulled them in opposite ways, revealing a room filled to the brim with clothing of all colors and sizes. "One moment, darling. I simply must to slip into something a bit more comfortable than a lab coat and a dress-shirt."

The doors slid closed once again and Scootaloo peered over at them for just a moment before returning her attention to the bed below her. After another moment of circling her hands against the silken sheets, she laid back and allowed the rest of her body to glide along it. She lay there, upon Rarity's bed, simply rubbing her back, arms, shoulders and neck against the cold, soft fabric that the unicorn had spoken so highly of.

"Wow. And I thought that I enjoyed the touch of silk," came Rarity's voice. Scootaloo's gaze was once again pulled towards the pale unicorn, but now she wore something much less conservative. A robe that seemed to be made of silk, smooth and shining against the dim lighting that filled Rarity's room, draped over her shoulders and fell all the way down to her ankles. It was tied at the waist so as to maintain a certain level of decency, but otherwise Rarity's pale skin practically glowed where it was exposed past her elbows and partly down her chest.

"I like this," Scootaloo commented as she traced a hand down Rarity's shoulder curiously. As expected, it felt just as smooth as the sheets she felt beneath her but with minor differences. For one, it was colder when compared to the warmth that the bed provided, so cold in fact that it made Scootaloo question just how comfortable it was to be wearing it. "Are you warm?"

"What? What do you mean, dear?" Rarity replied with the cock of an eyebrow. If she had any further questions, they were halted when she saw and felt the curious-yet-concerned hand of Scootaloo's find its way towards her arm and begin gliding her fingers against it. She could feel her face heating up reflexively, but made no effort to pull away from the touch - she would need to learn about the difference of flesh and metal sometime. Better she understand now, here, with her than with some random creature.

"You're hot," the automaton unknowingly complimented, taking Rarity's hand into her own. At first she did nothing but test the temperature of Rarity's skin, but soon she found something pushing her to try something else. She spread her fingers wide and locked them into the pale white hands of her conversational partner, noting the contrast between her orange skin-tone and Rarity's stark white one.

Then, another idea occurred to her. As if she were following Rarity's thought-process perfectly, she raised her other hand to her own chest and felt something rather unusual - there was little to no heat radiating from her. This brought her to a simple conclusion - she would simply trade off some of her cool touch onto Rarity, and her warm one to herself. Keeping this in mind, Scootaloo reached up and wrapped Rarity in a caring embrace, intent on making her feel more comfortable.

This did, however, leave Rarity heating up substantially more by the second, with her creation's actions driving her partially insane. Her face had surely turned as red as an apple by now and she wondered just how long she could hold her breath before she either fainted or let out some reputation-killing noise that she'd surely regret.

"Do excuse me darling I simply must go and attend to something right away if you do not mind!" Rarity said in an all-too-quick manner that had her reeling back even as she said it. It was as if she had drawn from Pinkie's method of speech and applied it to her own in some way; it didn't matter much to her now that she was here in her bathroom, drenching her face in ice cold water.

Just what was happening to her? She hadn't felt this way since her last trip to the Gala in which a young gentleman had flirted with her so extensively and so effectively that she had to leave early on account of "a cosmetic emergency." She had known Scootaloo for exactly half a day.

Though even as she thought that, she knew it was not true. She had poured everything she had - her entire being - into creating the perfect automaton. Something that could feel, think, and even learn like any other person. Was it entirely beyond belief that she might actually hold some affection for her? Or "it" as some rather uncouth members of society had come to calling Scootaloo.

There was nothing that was certain for Rarity, other than one simple fact that made this all the more difficult. She couldn't just send her out of the room and hope she did fine on her own. She had to be there with Scootaloo and even ensure that the young lady could actually sleep. Which meant sleeping right there beside her. In the same bed.

Alone.

It then came to attention that Rarity had actually many more problems than she had realized, and she would need to keep not only Scootaloo under control but perhaps even herself. Tonight might be one of the longest ones she had had in the past few months and it was perhaps no coincidence that it was caused by a certain orange android that was now occupying her bedroom.

Tonight was certain to be an informative one, at least. Perhaps even for both parties involved.