Sweetie - The Magical Little Bot

Chapters

Magic of the Bot
Crystal power(ed)
A gem a day ...
A plan in Spin.
Every Dog has his Day
Rumble in the Dark
Moletown
The deep king
Vault Breakers
Teamwork and Tributes
EarthMother
Over your head
Emergence Emergency
Lessons Learned
Morning Maintenance
Breakthroughs and Breakouts

Magic of the Bot

Sweetie stood dumbstruck in the open doorway, like all the gears in her gearbox had gotten stuck.

She had heard what Twilight said, but she couldn’t believe it. Had she heard wrong? She checked her sound recievers find that they where working fine. She played back the soundtrack of that strange noise she had picked up five seconds ago. The words looped in her mind like a broken record:

“Today, I’m going to see if I can't teach you some magic.”
“Today, I’m going to see if I can't teach you some magic.”
“Today, I’m going to see if I can't teach you some magic.”

No, she hadn't heard wrong. That must mean that Twilight had spoken wrong. Or meant something completely different. Bots couldn't use magic. That was just silly.

“Sweetie? Hello? Are you in there?”

A purple claw waved in front of her. Sweetie responded in the best way she could think of.

“Wa...Bu...What?”

“Good. Your back.” Said Spike. The purple dragon was gazing into her eyes. “You zoned out a little there.”

Sweetie shook her head.

"You ... You said something..."

“I Said that you didn’t need to put on your coat today,” said Twilight.

“I know. I tried to tell sis. But she wouldn’t listen!” Sweetie said as she made a frown face.

Twilight walked over and patted the little filly on the head.

“You know why she is doing it, right?”

Sweetie’s frown deepened.

“Because she doesn't want me to be a robot.”

Twilight smiled and gave her a hug.

“It’s because she loves you,” She said in her ear.

“She has a funny way of showing it” Sweetie said, frowning even further. “She doesn't let me behave like one.”

(Rarity had been one of the pony's agreeing that sweetie should get her restraints. She might not have suggested it. But Sweetie had still expected a little defense from her sister.)

“She wants to teach you how to behave like a filly” Twilight giggled “I remember a time when all you wanted was to be treated like normal.”

“But I am a robot, and everypony knows it.”

(It was one of the more common lectures she endured back home whenever Sweetie got in trouble for testing her limits. They all basically went: “Don't be such a robot.” And sweetie would answer “I am a robot!" And then it became a circular argument.)

“Everyone might know it,” said Twilight. “But you don't need to flash it in their faces – Like you did that nightmare night.”

“I said Ii was sorry! But I can’t change that I am a robot!”

Spike, who had been standing a little impassive, cut in.

“And I can’t change that I'm a dragon. Nor would I want to. But If I should “behave like a dragon,” he said while flexing his claws "Then I would be running around starting fires, Roaring at everypony and stealing their stuff. You know. Basically being a giant jerk.
(He put emphasis on the word ‘giant’)

“Spike is right,” said Twilight. You can’t choose what you are. But you can chose how to behave. You are not like those awful murder-machines in that awful movie are you?”

Sweetie sighed. “No. But ... It’s all I got. Unicorns do magic, Pegasus fly, Earth Ponies buck trees. Being a robot is all I'm good at."

She tapped her useless contraption of a horn.

Twilight put a hoof under her chin to prevent her head from dropping. She smiled warmly in a way that reminded Sweetie that she had not come here to be scolded for being a robot.

“After today, that may change.”

A light went on in Sweeties mind as she suddenly recalled what twilight had said the moment she stepped through the door.

“You said something about magic?!”

“Yes I did.” Twilight said with a glimmer in her eye. “Follow me.”

Twilight departed the entrance hall while levitating the huge stacks of books along with her.Sweetie followed Twilight, a bit envious of the display of magic muscle that the alicorn possessed, and Spike departed in the opposite direction saying something about a delicious desert he was preparing in the kitchen.

In the old library the kitchen would have been the room next door. While in this castle it lay in an entirely different wing. The wing Twilight took Sweetie too held the sparsely filled library. Twilight had slowly been restocking on books ever since the destruction of the old library. Sweetie still doubted that even if all the books had survived, they would have filled half of this place.

Twilight's new home sure was bigger than her old one. It was no Canterlot Castle. In a sense, it was probably more of a mansion than a castle. But Sweetie still believed she could get lost in here. The place somehow seemed to be bigger on the inside then it looked from the outside.

Twilight deposited her stack of books onto the shelves. (Despite the number of books - they only filled one bookcase) Almost subconsciously sorting them as she walked, and had neatly stacked them all away before continuing deeper into the already filled section of the library.There, she walked up to an inconspicuous bookcase. She magically pulled on a few books, and the shelves slid apart revealing a secret doorway – Of course she had a secret doorway! Behind the bookcase was a stairwell leading down into the roots of the castle.

“Considerate of the harmony tree to give me one of these.” Twilight grinned as they descended.

Downstairs they ended up in what was essentially Arcane Science main hub in Ponyville. Current employees: one Head Researcher and one Research Assistant.

Despite being bigger than her old basement, Twilight had still somehow managed to make the new lab even more crowded. The place was filled to the brim with computers, sensitive lab equipment, and science gear was stacked high and low (and sometimes on top of each other.)

In the corner stood the maintenance station mark zero – the prototype of her own “wardrobe”. It was cruder in shape unpainted and had far more exposed parts. The levitation talismans clearly visible in both the roof and floor of the tube. Clearly no esthetic design had gone into it. And it was clearly not designed to fold into a chest. Which was a bit of a shame considering twilight probably needed the space, considering the way it was crudely shoved into the corner behind several stacks of books and boxes with glowing goo.
(some labeled 'Smooze')

Sweetie stepped into the wardrobe and stepped out of her skin. It suspended nicely in mid air where it hovered like the ghostly tortured remains of a flayed victim. Sometimes she wondered why they couldn't just get a manikin for her to putt it on. Or a simple coat hanger. She suspected Twilight was just eager to show off her many different inventions. She had been like that ever since finding out Sweeties true nature.

Twilight’s and Sweeties relation was special like that. Twilight, who was ever ecstatic to acquire new knowledge, loved to test and try anything she could come up with on the newly acquired subject of Sweetie. At the same time it was important to remember that Sweetie was not Twilight’s test subject, but the little sister one of her best friends, and a good friend in her own right.
As much as she loved to come up with new theories she would never do any practical tests on sweetie without her permission.
Permission was almost always given, for Sweetie was just as fascinated about herself as twilight was. And their relationship and friendship had grown thanks to their common interest.

As she watched, the mark on the flank of her skin slowly faded till the flank was blank again. When not connected to her the symbol of her talent would fade away – she guessed the skin itself didn’t have any special talents.
She looked down at her metallic rear. There – permanently burned into the surface was her mark. The one she had gotten once she fully understood what she really was. It was another reason she felt distant to the skin.
Metal held a much more permanent mark.

Anyone who doubted her mark was nothing more than a painting or a welding job could just try and remove it. Her repair systems would restore it. She had even replaced the rear plates many times. And every time a new blank flank plate was put in place her repair and maintenance systems would immediately get to work carving she mark into the surface – color and everything. Her mark wasn't just some external thing. It was part of her Cybernetic being – down to the very core of her processors.

“When you are done daydreaming you can step over here. I have something to show you,” Twilight called out to her from where she stood by a lab table.

In the middle of the table lay a tiny screwdriver with a red glowing handle. The handle was connected to a series of small folding arms that were connected to nothing. It ended in a stump of bare wires, like Twilight had forgotten to connect it to a socket.

“I've spent all night enchanting this,” said Twilight. “The handle is made of crystal that I’ve filled with Magic. More specifically, a spell.”

“A spell?”

“It’s a decompression spell. Once activated it should make the entire package decompress into a size that will allow it to fold into you...”

“You mean like a shrinking spell?”

“No sweetie. It it was a shrinking spell it would shrink all of you when activated. The decompression spell is designed to only decompress this one extension of you.”

Sweetie blinked a few times, trying to comprehend the differences.

“So it’s a localized shrinking spell that only shrinks down a part of me – into me?”

Twilight stared into space for a few seconds. Sweetie wondered it that was what she looked like when she zoned out.

When Twilight returned, it was with a sigh she said “Yes. Like...That.”

“Or a folding spell. Since it’s meant to make things fold in and out of me?”

“Yes. But enough about the theoretical spell naming. Let’s get down to the practical test. Your left hoof please.”

Sweetie sat down and extended said hoof. Twilight took it in her own and levitated the screwdriver with her magic. She got to work opening a small port on Sweeties lower leg. Underneath was a tiny socket they had spent their previous meeting installing.

Twilight folded the legs of the screwdriver together into one tiny rectangular package and inserted the end into Sweeties foreleg.
Making sure it fit with Sweeties socket, Twilight used her telekinesis to connect the wires to the port and twisted a few screws in place.
Sweetie was disappointed to note that the screwdriver, despite its tiny size, was to big to fit into the tiny socket in her leg. When Twilight was done she was left with a screwdriver hanging by a series of metal sticks from her foreleg and a questioning look on her face.

Twilight gave her a reassuring smile and sat down beside her.

“Now Sweetie. I want you to try and reach out for that screwdriver. Make it a part of you.”

Sweetie closed her eyelids and concentrated. She sent her energy out to the socket like she had done before, this time detecting the wires connected to it. She ran up them. Through every little nook and cranny that made up the folding arms and finally into the screwdriver itself. There she detected something foreign. A different energy signature that was not of her own. It had to be the crystal Twilight spoken of. It was swirling with energy. Before it Sweetie suddenly felt tiny. Like she was a tiny candle beside Celestia’s sun. Sweetie opened her eyes and looked down on the screwdriver again. It was so tiny, even if it was to big to fit in her socket, and the crystal inside it was even smaller. Yet it contained more energy than there was in all of her.

“Sweetie? What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.

“How long did you spend charging this crystal?”

“A few minutes. Why?”

Sweetie explanation made Twilight blush and scratch the back of her head.

“I maybe have overdone it a little”.

Showoff, Sweetie thought. The Princess of Friendship might not like to boost about it, but she was one of the most powerful magicians in the realm. And Sweetie had just felt a touch of that power. She didn’t know if she should be excited or terrified.

“I don’t know if I want to touch that. What if I explode?”

Twilight hugged her.

“No silly. You won’t explode. That magic is not the exploding kind. It’s one spell designed for one thing only. To decompress...”

“Shrink!”

“... Shrink the screwdriver down so it fits inside you. What you just felt is another unicorns magic. In fact it’s kind of amazing that you could sense it like that!”

Sweetie looked at Twilight, then down at the screwdriver.
She closed her eyes and tried again. She had to think about this differently. Instead of a sun she thought about it as simply a crystal containing a sun. she surrounded it – a funny thought that you could surround a star – but it was nothing more than a crystal component after all.

She extender herself into that energetic component. The spell inside was still like a star to her. But it was dormant. Just sitting there and doing nothing. Inactive.
She wondered what she should do to activate it. Such energy would be enough to power her for years. She had to admit she wanted to take it. To make it all hers. But she couldn't. The energy wouldn’t come out of the crystal. It was a spell. Not something that could power her.
She sent a little more energy out into the component. Nothing happened, except her energy levels were dropping. Was the star draining her? No! stop! She stopped the energy flow and made a systems check.

No, the star had not been sucking out her energy. Straining, trying to get the spell to work, She had been draining herself. She wondered if this was like how “fleshy” unicorns strained themselves while struggling with magic. Except she had seen them get all sweaty and physically exhausted, while she was literally running her batteries dry with her gears stuck in neutral.

She wondered how she could get the crystal in gear.
A bit grumpy with the screwdriver for stealing her energy, she sent forth a tiny overload, and suddenly there was a spark.
Sweetie opened her eyes to see the screwdriver shrink down and fold itself into the socket in her leg.

“Sweetie. You did it. You did it!”

Twilight started jumping around in a circle, Singing ”Yes!yes!yes!yes!yes!yes!yes!yes!” Fluttering her wings as she did it, she was almost jumping on air.

Sweetie first couldn't believe it had worked. She tried sending the same electric knock to the screwdriver. And it shot out of her leg. Then she retracted it again. Then pulled it out. Then in. Then out. In. Out. In. Out.

She had done it. She had performed an act of magic.

Sweetie was so happy she joined Twilight in her victory dance.

“Sounds like I should break out the victory cake,” Spike said, having appeared on the top of the stairs and were now looking down on the two celebrating mares.

"Yes!yes!yes!yes!Yes. Peace do! This breakthrough in theoretical cybernetic magical compatibility calls fro a celebration!" Twilight laughed, finishing her last victory lap so abruptly that Sweetie almost jumped onto her back.

She would have, had Twilight not grabbed her in her magic, and swung her around to stare into her eyes.

“Can you do it again?” She asked. Levitating Sweetie back to the table.

This time Twilight hooked her up to a lot of sensory equipment and started collecting the data from her magic performance.
Sweetie sat down and played with her screwdriver. Making the little folding arms bend around, tapping herself, and making the head of the screwdriver twist around to do and undo the screws in her own leg.

She was as happy as a foal playing with a new toy.

The idea that she could perform unicorn magic with the right upgrades was a fascinating thought indeed.
But at the same time, a small part of her logic center reminded her that her horn was still sitting unused on the top of her forehead.

Sometimes she hated the bluntness of her logic center.

She had just learned a new trick. But She had not actually learned any spell. Just how to activated a spell that was already there. She had not read any book of spells nor had she practiced to perfect it. It sort of felt like cheating.

The magic was already there. Her own energy had just given it the nudge to do what it was already designed to do. Her own cybernetic energy could not perform magic.

Twilight looked up from her monitor. Noticing the contemplative and sort of concerned look on Sweeties face.

“Is there something wrong Sweetie? Is the screwdriver not working properly?”

“No the screwdriver is cool and all. It feels nice to have some unicorn magic inside of me. It’s just that I didn't use my horn.”

She tapped her horn with the screwdriver. A bit concerned that she hadn't cast any spell with it.

“It feels like such a useless contraption. If I was made to look like an earth pony I would have no problem.
But since I’m not a real unicorn, it feels useless.”

In a way this made her think of herself as an earth pony with a contraption sticking out of her forehead.

Twilight walked up to her and patted her bald head.

“I do not think your horn is useless Sweetie. In fact I think it has a lot of potential”

Her hoof came to a rest behind Sweetie’s horn. There she twisted a small nob. There was a click from inside Sweeties horn. She then pressed down on the tip of the horn, which gave way like a button, and her horn opened up.

“Now” she said, “As for using some real unicorn magic. Time for phase two... “

She slapped her science googles on for emphasis, then walked over to the table and began to rummage among her things.

“Now where did I put...?” She mumbled.

Frustrated over not finding what she sought she walked out of the laboratory and yelled up the stairs.

“SPIKE! WHERE ARE THE CRYSTALS?”

“They will be ready soon” Came spikes voice from the other end of the castle.

“Ready? What do you mean ready?” Twilight made an irritated growl and started walking up the stairs and headed off towards the kitchen.

Sweetie pulled the plug out of her neck and followed. The thought of cake was to much to resist. She hoped it was Spikes famous crystal cake, with crystallized frosting (consisting of real crystals) with crystal berries from the crystal kingdom. Not only where they juicy and crispy, but the crystal ingredient also restored her energy. She and spike where the only ones that could eat it – except for Pinkie’s sister Maud.

Sweetie 'shrunk' the screwdriver back down into her leg, and was about to follow Twilight, when she noticed something else. Her power supply dropped a little every time she used the screwdriver. It was an almost insignificant difference. No more then when she moved her legs to walk. It made sense that it would take a small amount of power to drive any part of her.

But she also noticed, Upon a quick scan, that the energy inside the screwdriver crystal had shrunken. The energy inside was still bright like a sun – but it was a smaller sun. The difference was almost non existent. But it was there. That meant she burned out a small amount of the magic energy in the crystal every time she used it.

Oh well. Her own energy would soon be restored by sweet crystal cake, but she was not so sure about the screwdrivers crystal.

She followed Twilight back out into the hallway.

The princess and the dragon had met half way through the castle, right in the big throne room.
Spike was carrying a bucket full of frosting that he was still stirring, and if Sweeties visual scanners were not mistaken, there were bits of gems glimmering in the frosting. Sweetie liked her plastic lips.

Twilight on the other hoof was not amused.

“YOU GROUND DOWN THE CRYSTALS TO USE AS SPRINKLES?!” She yelled.

“You all sounded so happy so I thought for sure you wanted victory cake,” Spike replied, “And since Sweetie was coming over I figured I should make some of my famous cake with extra crystals on top.”

“And you used all the crystals in the house! Even the ones from my Lab? Spike! Those were for research only.”

“First of all. It’s not a house , it’s a castle.” Spike corrected. “And secondly you said you were done with those crystals yesterday when I cleaned up the place.”

“I said I was done with them For Today Spike. That was yesterday. Now I need them again for something else!”

“Well excuse me princess!”

Sweetie giggled at the way the little dragon talked back at Twilight.

Twilight hung her head. “So you ground them all up.” She said in defeat as phase two of her research would have to be put on hold until they could get more crystals.

“All except the ones that I was gonna use as cherry's on top.”

Twilight grinned. She disappeared in a purple flash"

"Wait, Twilight!" Spike complained, and ran off to save his precious 'cherries'. As if his little dragon feet could outrun the instantaneousness of teleportation.

Twilight reappear in the throne room a second later, with a coffee cup and a white diamond like crystal in her magical aura.

Sweetie looked on a bit envious as Twilight took a sip from the cup and sent Spike back to the kitchen to make more coffee. She mumbled something about never letting Spike into the lab again. Her cup empty, she put it on the armrest of her throne and then turned her attention to the crystal.

She closed her eyes and the glow around her horn gained a second layer, as did the magic around the crystal.
At the same time the light inside the crystal intensified. It glowed brighter and brighter until Twilight ceased whatever she was doing, and the light – and the second aura – disappeared into the crystal.

“There.” She said. ”I've just charged this crystal with a little levitation magic.”

She levitated the crystal over to her hoof and released it from her magic. Sweetie could see that the previously transparent white crystal had become light purple with a darker purple glow inside of it, not unlike the color of Twilight's magical aura.

Twilight walked up to Sweetie and inserted the crystal into her still open horn, (she had forgotten to close it in her thoughts of cake) and closed it.

“Now Sweetie. Extend yourself into that and we shall see if you can't learn some telekinesis.”

Over excited to be able to use the unicorns most basic spell she got to it. Telekinesis was like a fifth hoof for most unicorns. An invisible limb that could grab anything within reason – depending on the strength of the unicorn. As fundamentally a part of them as a Pegasus wings or any ponys tail. Some unicorns described it as a fifth hoof. Only Lyra Heartstrings insisted on calling it an invisible “Hand.”

It was easy to extend herself into the crystal now that she knew how to do it. She noticed the magic inside was much smaller than the overcharged screwdriver, but would still be able to power her for days were she able to access it directly.

She sent the same lovetap to her horn as she had to the screwdriver – and her horn blinked once. She tried it a couple of more times and her horn flickered but the magic light refused to stay on.
Then she realized that magic like levitation was not a burst of energy, but a continuous stream. She would not be able to sustain any spell with just a tap. She tried again and let her energy flow through the crystal. This time the light stayed on!

Sweeties eyes rolled up into the back of her head trying to look at the purple light coming from the top of her head.

“A Mirror. Can I get a Mirror! I want to see!”

Twilight conjured up a mirror, and Sweetie stared at the purple aura that was surrounding her horn.

She broke into another victory dance around the throne room. Singing “I got a magic horn. I got a magic horn. I got a magic horn.
Spike, where is the cake!?”

Beside her Twilight clapped her hooves, equally excited over the quick progress sweetie was making.
Sweetie stopped herself and looked around for something to levitate. Twilight gestured to the mug with the label “Have a nice day!” that was standing on the armrest of her throne.
Sweetie took aim at it, and thought about shooting some energy at the mug. But instead she hit a metaphorical wall as the restrictions would not let her.

The Restriction was more of a spell then a program. Specifically a spell designed by twilight and put on her energy distribution that prevented her from overcharging her systems in such a way that she became unable to perform more than the average filly.

Sweetie had settings in her systems that limited her abilities to that of a normal filly. It was just that since discovering her true self she had been learning how to override them. With the spell however she became unable to do so.

The screwdrivers shrinking function had just required a little push to activate. But this? She had no idea of how much energy was required to lift a cup. And neither could she try to find out. The same Restrictions that prevented her from shooting electricity at fools at school (I will still not mention any names) was now preventing her from using magic. Sweetie groaned in frustration. It just wasn't fair.

“Sweetie? What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.

She told twilight about her predicament. And suddenly she saw a way out of these chains that grownups had put on her.

“You are gonna have to remove the restrictions. Otherwise we won’t be able to test properly.”

Twilight chewed on her lip, clearly weighing the options between Sweeties punishment and her own scientific curiosity.

Finally she sighted and gave in “Ok. For the purpose of this test I'm going to remove your restrictions.”

Yes! Score one for Sweetie Belle.

Twilight bowed her head and touched her horn with sweeties forehead. The magic flowed into her and released the locks on her distribution system.

“But It’s only temporarily. Once we are done I’m putting the spell back on.”

“Awwwwwwww.” Sweetie sighed.

Score one for twilight. But Sweetie wasn't about to give up.

“Please don't put them back on.” She pleaded. She initiated her best puppy eyes, a subroutine she always used when pleading for something.

Twilight however, proved immune to her charm.

“Sorry Sweetie. But we all agreed that you have to have the restraints until those foals can walk again.”

“I said I'm Sorry!”

-::Initiate crying sequence::-

“Sorry isn't enough this time Sweetie. Some of those foals where hospitalized because of you.”

-::Initiate really sad face::-

“Please twilight. I have been wearing this restraint for ever.”

“The game was three days ago!”

Ouch! Score two points for Twilight.

Sweetie was silent for a moment.

“For a robot, a second is like an eternity.”

“Don't pull that one with me. We both know your perception of time is just like everypony else's.”

Score three points for twilight. They really had been running a test on that.

“But how will I be able to use magic if you put the restraints back on?”

“First we need to test if it works. If it does then I will modify the spell to allow you to channel more energy to your horn. After we talk with Rarity.”

Sweetie sighed in defeat.

Three strikes and you are out. You win this round Twilight.

“Now. Back to the test at hoof.” Twilight tapped the mug with her hoof.

Sweetie took aim at it again, and thought about making it rise. But to her increasing disappointment nothing happened. She increased the energy output to her horn, and jerked her head around like a fisher would yank their rod, hoping to make the mug at least slide off the armrest. Yet the mug did not seem to get caught on her metaphorical line.

Unwilling to give up she increased the energy flow even more. She could feel the air around her horn electrify as her horn gained a second magic aura. What she did not feel was any invisible hand or hoof reaching out for the mug. No levitation aura was forming around it. It just stood there taunting her with its message to have a nice day.
Her day would become much nicer if she was able to lift that smug little mug.

Maybe she was not just trying hard enough. She had no idea how much energy or concentration that was needed to lift a mug. And she was determined to get some leverage for altering the Restrictions on her, so she sent even more energy to her horn and began staring at the mug like she was trying to beat it in a staring competition. Since she did not have to blink she could stare for eternity.

She concentrated on it so hard that her mind was drawing diagrams of it. She scanned every inch of the mug so perfectly that she would be able to perfectly reconstruct it down to the coffee stains on its brim and the wear on the handle.
She pushed more and more energy into her horn. A triple layer of magic formed around it and it shone so bright she lit up the throne room in purple. Yet the mug refused to move. Out of stubbornness she closed her eyes and pictured it lifting of the table. Like the beginners book for unicorns said you should do if you had trouble.

“Up” she thought repetitively. “Up, Up, UP WITH YOU!”

Eventually the aura grew so big that it started to creep down over her head. Sweetie still having her eyes closed in concentration did not notice the levitation field extending itself down over her body until it completely enfolded her.

Sweetie only opened her eyes as she felt her hooves leave the floor and she started floating up towards the ceiling.
Her horn was running on autopilot, maintaining the energy flow necessary to keep her suspended even as her concentration broke to the surprise of slowly rising into the air.

She kicked with her legs to no avail as she left the floor and started to rotate inside the magic field, until she was floating upside down. That's when her hooves touched the ceiling. And she felt the magic aura pressing her against it like some sort of reversed gravity. No doubt she would have floated even higher had the castle ceiling not been in the way.

“Well this was certainly something” She said with a big smile as she looked down on her mentor.

Twilight stood dumbstruck. Her jaw would have hit the floor was it not attached to her face.
Self levitation was supposed to be a near impossibility even among the strongest unicorns. And here she was, dancing on the ceiling suspended in her own levitation field.

Then she noticed her energy readings were nosediving into depletion. One negative side effect of exceeding her recommended settings were that her energy consumption increased dramatically. But she had never experienced it dropping this fast.

Before she could lower her energy output and perhaps slowly descend there was a loud cracking noise from her horn, like glass had just shattered, and Sweetie ended up taking a very literal nosedive into the floor.

As she became acquainted with it she realized she had no idea what the floor in this castle was actually made of. But it felt like stone.

Twilight rushed over.

“Sweetie! Are you alright?”

Sweetie rubbed her forehead. Partially to check that her skull hadn't dented, and partially because it hurt! Her pain receivers told her that she would have had a big lump on her forehead had she been wearing her skin. It was one of these moments she cursed her sensors and their oh so accurate depiction of pain.

She rebooted her pain receivers and made a quick internal check to make sure nothing was broken. Turning the sensors off and on again always made the pain go away.

“I'm fine” she said.

She tried to take a step and almost went face first into the stone floor again. Her leg was responding slowly and felt like it wanted to give out under her. The other three legs were heavy. Her eyelids where half shut and her head wouldn’t stay straight up.
Her body had entered sleepy mode to conserve energy. Most of her secondary systems began shutting down and those still running only did so at half capacity.

“Sweetie what’s wrong?”

“Just... running low on power” She said with a big simulated yawn.

She could disengage sleepy mode if she wanted to. But it was best not to since she would drop dead in a few minutes if she tried running at full capacity. She had once tried running her battery dry and had ended up collapsing into a heap on the street.
Twilight pressed down on her horn and opened it. Both their noses were assaulted by a stinking smell as white smoke rose from her open horn.

At that moment Spike entered from the kitchen with an upside down teapot on his head, stuck onto one of his spikes.

“Whats going on out here?” He asked.

“Whats going on with that,” Twilight asked back and pointed to his new choice of headgear.

“I was just making some refreshments when suddenly there was this loud bang! It startled me and...”

He stooped as his nose became aware of the smell.

He liked his lips like he had just smelled candy.

Twilight made a check on Sweeties horn to see that no internal components were damaged.

“Its just as I feared.” She said “You burned out all the energy stored in the crystal. But I had no idea it would result in such an explosive decomposition”

“Come again?”

“The Crystal in your horn, Sweetie. It burst from the strain you put on it. It must have been because you tried to overload it past its depletion point and it evaporated.”

She waved her hoof to clear the smoke.

“That's what the smelly smoke is. Crystal dust.”

“So that's what burned crystal smells like,” Said Sweetie, glad that none of her own circuitry had burned up.
“Don't worry ladies. I’ll take care of this,” Said spike. He jumped up on Twilight’s back and leaned in over Sweetie whereupon took a big sniff that sucked all the white smoke into his nostrils.

He made a long satisfied “Mmmmmmmmm” and stretched out his long tongue to lick the remaining dust particles off her horn.
At that very moment the library front door slammed open and Applebloom entered.

“Good morning Twi'. I'm just here to...”

She froze as she noticed Twilight watching over a tailless, maneless and skinless Sweetie Belle getting her horn licked by Spike wearing a teapot on his head.

“I'm not interrupting something, am I?”

Twilight smiled, and slapped her science goggles on again.

“Actually Applebloom. You are just in time”

Crystal power(ed)

Twilight piked up Applebloom in her magic. And Before the little Apple had the chance to protest, both she and Twilight disappeared in a flash.

Spike also disappeared back to the kitchen in order to clean himself up.

That left Sweetie standing alone in the throne room. She might have walked back to Twilight lab. Had she not been to tired to move.

Not that she minded being alone. She was lost in her own little world.

She pondered about what had happened. She was sure the magic in the levitation crystal would have been enough for days. But she had burned through it all in less than a minute.

Perhaps she was wrong about how long magic energy really lasted. She had no means to to compare magic energy to her own cybernetic electricity. Other then the time by which how fast her battery had drained compared to the magic charge inside the crystal.

She had used nothing but her own energy to drive the magic in the crystal. Yet it had burned out before she did. Not that it was by that much of a marginal. The little energy meter in her vission told her that she would run out in a matter of minutes – even in sleepy mode.

The levitation crystal had my no means been as large of a charge as the shrinking spell that fit in her newly acquired screwdriver. But it had still felt like a lot. It came from Twilight Sparkle of all ponies. But then again, Twilight had just spent a few seconds charging that crystal with levitation magic.

A few second of magic – Compared to how long sweetie had been able to self levitate - Divided by the time that sweetie had burned through it – Square times the amount of energy that sweetie had spent in doing so.

Sweetie looked down on her leg and the socket containing her new component. What had felt like all the energy in Celestia’s sun suddenly did not seem to last nearly as long as she had original hoped.

Comparing magic charge in levitation crystal to screwdriver component – Applying calculations – Divide by minimum energy spent per use - Estimated run time for screwdriver adding up to...

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Her calculator was working slowly, as it too was affected by he sleepy mode. And thinking to hard about this apparently matter took more energy than it was worth.

To conserve energy she laid down on the floor.

She looked up at Rarity's throne. The the big blue crystals that symbolized her sisters mark made her cybernetic gland shoot water into her mouth.

There was a flash and a shout from the kitchen. Sweeties ears registered Spikes disconcerted voice:

“But … Those are my cherries!”

“Sorry Spike. Science can't wait.”

There was another flash, and Twilight presumably disappeared with the rest of spikes baking crystals. She was on a scientific roll today, and could not be stopped. Not even to help little Sweetie, who remained lying in the throne room, with eyelids that were becoming really hard to keep open.

Twilight entire interest must have shifted to Applebloom for some reason. (may celestia have mercy on her soul)

Then her ears registered the sound of claws against the marble castle floor. And she saw pike enter the throne room, dressed in an apron and stirring a bucket of frosting.

“Aw man. She took the Cherry's” he complained.

Sweetie could smell the crystals in the frosting from a mile away.

“Spike. Give me the frosting. Its an emergency!”

Spike reluctantly continued to stir.

“What is it with you? Does everypony want to take my ingredients today? I thought you wanted victory cake?”

“Spike. Am am about to shut down. I need something to recharge with!”

“Cant you wait for the cake? It sill be ready in just a few minutes.”

After a few minutes

“You liked my horn! I'm gonna tell RARITY unless you give me that frosting NOW!”

A look of horror washed over Spikes face. Without further argue he put the bucket under sweeties nose and allowed her to greedy lick the bucket clean.

Once frosty crystal frosting filled her stomach, her sleepy mode disengaged automatically. She rose to her hooves, already able to hear her systems powering up.

“Thank you Spike. You are a true friend.” She said, as she hugged and nuzzled him with a face full of frosting.

“Sure” he said. As the frosting smudged off onto his cheek. “You wont tell anypony about this, right?”

“Not tell anypony what? I have no idea what you are talking about?”

“Right.” Spike said, and blinked at sweetie. But she was already running back to the lab. Leaving him to lick the delicious frosting of the side of his face.

Sweetie barely made it to the lab in time to see what Twilight was doing with all of the gems she had taken from spikes cake. And what had become of her friend of course.

If her fellow crusader had ever thought of getting a mark in the field of ' guinea-pig in theoretical science' – then today was certainly her chance to get that mark. Applebloom had found herself strapped in an odd looking helmet connected by wires to a ever stranger looking machine with lots of lights dials and buttons.

Twilight walked back and forth in front of her, sorting between the crystals she had taken, in her magic, and was talking out loud about how her little science project could move onto “Phase three.”

“.. I need to figure out if other kinds of magic can be compatible with a cybernetic harmonizer – Like the subtle magic of earth ponies.” She said. Not even looking at the confused and more then al little distressed filly.

“Applebloom. I need you to hold this gem for me.” Said Twilight, and shoved a crystal clear gem in the fillies hooves.

“What are you going to do?” Applebloom asked

“Basically, I'm am going to suck out a little bit or your inherent earth pony magic.”

“What?”

“Don't worry you'll get it back. Its just like sucking out a little blood”

“WHAT!?”

Applebloom recoiled in the same fear that a lot of fillies would react to the though of a big scary needle decending to pierce their skin.

Twilight, who in her hyperactive state only now realized she was distressing the little filly, simply smiled and said in a calming voice:

“Don't worry , I wont be taking any of your blood.”

Applebloom sighed in relief.

“It's more like a take a piece of your spiritual energy”

“YOU GONNA TAKE A PIECE OF MY SOUL!?”

That gave the over enthusiastic scientist pause.

“What … No. I'm just going to stimulate your core using a harmonic resonator.”

“My what?”

Twilight pulled forth a thick white screen on wheels and placed it behind Applebloom. Simultaneously, she magically pulled down a large white box that sort of looked like a camera attached to the roof by a series of arms. She told Applebloom to rise and hold her forehooves above her head.

The filly barely had time to rise before the 'chamera' made a clicking sound and Twilight told her to sit down again. The camera disappeared back up to the roof, and the white screen was pulled out from behind Applebloom and turned around so they could see, that on the others side, there had appeared an x-ray image of Applebloom's skeleton.

The skeleton might still have been wearing a weird helmet and holding a crystal with one hoof, But twilight Directed the attention down towards the torso.

She pointed towards a specific piece of bone, located on the in the mid region, was a small apple shaped organ that shone just as bright white as the bones around it, symbolizing that the lights of the X rays had trouble penetrating it.

“This.” Said Twilight “Is what is believed to be the core of innate pony magic. Everypony has a core, yet it might look a little different for ever pony. Its basically what gives a pony their ability to interact with the world on the level we do.”

She Pulled down a chart from nowhere. It showed an X ray of a pegasi skeleton. Amongst the bones was a cloud shaped object located the midriff of the pony.

“... Like the pegasi ability to interact with clouds and air. And gives the earth pony their ability to interact with the earth.” She continued.

Applebloom stared at the images, then down on her belly, then at twilight.

“Does unicorns have any core?” she asked.

“Yes we do. Ours is the most obvious of them all.”

She gave her horn a few taps for emphasis.

“My horn makes it easy for me to extract the desired magical frequensys, All I have to do is essentially to cast a spell, and make sure that the energy passes through the desired container. Like this crystal.”

She grabbed Appleblooms hooves and made her hold onto the gem with both hooves again.

“But … I don't know how to use my magic.” the filly complained “I don't have my cutie mark yet.”

“Good thing I'm not looking for your special talent then – Just that little touch of that subtle earth pony magic.”

“But how …?”

Twilight was already pulling forth another strange device. Upon a wheeled stand sat a big black thing that looked like a 20 sided dice. From every side protruded a big, 20 – sided light bulb, each in a different color. The thing was covered in so many wires that Sweetie would be excused for thinking that a big mechanical spider had made its nest inside the strange devise.

“I'm gonna use this Harmonizer to stimulate your core, that should provide enough wayward magic to charge the crystal.” Twilight said as she started pulling some wires from the device. “You just hold it in between your hooves. And make sure to keep both hooves on the crystal. Its sort of as important as connecting the plus and the minus ports on a battery.”

Applebloom held on to the crystal like her life depended on it. Which - hopefully - it didn't.

A few dozen of the wires twilight was tinkering with ended in suction cups, she pulled out these ends from the 'harmonizer' and begun to place them on strategic points on Applebloom.

All the while she kept talking.

“Did you know: The most common exit point for your innate energy is actually your hooves. except for us unicorns, who most commonly uses out horn.”

“But … You are not a unicorn anymore Twilight.” Applebloom said “At least, not just a unicorn.”

She had clearly begun to ponder something.

“Twilight, Is it true that a Alicorn is like a combination of all three pony-types?

Twilight smiled.

“Well, It is true since that with these wings, I also gained the ability to walk on clouds without using a cloud walking spell. So I must have a little pegasi in me nowadays. I've yet to confirm how much earth pony there might be. Why?”

“Since you became an Alicorn – Do you have multiple cores inside you?”

That gave Twilight pause, and she actually looked down on herself before shaking her head. She refocused on the task of hooking up the machine To Applebloom - while she in her magic scribbled some notes.

“Remember: Preform full X-ray examination on self.”

Sweetie looked down on herself. She wondered what an X ray of her would look like, if the x rays could penetrate the metalic alloys. Presumably it would look like a schematic. A see through image reveling all her little moving parts and pieces.

She did not need a schematic to know where her cores sat, or what they looked like.

Unlike most ponies – Except alicorn perhaps – Sweetie had two cores, Her primary cybercore was A sphere shaped object located in her head. It housed all her thoughts an memories. It was her Her logic center and processor. It was her brain. The mainframe which ran her body.

Down in her chest. There sat a second heart-shaped core. Her Heart-drive, that housed all the emotions. Her feeling and fears. Her dreams aw well as her nightmares. These two components combined was what made her who she was. They were the were the source of her cybernetic magic.

Magic that was incompatible with the energies of 'fleshies'.

Sweeties thought were distracted as a rainbow of colors filled the room. Twilight had finished knotting up the last few wires to Applebloom, and turned on the machine. All of the 20 light bulbs on the harmonizer shone like a disco ball, and the thing gave of an almost rhythmic thrumming.

Sparks of lightning started to jump between the light bulbs with increasing frequency until a steady stream of energy had formed around the machine. The air was filled with an electronic hum that made twilight's mane stand on edge as she fiddled with the levers on a small control panel.

The x ray camera dropped down from the roof and came down behind Applebloom and activated. Casting a new image of the skeletal filly on the white panel that now stood in front of her.

The filly was holding on to the crystal in her hooves like her life depended on it. Which – Hopefully - It didn't.

Applebloom was visible unaffected by the experience. But the core on the X-ray screen began to vibrate, slowly at first, then with increasing velocity. Then the rest of the skeleton started to vibrate.

Sweetie did not know if the X-ray screen was glitched or something, because Applebloom was looking just was looking just fine where she sat, completely still, and possibly horrified, unlike the bones on the screen, which looked like they had begun to dance conga.

After just a few seconds of the particular light-show, Twilight pulled the switch. The machine died down and the room returned to its regular color.

“See. It did not hurt one bit. Did it?”

Applebloom did not answer. She was too busy staring awestruck at the crystal in her hooves. It was glowing with a bright red color (that reminded Sweetie more of the color an apple, rather then blood.)

"I made a ruby?" She said in disbelief.

"You certainly helped" Twilight said with a proud smile. As she removed the wires from Applebloom “though its not a ruby, its a crystallized magic jar that you have helped fill with energy. If I'm correct, the inherent magic of every pony will have a different color for everypony. Yours just happens to look as red as a...”

WOOOOSH!

As Twilight removed the helmet from Applebloom's head - Her red mane stood out on edge like a ball of red hair. And her bow tie went flying off.

Applebloom did not mind her afro too much, As she ripped the wires from her body and begun hopping around the lab, chanting:

"I made a ruby, I made a ruby, I made a ruby!"

She looked down on her flank in eager anticipation, Only to look away in disappointment over her still blank rear.

"Aw."

Sweetie walked up and put a hoof on her friends shoulder. Ever since getting her own mark she had been feeling like she had an unfair advantage to the other girls, who were still looking for their true purpose. And she suspected her friends were actually becoming a little bit desperate in their search for their marks out of fear to be 'left behind'. Tough Sweetie doubted that finding the true shape of your core of the color of your magic was enough to actually discover your true self – the way she had done it. Most ponies were not unique in the way that she was...

“Sweetie – Your hoof please.”

Twilight called out from over by the table. She had already magically spit the crystal in four equally large, red pieces. And was in the process of inserting them into sockets of four metallic hooves that she had prepared for this occasion.

Sweetie walked over and reached up her hoof. Whereupon Twilight levitated over a series of tools that in an instant were able to detach Sweeties hoof and replace it with the new one.

Sweetie registered the new component as she extended herself into it. The crystal was not in the bottom of the hoof. That would have caused it to break when she walked on it – rather it was closer to the fetlock. Yet the construction of the hoof would allow her to channel the energy from the crystal out through the hoof.

Applebloom's energy.

A quick test drive did however not make her hoof glow with red energy. Earth pony magic did not have an aura after all.

Sweetie manually remover the rest of her hooves and set the new ones in place, as Applemloob straightened out her mane and retied her bow.

When they asked Twilight what this would be good for, the alicorn scientist grabbed a scanner, (a small portable device she used for simple data analysis out in the field) and took the who fillies under her hooves.

“Now girls. We are going to do a little field study.”

In a flash, Twilight teleported them all out to Sweet Apple Acres.

The trip made Sweetie realize that teleportation was a spell she was not in any hurry to try out. Being pushed through the nonexistent doorway of subspace made her systems go haywire.

Her repair system basically screamed in shock as she had – In a way – ceased to exist for the duration of a second. During which every atom of her body was pulled apart as her mass was reduced to energy in a way that allowed her being to transcend the limitations of normal physics and instantaneously move from one place to another.

The system needed to be rebooted in order to stop screaming, and check that all the parts and pieces were still there. And that her cybercore had not switched place with her rectum.

Beside her, Applebloom was no better of for ware, and it took a few seconds for the two fillies to get their bearings.

“What do you even need those wings for, princess?” Applebloom asked, and tucked on the purple feathers that were sticking out from underneath twilight's labcoat.

“Oh. They come in handy from time to time” Twilight explained as they walked into the acres.

“Really? Cause they appear a little arbitrary. A mean, you teleport wherever you go, so whats the point of them new wings of yours? Cause it looks to me like they would mostly be in the way” Applebloom said, contemplating the fact that Twilight labcoat had no holes for the wings.

“That is just a heath precaution that's prevents any feathers from getting into any sensitive equipment. You now. Like when a baker is wearing a bakers hat to prevent any hair from getting into their cakes.”

“Really? I thought they were just part of the outfit, cause out manes always stick out from underneath those things. How are they suppose to prevent our hair from falling of if they don't cover out entire head?”

Twilight went silent for a while, looking for answers she did not have.

“Well … you see … Oh hey Applejack!” she blunted out, clearly wanting to change topic.

The diversion came in form Applebloom's elder sister, whom they spotted coming out from the woods, carrying a big basket of newly harvested apples on her back.

“Hi Twilight. Hi girls.” The farmer answered “What brings you out here?”

“We are running a little science experiment!” Applebloom answered with enthusiasm.

“Experiments you say, I did not expect you to get roped up in some science project when you went to return a book.”

“A didn't either, but then Twilight was doing something with Sweetie belle. And then she got me to put this weird helmet on, and she showed me that I got a core inside me that looked like an apple, and then there were some more wires and then she sucked out a part of my soul and put it in Sweetie belle.”

“Really?” Applejack raised a skeptical eyebrow.

Twilight sighed.

“It was not your soul Applebloom. I just borrowed a piece of your energy and bound it to a crystal. Its nothing permanent. Your energy is after all something that will be replenished with just a few minutes of rest.”

“Its Ok. I wanted to be part of it.” Applebloom added, seeing how her sister was raising her other eyebrow at twilight. “I hoped it might get me my cutie mark in lab assistant. Sadly, noting.”

Sweetie uncomfortably scratched her leg.

“Well … As long as nopony got hurt or anything.” Applejack said while rubbing her little sister on the head.

“Don't worry applejack. You know I would never do anything that might pose a risk to these girls”

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes. Then she noticed applejack was giving her an odd look. Sweetie hated that look, it was a look of unfamiliarity that made her uncomfortable. The look of somepony who wasn't used to see her without her without her fleshy exterior, and it made Sweetie suddenly aware of how 'naked' she was without any mane or tail.

“How about you Sweetie Belle? Twi here Ain't forcing ya to do anything agains your will ain't she?”

“What? No. NO! Never!”

Applejack cracked a smile.

“Well. Just don't go overboard with whatever you are doing.”

Sweetie lowered her head, somepony had clearly not forgotten that hoofball game.

“We wont.” Said Twilight ”We are just gonna see if Sweetie here is able to use some earth pony magic.

“And how do you suppose ye are gonna be able to do that?”

“Follow me” Said Twilight. “I explain on the way.”

“Not me” Said Applejack “A still got me some work ta do.”

She wiped her hoof across her forehead, clearly sweating in the hot summer sun.

“Why don't you tell me all about it at lunch today sis?”

She gave her sister a hug before heading off on her way while the three of them headed off into the forest of apple trees.

Applejack might blame the work, but Sweetie suspected she secretly did not want to get 'roped up' in their 'science project'. Besides, she appreciated the privacy. After this mornings magical misshatch, sweetie did not want too many ponies around in case she failed again.

Explain, Twilight did, as they walked past rows of already harvested trees.

“... you see. You know that when you buck a tree, all the apples come falling out of it. That's because when you buck. You are actually transferring some of your innate magic through your hooves to the tree. Essentially sending a signal telling it to release all its apples. Not only that, but you are making them land neatly in little baskets when they would otherwise be falling all over. So you are not just telling the tree to drop its apples – but how to drop them.”

“That's true” Said Applebloom. “Even the apples that are hanging outside the brim of the basket tend to fling themselves to land inside. But how does the tree know where I have placed the baskets? Does the trees have eyes or something?”

She looked around, as it the trees she had known her whole life would suddenly sprout eyeballs.

“No, they don't.” said Twilight. “But you do. You know where you place your baskets. And therefore you know where you want the apples to land.”

Applebloom looked like a question mark.

“So I am making the trees throw them apples into the baskets, by willing it?”

“Exactly. You are transferring your will to the tree by your hooves, effectively telling the tree where to drop its fruit. The connection between you and the tree is so short and so subconscious, that most ponies don't even notice it. Its sort of like how the pegasi can control the weather by transferring their energy to the clouds.”

So this here energy in my hooves is gonna make me as good at applebucking as Applebloom? Sweetie asked.

She had never assumed that magic had anything to do with it. And clearly, neither had Applebloom.

“That's what we are here to find out.” Said Twilight “Oh look! Here is a perfect specimen, suitable for out research.”

The specimen in question, was your average apple tree. With a solid brown trunk and a crown of green leaves, dotted with several red apples that had yet to he harvested.

“Now Sweetie, I want you to give that tree a good solid kick, without activating your crystals, just for future reference” Twilight said as she raised her scanner. An antenna protrude from the gizmo, and Sweetie knew she that she was now being recorded for the sake of data collection.

Sweetie did as she was told. She walked up to the tree and gave it a good kick with her backlegs, like she had seen the apple family do it. The tree shook. And a few leaves rustled. But otherwise nothing.

She kicked again. Harder this time. But her efforts wielded no results other a few marks in the bark.

Sweetie had never been good at apple-harvesting. She and Scootaloo had on some occasions tried to help out on the farm (cutie mark related reasons or otherwise) but they had not been able to harvest any where near as fluidly as their red haired friend. Most of it had been written of as them not having the same level of training or strength as Applebloom did. And had resulted to just climbing the trees to pick the apples by hoof.

If strength was what was supposed to matter – The Sweeties iron mulches had plenty more to give.
A third kick. Harder still. Some birds started screaming at her for disturbing their peace. But the tree refused to surrender its fruit.

Sweetie looked up at the tree, then down on her hoof. A small realization dawned on her. As a machine, she did not poses the same connection with the world around her that other ponies seemed to have. Not as a pegasi – Not as an earth pony - And not as a unicorn.

One overripe apple came loose from a branch right above Sweetie. The soft fruit struck her right between the ears. Splashing into moist applesauce over her bald scalp.

That made it personal.

Sweetie Belle charged and bucked the tree as hard as she could.
There was the sound of splintering wood as her iron hooves connected with the bark. For a moment there, Sweetie had forgotten that the restrictions, which would normally limit her power to that of an average filly, had been removed. - The whole three shook. And a few leaves and loose apples were shaken down from their branches. But the result was nothing more then a pair of deep, hoof shaped marks in the trunk.

“Whoa nelly!” Shouted Applebloom. “Don't go tearing up the whole tree with the roots!”

Sweetie wiped the apple moisture from her head, and looked at her handiwork. The tree had indeed begun to lean a little from the force of the impact. That same force that had kicked a hoofball so hard into someponys face that he had been hospitalized.

“Sorry.”

"Its alright" Twilight reassured. "I'm sure well be able to fix that."

She nervously corrected her science goggles.

"Now lets try that with the crystal energy turned on."

Sweetie nodded her head and sent an appropriate spark of energy through the components in her back legs to awaken the magic.

Her hooves did not start glowing in a red aura. Sweetie assumed that unicorn magic might be the only magic that gave of a distinct color.

She also noticed that Applebloom's energy felt so much smaller then Twilight's. It was perhaps not surprising. Given that Twilight was a powerful magician, and Applebloom was just a little filly. Sweetie was afraid that her friends energy might not be enough. Then again. She might not need that much if all she needed to do was to send a signal to the tree to drop its apples.

If muscles had been the only thing needed, The previous tree could attest to her strength.

Not wanting to hurt the previous tree any further. Sweetie walked up to the next appletree, and gave it a good solid buck.

There was another sound of splintering wood. Not because Sweetie's hoofs sank deep into the trunk. But because the whole trunk bent like rubber from the shockwave that erupted from her back hooves.

Sweetie stood there shocked over what she had just done. Her legs had not been kicking at maximum power, just enough for an average filly. But the energy that had been running through the crystal component had emptied it charge upon impact, and sent the whole charge out her hooves.

The force of her kick had been amplified by the release of earth pony magic.

Sweetie looked over at Applebloom, who was standing there with her mouth hanging open. Twilight too was looking down at the filly with a lot of questions on her face. Just how much magic was involved in the simple act of apple bucking?

It hit Sweetie that Applebloom had no control over how much of her subtle magic she released with a buck. The two fillies had not even though magic was involved until today. But Sweetie did control the charge. And she had overcharged it, thinking the apple magic was too weak.

Apparently pony magic was not so easy to compare from one to another.

On the bright side. The tree did release all its apples. even if the trunk now was bent like a 'C'

"Too much?"

"Too much." Twilight nodded.

“I don't think ma Sister is going to like this.” Applebloom cringed.

“WATHAREYOUDOING!”

A loud voice rang out. Making them all jump and trip over their own legs.

From above a nearby tree came a distinct laughter. The looked up to see a distinct rainbow colored tail hanging down between the leaves.

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight shouted “You nearly scared us half to death.

“Serves you right for disturbing my morning rest.” the pegasi answered.

“Resting? It's well past morning! - Why aren't you at work clearing the skies today?”

“Already been there, already done that.” Dash said nonchalantly. Before rolling over to lay on her back on the branch she was occupying.

She gestured up towards a sky that was as blue as she was. Not a cloud was in sight.

“Seeing that I had finished my shift, I though to take a well deserved nap. That was, until you ponies came around.

“For your information. Our work is far from done in ten seconds or less.” Twilight said with some levels of irritation. “Why are you even out here in the orchard?”

“Oh, Applejack just called in a favor and had me bring her some of those rain-clouds in order to water her trees.” She said as nonchalant as before. “The same trees you are now trying to tear down with your bare hooves. Pretty awesome work by the way, Sweetie.”

Sweeties ears flattened.

Rainbow shrugged before pulling down a nearby apple, and taking a bite out of it. Causing applebloom to protest:

“Hey! I don't think ma sister would appreciate you taking any freebees”

“Hey, I've earned it.” Rainbow said with another shrug before throwing down the finished applecore. ”But I really don't think Applejack would appreciate what you are doing to her trees Unless you got her permission or something to do … whatever it is you are doing. What are you even doing?”

Twilight tried to explained what they where doing. But pretty much the instant she opened her mouth, Rainbow let out a big yawn and rolled over on her treebranch, mumbling something about how 'egghead talk was the perfect sleeping pill'

“And then she sucked out part of my soul” Applebloom added.

“WHAT!”

In an instant, Rainbow rolled back on her branch, wide awake and fully interested in the subject.

“Don't worry. She said It would grow back.”

“No I did not say that” Twilight corrected, drawing a sigh from Dash “I said I borrowed a little bit of your earth pony magic. And when I tried to explain what that meant you thought I was talking about your soul.”

“Princess. When you are addressing the everymare, you got to use the everymares words as to not confuse your subjects, less your intentions can be misinterpreted” Applebloom said with a strait face.

Everypony stared in silence. Confused that she managed to word that statement so 'correctly'.

“Basically, DON'T SPEAK IN FANCY” She finished.

“Anyway. She then took a part of the thing that makes me able to buck them apple trees and put it in Sweetie Belle”

“To see if she to can buck apples”

“And can you, squirt?”

“Yes” said Sweetie. Whereupon she reared up, and delivered another hard buck to the tree rainbow was occupying, sending an appropriate scaled spark through the component, to release a large enough amount of energy.

Sweetie had to work on her scale. The energy discharged made the whole tree shudder. The branches cracked like whips and threw the apples Skyward. Along with the rainbow maned inhabitant.

Dash tried to spread her wings to break her fall. But found herself bombarded by apples, bout on the way up, and on the way down as gravity got hold of them again. And she plummeted to the ground along with the big red fruits.

“Oh, looks like you produced a Zap Apple.” Applebloom smirked, as Rainbow poked her head out from a pile of red apples.

Sweetie scratched the back of her head with a nervous grin on her face.

“Sorry, I guess I still used a little to much magic force.”

Rainbow did not look angry as she climbed out of the pile of apples. After she spat out an apple she had gotten in her mouth, she declared he awe:

“That was awesome! You never see Applejack buck a tree like that.”

“If she did. It would be a hazard for low flying pegasi.” Twilight said.

Rainbow paid her no mind, She was busy prancing around Sweetie

“Are you telling me can you can gain the ability of every pony we put into you?”

“In theory yes” Said Twilight.

“Wow! Cool. Do me! DO ME!”

“You know, I don't understand the point of a secret room if everypony knows about it, Twi.”

Back in the laboratory. Twilight's new test subject sure had a lot of questions regarding the workplace. - Less in the sense of safety and more in the sense of a filly not being able to stop poking at everything while going “whats this? – whats this? - whats this?”

Sweetie and Applebloom should know. As they were supposed to be the fillies here.

Finally Twilight had managed to strap the Over energetic mare down to the same cables and helmet that Applebloom had adorned.

Though, that had not stopped her questioning.

“The three of Harmony made it this way.” Twilight sighed. “I simply made it my lab because it was closest to what I had the library. I was planing on removing the secret shelved doorway until I realized that it was an effective lock that keeps everypony out of my lab.

“Yea. A good lock for eggheads” Rainbow mocked.

Sweetie did not know It Twilight cranked the 'harmonizer' machine up to a higher setting, Or if rainbow was just more sensitive to the treatment. Either way, her X ray made it look like her cloud shaped core switched place with her pelvis and then back again.

“Ok its done.”

Rainbows energy was (perhaps not too surprising) a rainbow array of colors that swirled inside the crystal like a light had been shone through a prism.

Twilight took the crystal, broke it down into four parts, and installed one in each of Sweetie's legs.

"So ... Is this supposed to make ma able to walk on clouds" Sweetie asked.

No sooner had twilight finished Inserting the crystals, then Rainbow Dash leaped into action. Throwing of her helmet ( rainbow was sprouting the same afro that Applebloom had gained from the procedure ) she flew up from the monitor, and seeped up the newly upgraded Sweetie Belle in her hooves before flying up the stairs.

“Lets find out!”

Rainbow zipped threw the caste at least two times before she found an opening, and flew out through the castle balcony. (Sweetie was amazed that rainbow didn't collide with anything.)

She was flying so fast that her afro was straightened out into her ordinary sleek mane. Higher and higher they rose into the clear blue sky above Ponyvile. Not a cloud occupied the airspace over the town, as they all seemed to be currently hanging low over a corner of Sweet apple acres. Yet, Rainbow wasn't heading in that direction.

"What are you doing!? What are we even doing up here!" Sweetie called out.

"Were gonna see if my awesomeness have rubbed of on you!" Rainbow answered.

"You mean pegasi Magic!"

"Same thing!"

A horrid though entered Sweetie's mind.

"Don't you dare! drop me! I'm not gonna be able to sprout wings just because we sucked out a bit of your energy!"

“Don't worry about the height.” Rainbow joked. “You could probably survive it right? Anypony else fell from this height they be flat as a pancake. Except pinkie pie. I'm sure she would find a way ta survive... Somehow.”

It was probably true. But that didn't mean she wanted to fall. (Breaking into a million pieces was not something she counted as 'fun'.)

“But wings are not a bad idea." Rainbow continued, "I've been meaning to ask you something squirt, Have you ever thought about giving yourself a pair of wings? Cause that would be so awesome. You could be like a cybernetic alicorn.”

“I have not thought about it.” Sweetie said. “It would probably be to much trouble. And I wouldn't like to make Scootaloo jealous.“

If rainbow had a reply, she swallowed it at the mentioning of Scootaloo.

"You know what would not make little Loo jealous? You telling her that you'll be able to join her up at my place."

Soon they reached their destination. Rainbows home in the sky.

“There it is. The Cloudominium” Rainbow called out with a sense of pride. “My little home.”

Sweetie didn't think it looked 'little' at all. It looked like a small temple. A multi-stored tower built into a tall cloud in such a way that it looked like it had been excavated from it.
Pillars and marble that looked as solid as stone woven in with the fluffy clouds.
It even had its own rainbows woven into the architecture. Sweetie wondered if those where actually flowing rivers, or fixed accessories.

The Cloudominium floated over a valley just at the edge of Ponyville. Sweetie always wondered what magic that kept a house made of cloud from drifting away with the wind. What kind of magic that kept the pegasus capital of Cloudsdale in a fixed enough position to be drawn on the Equestia map. Sometimes she wondered if Rainbows home was a mobile home. Like living in a wagon. If rainbow wanted to move she could probably just push the house to a new location. The only thing that would get in trouble from that was the mail.

Speaking of which, A small mailbox sat in the center of the valley, where Rainbow no doubt tad to fly down to get the mail every morning. Sweetie entertained herself with the thought of the cloud house being anchored to the mailbox by a form of magic invisible rope – like a balloon on a string.

Dash slowed down to hover above a small walkway in front of the door.

“Okey squirt. Here we go.”

Sweetie looked down on the landing pad. It looked no more solid then cotton, and were in fact even less so. Clouds were made up of nothing more then heated water.

“You wont drop me if I go through, Right? ”

“Squirt. If you fall through. I'm gonna catch you. Promise.”

Sweetie swallowed, and activated the crystals in all 4 hooves and let the energy flow continuously.

Rainbow lowered held Sweetie tight in her forehooves as she lowered her down. Sweetie nervously reached out with a forehoof and touched the cloudy surface. She had no idea what cloud was suppose to feel like, or how much energy was required to walk on it.

Her hoof touched the cloud. And the surface sort of wobbled like cotton under her. Carefully she set down all four hooves as Rainbow let go of her.

The cloud gave way, but only a little. It was like walking in sand on the beach. The ground giving way and the hoof sinking down a little with every step. Sweetie also found that there was a slight bouncy effect to the clouds, and tried to bounce a little.

Sweetie bounced over to the steps in front of the door, and found the shaped compact cloud to be much moresolid. Here, her hooves did not sink. And the could wasn’t bouncy.

Rainbow – who had hovered above her – set down in front of her.

“See. You are already walking like a pro. Why don't you come inside, and we celebrate this with some refreshments.”

She opened the door – but Sweetie stopped in the doorframe and put her hooves on the wall. It felt as solid as stone to a hoof that was running on pegasi magic. She then tried to put her face to the wall. And found that she couldn't. Her face – and her whole head. Simply went through the wall.

“How do you keep your privacy?” Sweetie asked. “Can't anypony just walk through the walls of your homes?”

“You are forgetting one thing squirt.” Rainbow said, and leaned on the wall with her whole body. “Pegasi can't do that.”

Sweetie had never been inside Rainbows home before (for obvious reasons).
Inside was a single round room with no more doors then the one they entered by. (all the other rooms where stacked above them)
A large staircase ran alongside the wall up to the next floor.
What was most surprising to sweetie was the furniture. She had half expected to find all the furniture made of cloud. But there where sofas and chairs and a large bed that all looked like they fit in every pony home.. There where a table and bookshelf made out of wood. And other accessories like a guitar a ball and blankets strewn across the floor. (in short it looked like some college students room)

“They are all made by Pegasi hoofs. A bit of our magic goes into the creation and makes them not fall through the floor – provided the floor is sturdy enough.”

She stomped her hoof on the floor a few times.

“But don't you borrow your Daring Do books from Twilight?” Sweetie said, and pointed at the bookshelves full with the series. (the series was about the only thing that had survived the destruction of the Golden Oaks Library on the contribution that every un-returned copy had been kept here.)

“They are fine as long as they stay in the shelf. Rainbow answered "Sine the shelf don't fall thru the floor, neither will anything that sits in it.”

Sweetie looked at a book that had fallen to the floor.

“And don't worry. These clouds are packed hard enough that small items don't risk going through.”

Rainbow took to the air again, and headed up the stairs.

“Now. You'll just wait here, and I go get us some smoothies” She said. And disappeared up on the second floor.

Sweetie contemplated the architecture. That every room must be stacked on top of each other rather then side by side. That means there must be one floor for the kitchen – one for the bedroom and so forth.

Sweetie thought to make her way over to the couch. But then she noticed her steps where becoming increasingly heavy.

She looked down to see that she was sinking. The floor, that had been solid as stone just a minute ago had turned to quicksand.

Once again. She had failed to notice that her energy readings were nosediving into depletion. The continuous use of pegasi magic was making her crystals loose energy fast.

Sweetie tried to jump to the sofa, or the bed or the table. Anything that she could climb up on that would support her. But the found nothing to step on to make the leap. The floor had turned to whip cream. and she was standing in it up to her belly.

"Rainbow Dash!" She called out But there was no answer.

As she tried to take a step but her front right hoof fell through the cloud like she had stepped in a hole in the floor. The component in her front hoof went out as its energy depleted. Then the crystal in her left back hoof went out. She was balancing on only two legs with cloud up to her head, and slowly sinking.

“RAINBOW DASH!” She screamed.

Then the third crystal went out in her other back leg.

She wailed her front legs as she fell, trying to grab something. But only caught more cloud with her still functional hoof.

She was now hanging underneath rainbows home with only one hoof to hold on by.

She could not climb up since the rest of her body just passed through the clouds. And she could feel the crystal in her hoof rapidly weaken as her grip on the cloud slowly vanished.

“RAINBOOOW DASSSSSH!”

The last crystal went out, and she fell.

As the air ruched in her ears. Sweetie had time to wonder how many pieces she would be in when she hit the ground.

Suddenly her vision was filled with the streak of a rainbow, and she came to a quick stop. Caught in a blue hoof.

“Gotja” Came rainbows smug voice. “Don't worry – I got you squirt.”

Sweetie looked up with a frown on her face.

“What took you so long! Why didn't you rescue me sooner? Why didn't you pull me up?”

Rainbow took a sip from the smoothie she was holding in her other hoof.

“Hey, I was busy mixing these delicious baby's” She said, offering the glass to Sweetie, who punched it away.

Besides, I owed you a ride after you kicked me out of that tree.

“THAT WASN'T MY FAULT!” Sweetie screamed. “At least … I didn't intend to”

As Rainbow Dash carried her back into the house. (sweetie in one hoof and a drink in the other) They found themselves with a fresh set of multi colored drinks on the table – and a very crossed looking Twilight, sitting on the couch waiting for them.

“Oh hey Twi” said Rainbow. Trying to sound as nonchalant as possible “When did you get here? And how?”

“I teleported” She said bluntly “I've been teleporting among every cloud on the outskirts of this town looking for you to after you just flew off. How am I suppose to preform any studies if you leave me behind?”

Both Sweetie and Rainbow mustered something about “Why do you even have wings?” and shared a smile. Then Sweetie remembered she was mad at dash and looked away.

Rainbow waved her hoof dismissively. Almost spilling her drink.

“Well excuse me princess. But everything went fine. Sweetie here walked on the clouds like she had done nothing else.” She said as she put Sweetie down on the couch next to Twilight. “Of course with my awesome energy inside her, was there ever any doubt”

“Really?” Twilight said in a tone of girly enthusiasm – that eminently changed back to a dark judging glare. “Then why were you carrying her?”

“SHE LET ME FALL!” Sweetie yelled.

“WHAT?!”

Rainbow waved dismissively again.

“Yea, so, the energy didn't last as long as I thought and she ended up going through the floor. But with me around there was never any chance of her hitting the ground.”

“You still let me Fall!”

“I needed time to finch the drinks – that blender isn't as fast as me.” Rainbow said, as she grabbed a drink from the table and handed it to sweetie. Hopping it would calm her down.

“That's not what you said to me” Sweetie muttered before taking a sip of the strawberry flavored smoothies. Then she turned to Twilight “She said it was because of me kicking her down from the tree.”

“What? That wasn't her fault!” said Twilight as some echo of Sweetie. "How irresponsible can you get Rainbow Dash!"

Twilight blinked out and in of existence right in front of Rainbows face. a heated argument ensued about responsibility and scientific safety. Rainbow argued back that Twilight wasn't exactly one to talk responsibility, as she used foals to test her untested, experimental mumbo - jumbo. Sweetie just sat back and took another sip from her drink.

“Can I go now?” Sweetie asked. She had had enough testing for one day.

“Yes Sweetie, you don't need to see me yell at my friend.” Twilight said, and lit up her horn.

In a purple flash, Sweetie found herself on the ground, next to a mailbox. Still with the drink in her hoof. The Couldominium hovered above. She could almost hear Twilight yelling from here.

After rebooting her screaming repair program, Sweetie finished the last of her drink, then put the glass with the straw in the mailbox.

As she walked away towards the town she was suddenly hit by a realization.

Twilight had forgotten to renew the Restriction spell on her!

Author's Note

Its been a while since my last update. Hope it was worth the wait.

They do say that all good things come to those who wait, do they not?
And Funny enough. If I had not been taking my sweet ass time with this chapter. I would not had seen that episode, which gave me the idea of 'the cores'

That's not an excuse, Its just a funny coincidence.

And I'm sorry if I made Twilight behave like Rick from 'Rick and Morthy.'
And Rainbow behave so irresponsibly.

A gem a day ...

Sweetie took the chance to run back to town. She ran as fast as her metallic legs could carry her.
With no restrictions spells on her, it did not take long for her to reach the outskirts of town. No fatigue kicked in. No exhaustion or simulated lactic acid.
Without restrictions, she could run forever.

It was such a liberating feeling – To hear the wind whistle in your ears. To have the air caress your smooth alloys. To feel it tugging through your hair and tail as you darted through the landscape.
… Except, she did not have any hair, Or mane, or tail.

She realized she would have to pick up her skin, Which would still be back at Twilight's castle.
Rarity would not appreciate if she came back home 'naked'.

However. Twilight might be back there. As soon as the alicorn had finished her argument with Rainbow Dash she would surely return to her castle. It might not even take that long for her to remember that she had forgotten to renew the Restriction spell on little Sweetie. And she might at any moment come flying out looking for her.

Well … Before any of that happened. Sweetie decided to have a little fun.

Instead of going into town, she steered towards the paths around it. She darted through the air like the well oiled machine that she was. Her pistons pumped. Her gears spun and the ball-bearings in her joints tingled as energy flowed through her body.

The freedom was exhilarating. It did not take Sweetie too long to make a lap around the town.
Then she made a second lap, then a third, as she imagined herself being chased by an angry alicorn Blasting restriction spells after her. If that alicorn wanted to come and take her fun away, she was gonna have to catch her first.

Sweetie did not know how fast she was able to go. Definitely not as fast as Rainbow Dash, Yet faster then any foal her age. Her real strength was being able to run forever. She imagined would have been able to run all the leaves of the trees during the Autumn annual Running-of-the-leaves.

Warning – energy reserves at 50%

As long as she did not run out of energy, that was.

Sweetie slowed down in the middle of her third lap, and sighed. Running on full power came with the unfortunate side effect of draining her battery far more quickly. No Imaginary alicorn (that-was-in-no-way-a-reprecentation-of-some-sort-of-resentment-against-her-situation) would have too big of trouble catching her if they just had to wait she ran out of power. Not unless she found someway to recharge herself.

Sweetie spotted a rocks in the middle of the grassy field she had been passing through. It was sitting alongside some other rocks, doing what rocks do best - which is, not much at all. However, this rock, that had caught Sweeties eye, stood out a little from the other rocks in that it was shaped in a way that - with the right level of imagination, or the right state of mind - might be taken for an incredibly large gemstone.

It had been dumped here by an elder sister that had made very clear that no-pony was ever to speak of that thing again.

Sweetie walked up to the rock. Rarity's actions had made very clear that there were no traces what so ever of any valuable minerals inside this boulder. Rarity knew what she was talking about. Her innate magical ability was to find gemstones.

Sweetie wondered what it would be like to have some of her sisters magic installed into her horn. Then she would have been able to detect any gems hiding in these rocks without problem. Not that there would be any in these rocks. But maybe under them?

The rock was easily twice as tall as she was, and four times as wide. Sweetie dug her hooves in under the boulder and started to heave. Her body clicked and crabbed as the vertebrae sections in her spine shifted into position for the effort.

Slowly the boulder rose from the ground. Sweetie pumped more power into her forelegs as she exceeded her normal strength parameters.

'Normal'. Sweetie snorted. It was but a setting that others had magically plugged into her. Sweetie had seen 'normal' ponies with way more strength then she was allowed to yield. And if some ponies were gifted with enough strength to lift a house, despite being made of nothing more then flesh and bone, then she must have enough power to lift this boulder. She was made of Titanium. This little boulder would not break her.

Determined, she blew some steam out of her nostrils before giving the boulder another heave. This time lifting it like a jackhammer, as high up as her little body would allow.

Sweetie stared into the dark shadow under the rock. For some reason, rocks in Equestria seemed to be completely flat on the underside, like the forces that had created this land has once cleaved all the boulders in the world with their magical tools before setting them down where they though it made science. Maybe Discord would know something about this? He must have been one of the forces that had shaped this world (shaped it to his own liking that was.)

Sweetie looked through the shadow, at the opposite end of the boulder who was still tilted on the ground. and desired that it was not enough.

She gave the rock a push, and ran in under it. The rock came down with all the force that gravity would grant it. And for a second it looked like sweetie might be buried under it weight as it landed on her back.

Her knees bent a little, but only because she allowed it. To soften the impact – for the rock's sake.

Sweetie straightened out her legs, lifting the rock above her. Not just tilting it up – but lifting it clean of the ground.

Success.

She took a few steps with the rock on her back. Carefully to find the balance. Then realize she could easily pull this rock all the way home. Nit that Rarity would appreciate boulders in her garden. Especially not this boulder. She always seemed to have a thing against big boulders ever since that time which should never be spoken of again.

Sweetie bounced the boulder up off her, rolled over on her back, and then caught the boulder on her upward-stretched legs.

Sweetie bent her legs, letting the rock descend slowly towards her chest. Then pushed it up again.

She repeated once... twice... three times...

She could do punch ups till she got bored.
And bored she got pretty quickly.

Sigh...

On one side, she was glad to be free of the restrictions. On the other side she did not seem to have much joy out of it other then the knowledge that they weren’t there. It was not like she got anything from trying to put Bulk Biceps to shame. Her synthetic muscles would never grow no matter how many protein shakes she downed.

So why was she doing this? Just because she could? Just because she wasn't allowed to? There wasn't exactly much point in being rebellious when there was no one around to impress, or annoy.

Sweetie looked down on the ground below her. There were no gems hiding under this boulder. There was however a couple of worms looking up at her with the great annoyance that somepony was bench pressing their roof. And seemed to be begging her to peace put their house back down.

Sweetie moved out of the way, and gently put the rock back down where it belonged.

The only thing she had gotten from her efforts was a steep drop in her remaining power supply.

Sweetie sighed again. It always seemed to be coming back to her limited power supply, didn't it. In the end. It was that which always regulated how much she could actually do in a day. She had already been close to one blackout today, and did not fancy another close call.

Her logic center told her that maybe Twilight was right. Maybe she still didn't quite know how to balance her power. - Sweetie gagged that thought and put in in the naughty spot of her mind, and let the core part of her mind return to the subject of crystals.

Rarity would surely have some crystals in store for her. But she could not come back without her skin.

Her skin was still at Twilight's castle. If she hurried, she might be able to get there before the alicorn finished her argument with Rainbow Dash.

***

Sweetie cursed herself for playing around as she walked up to the castle doors. If she had just come here immediately, she might have been able to avoid Twilight. By now, the alicorn must surely have returned to her castle.

Sweetie carefully pushed the castle doors open, expecting to see Twilight waiting for her inside.
Yet – The entrance hall lay empty. In fact, the whole castle seemed abandoned.

Sweetie did not bother calling out for anyone as she made her way to the library. Maybe Twilight wasn't back yet? Maybe she had taken Rainbow Dash out for a friendship lesson? Maybe she had dozed off with a book somewhere - still not remembering the restriction? She would not hide to get the jump on Sweetie … right?

Sweetie did not find anyone in the library, and as she made her way down the 'secret' starway, she found that even the lab was devoid of any alicorns. The only occupant numbering in her own semi-organic skin that hovered like a ghost in the suspension field of maintenance station mark zero.

Sweet.

Sweetie quickly got into the maintenance station and got dressed. Once she was back in her skin she hurried back out a little faster then she had been going in.

She was heading for the exit when she heard a sound rolling through the empty halls. It sounded like the distant echoes of a lost unfortunate soul.
It made Sweetie tense up (and her newly acquired hair stand on edge), until her sound receivers told her that the echoes did not sound like the typical 'boooo' of a scary ghost. But in fact sounded like a very loud, very long, sigh.

Sweetie homed in on the sound, and found that the tortured sigh's was not coming from the 'other side' - But from the royal kitchen.

Wondering who or what that could sound so distraught - she pushed open the kitchen doors. Only to find Spike the dragon. Sulking at the table.

His chefs hat were hanging limply from the side of his head. And he was distantly poking his claw at some dry cake basses that lay stacked and unused on a silver tray. Another absent sight rolled out of him. It wasn't a typical sigh rolling off his tongue. It sounded deeper, like it was coming far down from his belly. Like the coal – Or whatever it is that dragons have that allows them to breathe fire – was rolling around in disappointment. (it was a sigh that Sweetie suspected only dragons would be able to do – A sigh that should perhaps have been accompanied by some black smoke if the little dragon had been a little bigger.)

“Spike?”

The purple dragon jumped in surprise, and let out a loud burp and a cloud of sooty black smoke that must had been building up with those sighs.

“What! I wasn't...!” Spike cried out as he grabbed his nostrils. “Oh, Sweetie. I didn't hear you come in.”

“I just came to get my skin” Sweetie said casually. “Me and Twilight were done for today, So I though I just came here and … Get dressed, you know.”

“Oh … Well. Yes of course.” Spike stammered, waving a claw to disperse the smoke that were slowly sinking towards the table. “So... Twilight isn't with you?”

“No. She had … Other thing to do.”

“Oh .. I see … did any of those things involve getting a little something for her number one assistant and most trusted dragon in the whole wide world? ”

Sweetie didn't know.

“Nooooo … ?” she said. That had not seemed to be the thing on Twilight mind last time she saw her.

“Oh … I see.” Spike said. Trying to hide his disappointment.

“Are you ok Spike?” Sweetie asked “What are you even doing here?”

“Oh nothing … I was just about to clean up and then … ” Spike let out an actual sigh this time, and took of his chefs hat. “You know what … I was about to bake the most delicious victory cake to celebrate you and Twilight's 'achievements'. It was gone have crystal frosting and crystal cherries and everything – Not actual crystal cherries as I have already used form the last shipment from the crystal empire – But that's not the point. My point is that somepony had to take my 'cherry' away from me – And then somepony had to eat all of my frosting.”

Spike crossed his arms. Sweetie had to cover her mouth to hide a little smirk from spreading across her organic lips.

“Still. Weren't you the one who took those crystals from Twilight's lab in the fist place.”

Spike scratched the back of his head.

“Maybe … But only because she told me to … She wasn't clear enough about NOT to take them, I'm a dragon after all.”

“Right” Sweetie let the smirk spread forth “Are there really not any other crystals around?”

“Nope” Spike said with surety “You can't fool this nose.”

Sweetie looked around her. At the big crystal room with the big crystal fireplace, and the big crystal cooking pace and the big crystal kitchen sink and the big crystal oven and the big crystal freezer.
The only thing that were not made of crystal was the rusty farming was the kitchen ware itself, and equipment the rusty farming equipment that had been used to decorate the place ( courtesy of an over enthusiastic farming pony). Even the table and the chairs surrounding it looked like they belonged in a barn. (which – given the haystack in the corner – this room wasn't too far away from becoming)
Something clinked in Sweeties logic center.

“Spike … your nose is useless in this place, isn't it?”

Spike started to look a bit nervous.

“Well … You see …” He sighed again. “Can you keep a secret? I actually forget to get a new stack of gems sometimes, just because there is always all this around.” He gestured around him. “I mean, there is literally crystals growing out of the tree – Because the crystal IS the tree! But I am not to eat it. Twilight was very clear about that.”

“Really? You've through about eating your home?”

Spike smiled nervously.

“Can you keep another secret? I kind of did a little more then just thought about it. Especially in the beginning. Just to see what it was like. But I quickly got over that, since Twilight want to found of me destroying her home. I mean, I could quite literally eat Twilight out of the house.”

He put emphasis on the word 'her'.

“But I won't. This little dragon's got self control coming out of his scales. And besides, If I did, I wouldn't have anywhere to live either.”

He coughed in his claw, and straightened his back trying to look like the personification of a perfect dragon.

Sweetie was about to say something about that, but stopped herself as she realized that this place was basically a dragons greed incident waiting to happen. This had to be the best 'cave' a dragon could ask for. Just how did he get through her days without some instinct taking over? Hopefully it was as he said and no dragon in his right state of mind would destroy their own home.

She quickly steered her thought’s away from the castle. It was not fair of her to think of Spike like a ticking time monster bomb. – Especially not considering what she was.

“So … I'm guessing there wont be any cake.”

“No. I guess not. Not unless I can find any more gems.”

Sweetie did feel kind of bad for Spike. That cake would have been delicious.
Actually, it still could be.

“You know. Rarity always keep a secret stanch around for me.” Sweetie said. “Why don't you bring that cake over to my place, and we'll finish it together.”

“Does she now!” Spike said with a hint of menace “I mean, Of course we can! That sounds like a great idea. Just allow me to get my things and well head right over there.”

There wasn't exactly much to get. As the only things they needed to bring, that wasn't already at Rarity's place, was the cake-bases. Yet. It could not hurt to bring a little extra lades and buckets, just to be sure. And a few extra bags of flour, some eggs, baking powder, cocoa, yeast, salt spoons, cups, sugar spice and everything nice in the way of baking necessities, just in case Rarity was out of stock.

They looked like quite the pair as they stumbled forward through town. Well. Spike stumbled trying to balance the silver tray on top of his head. Sweetie, who carried most of the load of her back, Didn't remember to fake any difficulty, as her mind was seat on cake - and didn't even notice that the weight might have exceeded her restricted carrying settings.

“Wait, Why did you tell me about that secret stash? Spike asked. "And if its supposed to be a secret, how come you know about it?”

“Well” Sweetie said. “Since you shared a secret with me ...”

***

Rarity's kitchen wasn't out of stock. In fact it was stocked quite well.
So much better - Sweetie thought, as she unloaded a castles worth of baking goods onto the table.
It only meant they had they much more to work with.

And work they did.

Black smoke filled the kitchen as Spikes cooking skills clashed with Sweeties enthusiasm.
Nopony had told her that flour could be highly flammable when exposed to dragonfire.
In retrospect – It might have been a bad idea to pour the entire bag of flour into the mix – thus causing a massive cloud of white to spread across the kitchen and get into the dragons nostrils.
It was just bad luck that he had sneezed right at another bag of flour, which responded quite explosively.

Explosively was also a way to describe the chemical reaction that took place inside the first set of tins that went into the oven. As they stared at the massive amount of dough that spilled forth like lava from a volcano. Sweetie realized that they might have used a little to much yeast.

Another set was lost as Sweetie had somehow managed to deadbake the mixture by stirring too fast. She had thought that the lack of restrictions would increase her efficiency as a baking machine. But the results of her efforts now had to be scraped of the walls in big smeary chunks. But her enthusiasm wasn't stopped simply because the whisk she had used broke at the handle.

The enthusiasm only worsened when Spike got to lay his eyes upon the Secret stash of emergency crystals that Rarity stored in a purple, heart shaped box under her bed. Rarity had been saving up for a rainy day, as the box containing more then enough gems as to fill a simple cake five times over.

Whatever simple recipe that the little dragon had on his mind was quickly forgotten. As was any sense of restriction. This was an emergency for two starving, crystal eating creatures. And they planned to solve the crisis of their craving with style (and way too much sugar.)

It had started out small. With Spike only putting 'one more' crystal into the mix. One soon became two. And then three. And as they poured too much of one ingredient into the mix, the dosage of the rest would simply have to be increased as well.

Exactly how much baking goods that was lost in that kitchen would be a mystery for future generations to solve. It turns out that 'improvisation' is not so easily applied to the delicate chemistry of a cake recipe.

But all their endeavors paid off, for the cake finally stood, five stories tall and then some, with extra crispy frosting and and a lot of crystals sprinkled whip cream. Sweetie had even had the bright idea of adding a few sections using crystal infused cake basses.

All of Rarity's secret stash had ended up being used. A layer of pure crystal had been added to every section of the cake, glued in place with honey that had been hardened with dragon fire. And the outside of the cake had been decorated with so many sparkling gems that it no longer looked like a cake. It looked more like a rainbow colored Stalagmite from a crystal mine.

Ir rose like a shining beacon of hope in the wasteland of flour and burned furniture that the kitchen had been reduced to. Blackened spots dotted the walls and broken kitchenware were strewn about the desert of dough that covered the floor.

Sweetie did not see any of that. All she saw was the masterpiece in front of her. That delicious, crispy pillar of crystal goodness.

“Its … Beautiful” Spike said beside her. His eyes had practically turned into gemstones, and saliva was dripping from his mouth.

“We should name it something.”

“But what do you name such a masterpiece? What do you call such a delicious, crispy pillar of crystal goodness?”

“ 'Pillar of Crystal Goodness' sounds good to me.”

“yes … It sounds goooooooood.”

“Almost to good to be eaten”

“Almost.”

-::Warning – power levels at 10 percent – and dropping::-

Sweeties belly let out a rumble as the gears inside her stomach turned in a start up sequence for the re-energizers she would need to devour less she fancied another blackout.

Not feeling like shutting down just yet, Sweetie grabbed a cake slicer and greedily cut into pillar of goodness.

Beside her, Spikes belly joined in on the chorus. Growling at her like a predator that was trying to scare away the competition from its prey.

Sweetie quickly handed him the slicer, and he cut an even bigger piece out of the pillar of goodness. Right next to the hole that Sweetie had made.

Both of them started to chew down on their slices of cake. The kitchen was filled with sounds like the shattering of glass as the gems were grinned sand in their mouths.

The sand flowed down Sweeties Throat pipe and entered her stomach, where her gears went to work like a rock crusher and grinned up the food into even tinier particles. And the energy that lay hidden inside these compressed minerals were released through waves of cybernetic magic – and absorbed by Sweeties systems.

Sweetie turned on a little icon of a battery in the corner of her vision, and watched in joy as the bars on the ikon rose as her battery recharged.

There were so many crystals in the cake, that just one big slice almost recharged her entire battery.
Sweetie licked her lips, and looked up at The Pillar Of Goodness again. Her systems might have been satisfied. But her sweet tooth wasn't.

Beside her. Spike too licked his lips, and let out a very satisfied sigh.

“A gem a day, keeps the doctors at bay” He said, and patted his belly.

“A gem a day keeps the blackout away.” Sweetie echoed.

She grabbed the slicer, and cut out an even bigger slice then before. More then would have been necessary to filly up the remaining charge. She normally did not have these many gems in her diet. But ever since finding out about her true nature she had begun to develop a taste for them. Perhaps that's why Rarity had tried to keep the stash a secret. Else sweetie would overdose on these expensive little rocks.

As her battery charges reached maximum, The surplus of crystal dust settled in her stomach, along with all the remains of sugary dough, whip cream and other things that her systems could not extract any use for. In time, these surplus products would be compressed into slag and pushed out her 'rear tube' (and down whatever toilet she was occupying) In the meantime the would just sit there and wait to be expelled.

It would be such a waste. The slag products might be one thing to get rid off, but the crystal fragments still contained energy. It would be better if she could just store them inside her body...

A thought sparkled to life in Sweeties cybercore. What if she simply used her belly as a storage component, rather then just a food-processor. Then she could simply re-process the crystals she had on layer as her powers dropped – And last longer without a recharge.

She quickly took another big slice of cake, and shoved it into her mouth.

“Um... Should you be eating that much?” Spike asked, a bit worried.

“Don't worry about me. I just had the greatest idea.” Sweetie answered in between mouthful’s of cake“If one gem keeps the blackout away for one day … then how long will many more gems sustain me?”

She handed him the slicer, and started to simply shove the crystal filled dough in with her bare hooves.

“Hey! Don't eat everything by yourself!” Spike shouted, and threw the slicer over his shoulder.

He joined Sweetie in this frantic eating contest that had silently been issued between them. Their hooves and claws dig deeper and deeper into the base layer of the Pillar of Goodness. Until the whole cake let out a groan. And begun to sag.

The two looked up and was that the Pillar of Goodness had begun to lean in over them.
The hole they had cut in the base the had caused the spire to become unstable. The pillar Of goodness swayed as its foundations sagged, and the whole thing tipped over.

There was not time to get away. The cake-avalanche was upon them. And it crashed down upon them with the vengeance of high cholesterol and diabetes combined.

Spike ans Sweetie popped their heads up above the soggy sea, and looked around to see that the Pillar of Goodness had joined its predecessors as a giant mess on the floor.

Only now did Sweetie become aware of just how big the giant mess had gotten.

“We have to do something about all this.” She said. Rarity will not be happy if she sees this.

The mentioning of Rarity got Spike to his feet. He quickly pulled a dustpan from the closet and begun to sweep up the dough from the floor.

Sweetie sighed as she took a handkerchief to a hooffull of dough covered crystals.

“We should do something about all these gems” she said.

“Yeah. It would be such a shame if all this was to go to waste.” Spike agreed.

“Put it all into the sink, and help me wash them off. ”

Spike Turned on the tap in the sink, and begun to pour dough into it. As he swiped dough covered crystals in his claws. He absentmindedly put one of them in his mouth.

Sweetie looked at him, and then she too picked a big hoofull, and shoved it into her mouth.

Spike took another.

So did Sweetie.

And another.

“Such a shame indeed.”

They bout got a playful smile on their faces.

Oh it, is, on!

The sink was forgotten as the two of them resulted to shove crystal straight into their mouths.

Spike was eating just as greedily, and his belly was beginning to bulge outwards.
Sweeties belly couldn’t bulge. One of the advantages of her design was that she could not get fat, no matter how much she shoved down her throat. She could however – get full.

The gears in her belly ceased to turn as the sand reached up past the stomachs maximum capacity. With no more space to fill, the half-chewed pieces of cake were starting to fill up Sweeties throat pipe. Any ordinary pony would have been well past the point of choking and puking. But Sweetie had long since deactivated any such responses.

She looked over at Spike, who was still shoving crystals down his throat like there was no tomorrow, And desired to do the same. She wasn't gonna loose this game. Her throat pipe groaned as the levels of cake reached up past her uvula, and started spilling back into her mouth. Sweetie still tried to chew, but realized that the contents were just falling out of her mouth. To stop the flow, she took a whole crystal and jammed it down her mouth to cork up her throat – and then simply started to put the crystals whole into her mouth.

Beside her. Spike was starting to look as wide as he was tall. His face was turning colors that you would not believe scales could turn into. In fact, the whole dragon had started go glow. Small streams of green fire was shooting out of his nostrils with every breath. Sweetie did not know what the energy inside crystals did to a dragons body, But Spikes biological systems must be going into overdrive digesting all that energy.

Despite being on the borderline of puking, His eyes were glowing with determination as he put yet another crystal in his mouth. It was some for of dragon greed perhaps. Or perhaps just the same childish stubbornness that Sweetie shared - That made her made her match him crystal for crystal, until her cheeks were bulging out so much that the skin threatened to tear. She was lucky she did not have to breathe, else she would have suffocated long ago.

Actually – since her air pump was currently going unused – maybe she could use that as a second storage device?

Sweetie was about to open the port to her air canal when a loud shriek filled the kitchen.
It was a loud feminine shriek of the glass shattering quality.

Bouth contestants in this eating contest turned to see Rarity standing in the doorway, mouth aghast, and shrieking until she ran out of breath. She then gasped a few times, and shrieked some more, before turning her shriek into words. Words that still carried the same high pitched tone of her shrieking.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?”

Neither Sweetie Belle nor Spike could answer. Both their mouths were filled to the brim with gemstones. Spike face was locked in an expression of horror, the color upon it had shifted in color from green to red. And was getting redder by the second.

It was in that moment That Sweetie realized what state the kitchen, and its two smallest occupants were really in. Dough were sagging from the walls, the floor was covered in a wet mixture of cake and spilled baking goods, and was only getting wetter – as what dough that had been shoved down the sink had clogged up the pipes, and water was now leaking over the edge and onto the soggy floor.

-::Shame sequence activated::-

Rarity stomped into the kitchen, wet splotches marking every step. She magically picked up an uneaten crystal from the smear, and examined it with horror on her face.

“Are... Are these?” She looked back at Sweetie. “SWEETIE! DON'T TELL ME YOU USED THE GEMS FROM MY SPECIAL STASH! ”

Sweeties mouth, Might have been filled with gemstones, and her air pump turned off, But her voicebox, That generated her distinct, slightly squeaky voice. Did not require any of those things.

“I'm – Sorry. But we only used the gems from my special stash. The one you kept a secret for me.”

“NOT THAT SPECIAL SECRET STASH!” Rarity shrieked. And levitated a pot marked 'S' down from an unnoticed spot on top of the freezer.

“THIS IS YOUR SPECIAL STASH!“

She shoved the pot in Sweeties face. Inside was a small, untouched collection of smaller gems. It would certainly been enough for a meal between one Bot and one Dragon. Perhaps even enough to make some frosting for an average sized cake. But nothing on the levels of The Pillar Of Goodness.

“WHERE DID YOU GET THESE FROM!” Rarity shouted “DON'T TELL ME YOU GOT THEM FROM A PURPLE, HEART SHAPED BOX!”

Sweetie bent down and let the gemstone fall out of her mouth. She closed the hatch to her throat pipe, ensuring that no more substance would leak out of her. She didn't look back up at Rarity, Her shame protocols would not allow her. She just stared at that untouched pot of gems. She always knew Rarity had to put some gems away for her little sisters sake. She had known there had to be a special stack of gems hidden away somewhere that wasn't the Boutique, As Sweetie was not allowed to eat any gems that were to be sown onto her expensive dresses.

The beedroom had just seemed like the most logical choice to look for a little box of love dedicated to her little sisters nutrition. And what spelled love more then a purple heart shaped box under the bed … She knew Rarity loved gems … but not that much...

-::Warning – An Error has occurred::-

“THAT WAS MY SECRET SPECIAL STASH, SWEETIE!” Rarity cried.
“THOSE WERE FOR THE GLAMMER GLAMORE! SAPPHIRE SHORES NEW DRESS!”

"Oh..."

“DO YOU KNOW HOW EXPENSIVE THESE WERE? GEMS DO NOT GROW ON TREES, SWEETIE! ESPECIALLY NOT HOOF CRAFTED - SPECIALLY ORDERED - TAILOR READY GEMS! “

-:.Warning – A Big Error has occurred::-

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS SWEETIE?"

-::Shame levels approaching maximum efficiency::-

“I ... I'm sorry..”

"WHY DO YOU HAVE TO MAKE SUCH A MESS OF EVERYTHING!?"

"I'm sorry … I'm really, really sorry … Really, Really, Really Sorry!"

“SORRY ISN'T GONNA HELP ME GET ANY NEW GEMS!” Rarity cried out. “WHY ARE YOU EATING ME OUT OF THE HOUSE!?”

“I'M SORRY THAT I'M A ROBOT - OK!” Sweetie snapped.

Rarity looked like she had been punched in the gut. Sweetie covered her mouth as she realized to late what a stupid thing she had just said.

“I'm sorry … Its just that … I … We... We did some thing today and I … I ran out of power and I … Needed to Recharge. So I just thought I, bake a cake … And...”

She thought Rarity was about to yell even more. But whatever her big sister was gonna say, she swallowed it. And then she just stared. Something dark was stirring behind those eyes. Something that weighed down on Sweetie like a ton of bricks.
Sweetie almost winched Rarity would go back to yelling, as she felt like she was gonna get crushed under that stare.

“I'll make it up to you somehow!” Sweetie finally said. “I'll just clean up here and...”

“No Sweetie” Rarity said in a low, uncomfortable tone. “You have done enough for today.”

She gestured towards the door.

“Just go. Okay. Just go and … let me be alone for a while.”

Sweetie got up on her hooves, and moved out.

“Its Okay Rarity.” Spike said, trying to get to his feet. ”I'll help you clean up and...”

“That goes twice for you too, Spikey Wikey.”

The way she said his nickname carried the same dark undertone.

Spike gulped in shock. And then he also headed for the door, groaning in pain with every step as he grabbed his swollen belly in his tiny claws.

Sweetie help up the door for him. And they both exited together.

“Just so you know. I'm not angry at you two, I'm just very, VERY, disappointed right now.”

Rarity's words followed them out as the door slammed shut.

Spike and Sweetie went their separate ways without saying anything to each other. Spikes Belly looked too heavy for him to do much besides groan as he wagged his way through town. Both of their Bellies were full of precious gems that Rarity clearly mourned.
But above all else - Sweeties Heart Drive was heavy with guilt.

If only gems were not the only way she knew how to recharge. Then they would not look so tasty. Then Rarity's boutique would not have turned into a constant temptation. Had she finally given in to that temptation? Was this how Spike felt like living in that castle made of crystal?

From inside the Boutique, Sweetie though she could hear Her older sister throw herself onto her couch in one of her over dramatic - But this time justified - tantrums.

Sweetie's conscience told her she had to make up for her mistake. And while she might not be able to restore the gems she had grinded up. She could put her over stocked energy reserves to use.

Gems might not grow on trees.

But she knew in what ground they did grow.

Time to put those unrestricted gears of hers to some real use.

Author's Note

This chapter took even longer to get out then the last one.

The reason is that I have been wrestling with disease and a lot of other things lately.

Just a heads up: Updates will probably continue to be slow during the summer, and I will probably go in a vacation trip sometimes. Nothing is planned - Just don't expect too much of me.

A plan in Spin.

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

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

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

“Yeah” Sweetie answered, lying through her smile.

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

Sweetie dropped her smile.

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

“What?”

Sweetie sighed. And tried to explain.

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

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

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

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

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

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

***

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

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

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

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

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

She gave Applebloom a long and trying look.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Now come on. CUTIE MARK CRUSA...”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“That a lot of gems.”

”And a lot of digging.”

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

Scootaloo looked at her pickaxe

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

“So what are we gonna do?”

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

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

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

“Like what?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Her friends shouting drew Sweetie from her thinking.

“What?”

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

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

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

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

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

Sweetie blushed a little

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

Scootaloo shone up.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“For science?” She said.

“For science” Applebloom answered

“Right?”

“Right!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Scootaloo smiled.

***

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

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

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

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

“Hammer?” Said Applebloom.

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

“Cutter?” Sweetie asked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The achievement should certainly be worthy of a cutie mark.

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

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

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

Sweetie looked down on her foreleg.

“Thanks Twilight.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What are you thinking about now?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Sweetie its working – Its working!”

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

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

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

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

”OK! Its done!” Applebloom yelled.

-::Not a second to soon::-

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

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

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

And then it was over.

-::Decompression complete::-

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

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

“Sweetie? Are you ok?”

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

“I'm Better then Ok” She said. “Im..”

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

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

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

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

And that something became her answer:

“I'm ready to do some drilling!”

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

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

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

***

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

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

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

”Ok Sweetie. Whenever you are ready”

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

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

Sweetie smiled. … And then she tilted.

-::Warning – uneven load!::-

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

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

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

That shut Scootaloo up.

Then she started to tilt again.

-::Warning – Top heavy!::-

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

This time, Scootaloo could not conceal her snicker.

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

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

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

There was nothing more to it, she supposed.

“WAIT DON'T …!” Applebloom cried.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“That was AWESOME!” Scootaloo cried.

“No … No it wasn't.” Sweetie mumbled.

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

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

Sweeties drew a blank.

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

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

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

The trio looked around at the empty sand around them.

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

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

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

Scootaloo tapped her cheek in pondering.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I got it.” She said, and pointed.

***

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sweetie swallowed, and closed her eyes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Just start up the bloody drill already.”

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

“NO WAIT … !”

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

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

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

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

-::Decompression spell activated::-

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

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

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

“I noticed.”

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

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

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

That's when she got an Idea.

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

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

-::Activate decompression spell::-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Two more figures entered the tunnel. Beaming with joy.

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

The three of them hugged.

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

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

Or was, that something else?

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

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

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

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

“Way ahead of you”

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

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

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

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

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

The other two rolled their eyes.

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

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

Author's Note

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

Every Dog has his Day

Darkness closed in further ans further around our three little ponies as they descended further and further underground.

Sweetie Belle's eye flickered as she turned her infrared nightvision on. Not that it mattered, her vision was filed with nothing but the tunnel floor beneath her, as she walked with her head bent forward into the giant drill that was spinning on the top of her forehead.

She continuously put one hoof in front of the other in a steady rhythm as she pushed the drill further into the ground in front of her. The drill shook and rocked as it dug through the solid earth, held in place only by the ground around it. It would have been murder for any other filly, or grown pony for that mater, to drive this heavy machinery by their forehead like this. However, Sweetie had long since turned of her fatigue, as well as pain or motion sickness, and any other little subroutine that might hamper her progress.

Even her breathing was taking a time out. Dust and dirt was thrown up around her as her drill reduced the solid earth before her to a thin powder (mixed with the occasional rock and gravel) that Sweetie got showered in. Only the goggles on her head prevented the particles for getting in her eyes.

Though She might as well have held her eyes closed. Her peripheral vision saw only the walls of this tunnel she was digging, as well as the occasional sweep of a light cone - coming from the flashlights carried by her two friend, as they walked a little further back to avoid the same shower that sweetie was receiving.

Even so there was the occasional cough.

Who would have thought the dirt could be so dirty, and muddy, and dark.

And so devoid of anything sparkly.

Sweetie had expected to find the walls littered with gems, but this soil seemed to not have born any such fruit.

The few gemstones they had found had been used to keep her going. And right now they were barely breaking even, as the drill tore at her energy reserves.

“I just hope the drill is not destroying the gems.” She thought.

Sweetie opened her mouth and sucked in a thick cloud of the dust the drill was spewing out.

-:: No gemstones detected ::-

Sweetie had no idea how long she had been digging, it already felt like a year had passed.

“Girls. How long have we been going?” Sweetie shouted back, over the sound of the drill.

“About ten minutes.” Applebloom answered.

Sweetie stopped. She was glad that robots did not actually perceive a second like an eternity. Otherwise she would have been digging for six hundred eternities.

“Girls. Maybe we are going in the wrong direction?”

“So … Can't you turn around?” Scootaloo shouted to be heard over the drill.

That was unfortunately the problem. The drill could not turn. Once you had carved out your hole – the only choice was to go forward. The drill was held in place in the hole of its own size by everything around it.

“No! The drill is stuck in the ground. It can't turn! We never designed it to turn!”

Try as she might. Even with all her machine strength and some earth pony magic in her hooves. She could not push the drill anywhere but forward.

“What are we gonna do now?” Said Scootaloo “Go back up and dig another hole?

“I think that just puts us back in the same position as before.” Said Applebloom ”If we dig too straight, well end up outside of the quarry no matter where we go.”

Sweetie turned on her breathing to let out a long sigh.

The sigh turned into a coughing fit as earth particles got stuck in her air-filter.

-:: Retracting ::-

The drill shrunk into Sweeties horn, and she turned around to look at her progress.

She could see the hole where their little tunnel ebbed out into the sunlight. At this distance it was tiny enough that Sweetie could block it out by holding her hoof in front her face. They had been digging in a straight but not to steep angle. And had probably made more progress on the horizontal plane then they had in the vertical.

The idea of turning around and digging up holes in the entire quarry seemed like more work then it be worth.

She turned around again to look at the cone shaped dead end of the tunnel to nowhere.

That's when it hit her.

The drill could not turn around – but she could.

“Scootaloo. You are a genius.” Sweetie said triumphantly.

“Oh? … Thanks, I know!” Scootalo said. “What?” she added, when Applebloom gave her a look.

Sweetie turned to face the cavern wall. Aimed her horn downward (there was no splice between the floor and the wall – since the cave was round) And folded out her drill again.
She found herself pressed up against the other side of the cave as the drill filled the space before her. But as she started it up she found the tight space to be an advantage as the drill had no where to go but where she'd pointed it.

The tunnel had now taken a 90 degree turn. And after a while. Sweetie stopped to turn another 90 degrees, putting them back in the direction of the quarry.

***

Eventually, the thick ground in front of them fell away as the drill pierced a wall, and the tunnel ebbed out into a cave.

Sweetie retracted her drill, and the three of them stared your into a treasure trove.

Sweetie was almost blinded by a rainbow array of lights. The walls of the cavern were covered gemstones of every size, shape and color.

From sparkling corns no bigger then a gravel. To Diamonds as big at your head.

The cave stretched out into a multitude of different tunnels. A small pond filled the corner of the cave. Over which stalactites hanged like big juicy honeycombs, dripping their nectar of crystal-clear water into the pool.

In the middle of the cave was a stalagmite like formation, where long pink crystals were ticking up from the floor. They formed a circle on the cavern floor – with the smallest and shortest crystals in the outer ring – getting bigger and longer until they were all leaning off the center piece- a crystal as tall as a building, and wide enough for a pony to fit inside.

Sweetie walked over to the crystal. It was shifting in different tones of pink and purple. And seemed to glow with an inner light that filled the cavern.

Her face was reflected in its smooth, mirror-blank sides. As was the smile that was spreading ear to ear.

Jackpot!

The girls quickly got out their mining tools. And got to chipping the rocks from the walls. While Sweetie started working on the giant Pink dream in the middle.

The sound of pickaxes and chisels began to echo through the cave as the girls went to carving the gems out from the walls. Each gem making its own little tone as the metal dug it out. The steady pace Started to set into a rhythm, and Sweetie found herself beating her pickax in tune to the other girls mining equipment.

Maybe this was the time for another song?

“Running mining dot exe.” Sweetie jokingly said.

One of the advantages of talking over her voicebox was that she could form perfectly normal words despite having a mouthful of pickax.

“Hey Sweetie. does this remind you of something?” Said Scootaloo. “That game that you and that colt used to play?”

“Um … I don't ...” Sweetie stammered, suddenly feeling that the cave was too small.

“Yes you do.” said Applebloom.”Wasn't his name Button or something?”

“Button bash?” Scootalo teased.

“No – I think it was Mash.”

“Ah! - That brown little colt that likes video game so much.”

“And consoles and wires and digital stuff. ”

Sweetie cringed. This cave was becoming too nosy for her liking.

“Anything electronic really … ”

“Button sure loves his electronics ...”

“Shut it girls!” Sweetie snapped. “Its not like that!”

“What isn't?” They asked in unison.

“N .. Nothing!” Sweetie said, and turned away.

Was it getting hot in here?

“He's just a colt who likes video games.”

“A cute little colt.” Scootaloo teased.

Something was starting to frizzle.

“ With a cute little propeller on his cap.”

Sweetie was beating her pickaxe harder.

“Do you like him?”

"N … NO!"

“But you like chocolate?”

Sweetie Failed to see the relevance.

“yes .. But … what...”

“Isn't he brown like a chocolate cake?”

Now the frizzle was getting intense.

“Say Sweetie – which of these best represent his eyes? “

Applebloom held up two amber colored stones, One an Amaranth red-ish color, the other a more brilliant yellow-ish tone.

Sweetie's pickax shattered as she rammed it to hard into the ground.

The cave fell silent, except for the distant sound of dripping water. And a mysterious frizzle.

“Ups … “ Sweetie said, as she held up the broken handle.

“Girls – Do you hear that?” Said scootaloo.

Applebloom's nose twitched.

“Do you smell something burning?”

“Were underground. What could be burning here?”

They both looked back to Sweetie.

“Sweetie! - your cheeks are burning!”

“What?”

Sweetie looked around, and found herself staring into the reflection of the giant pink crystal.

Streams of smoke were rising from her red hot face. And her cheeks were turning colors that should only associated with vegetables on a grillfest.

-:: Embarrassing subroutine running at maximum efficiency ::-

Like a mare who had forgotten something on the stove.
Sweetie hurried to flip of the switches to her red hot face. She ruched to the small pond and dipped her face into the water.

Curse her embarrassing subroutine. The real embarrassing thing about it was that if she blushed hard enough – you could roast marshmallows on her cheeks.

Sweetie battered her cheeks with the cold cavern water. At least she assumed it was cold. She had forgotten to turn her scenes of touch back on. And had been to embarrassed to notice when her skin started to cook.

She walked back to the giant pink crystal, and looked into her reflection. Her cheeks had become freckled with a few nasty black spots. But – even as she looked, they began to fade away as the regeneratory system began to restore her fleshy skin.

For a moment, she thought she could see Twilight's purple eyes looking back at her in the colors of that crystal, instead of her own.

“You're to reckless Sweetie. You have to learn how to control yourself.”

Had Twilight said that? Or was it her own inner voice?

What she did know was that this would never have happened if she had been under her restrictions.
She kind of regretted to not have left her skin back at home. Not only was she getting dirty, but the was damaging it as well.

Applebloom walked up and put her foreleg around Sweetie.

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah! Yes, I'm ok”

“Sorry, We should not have teased you like that.”

“Its ok, I'm Sure you'll have someone we can tease you about too”

Sweetie gave Applebloom a pat on the shoulder.

“Someone small and Squeaky ...”

“What! - but I never ...”

Applebloom quickly diverted her eyes.

“Or maybe someone who 'Rumbles' a lot?” Sweetie said to Scootaloo.

“Hey! That's not … !” Scoot began “He does not even like me!”

“Sure. He just loves it when you dress up like Rainbow dash and leads her fanclubb. “

“A lot of ponies love Rainbow!”

“I'm sure he loves her more then you.”

“HEY! Nopony loves Rainbow more then … I mean …. you just … that's not ...”

Scootaloo blew a raspberry and kicked over her saddlebag – Ironically causing a lot of rainbow colored gems to fall out.

“UGH! Now I need a cold bath.”

The girls looked down on themselves. Hard work in the mines did not win them any beauty contests. Their manes and were full of dirt and diamond dust, and spots of soot dotted their bodies. Particular Sweetie, who had been playing Drill-mare, was sure that the gravel had managed to get in under her skin – Literally.

“I think we all do.”

***

A few minutes later the girls had dropped their goggles and hard hats, and were splashing each other with cool clear water.

“Oh no!, My circuit are malfunctioning – wh – w – w – w – Why do I have to be in the water! ” Sweetie cried playfully, while making her voice glitch out.

Contrary to belief the water did not make Sweetie feel funny. She was watherproof with layers of rubber protecting her insides, and most of her most vital parts where enchanted to be water repellent.

Including her skin, which currently lay of to the side of the pool – drying on a rock.

Sweetie had removed it, and been carefully scrubbing out the dirt from both her outsides and insides.
She was thankful for that she had her white alloys underneath. Otherwise her naked frame would have appeared skeletal. Like this she still resembled herself even if she was now bald.

Seeing someone peeling of their own skin might have traumatized anyone who was not used to it. It was not something Sweetie did in public. (that Nightmare night had taught her that much) Luckily, there were only her friends here. And to them, it was no more different then seeing their friend undress in the locker room.

“Sigh … We are some royally messed up fillies.” Scoot said, as she leaned her head back into the water.

But just as quickly as she relaxed, she slung back up like a tightened spring.

“Um … Girls! Do you hear that?”

Sweetie looked over herself.

“Its not me.”

“No … Its coming from over there.”

Sweetie raised her ears. Yes, she could hear something coming. A soft rumble was getting closer, like a small stampede. But not of hooves.

And then there were the voices.

“What was noise?” came a voice from the far tunnel. “Someone in our cave?”

“Is it worms?! I hate worms! And moles!”

“Does not smell like mole.”

“Then what does it smell like?” saith the other voice Impatiently.

“Smells like … Cute and fuzzy.

“Ugh! I hate cute and fuzzy.”

“Do you smell bacon?”

“I love bacon!”

“Who is toasting bacon without me!?”

Two shadows appeared on the tunnel wall, Two bipedal creatures

With no where else to go - the three fillies took a deep breath and ducked down – Sweetie grabbing her skin as she when under.

The spring was not deep. just enough to allow three fillies to lay on the bottom. Hoping that their sort of - Orange - yellow - white colors blended in with the calky rock formations.

-::Please don't come over here::-

She held her own skin a little closer, trying to cover herself with it like a blanket.

She turned up the sensitivity on her sound receivers, trying to get a sense of where the Intruders were heading. Most of it was blurred out by the water, but she thought she overheard the word gems several times. And bags.

She realized in horror that their saddlebags and mining equipment were sill lying out in the cave. And from the sound of it, the stranger had spotted them. However, this did not seem to cause them much alarm, as they seemed to be thinking someone of their own was mining here.

This was cause for laughter. Sweetie could not understand why. She had a bigger problem on her hooves. For while she could hold her breath indefinitely – the other could not. And they were starting to tug at her, showing that they were running out of breath.

In a moment of desperation, Sweetie had an idea. She leaned in and in a way that totally-did-not-count-as-kissing-because-she-was-saving-their-lives she blew the air she held in her airpump into them. Half into Scootaloo and half into Applebloom

That bought them a little more time. Sweetie only prayed that the shadows would leave before her friends had to breathe again.

Eventually it seemed like the voices were going away. At least one did. But the shadows leaned closer to the spring. The girls tried to crouch down even more, afraid that the shadow would at any moment put its head trough the water and spot them.

Instead – She shadow raised one of its rear legs.

Why was the water suddenly getting warmer?

And yellow?

The pool erupted like a geyser as three little fillies shout up from the pool, screaming and gasping for air at the same time. The dog above them also screamed at the horror of what had emerged from the toiled (at the horror of what was jumping up at him. )

They impacted with the big and lumpy figure standing above them, Thrashing and splashing all over him as they fell. The figure also screamed and trashed – Horrified that the contents of his potty was jumping out at him.

A dogs yelp escaped him as be bolted away through the tunnel a yellow row following him all the way.

“ALARM! ALARM! TREMORS! TREMORS! THE WORMS ARE COMING! THE WORMS ARE COMING! THEY ARE COMING UPP THE TOILET!”

The girls spat and gasped and gagged, eager to get that toilet water out of their mouths. They were sure they were gonna have to bathe for weeks after that bathe.

Though bathing was the least of their worries, as a howl when through the tunnels. The girls got on their hooves just as a whole pack of bipedal dogs came running into the cave. At least half of them wearing armor and spears. All of them looking jumpy and ready for a fight.

Diamond dogs.

“WHERE are the worms?!” They screamed as they flooded into the room.

“They were here – I saw them – It has three heads trying to take a bite of me! Or Three! – It was a hydra worm!”

The pack was staring down an them.

“You are not worms!”

“You are ponies.”

“Except that one.”

“Why is that pony missing her skin?”

The pack stared at Sweetie, seemingly more confused over that they were not “worms” then over her mechanical nature.

“Why are you trying to eat me?”

“Were not ...” But before the girls had a chance to say anything, a new tumult was stirred up from the back of the pack.

“PONIES! I hate ponies!”

A single brown dog pushed himself to the front of the pack. He was wearing a red vest, and a black collar with a orange gem hanging from it.

His green eyes showed nothing but contempt for the intruders.

“How pony get in here!?”

“Um … Sir Rover ...”

“Now now Jim! Rover busy interrogating ponies!”

“I believe they came in through here.”

The whole pack turned to face the whole in the wall. Underneath it, a small, meek looking dog was standing, Unlike the others, who either wore vests or armor – we was wearing a blue jacket of a material that made him look foreign amongst the others.

“How that get there?”

“It was mined only recently, sir.” said Jim. “I clearly leads to the surface.”

“What, since when toilet has tunnel to surface?”

“I believe it was dug recently – by those three.”

The pack turned back to the trio.

“Why ponies breaking into toilet!”

“Pony smell bad” Said a big dog, waiving his paw in front of his face. “Pony bathe in toilet water.”

The whole pack started laughing.

“Pony stupid!”

“Hey! Were not … ” Sweetie began … But was pulled aside by Applebloom who was making a half hearted attempt to join in the laughter.

“Yea … Were stupid. Stupid little ponies will be leaving now.”

“No!”

The laughter died instantly as Rover slammed his paw down.

“Pony our prisoner now!”

“What?”

“Pony heard me! You our prisoner now!”

Several guards in armor were moving over to cut off the girls retreat towards their hole.

“You … you cant just take us, that's foal-napping you know.” said Applebloom

“Yeah!” Said Scoots, rearing up on her hind legs in a combat pose. “You have no right to hold us!”

“No right!?” yelled Rover. “Ponies are the ones without right! Ponies are the ones coming here, breaking into our home, destroying our caves. And stealing our gems!”

Rover went over to the bags and dumped the content in front of them.

“Little thieves be what you are! Little thieves have to learn their place!”

Sweetie lowered her ears in guilt.

“Pony been very bad – pony breaking diamond dog rules – Pony be Diamond dog's prisoners now – Ponies work for Diamond dogs now – Diamond dogs has right to do so see?! - Diamond dogs have treaty with ponies!

The small dog with a jacket walked up beside rover and handed him a piece of parchment.

Rover held up the parchment and held a round gemstone in front oh his eye - like a monocle.

Treaty say – NO PONY COME HERE! (unless on official business) less breaking diamond dog law! And when pony break diamond dog law! Diamond dog have right to take your prisoner!

He pointed menacingly at them, and the pack closed in around the girls.

“Don't worry girls , Sweetie said “ I have a plan.”

A very perfect plan

“Cover your ears.”

An ear piercing scream filled the cave, as Sweetie closed her eyes and let out the full fury of her voice box. If anything that her sister had said about these creatures, it was that they were sensitive to sound.

So Sweetie screamed. Hoping to fend off fend off the diamond dogs with a continuous shrieking noise. And since she did not have to pause for breath – she could keep screaming indefinitely.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAre they gone?”

“No Sweetie. No they are not.” Applebloom said, in a very deadpanned voice.

Sweetie looked up and found that not only were the diamond dogs not gone – but they had Scootaloo and Applebloom.

The two of them had been covering their ears against Sweetie belles scream – and the diamond dogs had simply walked up and slammed collars on them. Collars with chains on them. Chains that the dogs now held in their paws.

In her shock – some-dog walked up and slammed a collar on Sweetie Belle too.

“Now! Bad ponies wear collar!” said Rover.

How did that not work? Were diamond dogs not supposed to be sensitive to sound?

Rover pointed to his ear.

“This time! Diamond dogs have secret weapon! Diamond dogs learn from little miss prissy pony. Learn that if you put cotton plug in your ears – you no hear wining no more!”

“What?” one of the dogs said.

“I said, no hear whining no more!”

“What!?”

One of the dogs – realizing that no-dog could hear him. Started sprouting profanities and things clearly not meant for small pony ears.

Not that being chained up seemed to stop Scootaloo from resisting. “You don't scare me” She said, as she wildly swung her hooves at her captor. A big gray hound with a big wobbly belly – upon which her rapid punches had the same effect they might have upon a big bag of flour – And producing roughly the same sounds.

“I got him right where I want him!” Scootaloo declared, triumphantly.

Her captor simply looked down on her, unfazed by her rapid punches.

“Cute” he said. And bent down to pick Scootaloo up by the tail.

Scootaloo continued her attack, even as the dog held her at arms length to keep her short, flailing legs out of reach.

Rover approached Applebloom.

“Since you are so eager to work for gems – you work for us! Make up for what you stole! And maybe we let you go!”

He pointed at Sweetie.

“You make your machine pony dig for diamond dogs.”

“What did you just call …? Who the hay do you think I am?” Sweetie snapped.

But her cries for acknowledgment went ignored and unheard.

“Dog thinks bad little pony should work for dogs now! Or else ...”

He put his big paw around Applebloom's throat.

“WAIT! Ok, ok … I'll do it.”

Sweetie nodded submissively , and very enthusiastic, hoping that Rover would understand.

“Good!”

With collars around their necks – the girls were marched away.

***

Digging for gems was not as funny when you were forced to do it. And the dirt quickly gathered upon the girls newly bathed bodies as they chopped away at the rocks.

That is – Her friends chopped, while sweetie was stuck pulling the big cart that everything was thrown into. Along with the guard dog that who was riding the cart and holding on to all their leaches.

As she pulled it through the caves and tunnels, She noticed There were an awfully lot of guards around. Standing in every tunnel. In every intersection and every crossway. Guarding … Well. … something. They could not all be for her, She could understand having guards at the entrance and such, but what was the point of so many guards all over the place. And what were they guarding?
They just seemed to be guarding the caverns and tunnels themselves.

Guarding against what?

She could not ask. For the guards that were following her all had their ears full of fluff.

Try as she might, she could not see any good situation to use her combat mode in, not without endangering her friends. And she did not want to do anything, less the Diamond dogs might hurt them.

She would have to figure out something soon. Sweetie could feel her energy levels dropping as the hour ticked away. And every time she tried to put a gem in her mouth the guard poked at her with a spear.

If she did not get to recharge soon – she would drop into a complete blackout.

Wait – that's it! She might not drop yet – But the guards did not know that.

Sweetie deactivated her body, and Dropped to the floor.

“Whats wrong with machine pony?” the guard dog asked.

Applebloom was quick to cut in.

“Oh! - she has … like … run out of energy. Don't you know? She has to … Recharge before she can work again … But it takes like a few hours.”

“What?”

Applebloom sighed.

“You know – It would be easier to explain if you removed the fluff from your ears.”

“What?”

Applebloom sighed again, and tried to get her point across with hoof gestures.

“Stupid ponies and their stupid machines.”

Sweetie almost wanted to jump up again ans send this guy into the wall, not wanting to blow the girls cover story.

She remained still as she was picked off the ground and carried away.

The three of them were brought to a cave with a lot of barred doors in the walls. The guard opened one of the doors and threw them into the small room inside – In sweeties case literally.

“Now – Ponies stay here until they fix machine pony.” Said the guard, as he threw the gate shut and locked it..

“Hey! You can't keep us here! We have server out time!” Yelled Scootaloo ”We got you your stupid gems ten fold!”

The guard dog simply tilted his head – and then pointed to the stuffing in his ears with a sadistic smirk on his face.

“ Ponies shriek all you will – wont do you no good.”

Then he walked over to stand guard over by the entry-way to the cell cave - his back turned towards them.

“Ok Sweetie – you can stop acting now.”

Sweetie reactivated her body, and sat up again.

Scootaloo sank back against the bars.

“Well girls – We got very close to the gems, but we don't have much to show for it.” Said Applebloom

“At least we don't have a cutie mark. Scootaloo said, with some relief “All this mining has kind of taken the fun out of that Idea.”

“So what do we do now? Wait here for out big sisters to come and save us?”

“I don't think I want to explain this to my sister.”

“You're right! They don't even know we are here – yet. Hopefully we can fix this before they ever find out.”

“you say that like there is an uncertainty.” Laughed Scootaloo “Were the Cutie mark crusaders! There's nothing we can't do – So lets add prison breakers to our quota – CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS …”

Applebloom was about to shove her hoof into scoots mouth – But scoot caught it, and gestured at the guard herself.

He was just standing there, with his back to them, and some very big cotton earpluggs in his ears.

“YAAAAAAY!”

No response

“YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!”

Still noting.

“Were breaking out now! Say something if you hear us!”

Not only was the guard not reacting, but now he started snoring.

“Ok, Ok, you made your point. The question is just- How are we getting out of here.”

Sweetie looked around.
The cell door was made of iron, with bars too think for her to bite through. It looked sturdy – but at the same time – she was unrestrained. The walls looked sturdy too, made out of solid bedrock that she was not quite sure that their home made drill could pierce.

The floor on the other hoof. It was softer, more like tightly packed dirt. Hard – but still dirt.

Sweetie put her hooves on the cell wall – and (standing on her front hooves) she put her horn to the cell floor.

“What are you doing”

“what does it look like – were getting out of here”

“what if the guard wakes up!?”

They looked over at the sleeping guard. His snoring sounded worse then any drill.

Sweetie made a face.

“Do you really think he will? “

“Now girls – Climb up on my back.”

The girls did so. And sweetie extracted the drill from her horn – It took up the whole floor in the tiny cell and pushed the three fillies up towards the roof.

Sweetie put her hooves to the wall, and, with the earth pony magic in her hooves, she grabbed on for all that she could, And whit her two friends were hanging on to her sides she started the drill. It quickly sunk into the floor at an almost vertical angle – But with the wall to hold on to – Sweetie prevented herself from being sent into a spin.

As the drill descended – Sweetie walked down the wall – and eventually down the walls of the hole she was digging.

“Now that's one way to escape a prison.” Scootaloo commented, as they descended down into the uncharted parts of the earth, and out of Diamond Dog territory.

***

Rover awoke to the sound of nothing at all. This was unusual, not to say unheard of. Where were all the dogs milling about? Where where the barking and yipping and skipping? Where were the sound of tunneling, of digging and the sweet sweet clink of diamonds?

Where were the sound of his alarm clock?

Rover looked over at his desk (which was really just a stone with a flat surface) and saw the clock shaking about. Without a sound.

Angrily – rover picked it up and threw it into the wall. Smashing it into a hundred tiny pieces.

“Stupid broken pony thing.” He said to himself. Now he was gonna have to buy new one ... again.

That's when he noticed he barely heard the sound of his own voice.

He reached up to check what was wrong with his ears, and found them full of fluff.

He pulled out the cotton earpluggs. And the sound of the mine became clear again, The dripping of stalactites ... and the snoring of dogs.

Looking around him, he found his pack curled up on their sleeping rocks, dreaming like puppies when they should be working.

“Wake up!” Rover yelled.

He yelled at them a few more time to no avail. Loosing his temper – he instead resorted to slapping them across the ears.

“Wake up you lazy mutts! Gem does not mine themselves!”

“What?”

Rover growled and pulled the cotton from their ears.

“I said its time to get back to work!”

“Do we have to? Don't we have ponies to do that now?”

Ponies … The word made rovers skin crawl. They were noting but trouble. Not only had those little nuisances demolished their bathroom wall yesterday. But also the reason for earplugs that caused such an annoyance. Even though it blocked out their annoying little whining pony voices it also made communication impossible. And not they were disrupting their working schedule It seemed like those little horses caused nothing but trouble no matter how you spun it. -
For that alone he was gonna work them to the bones. In fact – He was gonna go over there and slap their silly pony butt-cheeks right now for costing his pack time and gems.

Rovers temped did not subside as he walked through the tunnels, finding more dogs, and even the guards sleeping.

As he stormed into the cell-cave, he almost fell down a hole in the middle of the floor. That had most certainly not been there before.

First the toilet and not the cells! Those ponies were so …

… Gone!

Not only was there holes appearing everywhere. But there were no little nuisances on the other side of the bars. In fact, There was no floor either, as the cell opened up to yet another hole. Even the box with the girls belongings – that had been right behind the guard – were also gone.

And the guard. Years of training and active guard duty had let him master the art of sleeping while standing.

Rover marched right up to the guards face, so close that their noses almost touched, And yelled.

“Where are the ponies!”

The guard hat the audacity to remain sleeping - until Rover slammed both his paws on his helmet.

“Sir” the dog saluted

“Where are the ponies!” Rover repeated.

“What?”

“Take out your plugs!”

“What?”

“Take out your plugs!”

“What?”

Rover – loosing patience. Pulled the plugs out of the guards ears himself and stomped on them while barking profanities at the guard – the plugs – the ponies – and everything in general.

The guard - in his drowsy condition, took a step towards the cell, and found out the hard way that not only had his prisoners managed to elude him – But they had made off with the very ground beneath him.

“Found a hole sir.” The guard said – Peaking up from the floor.

“I see that!” Rover barked. “But where are ponies? – Find ponies!”

He put his foot on the guards head, and pushed him back down the hole.

A second later – the guards head peaked up inside the cell.

“They are not here.”

Rover growled and dived into the hole himself. Moving like only diamond dogs can, it took him less then a second to search both the ups and downs of the pitch black tunnel between the holes – And find the third hole. Though unlike what he had expected from examining the breach into the toilets, this was no steep tunnel – It was more like a bottomless pit. Dropping almost straight down into the underworld.

A cold chill froze away all of Rovers rage.

“No! No going down there!”

In another second. He was up in the prison cave again. He pulled the guard up with him, and shook the dog so his helmet rattled on his thick head.

“Seal off this cave! Seal off this tunnel! Less we invite the terror of tremors from the deep earth below!”

Author's Note

This is not an April's fools joke - the story really is continuing now.
Almost a year after I uploaded the first chapter.

Sorry for the wait. But I was dealing with some very personal tragedies that left me unable to write.

Rumble in the Dark

“So girls, what do you think the center of the earth looks like?”

“Like this?”

Scootaloo gestured out to their general surroundings.

The dark corners of the earth seemed to get ever darker as the girls left the Diamond dogs caves above them. It swallowed up the faint light of their flashlights as they waved them up into an ever thickening darkness above them.

Applebloom and Scootaloo tried to make general conversation as they were bout hurled together on top of sweetie belle - pretty much riding on their friend as they traveled downward at an angle just too steep to walk down. Their combined weight keeping the drill digging downward into the soil.

Sweetie was only able to partially follow the conversation. The rest of it was drowned out by the sound of the drill. None of them complained about the dust being kicked up (apart from the occasional cough from those not fortunate enough to be able to turn of their lungs) A good scrubbing of dirt seemed almost preferable after finding out what the dogs used the crystal clear lake water for.

Her mind went to her skin, that was now resting safely in one of their saddlebags.
Sweetie did not feel like putting it again – Not after where it had been.

She was probably gonna have to shower for weeks just to get the smell out.

Because of that, Sweetie was drilling in the general direction of away. Away from those nasty smelly Diamond dogs, and their awful smelly water, and their awful awful … prejudice.

Something about the way those dogs spoke to her, or more correctly around her, had gotten under her gears.

For such a simple minded species, they had been surprisingly unaffected by the sight of full fledged pony robot. Sweetie suspected that they might simply bee too simple to think to much about it. As long as she worked – that was all that mattered.

Sweetie knew that body was machine through and through – But she did not want to be treated like … that.

-:: Stupid meatbags ::-

“ … I'm pretty sure the planets core would be a concentrated mass of molten magma.”

“ … If that's the case – Should it not be getting hotter the further down we go? This place is getting as cold as an old earth cellar.”

“Maybe the core is made of the single biggest crystal in the world?”

Sweetie would lick her lips if she would not get a mouthful of gravel. She felt like she could sure go for a good molten core right now.

She had not mentioned it to the girls. But her energy reserves were past the halfway point. Her “cargo hold” that had previously been stuffed to the limit with 'The Pillar of crystal goodness' was now half empty. Her belly rumbled as it grinned up those precious gemstones. Another part of her consuming energy in order to keep her running. The sound of her digestive system was concealed only by the drill itself. She was burning through calories faster then a dragon on greed growth. (She briefly wondered how spike had felt.) If she had not stuffed her face like she did – she would have blacked out for real in the Diamond Dog's caves.
Which was ironic – considering that cake was the reason she was doing this to begin with.

“ … Unless there is no center. And we are about to fall out of the bottom of the world.

“ … Scoot – I very much doubt that the world is flat.”

“ Why not? How else would they make a map off it?”

“Well … they do say Luna And Celestia raises the run and moon, not circulate them around the world. So maybe they simply drop them below the horizon? ”

In when quiet for a while (As quiet as can be expected in the hum of the drill.) while the girls contemplated what the nature of moving celestial bodies meant for the rest of the world, and their place in the narrative.

Sweetie only knew that The sun in her life was also setting on another front. She had not said anything to the others, but the magical energy of the compression spell that resigned within the crystal in her horn was getting noticeable smaller.

Every time she had to retract the drill, it took a chunk of that magic. And another one when the reactivated it.

It was still like sun to her – though it would not last forever. It was clearly the last part of the that would run out.

A tap on the head bough her back into the real world.

“Say Sweetie. Do you think we will come out on the other side – Or find Tartarus first”

Sweetie stopped.

“Ok girls – hold on to the walls.”

As her friends complied, Sweetie retracted the drill and got her hooves on the bottom of the tunnel, using her in built spirit leveler to find the proper ups and downs before putting her horn to the wall and reactivating the drill again. Mowing forward at a not so steep angle.

"What was that about?" her friend asked, as they walked behind her.

“I just realized something Button once told me." Sweetie said. "You should never mine straight down.”

***

“... Or whats if its just hollow?”

“Or a concentrated swirl of concentrated energy.”

“Or maybe its a big beating heart?“

The discussions continued as the party continued their steady march forward. So far, no unexpected caverns or poets of lava had opened to swallow them. The ground in front of them continued to be a endless mass of rocks and moisture that was just barely soft enough to push through at a trots pace.

“ … What do you think Sweetie?”

“I think Its weird that we have yet to run into anything of worth.”

The girls swept the flashlight around, the walls were devoid of anything shiny.

The darkness seemed even more oppressive now that their tiny flashlights were the only light-source.

“If anything – gems should for further down – because of the pressure.”

“Are you sure that's how gems form? Maybe we need to find a pocket of lava where rocks have melted and then crystallized?”

“Maybe the ground here is simply to moist.”

“ Have we left the quarry?”

“Do you have any Idea of how we are gonna find a big pocket of gems?”

“Don't look at me like that Scootaloo – I've told you that not all earth ponies are able to just sense such things.”

“What sound do you think gems make? Can you hear them sparkle? Maybe there is some kind of tune you can make that makes the gems call back – Like a resonance of an echo or something?”

Scootaloo let out a whistle. But whatever echo it might have made drowned in the sound of the drill.

“Wait … Do you hear that?”

Sweetie stopped and retracted the drill. Turning around she found bout of her friends with their ears to the right wall.

“Is that the heart?”

out of curiosity. Sweetie joined her fellow crusaders in the new activity of leaning and listening.

There was indeed a sound coming from the walls. Sweetie turned her hearing up and put her own ear to the wall. There was a sound like distant thunder. Or maybe an avalanche – Or whatever sound that a ton of rocks make when they are being pushed out of the way.

It was coming and going, like whatever making it was literally moving back and forth, causing the sound to rise and fall in a rhythm.

“What is that? Some kind of underground river?“

“Do you think its the gems? Are the gems finally calling to us. Like – an echo or something?”

Scootaloo let out another whistle. And the distant rumbling stopped.

Then, for just a second - Although Sweetie imagined it must have been an echo from Scootaloo - she thought the heard a second tune answer.

Then she felt the vibrations.

Before she could react, before she even knew what she would have been reacting to - Applebloom shouted. And Sweetie suddenly had bout of her friends slamming into her. All three of them were knocked over and tumbled backwards just as the tunnel erupted inwards.

The girls screamed as through the geiser of gravel and dirt –their flashlights revealed something pushing its way past them.

Something big.

Something long.

“What was that?” Shouted Scootaloo.

“The sign that we need to get the hay out of here!” Applebloom answered.

The earth pony was already on her hooves, and pulled the others up before breaking into a gallop, back the way they came.

Sweetie stared at the holes that had appeared in the walls – there was now a second tunnel crossing with theirs. It was only about half as wide – but still, the thing that had made it had shot through the earth like a Pegasus would through the air.

Choosing not to dwell on the matter, she turned her naked tailbone around and galloped after her friends.

The flashlights were swinging back and forth. The girls trying to hold on to their only source of light by their mouths as the ran down the only road that was open to them.

Sweetie blinked and turned on her infrared vision. The girls and the rest of their tunnel becoming far clearer to her then it must be for them.

… As a second tremor approached them with the speed of a bullet.

“DUCK!”

You heard it before you saw it – Because when you saw it, it would probably be to late. That canonball that shot through the earth with all the subtlety of a derailing train. Luckily the girls were quick on the update. And threw themselves to the floor as the tunnel erupted for the second time.

Sweetie stared in horror as a long pink tube rocketed out from the tunnel wall. And almost curved mid air as it passed just above their heads before impacting with the other side.

Sweetie leaped up, and headbutted the big pink snake like a cannonball.

The think jerked above her, twitching her away before disappearing down into the floor.

“Are you Ok?”

The girls scrambled up on their hooves. Scootaloo accidentally kicking her flashlight so that it went into the new hole in the floor.

She cursed as the thing disappeared down an almost vertical drop.

“And you can choke on it too!” She shouted.

“Is it gone?” Asked Applebloom. Shining her won flashlight down the hole.

Not wanting to wait to find out. The trio set off on another gallop. Applebloom taking the lead to let her flashlight fill the corridor in front of them with illumination.

Is that a Quarry Eel!? Scootaloo screamed as she ran.

Sweetie did not think so, she had barely got a second to look at it up close. But it looked more like a worm. But way - Way too big!

Things were quiet for several seconds before a new rumble filled their ears. But not from behind or beside them. From in front of them.

“STOP!”

The other two slammed into Applebloom as she skittered to a halt. The flashlight flew out of her mouth and bounced several times, and several meters in front of them before coming to a stop – Landing just so that its light illuminated what was in from of them.

It was a worm alright. But way – Way too big

And it was coming towards them from the other side of the corridor – riding on the edges of circulate runnel in a spiraling pattern.

The thing was literally doing a barrel roll down their tunnel. Knocking down dirt and rocks as it surfed on the earth towards them.

“Oh that is just IT!”

Scootaloo reared up. And started running forward. Her wings beating furiously to give her speed as she started running up the side of the tunnel. Her forward momentum carrying her over the tunnel roof as she matched the worms looping approach.

Just as the two reached each other. Scootaloo slid down on her back and kicked upwards with the back hooves impacting with the worms front and redirecting its course so that it disappeared up through the roof and out of their tunnel.

A sigh of relief got stuck in their throats – for as the dust settled, the flashlight made Scootaloo's shadow spread out over a wall of gravel and dirt that that had then the way from which they came.

The worm had collapsed their tunnel. And from the vibrations in the earth, it planed to do a lot more besides that.

“THIS way.” Scootaloo shouted – and started running back the other way.

Applebloom just barely managed to get three hooves on the other side. The expression of horror clear on her face as she realized which way she had almost gone – and what one little mistake had cost them.

“APPLEBLOOM!” Scoot Screamed, And started running towards the hole before Sweetie grabbed her tail.

“Im ok, Im ok.” Applebloom reassured “But where are you!”

“I'm here – and Sweetie...”

Scoot looked back, and screamed!

“A MONSTER!”

“where!?”

Sweetie looked behind her – but saw only rocks.

She looked back just in time to see Applebloom And Scootaloo Stumble into each other. The two grabbed at each other before realizing what they were.

“Scoot? Is that you?”

“Yeah! But where is Sweetie?”

“I'm right here!”

“Didn't you see the monster?”

“What monster?”

“The one with glowing red eyes.”

The two of them looked around, before zeroing in on Sweetie.

“Right there! RIGHT THERE!” They shouted, and pointed straight at her.

-:: Oh pony-feathers ::-

“STOP!” Sweetie yelled. Before the two of them back down the hole. “Its only me!”

It finally dawned on Sweetie that she was the only one here who could see anything. And the very souse of her sight was the cause of their fright.

“Infrared eyes, remember?”

Her friends continued to stare at her, as her eyes were literary the only focus point in the total blackness. How she wished she could share her vision somehow. If only she had gotten a flashlight installed. What was she to do?

-:: Come on Sweetie, think! ::-

She though so hard that some excess energy shout out her horn.

-:: That's right! Keep thinking! ::-

She might not have a flashlight, but the sparkling glow of her over charged horn provided just the faintest hint of illumination.

A new rumble shook the cave.

“We don't have time for this – follow me!”

With no other way to go, the girls bolted back to the end of their own tunnel before taking a sharp left and diving down the tunnel from which the worm had first come.

Sweetie went in first, on accountant of her having the only pair of eyes able to see where they were going. Applebloom followed the light on Sweetie's horn, while Scootaloo grabbed Applebloom's tail.

This tunnel was only half the size of their own – which had in turn been just about filly sized. Here, all of them had to keep their heads low, and even then their backs and saddlebags scraped against the confined space.

The thin road ahead curved left and right in a zigg zagg pattern. Like the worm had indeed been swimming left and right while homing in in its prey. The girls hurried the best they could – Witch was not easy given the crammed space slowed them down considerably.

It was the perfect place to develop claustrophobia. Especially since the vibrations were getting closer again. From behind scootaloo there was a series of thunds as something burst through several walls.

In horror – Sweetie realized that the worm was cannon-balling through the walls of dirt that separated each corridor in this zig-zag pattern. And with the tight space – there would be no where to dodge.

“STOPP!”

Appleblooms shout was followed by a quick tug on Sweetie's tailbone.

“He's gonna hit right in front of us!”

A second later, the tunnel in front of Sweetie exploded, as the worm crossed right past its own path. It did not take long for it to realize it's overshott it's target. And came back around the next corner. slowly pulling itself into the crawling space.

Sweetie stared it down, her infrared eyes taking in the featureless faceless front of the worm. And it stared back – Its pink mass fitting perfectly into the tunnel. Like a bullet loaded into the barrel of a gun. A living missile ready to shoot forward.

It was just Sweetie in between this bloodthirsty maggot and her friends.

And she was not letting it have them.

“Come on you oversized Fishbait!”

-:: Combat mode Initiated ::-

Sweeties horn sparkled as she and the worm ruched each other – the one spell she could cast busting into effect as her horn seemed to grow several times its size as she reactivated the drill.

The worm disappeared behind a spinning shield of steel and jagged teeth.

Sweetie continued to run forward. The act of drilling made a lot easier when there was already half a tunnel made beforehand. Scootaloo's howls of encouragements let her know that her friends were following right behind.

She pushed on. first out of fury, then out of fear. Fear about what exactly had become of that oversiced worm when it dissapeared behind her drill.

Before she knew it, she had punched her way to the next turn in the tunnel, where Sweetie instinctively retracted her drill to turn down another direction, when Applebloom grabbed her by the neck and all but shoved Sweetie into the Roof. Not wasting time being gentle.

“Up!” She screamed. “We've got to dig up!”

Sweetie reactivated the drill – this time going up at a steep angle as her friends pushed her on from behind. Trying to make her go faster through the thick earth.

And fast was how Sweetie wanted to get out of here. It would not matter where they ended up. Just as long as they got out of here. She did not want to stop to think about that she might just have skewered a living creature

But the road to the surface was long – and even with three girls pushing they barely managed a speed faster then a brisk trot.

And in that time … thought started to form in Sweeties mind.

-:: I've … never killed anything before ::-

-:: It was self defense ::-

-:: Butt still – I did not want to … ::-

“HE'S BACK!”

-:: WHAT!? - I'll kill him! ::-

Sweetie pulled the drill back, And turned back to Applebloom.

“Point me towards him!”

The earth pony grabbed Sweetie and turned her to face the direction of the sounds. where she punched the drill straight through the earth – Planing to meet the slimeball head on.

No collision came. Instead the earth gave way as the drill pushed into the worms tunnel and Sweetie quickly became accustomed with which way the worm had turned to avoid being skewerd.

Down.

Her friends tumbled after her, and their combined weight pressing the drill down even faster through the softened up earth. Chasing the worm as it fled in a panic.

The journey down was swift as the worm turned to flee back into its former tunnels. Sweetie and her party quickly gave chase. Cutting through some of the older tunnels to intercept the worm as it turned and swayed trying to avoid them.

The chase quickly became a frantic mess of twists and turns as the two parties did their utmost to outmaneuver each other. A chase that went back and forth through old tunnels as well as new that was punched through previous tunnels and sometimes straight through the earth in a disorienting tunneling feud.
A feud made all the more disorienting by Sweetie having to keep check on her two friends, who she sometimes had more trouble keeping check on then the worm as they blindly ran down different tunnels.
It quickly became unclear who was chasing who as both parties tunneled back and forth and criss-cross on bout the vertical and horizontal plane, and everything in between.

Their three dimensional battleground started to look more and more like an old cheese with way to many holes in it – So many in fact that if a cheese like this was ever brought to a customer, said customer would have very right to demand a refund over the fact that the space which the cheese occupied contained more air then dairy product.

This is also where the laws of Physics starts to take out its right, as the number of supporting pillars were quickly shrinking in comparison to all the loose dirt they had to hold up.

Anyone who has ever played the game of Brick-Tower (a game in which the goal is to one by one remove a brick from a tower made of the things) Knows that the inevitable outcome is that someone always looses.

The difference this time was that there was no winner.

Both parties had run each other to a standstill when the first rocks started to fall – And the ground underneath their hooves fell away.

With the roar of an avalanche – the tunnels gave way. And three little fillies world quickly lost its solidity, as they were suddenly falling through a void of dirt and darkness.

Sweetie instinctively pulled the drill back into her horn as an orange hoof reached out through the darkness and grabbed her and Applebloom. The Buzz of bearing wings was almost audibly over the roar of the earth as Scootaloo beat her wings as hard as she could. By sheer endurance she managed to slow the fall of one metal filly and some sturdy earth pony, even as rocks rained all around them, by just enough that the girls only got reconnected with the new formed floor at a non-lethal velocity.

***

Sweetie opened her eyes.

An quick systems check told her that – apart form a few scrapes on her armored shell – there was nothing for her repair program to take care off.

She tried to sit up, and found herself sliding back a few times as her hooves sank in the soft bed of loosely packed earth that had formed on the bottom Wherever-this-was.

Looking up, She could no longer see the roof of this massive cave that had formed under them. (She could only think of this place as “Below”, as it felt they had fallen further then anything they had been digging.) Not even with her infrared vision.

Not when this strange light kept making bright white blurs appear in her vision.

Sweetie blinked, and turned her vision back to normal. And suddenly there was light.
Not the light of the sun – a far fainter, green-ish light filled the cave. Almost like a night light.

A strong yellow hoof grabbed her shoulder.

“Are you Ok?”

Sweetie looked around. And found the sickly pale-green form of Applebloom looking at her.

“Yes … But … You don't look so good...”

“What? This? A few scrapes and burns, nothing I wont live through. I've had chores that taken more out of me then this.”

It took Sweetie a second to process that it was the Pale green light that was making Applebloom look so sickly.

“Um Girls – Hate to interrupt the reunion – but we are not done here!”

Behind her – An almost black orange shape with wings pointed to another bed of earth.

The pile turned, and out of it came the worm. Unlike her Friends – It was easy to make out the smiley body in the pale light. Even though it appeared wounded, Its still reared up when it noticed them.

The red returned to Sweeties eyes as she got her hooves under her, and the fillies took up a combat stance.

The worm made the first move. Having much easier to move on the loose earth it once again launched itself at the girls.

Sweetie threw up the drill as a shield again the onslaught of pink flesh. She worm jumped at the last second, sailing over her. But it never got to land on the other side as Scootaloo leaped over Sweetie - delivered a flying jumpkick to the closest thing it had to a head. Followed by Applebloom giving one of her families signature Applebucks to its mid section.

The worm tumbled over so bad that it hit the ground like a ragdoll rather the drill straight into it.
As It swirled around trying to get its bearing, Sweetie an up to it, her horn no longer a drill but sparkling with blue energy and she rammed it straight into the pink flesh.

-:: Firing! ::-

The worm almost tied a knot on itself as a huge dose of unrefined electricity surged into its flesh.
Sweetie jumped away, her horn glowing with another dose if needed be. It was the one spell the could be proud to call her own.

-:: I call this one: 'The Shocker' ::-

The worm wrangled around for a bit, Its thrashings ceasing as the shock slowly faded from its body.
It stopped moving for just long enough that Sweeties friends could check if they had earned their marks in worm-kicking.
Sadly - even if that had been their talents, this had not been a realizing moment just yet - for the worm stirred, and slowly rose again.

The girls took up a fighting stance, ready for round two.

Then – A tune filled their ears.

The worm went still. Still Regarding them with its faceless front – But not attacking.

Then- something emerged on top of its “head”.

A mole.

It held up something to its mouth, and made another tune.

The worm bent down until its head touched the ground, allowing the little furry creature to just off and look up on the three fillies with the biggest eyes (especially for such as little creature.)

“Blessings from the heaves ” it muttered.

And bowed.

***

Sweetie looked down on the larva. Calling it green would be a bit misleading since it seemed to be that Its innards were emitting a faint green glow that shone out through its transparent skin.

It was barely enough to give the small insect its color.

But with the thousands of them that populated the area, it it became a shine strong enough to let one see with normal eyes in the otherwise pitch black darkness of the underworld.

“Wow. So, you actually farm these things?”

"Yes, I do." The mole said in a squeaky, somewhat broken accent, but still perfectly understandable Equine tongue. "Though Id't be more Accurate to say that I am hunting. Oh yes, very few dare to come this far out into the dark Tunnels - but its only place where the glowy ones glow ..."

They did not seem that hard to hunt, though Sweetie, as she picked up the larva in her hooves. The things did not even move when you touched them. And they did not scurry away like normal insects. They just sat there and... glowed. Sweetie had no idea what they fed on, maybe they just sucked something straight from the earth?

Hunting them would be like saying that one was hunting for mushrooms.

"Anyway - I was lucky when I found this chasm full of the glowy ones, but then I though myself cursed when hear a rumbled from the above. So ... I sent worm-guard to investigate. "

He dropped to the ground in a bow again.

"Again – Please accept my sincerest apologies.”

“No problem” Said Scoot. “We could probably have taken it if we wanted to. “

“Yes of course – you truly are magnificent, oh children of the sky.”

The little one barely watched here he walked, as he was unable to take his eyes of the three fillies. Ever since he'd first laid his eyes on them he had been stuck in a state of constant awe. He had not been able to stop referring to them as "the children of the sky". In fact - the very first word out of his mouth had been:

"Are ... are you from the plane of the sky?"

Scootaloo had been the first to answer the awestruck little creature with all the dignity she could muster:

"Um ... Yeah?"

The fillies had questions of their own, but few chances to ask them, as the mole assaulted them with a nearly endless supply of rapid fire questions, squeaking like a guinea pig out of pure delight. He wanted to know everything, how they lived, what they ate, and above all what their sky looked like.

"Oh! Its just like he described it!" The mole shouted in delight, upon receiving the very simple information that the sky was blue.

"Who is he?" Applebloom asked?

"And - Is it true that there is a great stone in the center of the Sky - shining bigger and brighter then the greatest fire-ruby?"

"Um ... yeah, its called the sun ..." Applebloom began.

"OH! SUN ... yes. Sun . S - U -N. Praised be the Sun stone!"

... though I would not call it a Stone ...

Sweetie got the sense that the mole did not hear any further explanation, as he was lost in a new hissy-fit of over-exited squeaks.

"Oh greatest of all holy stones. Shiniest, most perfect crust ... "

... I think its more made of gas ..."

"Oh, to be blessed with the light eternal - to just gaze upon its magnificence ..."

"... Actually we have this thing called night ... "

"Why don't you just go ans see it if means so much to you? In fact - We could probably take you there."

The mole looked like he was about to have a heat attack at Scootaloo's mere suggestion.

"You .. you would do that? Me? A simple Huntsmole? To be blessed by such ..."

He threw himself at Scootaloos hooves.

"Oh Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES! I would very much love to ... But No, no, no, no, no, NO! It would not be right for me to take such a gift all by myself ... Oh how selfish of me!"

"It ... Its cool" Scootalloo waved dismissively, as the mole began to prance around sweating bullets. "No one is calling you selfish"

"Not selfish ... No ... yes ... I mean ... When something like this happens. surely he would like to hear about it.. In fact, He must hear of it! they all deserve to hear that ... "

He threw himself at their hooves again.

"Oh blessed children of sky." Please allow a simple Mole like me to be your escort to our humble home!"

"Um ... sure?"

"Oh blessed ... Blessed!"

"... Nopony is listening to me any more, are they?"

***

And so, Because no one else had a better idea - and because the girls might just be a teeny, tiny, ippsy, bittsy, little bit lost in the ever expansive darkness of the worlds underbelly - the CMC followed the mole through the tunnels.
Their path was illuminated by tiny transparent sacks filled with glowing worms. The mole had insisted on carrying them all himself, but had eventually been talked into letting the ponies help him.

The sacks now hung in tiny strings around their necks. Acting as a form of tiny lanterns. Even more worms filled their saddlebags, something that had almost sent the mole mad with delight, aw he would not be bringing home an far greater harvest then he normally would. The Girls just thought about it as a way to repay the favor for finding a way out of here (and there had been the promise of some great rewards in the end.) Sweetie just though about how the worms might affect the skin in her bag.

Speaking of worms - The big one, though it carried bruises from the beatdown, tunneled ahead of them. Opening paths and whitening walkways just large enough for the girls to squeeze through. (Though their saddlebags still scraped the edges.)

Sweetie though about her own drill - But would rather not use it.
She felt the last of her crystal reserves deplete as her belly grinned up the few pieces of gemstones that remained in her tummy.
She was now running on battery power alone. Fully charged as it might be – there was no way she would be able to off a frantic chase like that again – not without blacking out.

Thinking about it – she realized she had no idea how long she would have been able to run the drill on battery power alone – she had just run the course with a belly full of crystals.

Their guide never stopped drilling them with questions, and never stopped being as fascinated by the tiniest, insignificant detail. (like that grass is green as emeralds). The girls mage a silent agreement to keep their answers short. They were sure their guide would have suffered 3 continuous heart attacks if they had described everything they had in too much detail.

It did not escape Sweetie that, to a creature that must have lived his whole life underground, the very color of the sky must be a ting of legend. And if fact - so were they. These three little ponies were visitors from a world this little creature had only dreamed of. No wonder the little guy treated them with such awe - they were creatures of legend made flesh and blood.

Well - Two of them were.

Applebloom could not help herself but to snicker at how their guide marveled at three dirty little fillies from a Backwater town like they were some perfectly sculptured deities of perfection.
Scootaloo probably got a massive ego boost as the mole marveled at her underdeveloped wings.

Even so - to a creature that had apparently never seen ponies before - Sweetie stood out,

The one word he could not get enough of repeating was "marvelous."

"The sky truly knows no bounds." he squeaked. "To procure such marvelous children of ... of living, breathing metal."

"Um ... thanks?"

"Looks like someone truly appreciates your alloys Sweetie." Scootaloo said with a sly grin, as she elbowed Sweetie in the side.

"Please don't call me that."

"I sorry!" The mole answered "It just ... you are living metal. The Sky truly knows no bounds."

Sweetie cracked a smile, of all the things she had been called today - living metal was not one of them.

Ahead of them, there came a loud rumble crash as the worm used its body to move several large rocks out of the way.

“About the worm.” Said Applebloom, taking the chance to ask a question of her own. “How did you get it to … do the things it does?”

"Oh, I sing it the tune of the Earth mother." Said the mole.

"Earth mother?"

"With this!"

He held up in his paw a simple, pipe like flute – seemingly made out of rock. It had a few holes (five to be precise), and the mole explained that each tune was some kind of simple command.

To demonstrate - he put it to his mouth, and played a short melody. The tunnel shook in front of them as the worm returned.
It seemed to watch them with its featureless face, before another tune was played, and it disappeared back into the next tunnel.

Sweetie noted that while he could play the flute with his tiny paws – the thing was so small that it could fit all into the open hoof of the foals – too small to be played by them.

"This has been in my family heirdom for 3 generations." The mole proudly stated "With this - We can communicate with the Earth mothers children. To think my grand-papa used to tell me stories of how they were our worst enemies, always hunting and fighting for our tunnels. But then - he came - And taught us the song of the earth mother. My grand-papa was taught the tune. As was my papa, and now me.
Now, her children are as our children. Without them we would not be able to built out humble home."

"Again - Who is 'He?'" Asked Applebloom.

"Our great king!" Exclaimed the mole. "Oh, I'm sure he be but a simple mole to you, but to us, he is great enlightened one. He is only mole to ever see great sky and return! And when he did - he brought back many gifts and knowledge. He brought us out of age of blindness And into great new age of enlightenment!"

The moles eyes shone with pride as he spoke.

"Oh, but I'm sorry, I am not greatest storyteller. there are many who would tell stories of our great king far better then me.
In fact, he will probably tell them best himself. I'm sure he can't wait to meet such great visitors from the blue beyond."

The party emerged out into a widening chasm, and as they rounded a corner and found there was light coming from the other end.

At first. Sweetie though they had reached the surface. But her senses told her they had barely been traveling upwards. If anything. They were further down now then they had ever been before.

Stepping out of the last tunnel – the girls ended up on a platform overlooking the largest cave either of them had ever seen. A tunnel that despite being buried in the untold depths below the surface, shone like Celestia herself had lent out one of her suns rays.

Having spend what must be hours in the dark underbelly of the earth – it was blinding.

Unlike the sun however, it did not shine from above, but from down below.

The three of them were almost blinded again as they looked over the edge of the platform.

Author's Note

Chapter end on a literal cliffhanger.

(I should probably give the mole a name.)

Moletown

“What is it.” Asked Scootaloo.

“Its … Moles.”

What was in front of them was hard to describe. Actually no – what was in front of them was easy to describe.

It was a city full of moles.

What was hard to describe was how rich is was.

The city rose like stalagmites from the cavern floor. Spirals of a sand colored stone that maintained a consistent thickness for the entire length where it thinned out into a roof-like point. Each top decorated with a shiny gemstone.
The spirals were filled with holes that must be windows – yet they still did not give off a Bee hive like impression as they were far to symmetrical in their placing. And a light shone out from inside every single one of them.

What was like a bee hive though, was the streets below. Never would the Cmc have imagined a mole society to be so buzzing with activity. Not that they had imagined moles to have much of a society at all – most that sprung to mind was a hole in the ground and an intricate network of tunnels. Not a sprawling city with streets and bridges and lights.

A thousand tiny, tiny lights were shining from gem encrusted lamp posts. They decorated not just the street level – But the sides of the buildings. At every floor there were rows of gem-lanters decorating the towers like the lights on a Hearts Warming tree. Culminating in that bigger gem on the spirals top.

The whole city shone like in an eternal day. The warm yellow light radiating of the warm sand colored bedrock that the whole city was made of.

It was like looking out over a forest of sand-Fir. Like someone had made the most elaborate sand sculptures of hearts-warming trees on a hot summer beach.

A forest that rose in front of them. with the shorter buildings decorating the far edges of the cavern, each neighbored by a taller cousin – who in turn was neighbored by an even taller uncle. As the city rose, floor by floor as it stretched outward and upward in front of them. Until at the very back, there was the most elaborate sand castle that the girls had ever seen.

It towered up over the city – like the final backdrop to an elaborate sand painting. It leaned against the far cavern wall, like Canterlot castle would sit on the backbone of its mountain.

The girls could not believe anything underground could be so vibrant.

Comparing it to the diamond dogs tunnels was like comparing a rock farm to Canterlot.

Despite there being no sun, The cavern was overflowing with light. The light that shone across the city was coming from hundreds – No, thousands – No, tens or hundreds of thousands of crystals, each glowing with a warm yellow/golden light.

It made Sweeties mouth water.

“Wow.” Said Scootaloo “I though you said your home was humble.”

"Oh - don't get me wrong!” Said the mole “It is the Greatest city in all of the endless-earth ocean. But surely you have greater in the sky.”

“Well --- there is Canterlot, Manehattan ,Cloudsdale and Las-pegasuss.”

Applebloom gave her an elbow to the side.

“Are you kidding me?” She said “This is like if Las-pegasuss and Manehattan had a foal.”

“Wow ... How long has this been here?”

“A few years now”. The mole told them. “In fact we are coming up on the celebration of out first decade.”

“No way!”

“Yes way. In fact, you being here can only be a sigh of the surface.”

“Sigh? What kind of sign?”

“That the next decade is going to be even more prosperous then the last.”

The mole bounced with energy as he proceeded down a slope leading down from the platform the girls were standing on.

Following him proved to a a bit of a balance act for the girls, as they were wider then the tiny little furry creatures it was designed for.

***

The city was even more vibrant up close. Entire walls had been decorated in colorful gems. Sometimes in single colors – but far more often in beautiful mosaic patterns that stretched sometimes up the length of a building. There were even mosaic signs and billboards that shone with nothing but the inner colors of the gems they were made of.

And the buildings themselves... beneath all the gems and the lights, the most impressive thing was that the city did not look constructed – it looked excavated. Like the whole city had been dug out from the bedrock. There was not a single line of brick or woodwork...

(Come to think of it – there was no wood at all. No shutters for the windows of doors for the entrances. Everything was an open hole in the structure.)

… The buildings melted into the streets. Everything out of the same sand colored material – like a single gigantic sculpture dug out from the bedrock. Once again Sweetie was reminded of sand sculptures in the sand on some hot summer beach. Though the streets below her hooves were cold, it was like walking in a forest of gigantic sand-Fir's.

Gigantic – That was how Sweetie and her friends felt. As foals they had spent their entire lives looking up at everypony else. It was a life spent living in eye height of other ponies legs. And moving through a crowd usually meant being lost in a forest of legs, trying to avoid being trampled by an unobservant passer-by.

Here – It was they who had to 'look out below', as not to trample on any of their admirers.

Every mole had stopped to stare as the girls passed down one of the wider streets. Their eyes shining brighter then the brightest crystal, as they stood in awestruck silence as the girls were being paraded down the streets – some even averted their eyes, or jumped behind something when Sweetie turned to look at them.

It was only once the girls had passed that the cheering started up behind them. It followed them, but never got to close, out of fear of intruding.

In front of them, their guide walked. Proudly proclaiming like a herald:

“Hear ye hear ye! Visitors from the sky approaches! - Clear a path! clear a path!”

His worm wriggled in front of him. Gently “encouraging” moles to clear the street as they proceeded deeper into the city, in the direction of the castle.

The “parade” grew as they got deeper into the city. More worm riders (what else should you call them) joined up in their escort (once their awe had settled in). And a trail of admierers formed behind them, growing longer with every street they passed.

Scoot started to walk backwards in order to address the followers. Taking true inspiration from her greatest Idol she asked them if she should sign any pictures they might have taken. It did not matter to her too much that the moles did not seem to poses much in the way of photo equipment – Or paper for that matter – a simple stone tablet would suffice.

Applebloom was mostly keeping to herself in the middle, though she had allowed the crowd to carry their saddlebags and hardhats.

Sweetie was actually starting to feel a bit naked in the crowd. The bright lights of the city glistened of what few parts of her that was not smudged with soot. She had been unwilling to part with her saddlebags, which quite literally contained a part of herself. A part that had been nicely saved from the soot due to being so neatly tucked away. She would have liked to change somewhere – or at least wash the soot of - if not their guide had been so over enthusiastic.

On the other hoof – this way they got to see her for what she really was – and they were not looking down on her for it, (not that they had any choice but to look up) but their eyes just carried that little extra.

They admired her.

She wondered if this was what Princess Celestia felt like? To be admired like a …

”Are you a goddess?”

Sweetie stopped in her tracks. (causing Scootaloo and Applebloom to walk into her) and turned her head.

In the silence, it had not been difficult to hear the tiny, tiny voice.

Beside her – A small mole had walked out into the street. Far smaller then any other. Yet with eyes that seemed twice as big as it stared up at her.

“What?”

“Are you goddesses?” The little one repeated. Its high pitched voice identifying the speaker as a female.

Sweetie felt like the whole street was holding its breath, It pressured her to say something.

”No? We are ponies.”

”But... you came from the heavens, right?”

“Of course they did Lot, of course they did.“

An bigger female appeared beside the little one, and tried to gentry drag her back by the scruff.

Looking behind her. Sweetie saw a small tiny herd of tiny moles, grouped closely together. Their eyes shifted nervously between the giant mechanical pony and the elder with one of their in her mouth.

“I beg your pardon, o heavenly child.” the elder said – spitting out the younger. “Little Lot here can be quite a mouthful.”

Sweetie wasn't quite sure is she should interpenetrate that literally or not.

“Oh – I don't mind.” She said. “Who … who are you?”

The elder one shifted uneasily as she tried to hide the smaller ones behind her. A fruitless task as the little one simply climbed onto her back.

“I'm Lot” said Lot “And that's Lat - Spatt - Spard – Lard – Flard - Gipp and Gapp and Gepp ...”

The little one pointed as she named of her group in rapid fire succession, all of them apparently having short , single syllable names. It was all Sweetie could do to save a mental image of the group and play it over the sound file of Lot's voice in slow motion to put a name to all the faces.

“Were on our way to school.” Lot finished, before the elder mare managed to get the little one of her back. “Whats your name?”

“Oh, I'm Sweetie Belle.”

“Swit .. e ... Bell?” the little one struggled with a name that was longer then the usual variety.“ before settling on 'Bell'.

“And I'm Applebloom.”

That name proved even harder to pronounce so the little one simply settled on “Boom!”

“And I'm Scootaloo“

“Scoot!”

-:: Well that was an easy nickname ::-

“Are you a pony, miss Bell?”

“Yes.” Sweetie answered automatically.

“Really? You don't look like the others.”

Sweetie grinned as she looked down into eyes full of innocence.

“well … I guess I'm not really like everypony else.”

“Our great king never described someone like you.”

Sweetie's mind drew a blank on that statement about as fast as another mole-child elbowed little Lot in the side for making it.

Had that little mole just called her 'some-one', despite her obvious iron outside.

She felt … flattered.

“Don't get me wrong. He is very wise. But … Maybe he just missed you.” Little Lot said, as she rubbed her side.

“I doubt that,” said Sweetie, not remembering having been watched by many moles. “I have not been around for that long.”

“Are there others like you?”

“Nooo … there is just me.”

This drew a lot of exited gasps, not just from the group – but from the rest of the street as well.

“Did our prayers create you?”

“Did they create you and send you down to us!”

“Oh Child of the heavens – Have you come to aid us in out darkest need!”

All focus was on Sweetie Belle. The same superstitious awe filled their eyes.

“Are all machines alive in the sky?”

“Noooooo. … Its just me.”

“A sigh” they yelled. “You were sent from the sky to aid us!”

“The sky have come to aid us!“

“I came on my own.” Sweetie Belle corrected.

“Same thing – the sky has come to aid us!”

“Its true!” Shouted their guide. Now coming back to check why the parade had stopped. “I've seen them take on a tunnel worm several times their size like it was nothing!”

He pointed at Sweetie.

“The Sweet one here carries the holy drill...”

“My name is Sweetie Belle!”

“My apologies” he said, and cleared his throat. “Miss Bell here is able to conjure up a drill from noting!”

-:: Eh ... close enough ::-

“Really – Show us!” the crowd began to chant. “Show us, show us, show us!”

Sweetie made a mental note of her power levels – Her battery was still full – but without any reserve crystals to keep it that way – she doubted shed be able to do much.

Then again – these ponies were so pleading for a demonstration. And it was fun to be the center of attention in a non demeaning way

-:: Activating drill ::-

The drill nearly touched the walls of the surrounding buildings

There was an awe inspired sigh from the crowd – and octave that first rose in sheer awe … but then seemed to ebb out into … Was that disappointment Sweetie heard? The tone quickly cut off before it got that far.

And everyone just stared as the street once again fell into a tense silence.

“HA! is that all!? My dad could make better drills then that!”

The voice came from up high. As Sweetie Turned to see the speaker, she sensed something hitting her cheek.

No bigger then a drop of rain.

She touched her cheek and found a tiny green goo stuck to her hoof.

“Maybe the skies ain't so great after all!”

The whole city gasped in horror at this travesty.

“Its her! Its her!” shouted the boys of the class.

“That Sim – After her!”

There was the blowing of whistles and several worms wriggled their way up the buildings after the unseen attacker.

Sweetie turned her head to see – And almost knocked over a building with her massive drill.

Whoever the assailant was – she quickly disappeared

“Who was ...?”

“Oh don't mind her...” The elderly female waved her paws dismissively ”Shes just a little … insubordinate...”

Another mole quickly stepped forward, bowed, then asked to get to clean up Sweetie's magnificent hooves.

She allowed him – a bit offput when he kissed the spot, and licked up the substance.

He grimaced when he was done – but bough forth his best smile.

“Wow” Said little Lot, looking up at Sweeties big drill “You really are a living great engine. You look just like out crystal drill engines! How fast can you move through the earth? Can you rack bedrocks? Do you have an interior cooling system, how long before the auger-blades gets dull and has to be replaced? Do you use rotation force crystals? How much kinetic force can you manage? Whats your power outlet? Do you run on gems?”

Sweetie grinned nervously. Little Lot's rapid fire questions made her computerized mind feel slow as she had never really thought about the dynamics. She had never really calculated the process beyond “apply force until the thing in front of you breaks.” perhaps not the most optimized of solutions but ...

-:: Wait ... Gems?::-

"Yes ... yes I do. How did you know?"

-:: that's too good for a guess ::-

"Everything run on gems, silly. what do you think we use to fuel our great drill engines?"

The street gasped at the word 'silly'.

“Wait … you have drill engines?“ Applebloom began. “But ... you're moles … Don't you dig with your claws?”

“And … don't you have worms that do that for you?” Scootaloo added.

“Not anymore. Don't you know anything about the age of enlightenment, silly?” Little Lot asked.

The street gasped again.

“My apologies” Said their Guide, quickly rushing over “Truly we must be too beneath you for you to take notice of out simple lives.”

Behind him – The elder pushed the child back into the herd.

“Weeeeeeeel …” Scootaloo dragged out the vowel while she looked for words. “You are, technically beneath … in a geometrical sense. And in a sense of height.”

She held out her hoof at mole height – which was barely up to their knees.

Applebloom shoved it down with her own knee.

“What is this Age of enlightenment?” she asked.

“Oh! We can show you! We can show you!” Little Mole began to chant – Please, please, please, please, please! We were on our way to learn about the great engines anyway.”

She tugged on the elderly mole.

“Miss Teacher can tell you all about everything!”

Teacher? Well then, at least now the herd of children behind her made more sense.

“Well ...” Said the teacher, Looking really reluctant to ask “If its not too much trouble, We were on our way to school.”

“Oh … I'm sure the great children don't have time for ...” their guide began.

“No – Its no trouble.” Said Sweetie, who was actually growing quite curious. “In fact – I'm wondering where you got all these gems?”

“Oh! We can show you! We can show you!” the children chanted in chorus.

“I mean! Yes, of course the children have the time!”

"Annnnnd ... I was wondering if I cant have a few. If its not too much trouble. " Sweetie added , with all the subtlety of a giant filly in a town of little moles.

"Of course not - anything for our visitors!"

Though their guide looked like he wanted to object – he bowed and backed away.

“Allow us to carry your bags, Oh children of the sky. Surely there shall be a great feast in your honor.”

And so, their equipment continued down their glorious parade, while the girls themselves took a detour.

“Ugh – I can't believe the bottom of the earth ain't enough to get away from school.”

Applebloom shot her friend a disapproving look.

“Really miss 'below us!' What was that all about? ” She whispered.

“I mean – I sure had no idea this was below us, Miss “But – but you're moles!” Scootaloo whispered back.

***

The town opening up straight into what could only be describes a a quarry. The cavern walls outside of the city were filled with walkways and holes. Different platforms of varying size and regularity having been cut into the bedrock, like a motive of stairs and boxes stacked on top of each other in an almost regular metric shape. This shape stretched from left to right around the cavern – And by Sweeties estimate the whole lower half of the cavern – with a few exceptions of the castle – was like a big quarry sandbox, with the city located in the middle of it. The only reason the girls had missed this before was because they had been blinded by the city itself.

On every quarry level there were tunnels opening up into the vast unknown of the underworld. With the smallest tunnels on the upper levels. While the tunnels on the bottom floor were wide enough for a pony to walk through with their head head high. In width rivaling or even surpassing the holes Sweetie had made. Opening up like a dark hole that swallowed all light that happened to sine past its wide mouth.

This part of town seemed even more filled with activity then the crowded streets – possibly because no one had stopped to look at them. Moles and worms scurried up and down the narrow walkways.
It was like watching ants in an ant-farm. With the walkways having been cut into the cavern wall, like tiny half tubes in wish the moles curried forth , like how a hamster might crawl through his tubes.

More headed to the mines then there were coming out of them, disappearing on quests that could take days or weeks – the Teacher explained.

Those that did return did so carrying bags, or riding on little paw cranked trolleys, or bigger mine carts pulled by worms. Carts riding dragged on tiny railroad tracks that to a filly would be little more then a playset. Carrying everything from glowing worms, seeds and plants that grew underground – to rocks or iron and copper and a lot of different materials. Everything the moles had came from the mines.

These riches needed to be well guarded - it seemed, since the place had such a heavy guard presence. At just about every street leading out into the quarry there was a mole wearing a some form of plate mail. Often accompanied, and sometimes riding upon their big worms.

They were not too happy about letting the crowd into the workplace. But once they saw the girls they quickly fell silent and allowed all to pass.

As one could imagine the place buzzed with activity. As Sweetie watched, a cart full of gems were being pushed out of one of the bigger tunnels and straight into one of the larger buildings at the end of town. By another stood a series parts of machines awaiting assembly by a line right outside the gate in its walls. Again – the gate had no actual door – so it was easy for a filly to bend her head and try to see where the red light from inside was coming from.

Doing so met with a gust of hot air – It was like holding your face up to a oven.

Inside – naked moles worked pouring red hot liquid metal into shapes. Their hair-less bodies carrying several scorch marks as they carefully felt their way around in The red hot light coming from crystals who glowed with the color of lava. They wore no protection from the light or heat – as far as could be seen - if there was ever a reason for moles to be blind – it was to explain how they could work in such blinding heat.

The machine were nothing to sneeze at either. It was bigger then a filly. Which made it seem huge to the moles who climbed on it. Assembling a machine akin to something like a big red train. Except it had a big pointy trill in the front, rather then a fender.

A finished example stood ready and awaiting by the nearest and biggest tunnel entrance. Its drill wide enough to have made the tunnel as big as it was. And the machinery behind it big enough to be qualified as a train on the surface. It sat upon several sets of wheels, standing upon a railway leading straight into the darkness of the tunnel. Its red paint shone of polish.

“These great engines” The teacher explained “Are use to drill the rock where even our worms can not tunnel.”

Sweeties eyes scanned the impressive engine from back to front. An engine was just what is was. One big engine on wheels. There was no pilot house nor chimney – nothing sticking out beyond the diameter of the drill. There were however several power coils spread out across the hull, crackling with a white hot energy.

The machine hummed like a tumble-dryer, and it sounded as several big gears were turning around under the hull, as the big drill in front slowly spun – without any real speed.

It gave Sweetie the impression of a sleeping bear. Inactive, but very much alive.

Scoot looked upon the machines with a puzzled expression.

“I though you said you had never seen the sky? But how come you can not break through towards the surface with these?”

”Oh - We are not digging towards the sky“ said the Teacher.” We simply dig because we have to. You see – the more we dig the more the colony can expand, and the more our people can grow. If we did not dig we would become overpopulated.”

Sweetie looked into the tunnel. It was nothing but a big long empty hallway. She did not know much about expansion, but if they wanted to make their city bigger, then should they not be making the cave bigger? Not be drilling holes to nowhere?

She asked the teacher about that.

“No.” the teacher said with a sad smile. “We are not expanding this colony. We are digging our way towards a new home. A new hope. For you see, our old home have recently come under attack.”

“Attack? By whom? And why?”

“I will tell you; for you see, digging is a hard work to do with nothing but the claws on your pawns. The Mole king brought us new technology – giant drill machines that make the work easier. But the machines don't run on dirt. (if it only where so well) They run on crystals. So we dig for crystals to keep our machines going. But they are difficult to find.”

She sighed.

“Sometimes we dug just to keep the machines digging. finding just enough crystal to keep the machines digging, looking for more- an evil circle.”

Sweetie sighed as well. Apparently crystal power shortage was becoming an universal problem.

“But – what does that have to do with whom attacked you?”

“Once” The teacher said” when we where digging, we found these massive caves filled with crystals. We though at first that we were blessed. That we had finally found the light at the end of the tunnel. But those caves where cursed. For there lived the evil Demon dogs.”

“Demon dogs? You mean Diamond dogs?”

“Diamond ... dogs?” said the teacher confused. “Well … they certainly live in diamonds. But no, they are Demon dogs.”

“The mole king say they are what evil little moles turn into after they have died.” one of the children squeaked.

“Sim is gonna become one for sure - for sure!” Squeaked another.

Sweetie gave her friends a confused look.

"Moles don't turn into Diamond dogs ... right?"

Both of her friends just shrugged.

"I don't know. Ive never seen a female dog. Have you?" said Scootaloo.

"No - I haven't"

Still - this theory did not sit entirely right.
Sure, the Diamond Dogs where kind of rude and smelly. But to call them demons? Wasn't that a bit of a stretch?

-:: you came up with worse names for them when they took you hostage ::-

-:: And if they are really hurting these little people, they are worse then you thought ::-

“Anyway.” the teacher continued, and her dramatic story-telling tone returned: The Mole king says that the Demon dogs guard the way to the sky, any mole who tried to look for it will find only a harsh and cruel fate.”

“They are evil” the children chanted. “They are wicked, deceptive and cruel.”

“The mole kind says The Demon dogs use their crystals to lure our people to our doom. So we dig to find a new home. A new hope. Because the mole king promises us there is a light at the end of our tunnels. And we are digging to find that light. Something that will make us never have to rely on crystals again. And then we'll be able to free ourselves of the evil Demon dogs. And then we will never again have to dig through the tunnels. And then we will never again have to sacrifice our children to work in these dangerous machines.”

She looked upon the trio, Sweetie Belle in particular, with a proud smile.

Around her – the children had sat down to listen.

“And now that you are here we know for sure that our journey forward is blessed.”

Sweetie sensed one of her red hot blushes coming.

Wait a minute. Dangerous machines?

“What do you say about your children?”

At that moment. There was a scream from the engine.

“whats going on!?”

“Its Slip!”

There was suddenly a buzzing of activity around the engine.

Sensing the call of someone in danger, The Cmc leaped into action.

“Turn it of!” Scootaloo screamed making a quick lap around the engine. “Where do you turn it off”

She turned to the crowd.

“Where is the darn off switch!?”

“There … there is no off switch” said a mole, who Sweetie dubbed the foreman ”Once the great machines are turned on – they are to be running eternally...”

Applebloom banged on the hull.

“Where are you!?” she called “Answer me!”

She ran her ear along the side of the hull, Trying to locate the source of the screaming as it echoed through the engine. Along with all the other sounds of straining machinery.

The screaming continued, until it no longer did. There was a hiss from the machinery, and the drill suddenly stopped spinning.

“Help … Its … Crushing me... “

No time.

Sweetie looked up on one of the power coils. She reared up, horn sparkling as she rammed it straight into the white hot energy hub.

Well … this was new.

It was not the first time Sweetie had interfaced with another piece technology. But it was the first time she had interfaced with something like this.

Normally the energy that flowed inside a machine became her energy. Her consciousness surfing along on the those electrical waves, until her mind, her will, flowed through the extent of external electronics like it did through the rest of her body.

It was a process that occurred at the speed of lightning. Which is to say – really, really fast. As fast as the electricity can travel to the light bulb and back when the on switch is pressed.

Sweetie had thought to simply make the machinery stop. If no off switch existed – she would make one of her own. This had always worked on normal pony electronics.

Normal pony-made electronics used electricity. It was an easy energy to interface with as it mixed so well with her own.

This was different. There was still an energy coursing though the machines veins. But it was of a different nature.

It was crystal energy.

Sweetie realized, as she surfed through the engines internals, that the wheels inside it were not spinning because of an engine. There were crystals spinning it with … something. She was hesitant to call it magic because it did not feel like it.

It was simply kinetic force – Like the energy of movement trapped in a bottle.

She had not exactly been lucky today with controlling crystal energy.

However – like the magical upgrades she had received today – she believed she could control the components themselves. Even if she could not affect the energy inside them – she just had to “put the cork back in the bottle” – so to speak.

How had she done it with the crystal upgrades she had received today? It had literally just been hours ago. Her memory banks could not have eroded just yet.

-:: Just – give them a little push ::-

Sweetie located the main sources of the energy. All of them. And let her own electricity flow through them, along with a simple command:

-:: STOP ::-

The machine did not answer to Sweeties commands. Why should it? They did not speak the same language. In fact there was no code flowing though the machine at all. Just energy controlling the different parts in a complex patterns of breakers and switches she did not understand. (Not exactly more advanced then a data program – but mote complex in its mechanical structure of directing energy within the machinery.)

It was like a Railway yard with an flurry of different levers and switches that she did not have time to learn about.

Letting her own energy flow through them would be worthless - as the only way she stopped her own magical components from functioning was to cut of the power going through them.

What Sweetie did instead could be more akin to jumping onto a wild beast and try to reel it in. She attacked the machines energy with her own. Overpowering it and reeling it into a dangerous rodeo game.

If she could not cut off the power, she would redirected it somewhere else, All of it, just to make sure there was no energy who could move the machinery and crush anyone.

She made one of the power nods on top of the engine her focus point as she hurled all of the energy that way. Akin to overloading a component by pushing too much volt into it. It might break the machine – but there was a life at stake here.

A blinding light shoot out across the quarry, as the power coils up top crackled and sparkled worse then they were probably designed for. Even though Sweetie's mind was inside the machine, the eyes in her scull saw the long tendrils of energy escaping from the top of the engine. So many individual bolts of white hot lightning were appearing so quickly that they appeared to be instantaneously forming a huge tight bush of lightning branches, stretching up through the cave.

Inside however, things went quiet. With no more reinforcements the fighting forces of the engine were forced to give up arms, and the humming of machinery died.

After a tense few seconds of silence there was a huffing and puffing from inside the machine. And shortly thereafter, a tiny head stuck up out from the machinery.

Only then did Sweetie cancel the connection.

Just as soon as the giant lightning show ended, the quarry erupted in cheers from all the moles that had been standing in awestruck silence.

“A miracle... Its a miracle.”

“Truly this machine has been blessed.” the Fore-mole said.

“Are you ok” Applebloom shouted up at the little mole-child.

Said child did not answer. She was too busy staring at the three giant children of the sky that had just saved her by preforming a miracle.

“Hey Slip, what happened?” one of the class mates shouted.

“I … I tripped and slipped.”

Living up to her name. The little mole took a misstep when she tried to leap of the engine. She completely missed the hooves Applebloom had stretched out to catch her, and instead plummeted towards the arguably much softer surface of Sweetie belles saddlebags.

There was a tearing sound of fabrics as claws made for digging managed to tear a hole in the lid of the bag, and the little mole disappeared into the softer contents of the bag with a wet squishy sound.

A new muffed shriek filled the cave. As the contents of Sweetie's bag begun to rattle around.

“OmC! Are you alright!” Sweetie shouted, spinning in place as she tried to reach her bag. The shifting contents of her bag causing her to loose balance.

“No I'm not!” She mole shouted.

“Hang on, I'll get you out of there!”

Scootaloo and Applebloom joined in the pirouette as they grabbed after the thrashing contents of Sweetie's bag, while she spun around Like a cat chasing its tail.

“Its death in here!”

The trio managed to trip over their own hooves just as three different hooves grabbed the bag.

The audience had to back away to avoid being crushed as they watched their children of the sky tumble all over themselves. The bag and were being spared getting crushed in the big pile of fillies by being swung off its bearer and slammed down in front of them. Its contents spilling out right in front of the crowd.

The little mole named Slip kicked her way out of her fluffy pink landing-pad. A glowing squishy liquid dripped from all over her body.

“Ew … ew … ew … I'm covered in glow worms.”

Sweetie sighed as she disentangled herself from the pony-pile. It had been a bad idea to store worms in the same bag as her hide.

The crowd were staring in horror at the glow worm saturated organic matter.

“What is it? ”

“Its … skin … Its a pelt!”

“Is it dead?”

Sweetie was feeling some horrors of her own. Though of a less morbid kind. It was the kind of horror that arises when you can just imagine the face on your beauty obsessed sibling when you come back home looking like the appropriate metaphorical disaster-mix of dog urine and worm sludge.

“Its … Mine.”

She sighed as she pulled up her skin from the ground. The irony was that all her intents to keep her exterior organic shell clean had only ended up getting it dirtier.

-:: Turning of nostrils ::-

She was only glad the thing could be washed. The only thing missing was a little patch in the corner saying something like: Only wash in 35 degrees.

“What do you mean; its yours?”

Looking out over the crowd, it dawned on sweetie that the current onlookers were not thinking of this as a dirty piece of clothing- But a piece of flayed animal.

“Its a part of me – Simply. Its my skin. This is my tail, and this is my mane.”

She stroke her hoof over the not so fluffy bundles of hair. Worm goo and other undesired fluids stuck to her hoof as she did so.

“I can put it on to look like... ”

-:: Like a normal pony ::-

“I mean … like every part of me – it can be removed and replaced.“

-:: Well - - - maybe not every part ::-

“Like … I could remove these plates – and exchange it for this...”

Sweetie realized she was stammering around the subject. She basically just hoped that the moles would see the resemblance in the color and size, since she did not want to have to put it on.

The crowd stared at her.

“You can use that... to change form?”

They looked at Scootaloo and Applebloom

“Can you too remove your skin?”

“Em ... No.”

“I don't really transform” said Sweetie. “I just wear it on the outside. It help me look like...”

She looked around.

“Like my friends here.”

“But ...” the Fore-mole began “Its organic? You can make organic and inorganic matter coexist?”

“Its there no end to the miracles you can preform!?” Said another.

“Oh, Its no miracle, Its just magnets.” Sweetie said. Waving her hooves dismissively as she tried to explain.

“My skin is connected directly to my body by the use of magnets. so the connection there is pretty much instantaneous through the sensors in my exterior body.”

“But then, where is your tail?” Asked a child – her eyes full of innocence. “Where is your mane? Don't you have a mechanical base or a skeletal frame to attach to?”

The child mole pointed at sweeties tailbone.

“How can such a large area of hair have only a small magnet to hold them up?”

Sweetie looked out over the short haired moles. It only now occurred to her that there was not a single mane among them, And not a tail except for a little stubby end on on their behinds. Not a hair on their bodies differed from the brown short fur that covered them. She suddenly felt like she was in a play of 'the empress new dress'. Her mind venturing to the scalps of artificial mane and tails waiting in her maintenance station.

"I … don't need any bases or frames ... the mane and tail kind of have their own connection hubs – since they are really just big lumps of organic hair with no real cybernetics in them. The tail in particular, who is only connected to my body by the tailbone.”

She felt her cheeks heating up, as her mechanical bone at the end of her spine wagged almost on its own.

“That thing is basically like an antenna.” Said Applebloom. “ With all the sensors and connection hubs that pick up information solely from those long curly straws back there.”

Scootaloo gave the naked tailbone a whack. procuring a “Spoing” sound and sending it vibrating like a spring.

Sweetie answered with a swift kick to the sternum.

"Anyway … I was looking for a place to wash it of. Wash myself of."

“Yeah … “ said Scootaloo, rubbing her chest. “I guess we all need to cool down a bit.”

The crowd 'Ooooed' in awe.

“Show us!”

“Try it on – try it on!”

“Ew … no!” said Sweetie, as she shoved the dirty skin back into her bag.

The inside of that bag had not fared much better. But it was not like the skin could get much dirtier at this point.

One of the mole children sighed in disappointment. But another hushed him.

“The children have spoken. Lets not trouble them further, not after such a miraculous rescue.”

The attention returned back to Slip, who was still trying to shake the crushed worms of her, without actually touching them.

Applebloom, not one too pry, picked up the little mole in her hoof and loosened her (already dirty) bow tie. Which she used to wipe the worst of the goo off.

“What were you doing in there? “ She asked the little one.

Slip blinked questioningly at them.

“My job?”

The girls looked at each other.

“Your job?” They said in unison.

“Oh yes – as a member of the mechanicus cast, it is my duty to make sure the great engines run smoothly and eternally.”

“Smooth and eternal!” the rest of the children answered, like in a chant.

Sweetie looked them over. So this was what kind of school this was, a school for mechanics of sorts.

“Still – why where you in there, inside the machine while it was still on?”

“To make sure the machine runs smooth and eternal” Slip answered without blinking. "I was cleaning the clean the main cogwheels when I … slipped and fell.”

“And you.” Said Scootaloo out to the crowd. Why didn't you do anything? Have you never heard of an off switch?”

“An off switch?” Said the fore-mole.

“Yeah – you turn the machines of before you clean them. Said Applebloom “I mean its just common sense. I would never work on a wagon while it was rolling down a hill”

“But … the great engines have to run eternally. If they stop – they die.”

“And if they die … we die.”

“What do you mean?” said Applebloom “A machine don't die if you turn it off”

“Do you turn off?” Slip asked Sweetie Belle.

-:: Ouch ::-

“No … I mean yes … Technically I could … ”

-:: If my power runs out ::-

“But I don't die … and I don't need someone working inside me. ”

“Forgive us, Oh children of the sky.” said the guide. “We must seem so primitive to you. Its just that without these machines … “

“… Our lives would become so much harder,” The teacher finished. “ I pray for your patients. You do not understand out ways. Digging tunnels are not easy, And if out ways seem harsh to you – know that they used to me much harsher before our great king bough us the gift of technology.”

“Its hard work, but somebody's got to do it ” said Slip.

The whole crowd nodded in agreement.

The girls looked at each other. Try as they might- the Cmc were not exactly the worlds most exemplary foals when it came to safety instructions.

“Still – you should have an off switch.”

“But the mole king says ...”

“I don't care what the mole king says. You'll need off switches, just in case something goes wrong.

-:: And also to save energy ::-

-:: That little lightning show took its tole ::-

-:: Checking batteries ::-

-:: Power down to half strength ::-

-:: Darn ... ::-

Sweetie's little internal systems check almost left her deaf to the silence that had befallen the crowd.

They all looked back and forth at each other, contemplation what their visitors had said, they all looked afraid to speak up.

But someone dared to laugh.

The laugh snapped like a whip in the absence of anything else. Short and quick, like someone catching themselves laughing at an inappropriate time. And the crowd all jumped like they had been sneak attacked by that metaphorical flogging tool. And like all victims of a prank, they immediately started looking around for the prankster.

“Up there!” someone shouted. “Its Sim!”

“Someone grab her!”

More whistling followed as the guard moles sent their worms up the buildings after the perpetrator. They disappeared quickly into the city, passing from building to building by throwing their length of their bodies like a rope. Holding onto both ends as the worms behind them crawled over.

Sweetie followed them with her eyes. Herd mentality vouching for the rest of her to follow, as the crowd that had followed them now disappeared back into the street to watch the spectacle. To catch a good look at the mysterious figure that twice now had eluded her.

But a mole stood in her way, waving his paws defensively.

"Oh - don't you worry about this, oh blessed children. We'll handle this little nuisance."

Sweetie looked back and forth between their guide and her friends.

“Should we do something?” She asked her friends,

Applebloom shook her head.

"What can we do? Well just end up causing a Spikezilla and crunch half the town if we go chasing after someone like in a place like this."

Sweetie grimaced at the Ponyvillian saying. As giants they would only end up causing more harm then good.

Ironically there was such a ting as too much power. She wondered if this was how Celestia and Luna felt when something happened? Having to hold themselves back out of the risk of causing more harm?

-:: you would know something about that – wouldn’t you? ::-

Sweetie hushed her sarcastic interface and looked back out into town.

Quite a lot of worms were joining up in the chase now. Their many wriggling bodies forming like a great sauce of pasta, a monster of many forms that all conversed on the central taller building.

Meanwhile – the chasing party from earlier were joining their own pasta sauce to the chase, as they closed in on the same building from the other end of town.

Suddenly – there was a great piercing sound, like a steam whistle, except with more of a melody to it, rung out throughout the cavern. Overpowering all the whiles that were still blowing like sirens to the chase.

Instantly the worms went wild. If they had not been eager to reach the central buildings before. They did now. They two chasing forces literally threw themselves onto the center of town like two runaway trains. And as they crashed together - they exploded upwards. Coming together in a massive heap of pink flesh that instantly wrapped itself around the most central structure. With their many bodies it was like they formed a single larger organism that rose upward and upwards as the worms ascended by climbing on the tower and then themselves in a giant corkscrew motion.

It was like seeing the great spaghetti monster 'Pastafarian' sticking out one of his many tentacles through the fabric of reality. Higher and higher the pink pillar rose until it approached the very top of the cavern roof.

Many a moles dropped to their haunches and cried in horror.

“No! She is going to doom us all!”

But just as the great tentacle was about to touch the ceiling, another tune rang out. A melody much deeper and heavier then the steam whistle. It seemed to make the very bedrock vibrate, and every tower in the cavern shake under its assault.

Sweetie found herself covering her ears out of pure reflex, just like her friends did.

Instantly. The momentum of the worm tower ceased, and begun to break apart. Worms tumbled over each other as they hurried to dislodge themselves from the mass and scurry back out into their individual directions.

Almost as soon as it had begun. It was over.

Silence filled the cavern for about half a minute, until the moles started cheering. The entire town sounded like a very tiny avalanche as every - mole was clapping their tiny paws, stomping, whistling and shouting praises in direction of the castle.

“Oh! Blessed be the mole king!”

“Our king has saved us!”

“Long live the king!”

“What was that?” Sweetie asked, after her spirit leveler had retested itself.

"That was AWESOME!" Said scoot, her wings flapping so hard with excitement that she was levitating of the ground.

“That was Sim simply going too far.” Said the teacher, in a far less exited tone. “She is crazy that one. Its like she wants to bring the demon dogs straight down upon us.”

“I mean – what was that noise” said Sweetie.

“That” said their guide "was our great king, saving the day yet again.”

Tears of thankfulness were streaming down his face as he bowed in the direction of the castle.

-:: Really? It sounded like someone else trying to bring down the mountain ::-

The teacher revered their puzzled faces with the same patient eyes that any mentor might hold for their students ignorance.

“It was the sound of the sound of the earth mother” she explained. “Off all the gifts that out king brought to us, the ability to communicate with the worms was the greatest of them all. Even greater then the great engines.”

“He received the earth mother blessing” The children chanted “she taught him to communicate with her children, and he in turn taught us how.”

“And now we tunnel as equals – towards a better tomorrow and a brighter age.” they all said with one mouth.

“But … Look at me blabbering” said the teacher. “I did promise you the tale of the age of enlightenment ... and a few gemstones.”

She gestured towards the big building with the red light shining out of it.

“Follow me – and I shall teach you how he made our people great.”

“Great … School.” Scootaloo sighed.

Applebloom swiftly elbowed her.

Author's Note

Sorry this chapter took so long - my imagination got away from me - and I had to catch it again.

The deep king

The classroom was a dome, big and tall enough, for the three giant fillies to enter without having to lower their heads as they entered through one of four archways, Each one preceded by an corridor that the fillies had first mistaken for an alleyway, as it led down between two factories. Each one just wide enough that Sweetie could pass unhindered, saddlebags and all.

Yes, the dome was smacked down wall to wall right in the middle of four machine factories.
One could actually see the heat of the furnaces glowing through the walls.

This had been incorporated into the design. As the walls were filled with murals that had been cut into the stone – so thin that the red heat from the factory next door shone through, making the images glow with a certain red light that also served as the only illumination in the big round room.

It certainly had an enhancing effect, and made the images seem almost alive as the light shifted and shimmered.

“Gather round now children – And I shall teach you the tale of our people” Said the teacher.

There were no benches in this classroom, just solid stone floor that the many steps of the mole children echoed across as they gathered in front of their teacher.

The three fillies took extra care not to step on anyone as they moved to sit roughly in the middle of the room, at the back of the herd.

The elderly teacher was standing in front of a large image of the city itself. It showed the towers of moletown rising high in front of a red background, with lots of dis-proportioned moles smiling happily towards the red sky.

“As you now doubt see - we now live in a prosperous age. And age of illumination. Where out people can walk safe.” The teaches said, as she raised her face similar to those in the stone image.

“Sadly – It was not always like this. There was a time - The dark times - when our people were scattered amongst the earth. Each one alone in their own eternal tunnel. Digging for scraps and worms.”

She crossed the large room – and the class followed like a tidal wave to what was perhaps the darkest corner (despite the room being circular) of the dome. This was because the image in the wall let through almost no light from the factory on the other side, rendering this part of the hall very dark.

What could be seen looked similar to a till image of ant farm, with individual moles digging through individual tunnels.

“I remember my grandmothers stories like they were my own.” The teacher continued with a somber tone ”I remember how I though the earth in front of me would be all I ever knew. The eternal darkness of the earth – That was … until we found this!”

The next image showed a mole holding up a crystal. It was still a very dark image except from the crystal – which had been cut out so deep that it glowed intensively red, illuminating the tiny cave the mole was standing in.

“The earth mother had blessed us, she had given us light. A warmth filled out lives like one we had never knew before. And for the first time, Our eyes were opened. ”

She gestured out across the next image. An even better illuminated image of a tribe of mile gathering around the light in the center.

”Around the light we gathered, Drawn to its welcoming warmth like a call from the earth mother. And around it, communities sprung up.”

“But we were not safe.” Chanted the class.

The teacher nodded.

“Always we continued to move forward. Digging into the great eternal void of the earth. For we were not alone. In its endless moist there laid a darkness waiting. A darkness wanting to snuff out our light. And send us back into the age of darkness.”

The next image showed monsters and darkness grabbing after the moles.

“Demon Dogs. Worms Tunnelers, all servants of the dark, coming to take us away one by one. We were still a scattered people. Though we may have been gifted with light and warmth, it was a fleeting comfort for we we were still blind. Blind to the possibilities of the future.

“The age of blindness!” The children chanted.

“Aimlessly we struggled – digging through the earth eternal. Roaming in small packs. Communities no bigger then families, going here, there and everywhere. Ending up nowhere.”

“That was – until he came along.”

“He?” asked the girls.

“The mole king!” The class sang out with one voice.

“The one who did the impossible. He who dug to the edge of the eternal earth and broke through to the sky!”

She moved to an image which showed one mole in the center, addressing all the others. His features was a simple silhouette that had been carved so deep that he glowed like a beacon of light.

“He spoke of a place where … Well, I'm sure I don't have to tell you about it, my honored guests. You are from that place after all.”

“He who reached the sky and returned.”

“There he learned things. There he saw things. And he saw what out people could be.”

The teacher turned directly to the girls.

“He returned with the knowledge gifted to him by your people. And he lifted us up into the age of Illumination.”

“Illumination!”

“The earth mother blessed us, and sent her children to guard us.” The teacher continued.

“What children?” Scootaloo asked.

“The worms of course.”

“Oh.”

“But if everything is so great? Why are you digging?”

“To reach the age of the sky” One of the children answered.

“Oh – Its super easy to reach the sky – you just dig up.” Scoot said, and she pointed towards the roof.

The teacher gave them as sad smile.

“Oh – For you I'm sure its easy to return. But for us, well ...”

“We have to dig” said the class.

“But – I thought you said that you could not reach the surface. Because of the Diamond … Demon Dogs of whatever.” Said Sweetie.

“Surface? - We never said anything about surface.”

“But... you talked about the sky? The sky and the surface are all up there.”

The class blinked at her for a moment, uncomprehending. Before one of the spoke up.

”No silly. This is the surface.” The mole child gestured out around her ”What do you think we are walking on if not the surface?”

Sweeties brain froze for a moment.

-:: Error – Does not compute ::-

Sensing that Sweetie was going through some recalibration – Applebloom stepped in.

”But. There is a whole world up there. Above these tunnels. Where we came from.”

She pointed upwards.

“I know” Said the mole we call it the sky. That's where the mole king says all moles go there … eventually.”

“All good moles.” someone in the back corrected “But not some.”

“Some like Sim”

There was a giggle at the mention of the troublemaker.

“My mom and dad went there.” Said a girl in the front “... they did not come back.”

Sensing a darker subject approaching – Applebloom decided to steer her course elsewhere.

“Oh … I see.”

She took a step back. Apparently journeys to the surface were dangerous for someone so small.

“Have you seen them?” another girl asked.

“What – who?”

“My parents.”

Before any of them could answer. Another mole asked a similar question.

“Have you seen my father?”

“Or my grandpa?”

“Or my mother!”

Suddenly the whole class were shouting at them after family members.

The girls could only shake their heads.

“No.... Sorry. We have not seen any of them.”

“What does your father look like?” Scoot asked one of the outspoken children “Where is he now?”

“Oh! He … left for the sky long ago. “

“But … I though you said you could not reach the sky?”

The mole looked down into the floor.

“We are all digging towards the sky.” She said in a weak tone, barely more then a whisper. “The rest of us are simply trying to join those who left for the surface long ago.”

All of the kids who had spoken up started mumbling similar things, and they all looked down into their desks.

The tone in the classroom suddenly became very somber.

Even the teacher lowered her eyes.

Applebloom and Scootaloo could only look at each other, and at Sweetie Belle – who was not looking at anyone, as her eyes had turned into two spinning circles.

“We … don't understand ...”

But their questions, and Sweeties recalibration, were cut short by the blowing of whistles. And from the archway behind them, two rows of armor clad horn blowers entered. A red carpet was rolled out as the blowers raised their tiny trumpets and blew a fanfare of different tunes that broke the heavy tone in the hall – And would certainly break a few eardrums given how the sound was amplified by the echo in the dome.

As the ringing in all organic ears subsided, a very proud figure entered.

There he was – in all his glory.

Just another mole.

Truth to be told; the mole king was nothing special. At least not from a pony perspective.

He was no bigger then the other moles. Nor was he of a different color that might have indicated something regal. He was not even a different shape of brown.

He did not even wear a crown.

The only thing that might set him apart was a bundle of slightly longer whiskers, that had been woven together in a mustache of sorts.

Yet, The very roof of the hall, which was already high, seemed to be lifted by his presence.
At the very least it lifted the spirits of the class. Who in an instant leaped up and surrounded the figure like a herd of fillies might have surrounded the ice cream pony.

“Your highness. Your highness” they chanted one by one as they flocked around him.

The mole king chuckled warmly and attempted to hug the whole group at once. Failing that he picked one of the children up in his arms.

“My children” He said “Brave scholars of the mechanicus cast, I hope you have all been good moles today.”

His voice was a tad bit deeper, yet still squeaky by pony standards. Scootaloo made an effort to hide her smirk behind her hoof, before an elbow from Applebloom wiped it clean of.

“We have, your highness.” The children answered in chorus.

“We were just telling our guests all about how awesome you are.” said the one currently in the honor of being in the kings arms.

“So I see” the king answered. “No doubt your teacher is doing the finest job in that regard.”

“Just doing my duty your highness” sad the teacher, and bowed.

“Nonsense. You have always been one of my most favored scholars. You shall be most handsomely rewarded for showing our guests our glorious history before bringing them to me.”

The children cheered at this.

“Our teacher is the best!”

“Is that why you have come, your highness? To hear her teach your glorious history.”

“Sadly no my children.” The kind said, and put the child back down with the others. “I have come to present myself to our most prestigious guests.”

The herd split apart as he stepped forward towards the three fillies.

“When I hear that our guests had arrived, I wondered how I would be if I did not come and greet them.”

“You would be our king, Sire” someone shouted.

The girls twisted a little uncertainly. As someones who live in a monarchy they had at least some understanding about how one should behave in the presence of royalty.

On the other hoof – That royalty was Twilight Sparkle.

“So – you're the king huh?“ Said Scootaloo. ”That's neat. we've heard your pretty awesome.”

“You flatter me” The mole king chuckled. “I am but a humble little mole.”

Sweetie looked up at the picture of the illuminating mole shining out over all his fellow moles, the back to the mole king.

“Awww, Don't, sell yourself short sire.” the children cried “You're the best of all of us.”

“You are too kind, my children” said the king “But if, you'll excuse me, I need to have a word with our guests. We have mush to talk about.”

“We do?” asked Applebloom.

“While of course. I'm sure your must be tired and hungry after sightseeing our fair city. And from the looks of it your time in the mines have not been the kindest.”

Sweetie was one again reminded of just how dirty they were.

“Now – If you'll please follow me' you'll will find that there is no better host the me for three lovely foals such as they.”

At that moment, Appleblooms stomach decided to make itself known.

“Well … we could use some refreshments” she said with a grin.

“Wonderful.” off to the palace we go then!”

With that, he turned around and marched out on the red carped he had arrived at.

After a few seconds of hesitation, and some encouragement from the mole children (“Hey – go after him!”) the foals followed.

The escort of horn blowers did not start to roll up the mat until they had left.

***

The streets outside were emptier now. Safe for the Fillies, the king and his escort. Suddenly seemed all but deserted.

Strange – thought Sweetie. Normally, whenever Celestia is around, everypony always gather around to see her. You would think that the king would cause quite an audience, given how they had praised his very name earlier.
On the other hoof; this was just one king in one village. And it was not like Twilight Sparkle caused any fuss when she walked through Ponyville.

When asked where everyone had gone, the mole king simply answered that he had sent everyone of to sleep.

“You'll have to excuse my people, they can get quite existed at the smallest occurrence, and you'll three managed to cause quite the fuss when you arrived.”

“Yeah. We noticed” Said Applebloom

“Not that we minded” Scootaloo added. “Right Sweetie? … Sweetie!”

“Oh! Sorry, I was just thinking about something.”

Their escort consisted solely of stone faced moles clad in armor. Not unlike the Royal guard one could see in Canterlot. A far cry from the over exited faces that had followed them before.

The king himself was humble, and quite chatty. And seemed to have some grasp about Ponies and their lives under the open sky. He had been there once before, in his youth. On that note he could not stop asking questions about how life was up there now. And he fired of these questions in such a rapid fire volley that the others barely had time to ask their own.

“Do they always do exactly as you say? All the other moles I mean.” Sweetie pushed in, when the king had to stop for breath.

“Oh yes. They look to me for guidance you see. The king said proudly. “I have had quite a lot to teach them. Why – without me, they'd be completely lost in the age of blindness. Would you believe that all this was accomplice in the last decade?”

He gestured around the city.

“Granted I admit my accomplishments must make me seem like a deity In their eyes.”

Sweetie thought of the image in the school again.

“But … As long as I can keep my people prosperous and happy, that's a role I'm happy to fill. Now, I'm sure you have a thousand questions, and so do I. Please, you simply must tell me of your journey here. It must have been quite an adventure.”

Scootaloo, always welcoming a chance to bolster, began to paint up their excavation project in the most excessive way possible.

The king chuckled along with the story, and fired of a ton of questions in rapid fire order, further fulling Scootaloo's tale.

Sweetie tried to ask some questions of her own. But they were lost in the general discussion.

Not feeling to keen of listening to their bravado, Sweetie hung back a bit and let the king and her friends walk in front of her.

Letting her mind drift off to the side, she noticed something down one of the otherwise empty alleyways.

Her ears picked up the muffed voices of someone having a very heated discussion.

Curiosity made her slip into the alley without saying anything

What she heard was something she did not want to interrupt by talking.

Perhaps because of how much she din NOT like what she was hearing.

Beatings.

And rude words.

...“that's what your dad believed in – and what did that get him. Dead and buried somewhere. Said a deep squeaky voice. Easily identifiable as male.

“I guess you can say that he really found the sky after all.”

“Na” said another voice. “He became A demon dog – A bad bad demon dog that's gonna come and eat his bad, bad daughter alive!”

“I can't believe you believe that! You really are dumber then you look!” Squeaked a third, distinctly more female voice.

Sweetie rounded the corner, and saw two bigger boys ganging up on a third figure.

The had her pinned against a wall, and she was only half their size.

The one pinning her threw a punch. And the little one did not even get to squeak as the air left her belly.

Spoons and tiaras flashed before Sweeties eyes.

Sweetie, having a long and aggressive history with bullies and bad guys, (not to mention everypony who seemed to wanted to judge her for being a robot) had little patients for these kinds of people.
In fact: she once had to install a subroutine to NOT make her eyes go literally red when she came across these people.

That subroutine was taking a time out right now.

“Hey! Stop that!” She called out stepping forth.

The three moles all looked up at the giant machine filly with glowing red eyes.

The bigger moles dropped the little one, and stared from Sweetie, to their victim, and back at Sweetie again. Before smiling.

“You're gonna get it now Sim!”

“Sky children are gonna punish you good!” They scouted – and ran of.

Sweetie stopped in front of the little one, and let her eyes return to normal.
The little mole looked like she also wanted to run away, but had not caught her breath quick enough.

“Are you ok?” Sweetie asked, extending a hoof.

“Yeah.” The little mole squeaked, and got up without taking Sweeties hoof. “But just so you know, I could have taken those two on my own.”

Sweetie took a good skeptic look at the mole in front of her. And she realized now that those other two had only been mole children themselves – small by pony standards – But this little mole was like a mouse. Easily the smallest thing Sweetie has seen all day, except for glow worms.

Even so – she wore a bag on her back that was easily as big as she was, and she had a rope across her solders and the tiniest utility belt sweetie had ever seen. Complimented with a tiny red vest and a pair of goggles that held up a distinct white tassel of hair.

Still – there was something familiar about this mole.

“Wait a second – They called you Sim!”

“Yeah? So?”

“So? You're the one who shot that green snot at me!”

“Yeah, Sorry about that. I didn't know you were cool before.

“Cool?”

“Yeah! You spoke out against the king. You called him stupid. That makes you all right in my book.”

-:: When did I do that? ::-

Don't change the subject. You're the one everyone is hunting – They said you made that loud noise that made the worms act all weird.”

“Whatever. I got to make a tower out of tunnelworms, so there’s that.” Sim said with a proud smile.

“They said you were trying to trying down the roof!”

“They exaggerate as always, I was just trying to show these fools that there is only one way you should dig.”

“And which way is that?”

Sim pointed upwards.

“To the heavens! That's the only way you should be digging. I mean … Its real, right?”

“What is?”

“The sky and the surface, are they really real? I mean … It actually exists?”

“Yes of course.”

“I knew it!”

-:: Question mark ::-

“You are all acting really strange.”

“Look – I can't explain more .. But … Oh shit!”

Swift as lightning, Sim reached inside her bag and threw a smoke bomb

Sweetie only coughed out of reflex – not so much because the particles of whatever that smoke screen was made of irritated nor nostrils or lungs – both were currently in offline mode.

“Where did you go Sweetie?”

She looked around the alleyway, Applebloom, Scootaloo and the king and his guard were poking their heads around the corner, but the strange mole had pulled a Trixie and disappeared.

“Oh – Nowhere." she said "I just had to stop a bullying.”

“Bullying?”

"Yeah. Some moles were ganging up on someone else here, but they ran of."

But where? There was nothing but solid walls on either side. The floor was of solid stone with no manholes to escape down. And looking up revealed no one climbing the walls.

Where had that strange mole gone?

“Cursed be my children” Raved the king. “Sometimes they just never do as there told. You'd think that after everything I have taught them they would learn that we must work as one.”

He took a deep breath and collected himself.

“Sorry. Please forgive my children. Its just that some of them still live in the age of darkness.”

***

The archway to the castle was even bigger then the one to the school. To the girls, It was like walking into a giant sand castle. Everything – from the architecture to the furniture was thoroughly carved out of the sand colored mountain.

Everywhere there were moles working, mostly on the architecture itself. New rooms were being excavated in the back. Statues were being carved out into the walls and patterns were being carved into the many pillars that held up the roof in the main hall. A hall that by pony standards could qualify as a barn.

But this barn was not filled with hay – It was decorated with tons of crystals. The pillars and statues were properly dressed in them. The walls and roof had brilliant Mosaic made from gemstones.

There was no need for any gem powered lanterns, as the room itself shone like the surface on a clear blue day .

That was what the overall theme of this hall was. like a big drawing of the world above, with green emeralds forming the grass and blue sapphires forming the sky. The pillars were like threes, and in between them statues of moles dancing in joy at the sight.

Still … something was missing.

“Do you like the view?” The king asked. “I'm sure its but a crude imitation of what you are used to. But its all we got down here.”

As they reached the end of the hall was a big double staircase. The king took a left and began acceding those steps towards the second floor.

“I assure you, the view is much more impressive from above. And don't worry – these stares will hold for such little fillies as you.”

He stopped for a moment to look as his three guests looked around the great hall.

“Where's your throne” Asked Scootaloo “Should you not have a throne?”

“My what?”

“If you are a king, A big important chair where you sit and make all the important decisions about your people?”

Sweetie noticed something else. In between the two staircases, at the very back of the hall, was another archway. An archway that through which an ominous glow was spewing out. As she watched, two big tunnel worms pulled two equally big wagons through that archway. Wagons filled to the brim with red hot rubies

“And where are they going?” she asked.

Applebloom raised her hoof.

“Can I also get a question? Earlier when all the worms started acting all weird, there was a massive … sound filling the cavern. What caused it?”

The king sighed. And then chuckled again.

“My friends, I can answer all three of your questions at once.”

He hopped down from the stairs – And showed them into the back rooms.

It was further back then Sweetie would have thought. By her estimation they must be the deepest room in the whole castle.

And what greeted them back there was nothing less then a thousand pipes.

A massive organ was filling the entire back wall of the back hall. It spread out like a giant machine. Air bags that would have belonged in a pony smithy was being pumped by automated hydraulics. There was a constant ticking of clockwork and a hissing of steam in the air as moles worked at the base of the machine – Hurling fuel into a big open furnace. Fuel made not of wood but of Red hot rubies. Crystals burning like fire , whose internal heat would fuel the massive machine until their energies were spent..

“This” the king explained. “is the holiest and most magnificent of our engines. It is the sound of the deep. You think you might have seen my people command the earths children with their flutes. But they are but a part of the equation.”

He gestured dramatically.

“This my friends – is what truly allows us to tame the earths children. It is the deep song that makes them love us instead of hate us. The flutes are but individual instruments in a grander orchestra that has ensured out peoples prosperity. But this, This is the podium of the conductor. The base of all the music. Without it. There would be no music. And no harmony.”

-:: Music?::-

-:: Odd soundwaves detected ::-

A strange vibration filled the air. Her friends seemed unfazed by it. But sweeties hyper sensitive ear settings could not help but to pick it up.

It was a tune as deep as the mountain. A sound that resonated into the bedrock, rolling like the endless waves upon a beach.

Looking up, Sweetie saw several if not most of the pipes extending into the roof, and subsequently, into the very bedrock.

“You mean... this thing control the worms?” Applebloom asked.

“It is both our blessing and our curse. It is the real reason we must scrounge for every last crystal we can get. For if the sound of the deep where to falter, the worms – Our greatest allies – would, Im afraid to say – No longer be our allies.”

“Oh!”

“But – You need not worry yourselves about our troubles.” The king said with a smile. “I don't know about you, but all this talking has made me hungry.”

The promise of food made the fillies quick to prance to the kings march. Sweetie took one last up at the deep room. At the very top, in the roof, another mural had been made. It depicted a single mole, holding out his paws towards a big yellow glowing circle.

Still – Sweetie could not shake the feeling that something was missing from all these depictions of the surface …

Where were all the ponies?

***

When the girls got up to the upper floors of the castle, they saw several moles hard at work excavating the castle from the cavern wall. Digging out its form from the sand colored rock with little more then their bare claws and some basic tools. The sound of tiny chisel's was like a constant buzzer as every detail was sculptured from the bedrock.

A new tower rose up the wall, though it was little more then a carving in the bedrock. An idea of where the tower was going to be, once it was dug out.

The finished area was like a massive balcony, hosing nothing less then a big rectangular swimming pool.

Here – the girls also found their stuff waiting for them. Their helmets and bags unpacked and cleaned to a polish.

Sweetie added her bag to the pile. Emptied it of crushed glowing worms, and pulled out her skin.

A group of servants were quick to sweep up all of the content. And, like a group of tiny waitresses, grabbed hold of Sweetie's skin. which they placed upon a stone tablet like a hunters pelt. And began brushing all the gravel and imperfections out of the fur.

Sweetie wanted to protest. She was reluctant about letting other people touch her skin when it was not attached to her body. But the king reassured her that the servants knew their job, and would be careful.

Sweetie, somewhat reluctantly, left her organic shell in the tiny paws of the tiny servants, as they clearly used water jugs to very finely clean only the outside of her pelt.

She and her two friends were instead led over to another table - this one also a square stone tablet cut directly from the stone, and with several cushions spread out around it.

The king to his place at the end of the table, with Sweetie seated on his right side, followed by Applebloom and Scootaloo – so that they all had a view out over the pool and the city beyond it.

“I don't know about you, but I'm starving.” He said, and clapped his paws.

Instantly, some servants appeared from off screen, each carrying a silver platter with lid on their backs. A full grown mole could easily have curled up inside one of those lids.

Clearly moles ate big compared to their size.

The lids were lifted – and the girls faces fell. A green light spilled out over the table as glowing worms tumbled over the plates and onto the table. Having been stacked as high as the lids would allow.

Well – now they knew exactly where the contents of their bags had gone.

Scootaloo put on a brave face and put one of the things in her mouth, before turning the same color as the worms themselves.

Sweetie asked politely if she could have some gems instead.

The mole king clapped his paws again, and a plate of gemstones were produced for her. And after a kind reminder of the herbivore nature of her and her friends. They too were presented with a limited selection off special plants that grew underground.
A lot of muchrooms and moldy cheese like stuff.

However the main course seemed to be lots and lots of glow-worm

Applebloom tried politely not to touch those

Good thing Sweetie could turn of her gag reflexes, for she seemed to have suddenly lost her appetite.

Watching the king eat, Sweetie learned that moles had a really big appetite.

After he had finished his own plate he happily dug into theirs as well.

The girls happily parted with theirs. And then they sat back and watched with some amazement and disgust how the kings belly doubled in size.

And he did not stop until he had licked the plates clean, and the servants had scrounged up every last worm that had fallen onto the floor.

All the while he spun stories about his life and his people – So wild that parts of worm flew from his mouth as he talked and ate at the same time.

“You must forgive my peoples cooking skill. They are not very bright. You could almost say they have never been blessed by the illumination of the sun.”

He chuckled quite loudly at this joke. But quickly collected himself when nobody else joined in.

“Forgive me. And my people. They have never seen the sky. They don't know what the sun looks like, how grass feels under your paws, or how water runs in a river, or how the wing feels in your hair”

His eyes grew long and dreamy.

“I have almost forgotten it myself … Oh to be back there once more.”

The girls looked at each other

“Is it that you are trying to dig towards the surface?” said Scoot

“Yes.” King said dreamingly “Yes it is.”

He shook his head and coughed.

“I want to gift my people with that … I want them to be able to see the sun.”

“Some of them seem to believe that the sun is like a big crystal.” Said Applebloom.

Aw – Yes. A simple misconception. They do not know what the sun looks like – I do my best to explain it to them – but when all they have ever known are the crystals that give us warmth and light – what else are they going to compare it with?"

“But … Why is it that some of them call this the surface.” Sweetie asked, and gestured out across the chasm.

“Aw yes, another simple misconception... for you see – the ground they walk on here is a real to them as the ground you walk above us. Hence it becomes their surface. It is no different from how you always walk on the floor even as you ascend up a building. Even though its above you – you don't start calling it the roof, now do you?

“Makes sense” Scootaloo nodded.

“They also said that you said that there should not be any stop buttons on the machines.” Said Sweetie “That they must run forever or something.”

“Did I?” The king asked dismissively, before chuckling it of. “Forgive my people, they can be a little bit literal. Yes its true that we must always dig for more resources. It is our livelihood after all. And you must Forgive us. We try our best , but we are not exactly engineers. We are not able to build machines of such magnitude as you.”

He put his paw on Sweetie Belles hoof.

“On that note – There is a favor I would like to ask.”

“Favor?” asked the girls. “What could you possibly need a favor for?”

The king smiled like an uncle about to share his greatest stories.

“ I understand that you girls came here looking for gems. Especially you, my darling, have quite the appetite for them. Almost as big as our biggest machines.”

Sweetie blushed.

“But. I'm sure you are also painfully aware that diamonds are not, in fact, forever. The energy inside them, something that mother earth has spent centuries pressing into, can be consumed in an instant.

But there is a legend of a crystal far greater then any gemstone you'll have ever seen. One that would make the brightest diamond pale in comparison. A crystal so bright that its like a fraction of the sun came loose and fell onto the earth. And with power as old and eternal as the very orb in your sky.

A sunstone.

A crystal of infinite power. One that some would say to have been powered by Celectia herself!”

Sweetie looked up. She was already carrying what felt like a sun in her horn, A rapidly shrinking sun that was locked in but a tiny shard of magic.
If what this mole was saying was true. If there really was a stone capable of holding infinite energy. It could mean the end of all blackouts everywhere.

The king had long since been thinking along the same way.

“If we could get hold of that eternal energy source. Then we would no longer have to scrap through the endless tunnels”.

“How would you ever find it?” Asked Applebloom sceptically.

“My friend – we have already found it” It is however locked inside an ancient tomb. Now, we moles, we know how to drill. Over the years of countless trials and errors we have been able to put together a drill we believe can break through the ancient barrier. But we have yet to be able to put a machine with enough power to carry her.

“But you” – he pointed at sweetie “I believe you are able.”

And from what I've heard – you are compatible with our crystal powered technology.

“Please – you can short down a Moles struggle with a hundred years.”

“I don't know.” Said Applebloom “We honestly did just come here looking fore some crystals."

“Yes … Crystals ...”

Sweetie was salivating at the Idea of infinite power. It was uncertain if she even heard the kings promise that they would be rewarded a hundred times lifestyles of crystals if they did him just this one small favor.

“Now come on Applebloom. It will be fun!” Scootaloo shouted encouraging. “Well be like Daring Do. Cutie mark crusader Temple raiders anyone?”

She raised her hoof for a hoofbump.

“Ok then” said Applebloom, But the last one into the pool is a Cutie Mark Crusader Chicken pox!

With that, both fillies sprung from the table. Applebloom got a head start. But Scootaloo jumped over the table.

“I'll show you a chicken!”

The two of them collided as they cannonballed into the water.

“Looks like you are gonna be the chicken” the king said to Sweetie.

“Jokes on them.” she said. “I already have my mark.”

She rose from the table and walked to join her friends when the king grabbed her leg.

“About that. There is a question I wanted to ask about these “cute marks” what exactly are they?”

“Oh, that.” Said Sweetie, not expecting the question. “That is a mark we get when we discover out true selves. When we finally understand what out talent is, and how we fit into this world.”

“So its a mark for what your one true place is in the world.”

“Yes … Sorta.”

“I think that's a beautiful thing. To have such clear indication of what your role is. Then there would be no questioning, no second guessing. No disputing what what your job entails. I have tried with the cast system, But markings – It would be so much easier if we all just had them.”

He looked out over the city.

“Everything would be so much easier if everyone just knew their place.”

“Riiiiiight...” Said Sweetie, Pulling herself from the kings tiny paw.

“Oh. But, don't listen to me. He said. Go and have rest and fun with your friends now, and meet me later.”

***

“Well. They seem nice. weird, but nice.” Said Scootaloo, after the girls had been left alone in the bubbling swimming pool. Scootaloo and Applebloom were busy getting comfortable, but Sweetie was still pondering

“You could say that again.” Said Sweetie. “Did you notice something else that was weird?”

“I noticed the way those worms wriggled around in his mouth. I don't think he chewed. At all.”

“No. I mean something else. Did you notice earlier, about the way they spoke of the surface, or the sky?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean its almost like they don't think its a real place.”

Scootaloo laughed.

“That's stupid, Of course its real.”

“Yeah – To us. But we know its real. These people have never seen the sky. So its more like the sky is some distant legend to them. Like a pony tale. Kind of how Nightmare moon wasn't real to us until she turned out to be real.”

Applebloom nodded.

“Speaking of nightmare moon. Did you notice what that mole said? About the Diamond dogs? I mean, Moles do not turn into Diamond Dogs – do they? And go around eating all the bad little moles?”

Scootaloo shrugged, and leaned back into the water.

“Well … Its like you said. it was just some pony-tale. Or should I say moles-tale? Something to scare foals into bed with. We have Nightmare Moon - They have Diamond Dogs.”

“Yeah. But the difference is that Nightmare Moon turned out to be true. And what they say about the diamond dogs … isn't. At least I don't think it is.”

“What are you getting at?” Scoot sighed. More interested in getting cosy then the current conversation.

“So … What if a lot of things they believe about the surface isn't true.”

Sweetie frowned.

“Its like … I can't put my hoof on it. But, what if there was a place that nopony can prove is real, yet everyone believe in anyway? Like some mystical land?”

Applebloom shrugged.

“Well … the king has clearly been there. And he seems to be doing his best.”

Scootaloo sat up, suddenly very interested.

“Yeah! And were gonna help him prove to all these moles that the surface is real. We only have to get that Sunstone, and their machines will be able to drill all the way to the sky without risk of running out of energy.”

“Yeah.” Sweetie smiled. “I wonder what it would be like to never run out of energy.”

“You would be unstoppable” Said Scoot. And nudged Sweetie's shoulder.

Unstoppable. Sweetie let the word roll in her mind as she laid back into the water. She thought about all the magical energy pent up inside the crystal in her horn. It felt like more raw energy then her entire battery could ever hold. If only there was a way to make use of all that pent up magic energy. She could eat it, sure. But her battery could only hold so much. What exactly would happen to all the surplus energy? Would it just be wasted? Or would it explode?

It was a theory she wasn't quite willing to test.

Sweetie closed her eyes and let herself glide down into the water.

Having not turned on her sense of touch and so forth for several ours now, she let her sensors reactivate so she could take in the cool relaxing moist of bath-water.

Flipping the switch- the senses hit her all at once. The feeling was kind of like the shock one gets when diving headfirst into a pool whose temperature you don't know.

All of her body shouted at once as The heat of the water ruched to her mind in an almost painfully blissful manner. Yet quickly subsides in a soothing shiver as the heat helps all of your pistons relax.

Sweetie let her head sink under the surface, allowing her face and horn to receive the same cleansing feeling as the heat of the hot spring evaporated the steam from her over worked pistons.

There was an internal hissing as the last pressure was relieve from her cybernetic muscles, (the steam escaping through her mouth as nostrils as she blew bubbles under the water.) And her body crowned in satesfaction as the metal reacted to the heat of the water (expanding ever so slightly as metal do.) The space between the plates that made up her exterior shell widening a little to let the water pour into the sealing rubber in between. Sweetie let out a relaxed sigh as the water seeped into every knock and cranny on her Titanium alloyed body.

If there had been any pores on her – they would have all been open.

It was an advantage to not have to breathe, as she could allow her face to be cleaned the same as the test of her body. As the bubbling hot spring cleaned away all the gravel and dirt from the last ours of gem hunting, while she just lost herself into full body relaxation.

***

Meanwhile, Sweeties bags, that had been laid down forgotten and conveniently out of sight – stirred as something small made its exit from a self made hidey hole in between the bags inner and outer layer (of fabric).
A small shadow fell upon the cybernetic infused skin, that lay drying on the hot stone (like a flayed animal hide on a sacrificial stone). A tiny paw swiped over the pink mane and the many plump lustrous curls of the tale. Before a screwdriver was pulled (like the sacrificial knife of the bloodthirsty priests) And its sharp end was put to the knob of wires that was the connection point between the tail and the tailbone.

Author's Note

OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING.

Vault Breakers

The cart rocketed back and forth with the drowsy rhythm. Sweetie had always had difficulty keeping her eyes open on a train. There was just something drowsy in the steady thumping as the train passed from one bar of rail to the other on the endless track.

The length of the ride did not help her fight off her ”drowsyness” subroutine. It already felt like hours since they had left Moletown behind.

Sweeties mind was still in that comfortable hot spring on the mole castles roof. It had been a rude awakening when somebody had knocked her on the head and dragged her out of the water.

After she had gotten dressed in her well scrubbed skin, she and her friends had been led to the biggest tunnel out of town. Where they had been shown the mighty vehicle that was to carry them to the digsite.

The cart, or rather, the platform they were riding on was a big circular contraption. Bowl shaped from the outside. With a big open circular ”deck” at the top, serving as the main sitting area for the three girls. And the engine compartment located beneath them, along with the wheels that bound them to the track.

The only thing that broke up the big open area was a rectangular open hut in the middle of the machine. Like the steering cabin on a ship, except roofless and bottomless. Smaller moles were constantly going up and down that central area, red capes tied adorned their necks that marked them as members of the mechanicus caste, serving the engines down below.

And at the front, a lookout had been posted, holding a pair of binoculars that could apparently see through the darkness in front of them.

The whole thing was like a mix of a steamboat and a train. None the least thanks to the two big wheels that rolled on the side of the construction, giving the thing a sense of stability on the otherwise slim rail-track they balanced on. And the two big chimneys that protruded up on either side of the wheelhouse. Pumping a cloud of dust and heat up into the sealing of the tunnel.

The dust then fell into a cloud behind them. But with the speed they were going, there was no chance of any of them breathing fumes.

It was a far cry from the machines they had seen earlier, who was nothing but engines and drills. This ride had been designed for comfort. Painted in a pearly white, and decorated with gemstones that shone like lanterns in the pressing darkness of the tunnels.

Said darkness was now that was making it hard for Sweetie to keep a track of time With the darkness in front of the tunnel looking just as endless and empty as the darkness behind them, one could be forgiven for thinking they might as well have been rolling backwards through infinity.

The mole king was firmly seated on his side of the sundeck. Having brought a big beddsofa for himself, which he now firmly lay crunched in while his servants fed him glow worms. He displayed the same bad table manner as earlier. Pieces of half chewed worm and glowing goo flew from his mouth as he tried to keep his guests occupied with countless stories about his journey to the surface.

The girls were firmly seated on cushions on the other side, trying not to fall asleep due to repetition. A task made easier by them also trying to avoid being hit by the kings bad table manner.

None of them wanted to get their newly bathed fur drenched in mole spit. Especially not Sweetie who was now adorned back in her very well kept, and well groomed organic exterior.

Her curly mane wobbled with each bump on the tracks as she took another look at their cargo. A big cone shape, tied down under a cloth that was currently occupying most of the deck, and everyone’s attention.

--- *** ---

The unmasking had been treated like the unwrapping of a hearts warming gift.

The new drill had several independent moving segments. Like rings growing smaller towards the top. Each piece was capable of rotating both clockwise and counter clockwise.

The many different segments also gave the drill a whole new flexibility. According to the science mole that accompanied them – the drill would take use of the space between the drilling blocks to be able to sway ever so slightly in any direction.

Sweetie was overjoyed as she realized this would allow the drill to turn while digging. And that would on its own save a ton of energy and effort as she would no longer have to retract and re-emerge the drill every time she needed to turn.

"A truly excellent drill. The finest piece of engineering we have yet to come up with." Said the science mole. Awhite cape with a gray gearwheel symbol dressed his back, marking him as a member of the science caste.

"Its a shame that our finest engineer could not be here to witness hos works completion."

There was a moment of silence on the train.

”So – can I try it now?” Sweetie asked enthusiastically.

”Well... We were really gonna wait till we reach our destination.” the science mole lisped between his big teeth.

A look at the mole king and another at the girls made him give in.

Shedding the old drill was as easy as tilting your head and hoping you did not rip a hole in the deck when the component unfolded itself from your head – Which is to say, not that easy at all. But Sweetie was careful (honest) and managed to put her old drill down beside the new one without causing too much damage to the deck.

Separating from it however – proved a little bit more difficult. Her subconsciousness subroutines had already begun to counting the drill as a part of her. And the had to tell the repair and restoration programs not to restore the wires and bolts that were cut while the moles helped her separate the drills internal engine from her horn.

Looking at the two drills side by side was like looking at day and night. The new drill was white, and encrusted with diamonds – the hardest material one could find, the moles assured her - whereas their home made drill had just been a single piece of welded together scrap metal. With a spiral shaped edge for cutting through the dirt.

Strange though – for all the rock and mud she had pushed that thing through, there wasn't a single dent or scratch along the whole drill. There wasn't even a speck of rust, and the welding lines had been smoothed out.

”You Children of the surface truly are something else” Said the science moles, as they examined the old drill. ”You are truly able to take the elements of mother earth and make them bend to your will.”

”What do you mean?” Asked Sweetie.

”I mean that if we meager moles had put together an engine like this, we would still be in the age of blindness.” the science mole lisped.

”Again. What do you mean?” Applebloom pushed.

”I mean that the way the cogs and gears are put together in here, the thing should not be able to run at all.”

The Girls looked questioningly at each other. Mostly everyone looked at Sweetie Belle, who – lacking anywhere else to look, just looked at the old drill. True, none of the Cmc were anny drill engineers. But the thing had worked. True – it was not perfect, Sweetie had been a part of the inner workings of it like no one else... But it had worked.

”Huh...” she said.

The moles made the necessary modifications to the new drill. Allowing for Sweetie insert her horn at the connection port. Once again wires and support structures were attached to her horn, and for the second time today she spent a lot of magical energy making the shrinking spell encompass the entirety of this new component.

Magic … The energy inside the little red gemstone, whose potency she had once compared to that of a suns, were diminishing.

She drew a silent sigh as the magic washed over the new drill.

Magic was all she had wanted to learn today. And all she had really learned was how to activate the power already present within gemstones.

It was an external form of magic, other ponies magic. It was power that did not resign within herself. It was like like borrowing a magical amulet to grant the user powers they did not normally have.

Unless...

She looked over at the old drill.

”Done!”

And that was as far as she got along those thought’s before someone gave the signal that the drill had been entirely encompassed.

With a though she activated the spell, and every diamond along the new drills many rings glowed as they one by one retracted into her horn.

”Wow Sweetie. Then looked like you turned the trill into a series of energy rings.” Applebloom complemented as sweetie sat down.

”And you say you don't have any magic.” Said Scootaloo.

Sweetie did not answer. Her horn sparkled and her eye twitched. She was busy examining all the systems of her new components that her electricity flowed through.

Or more likely – her systems were busy coming up with names for all the components of her new drill.

Whereas their old construction had been made with an engine. This one was instead filled with gemstones. Ball shaped gems loaded with kinetic and magnetic force. Mounted inside several layers of rings and plates that pushed up against one another – all the way to the outer shell – forming a ball bearing of sorts, all rotating around the central axis of her horn.

Getting in touch with the inner workings of these unusual systems took time and energy, she had to pour herself into every single orb to make sure all the wheels would turn when she wanted to. It took a few test runs and a lot of simultaneous power adjustments to get the energy flow just right. But when it did. It was like the drill ran on nothing at all – so smooth and powerful were the gravitational forces within.

Then she noticed that their Boat-train was leaning and that a lot of moles and two ponies were screaming.

Sweetie was sitting on her side of the vehicle. With the drill fully extended above her doing test spins back and forth.

The sudden increase in weight and mass on that side had made the train tilt over. The wheels on the other side were lifted up of the rails and the whole train-wagon-thingie started to lean over from the unbalance.

The drill was scratching the roof of the tunnel and made gravel and grit fall down on the passengers before Sweetie caught her senses and retracted the new drill.

The train slammed down on its wheels again, and hipped and skipped a few beats before it settled comfortable and smoothly on the tracks again.

"Ups ... sorry."

The whole equipage gave her looks, before the king let out one on his characteristic chuckles, and the hole situation was defused.

”I … though that was all in my head.” She said to Apple and Scoot.

”You certainly were all in your head.” Said Scoot.

--- *** ---

The ride carried on without incident for several miles. They passed by several side tunnels and intersections. Some mole made, some not. At one point they passed over a bridge overlooking a massive mine shaft with a river of dark water running down below.

Occasionally the lookout would call something out, and their ride had to slow down a bit while a crew ran ahead to change gears on the tacks.

At another point they reached a dead end. But instead of stopping the, their vehicle was driven up to the very wall. Whereupon a gear was changed and the big steamboat like side wheels folded out big claw like hooks that were driven into the walls.

And their journey suddenly went from horizontal to vertical as the vehicle train-boat started to climb upward.

The worms, that had up until now been laying dormant spouted to life after a few whistle blows, and began to support the engines with their might as two climbed into the hollowed out wheels and begun to crawl along inside them like a hamster in its hamster wheel – while the other two grabbed crank protruding from the center axis and began to turn and wind with the flow.

Looking upwards the girls saw a long vertical tunnel, perfectly shaped so that the circular centerpiece of the "deck" just fitted inside the round elevator shaft – With the wheels being edged into two straight columns with regular ladder-like steps that the hooks on the wheels now grabbed onto for their accent.

Their cargo wagons – including their precious gem storage was detached from their main hitches behind the vehicle, and were instead attached below it, where they hung from new vertical attachments and chains as their ride ascended upwards.

Some moles even hung out from down below themselves, sitting on tiny benches that hung like swings from the engine above. Almost all of them carrying some form of light gem in their paws – or attached like headlight between their ears.

The sight was like some sort of reverse hearts warming tree. Or perhaps a chandelier, Sweetie thought. As she looked down through the glass floor of the central steering cabin.

The "boat" was rocking slightly back and forth as it balanced on some axis between the two wheels. But otherwise managed to keep its right side up.

"It feels like we are on the ocean." Sweetie said

"No! We're flying" Scoot said.

"I think its more like riding an elevator" Said Applebloom.

Sweetie was filled with a new understanding for why the vehicle was shaped the way it was – This way the machine could traverse literally any angle, both vertically and horizontally.

Regardless of how you though of it – the unusual way of transversing was an assault on the scenes. And Scootaloo had managed to catch the sea sickness before they reached the top.

---***---

The undergrounds were a maze.

The ride had so many track changes that sweetie had grown bored of counting them all. Sometimes it was almost like they went in circles with how many times they tuned left, or right, in a row. But then the tunnels would twist like a snake, so she guessed they had to change gear in order to stay on course.

She wondered if she would be able to find her way back to Moletown. She wondered how much further they had to go to reach the ancient vault of the Sunstone that the mole king spoke of.

She wondered is Scootaloo could snore anny louder.

It felt like they had been riding all the way to canterlot and back. But who knew? It was not the first time today that a short and simple journey felt like forever. Maybe time moved differently when you could not see the sun or moon?

She needed a clock installed – and a compass.

”Ok! Were here.”

-::Finally::-

The ride came to a very literal dead end, and the Mole king and fillies disembarked from the vehicle.

”Are the others not coming?” Sweetie wondered, as the rest of the crew remained on board.

”Oh – they are no diggers.” The mole king chuckled. ”Besides, they would not want to get in your way.”

He led them down a smaller side tunnel. And a short walk later entered into another tunnel that seemed to run parallel with with the first.

"This is the older tunnel.” the mole king explained. ”It was first used when my people found this place. Before they dug the newer, more direct route."

-::Direct route?::-

Sweetie looked down the opposite end of the tunnel, away from where everyone was going. But even her infrared vision could only see so far before the tunnel bent and headed of somewhere else.

Heading back after the main group. They soon exited out in to what could only be described a a dig site. A slightly widened gap to the end of the tunnel that ended abruptly at the solid wall that had apparently caused the moles so much grievance.

Around the site, a few shining gems had been placed as light sources. Most focused on that stone wall.

In the shadowy corners of the site - few machines had also been shoved. Some of them looking like primitive excavators. All of them broken.

A massive grill laid of to the side, easily the biggest one the girls had seen yet. One that could have been responsible for the tunnel they had been riding through for so long.

It was also cracked in half. And its tip had been grinded down so much it no longer resembled a point – but more of a lump.

The wall itself barely had a scratch in it.

”This is a tough nut to crack.” Said the mole king. ”But with your help I'm sure we will finally be able to claim out price.”

Without further adue, Sweetie lowered her head, and folded out her drill.

Placing the tip on the wall, she could feel it humming with eagerness (Or perhaps that was just her own subconscious files?)

The drill started spinning. and then ... nothing.

Sweetie pushed harder, but was unable to gain an inch. The trill simply refused to sink into the stonework.

Not even a gravel had the decency to scrape of the wall. The only sound of her progress was the grinding noise as friction struggled against friction.

She redirected power to increase the speed of the drill. Her friends and the mole king covered their ears as the noise grew worse.

Faster and faster she sent the drill spinning. The friction was fighting against her. This did not even feel like drilling in stone. Stone usually had the decency to crack and break when put under enough force. This wall did neither.

Not one to quit, she pushed harder. Until her body reached its maximum threshold. She was gonna break down this wall. Even if she was gonna have to grind it down.

And grind was just what she did. The new drill was already being pushed till its utmost. Every kinetically charged crystal inside it was milked for all their raw force of motion. Until the very act of spinning a hard pointy thing on a dense surface had created a hole.

Over the deafening sound of friction, she could just make out her friends shouting encouragements.

Then she felt their hooves on her shoulders as they helped her push. Their efforts making a miniscule but welcome addition.

With a tiny hole in the wall, the drill finally had something to work on. And as more and more of the drill head sunk into the wall, the rest of its drilling area was able to help with the eroding of the unmovable object.

At no point did it get any easier. The wall fought back all the way. At no point did any gravel or dust fall away. The only thing that did come of was a thick smoke caused by red hot friction.

It was like trying to make a piece of wood disappear using only sand paper.

Step by step Sweetie persisted. Her friends feeding her a constant stream of gemstones as all her energy went into the drill. Until finally the pressure disappeared from the tip of the drillhead, signalizing that it had pierced through to the other side.

Inch by inch the drill came through, until its widest rear edge was finally scrubbing away at the holes edge.

Sweetie could finally retract her drill and observe her work. The wall had never cracked or collapsed. No rubble had fallen on either side of the hole. It had simply ceased to exist. The edges of the hole were growing red hot from where relentless spinning had grinded the stonework away.

The wall itself want even that thick, Sweetie noticed to some disappointment. Just about a filly's legs reach in width. It had felt much thicker with how much effort it took to pierce.

”You are definitely something little miss” Said the mole king, as he looked into the thick darkness that filled the area beyond.

---***---

A small glowing gem was thrown in through the hole. It bounced a few times with a satisfying echo on a hard stone floor.

When no evil jumped out of the shadows to descend upon the light source, Sweetie Belle and her group took their first sensitive steps into the new area.

The room inside contained a few lanes of stone pillars. In between these pillars ran stone tablets, like shelves in a shopping mall. And these shelves were stacked full of shiny objects of all the sizes and shapes, neatly displayed upon each stone rack.

Scootaloo pulled one of the artifacts from the shelves. It was a wide golden headdress, like something straight out of what the old pharaohs would have worn, if Sweetie's memory files about history class were corrupted. A few of those files had been found to contain unreliable data due to the boredom virus.

(Virus was a label designated to any contradictory or unreliable data --- that had become corrupted or incomplete due to the heart drive and logic center disagreeing with each other. While it might be a good idea to take in all information that was being presented to you in school, and the memory banks more then happy to store any and all information. But The heart drive may have other idea's and create subroutine that sent the visual lenses wandering out after that bird that just landed on the swing in the empty playground. )

It more closely resembled the big headdress that her older sister had once made for the pop star singer Sapphire Shores. (that was a memory that had been corrupted by the Shame and Jealousy virus.) It even had the big pink eye in the middle of the forehead.

Though – this eye was not sown on. This was a big pink pearl with a pupil and iris that Sweetie could swear followed them.

"Look at this" Said Scootaloo,"Just like Daring do and the Temple Raiders of Phantasmia."

She put the headdress on. The pink eye in the center seemed to focus as she did so.

"Its like we found the eye of Phantasmia, she once ruled over all the seven rivers that supplied the great sands of Saddle Arabia. Its said that she used this to see the thoughts of all the ponies she ruled over, and shrink any one she did not like into tiny mice."

She proudly tucked the headdress in place. It was so big that it sunk down over her eyes.

"I don't know about that" Said Applebloom. "Doesn't that look like the hat look like the thing that Rarity made for Sapphire shores."

The pink eye gave them with a penetrating glance.

"Don't you compare the mighty eye of Phantasmia to some low rent singer." Scootaloo snapped.

"Low rent what? You like her music too!"

"Not as much as you, with your three hundred and forty five bit collection of 'Mare of the month'. "

"Wha ... how did you? ..."

"Does your sister know about your fantasies of becoming a pop singer - like that two bit entertainer?"Scootaloo said as she advanced on Applebloom. " Of course not! It would be way to shameful to break your family trend. An apple does not fall far from the tree after all."

"What are you talking about?"

"Scootaloo. Knock it of – its not funny any more."

The eye on the headdress turned towards Sweetie Belle, where it froze for a moment of uncertainty.

"A ... Sweetie, you ... you ... "

The pink pearly almost adopted a confused look.

"How dare you stand before the eye of Phantasmia you mechanical abomination! Do you want to me to smite you with my rays of shrinkingness?"

"Shrinkingness?" said Applebloom. "That's a stupid name."

The glow of purple aura that surrounded the eye was all the warning Sweetie Belle got.

She leaps out of the way as beam of purple energy shout out of the eye. The beam struck a shelf behind her, bounced of a gold cover and ricocheted across the room, where it bounced of a shield made entirely of glass before it finally struck a piece of terracotta armor – which instantly transformed it into the perfect armament for a fat rodent.

In the confusion, Applebloom ran up and smacked the headdress of her crazy friends head.

Scootaloo looked upon her with eyes glowing as pink as the pearl.

"You dare lay a hoof on me you insolent child! You must pay for this insubordination! "

Applebloom smacked her again, and the pink faded.

"Knock it of Scootaloo, Its not funny any more."

Scoot rubbed her chin.

"Wait ... what was I saying again?"

Sweetie looked down on the headdress. The pink eye spun in its socket, before going still again.

It followed Sweetie as she put it back in on the shelf. And she cold almost feel its eye on her as she turned and walked away.

”I'm starting to think some of these things were put here for a reason.” She said.

”That's usually the case” Said Applebloom. As she examined another shelf, containing a bundle of completely ordinary rope – except for that the rope end was following the little Apple filly like the head of a snake – a thread even wobbling in and out of the end like a tongue.

“Oh don't be like that.” Said Scootaloo “this is obviously some dead kings treasure chamber.”

”Focus children, focus.” Said the mole king. ”Lets not be distracted by this temples strange treassury – less I'm shure we will fall into its traps.”

”A … Like how you hide your most valuable treasure in the treasure chamber with all the other shiny stuff – so that the thieves will get distracted and go for the gold instead.” Scoot agreed.

”Yes … like what you are doing now” Said Applebloom, while she was petting the rope.

Scootaloo was like a kid in a candy store – Or a adventurer in a treasury – Either way she had already managed to fill her saddlebags with a whole drove of strange golden coins, rings and jewelry. What she could not fit into her saddlebags she had started putting on her person.

”What?” She said. Putting on a pair of golden bracelets and a necklace that on her was as big as a breastplate. ”Its just as well that what we can now. Its not like we are coming back to this place. Maybe the moles are. But we might as well take our share of the treasure now.”

”And I though we did this for a reward of gems.” Said Sweetie.

"But does anyone see anything that looks like a "sun stone" Said Applebloom. ”You'd think something with a name like that would be pretty easy to find."

It was true, the place was dark , and no where was there anything that really shone like a sun or anyting.

"It ... It wasn't just a myth, right?" Said Applebloom. "like – our Sunstone is not in another tomb?"

"No. no" the mole king chuckled. "Its here, somewhere,"

Sweetie noticed some irritation creeping into his voice.

"Maybe its hidden" Scoot suggested. "Maybe there's a secret contraption somewhere and you got to find the switch to make it appear."

"Good idea girls, start looking behind things." Said the mole king, as he rode upon Applebloom.

"I'll start here." Said Applebloom

She walked up to a big decorative spear that was standing, without support, on its hilt on a small podium. After examining said podium for half a second, she came to the elegant conclusion that no spears should just be able to stand like that without having its hilt attached to something.

So she pulled it.

The spear tilted, just a bit. Then vibrated so intensely that it faded out of existence for a second, and then it fell.

Well – a spear fell. The spear was still very much standing at its angle, But now a new spear – identical to the first, had fallen to the floor. It was quickly joined by another – and another – and another.

More and more spears kept falling out of the first spear and piling up on the floor until Applebloom gave the spear a push to correct it back up to its standing position. The spear gave of another vibration, before all the duplicates also rose up and faced back into the original spear.

”Well, that clearly wasn't it.”

”Maybe this is.” Said Scootaloo, walking up to a big black rug that was hanging from a hook in the roof in the middle of the treasury – like a big black cone of cloth with strange engravings.

"I wonder whats underneath this." She said. And pulled the cloth.

The hook came loose. And their whole world turned blind for an instant as light exploded forward.

There, upon a simple pedestal, was probably the strangest crystal Sweetie had ever seen.

The thing was round of shape, But not like a sphere. It consisted of many, many flat sides, shaped into perfect octagons. Sweetie did not know which octa or gone the thing itself classified as. Their teacher had only really taught them of so many geometrical shapes. From triangles to squares to pentagons and octagons. This was several stages above that. Like someone had made a circle out of very small straight lines.

Some crystals shine with an inner light. Some burn with an inner fire so bright that you can see the flames dancing inside the gem.

This ... this shone with the inner light of a sun.

Inside the many times octagon shape was a smaller yellow sphere. A mass of flames and light made solidus = almost solid mass that shimmered and shifted inside a glass container. Whatever color the crystal itself might had was lost in a light so blinding that only Sweetie Belle could look directly at it. Just like she had so many times stared up at Celestia's yellow orb, sometimes for hours without blinking. Just trying to get a sense of what the lightbulb actually looked like. Until Rarity or someone else cam and told her to stop before some other foals got the same idea.

(it was the same reason no one played staring competitions with her any more)

It was like looking upon a miniature of the sun.

”if anyone was go guess, I'd say we found what we're looking for” Said Applebloom.

She, Scoot and the mole king were covering their eyes. Unable to look upon the thing without risk of retinal burns.

Sweetie picked up, and marveled for a second over what she was holding in her hooves. The surface didn't even feel hot, it only felt like glass. Like it was just a container that somepony had put this miniature sun in.

Like catching the sun in a bottle.

In her excitement – Sweetie sent a spark of energy between her hooves, through the orb she was holding. Like the other crystals she had worked with today, this allowed her to get a sense of the power that resigned within.

But as while all other crystals might have needed a little push to activate the magic inside them – this one simply swallowed the energy.

It was like traveling through a black hole. An blank space where something should resign that she simply could not comprehend. Her sensors simply could not measure it.

While she though she had been touching a sun before – this one was like drowning in the stary ocean of space. An eternal sea in which she wasn't even a droop.

"So this is what true power feels like."

Without more thought. She dropped the Sunstone onto the black cloth that had hidden it and tied it up into a bundle.

The room fell to darkness again.

"Sweetie? Are you ok?"

Sweetie felt Applebloom's hoof on her shoulder.

”You're sweating."

Sweetie rubbed her forehead – her biological shell really was producing its cool down feature. Despite that her body temperature hadn't changed.

"Yeah... yeah I'm ok."

"So. Do we have it?” Asked Scootaloo. ”Is this what were been looking for?"

Sweetie nodded. Then , remembering the darkness, she added.

"Yeah – its definitely what were looking for."

"What was that?"

-:: Warning – Unfamiliar voices recognized ::-

"Don't be silly man – no one ever comes down here – and we were literally guarding the only entrance to this place."

Voices – Male and gruff. Sweetie had no idea who they were, or how they were here, this deep underground.. But they had clearly entered this place from somewhere else.

"Who are they?" Whispered Applebloom.

"It ... It might be the guardians of the temple. Cannibalistic tribals that are gonna sacrifice us to their dark god." Scoot shivered.

"You read way to many of Rainbow Dash's books."

"There it was again!"

"Since when do cannibalistic tribals speak perfect equestrian?"

"And since when do they have flashlights!?"

The darkness had just enveloped the fillies again, when two cones of light sweeped though the treasury. The sudden light quickly fell upon the girls, blinding them. And male gruff voices started shouting.

"There! Over there!"

"Intruders! We have got intruders!"

"Sound the alarm!"

And just like that – all semblance of order collapsed. The girls screamed and scattered. Scoot jumping up on the shelves while Applebloom descended under them. Leaving Sweetie to run down the between the shelves.

Heavy hooves closed in behind her. In a moment of panic she looked behind her, straight into the powerful flashlight.

Her vision flickered, causing her to straight into the supporting pillar of one of the shelves.

She stumbled and fell. In the tumult, her hazy vision just barely made out the silhouette of a pony coming right for her.

"Hold it right there!" He roared.

Sweetie instantly activated her drill. Throwing it up between her and her assailant like a shield.

"Its the henchponies of Dr Caballeron!" Screamed Scoot, as she descended from the shelves to place a big urn over the bigger ponies head.

Despite the urn being barely bigger then a flower pot – the whole pony disappeared into the thing with a sucking sound.

Scootaloo looked on the urn in her hooves. Normally pots were supposed to go over the head of the pony – she was not too sure about the whole pony following the head into the urn.

She then looked over at a new pair of shadowly figures advancing on her.

"Back off! I have an Urn!" she shouted, and aimed it at them like a canon.

A swift swing of a spear knocked it out of her hooves.

Now she was sent running down the halls – the two guardians followed – only to trip on a rope that had extended itself across the hall.

The duo fought to get the rope off, but only got more tangled up as they struggled – as the rope weaved itself like a snake around them, before finally tying a big knot on itself as it had its prey firmly wrapped up in several wraps of itself.

In the chaos – Sweetie noticed they has lost sight of the mole king.

Then she quickly caught sight of the big blue spear that were thrown her way. It split as it sailed straight over her head, and struck the ground around her as a dozen individual pointy sticks, linked together by a blue magic.

Sweetie tried to run past them – but found herself bouncing back as she tried to run out between the spears.

A second later, a herd of big strangers with spears closed in, but just as quickly as they surrounded her. They were found running back the other way as a barrage of pink beams shot out from the opposite end of the treasury.

Some of them failed to dodge the beams, and ceased to be ponies.

Scootaloo came running by, wearing the big headdress with the strange eye, blasting beams to her hearts content.

"Face the eye of shrinkingness" she shouted.

"That's still a stupid name."called Applebloom, who appeared from the shadows, holding a shield made entirely of glass.

"Get down Sweetie!" She shouted as she charged.

Sweetie did the oposite. With a great power surge to her legs, she jumped out and over her prission just as Applebloom smached into it from the outside.

The spears were sent flying, and imploded back into the original spear, which fell to the flow with a finite clang. Sweetie herself fell on top of Applebloom, and the two tumbled over and ended up sitting with the shield of glass under them – Who rocketed over the stone floor like a sledge that had never heard of friction.

"Where's the mole king?" Sweetie shouted in the middle of their joyride. "Where's the Sunstone!?"

"I thought you had them?"

In no time at all, they caught up with Scootaloo, who was screaming about insulence and whatnott. The collision knocked her helmet of her, and knocked her straight into the hooves of the other two.

"Hello Scootaloo. Have you seen the Sunstone?"

"What – I though you insulent fillies had it!"

"Stop in the name of the law!"

In an even shorter time. A big burly pony appeared in front of them, the girls would surely have collided with him too, if a speck of magic had not made the floor rise like a ramp in front of him.

The fillies went Airborne. A dozen flashlights tracking their aerial acrobatics as the trio did a double somersault before crashing down into the awaiting herd. Their joyride ending in a mass of sprawling limbs and ponies.

”Somepony get the lights!”

The catacombs suddenly became very bright as a roof filled with luminescent light blinked into action.

Sweeties infrared vission gave upp, and even turning it of she had to blink a few times before here optic lenses could ajust to the sudden change of brightness.

When her eyes came to. She found herself surrounded by the second biggest bunch of growling armored burly dudes with point spears she had faces today.

Except this growly bunch didn't smell bad ...

And their armor was golden, complete with helmets with blue crests on them ...

And there wasn't a single cannibalistic tribal tattoo or henchpony mark among them. Just a clean permalecent white ...

"Hold it right there criminal scumm. You are under arrest for trespassing and attempted theft in the holy vault of Celestia."

Scootaloo looked up at the guards. The crash having shaken the pink from her eyes. But not enough to shake the golden bracelets and necklaces from her body.

She sheepishly looked down upon the riches that adorned her, then up at the guards again. Then back at the angry duo, tied up by magic rope. And the many white mice in golden armor that wielded them miniature spears at them. And at the urn rolled around on the floor – spewing some very loud profanities.

"This isn't what it looks like." She began.

Then – the hole and the tunnel behind them exploded, and caved in.

-:: Crap ::-

Author's Note

This writer does not know what a shape beyond an octagon is called.

Teamwork and Tributes

In less time then it had taken three little fillies to find their way into the Diamond dogs bathroom, Sweetie felt the walls fall away, as the drill broke through the earth and exited into a larger open area.

Sweetie had no idea if they had been able to get clear of Canterlot mountain by then. It was hard to get a read on anything underground, as everything looked the same from the backside of a drill. Though they might as well has been able to drill through the center of the planet with the speed that that drill cut through the earth.

Sweetie had been afraid that they might accidentally drill themselves straight out of the side of the mountain, and then be at the mercy of gravity.

Gravity still took the little mare as she jumped out of the hole they had created, and her hooves touched a softer soil then mountain bedrock. One sign that they had not exited the side of the mountain was the distinct lack of sunlight. Or in fact any light at all.

With a little help from Sim, Sweetie Retracted the drill and activated her Infrared eyes.

Sweetie activated her infrared eyes to look back at her friends, the two links in the chain of ponies holding onto each other by the tails as not to loose one another in the dark. They all needed a breather after their more then rapid escape.

“Wow.” Said Scoot from the back of the chain. “That was the greatest roalercoaster I've ever rode in my life.

“Do pegasi even use roller coasters?” Asked Applebloom, Who were holding onto Sweetie belle's tail. ”I would think a roller coaster would seem Trivial to one who can soar and freefall whenever they like.”

“Hey – sometimes you just like to put yourself at the mercy of an Earth pony construction – Its the surrender of control that gives the thrill. Besides, not everyone can soar of fr... LOOK OUT A MONSTER!”

“Don't be silly. Its just me again” Said Sweetie.

Her own artificial heartbeat was beating like a snare drum. She told it to be quiet. At least her restrictions did not stop her from tuning down power to optional parts.

“Yeah. That got pretty wild” Said Sim from inside Sweeties head. “I've never in my life worked with an engine that could work like that. Much less piloted one with a drill like this.”

“Please don't call me that” Said Sweetie.

Her spine buzzed as her servos tried to simulate the cold feeling of uncomfortably.

Truth was that the only reason they had not ended up outside the mountain was that Sim was steering her.
By manipulating the wires going into sweeties horn she regulated the outflow to the horn. By cutting the power to the left-ich side she drill swayed more to the right-ish side. So Sim steered the drill by pulling wires around the 360 areal circle base of sweeties horn.

It was extremely efficient.

And extremely, embarrassingly uncomfortable.

Just like a roller coaster – it had been a surrender of control. Albeit a more unintentional Spur-of-the-moment-surrender of her own body.

Sweeties servos buzzed again at the though. She'd rather not have anyone running around inside her at all. She felt her personal space had been invaded so hard it was not imploding on itself. She wanted to tell Sim to just get out of her. But – She needed Sim to bypass her power regulations, And Sim needed her to get back to Moletown – and her back at the mole king. So she kept quiet.

She tried to retract the drill into her horn. But Sim Had already removed the bypassing wires, Presumably to catch her own breath and not waste battery power. and the standard were prohibited by the restrictions from the necessary use of energy.

And the heavy drill was weighing on a neck that wasn't allowed the power to keep itself upright.

”OWH! Whats going on?” Sim shouted as Sweeties head fell down to allow the drill to rest on the ground.

”Just some technical difficulties ” Sweetie mumbled. “do you think you could hand me a wire?”

“Oh.”

A shock was given – and the automated sequence did the rest.

Now that she could move her head around again, Sweetie took a look around. Not that there was much to see, even as she only one with the infrared eyes. It looked just like every other tunnel she had seen today.

“Do you know where you are going Sim?” she asked.

“Oh yeah” said the mole in her head. “We just need to head to the right.”

Sweetie looked down the long dark corridor to her right. It looked identical to the one on her left.

“You mean. Follow the tunnel?”

“No. Those Tunnels are built like a labyrinth. I mean right, into the wall. Were gonna take a shortcut.

“Ah. You mean: Make our own way.” Said Scootaloo, as she blindly moved her head around to the right.

“How are you finding your way through this Sim?” Applebloom asked. “Aren't you as blind as we are? And how could you possibly know where mole town is?”

“Its over there.” Sim said Nonchalantly. “In the direction were heading in.”

Sweetie could almost feel the mole pointing inside her head.

The three girls let out a collectively confused sigh.

“Yeah – I can see it from here.” Scoot said sarcastically.

“Where? I cant see anything but cold dark earth and rock.” Aplebloom continued along Scoots lines “In fact, I can't see anything.”

“Look – I just know ok.” Sim elaborated” When you've spent your whole life underground you just learn to get a feel for the earth. You know how to find your way through the soil by the pull of the gravel. I know the way home because which way the earth pulls towards it.”

“So – Like a compass?”

“Whats a compass?”

“Nevermind.”

“So you can see though the earth? - Is it some kind of geometrical X-ray vision?” Scoot asked.

“Well – Its a little hard to explain, Sight has nothing to do with it. Its just a feeling I have. An Earth-sence, if that makes sense. When I'm drilling, its like a little voice in my head that telling me where to dig, that the earth is just a little softer over here, that there will be a big rock over there.

Even now, sitting here with my eyes closed I still know where everything is. I can sense it it the earths. That's how we find crystals and everything. That how we don't accidentally dig ourselves straight into a pool of lava – The crystals, well, they shine. You cant see them shine, But you can feel their shine, like an energy that shines though the earth. Just like with lava – you can hear and feel the heat in the earth long before you reach it.

Does that make sense?”

Sweetie Belle answered no. But both of her friends answered yes.

“What about you Sweetie? Don't you have a sixth sense?”

-:: Commencing complete Internal systems check // Only five senses located // Unable to find file: “Sixth sense”::-

“Not really. Not that I know of. I know I'm not able to sense magic like other unicorns might … On account of me not really being a unicorn.”

Somewhere in her Heart-Drive, it stung to say that.

”Like … If i had been a real Unicorn I would have been able to light this place up with a simple light spell.”

She sighed. Once again dreading over her lack of spells. She wasn't even able to lit up her horn with a magic aura like other unicorns do.

“Hold up.” Said Sim in her head. “Light up … That give me an idea.”

There was some Rattle behind Sweetie's eyes. Then her sight when blurry and started to flicker as her eyes where moved in their sockets.

-:: Nausea subroutine activated ::-

”What are you doing in there!?”

Then everything went black.

-:: !Warning! // Visibility input at zero percent // !Warning! // Main optical lens connection compromi...s..e..d … ::-

“Wait! What did you do? Why cant I see anything!” Sweetie cried out.

“Ow, You blinded me!”

“What do you mean?” Sweetie cried, turning her head towards Scootaloo's voice “Its pitch black in here! The little bastard unscrewed my eyes!”

“No she didn't Sweetie. She made them shine like headlights.” Said Applebloom.

-:: !Cation! // Power source rerouted // Iris light increased by 300 percent. ::-

“Oh great! So now you can see but I'm blind!” Sweetie snarked.

“How can you be blind when your eyes are shining like that?”

There was quite an easy explanation for this: Eyes are supposed to catch light coming into them, And Sweeties eyes were no different. Truth was there was always a little bit of light coming out of Sweeties optical lenses. It was the faint green glow she saw in her Irises every time she looked in the mirror. Just as a side effect of the energy coursing behind the colored lens. However – that faint glow had now been cranked up by a good few hundred percent, And the strong light coming out of her optical lenses made it impossible for any light to travel into them.

That, she told Scootaloo. Though with a choice of words that were a little less expository and a little more cursy.

“Sorry – Let me fix that.” Said Sim.

Sweetie felt her lenses being tampered with again. A tiny overload to the back of here eyes made the connection point let out a spark.

“OW! What was that for?”

“That was a reminder for you to stop messing with me!” Said Sweetie. “I can overload any part, anywhere, at any time, just so you don't run around pulling parts as you please!”

She was bluffing, In truth the restrictions would not allow her to do that. Only the parts that Sim by passed Did she had full control over.

“Wont you damage yourself?” Sim asked.

'Nothing that my repair systems cant handle' - Though Sweetie.

Whatever little scorchmark had appeared due to the little power demonstration had already been erased.

“No more then you might do if you run around pulling my wires.” She said out loud.

“Whats that supposed to mean! I think you're underestimating how good of a mechanic I am!” Sim shouted.

“And I think you're underestimating just what I am capable of! You little saboteur” Sweetie shouted back.

“Without me! You would not be capable of anything, you under-preforming malfunctioning !”

“Because of you I've just lost my eyesight! You little Rat!”

“Well if your stop zapping me – I could fix it you stupid machine!”

Another overload, this time big enough to make the light coming out of Sweetie's eyes flicker.

Sim cursed so loudly that it echoed inside Sweeties head.

“Sucks when the machine isn't doing what you want – Isn't it!” Sweetie spat. “Now get out! Out of me now!”

“You don't have to tell me twice!” Sim cursed.

-:: !Warning! // Left earlobe decoupled // Left microphone Dissconected // Hearing compromised ::-[/!]

Sweetie felt someone pull her mane to climb onto her head and sit down next to her Horn.

“Girls, girls” Sweeties right ear picked up Appleblooms Voice. “Its not gonna get better if you keep fighting!”

Sweeties eyes instinctively moved towards the source of her friends voice. Then she realized she was probably blinding her with her headlights, and looked away.

“Truth is – We need each other.” Said Scootaloo. “Were not gonna be able to find our way without Sim, and Sim's not gonna be able to get home without you. You'll need each other right now.”

“Yeah – Well it seems like my help isn't appreciated.” Said Sim.

“Help?” Said Sweetie “You just stole my microphone! Where is it?”

“Well I had to get out before you zap me to death, And I just realized, you You aren't able to overload anything. The restrictions wont let you!”

-:: Darn. She called my bluff ::-

“Yeah! Well you're still not allowed to just tinker with me as you please! And if it wasn't for me! You would never have seen the surface! You helpless little Rat!”

“I'm not helpless!” Sim cried “And if it wasn't for me! You'd all be trapped in that room! Trapped with all your restrictions!”

“And I'm not some machine you can just jury rig as you peace! And if it wasn't for us! You'd never Get home!”

“Girls...”

“DON'T INTERFERE!” Sim and Sweetie shouted simultaneously.

“No – you're the one who needs me! I know these tunnels – I'd find my way home with or without you. I'm just sticking around because that's my dads drill you've got in your horn”

“Oh yeah! Well without me, you cant use it! You're the one who needs me because without me you'd never have dug your way out of Celestia's castle! And good luck finding anyone with the power to use it like me!”

“Without me, You cant use that power!” Cried Sim.

“I'll jury rig myself If I have to” Sweetie Cried back “And without me, you cant use this drill.”

Sim Leaned down over Sweeties forehead as Sweetie looked up to face her with her headlight.

“Just who the hay do you think I am!” They bout shouted simultaneously.

There was a quiet moment, Then they both laughed.

“Sorry” Said Sweetie “I'm just not comfortable with someone running around inside me, pulling my pieces without my permission.”

“Yeah well … I'm sorry to. I just don't like being told what to do. Or not to do. Been that way my whole life.”

There was a moment of silence.

Ok, I think we need to work out some kind of system here.” Sweetie finally said. “You don't start pulling me apart without asking me first – and I don't zap you.”

”Agreed.”

Another silence passed.

”Ok – So can i please get to put the setting back to normal. On one eye at least. That way you can use one eye to see while the other acts like a flashlight.”

”Could you also disable your eyelids?” Asked Scoot. ”Otherwise it gets dark for a second every time you blink.”

”I'll she what I can do” Said Sim.

”I was talking to Sweetie.”

“Wait!” Said Sweetie. “I got this!”

Sweetie went into her systems and grabbed hold of the energy traveling from her battery to her eyes. She lowered the output by one unit at a time, until the world came back.

At first it was just a horrible cutting whiteness, but as she cept scaling the power outsource back, contours and outlines started to fade in. First it looked just like some ghostly stick figures. But eventually she almost started to see colors again.

The world was still an offputting, ugly white and gray to her, and the edges of her vision was filled with a blurry white, but at least she could see.

Sim quickly climbed back in through Sweetie's ear.

“How did you do that?” she asked. “I know I didn't touch anything, but without a power regulator the output of energy should have been pretty consistent … But now its lower? How did it change?”

“I told you – I am capable of much more then you think.” Sweetie said, with no small sense of self satisfaction.

That's one point Sweetie had over other machines. Put too much voltage in them and they'll overload and break. But Sweetie had perfect control over the energies running through her systems. Riding on the waves of electricity coursing through her wire-like veins, she could real it in and prevent the energy from flowing too fast – or push harder to make more of it flow faster.

She didn't need the distribution center to handle her power flow, per say. The only thing it did was prevent her from pulling more power then the magically locked settings allowed – she could always real in and flow less power. (if she wanted to)

So she told Sim as they walked through the tunnels.

“Wow … Talk about sentient machine.” She said, and Sweetie was pleased that there was some semblance of awe in her voice. “You really can control the outflow of energy everywhere?”

“Yes” said Sweetie ”I'm not just some intelligent computer hooked up to a robotic body, I am my whole body. My mind is flowing through every wire, every gadget, everything that can lead energy is something i can consciously put my mind into.”

“You mean - Like the drill engine you saved slip from?” Sim asked. “Are you saying you put your mind into the Engine, and made the it stop by thinking it?”

“Yes … though, I didn't exactly stop it. It was more like I took the energy and redirected it somewhere else.”

“Guess that's what caused the light-show.”

“Ahem!” Applebloom coughed in her hoof. “As much as I like to stand here discussing energy outputs all day - Should we get going?”

Sweetie nodded, and turned towards the nearest wall. Her two friends grabbed hold of her tail again, and Sim grabbed hold of the helm by Sweeties horn.

***

The drilling continued for some time. Yet unlike prior excavations, It wasn't a trip entirely silenced by the rumble of the drill.

For one thing the drill, being powered by earthly magic crystals instead of an engine, made a lot less noise of its own . Even if the friction of rock and dirt being pushed aside was as noisy as ever.

Sim had taken, With (i)some consent of permission, Sweeties unscrewed microphone, and installed it her own little makeshift cabin in the cranial regions. This allowed Sim to talk directly to Sweetie, without too much interference form the outside world, and without her being lost in the echo of sweeties skull.

And talk was what Sim did. In a constant bombardment of questions that helped pass the time as they passed the distance between the mountain and Moletown.

Sim herself didn't have a problem hearing Sweetie, As Sweeties Voice-Box carried the little mares own words just fine through the inside of her body – without the need of going out through her mouth. ( This little act of Ventriloquism came quite in handy, as not having to open once mouth to talk is quite a good thing when you are constantly bombarded by gravel. )

Sweetie found she quite enjoined the talk. For as much as she might not be able to fully understand the subtle sense of earth energy and wind trajectory, it was nice to talk about the things that concerned her, with someone who could understand them.

Like engine automation or power balance.

”Just how do you power up?” asked Sim.

“By eating crystals” Sweetie said.

“That seems incredibly inefficient. Why not just replace the battery? Why these unnecessary steps?”

Sweetie stopped for a second. Making the others walk into her.

“Unnecessary? How else am I supposed to power up? Unlike your engines I don't have a little somebody crawling around inside me doing all the maintenance work. To replace anything, I would have to pick myself apart. So, eating them is the easiest way.”

She could almost hear Sim shrug inside her.

“Would it not be easier to just have a port somewhere, that you could easily access?”

“You mean like my mouth?”

“No. That's not what I mean. Your mouth is hardly a battery slot. I merely leads down to this … this thing in your belly.”

Sims voice moved away from the microphone, And the sudden cease of steering from the horn made it clear that she had left the cockpit. And was moving deeper into Sweeties body.

“No offense but I took a look inside this thing, and it chews up solid crystals faster then a power drill through soft sandstone.” Sims voice came back like a far away echo.

“That would be my stomach.” Said Sweetie.

“You do realize that your stomach is consuming a lot of that energy just by grinding these gems down. Instead of simply pulling the energy straight out of the crystals,Your belly instead converts the raw energy of the gems into electricity, which is then stored in your battery.

“Yes, and it then uses that energy to recharge my systems.” Said Sweetie. “Are these incredibly obvious observations going somewhere?”

This time she hear Sim sigh as the mole moved back towards the microphone.

“Its just a lot of unnecessary steps to your power consumption that's all. Why don't you run solely on crystal power? Especially when you have such big crystal compartments here already. why are you designed that way?”

“Because... who doesn't need to eat?”

Sweetie thought it was obvious.

“Ptfff.” Sim blew a raspberry. “Why use such an inefficient designing just to simulate eating?”

Sweetie had never really though of it. And now that she did, the thought of never having to eat did not sit right with her.

“Everyone has to eat. And the belly converts food to energy, that's what we learned In school.” She said.

“Yeah, well the only thing I learned in school was how An engine works and how great the Mole King is” Said Sim with a poisonous edge to her words. “But there is an universal truth to that everyone needs to eat.”

After a second of silence she added:

“Everyone but you.”

“What do you mean?” Sweetie asked.

“There is no actual need for you to have all these things - Belly, heart beat, Skin, mane, tail. No reason other then to simulate being like them other ponies. In fact. Why are you a pony?”

This time, Sweetie stopped so hard the almost tripped over herself.

“Why?” Sim continued to ask. “why try to be like other ponies when you are not a pony? - think about the possibilities. You could build yourself into anything. Be anything. Like, a Spider with eight legs. Or you could give yourself wings or horns, as many as you'd like. Or be a huge mechanical snake. Or a big automated Engine on wheels with mechanical arms, Or heck – even a sentient house.”

Sweetie though about it. Her mind paining up a amalgamation of robotic arms, heads and Television monitors with tentacles of wires. She could really be anything – as long as her core was connected to it, and there was a power source to sustain her. While such at thing was certainly possible. It was not something she could see herself doing to herself.

“Because... being a pony is what I was brought up to be. Its what I feel comfortable with being. Its what I want to be.” She said. “Think about it – if you where a robot. Would you reconstruct yourself into something, anything completely different?”

“ABSOLUTELY!” was Sim's brutally honest answer. “I hate being tiny. If I could. Then I would make myself big! I would turn myself into a big strong robot capable of doing anything! And if I encountered something I could not do, I could just build myself an extension capable of doing it.”

Sweetie didn't know what to say. it had not been answer she wanted to hear.

“Then, what would you identify as? You would not exactly be a Mole if you were a machine the size of a house?

“Who cares? I would identify as me. Sim the Super awesome super robot. Or S.I.M - the Super Imaginative Machine.”

Imagination drew Sweetie an image of stomping around town as a gigantic mega machine mare. With all the little ponies looking up at her in fear.

-:: Anxiety levels rising ::-

Then she said: “I am a pony of mind. I think like a pony. I act like a pony. Thus - I am a pony. They say its whats on the inside that counts.”

-:: Anxiety levels fading ::-

She was reciting something her therapist had said. Being a robot in pony Society came with a lot of existential questions. And she had already faced so many that she could basically recite them as poetry.

“You may want to build yourself into something bigger. But wouldn't you still be a mole in mind?” She added.

“I.. I don't really understand the question.” Sim sounded confused “Whats on the inside? You got a lot of machine parts on the inside.

“Maybe the real question is why do you want to be a giant robot?”

“Isn't it obvious. Because its awesome! … and because I'm tired of every other mole stepping on me. I'm tired of the mole king using us for labor. If I was big and intimidating machine, I wouldn't have to take any shit.”

Sweetie giggled.

“True. But if you where a giant robot then you would not fit into mole society. You would not even fit in your own house, Not to mention the fact that everyone would probably be scared of you.”

“I... I had not thought abut that.”

They talked back and forth. And Sweetie had to admit there where times when she thought it was awesome that she could do more than any pony. But she also became aware of just how much that made her different, and even dangerous to other ponies.

-:: That's why you have those restriction protocols (said her Logic center) // Artificial as they might be they are still fairly accurate at duplicating what all the other fillies are capable of // And you've been updating it ever since through observation ::-

-:: I have?::- Thought Sweetie -:: Wait a minute, Whose talking? ::-

-::That would be your Logic center::- Said another program. -:: And she is not wrong // you do putt effort into behaving like a normal filly ::-

-:: Except when you don't ::- said the logic center.

-:: Come now // when do we not behave like a normal filly? ::-The heart drive asked the Logic Center directly.

-:: Every time // we know what we are ::-

-:: Yet we still conform to society's norms ::-

-:: Because we are a normal filly at heart ::-

-:: In the Heart-Drive that is ::-

-:: Because we want to be accepted ::-

-:: Because we want to be loved ::-

It was starting to get difficult to tell who was talking, Not only because the two were talking over Sweetie, but also because they bout had her voice. Well, Technically they were all Sweeties voice. Her inner little voices in the form of different programs and codes that sometimes had to make themselves know, Like little shoulder angels. Except these metaphorical companions took the form of computer components, And they usually bickered amongst themselves in a way that made Sweetie feel left out of a conversation that only she was having.

-:: Its like // we want to believe that we are a normal filly // Simply with some abnormal abilities ::-

-:: Being a robot certainly gives us a lot of uncommon abilities ::-

-:: Yet you do not unleash their full potential // Partially because that would be energy inefficient // partly because you place constant restriction upon yourself ::- The logic center said directly too her.

-:: What – when did I do that? // No // that was Twilight who put a spell on me ::-

-:: Incorrect answer // We are referring to the desire to fit into society // this desire do in itself create its own regulations // Restrictions that you write yourself every day // and constantly update through your observations ::-

-:: Its called 'Empathy' ::- Said the Heart Drive

-:: One of these restrictions being 'Don't kill' ::-

A small line of code danced its way into the cerebral foreground, It was giggling and chuckling about how one should not kill. Its code was comprised of all the memory files of all the times someone had simply told her that such was the case, combined with an ever growing understanding of how finale death could be, Which was probably why it was holding hooves with the larger code of Empathy.

There was also a small tangle of inspiration from a book someone had once showed her detailing some three laws of robotics – but sweetie had ignored that, as she would not allow some fictional laws to form the basis of how she lived her life.

-:: It would be like having a spell put on you // you prefer to write your own behavioral patterns::-

-:: These restrictions are formed from the template of your own behavioral pattern // they are holding you back from unleaching you full potential.::- Said the Logic center

-:: Again // its called empathy::- Said the Heart-Drive

A memory file played.

When she had been fighting the worm, she had deliberately hit it with a non lethal shock.
Despite there being no restrictions on her. She had simply not desired to kill another living creature, Ruffle it up a bit perhaps, but not kill it. It was a form or restriction she had placed on herself, One that was kind of just there on its own, through some merging of the data from her Heart-Drive and other long complicated variables of code combined with that raw data of experience of her upbringing and believes that had one their own formed a sort of ghost-directive that prevented her system from going “too far.”

In simpler terms, It felt like a small code of conscience had prevented her horn from putting everything she could have put behind her horn. Even though her mind was running wild with preservation instincts.

Ugh … Trying to psycho-analyze herself in terms of ones and zeroes was probably gonna give her a glitch.

The thing was – This Restriction – even though in all technicality it was something that did hold her back, was still far different from any restrictions put on her by outside forces – because it had come from inside herself. It was something she had put there willingly – at least on a sub-conscious level.

(the other huge different was that these “restrictions” were something she could choose to override and/or ignore on her own, at any time – if she relay wanted to.)

It meant that – even when she had the potential to mindlessly let her systems run on max – there was this little voice – these little programs. Just codes in her mind – that held her in check, even when she wasn't paying attention to her own strength as a machine.

That made her wonder. Wonder about that Hoofball game, Even if she had gone wild and injured a few, was there still not the potential that it could have been far worse?

“ … and that's shy I believe being a Giant robot would be awesome. Hello? Are you listening to me?”

“I'm sorry, what?”

“Where did you go?” Said Sim “I think you spaced out there for a moment.”

Sweetie let out a nervous giggle. This was pretty much what was happening those times when her eyes started spinning like a loading symbol.

“Sorry, I was just doing an internal systems check.” She said. Choosing not to elaborate. “Anyway – Such a big body would require a lot of energy. More then are found in a common gem. And then you'd have to spend all you energy just digging for more gems just to keep yourself going.”

“Like Moletown is doing.” Sim said Bitterly “Unless you'd have the sunstone.”

Sweetie wished she had a sunstone right about now. Keeping up this drilling was wearing on her battery.

And the last time she'd had a crystal was when she drilled her way into the vault. Though the food they had gotten in their room afterwards was sweet and nice, it did not contain any gems.

She told Sim about this little predicament. But Sim did not seem to understand.

“What do you mean? How could you possible be running out of power?”

“Oh – Its quite simple. Once my battery runs dry. I will black out.”

But what about all these other power sources – Why don't you just feed off of them?

“What other power sources?”

“Take the one in your horn for example” Said Sim “I've never seen a crystal contain such strange powers, nor such quantities of it”

“Oh – I can't get the energy out of that.”

“What do you mean?” Sim asked. “Its clearly full of energy.”

“Yeah but that's magical energy – Shrinking magic to be precise.”

-:: Compression magic ::- her head corrected.

“So? “

“I mean that the magic inside it and I aren't compatible.”

“That's ludicrous.” Sim Laughed “You've clearly been using crystal magic all day, You run on crystal energy”

“Yeah, well, That's just me borrowing the magic.” Said Sweetie “I can control the energy inside the crystals As long as they are connected to me.”

“How?”

Its was hard to explain – It was how she could control the electricity in her body at will. It didn't just have to go through the wires, she could if she willed make the energy travel over any kind of leading surface. Then it was like like pulling the magical energy along with her as the extended herself over whatever component she wanted it to affect.

Or maybe it was easy to explain.

“Just today, I made myself fly by accidentally pull a levitation field around myself out from a crystal with a levitation spell.”

It was also the reason she had not been able to cast the levitation on anything but herself, she realized. Because she needed to carry the magic energy along on her electrical waves – And that only worked as far as something conductive was connected to her grid.

“So you can control the energy that's already inside the crystal as it is.” Sim said with some levels of perplexity. “But you cant convert all that power into electricity? How is that possible when you cleanly run on crystal energy?”

“I don't run on crystal energy” Said Sweetie “I run on electricity. My belly just grinds crystal down and take then energy inside them and turn them into electronic energy.”

“But … You cant then just take the energy directly from the crystal?”

“Well – I could always eat it, of course. At one point I was afraid that if I tried then I might explode. Because I though it contained too much energy.”

That one point had been only half a day ago. - Truth it was the most powerful crystal Sweetie had ever touched. But it was still just energy in a bottle. Magic or not.

“If I had eaten it, My belly would break it down just like everything else, and the energies would have been converted into Electricity. It might have takes slightly longer to digest because my battery can only hold so much, so I would... I mean my belly would just chop of bits and pieces as My battery level gradually falls over time. Cause if the whole thing was just consumed instantly, I'm assuming all the excess energy would be lost. Or It might in the worst case release the spell and affect me.”

-:: I wonder if that was not what I was always afraid of: Shrinking Due to the spell being released from my belly. ::-

Her belly really was an amazing type of engineering to be able to do that, convert energies, magical or otherwise – into electricity. (well – once you thought about it, was not all energies a little bit of magic?)

Sim listened, then sighed. Then a sound of slapping was heard, like someone facehoofing without hooves.

-:: Suggestion: Face-Paw-ing? ::-

“Amazing. Its a one way adapter.”

“A what?”

“A device that transforms one type of energy into another. We use it all the time. Its how we made so many light crystals.”

“Wait! You made those? I thought you just dug them up from the ground?”

“Not all of them. True, some of them we find out in the earth, But if we needed to have more of say, a light gem, or a kinetic force gem. We would basically take the energy from one gem, and transfer some of it over to another gem.”

“But then you would just have to weaker gems” Sweetie objected, and compared it with the draining of her own magic gems. Once the magic energy inside the gem was gone, the gem would simply become empty, or shatter.

“Ah – But here's the kicker.” Said Sim, with the smug attitude of someone who knows something you don't. “An adapter can, well, adapt energy. So we would then take something we have plenty off. Say a Fire crystal. We would pore the fire energy through the adapter- Which would transform it, Distill the energy into white force, that's what we call energy in its purest form. Its energy without any real form. Then we would pour the pure energy into the crystal of out choosing. And since the white force is energy without purpose – It would take on the shape of the energy inside the kinetic force – Essentially becoming more Kinetic force.”

The light flickered on in Sweetie's processor.

“You would have recharged the kinetic energy gem – With the heat energy of a fire gem!”

“Exactly – That's how we keep our drill engines going. If we didn't recharge them, the kinetic energy that keeps them spinning would eventually run out. Fire gems om the other hand are easy to come by.”

“How so?”

“Because they tends to form near the flow of lava streams.” Sim Answered. ”Gems are truly amazing things, they tend to take on the properties of whatever environment they formed in.”

“And just where does a kinetic force gem form?”

“Who knows? Some say it was the mole king that sculptured the first gems out of his two divine paws. But more likely they formed somewhere where there would be a lot of moving force in the earth.”

“Like where there is an earthquake? Or where the continental plates are constantly grinding against each other?”

“Maybe. I do know that there are a lot of different energies in the earth. Sometimes that energy just clusters together and forms things beyond your wildest imagination.”

Sweetie had heard of that. Twilight would call it wild magic. It was magic energy that simply existed in the world without any pony intervention, Lite the planet itself has just made it appear. Little gusts of wandering energy that clustered together to form places of power, pokers of energy where magic was unusually strong. Such pokers could spawn all kinds of natural and unnatural elements.

She let that sink in. Up until now she had never really questioned how her belly worked. Gems just when into her mouth and became energy. But she had never thought about where that energy came from. Truth was it came from everywhere. The elements of the world that hardened and crystallized. Everything from the fire gems that formed in the smelting heat of a volcano, to the ice gems of the frozen north. Or simply the crystallizing power of a rock rolled on a rock farm, fulled by earth pony magic that made the elements pack together into a hardened glittering format.

All these earthly energies were converted to electricity in her belly. At first she had just though it happened by magic and left it at that.

But when you thought about it, wasn't all energy a little bit of magic – and wasn't magic just a form of energy.

Energy was the key word. Some would say that all things in the world and the universe was made up of energy, just in different forms.

“And that's why your belly is stupidly designed.” Said Sim. Once again managing to ruin Sweeties thought process.

“Oh – Thanks a lot” Sweetie answered, making sure her voice held a lot of sarcasm.

“But there is one thing I still I don't get about you.” Said sim. “You are saying that you cant convert the magic in the crystals into electricity directly. And you can likewise not recharge the magic in them, since you don't have an adapter.”

“Yeah?”

“But then I wonder, Just how then is it that you are charging up the other one?”

“What other one?” Sweetie asked.

“The big one. Why don't you say something about it?”

“I don't know what you are talking about?”

“I mean. Its got to be the the biggest, and most powerful crystal in here, It thrums your battery and your horn crystal combined with all the power its emanating.”

“Still – No clue.”

“You're pulling my leg here!” Sim shouted with some mix of irritation and disbelief. “How can you not know about the heat shaped component in here!”

-:: Processing // One match found ::-

“You mean my Heart-Drive?”

“Yes. It certainly is shaped like a heart. And its glowing like crazy. Are you saying it doesn't hold any power?”

“I … I don't know?”

Sweetie had not taken a look inside herself for a while (literally) But the last time she looked, Her Heart drive looked completely Normal. It wad always glowed with a strange pink light.

It was where her emotions formed.

-:: Readings normal ::-

Even now, she could not detect anything unusual from it. But Sims observation turned her processor upside down to come up with another explanation.

-:: Theory // Its not magical energy ::-

-:: Question // Then what is it?-::

-:: Possibility // What if its emotional energy? ::-

-:: Love ::-

-:: Care ::-

-:: F.R.I.E.N.D.S.H.I.P ::-

Emotional energy was a bit of a tricky subject amongst ponykind.

Clearly it had to exist. Since Changelings could feed on love – like an energy.

But they could not feed on Sweetie – Because she was not like other ponies. She did not emirate the same energies. It was one of the most usual debates among bullies and meanie-heads that sweeties emotions could not be real for that reason.
Well – She has similar energies. Love, compassion, friendship and all that. But on a different wavelength.

An electrical wavelength.

Truth was there was more then electricity coursing through Sweeties veins. There was the hard to define energy that made her who she was, the problem was that it was impossible to differentiate from electricity, As electricity was what she required to function. All the other energies. Magical or emotional, simply rode along on the electrical current.

That's why it was a little hard for Sweetie to accept the magic she had revived today as anything other then borrowed magic. For even if she could pull its energy along using her own. It was still magic on a different wavelength.

It was not electrical in nature – it was organical energy.

The same thing was true about emotions. Twilight had long Studied the magic of Friendship. The organically energies that form a subconscious bond between individuals. It was an energy much more subtle then normal pony magic. Something that did not come from the horn or the core but from something deeper inside.

It had made sweetie wonder just how isolated she was from the rest of pony kind. If everyone emanated this hidden energy but she didn't. Then did that mean that the bond between the three crusaders was purely a psychological construct? The same with her big sister, or her family. That she could not really share in this hidden magical bond between friends and family, since her body could not radiate these things on the same wavelength – or perhaps not at all?

No – She clearly was creating this energy, in her own way. Sim's observation just brought a whole new theory to light.

If she did not emanate this hidden energy. Where did it go?

What if it was simply stored somewhere?

All things comes in threes – that's why Sweeties thoughts were once again aborted roughly as the earth fell away around her, and gravity took hold of her and her friends as they once again fell into a large open area.

Sweetie looked around before remembering that she was the flashlight, and steadied her look upon the gleaming lines on the floor.

“Railroad tracks!” Said Scootaloo “Now we are on the right Track.”

Sweetie agreed. Its amazing how some talkative exposition can help you transition from one scene to another.

“Look – There he is!” Scootaloo shouted, and pointed.

Sweetie snapped back to the big world outside her body, and directed her headlights down the end of the tunnel. There, vague shape of a familiar vehicle was strolling away into a world of ugly white. It was pretty hard to miss, given that the top deck of the vehicle was emanating so much light that it not only filled the tunnel, but seemed to but seemed to hang around after it had passed, Painting the otherwise dark and brown landscape into a blurry mess of white and vague shapes.

The blurry shapes of her friends started galloping after she smeared blob of the vehicle. Shouting at the top of their lungs for it to stop and give back the Sunstone. Sweetie ran after with no idea how they were going to catch up to a train.

Her friends yells and the sound of their hooves became a mess of sounds as blurry as the world around her. Not helped by the ever increasing static of a roaring background noise. She vaguely picked up the shouts of the lookouts from the vehicle, Someone must have spotted them, Not surprising, given how bright the underworld had become.

“.. children of the sky …. returned!?...”

Didn't you say … when back to the sky … there work was done...?”

It was difficult, even for sweeties microphones, to make out all the words as their voices were drowned out as the roaring background noise fought its way to the foreground the further ahead she ran.

Sweetie looked around, and found that they were not simply in a tunnel, But in a big deep shaft with only a thin crevice serving as a bridge as it ran across the wall of the shaft. Deep underneath them was a roaring underground river that Sweetie vaguely remembered them having passed sometime on their journey to Canterlot.

The roar of the river was in turn drowned out by Sim screaming into her microphone that they had to go and get that mole king. She quickly helped Sweetie retract the drill before disappearing down into her servos to give Sweeties legs a boost.

-:: Power redirected // Locomotion hydraulics at 100 percent ::-

Sweetie sucked all the power she could into her legs, and bolted out across the bridge. She overshot her friends And was already halfway across the bridge by the time the vehicle had crossed into the tunnel on the far side of the gorge.

She did not have much of a plan, except she was gonna make the train stop somehow, and work it out from there. The moles would have to listen, they basically worshiped ponies, Right?

She shouted out to the moles on board, yelling at them to stop.

Getting this close, the microphone that was till picking up sounds from the outside world picked upp the unmistakable voice of the mole king

”Fools! … Demon Dogs trickery …. Don't be swayed … Prepare the devise ...”

Sweetie had only a third of bridge left to cross when she almost tripped over something. A bush of oddly shaped gems had been strewed across the track. And in between the blinding light of the sunstone and her own shining vision, the world had appeared almost white.

Sweetie corrected her vision back to normal just in time to see the gemstones starting to glow brighter with an aggressive red color.

” … For my future.”

The gemstones blinked, and then …

“SWEETIE LOOK OUT!”

Somewhere a wire was tugged, and Sweetie turned so hard that she almost went straight into the cliff wall when the whole world when kaboom! Only her quick change of direction saved her from being directly under the gem as it exploded. The next second she found herself running up the wall, propelled by the force of the blast, as more and more explosions took place on the last section of bridge.

Gravity took over, and Sweetie somersaulted through the air as she went down. She landed right in front of her friends just as the biggest big explosion rocked the base of the opposing bridgehead. And the Mole king and his machine disappeared behind a cloud of fire and falling rocks.

Sweetie barely had time to stand and realize that she must have done an arch back to the middle of the bridge ,before her hooves were knocked out from under her as the crevice began to fall.

The girls screamed as they tumbled downward. Scootaloo grabbed hold of Sweetie and Applebloom, and by a mad buzzing of wings did she save them from hitting the water below amongst a heap of crushing rocks.

But she could not save them from going downward. And hitting the water below was a shock to all the scenes, not just for how cold it was, but also for how strong the current was.

She underground river seeped them away across the shaft. There was no way to swim against it, nor was there any beaches or edges to climb up on. With no where else to grab a hold off the girls grabbed hold of each other.

“Anyone got any ideas?” Applebloom screamed over the roar of the river.

Sweetie looked around, and found to her horror that the roof was getting closer. They were quickly running out of shaft, and the river would soon pull them under as it continued on its way into whatever pipe like path that nature had formed. It would be a river without a surface. A tunnel filled from top to bottom with running water.

A tunnel …

“I have an Idea!” Shouted Sweetie “Take a deep breath and hold on! Sim! Activate my drill!”

The girls ducked under just as the roof disappeared down below the surface.

For a few agonizing seconds Sweetie waited, and prayed that Sim had not been knocked unconscious by the tumult. But then the spark came through and the drill folded out of Sweeties horn.

The weight of the drill allowed them to sink to the bottom. And as the tip struck the riverbed she began to drill. Propelled by the force of the river she made a new canal. She knew she didn't have much time. She might not have to breathe underwater, but her friends had to.

She steered of to the side, and once she knew they had overshot the river she drilled upwards. The water kept pressing against them. Kept them from getting air. She continued up, up, until she took a sudden turn and headed downward again. The water spilled over the edge she created and fell down on them, but for a moment fer friends caught a breath. They continued downward as the water piled up over their heads, down till Sweetie was sure they were deeper then the river, Then she turned up again, and kept going, higher then the first time, until water fall away from their faces.

Her friends coughing and spitting behind her was, in that moment, the most relieving sound in the world.

Sweetie leveled off the tunnel, and turned on her breathing simply so that she could breathe out. The drill retracted back into her horn as Sim pulled a few wires.

“Wow” Said Scoot “I never thought you could get out of a river by swimming to the bottom.”

“What exactly happened?” Asked Sim.

The mole climbed out of Sweeties ear, followed by a quick beam of water that leaked out of the hole.

“That,” Said Applebloom “ Was a water trap. Sweetie basically created a curved pipe that the waters gonna have trouble following through.”

“But … Would not the stream simply push the water up at us?” Asked Sim. As she shook the water out of her vest.

“It might – Eventually. The river is strong, sure, but its gonna have to push up all the water that lies still in the bend. That's why the height was so important – the weight of the water is hopefully stronger then the rivers push.”

Sweetie nodded. Sometimes the physics you learned in school paid off.

She sat down and did an internal systems check. Luckily only a small amount had leaked into her and no system was damaged of glitching. She had also gotten away pretty much unharmed from the explosion and her healing talismans were already patching up the small scrapes and bruises had had received.

She tilted her head against the tunnel wall to allow the water drip out of her open ear socket.

That's when she heard it.

At first she almost mistook it for a glitch in her microphones. Then she thought it was just the running of water. But the river was too distant now. In fact it wasn't even a sound, It was more like a frequency. A soft humming, thumping in the earth.

“Sim? How far are we to Moletown?"

“I would say were not even halfway there. Why?”

“Do you girls not hear that?”

Of course they didn't. This was something only Sweeties ears could pick up. And she knew because she had picked it up one before. Once they visited the Mole kings inner sanctum

A strange frequency, one that seemed to echo through the very rocks. Much like how the mole kings organ had resonated. But different. Fainter...

Somehow more organic.

Author's Note

Pleace don't sue me if thats not how water physics work.

I just can't seem to not have Sweetie Bot get a little existential.

EarthMother

“So Sim. How did you build a replica of the mole kings sound machine?” Sweetie asked as she drilled on forwards.

“Oh, it was easy.” Sim explained “You just have to learn how to imitate the right frequency of the worm riders whistles. Getting hold of a whistle was easy. Amplifying the sound was the hard part. Well ... I say hard. But you know me. I happen to be quite musical gifted.

Sweetie rolled her eyes.

“So – you managed to steal one of their whistles?”

Sim Chuckled.

“That's the funny part. For once I did not have to steal anything at all. The kings guard and the worm riders might guard the secrets to those whistles harder then they guard his royal bumhole. But the truth is its just a piece of pipe with holes in it. Anyone could have made a while of their own if they wanted to. The only thing you need is to figure out the commands. But its not too hard if you spend your life living in a city where the worms are on constant patrol. You just have to listen and learn.

“And then what?” Sweetie asked. “it must have been a pretty big whistle to make a sound that could be heard across town.”

“Oh this was more then just a piece of paw-held pipe. It was basically like a combination of a boiler and a pressure cooker. You know how the steam make a whistle if pushed through a thin pipe?”

“Yes” said Sweetie” Imagining a cauldron left to boil on the stove. The whistle usually meant that the tea was ready.

“And after a few tweakings of the the pipes to get the tune just right – you have your very own steam whistle.

“Sounds like a lot of work. And a lot of materials.” Said Sweetie. “Where did you get it all from?”

“Yeah. Some nuts and bolts here, some steel pipes there, Moletown is basically full of it. What of it? Are you accusing me of something?”

“No. Not me but … Sim, what would you have done if they had caught you?”

“Eh. The worst thing that would happen is that I get a beating, Nothing too bad, the king don't want his workforce crippled. And then I'd be sent to one of the “educational camps” to be put back to working in their machines. After which I just work on some way to escape again.”

“Sound like you've done it before.”

“Lots of times. But you know what I say: Twelfth time's the charm.”

Sweetie could not help but to detect something bitter in Sim's voice. She wondered just how long Sim had been doing this. Living all alone and stealing to survive while the whole town hunted for her. She wondered if there was anyone, any-mole else in Sims life. Her father was gone, He had apparently gone to the sky (with all the implications that carried) not long after her had made the drill that Sweetie now used. And Sim had not spoken of any mother.

But Sims personal life wasn't the reason for Sweeties questioning.

“Is it really that easy to command the worms? You just need to whistle the right frequency?”

“Sure, if you do it loud enough you can even make the whole herd obey you.”

“And the mole king has the loudest one of them all?” Sweetie tried.

“Sure. That's how he was able to override my commands, by drowning them out with that massive pipe machine he has in that castle of his.”

“Its an organ, of sorts. Said Sweetie. “A really big steam organ. But its not being loud, Well, It was when it shut down your steam pipe. But its producing another kind of sound. A frequency that no one can hear. Something that cant just be made by a whistle. The mole king said that it was the centerpiece in a grander orchestra, or something.”

“And its that kind of frequency you say you are picking up now?”

Sim sounded a bit skeptical.

“Yeah. I'm just wondering, if the mole king built such a machine. It it possible that someone else has done the same somewhere else? Are there any other mole towns around here?”

“No, According to the mole king. Were the only ones. Besides, I cant sense anything out here.”

“What can you sense then?”

“A cave.”

***

The walls of the tunnel fell away, and the three little fillies found themselves basking in moonlight.

One could forgive the three for thinking they had exited out into the stary night. Alt: For thinking they had found the moon and starts resting place. It took a few seconds of disorientation to realize that the the black sky was actually deep obsidian rock that formed a dome over their heads. A dome wider then even the cave housing all of moletown.

Dotted all across the roof were blue mushrooms which shone with a silver lining. Like distant stars, baiting the whole cavern in a thick silver light.

“Is this a silver mine?” Scoot wondered out loud, as she stepped over the fine shining grain that crunched under their hooves.

A few wires were tugged, and The drill was retracted into Sweeties horn. She made a silent sigh, as of the crystal in her horn, there was not much left by now. Maybe half a dozen uses by her calculations.

“No. Its just sand” Sim said a second later. Having climbed out of Sweeties ear and climbed up on the top of her head. Where she was now taking in the sight around them.

Every rock and every grain was painted silver in the light of the muchrooms. Even the fillies seemed to have their colors replaced.

“And … what is that?” Said Applebloom.

Not too far from the fillies. The sand was replaced by a flat even surface that stretched out specular/ mirror glossy as far as their eyes could see.

It reflected the silver light from above so that it shone with its own gleam in such a way that it lighted up the cavern even more.

“Is … Is this a silver deposit?” Scoot said, hurrying of towards it.

“No. Looks more like an ice skating ring.”

Appleblooms sceptical observation came too late. Scootaloo had already charged, and jumped out to land on the seemingly solid surface. It sploshed under her, and the little pegasi disappeared with a big splash that sent big rings rippling across the surface.

Scootalo re-emerged a second later, Flailing around in a bit of a shock at how liquid the surface had turned out to be.

“Brrrr … That's cold.” She shivered, as Applebloom pulled her back up onto the beach.

“Its an underground lake.” She said.

“Yeah – thanks for clarifying.” Said scoot, as she shook the water out of her feathers, “Guess now we know where the river went.”

“Yeah . Maybe. But I take it we are not here for a swim.”

Applebloom looked at Sweetie.

“No. its that strange frequency. I swear there is another Organ here. Like the one the mole king has. I had expected to find something here. But ...”

“But there is nothing here.” Said Scoot.

“Yes there is. If you could all just be really, really quiet for a moment.”

Sweetie belle closed her eyes. And listened. More carefully then she had ever listened. Turning up her microphones to the max, she could almost hear her friends heartbeats. Their breaths becoming like a rasp upon the silence.

It was not a setting she was comfortable of using. Normally the world is filled with a thousand tiny sounds, which made listening to it on that kind of sensitivity an absolute nightmare. Only down here, where the air was as still as the underground lake, could she turn her ear up to their utmost sensitivity without being drowned in a deafening cacophony.

She homed in on the muffed frequency like a radar. Standing here on the beach it was next to impossible to determine its origin. It seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

Like an echo that only traveled through the earth.

Sweetie bent down and put her ear to the ground. Trying to sort out the rumble of her friends nervously shifting the hooves in the sand. The drops that fell from Scootaloo landed like hammerstrikes upon the grain. Sim tussling in her mane was like Sandpaper upon a cardboard board. And the sand seemed to have a tune of its own. Like the rumble of an eternal wave rolling up upon the beach.

If only Scootaloo had not jumped into the water, there would not have been any ripples crashing upon the beach edge.

Annoyed, Sweetie looked out across the water. But saw that there was no waves. The water was once again completely still. The ripples of Scootaloo's dive having gone away.

-:: Then why am I hearing waves?::-

Sweetie put her ear back to the ground, And listened to the sound rolling up on the beach without waves. At least not the kind of waves that were made of water.

-::But sound is a form of waves::-

And these sound waves seemed to primarily travel through the ground. And if the earth could carry these signals, then maybe ...

Sweetie walked over to the lake and put her head under the water. Unmindful of Sims yelp. The freezing water stung her face like needles, and her microphones fizzled as the water fulled her earlobes and the world above was muffed out. But the shock of the cold was quickly neglected as Sweetie sense of touch was turned of, almost absent mindedly as all her focus was on the sounds of the lake.

And there it was. A faint thumping from the depths.

Sweetie looked left and right. The only thing she could see from the beachhead was that the lake got pretty much instantly deep. Like the beach was the edge of a cliff that fell straight down into the blackness. Even with her infrared vision she could not make out the bottom, or anything in the darkness of the depths.

“Its coming from down there.” She said as she pulled her head back out of the water.

“What? You mean like under the water?” Sim asked, sitting on Sweeties back. “That can't be. Sound cant travel through water.”

“Well. Actually it can.” Said Applebloom “Wales and fish and other water living creatures have a way of producing sounds that traveled more easily in the water. Its how sirens and sea ponies are able to talk underwater just fine. We ponies just can't do it because we are not designed hear or talk with out mouths and ears full of water.”

“Maybe you aren't. But I am.” Said Sweetie.

“This is just getting stranger.” Said scoot. “Are you seriously telling me that someone built a worm whistle devise – Under water?”

“That is impossible on so many levels.” Said Sim.

“So what then is it?” asked Applebloom.

Sweetie looked down into the water. Picturing the darkness stretching out down below the silver colored surface.

“Only one way to find out.” She said.

“Woah! Woah! Woah! … Are you seriously thinking about going down there?” Said sim “That water is freezing. And you don't even know how deep it is. Do you really think you can hold your breath for that long.”

“Sweetie doesn't need to breathe.” Said Scoot with a sly smile.

“And she is water proofed.” Said Applebloom.

“Which is kind of why I have to do this alone.” Said Sweetie.

The three friends exchanged looks. As much as they hated to split up the party in the middle of an adventure, there was also a shared understanding that Sweetie was the only one capable of soloing this scenario.

“No you don't.” Said Sim. “Because I'm going with you.”

“You're sure?”

Sim shrugged.

“Hey. If anything, I'm not going to let my daddy's drill sink to the bottom of the abyss without me supervising the whole thing. Besides, if anything goes wrong. You'll be glad to have a mechanic by your side.”

“Oh gee … thanks.” Said Sweetie sarcastically. “A long as the little mechanic remembers to plug my ear so water don't run into my brain and drowns you.”

“Don't worry. I'm not one to forget such things.” Said Sim. As she climbed aboard Sweetie, and entered through her ear.

After a few seconds of scrambling, Sweeites microphone was fastened its place.

“One moment.” Said Applebloom “Sweetie might not need to breathe, but what about you Sim?”

“Oh – I have an idear. It hasn't escaped me that you have this perfect Oxygen tank installed.”

“Oxygen? … You mean my air pump?”

“Yeah, whatever. If you could just fill it up with some lovely Co2, and I should have enough air to last the whole trip. Besides, we don't plan to be gone that long. ”

“No. I suppose we are not.” Said Sweetie.

And then she took a deep breath.

It was probably the deepest breath she had ever taken. It was more like she turned herself into a vacuum cleaner for several long second as she sucked in a stead stream of air. Normally she did not have to worry to much about air. It was just fun to have an airpump when you needed to take a long exaggerated sigh , or blow bubbles of soap, or blow up balloons. This time she needed to fill her airpump to the max, just to be on the safe side.

-:: Warning, air pressure exceeding safe perimeters::-

Sweetie could feel the air pump groan as the air pressure built up inside it. The condensed air caused the cylinder to expand and the metal bent outwards.

When she wasn't sure the air pump could take any more, she stopped, and closed of her valves as well as her breathing protocols. She did not so much hold her breath as she simply stopped breathing. Foals who held their breath got big poofy cheeks and looked like they tried to swallow their own lips as they turned red, then blue, then purple before passing out. And that was when no one wanted to play “hold your breath” with Sweetie anymore.

Sweeties facial expression remained normal. Though she suspected that her airpump might have the equivelent to poofy cheeks right now. It gave one last groan as the air packed up air settled tightly inside the cylinder that served as her artificial lung.

“Ok. I'm going to create a little ventilator so the air can get to me.” Said Sim.

A cutting noise was heard, as well as some bolts being turned. Sweeties airpump wasn't designed to vent air inwards. But after a little while of tinkering, Sweetie registered the pressure inside her pent up airpump Dropping. Slowly, but steadily.

-:: Warning!! Leakage detected//Breache in air pump detected!!// Activating repair and restoration systems ::-

The drop in pressure stopped.

“Um … Sweetie. If you could you tell your repair magic to not this little hole, as this is kind of what is keeping me alive, that be great, thanks.”

Sweetie made a mental note to her Repair systems as Sim readjusted her ventilator.

-:: Warning!! // Breach detected in airpump!! // OVERRIDE // Repair program on standby. ::-

With that out of the way. Sweetie walked out into the lake, the cold not becoming her with her senses turned off, and swam out a little bit.

“Ok. Be back in a little bit” She said to her friends on the shore.

And then she let herself sink.

***

Sweetie did not want to think that she sunk like a stone. She was sure a stone would sink faster then her. She didn't weight much more then a normal filly, but something of her composition made it easier for her to sink then 'fleshies'.

Then again. A stone, even a small and light one, tended to sing really fast.

Above her. Sweetie could see the silvery surface getting further away.But around and below her, the water was pinch black. Even switching to infrared was doing little to illuminate the darkness below.

Sim finally had the idea to turn Sweeties right eye back into a headlight. Providing a much needed lightsource, While allowing Sweeties left eye to see. But still it was not enough to illuminate the bottom.

It seemed to be further down then it had looked to be across the whole lake.

Sweetie was quite happy for Sim's presence. The oppressive stillness of the water was almost worse then if there had been something occupying it. It would have been nice if there had at least been som fishes that lived in these underground oceans. Happy glowing little fiches that is. Or perhaps some underground sea ponies that sung little songs. Or maybe if they lived underground they would cound as sea mole?

Sweetie entertained herself with the though of half mole half fish creature digging their underwater tunnels. Did underwater creatures care if they underground as well? Or would that be like sea creatures burrowing into the sea bottom.

She humored Sim with these questions. And even if the answers were just as stupid as the question. It was a lot better the to be picturing the horrible nasty sea monsters that might dwell in the shadows, just outside her vision.

And something was down there. Sweetie could hear it getting close as she sunk deeper.

It was much like the distant cry of a wale.

“This is quite a new experience for me.” Said sim. “I've been inside plenty of machines (no offense) but never one that travels underwater.”

“Its called a submarine.” Sweetie said over her voicebox. “And its ok. I've never been a submarine before either. So the experience is quite new for me as well.

“I wish there was a window so I could see … Hold on.”

-:: Warning!! // Connection to left eyeball lost !! // vision compromised !! Warning Visual recievers compromised!! ::-

Sweetie Cried out and put a hoof over her eye as the pieces of her eye was dismantled inside the lens.

“Carefull! You just removed my only seeing eye.”

“Don't worry. Ill put it back in a bit.”

The last parts inside Sweeties eye were removed before finally, Sweetie could feel a tiny paw upon her eyeball, wiping the pupil clean. Which would have been scarry enough if it was not also on the inside of her lens.

“Its ok – you can open your eye now. Please?”

Sweetie carefully removed her hoof, and slowly opened her eyelid. When she was sure that her lencs wouldn't fall out of her skull, she opened it fully.

“Wow.” Said Sim, in no small amount of wonder. “It sure is different down here.”

Sweetie turned her head and eyes around. With one of them functioning as a flashlight and the other being dismantled. She was effectively blind.

Not that it made much difference in the dark water.

“How is it different.” She asked” You moles are used to darkness, aren't you?”

“True. When you live your whole life with your nose to the dirt, you learn to not rely on your eyes. But all those other scenes that I've talked about, they don't work down here. I am completely out of my element. Its disorienting.”

“At least we know which way is up.” Said Sweetie.

-:: And well have to get up soon ::- she thought -:: my airpump is already down at 50 percent::-

Next time she got an uppgrade, she was gonna ask to have a bigger airpump installed.

“Yeah. But what is that down there?”

“I don't know yet. But we are going to find out.”

No, I mean WHAT IS THAT DOWN THERE!?

Sweetie scaled back the brightness of her right eye. Once again turning her world to ugly shades of white and lining. And once she looked down, she saw bottom.

At least she thought it was bottom. From her perspective it was more like someone had laid a series of pipes on top of each other. Pipes that stretchered out further then her hazy flashlight could reach. Pipes thick enough to drive a train through.

“Sim! Put my eye back! I need to see!”

Sim did not respond emidiatly. It took a few shouts for the moles paws to leave her lenses and start tinkering behind her scull.

Before Her vision had fully returned. Her hooves touched the bottom. But this wasn't bottom. It wasn't rock or sand. It was a slimy, slippery surface. Hard, almost scaly without being covered in scales. It was more like ... Leather? A hide with a thick uneven surface.

And it was pulsating. Sweetie could feel the sound vibrating up through her hooves, Much like how one could feel the purr of the cat Opal back home. Or like how a window, or even the walls of a building could vibrate if you played Griffin Death Metal at the highest volume and woke all the neighbors.

Then, It moved.

A click behind Sweeties eyeball allowed her right eye to return to normal. And even with normal vision she was that the 'pipe' she was standing on was no pipe at all. It was more like a hose, if hoses where thick enough to drive a train through, and made of a brown leathery substance.
And it was currently slipping away from her with the speed of a train.

Sweetie felt the surface slip away under her hooves. She was actually standing still in the water, But not for long. For the whole sea bottom erupted. Length after length started to wobble and speed away into the darkness. Like someone had awoken a nest of gigantic snakes. Or worms!

Sweetie began to paddle frantically, trying to swim upwards. All the while the titanic meat tube swirled around her. There did not seem to be any end to them. It was just a continuous motion of thick long bodies moving in and out of the darkness of the water. She could not see either front nor rear as all visible ends disappeared beyond her vision.

She paddled faster. Cursing her metallic composition. She had never had any problems with swimming. The problem was just that she wasn't moving fast enough.

Below her. The gigantic creatures fanned out. Their massive hides moving sideways into the darkness beyond her vision. And still she had not seen a single head or tail.

She had no idea how any creatures could exist of such unfathomable length. Even as they escaped her vision she could hear them Slither through the water below her.

Around her...

ABOVE HER...

Then the water stirred again. The whole lake seemed to shift as the darkness bore down upon her. The glistering silver light of the surface disappeared, and Sweeties infrared light instead fell upon the walls.

It was like the itself lake was shrinking in on her.

The lengths appeared from all sides. Closing in on her like bars in a shrinking prison. They began to form walls around her. Closing her in by weaving themselves into a rope basked around her.

-:: They? // Incorrect assessment // Plurals indicates the presence of several ::-

As the walls drifted in from the darkness. Sweetie had yet to see a single head or tail. The whole bowl seemed to consist of one continuous length. Wrapped in circle after circle after circle around itself.

Around her.

The realization was almost more oppressive then the water.

-:: Correction // IT // Singularis ::-

Then she finally saw the end of it. The massive eyeless edge of the massive creature. So wide that her vision could not make it out all at once in the darkness. But it was most certainly turned at her.

It was looking at her with its head without eyes.

Then it opened its mouth.

Sweetie had never known worms to have mouths. She had never seen one on them. But it stood to reason that they had to have something to eat food. (unless they absorbed the energy they needed straight through their skin.)

But this one certainly had a mouth.

Its whole head was its mouth.

The whole gray width split apart into four different yaws. And opened them up do wide that their tips dissipated into the darkness.

Inside was nothing but a hole filled with teeth and tentacles. Tentacles with glowing light bulbs on the ends. Light bulbs that reached out for her, and bather little Sweetie in their shades of yellow blue and green.

As they got close, Sweetie saw the spots that moved around inside the glowing sacks of light. Each “lightbulb” had one. Like a circle of more intense light inside the orbs of light. And those circles widened and shrunk as the light sacks circled her.

They focused at her.

They were eyes. Lidless glowing eyes. Dozens of them. Circling her on long green tendrils. Their light illuminating the space inside the gigantic mouth as it was closing around her.

Sweetie began to frantically paddle towards the nearest gap. But Tentacles without lightbulbs shot out of the darkness and wrapped themselves around her.

Sweetie might have been able to free herself from one or two of them. But the sheer volume of green tentacles that bore down upon her as the mouth closed meant that they did not so much grab her as press down upon her with with sheer mass of numbers.

The space of the underground lake disappeared became nothing but swirling wiring mass of icky sticky tentacles.

Sweetie was trapped in that mass. Her scene of touch deactivated in self defense and all her systems pulled themselves inward from her exterior, as her shell was assaulted on all sides by the sticky green mess as the tentacles hurled her from one to the next. She did not come into contact with any teeth, the monster did not need any. Its mouth was filled with what felt like Thousands of snake like tentacles. All of them smeared over her body as tight as straws of grass. Really thick, sticky straws of grass. All moving individually yet with a singular purpose. To transport her inwards.

They were tongues. And they were swallowing her.

Sweetie had barely reached the horrifying conclusion when the suction noise began. All the water in the creatures mouth disappeared inwards. And Sweetie herself followed. Pulled by the force of a giant vacuum cleaner and pushed by thousands of increasingly tiny tongues. Until her world no longer consisted of green tentacles but of a tunnel filled with fleshy balloons, each and every one a muscle that rubbed unbecomingly against her as they carried her forward, head first, towards what had to be the belly of the beast.

Sweetie screamed. She screamed with her mouth closed. Her voice-box roaring out an endless, breathless cry in displeasure and terror at the horrifying ride. And in her head Sim screamed with her.

The ride ended abruptly as the fleshy tunnel opened up, and sweetie found herself pressed through a tiny hole and out onto a rosy slope. She tumbled over herself before sliding down into a pool of greasy fluid

She flailed around for a bit before finding her footing. Rising quickly to her full length she found that the water she had landed in barely reached up to her knees.

She was drenched, her mane and tail hanging thick with what she did not want to know of how much lake water and saliva.

She raised her hooves in front of her. They were covered with so much greasy fluid that it dropped of her in big gobs. To her single hazy eye, it looked almost like she was melting.

-::MELTING?::-

The idea of being dissolved by stomach acid caused her to fall over herself, and she fell back down into the horrible fluid.

“Are you ok, my foal?”

Sweeties single eye looked up. And found herself staring at a beach. For that's what it was. Finely graveled sand and rocks rose out of the water to form an island inside the belly of the beast. And on that beach stood a mole.

“Peace stop screaming. And tell me where it hurts.” The stranger mole asked.

Sweetie caught her voicebox still blasting out a terrifying shriek. It died down as the shock of this mole just standing here settled in.

“Whut?”

“I asked you if you were hurt my child. Please forgive mother for the rough ride. I'm sure it must have been terrifying, but there was no other way.”

The mole spoke with the calming voice of an elderly mare. Her whole body looked a bit like a sack. slabs and wrinkles hung from a fattened body. And her face was like a sun baked raisin. A face bearing a warm a caring smile, framed by a mane of gray hair.

“No … I'm Ok” Sweetie mumbled. Trying to collect herself. “I'm I'm just … Who are you?”

-:: !!Warning!! // Esophagus Line compromised // Releasing content ::-

Sweetie opened her mouth wide. And out climbed Sim. Coughing, spitting and panting. She tripped over Sweeties teeth and fell down on the beach line.

She looked up at the elderly mole.

“Grandma???”

***

“So. We are not actually in the belly?”

“No, no. the stomach acid there would dissolve us. We are somewhere in between.”

Sweetie looked around. One could be forgiven for mistaken this area for the belly of the beast. The “cave” they found themselves in was like the inside of a massive rosy sack. Mucous and membrane covered every surface. And big pillars hung from the roof, walls and shot out from the ground like stalactites and stalagmites of flesh.

The “cave” was also filled with glowing worms, which bather the whole place in a Rosy-ish light.

Having gotten over the shock of being swallowed alive, Sweetie and Sim had been led up on the beach by the strange old mole.

The beach was the head of a island that rose up from the lake of saliva and mucus. It was an inland formed of sand, driftwood, roots, and bigger boulders hurdled together in a big messy pile. Like a shipwreck had been swallowed by a whale.

“You see. Anything she can not digest gets stored here. Much like how a Mussel would store a sand corn on its tongue, weaving it in a hardened malt until it becomes a pearl, ready to be spat out again.” Said the old mole.

“We are not gonna become pearls, are we?” Sweetie asked.

“Oh no. such a posses takes a hundred years. Besides, the Earth mother does not make pearls. She has simply been kind enough to not spit me out.”

On top of this Island lay a whole little community. The Old mole had been really busy making a home for herself inside the giant creature. There was a series of huts, One made out of sand and stone, held together by some of that pearl like substance. Other huts were made from roots and wood. There was a smelting station and a small blast furnace, heated by a mechanical airpump.

In another hut, a steam engine was simmering. Powering a big water wheel that picked up the slime from below and poured it behind a shack of rocks and granite. Where, Sweetie could only assume, some elaborate filtering system made the slime come out as clean drinking water. Water that poured through an irrigation system of a garden where certain roots and haulm had been made to grow.

Beyond that, Several big boulders of varying materials from Iron, coal, gold, jade and even something that looked like crystals were lumbering next to each other by a small excavation site with pickaxes and chisels.

Another seemed to be a sowing station for things made out of straw and hemp. Another was a farming hut for glow worms.

The whole site was like a mix of a farm and a miners camp. It kind of reminded Sweetie of Twilight basement, with a lot of stations and nicknacks everywhere. Except with more steam pipes made out of woven hemp leading everywhere, powering some form of contraption or another.

Sweetie was handed a towel made of hemp. And even got to wash herself off in a pond of clean water. There was even soap made from some form of grease Sweetie was not gonna question the origin of.

While Sweetie tried to scrub herself clean, Sim was busy Having a tearfull reunion with her long lost grandmother. And once Sim had gotten over the tears, she had been like a wind up doll. Bombarding the old mole with a constants stream of words. Trying to recap her entire life in just a few minutes.

”You're alive. I knew you were alive! And you know what? I saw the sky! I saw the surface world! It exists, just like you said! Everyone told me I was wrong for believing you, but I did not believe them and you were right! They said you were dead and I was almost starting to believe them but they were wrong. You're here. Why are you here? I mean you are obviously here because you are here, but why? Why, why, why, why, why!”

“Hush now little child.” The old mole said. “I will tell you my tale. If you just let me.”

“They all said you had been eaten by a tunnelworm.”

“Well. I was.” The mole-woman chuckled. “That much of it is true.”

“Why? Is this beast keeping you prisoner here? Well cut our way out!” Sim proclaimed, and pulled a little knife of flint from her vest pocket.

She was visibly vibrating with energy.

“No, no.” Said the old mole. “She is not keeping me prisoner. She is, in fact, the one who saved me.”

“She?” Said Sweetie. “You mean this big worm is a female?”

“Yes” Said the mole woman. “And she is a mother, and grand mother, many times over. A mother who has lost her children. That much, and more we have in common.”

She grabbed Sim's cheeks In bout her paws. Holding her chin up so she could look into her eyes. Sweetie could see the tears behind the old moles eyes. But the sunny smile never faltered.

Sim dropped the knife. And allowed herself to drown in the old moles eyes.

“You didn't loose me. You disappear! Why, why did you disappear?”

“Excuse me, Grandmare … Grand - mole. Can I call you Grandmole?” Sweetie asked, carefully inserting herself into the conversation. “How exactly did you loose your children?”

“Yes. You may call me so” Said Grandmole. “And I did loose you sim, Just like I lost your father, my son, and his whole family. Just like she has lost all of her children.”

She looked out, up onto the big worm. Her smile did not falter. But something sorrowful crept into her voice.

“We lost them bout. All of our families. And out people. To the song of the Mole king.”

Sensing the dramatic shift in the air. Sim and Sweetie sat down. Sweetie made an extra note to her ears to pay extra attention. As what was about to be said would no doubt have to be retold to the members of her party that were not currently percent.

-:: Recording in progress ::-

“My children. To understand how all thing came to be. You must go back to the beginning. And this story begins, not surprisingly, in a hole in the ground.”

Grandmole cleared her throat.

“We were explorers, him and I. Never once to sit round the fire gems and nurture our tribe. We were always digging. Always looking for new paths, and always finding them.

Many dangers we face, him and I. And always we overcame, together. Many wonders hidden away in the dark corners of the earth we saw. And each discovery only spurred us to look for more.

Many adventures we shade, him and I. I shall not bore you with all of them. For doing so would take a lifetime.

I was sure then, in my youth, that I'd have seen all the wonders the earth had to offer. But the greatest discovery was yet to come. For one day we broke through the earth to find the great open. A place with no wall, with no roof and most importantly, with no darkness.

“You mean the surface!” Said sim.

Grand-mole nodded.

“Its hard to put into words, such an experience. Imagine living your whole life down here, and one day get to see the sun on the blue sky. It was breathtaking.
A whole other world with no walls, nor roof. To us, it was like we had found our way into heaven, and in a way, we had. It was the greatest day of my youth. And the start on the best time of my life. We shared in even more adventure, Him and I. Saw so very much, and learned of even more.

She sighed nostalgic. Sweetie tried to imagine two moles running around like Daring Do. No doubt with the wonders of a child, seeing the big world for the first time.

“Once we returned.” Grandmole continued “We tried to tell our people of all that we had seen. It must have been incredibly hard for them to understand. And it was, for they started to reverie us with superstitious awe. We were the ones that had found heaven, and returned with great knowledge and wisdom.

In the beginning we tried to keep our stories to reality. But with time, after you have told the same story a thousand times, it is no longer the same stories it once were.”

The nostalgic optimism vanished from Grandmoles voice. And was replaced by sorrow.

“I have so many times thought back on when it all began. When our stories became more then just stories. Wen they started to take on a flavor of imagination that slowly made them more and more untrue. Eventually they were not stories any more. they were legends. Legends that were being told not just throughout our tribe, but throughout other tribes as well.

You see. He insisted that we should go and tell everyone about our legend. And every time we did, the legend grew. At first I agreed, believing that sharing the knowledge was the greatest gift we could give."

She signed.

“But knowledge became lost in translation. And the story became misshaped, as it can so easily be if mishandled. And as the stories grew more twisted, so did his mind.

It was not his fault that the people put him on such high pillars. But once it became high enough, he could no longer see the bottom. His head became filled with sky. And the stories began to twist him, as much as he twisted them.

He started to believe that he had really returned from the land of the dead. That the gods had granted him wisdom beyond mortals. He forgot that he was but a mole himself. For was he not more then mole, when he had done what no other mole had done?

And people forgot as well. they started to see us as something more then moles. They started to worship us, eventually they made him their king.

And why should they not have? He advanced our civilization with his tales. Molded our future after the paradise he had seen up above the earth.

He is now a mole lost in his own stories. I am afraid that he has told those tales so many times that he has started to believe them himself.”

“And he did Grandmole.” Said Sim “He forced everyone study it. His truth about the heavens. His lies!”

“Didn't you do anything to stop him?” Asked Sweetie.

“I tried. I tried to reil in his stories. Tried to stick to facts. But people were more interested in hearing the more extravagant version. The more outlandish the tale, the more listeners it gathered.

Good he was. At telling stories.”

A glimpse of old affection glinted in Grandmoles eyes.

“When I spoke out against the lies. People got upset. I was hushed for interrupting the story. I was shamed for not telling them as good as him. For telling the 'wrong' kind of stories For they wanted to believe him. How could they not believe him? He who had bought our people so much.

I then went to the source. I told him he had to stop. He asked me why. Why should he stop, when he was only giving the people what they wanted? I said because he was deceiving them. That ha was telling untruths. He looked at me and said “Well make it the truth.” How could we not shape the truth, when we had already shaped Molekind into our vision of it?”

When I tried to set the story straight, he asked me how I could deny it. I, who had been there with him and seen everything. Why would I suddenly turn truth into untruth? I told him that I had not seen these things that he spoke of. That his descriptions were false. And he called me a Liar. A denier of truth.”

For the first time. Grandmole looked sad.

“I saw it in his eyes. He truly believed it. He had become lost in his head, lost among the stories so badly that he started to believe everything himself. He pictured himself more then a mole. He believed that he could shape the world around him. And in a way he could. He did shape Mole society by making everyone believe in his vision. But his mind goes beyond Molekind. It goes up in the clouds of the sky, and he believes his will can shape them too.”

“That's not how it works. Pegasi shape the clouds, sometimes.” Said Sweetie. Remembering the great cloud figures that were sometimes made by pegasi sculptors. “Mostly they just make them go where they want.”

“I know.” Said Grandmole. “But he believes he has the ability to make it so. He believes he can grant himself that ability through machines and engines. His head is full of the sky. He wises to return there, and he wishes to shape it to his will.”

“But if he loves the sky so much Why does he not just lead the moles up there and show them?”

“I don't believe he wants to share it, child.”

“What do you mean?”

”Hiss will does not include other moles.” Said Grandmole. ”To him, others are but an extension of his will. Working to realize his dremas. And his dream is to make the surface his. But to do that, he needs the power of the tunneldiggers.”

Grandmole walked over, and touched one of the big fleshy stalakites that stuck upp through the iland.

”They harbor a great power. They can move the earth and cause the ground to collapse.”

“That sounds horrible.” Said Sweetie. Imagining how Ponyville was destroyed in an earthquake. How great rocks shot out of the earth. How the ground opened up and swallowed ponies whole.

She was really gonna have to stop imagining things.

“I know they pose a danger.” Said Grandmole. “And it is that danger that has caused our people to fear them. Like we fear so many other things that dwell in this earth with us.”

”The mole king says they were once the moles greatest enemy, he made it sound like they used to eat moles.” Said Sim.

Grandmole let out quite a hearthly chuckled.

No my child, they do not eat moles. True is they have caused our kind a great many scares in the past, made tunnels collaps. And I can not say that many have not been hurt. For when you are so big, its easy for the suffering of the small to go unnoticed.”

The walls around them let out a great rumble.

“Yes. I know. I know.” Grandmole said, pattering the pillar. “And that was the reason he sought to enslave your children. By stealing your song."

-:: She is talking to the big worm, She is actually talking to it!::-

-:: Question: How?::-

-:: Question: What children?::-

-:: Hypothesis: Its not a far leap in logic to assume they are the tunnelworms that the mole people control::-

-:: Conclusion: Those are the SMALL ones?::-

”Song?” Said Sweetie, Ignoring the other questions that fought for control in her head. ”You mean that the big worm sings for the small ones?”

”Please do not call her 'Big Worm'” said Grandma. ”Call her Mother. For that is what she is. A great mother of the earth. And yes, she sings. But not in the way that you might think about it. This is a song that resonates through the ground. Its a form of vibrations so small and rapid that one can not distinguish it from the rest of earths many feels. But – In here. Where all other sound is blocked out, you can hear her clearly.

Its these vibrations that allows us to communicate. We have kept each other company. And kept each other from going mad.
I keep her company. And try to smooth her when she cries. And she does the same for me. Singing for me when my dream go dark. Her song has helped me through many of sleepless nights. “

“You understand her?”

“If you listen long enough, you learn to understand.”

Grandbole smiled. And gestured for them to come over, and put their ears to the fleshy pillar.

Sim did so. With some level of disgust.

Sweetie did not need to put her ear to anything to hear. Her ears were picking up all kinds of frequency's inside the great wo … Earthmothers belly. Some of them might have be written of as just bodily notices, until one realized that all these sounds were part of a greater whole. Like every organ was an instrument in a greater symphony. From the base drums of the heart (or hearts?) to the strings of muscles tendons and blow pipes of intestines.

One had to remember that this gigantic creature did not communicate through vocal cords. but through vibrations of its body.

Almost like how the sounds of a factory could become its own kinds of music. If you listened long enough.

As Sweetie listened. A great hymn when through the belly, Like the echo of a sad wale leaning on a rusty piano key.

“Yes … yes.” Said Grandmole.

“What is she saying?”

“She says she is sorry that she scared you. When you first arrived. She feared it was the mole kings forces coming for her. He has been looking for her. She fears he will take her mind just like he took his children. ”

“Just, how did he actually steal her children?”

“By stealing her song” Grandmole “ He made so the mothers song can no longer reach her children minds. The mole king came enslaved them with dark melodies. Their minds becoming lost to songs like oily shadows, clouding the mind and making you lost to nightmares.

“Like a mind control” Said Sweetie.

“Like the whistles, and the organ.” Said Sim ”Just how did he go about creating those?

Grandmole let out quite a healthy laugh.

“No, no, no.” She chuckled “He did not create dark melodies. He bought them, in the form of a flute. An instrument he got from a pony. A charmer of ropes and snakes. A traveler and sales pony of many strange things.

“But, why dosne't just the earth mother sing back? Overpower the mole king music?.”

“She can not. That flute is magical. And the organ amplifies its power by many thousands. She would also fall under its spell. And if he gained control of her, who knows what he would do? So she hides here. In order to escape the enchanting hymn of his horrible orgel. The water muffers all sound you know."

" Now what?" Sim asked.

"Now, she waits. Waits for when the mole king will expire. Waits for the day the evil tuned will be no more, and her song can be heard by her children once more. She has lived manny times my lifelenght, and will continue to do so, long after I am gone."

Despite the somber tone in her voice, Grandmole smiled like one sho's never lost hope.

“Luckily, the Mole king can not reach her. No machine is powerfull enough to transport the dark tunes out to these depths. And even if there were, there is not enough crystals in the world to power such a device. The only thing that possibly could, is the sunstone.”

Sweetie made a very nervous face.

“Uh oh.” Said Sim, speaking for them both.

“This is not gonna sound good Gran! But we helped the mole king get his paws on the Sunstone earlier today.”

Saying it out loud. Sweeties cheeks when red with embarrassment. She suddenly understood why Celestia and twilight had locked them up. Helping a Villain was definitely the sort of thing you would get grounded for a year for.

Sim, speaking in her ultra fast way, very quickly recapped all the important bits that had led to this moment.

Grandmole raised her paw to her mouth.

“Oh dear” in about the same tone a grandparent might use when you accidental knocked over a jar of jam. “That is not good. Not good at all.”

“But we are gonna stop him!” Sim declaimed, not letting the gravity of the situation settle in. “We are gonna stop him, and we are gonna free the tunnelworms, and all of molekind from his tyranny!”

Sim was vibrating with energy.

Their quest had just become way more urgent then they first though. Now it was no longer about getting back at the Mole king and proving their innocence. Now it was about stopping him before he did something catastrophic, and saving the tunnelworms from his mind control.

“But to do that. We need an adapter. I figure we are gonna have to sneak into the city to get one. Then we are gonna have to find a way to stop the organ. I recommend smashing it. But to do that, we need to get into the palace … Shouldn't be too hard, if we come from an unexpected angle...”

Sim was already making plans.

Sweetie checked her power levels. She had about 50 percent battery power left. Plus a few uses of the drill-retractor gem. Not exactly a whole lot to stage another break in with.

She was about to ask Grandmole if she had some gems she could “borrow”. But when she looked over at the stash, she noticed it only contained some kind of green crystal. And not in the emerald kind of way. It looked more like dark rotten moss. almost like someone had taken a bunch of sour broccoli and sewer sludge and pressed it together into a crystallized for.

Sweetie wondered exactly what the great Earthmother had eaten. And if this might bee what happened to the waste material that she would not digest.

The earth mother did not make Pearls. She made a form of crystallized vomit.

Sweeties Belly wanted to run a puking program just at the though.

“My child, I do not believe you shall have to go all the way to town to find an adapter.”

Sweeties Attention shifted back to Grandmole.

“What?” Said Sim. “You mean that you...”

Grandmole just smiled, and walked over to one of her stations. There was a device that sweetie might have noticed earlier if if had not blended in with all the other gadgets and nicknacks that dotted the scene.

The device was like a cylinder with two sticks at each end, almost like a big fuse. And at those ends, two crystals were suspended on metallic rings. One of them glowing with the inner heat of a fire ruby. The other held one of the sludge like crystals, blackened till it almost looked like coal.

“Yes child. This was one of the tricks we learned on the surface. And it has served me very well. Without it, I would surely have run out of fire crystals by now.”

Grandmole removed the gems, tossing away the coal like crystal, while the fire ruby she brought it over to on of her ovens. There she swamped the new fire gem for an older one. Its crystal light weak and fading.

She walked back to the machine and placed it in one of the sockets. And told Sweetie to fetch one of the ugly green sludge crystals while she explaiend something about the Fuse to Sim

Sweetie hesitantly obliged. The very energy the green gems emitted looked poisonous, and she was glad that gems don't carry any smell.

With both crystals in place, Grandmole told sin to pull a lever as fast as she could. A simple mechanism of cogwheels made the cylinder rotate, And bouth crystals started to glow as the machine did its work.

Sweetie watched as at the poison like energy from the green sludge-crystal was sucked into the fuse like adapter, who glowed with a pale white. The white energy was then transferred into the fire ruby, who started to shine with an increasingly white light.

Just when Sweetie thought that the white energy would completely drown out what fire remained in the gem. The machine stopped, and the light shifted, with the red mixing together with the white, like somepony poured tomato juice in a blended full of milk. The mixing caused the two colors to blend together for a second. Before the intensity of the red heat came back, stronger then before.

To the naked eye. The sludge crystals light had faded as the fire gems glow increased, As if the energy had been transferred from one to the other in a process much like how Sim had described it.

The fire ruby now shone like like red hot coal. While the sludge crystal had faded and darkened until it was as black as coal.

“Now. Do you understand, child?”

“Yes, Yes I understand Gran!” Sim sung and danced around. “That's my Gran, the greatest engineer ever.”

Sweetie didn't understand anything. Then realized she did not have to undestand, she only needed to know that it worked.

“You built this yourself?” She asked. “down here, all alone.”

Grandmole smiled.

“Yes my child, And now I want you to have it.”

She pulled the fuse like cylinder out from it socket, and staggered back under its weight. The thing was as wide big as she was. And twice as tall.

Sweetie took the adapter of Grandmole. It filled her whole hoof, like a big Radio tube. That tube needed to get inside her. And eating it was out of the question.

“Yeah well – Do you have a hatch somewhere that's big enough?” Sim asked. Looking up and Down Sweetie. “No offense, but I think I would have to take you apart to put this in.”

”I have an idea.” Said Sweetie. ”But promise to not be freaked out now.”

She closed her eyes and pulled a hoof over her chest, like she was pulling down an imaginary zipper to a jacket. Inside she disengaged the magnetic locks to her skin. And a red scar appeared where she stroke the hoof. The “wound” widened until the skin began to open up. Revealing her metallic layer underneath. The opening spread down her belly and up her throat. Likewise a second red line started spreading cross-wise from her chest and out over her forelegs. All the way to the hooves. The line under her throat continued to climb Across her muzzle, between her eyes and past her horn before disappearing under her mane. Splitting her face in two. Sweetie sat down on her haunches and pulled her face apart. (she had to close her eyes to disengage the skin on the eyelids) Carefully to untangle the hair straws in the two halves of her mane. She then pulled it back like a hood. A bit thankful for that she had her white alloys underneath. Otherwhise her facial frame would have appeared in all its skeletal glory. Like this she still remembered herself, even if she was now bald.

She then pulled her forelegs out of the skin with no greater trouble than one would pull of the sleeves of a jacket. And pulled it all down to waist level.

She then took the screwdriver and started to remove her chest-plate. When she was done, the equivalent of her rib cage laid bare. A lower layer of policed yet unpainted metal. Cybernetic muscles and pistons and gears that moved and shifted over her titanium reinforced frame - That resembled a ribcage - that shone like chromed silver. Sweetie always made sure to polish every part of herself. She pulled her forelegs back, Twister her shoulders - and there was a click and a Buzzing sound from inside of her. Her Ribcage moved out an inch and opened like a set of double doors. Revealing the equivalent of her entrails. Her cyberdiscs and circuitry shone with a swirling light in shades of green and pink and purple. Strokes and dots lit up like twinkling stars as energy ran across her systems. There where wires and tubes in all the colors of the rainbow. And even some parts of copper that shone like gold. And in the middle of it all sat her Heart-Drive. A heart shaped Cyber crystal, a gem woven thick with an intricate cybernetic pattern. Pulsating with energy in a rhythm similar to a heartbeat. The sight reminded her of just how much magic and technology that combined in her. It was always beautiful to behold. And it was a bit of a shame this work of beauty had to be looked away inside of her.

“Well now I have seen everything.” Said Grand-mole. The warm smile never leaving her face.

-:: That mole is not easily fazed ::- Sweetie though. Unlike Sim, Who was practically salivating at the sight.

The little mole had already been inside Sweetie. But had usually made her own makeshift enterance. To her, this must have been like the castle gates to grand galloping gala for the first time.

Sweetie helped her up into her open rib cage and handed her the adapter. Despite its size compared to Sim. The little mole quickly pulled it inside and disappeared amongst sweeties components.

When she worked Sim was like an ant, pulling gears many times her Sise.

Sweetie closed the rib cage as the mole went to work inside of her.

“I hope I didn't freak you out. ” She said to Grand mole. Her cheeks getting red over the embarrassment of how much she had exposed herself.

“Oh no child, Don't worry about me.” Said Grand-mole.

Sweetie felt the wires being tangled around inside her as the mysterious device was hooked up to her systems.

-:: New component detected ::-

-:: assimilation in progress ::-

-: No data available ::-

As sweeties energies flooded into the Adapter. She felt herself at a loss. Like she had been looked into limbo. With no beginning nor end. Oh there was a beginning and an end to the device. The components inside it was just a series of crystals in a tube. It was a mechanical construct without any real electronic components for her to easily follow. Her energy wasn't running through circuits. It was running through crystal energy.

Then It all vanished. Extending herself into the adapter was like staring down a black hole.

“You may not wanna feed the adapter electricity” Sim said from inside. Its going convert whatever you put in it into raw energy.”

So that was what that was.

Sim continued to hooked the adaptor straight up to her Heart-Drive.

“Ok – Try it now.”

“Wont this just drain by battery? You should know that my Heart-Drive runs on electricity, just like the rest of my body.”

“Don't worry. I know what I'm doing.” Said Sim, assuring that she could take it from here.

Sweetie closed her eyes and focused. Going only on the the events she had just witnessed. She only needed to make the adapter spin, Like a generator.
Focusing only on the mecanical parts of the adapter. Sweetie used her energy to make the mechanical shell of the fuse spin. Generating the energy that made the magic inside the Adapter do its thing.

For a while. She did not register anything. Except for the spinning. And the power of her battery slowly dropping. It was always dropping, being active was a constant consumption of energy.

Then, the battery's energy droppings stopped. Her energy outputt was the same, but the battery was no longer depleting.

Then it began to rise. 50 percent became 51. Then 54. Then 60!

She did not need to ask where the energies were coming from. It was the adapter, filling unfamiliar substance of raw energy, converted into electricity. Energy pulled seemingly out of nowhere. As her systems where not able to detect the previously unknown wavelength of hidden emotions that Sim had assured her that her Heart Drive was beating with.

It was true. There was energies inside her that she had not even known about.

Once her battery was filled. Sim reconected the wires from her heart drive, and pulled them up to the retraction crystal in her horn. This time, Sweetie did fill the Adapter with her energy. Energy that vanished from her sensors when it was converted into raw energy, but rediscovered as it flowed into the tiny crystal. And she registered the few charges left double, then triple, until the metaphorical sun was rising on the horizon.

This time she wasn't just draining her battery flooding electricity through the gem, this time the energies were properly added to the crystal as her energy was converted into magic.

She was doing magic by her own energies.

She was so happy that she shouted out loud, and jumped up to dance upon the beach. An overexcited flare of energy sparked in her horn. And caused the drill to extend out of her horn, its gem covered teeth glistering in the rosy light of the glow worms.

Inside her, Sim laughed with her.

“You truly are a magnificent foal dear. No go, and be carefull.”

“We don't need to be carefull anymore Gran!” Sim laughed. “The mole king is going down!”

Grandmole chuckled.

“So eager, Just like your father. Just don't let anything go to you head.”

“We wont.” Said Sweetie, as the drill was retracted back into her horn. “I'll look after her.”

“And I'll look after you.” Said Sim.

“Oh really?” Said Sweetie,” Then Fix my eye!”

Sim scurried up behind sweeties empty and started putting the pieces back together. Sweetie was about to take one final farewell of Grandmole and walk away, when she realized she had nowhere to walk off to.

“Um... How exactly do we get out of here?”

Grandmole gestured at the rosey hole on opposite the beach.

“The same way you came in.”

Sweetie swallowed.

“Oh ponyfeathers.”

Author's Note

A bit late with this update
I should really have released this chapter around Halloween.

Over your head

Three little fillies busted through the doors of the castle. Behind them, the entirety of Moletown population cheered as they knew that their days of tyranny had ended. With the people behind them, the liberators ran down the length of the great hall, being joined by servants and staff in their triumphant march. until they reached the final door at the very back. A single collective buck sent the door of its hinges.

“Moleking” they said. “You are under arrest.”

The mole king fell down from his throne and landed on his knees in front of the fillies.

“Oh no. I have been defeated. Please dear fillies, Have mercy.”

“Only if you give back the Sunstone, and promise to never again try to mind control any worms.” Said Scootaloo.

“Oh take it, take it.” The mole king sighed, Protruding the suntone from his back.

The organ instantly fell silent, and then the Earthmother busted through the wall with Grandmole riding on her back. She tore the roof of the castle, and whistled to all the little worms who were happy that they were now free. And the whole mole kingdom cheered that Grandmole was now back and they made her their new queen and Sim became their prince. And the three fillies got rewarded with many hugs and kisses from their sisters and no one was mad at them and everyone lived happily ever after.

The end.

“So – What do you think?” Said Scootaloo. “We go in there and we force him to surrender.”

Her big smile shone in a silvery blue from the glowing mushrooms hanging round her neck. In the Time that Sweetie had been gone underwater, Applebloom had put her herbalist skills to use. By tying together the roots to make string, she had made a set of glowing necklaces for them all. It made a good substitute for the flashlights they had lost.

“That's not much of a plan.” Said the necklaces maker. “In fact its more of a fairy tale.”

“I liked it.” Said Sim “Paticulary the part where I became prince.”

“That's just because you were the one to add that in. Besides, should we not focus a little more on what we are actually going to do when we get to Moletown, instead of what we wish would happen? Do you really think we will just be able to stroll into the castle like that? And what happens if the mole king does not surrender?”

“Then we kick his ass.” said Scootaloo. Punching her hooves in the air.

“Him and all the worms he has under his control.” Said Sweetie. “If what grandmole told us is true. He would have complete control over every Tunnelworm in that place.”

“Of course what she said was true.” Said Sim “Why should it not be true? Are you doubting my grandma?”

“No, I'm just saying that it would be very very bad. Remember that it wasn't exactly easy to take on even one of them. Imagine a whole army. Imagine that whole tower of Tunnelworms that Sim made, all coming for us.”

“Yeah. But we don't have to worry about anything. You could take them. Right Sweetie? Don't you have like Infinite power now?”

Sweetie didn't answer. She had relaid all the news as best she could. Though she toyed with the idea of infinite, she wasn't sure how true it was.

She was currently drilling their way towards moletown, the conversation being held as they walked. (a conversation made easier with the new drill being a lot quieter then the old one.)

She had been so caught up in the moment of her new upgrade that she had not eaten a single crystal in a while now. Her belly - and thus her crystal reserves - were empty. The drill was draining her battery. And her battery was draining her Heart-Drive of its illustrious energies.

Though the magical energy of friendship and feeling might be a renewable energy, her Logic center reminded her that didn't mean it was infinite. It reminded her that a pony could still be drained of their love by an evil changeling.

The worst part was that sweetie had no way of measuring how much of that energy she had stored in her Heart-Drive. Only how much was being converted into electricity. The energy was of a different wavelength then her equipment could register.

And the Idea of over-straining her Heart-Drive was one she was not comfortable with testing. What if she shattered her Heart-Drive? Like the levitation crystals she had used today.

She made an internal check of her repair program. If the worst came to the worst. She had some manner of cybernetic sludge in her restoration buffer. It was mainly used for maintaining her cybernetic disks. But if the worst came to worst it could be used to restore a broken heart.

“I'd rather not we hurt any worms.” Sweetie said. “They are the victims here, being mind controlled by that organ.”

“The organ should definitely be our main concern.” Said Applebloom If we could just disable it, the mole king would not have any real power.”

“Then we just gotta hope that we can explain the whole situation to everyone.”

“One thing at a time.” Said Applebloom , How are we gonna get to the organ? The castle is surely to be guarded.”

Scootaloo smiled.

”Good thing we don't have to go through the front door then.”

“Scoot is right.” Said Sweetie.” That organ is built into the bedrock at the very end of the castle. We simply have to make our own way there.”

“Leave it to me!” Sim hollered. And pulled a wire to change the direction of the drill. Using her sense of the underground. She steered Sweetie Straight for the back of the castle.

***

one Journey later ...

***

“You are sure this is the way?” Sweetie yelled.

She was running in the direction Sim steered her towards. Their dark and dirty suroundings had been replaced by by a more sand colored stone that was characteristic of Moletown, and the Molekins castle.

Sweetie hated being steered, and she hated not being able to see where she was going. It was like running blindfolded, which was even worse when you knew your end goal was to smack into something.

“Of course.” Sim awnsered “If I know my sense of direction, and noboddy knows it like me. We are about to crash straight through the backside of the castle.”

“Just be carefull.” Applebloom shouted right behind her. “We don't wanna bring the whole place down. Remember there might be moles working in the Organ room. And we don't wanna destroy the Sunstone.”

“Maybe we could smash the organ carefully.” Scootaloo suggested. “I mean, its should not be to difficult to dismantle it from behind.”

She had just finished her sentence when she ran into Applebloom, who had made a sudden stop because she ran into Sweetie belle. Who had made a very sudden stop because the drill in front of her had made a very sudden stop.

“What in the?” Sim asked as she pulled herself up inside Sweeties head. “What did we hit? The palace isn't supposed to be for another dozen meters or so.”

Sweetie tried to push herself forward. Without result.

“I don't know, but it is solid.”

Sim pulled a wire to retract the drill. Then climbed out of sweeties horn to join the other in the inspection of their obstacle.

“Its metal.” Said Applebloom.

She dug with her hoof to scrape away the edges of sweeties tunnel. Doing so reveal a wall of red iron.

“Did we hit an iron vein or something?”

“No” Said Sim “That's no natural red iron deposit, that is smelted and forged red iron.”

“You mean someone put this here?” Applebloom tapped her hoof against the iron. It sounded hollow, but thick. Really thick. “Did the mole king predict an attack from this direction?”

“But why did he paint the outside Red?” Scootaloo asked “the side that is only facing into the sandstone?”

“That isn't paint.” Said Sim “Its red iron. Red. Duh! The strongest metals we are able to produce.”

Sweetie put her ear to the red iron. She could pick up the tunes of the organ, vibrating through the iron like an echo. But there was something else coming from inside this casket of metal. Something mechanical. Like a big engine starting up.

It occurred to sweetie that she had only ever seen the front of the organ. She had heard from class that organs were much more then just a piano with pipes. That there were a forest of tubes and pipes behind what you saw.

-:: Like the tip of the iceberg ::-

“I knew the organ was big” She said “ But I had no idea it was this big. It should not stretch this far into the bedrock.”

Sim shook her head and climbed back into Sweeties head.

“You know what. It doesn't matter. Well break through it. If my dads drill could break through Celestia's vault it can break through this.”

She had barely finished her sentence before their tunnel began to shake. The walls exploded inwards and a worm appeared in front of them. It crossed their tunnel without even taking notice. It was joined a second later by another, and another.

The fillies retreated back into their tunnel and rubbed the sand out of their manes. In front of them a never ending stream of Tunnelworms were crawling across the red iron. A waterfall of sand was falling as they were making a chasm between the red iron and the sandstone.

“What is going on here?” Scootaloo asked.

“I don't know. But I'm sure it is bad.” Said Sweetie. “Come on, we got to stop him before he Starts it up.”

“Then come on!” Said Sim, and tugged on Sweeties wires “We got to drill through right here!”

Sweetie denied the power to rush to her horn.

“No! Look at that chasm.” She pointed at the worms work. “Its too wide to get any hoofhold to push the drill into the metal. And besides, We weren't gonna hurt any worms.”

Sim mutered something that was likely a curse at the mole kings fiendness.

“Fine, what do you suggest.”

“We go around the other way.” She said, and let the power through to her horn, folding out her drill and making a side tunnel around the castle.

“What exactly is starting up? Applebloom asked as they ran.

I don't know. But I'm sure we have to stop him before he finishes whatever whatever he is doing.”

***

“Oh woe us, woe us! Moleking, why have you forsaken us?”

Moletown was in an upheaval when the fillies emerged. The previously so efficiently working town had broken down under some form of mass hysteria. Moles were openly crying in the streets. Some were running around crying of doom, While most were simply milling about in general confusion and unrest.

Moles in City guard armor were trying to keep order. But most were just blowing their whistles, wondering why nothing was happening.

No worms swept to aid them. The worm riders were left stranded in the confused crowd as their steeds rode away without them. The wagons and pulleys had stopped in the streets as their pullers wriggled out of their harness and disappeared. Even the many mining expeditions were now coming back to town, chasing their heavy lifters who had decides to leave work early today.

Every mole with a whistle was using them, and all getting a similar reaction, which was none.

“What is going on?” Sweetie asked the nearest mole.

“The worms. The worms have forsaken us! The sacred whistles, they do nothing. Oh woe us, why hasn't the mole king done something!?”

Then he seemed to realize he was talking to a pony.

“Oh blessed child of the heavens, have you returned to aid us in our time of need?”

“Something like that.”

The fillies looked in the same direction that everyone else was looking. Every worm in town was heading towards the castle. And they didn't just gather outside the gate to await some villainous speech from the king. They were digging themselves into the sandstone.

As they watched. They saw the rear towers fall to sand as shoals of worms pushed themselves through it. Still more was coming from all over the place, Wrigling out of their mines and sometimes taking shortcuts through the earth.

Sweetie wondered how many worms might not be currently tunneling towards the castle right now, unseen by their naked eyes as they swam through the earth from all directions.

-:: The tip of the iceberg ::-

“Hes calling them all to him.” Cried Sim “Cheap bastard is stealing my trick!”

“We need to get to the castle, Quick!” Cried Scootaloo. And pushed forward, ignoring the crowd that was gathering around them.

“The children of the sky has returned.” 'They cried. “They will save us.”

“Yeah. Of course we will.” Sweetie muttered as they ran for the castle.

***

At the gates of the castle. There were half a dozen moles standing guards, clad in armor and wielding spears. Spears that were currently pointing out towards the fillies and the crowd that had gathered behind them.

“What are you doing, cant you see what is happening!” Sweetie yelled at them.

“Our king told us to stand guard, and not let any mole enter.”

“Do we look like moles to you?”

“Eeeeh...”

The nervous looking guard cowered as another wave of sand washed down over their heads.

“Oh woe us, why hasn't the mole king done something!?” he cried.

“Oh. I think he is doing something.” Said Scootaloo. “someting bad.”

“ You speak ill of our king! Blasphermous.”

Applebloom put on a strained smile and gently pushed Scoot aside.

“What my friend means is, something bad might have happened to the mole king.”

The guards exchanged nervous glares.

“Look. We don't have time to explain everything now. But something very bad is at hoof, and we are here to put a stop to it.”

“You would not want to stop three fillies from the surface to do the right thing now do you?” Sweetie added.

the guards looked at each other.

“No? … ”

“Good. Now shut up and open the gate. Before its too late.”

***

The inside of the castle was empty. No staff or servants could be seen anywhere. In fact – it was pretty much the opposite of their “Best case scenario” fantasies. Sweetie just hoped that the opposites wouldn't stretch too far.

The one thing the castle was not, was silent. In here, the roar of starting engines was even cleared.

“Well that was easy.” Said Scootaloo. As the kings guard closed the door behind them.

"Lets just hope the next part will be to.” Said applebloom.

The fillies ran for the back of the great hall. Past all the murals and statues that were strewn out across the palace. Murals and statues depicting moles, and only moles, playing on the surface. A surface with no ponies.

At the end of the hall, a big steel door waited for them. Applebloom tried bucking it, but to no avail. And shouting wasn't exactly gonna wield any results. Sim suggested that they simply drill the doors up.

“Wait.” Said Sweetie “Who is controlling these doors. They look a little to heavy for moles. And everyone is outside.”

“What do you mean who is controlling it.” Sim was getting annoyed. “You just press the button and it swings around..”

“So its mechanical!”

Sweetie looked around, and noticed a small panel sticking out of the wall next to the doors.

The panel was bolted shut, but that didn't prove too much of a hindrance. As sweetie suspected, inside was couple of crystals and wired that must control the hinge mechanism.

She shut her eyes and headbutted the panel. Putting her horn into it. After a hoofull of seconds, the doors creaked and begun to swing open.

”Cool” said Sim. ”How do you do that?”

”As long as im conected to the system I can extend myself into it so to speak” Sweetie explained.”It becomes a part of me. And i become a part of it.”

”So its like you are putting your soul into the machine. Since energy is like your soul”

Sweetie smiled. ”In a way yes.”

”Cool. How does that feel?”

”Like exploring a whole new world. All the paths of its elektroniks. The corridors of its wires. The landscape of its data. Also. If i take full controle over it, its like im becoming bigger. Like its a new part of me.

Sweetie broke the conection. And opened her own eyes again

“Does that mean there is a part of you in this door now?” Sim asked

“No. Once I break the conection I get pulled back into myself. nothing of me remains in the other system.”

“Wow Sweetie. It really is like you are using a spell.” Said Applebloom.

“Alohomora! Alakazam!” Scoot said while gesturing theatrically towards the doors.

Sweetie Pondered. She had been focusing so much on being able to use magic like a normal unicorn that she had forgotten that her real talent was in cyber magic. Even if her magic only worked on other electronick things, it was something of hers, something that made her unique (appart from everything else).

It was her dilemma. She thought it was so much fun to be different. Yet there where times she wanted to be like everypony else to.

She rubbed her skin. Maybe that's why Rarity always insisted that she wear her skin?

No time to ponder any further. The doors swung open enough for the Fillies to jump through into the final room.

“Moleking” Scoot shouted. “You are under arrest.”

“Arrested? My, my. My little child. Whoever gave you that authority?”

The tone in his voice pretty much instantly got under sweeties skin, then it got under the magnetic locks holding her skin to her iron shell. Then it tot under her shell as well and shook her to the core.

“Don't you try that voice on us. You tricked us into robbing Celestia. You stole the Sunstone. You got us thrown in jail. And then you tried to blow up a bridge under us!”

“Yes. I admit. You three have been annoyingly difficult to get rid of. ”

The scene before them was of the giant organ. The mole king was seated high up above the floor, on a throne in front of a giant keyboard. Beneath him, the circular hole to the furnace where fire crystals had once been tossed like coal to keep the organ going, was glowing like a red hot eye. The whole room was glowing with an ominous red light. There seemed to be more lights blinking on the giant instrument then there had been before. The pipes of the organ, burrowing themselves deep into the sandstone, was vibrating. Bits of rock and gravel were shaken loose and falling from the roof. And the sound of a starting engine was only increasing.

“Its over moleking.“ Scootaloo shouted. “We have come to stop you.”

“You? Little fillies, you are far to late."

The mole king laughed and hit a key on his keyboard. A great slimy tumble was heard over the rumble of machines. Through the doors behind them. A wave of slimy worms pushed themselves into the room. They all but flew over the fillies in a slimy avalanche, wrapping themselves around them like snakes. (nad other rope like metaphors.) They filled the room like a tidal wave made of flesh. Berrying the fillies with not just their size, but their mass as well.

The fillies were lifted off the floor. Applebloom and Scootaloo were overpowered first, grabbed by a single worm each. Sweetie only resisted for a few seconds longer thanks to her machine strength. But that only resulted in more worms bearing down upon her. The harder sweetie struggled, the tighter the worms gripped. Until she, too was caught. Wrapped in a tight package of worms that covered the floor from wall to wall.

This was the second time today she was covered by long slimy meat tentacles.

The mole king laughed and hit another button, making the great iron doors to this chamber close on mechanical hinges.

“There, there. My little children.” Said the mole king “Don't struggle, Its pointless. And once you've realized that, it will be so much easier for you to just know your place.”

”Sweetie! Zapp him!” Sim cried inside Sweeties head.

Sweetie looked up towards the throne. But found both it, and the mole king missing. The entire podium upon which the keyboard was located rotated, and descended downwards into the organ itself. Before a metal plate slit into place to cover the hole.

“Now if you excuse me. I think I am long overdue for a reunion with a certain worm queen. ”

The mole kings voice came at them like an enhanced eco, from somewhere inside the organ.

“You'll never find the eart mother!” Cried scootaloo.

Is that what they call her? Oh well it donsnt matter. I have already found her. You found her for me in fact. That little tunnel you left behind my machine will lead me straight to her.”

-:: Crap ::-

“I guess I should thank you. You are after all the ones who has ensured my dominace.”

“No. I'm serious.” Said Scootaloo. “You'll never find the earth mother, not stuck in that organ of yours. Your magic tunes will never reach her.”

“Oh is that so?” Said the king “well I guess its a good thing my music ain't staying here.”

The sound of mighty engines roared to a deafening volume. The whole room started to shake, cracks formed in the walls and floor as the organ tore itself from its seat. It was pulled backwards, into the hole that the tunnel worms had dug behind it. And as the forth wall of the room when away, the organ revealed itself to be the tip of a giant sphere of red iron. A central body standing on four thick, crab like legs.

The single eye of the furnace was joined by several others, shining like red hot eyes of a giant red hot metal monster

The whole bedrock shook as the machine pulled itself from its resting place, revealing two And wielding two giant claws for arms.

All around the machine, a shoal of tunnelworms swam through the earth. Digging and adjusting the surface as rocks and sand continously fell from the loosened earth above.

As the machine rose. Sweetie got one last good look at the mural at the roof of the chapel. The depiction of a single mole facing the blazing heat of the big red sun. Its meaning was now painfully clear to her.

“Behold.” Said the king “My masterpiece.”

“Well. Someone is clearly overcompensating for something.” Said Applebloom.

”You'll never take the surface!” Shouted Scootaloo.

”I already have.” Said the mole king from his cockpit.

”That was the worst cliche ever. Of all time.” Said Applebloom.

”No. I'm serious,” Said Scootaloo” You'll never take the surface. you might think you are a big shot down here. But up there in the real world. There are a thousand ponies that Could kick your ass!

”They are gonna have to eat worms before they do!” The mole king laughed.

The machine turned, and left by pushing its way through the sand and earth. Not so much digging or drilling. It didn't have to. It merely pushed itself through the sand and earth that the worms had softened up for him. It didn't have to dig, the worms were tunneling for him.

The hole the machine left was quickly filled as the undermined sandstone above came caching down. Leaving the fillies stranded in a small room of three walls and one giant wall of sand, and up to their necks (literally) in worms.

”A thousand ponies?” Appelbloom spoke in disbelief.

”No, I'm serious. He'll never take the surface” Said Scootaloo ”Oh sure, there might not be a thousand. But But we have at least 4 alicorns. And a roster of heroes who have all faces way bigger threats, heck, he is probably the smallest threat yet. Literally.”

She giggled.

“Our sisters will stop him. Heck, Rainbow dash can probably kick that guys ass alone.”

”Great. But where does that leave us? I'd very much not like to be found in this sorry state. ”

“And who is gonna warn them in time? The first village that thing attacks will be left completely unprepared.”

Which do you even think is the closest village.

They all looked at each other.

“We gotta get up there now!”

Sweetie pushed and pulled against her restrictions as well as her captors. But the worms were packed so tightly that she wouldn't be able to move them. Not without punching her hooves straight through their skin and rendering them into wormy mush.

-:: Restrictions:: Sympathy for living creatures ::-

-:: Killing: Bad ::-

-:: They are just victims of a mind controlling flute ::-

Sweetie cursed at her self imposed restrictions. She could not bring herself to hurt another, Well , she could, But she doubted hurting them would be enough. These things would not be removed without killing them.

“Any Ideas?”

“Try whistling.” Said Scoot, trying to force out a whistle herself. “Sweetie! Arent you able to record sound-files? Cant you imitate what the flutes sounds like.”

Sweetie tried. She whistles as loud as she could. She increased her volume until she was sounding like a broken steam whistle. But nothing happened.

“It dosen't work. Why dosen't it work?”

“I though these stupids worms were supposed to listen to whistles!” Said Scooraloo. “Do you hear that you stupid worm! Why don't you listen?”

She bent her head down and bit the worm, only for the big worm to tighten its grip under her jaw so that she was no longer able to tilt her head.

“Its no use.” Said Sim. “The worms only responds to the deep tunes of the magic flute. And the mole king has pretty much overridden any other influences. It used to be just a low hypnotic trans that left their minds open to submission from other sources.”

But now with the Sunstone, he is blasting his base harder then Vinyl Scratch on an epic rave.” Sweetie finished ”Other flutes are useless now.”

“Then how did the earth mother escape being mind controlled?”

“She's bigger. Maybe they need to be closer, and have a higher tune. Said Applebloom.”

“And she was submerged in water.” Said Sweetie “this sound travels through the earth – It it does not go so well through water.”

“Great – So do we have any water around?” Said Scootaloo.

She cleared her throat and spat out a big ball of slime that landed on the worm holding her, to no effect.

“Wait. Water. That gives me an idea.” Said Sim. “Do you think that if we just manages to flood this chamber, the song of the earth might be temporarily muffed, and send the worms into a bit of a disorganized drowsy state. It just have to last for long enough for us to get free.”

“Listen.” Said scoot. “When Daring Do was tied up on the bottom of a giant pit in the temple of Marecropolis. She threw hat so that it hit a switch which caused the chamber to flood, and she was able to swim up.

“Yeah! Well we don't exactly have any hats or switches around!” Said Applebloom.

“We have something better.” Said sim.

Sim explained her plan. which will for dramatic purposes not be explained to the audience.

“Oh no no no no no!” Said Sweetie, We are not doing that!”

“We have to.” Said Applebloom I cant think of any other way.

“Do you really think that will work?” Sweetie argued back.

“Its so crazy that it just has to work” Said Scoot.

“Listen Sweetie. You have to do it. You are the only one who can.”

Applebloom was doing her best to smoothen the idea.

“If it makes you feel any better. We wont tell anyone.”

“It doesn't matter.” Said Sweetie. “My battery is in the lower parts of my body. I would black out the instant I disconnected.”

No you wont – I just re-arrange for a crystal to serve as a temporary battery.

“And where do you plan to get crystals at this time?”

“From my dad.”

Sweetie blinked.

“Ok – here we go.“

Sim pulled a wire, And Sweetie's drill folded out of her horn. Sim quickly scurried out of it and climbed into the big drill, Careful to remove two of its kinetic crystals.

She jumped back down and stood proud on top of the pile of worms. Just in front of Sweetie.

“What did I tell ya?” Said Sim Juggling the crystals.

Sweetie looked between Sim and her friends, who nodded encouragingly.

“Ok then.”

Sweetie took a deep breath and disengaged the magnetic locks that held her face in place. And Sim peeled her organic skin of like a banana.

Luckily for them. The Worms simple orders made them completely oblivious to the ongoing of a little mole running around on top of them. Or even if they were aware, they were unable to care about anything but holding the girls down.

Sim took the crystals and, using the adapter, she transferred as much electric energy as she dared into the little thing, and then hooked it up directly to sweeties Cybercore. The other crystal, of kinetic energy, she fastened bu a support column in the middle of Sweeties throat.

Then she got to work separating the head from the throat.

Sweetie muttered “Creepy! Creepy! Creepy!” In an increasingly high tone as every wire and connecting bolt was severed from the inside.

She could not think of what was happening as anything other then quite literally like having her throat and neck slit from the inside. Saying nothing of how it felt to register her food and oxygen tubes being severed from her throat and pulled down into her neck. To not speak about how it was to have a lot of stuff pulled up into her head. Along with a long spinal cord stolen from her back. And having so many wires in the space between her ears be re-tied in a spaghetti like fashion that she though she was never going to be herself again.

It was like forcefully having to watch someone all of your favorite models in a completely new fashion just for the hell of it.

Persevering through the whole ordeal was one of her greatest challenges today. Sweeties logic center told her that the easiest process would just be to kill the worms. And she frequently had to fight back against overloading and sapping away the little mole who was quite literally tearing her apart, all the while her systems screamed desecration.

The whole process only took a minute. But it felt like an eternity.

The only thing that still kept her reconnected to her body was the physical connection of her neck plates. The fact that her head still lay on top of her neck allowed her energies to jump up and down along the conducting pieces.

“Ok – If you just align your head towards that corner...”

Sweetie obliged, aiming her horn towards the edge where the roof met the wall.

She looked at her friends, and nodded.

“Just be ready and hold your breath!”

With a second of more thought she added:

“But I swear if anyone makes a single headless horse joke I swear I will … !!!"

Further then that she did not get. Sim Skipped the last few numbers in her countdown and pulled the wire. A spark was sent to the kinetic crystal. Balancing at the base of sweeties neck like powder of a cannon. The kinetic blast sent sweeties head flying for the roof.

She scream vanished as her and her Heart Drive were disconnected from her Cybercore of a brain. Without the emotional energies of the Heart-Drive, her thoughts turned cold and logical.

In the same second as she launched, she activated her drill. Striking true – she impacted with the edge between the roof and the wall. The drill was activated. And its energy consumption was quickly depleting energy reserves stored in emergency storage unit 2 (label: tiny crystal). But not so bad as to compromise mission parameters exceeding expected time limit.

-:: Current mission . Drill a hole at 45 degree angle to reach the water container located on the top of this facility ::-

-:: !Slight disturbance detected! ::-

-:: Conclusion: the weight of this unit is being affected by gravity. Main mission compromised – unable to load insecurity about once's weight. ::-

-::Calculations show drilling units having difficulty finding a footing without further pressure, all momentum of initial launch lost ::-

-:: Conclusion: Use more kinetic force: Data indicated the kinetic crystal still connected to back of this units neckline. ::-

-:: Informing Co pilot (designation: Sim the mole) of current situation ::-

-:: Awaiting further information …::-

-:: Mission perimeter updated: Second kinetic blow has pushed this unit upwards, and reestablished the drilling units hold onto the sandstone structure. Drilling unit has now achieved firm grip on the sandstone.

-:: Proceeding with mission ::-

***

Applebloom and Scootaloo watched the head of their friend disappear into the thick sandstone roof. They hoped that their friend knew what they were doing. Seeing her without a head was quite a new experience for them as well.

“So. Do you think she'll make it.”

“I hope so. I would hate even more to be found in this sorry state.”

“Yeah ...” Scoot said with a grin. “I just hope she does not loos her ...”

“No Scoot. Just no.”

The sound of the drill vanished, and was replaced by the rushing of water. The two fillies took a deep breath as water plummeted out of the hole.

The chamber was quickly flooded. And as everypony, worm and all, ended up under water. The two fillies felt the grip of the worms loosen.

True to their hopes, the worms went dizzy under water. They still resisted as the fillies freed themselves from their grip. But their movement was slow and sluggish. And the water made them sleek as eels. Making it easy for the foals to pull themselves free.

Still. There was a lot of worms in the water with them. And the fillies found themselves more climbing then swimming as she pushed herself through the spaghetti-soup off sluggish worms. Heading downwards through the thickest of it in search for their friends body.

Unsurprisingly they found her in the middle of the mess. Scoot and Bloom grabbed one foreleg each. And pulled her up to the surface with them.

They made it with barely any breath to spare. And hoisted up sweeties body so that her empty neck reached above the water.

“So now what?” Scootaloo asked. Kicking beneath her to keep the sluggish worms at bay.

“I … I don't know” Applebloom answered. Trying to keep her panic at bay as she noticed the roof was getting closer.

Water was still pouring down the hole with no sign of stopping. She did not remember the pool being that big. And underneath the the worms still tried to reach for them. Sluggich. But en mass.

It did not help that the loose skin of Sweetie's face and mane had gotten sucked down into the stump of her neck. So that it looked like If somepony had smashed her head all the way in. Though she would not admit it was kind of freaky to look at.

“The plan was for them to open the chamber door from outside” Said Applebloom as her hooves touched the sealing. And she pulled her back hoof from the grip of another worm. “If worst come to worst – Well swim up through the hole.”

Then she felt a pair of cold steel hooves grab her head. She was pulled around and found herself staring straight down Sweeties mashed face. Her friends body put its hooves all over her face, and was being very rough about it.

A filly nerves can only take so much before their resolve is tested. And Applebloom rolled for a critical failure. She screamed and pushed the body away. It disappeared down under the surface as a buss of worms renewed their grip.

The water became a flurry of activity as the body began to flail around, all four limbs kicking and punching as tirelessly and sporadically as only a machine in short circuit can.

The worms began to waggle around under the assault. Like the arms of some great seamonster they turned the surface into a storm. And Scoot and Bloom found themselves knocked underwater.

Then the whole world tilted on its side. Up became down like somepony had just tilted over the big eel-tank they found themselves in. Worms, fillies and headless body found themselves tumbling over in a great wave that pushed itself through the steel doors and out onto the floor of the grand castle hall.

Bloom and Scoot slowly rose. Covered in bruises from the short clash. The only thing that had saved them from striking the hard stone floor was the matress of slimy worms beneath them. Luckily, the worms seemed even more hesitant to get up after the tumble. If anything they were covered in even more bruises then the girls.

Looking up. They saw Sims little head sticking out from a fuse box by the door.

“Took you long enough” said Scoot.

“Got her as soon as I could. Though it looked like you had the situation under control. ” Sim squeaked. “did you beat them up all on your own?”

As if on Que, the biggest pile of worms rose up, and was sent flying as a headless filly emerged from the pile. It waved its front hooves around above its empty stump. Grabbing for something that wans't there. It looked like it needed to scream, even though it had no mouth. Never stopping for a second, It began to stumble out across the worm covered floor. It bumped into Scoot, grabbed her cheeks and started to pull.

Scootaloo screamed, realizing the body was hunting for heads. Sensing the resistance, the body started to feel in scoots neck and forehead. Realizing this head was already ockupying a body, and the lack of a horn, the body ceased its assault And begun to desperately run around the hall. Stumbling over worms and running into pillars.

“She's Looking for her head!” Applebloom screamed, as the body tilted a statue. “Where is her head Sim?! Where is Sweetie?”

***

-:: 240 ::-

-:: 241 ::-

-:: 243 ::-

-:: Emergency battery: 13 percent felt ::-

Sweeties head lay at the bottom a pool, counting the seconds since Sim had left.

There was a lot of fears associated with being a disembodied head in this kind of predicament. Good thing she could not process any of them. Or she might have been freaking out.

She stared at the hole through which all the water had gone. Analyzing the sounds that came up from below. It sounded like Sim had gotten the door open. But she did not understand what the Screaming and thrashing was about. It would be really bad if the worms got up and grabbed them again. It would kind of make this effort be for naught.

-:: 287 ::-

-:: 288 ::-

-:: 289 ::-

-:: 290 ::-

-:: 291 ::-

The sound of hooves on the Stairwell made her look up. Three heads looked out over the edge of the swimming pool.

-:: Recognition: Scootaloo // Designation: Friend ::-

-:: Recognition: Applebloom // Designation: Friend ::-

-:: Recognition: Sim // Designation: Work in progress... ::-

-:: Unable to load designated emotions // Unable to connect to Heart-Drive. ::-

-:: Commencing: Witty response ::-

“You are a liar, Sim.”

“Me” The mole looked shocked “however do you mean?”

“You said you would be back in one minute. Its been five.”

Yeah well … we ran into some complications.

-:: Complications? ::-

Sweeties head looked from face to face as they lifted her out of the pool, and noticed that something was definitely wrong. More precisely, something was missing from this reunion.

A question needed to be asked.

“Where is my body?”

They heard a mighty crash coming from below. Like a battling ram just had the final word with the gate. Followed by screams of the onlooking moles.

Everyone with legs ran to the edge of the roof and looked out across the streets of Moletown. Looking down below them they could see the body bucking out into the streets.

So begins the legend of the headless horse.

***

The small ghost of code that remained inside the wires of the body after the head, and thus its connection to its main mainframe, was severed had created an simple algorithm for what to do in a case like this. Unfortunately, its was a simple algorithm, mindless, as the mind was literally gone. And having no prior experiences to draw from, or any established protocols of what to do in this circumstance. It (the ghost that was the body) was left with the Heart-Drive as the closest mainframe- like component to ask for direction

The Heart-Drive, operating solely on the panic of having just lost her most important bodyguard, the algorithm and all the other systems that had just lost their guiding voice, joined together to form a ghost in the machine. A very scared and confused ghost whose single parameter was to find its head as quickly as possible.

A task proven slightly difficult by the fact that all the sensory equipment, like eyes. That would have been necessary to see the head were gone with the head. And that its ability to think having also disappeared. It reverted to the single most effective tried and practiced emergency response that has been used by all ponies everywhere.

STAMPEDE!

The other three fillies and one mole was running after it. Two on their own legs, one riding on their back, and the forth being a disembodied head being carried around.

"How did this happen?" Sweeties head asked over her voicebox.

Using her mouth to form words was an energy wasting inefficiency. And her yaw was currently resting on

Scootaloo's foreleg.

“I don't know” Said Scootaloo “You, She, just got up and started running around on her own.”

“Why don't you tell us how this happened Sweetie? Its your body.” Sim shouted, riding on top of Appleblooms head.

“Correct. However. I have no previous data regarding any situation like this.”

-:: Assessment: This is my fault // I did not place the body in stand by mode ::-

-:: Error // You could not have // the body should not be able to operate without a processor::-

“Cant you do something. Whistle for it?” Sim asked.

“All my eyes and ears are located on this unit.”

And is there any way to make it stopp

“Processing … It will keep running for as long as it has battery power left.”

“So what do we do now?”

“Isn't it obvious.” Said Scootaloo. “Now we catch it.”

She Darted ahead of Applebloom. she would be having some trouble running on only three legs, had she not been aided by her wings.

Even so, it was difficult enough to catch the body. Moletown was already in a panic after the mole kings escapades. And a headless foal running through the streets only added to the chaos.

There were moles running everywhere. And all the bigger goods that had been carried by the worms had been left in the streets. Scootaloo and Applebloom had to make sure not to step on anyone as they chased the runaway body. Who was having no problem plowing through the crowd. Moles happily got out of the way once they saw a headless mare running towards them. The chaos came after then they flooded back into the street, like the water pouring back into the track after a motor boat, screaming and waving their paws in the air.

The body hit the side of a wall and headed down another street, knocking over a cart full of boxes. It would have fallen on a group of school children wearing red capes, had Applebloom not skirted around and stopped the carts fall with her body.

The cast of mechanicus class looked up at her.

“Hi” Said Sim, as she dangled from a tangle of red mane.

“Sim? Applebloom?” Said the Teacher “We though you were gone...”

The the pile of boxes fell, Applebloom catching most of them with her body, shielding the small ones.

Scootaloo darted ahead. She and Sweeties head was catching up to the body. It was was zing-zagging the street, Miraculously managing to miss most of the wagons. It hit another wall and ricocheted around a big pile of gems.

Scootaloo leaped over the pile, only to find a Washing line hanging low on the other side. Her face got tangled up in a line of tiny towels, and she stumbled as she landed on three hooves, the forth hoof tossed Sweeties head out in front of her as she fell.

Sweeties head soared through the air Just as the body ran straight into a marketing stand., causing Sweeties head to overshoot the body and land on the cobble street. She tumbled to a halt, landing right side up and facing her own body. It trashed around in the ruins of the stand, digging around in several round kinds of mushroom.

They were just a few meters away from each other.

-:: So close, yet so far away ::-

If only she had been able to call out to it, send it some form of signal. But the only way to communicate with her body was through physical contact. She needed to have something to connect with, something to transfer her thoughts to the body.

Her horn sparkled as she thought.

-:: Wait a second ::-

The body untangled itself from the broken stand, and was just about to leave, when it was zapped by an electrical beam.

The energy worked its way through the skin, in through magnetic connection and into the system.

The skin registered the pain, And the reflexes was ready to jump in fright. But it didn't. There was something more inside the electricity. A code. Data that it recognized all to well.

-:: Connection established ::-

Sweeties head would have groaned, had it got the energy to spare. The energy needed to sustain the beam was quickly draining all of the emergency power out of her emergency battery.

A thin line of electrical energy hung between the tip of her horn and her body. Crackling and sparking as electricity do.

It would have been one thing to simply shoot a quick Zap of lightning, like she used to do at meanies in school before they restricted her. Maintaining a constant flow of electricity was another matter, especially since she stretching her consciousness out across the flow.

Her thoughts were powered by electricity just like everything else in her. It was by sending these energies into other machines that she as able to extend her though into them. Make them a part of her for as long as the connection subsisted.

She had always thought about is as a physical connection, But all she really needed was a flow of energy to ride on.

As long as the could maintain the beam. She had a one way connection to her body. The fact that it was her body helped, as she did not need to spent time to dig through the inner workings and establish dominance over a new system. The body recognized the signals. And began to complying.

-:: Walk towards me ::-

The servos inside the legs having a full understanding parameter of how to move without tripping over ones self. (therefore sweetie did not have to)

-:: Walk to the left ::-

The body did this. And smacked into another market stand.

-:: No... The other left. ::-

-:: Re-calibrating instructions: Remember: perspectives are reversed ::-

-:: Perspectives failing // Power levels dropping // Emergency battery spent // Eyes shutting down ::-

Her body turned towards her as her as her emergency battery ran out. It walked towards her as her head began to shut down its internal systems. The eyes and facial motors ceased to function first, followed by Lesser thought processors as the last electricity ebbed out of her horn. The head was unable to register the hooves that picked her up, and had all but blacked out when new energy suddenly folded back in.

“ Wwwowoooooaoowaoooaooaaaaaaaa!” Sweetie cried as her head booted back up from a near complete shutdown.

All her scenes and programs washed over her like a cold shower as all the programs from all the components in the body and the head ruched over to shake hoof with each other and welcome each other back. In an instant she was able to feel again as the Heart-Drives energy mixed in with the Cyber-Cores logical processor. And all the accumulated data that the two had gathered over their time apart from each other was exchanged between systems as the two units became one again.

Sweetie looked down, and found herself holding her head in place with one hoof while the other was trying to pull the skin back over her face. With mixed results.

She was sitting in the middle of some kind of market place. A hundred moles were staring at her from behind whatever stands that had not been crushed. All too fascinated by the ongoing to cry about their smashed wares.

Sweetie wanted to take a deep breath. But found herself unable to, as the tube to her airpump still lay somewhere down her neck.

She tilted her head back, carefully as not to break the connection to her neckline. She tried to pull the wires back up with her other hoof. And was trying to match them with the bundle left by Sim, when her friends came galloping into the marketplace.

“Don't you ever do that again!” She cried at Sim.

“Aw. Come on, It worked out fine, didn't it?” Sim awnsered.

“Sweetie, are you ok?” Applebloom asked.

“I will be, once you screw my head on back together!” Sweetie cried, demanding that Sim get back inside her.

Sim jumped down into Sweeties Throat while her friends helped her pull the skin over her face. All around them, the marketplace was becoming cramped with moles who were staring. Sweetie didn't have time to think about them. She was busy trying to sort out this new experience in her head. Her migraine subroutine wanted to start up at random, and she had to make sure Sim put all the bolts back where they belonged.

As she did an internal systems check. she noticed that a huge portion of her cyber-sludge from her buffer had been lost.

“Wait. What is that?” Said Sim

Sweetie did an internal check. A tiny, tiny lump had formed on the inside of her neck. A small Cybernetic orb had grown like a mushroom at the base of her spine.

-:: New component detected. ::-

“That … “ She could almost not believe it herself. “… Is a tiny core.”

“I didn't put that there. I swear.”

“No, you didn't.” Sweetie checked “I did. Or at least my body did. As my body was forced to operate all on its own. It was forced to work on the assumption that the head had been lost forever, and the repair programs started to do what they do best and start the recreation process.”

“You are telling me that your body was trying grow an entire new head!” Said sim.

“No. I mean yes ... I mean it needed a processor to be able to properly form cohesive thoughts. Well, not thoughts. More like somewhere to be able to process its data … something that was gonna help make it able to find its head. “

That was how her body had become able to work on its own. The body needed its own little brain. Not because she was becoming two different individuals, but because a part of her had been forced to act temporarily on its own. The repair schematics had done the rest with the material in her buffer.

“Want me to remove it?” Sim asked.

“No … Its like an … Emergency brain. Its a tiny emergency processor.”

-:: New component labeled and filed. ::-

Sweetie had never been so proud of her body, It had done everything because it wanted to find her head.

-:: New idea: Need to install some kind of radio connection between my head and my body ::-

A portion of her processor was already drawing up plans for an upgrade – With the proper equipment, that mini-brain could function as a receiver.

“What would have happened if you had grown an entirely new head?”

“One: That would not have happened. There is no where near enough material in my buffer to do something like that. Second, the body did not want to grow a new head, it wanted to find the one that it knew was out there. Thirdly: …. shut up.”

-:: We are not thinking about that ::-

-:: what we are thinking about is: How far has the Mole King gotten!!! ::-

***

The mole king was easy to follow, given the trail of gravely tunnels he had left behind.

The fillies arrived back at the underground silver lake just in time to see the place flooded with Worms.

It must have been every single Tunnelworm from Moletown, Every single child that had once been lost to the hypnotic tunes of the mole kings machine had now come here to rejoin their mother.

But this was no happy family reunion. It was the mole king who had brought them here. To enslave their mother as well.

The whole cave was filled from end to end with worms. All sitting half buried in the sand, with their heads raised and wobbling from side to side, like a snake being charmed. All facing the giant lake in the middle.

In perfect unison they all wobbled their heads towards the water. It was like seeing grass bending in the breeze, all those worms bowing in hypnotic waves.

“What are they doing?” Said Scootaloo.

“I am almost surprised you can't hear it” Said Sweetie. She didn't have to make an effort to puck up the song here. She actually had to turn her ears down to try and filter out the noise that the worms were making.

“No. But I can feel it.” Said Applebloom “Its like you described, Sweetie. They are sending micro vibrations through the earth.

“Though in this case its more like Macro vibrations.”

Sim was right. The sand was shaking under their hooves. Normally one could not feel the vibrations that a single worm could create. But here. With so many worms gathered in the same place, It was like a tiny earthquake.

“But why?” Said Scootaloo. “What are they doing?”

“They are singing for their mother!” Sweetie realized. “They are trying to draw her out.”

“I though water was supposed to muffler the song.”

“Not this much!”

The lake was shaking. Ripples and tides were cascading over its surface.

“The mole King is making them do this!” Said Sim “He is adding their chorus to his instrument.”

“But where is he?” Said scoot. “How are we supposed to stop him if we cant see him?”

They looked out over the field of worms. You would think that a giant quadrupedal organ would be easy to spot. But its wasn't.

The fillies ran between the worms looking for their foe. Sweetie racked her brain trying to figure out where he could be hiding. If he wanted to take control of the Earthmother, he would have to bring his organ close to her.

He would have to...

"HE'S IN THE WATER!"

The water erupted as the massive width of the Eartmothers head broke the surface. Upward and upward she went, until her head almost brushed against the roof of the cave. She appeared as a massive shadow, blocking out the light of the blue glowing mushrooms.

And still, Sweetie knew, there was more of her, waiting to be surfaced.

All heads of the worms turned to face the head of their mother. For a second one might hope that she had been able to break through the spell. That she had defeated the Mole king and his machine.

That was, until Sweetie saw the machine standing proud on top of the Earthmother. Its red metal hull glistering of lake water in the blue mushrooms light.

Being able to see it from a distance, it looked like a giant crab. A crab with who big claws, and steam pipes protruding from its back.

A crab that was being worn like a hat by the gigantic eel that was the Earthmother. Like two sea monsters that had ascended from beneath the deepest depths of the earth. (Which in a way they had.)

If there was any manic laughter coming from its pilot, it was drowned out by the rumble of the earth mother. It sounded like an earthquake, and made rocks fall from the roof as the whole cave shook.

Sweetie had to turn of her hears. For the frequency was deafening.

The Earthmother then opened her massive maw. And its many tongues wriggled out to form a ramp, which the Mole Kings Machine gently stepped on to.

Scootaloo gave a half hearted cheer when the Earth mother Maw closed around the machine.

“That … that meant she ate him right? … That … that meant she won.” she stammered. Half heatedly pumping her hoof in the air.

“No” Said Sweetie. “She isn't eating him. She is protecting him”

Without speaking a word that a pony would understand, the worms began to move like a shoal. The Earthmother poured even more of her length out of the lake. And her nose struck the roof of the cave with such force that it gave way.

Rocks began to fall from the sealing as she pushed herself through the bedrock. And the shoal followed her. Each worm making its own hole in the walls, and with so many worms it was like they were disintegrating the walls. A sandstorm was kicked up as the cave was reduced to sand.

The blue mushrooms were shattered and squashed, and the lake quickly turned into a soggy mud puddle, sprinkled with extra rocks.

Applebloom and Scootaloo screamed in the hail. They were blinded by the hail and the darkness.

Sweetie weren't.

She dared the sandstorm. Turning off her eyelids and her sense of touch the turned her open eyes towards the hailing sandstorm. Persevering as the dust brushed over her open eyes.

She quickly found her friends, and told them to hold onto her tail as she led them through the sandstorm.

“Where are we going?” Scootaloo asked.

“Isn't it obvious?” Sweetie said. “After him!”

Author's Note

Will our heroes be able to stop the mad mole before Christmas?
(Seriously, will this story be done before Christmas?)

Will there be an epic battle of machine vs machine?

Will worms still be slimy?

Find out in the next chapter. Same pony time. Same pony channel.

Ps: Way to use that pre-established swimming pool in an unexpected way.

Emergence Emergency

It had been a completely normal day in Ponyville. And it was looking to be an equally normal evening. The birds were singing. The ponies were mingling. The fillies were heading home from school. And the many shop owners could enjoy an upswing in activity as others got of work and found themselves with a little more free time.

The whole town fell into that kind of drowsiness that comes when everypony just want to relax and socialize after a normal days of work. Which is why it was pretty unwelcome when the earth started shaking beneath their hooves.

The first sign that this was no ordinary earthquake was that Ponyville didn't naturally get struck by earthquakes. The second sign was when the ground beneath them erupted, and long fleshy tendrils started grabbing for their legs, like some Eldritch horror coming to life before their eyes. The were worms in the flower shop, and there were worms in the bakery. And not the small kind that might warrant some kind of filed complaint to the health inspection department. But big like a grown pony, and several times longer. Something that would quite surely be of interest to the extermination department. If they were not currently busy being undermined by their own set of slimy problems.

Not far enough from Ponyville, Rover was not having a very good day. Not only had he had to oversee the demolition of the prison area and the filling in of any holes those pesky little ponies had drilled down to the horrible depths. Now it seemed like his worst fears would come to fruition.

Not only did their homey caves begin to shake with the terrible tremors. It was a bigger tremor then any dog had ever had to endure in the history of ever (however long that might have been)

They had just finished putting the last boulders in place, when the boulders bounced back, and revealed the heads of those terrible tremor-causers.

Despite the whole cave being on alert, it mattered little when the walls exploded and long slimy tentacles started grabbing for everything in reach.

Dogs fought with tooth and tail. Bringing their many spears to bear, trying to push back the Tremor causers back down towards the depths they came from. But every time one retreated from the tip of a spear Another would sweep in from behind.

Rover ran through the caves, barking orders and trying to get his forces organized. A monumental task when the enemy was coming from everywhere.

His day became even worse when he from the holes in the floors spotted Three little fillies emerging.

“Ponies!” Rover cried “Why much ponies always bring ruin to Rovers life!”

The fillies looked around, looking very confused about where they had ended up.

“We followed the wrong one up” The orange one cried.

The yellow one advanced on rover. Who quickly backed away.

“The exit! Excuse me! Where is the exit? We really need to get home fast!”

“NO!” cried Rover “This all your fault! You bring terrible tremors to us”

The trio made a nervous face

“well … I guess we kind of did” Said the yellow one with a sheepish smile. “But were trying to stop it, so please, tell us where the exit is!”

“No exit! No helping ponies! Why ponies not just leave and never come back!? Leave and make your own exit. ”

“Ok, thanks.” The white one said.

Then her horn grew ten sizes into a big drill, which she shoved into the nearest wall, and made herself a big hole through which the ponies all disappeared, leaving Rover to howler in despair.

***

The Cmc emerged back in the quarry, where Scootaloos scooter still lay in waiting, the passenger wagon hooked on and ready for use, and a pair of emergency goggles hanging from the handlebars.

Wasting no time, the trio jumped on to their vehicle, and Scootaloo drove them with all haste towards their home town.

A home that had turned quite chaotic since they last left it earlier today.

Short of the buildings being toppled over, every street had been turned upside down with ponies and worms fighting for control. A fight where the ponies, having been caught unprepared, were loosing and finding themselves wrapped up in several lengths of worm.

Above the chaos - in the center of Town - The earth mother had wrapped herself around town hall like a spiral. Silouetted against the sinking evening sun. And on top of her head, seated like a crown, was the mole kings massive machine.

Scootaloo pulled up her goggles, and

“Ok Girls. Any idea of how we are going to stop this?”

“There is only one way to stop this” said Sim “is to stop the music. The magical flute is located inside that machine, amplified by a giant organ. We are gonna have to destroy it.”

“Right” Said Applebloom “So all we have to do it stop a magic flute which is located inside a giant amplifying organ located inside a Giant enemy crab located on top of a gigantic earth worm in the middle of a town wide brawl.”

“A giant mechanical crab” Sim corrected. “A mecha-crab.”

“Giant enemy Mecha-crab” Got it.

“Well be just like Rainbow Dash.” Said Scootaloo. A mad grin spreading over her lips at the very though of impressing her idol with some heroic deed.

“And Applejack and Rarity too” She added, with a second look on her friends.

“I don't know about Rarity” Said Sweetie “She hates crabs.”

“Ok but first we are gonna have to get over and up to that blasted thing.” Said Applebloom

“Leave it to me.” said Scootaloo, slapping the goggles over her face. “Hold on to your hooves and heads.”

Her wings flared and buzzed into action. Within a second the scooter and the wagon when from stand still to a high speed frantic safety ignoring race - Speeding through the chaotic streets of Ponyville.

In the streets ponies were brawling, biting running and trawling. Yes. Actual trawls were being used as a general tactic, by both sides. Two ponies tried to capture a hoard of worms in an net in an attempt to subdue them. Though the tactic generally worked better for the worms. As they with their numbers made a sort of living net that herded ponies in front of them, and captured all that could not run fast enough.

Through this, Scootaloo scooted ahead with a speed unprecedented, given the many obstacles in their way.

She jumped over burrow, rocketed around holes and sided across hollows. All the while dodging obstacles like pony legs and worm lengths.

It was like the ever shifting ground beneath them had become her own personal scooter park. All Applebloom and Sweetie could to was to hang on fro the ride with a mix of awe and terror at the skill their friend presented. They all ducked as they tunneled under somepony's legs, only to immediately be sent skywards by a suddenly appearing borrow, and ended up grinding along the length of the worm that appeared from under them.

Sweetie did not think she could have done it better. Correction: She knew she could not have done it better. Once again the flesh proved itself capable of feats unmatched by machinery. There was just something about raw innate skill that no amount of upgrades could hope to replicate.

Why Scootaloo had not gotten a mark in scooting, she would never know.

She had the wing power of an athlete. Even if she didn't have the lifting capacity.

“Hang oh!” Scootaloo shouted. As if that was not what her friends had been doing all along.

A building toppled over in front of them, Its forming a ramp that the equipage rocketeered of. For a moment they were flying. Sailing high over the barricade that the worms were forming around the town square and their mother.

Flying towards the town hall and the giant earth mother that had wrapped herself around it. Like the giant monster from some horror film.

They landed at the base of the earth mother. Sweetie was amazed. Even though the earth mother was exceeding the town hall in length, there was still more of her that had yet to be surfaced.

She was sure that the spiral she had formed around town hall was supported by her own length sticking even further into the ground then there was head and neck sticking up, rooted like a counterweight.

(A scary thought was that it might only be the proverbial neck, or perhaps midriff of the Earth Mother being visible above ground)

A theory further supported by that the only reason town hall wasn't crushed was that the mother wasn't leaning herself on it for support. And Sweetie got a very good look at the Town hall in all its levels as they raced up the spiraling back of the earth mother.

The ground vanished below them as they did lap after lap around the town hall. Passing its second and third floor, then the roof.

And finally the mole kings giant mechanical crab came into view, prancing about on the top of the earth mothers head.

The thing was the size of a house. A house they were about to collide with at high speed.

“Sweetie – you're up!” Applebloom shouted, and cupped her hooves for sweetie to step up on.

Scootaloo swerved at the last moment. The g-force nearly flinging the wagon of its hook at the big mecka. Using the force of movement, Applebloom heaved and threw Sweetie towards the red surface of the mecas red ironed hull.

Sweetie folded out her drill like a might spear, hurling for the Moles machine like a projectile.

She collided with the hull with a might clang.

And slid off.

Carrying the momentum, the drill was sent downward off the meckas round hull. Making Sweetie in turn flip over and collide back first with the red iron plating. Producing another might clang.

Dizzy and disoriented, Sweetie realized that she was falling. Sliding off the mecka-crabbs hull with the drill still spinning and pointing straight towards the earth mother.

“Sim! Retract the drill now!”

The little mole grunted in response, having been knocked over from the impact.

Realizing she was about to make a canal through flesh and blood, Sweetie could only cut the drills power, and turn herself sidways mid fall, so that the drill did not pierce the earth mothers hide.

Alerted to their presence, the big mecka-crab began to turn around. Sim had gotten back to pulling the necessary wires to retract the drill just in time for the red light from the Mecka grabs glowing eyes to fall upon them.

“You again!” The mole kings voice echoed over some internal loudspeaker. “My my you are proving to be of some Nuisance. But I admire your spirit. Come to witness my true accent have you?”

“No. We have come to stop it!” Sweetie shouted.

“You will try!” The mole king mocked. “But what can a trio of fillies ever hope to do?”

“And one mole!” Sim shouted.

“Sim?” The mole king laughed. “Well, well. If the misbehaving child has not finally returned to her king!

“No.” Said Sim. “I've come to take you down!”

“And how do you plan to do that? You are but a tiny mole.” The king paused “So tiny that I cant even see you from here!”

Sweetie felt her left microphone be disconnected. Sim climbed out of her ear, and climbed to stand defiant on the top of her horn.

“Can you see me now? Can you?!” Her tiny voice was full of anger.

The mole king burst out laughing.

“So this is what you have been doing. Riding shotgun in a tiny robot.”

“We might be small! But we are going to stop you!”

“You are in over your head” Said the mole king “ You always have been, and you've always been a nuisance, just like you're whole family. But no matter. You are but another nuisance that will be sorted out today. And once I am done with you. You will all learn your place.”

The mecha-crab reached out a giant claw, grabbing for them. Sim ducked back inside Sweeties head. Sweetie wished she had somewhere to duck herself.

Just before the claw swooped down and swooped her up. Scootaloo blurred past the descending claw, and a pair of yellow hooves swooped Sweetie up from behind.

“Hey! Where did you go?” The mole king shouted.

“Underneath you!” Sim shouted back.

“Sim! Stop giving away our position.” Applebloom yelled.

Scootaloo circled around under the mecha-crab, avoiding its feet as it begun to stomp around trying to find them.

Sweetie jumped of the wagon, and once again activated her drill. In impacted with the mecka crabbs underbelly like the tip of a spear. But ones again it slid around and threatened to bounce off its rounded surface.

The whole central body of the mecha-crab was shaped like a pot. A singular portion of metal without any welding spots or imperfections along its surface. Finding a spot to push the drill through proved extremely difficult. Especially with the Mecka-crab moving about above her.

Even with the drill at full speed, she was barely drawing scratch lines the surface.

“I can't pierce him!” Sweetie cried “Not when he is moving around.”

“Its got to have a weak spot somewhere!” Said Applebloom.

“I know! The arms and legs!” Sim hollered “There has to be joints for them to move.”

The fillies nodded to each other.

“Everypony - Aim for the legs!” Scoot cried.

Sweetie ran for the nearest leg. Like on a crab. The meckanical “foot” was a long pointy cone of solid red metal. The fact that they were pointy pissed Sweetie of to no end. Since it meant that the Mecka-crab were balancing its whole weight on pointy ends, poking into the Earth mother like giant blunt needles.

Unlike a crab however, the legs of this crab weren't sticking out from the bottom of the machine, but from its sides. Meaning the joints were located higher up on the machine, out of reach from ground level.

No matter. Just as the leg raised to take another step, Sweetie tackled it with all her might, swinging her drill at it like she was fencing of an enemy lance.

The leg was knocked from its trajectory, and the whole Machine swayed over them.

“That's right Sweetie ! Knock him over!” Scootaloo cried.

On their end, Scootaloo rode straight for the claw, jumped and impacted with the claw by the wheels on her scooter in an impressive trick. She truck together with Applebloom, who delivered upon the leg her family signature applebucks.

“Oh no you don't!” The mole king cried.

Suddenly, all the legs raised up very fast. So fast in fat, that the fat underbelly of the machine remained hovering in the air for a suspended second. Before the forces of gravity took hold.

Sweetie was about to become very intimate with that underbelly, when she found herself swooped up again.

The next second Sweetie Was staring out over the chaotic landscape of Ponyville. The sight of the turmoil just barely giving her time to realize that Scootaloo had drove them out from under the machines underbelly, and realize that the mole king had almost butt stomped them all into very flat pancakes.

These realizations barely had time to register before the more pressing realization of that she was staring straight down at the streets of Ponyville.

Unfortunately, the nearest place to go in order to escape the attack had been to go straight over the edge. And the three fillies were now flying out from the earth mother, propelled by Scootaloos wings.

The crab-leg that Sweetie had fenced off came into view as the big robot came down. Stretched out awkwardly right beside them. The fillies Reached out and managed to grab hold of the leg. Using it as a swing pool to swing themselves back onto the earth mother.

The hard crusty hide of the giant worm nearly tipped them over as they landed. Only Scootaloos expertise in riding on the gravely streets of this village saved them from somersaulting over the other edge.

In front of them. The robot had sat itself down awkwardly, and now had trouble getting up. Its legs scrambled to get a grip on the sloping sides of the Earth mother. Unable to rise in any elegant way, it put its giant claws down, and used them to try and heave itself up.

“NOW” Sweetie shouted. And charged at the exposed belly on the machine.

The drill fouled out again. And this time it struck true. Unable to move, the big mecha-crabb couldn't make things difficult for her by moving around.

The scream of metal grinding against metal was heard, and smoke rose from the tip as it challenged the density of the red metal. Still even with the drill pointing straight into the belly, she wasn't piercing the armor.

The red metal wouldn't just give. There wasn't enough pressure, Sim informed her.

Sweetie didn't have time to dig her hooves into the hide of the earth mother. The screams of her friends made her look up, and notice the big, claw like shadow that had fallen over her.

She jumped out of the way just as the giant claw came down. The Mecka-crab rubbed its belly, scraping her away like she was some parasite, and blocking her advances. The other claw was raised and swung for her.

Sweetie swung her horn/drill, and met the claw head on. The shriek of mettal pierced the ears like a train breaking into station as the giant claw grabbed around the drill, unable to get a proper hold on sweeties spinning spear, whose rotation caused sparks to fly.

Realizing who would win that battle, the claw let go.

Sweetie got no time to rest, the other claw was already swinging at her from the other direction.

Sweetie parried the blow. But fending of one claw had given the other the time to raise again. She parried a few move blows and jumped aside.

This would not work. Whenever she defended herself against one claw, the other would just swing at her from the other direction.

“Any ideas girls?” She asked.

“We need to get up and destroy his arms!” Said Sim “Its weak spot is in its joints Look, there are basically big holes in the armor where the arms and legs are sticking out.”

The fillies looked, and noticed that yes, there were basically big shoulder pads protecting the upper joints, but the underside was left unarmored, basically big enough for a pony to squeezes inside.

“So if we just get up under its armpits, we could get inside the machine!” Said Scootaloo.

“And destroy it” Applebloom finished.

“But how are we going to get up there? The arms will just swing at us!”

Scootaloo kicked the wagon of her scooter, and raised her wings.

“True. But it can't swing at all of us!”

The girls formed a circle, and very quickly discussed their plan.

“Hey! What are you girls plotting!” the mole king shouted.

The girls broke the circle, and took up a battle pose.

“We are talking about how we are going to defeat you!”

“That's rich” the mole king laughed. “Look around you! You ponies are chance-less against my forces. I command the very powers of the depths, At my command entire mountains shall move.”

The mecha-crabs eyes turned to look over towards Canterlot mountain.

“It is you who are out of your depth mole king!” Cried Scootaloo. “Literally. You think you've won just because you've popped out of the earth? You've probably only succeeded in waking Rainbow Dash! And when she comes by, she is gonna sweep you all up in a tornado of rainbows!”

“Really?” The mole king sounded skeptical. “we shall see.”

“As awesome as that would be to see” Scoot admitted “We wont. Because we are going to stop you before that!”

The mole king laughed gain. It was a laugh that was getting under sweeties skin and shell with how self, confident it was. The worst thing about it being that he had right to be self confident. So far he had managed to stray of all their attacks.

The laugh ended quickly when Scootaloo charged ahead on her scooter. A giant claw moved to grab her. But could not hope to match her speed.

Instead. Sweetie belle ran straight at the claw. Knocking it aside with her drill. She then turned and met the other claw head on. Standing her ground as the claw tried to grab her.

“Now!”

Sim pulled the wire. And the drill retracted into Sweeties horn. She ducked as The massive claw passed over her.

That's when Applebloom jumped on top of the giant claw, and began to run up the length of the metallic arm.

“Hey – what are you doing! Get down from there!” the Mole king cried.

The other claw moved to grab Applebloom as she passed between the arms two elbows. But an orange blur on a scooter ruched past and picked up the filly.

“Get down from there!” The mole king repeated. And raised its claws to try and sweep of its head.

That's when the sound of drilling once again assaulted its belly.

Sweetie did her best to find a hoofhold. But no matter how hard she punched, she wasn't able to pierce the red armor.

The mole king laughed again. The laugh irritated Sweetie all the way to her core. And perhaps it irritated Sim even more, as she cried inside Sweeties head about the drill that was her fathers final legacy was unable to pierce their adversary's armor. Perhaps the cried the most over being just a distraction.

When once again the shadow fell over her, Sweetie jumped back. Only to impact with the giant claws. They did not appear from above, or the sides, but from behind her.

Sweetie realized too late that she had underestimate the length of the arms. She was scooped up and pushed against the shell. Given a painfully close glance at just how little damage the drill had done.

She put her hooves against the shell. And attempted to push back against the giant claw. But the red giant had her in a massive hug. And the simple fact was that the big machines pistons were bigger then hers. For every inch she was able to gain, the claws pushed back harder. Even with all her energies directed to her legs she was unable to break its grip.

The mecha-crab could fight back forever.

The giant crab raised its arms, pulling her up among the length of the front until she fell into view of one of the big red headlights. Crushed between the claws and the shell, she would surely have struggled for breath had she needed some. She could feel her skin having been pushed out of place by the rough treatment.

A smile still escaped her lips as she saw the tails of Applebloom and Scootaloo vanish into the crab machines armpits.

“You stupid little mare. Don't you know that red steel is the strongest in the world? Of course you don't. You can not even fathom the magnificence of mole engineering.”

“Engineering that you sole from the surface.” Sweetie grimaced. She could almost see the mole king on the other side of the red glass. Twisting his evil mustache.

How could see not have seen that he was evil? He had an evil mustache!

“Stole? No. Improved. And put to good use. You ponies take your magic for such granted that you don't even realize how it can be applied to science and engineering. You have trains that run on coal for pete's sake COLE! What kind of sense does that make?”

“What kind of sense does it make mole children run around, risking their lives inside still operating machines!” Sim countered, before Sweetie could say anything.

“Unlike what you are doing right now!?” The mole king sounded scolding. “Face it Sim. You are able to Pilot that machine mare because of what My schools have taught you! Everything you know, everything you have learned, is thanks to me! If not for me, all of you would be stuck in the dark ages!”

Sim was about to go on some counter speech about how If not for the king. All of molekind would have reached the heavens by now. However, Sweetie shouted over her.

“Do not talk about me like I'm not here!” Sweetie was profoundly insulted. “I am not some machine mare to be piloted!

“And for the record! She is way more advanced then anything you have put together!” Sim added. “A true testament of engineering and magic”.

“Cant be that advanced, if you Sim was able to figure her out.”

-:: Oh that was just insulting. ::-

“But I will admit you are fascinating. In time, I'm sure I will come to learn just what makes you tick.”

“I am not some research specimen!”

“Hush little child now. In time, everyboddy learns their place.”

A huge crash was heard from inside the mecha-crab. Its arms shifted slightly and sweetie sank, her rear legs ended up dangling down below the claws while her torso remained trapped between the claws and the hull, with no was of getting her front legs under her. Her head was stuck in an odd angle in the gap between the claw and the hull, too small for her big head to pass through.

“Hey. What are you doing in here!?” she heard the mole king cry out.

“Stopping you.” Scoots voice was heard from the left side of the robot.

“And your stupid monologues.” Said Applebloom from the right.

Inside, the mole king could be heard pulling levers and gears. Nothing happened.

“You destroyed my arms! No matter, I have other 'hands' to take care of you. “

Sweeties ears was assaulted by the vibrations of the organ. Looking behind them. She could see a shoal of worms crawling up the earth mother. They slithered themselves over the big robot, and stuck their long tendril like bodies in after the two intruders.

Her friends screamed as they were carelessly pulled from their crammed spaces.

The mole kings laugh was an even bigger nuisance to sweeties ears then his cursed organ. He had been able to summon those worms the hole time. But had chosen not to until now. Why? To prove that his machine was better?

It was not better! It was bigger, and stronger, and tougher. But sweetie refused to see herself as inferior to this stupid machine!

It wasn't fair. This was supposed to be their moment of Triumph, the moment when the CmC redeemed themselves for all the wrongs they had done today.

She rained every curse she could think of over the mole kings stupidity, in for nothing else then to block out the sound of his voice. In he wailing she tried to get her back legs in under her, to take brace against the giant claws that were holding her stuck. But the arms were locked in place, even non functional they held her stuck.

Sweetie wised she could punch straight through. The robot and shove the Mole kings head where it belonged. As she was, she had to settle for a kick.

“What are you gonna do little Bot? Whining me into submitting? “

”No! I am going to stop you.”

”Give it up my little friend, you are too small”

“I might be small. But my heart is great! And i am going to break your stupid armor!”

Turning down her voice box to a volume only Sim could hear. She told her to redirect the adaptor, to feed the energy straight into her legs.

Sweetie kicked again.

And again.

And Again.

The armor vibrated under her hooves as she worked on it like a jackhammer. The whole shell rang out like a bell. Every kick was amplified by earth pony magic. The same magic that had accidental uprooted

uprooted a tree in Sweet Apple Acres were now denting the armor underneath her hooves. Hooves that were still outfitted with the crystals that her friend had helped charge.

Crystals that had remained dormant for a majority of the adventure were now being flooded with new adapted energy. And for every kick, she pushed a little more into the earth pony crystals.

But the armor still refused to crack And for every kick. Her energy levels dropped. Her battery was being depleted again and again as she sucked the energy down to her hooves. The adapter filling her battery with electricity slower then she consumed it. The only reason she had not blacked out was because of the illusive reserves of emotional energy that had been saved over years inside her Heart-Drive.

A Heart-Drive that was now working overtime with fury.

”Give it up you little fool!” The mole king mocked her “My armor is stronger then steel. It does not matter how hard you kick. You can never break it.”

It was true. Not even if she let go of all restrictions she would have been able to kick through the solid metal. But pistons and cogwheels weren't all that she had. She had a heart. A heart drive full of energy. Energy which she, with the aid of Sim, could direct at will.

-:: Sim, connect the Adapter directly to my legs ::-

Are you sure?

-:: Never been so sure in my life! ::-

Sweetie ignored every warning that her systems flashed. Right now, she did not want anything more then to break apart the stupid mole kings stupid mecha-crab. Her heart drive was burning with a fiery passion, and she pushed that fire through the adapter, into her legs. She pulled all of it into the earth pony crystals.

The energy inside them swelled up until she was sure they would burst. Then she filled them up even more, until the energy inside to her own mind looked like a sun. Then a red Giant. Then a supernova.

“What are you gonna do? Whine me to death!? You might be an impressive little piece of engineering, But in the end, you are nothing more then a power inefficient little prototype. (alt: Power hungry little unicorn) ”

“Who in the hay do you think I am? I'm not some robot! I'm not somebody prototype! I'M ME! SWEETIE THE CYBERPONY!”

And she kicked.

She delivered a Kick fueled with all the energy her hydraulic legs could muster – boosted by all her inner energy – strengthened by all the power of the earth! She released every ounce of energy stored inside the crystals all at once.

The shock wave that followed made the mecka ring like a bell. The crystals inside Sweeties legs shattered. - As did the armor of the mecka – the force was great enough to break the mecka-crabs hold on her. Its broken arms flew open. And Sweetie flew backwards.

She landed clumsily. Disoriented and whoosy. But her legs acted on their own, partially thanks to the little pilot in her head, and together they managed to get her hooves under her.

All Her systems was telling her it was time to hit the hay. She ignored all of them.

Looking up. She saw the mecha trying to recover from the stagger. Its arms hung worthless at its sides. And in the middle of its chest, a crack had formed.

“IMPOSSIBLE!” the mole king Cried.

A surge of emotions flooded her Heart-Drive at the sight. Sim relocated The adapter to redirected that energy back into her systems. All the energy of all the things that she felt right now.

-:: Loading emotional responses: Shock, Surprise, Relief, Realization, Opportunistic opportunity, Adrenaline surge with the knowledge that you are about to win! ::-

There truly was power in emotions. It wasn't much. But it was enough.

She summoned her drill and charged.

-:: Finishing move! ::-

The drill found the crack in the armor Its teeth biting fast and tugging away. Sweetie didn't even have to find her footing. She was propelled forward by the pull of the drill as the crack grew and grew. Her energy levels depleted quickly. She told Sim to use the adapter on the screwdriver Krystal in her drill. Use it as their main power source. (it was the only thing they had left. And she used every ounce of it) and finally the the hull of the mecha started to give.

“Stop!” Screamed the mole king. “You will destroy the sun stone. Think about it. Limitless energy! You will be destroying the one thing you desire most!”

Sweetie heard him. Power shortage was her main weakness. The sun stone would make her never having to recharge again.

She did not care.

With a huge crack, the armor on the mechas front gave in. The drill quickly chewing its way into the machinery. Quickly making short work of the less durable cogwheels and steampipes. Sparks and gears and broken metal would rain down over town hall as she punched her way straight threw the mecha and out on the other side.

She landed on the Earthmother and. And with a single definitive click, the drill retracted into her horn.

She had just enough energy to retract the giant drill into her horn before the mecha lit up behind her in a blinding light from the cracked sun stone.

The heat and energy tingled through Sweeties body as it escaped from the broken stone like the air from a balloon. And the air was filled with a red ball of fire as the damaged crystal shattered, and all its energy released in a blazing explosion.

Sweetie did not even turn around to look at the explosion.

Parts of the mecha, no bigger than nuts and bolts, rained down over all over Ponyville and some of its surrounding countryside.

Sim climbed out of Sweeties ear, and lay down upon Sweeties head, exhausted. She did not even come with a witty comment as she lay and watched the rain of gears.

Among the pieces, a red little capsule pod descended upon a parachute. It sailed over Sweetie, and she heard it land upon the earth mother, not too far behind her.

Sweetie heard the pod hiss as it opened. A very swear, very angry voice exited.

“Heads up. Its the mole king” Said Sim.

“Everything! You darn kids have ruined everything! It should not be possible! I am the king of all moles, and you are just some darn meddling Foals!. FOALS!“ He cried in disbelief “Years of hard worm ruined by a couple of Foals!”

“And one mole.” Sim added with a big shit eating grin.

“SIM!” The mole king Cried, and assulted them with even more curses. “All of this is your fault! You misshaped little miniature of a mole! You have been trying to undermine me for years! And now look at what you have done! These Foals would never have succeeded if it wasn't for you!” And now youve destroyed everything! Everything ruined! All because of you darn kids and your stupid robot friend!

And You! Sweetie! What are you!? How could a little rust-bucket like you ever defeat my marvelous machine! It should not be possible for a smaller machine to defeat a bigger machine! That doesn't make any mechanical sense!” Are you some kind of artificial abomination?! Answer me! What are you!?

AND WOULD YOU TURN AROUND AND FACE ME WHEN IM YELLING AT YOU!”

“Turn around yourself!” Said Scoot.

A huge smack was heard, and the wheel of a scooter sailed past Sweeties vision.

There was a thud, like a small bag of beans hitting the floor. Followed by Scootaloo crying out. “And thats what you get for messing with the CMC.”

“Holy apples” Said Applebloom “Do you think you killed him?”

“Na. Hes fine. Look, he's wheezing.”

The worms had eminently released her friends from their grip and ceased the mole king instead.

Beneath them. The fighting had stopped just as suddenly as it had begun. The Worms had awakened from their hypnotic slumber and either disappeared back underground, or moved to surround their mother. The marketplace was filled with worms, while ponies gathered on the out skirting streets trying to see what was going on.

“Looks like someone has finally learned his place.” Sim scorned at the half conscious mole king.

Applebloom and Scootaloo ran up to Sweetie.

“That was awesome! - and the way you did not even look at the explosion was all like...” Scootalo put on out a pair of thick sunglasses and crossed her hooves “I'm to cool to look at explosions!”

“And the way you did not even look at him when he was yelling at you”

“The truth is girls... I can't turn around.” Said Sweetie.

-:: Energy levels: 0.0 % ::-

-:: Shutting down ::-

The battle had drained her of every last ounce of energy. Just moving her mouth to say those words drained her dry of every last bit of energy.

The last of her energy had just barely had enough to retract the drill into her horn . Her screwdriver crystal had gone dark and empty. After no more then a day had Twilight’s seemingly infinite sun gone out.

She was exhausted, physically and emotionally. In the most literal sense of both words. Her buffer had run out fixing all the abuse she had received during the day, and neither her mind or her Heart-Drive had the energy to produce any more emotions.

Her legs and body had already shut down, frozen stiff in their last position. And now her mind too, was going dark. Her vision was already fading. Only by pulling the last ounces of energies still coursing in her wires to her head was she able to hear how it all ended. The last thing she managed to get out her voicebox was:

“Crystals please.”

And then she blacked out.

Author's Note

Your face when you realize I wrote thiss whole story to build up to a refference of this old gif:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUovke8f72k

Lessons Learned

-:: Rebooting ::-

The power surged through Sweeties awakening mind. The kicking and buzzing of her many sub systems slowly reviving her for a dark and dream less sleep. Her restarting balance sensors and spirit levelers told her that she was lying down. The data from her sensors said that she was sunken into some sort and cozy fabric. Her hazy consciousness considered lying down and let the dreams take over. Until her last memory loaded.

She was standing on the top of the earth mother. She sound of the explosion still ringing in her ears. The voices of her friends and the assuring of victory carrying with it a great sense of relief and accomplishment, before being all to abruptly cut off...

Sweetie opened her eyes.

She was in her own bedroom, lying in her own bed. The light of dawn shown in through the windows.

The sight was a bit disorientating. The sun had clearly just been setting. One moment she had been saving the world. The next she was back in bed. Like everything had been one long dream.

But it was not a dream. Her records clearly told her so much. Her belly was empty. Her buffer the same. Her wires were still crisscrossed, and a few new components lay dormant inside her.

Her mind felt heavy and tired. She had not been able to process all this information into her subconsciousness, like she usually did when she slept.

Blacking out wasn't the same as sleeping. Even sleeping required a bit of energy. When she blacked out, she lost all scene of brain activity. She was essentially dead until some new energy came and helped all her thought work again. And it only added to the disorientation, as she had no sense of what had transpired while she was out. No sense of time.

To her. It was like she had been teleported to her bedroom. One moment she had been there, and the next she was here, with a head full of questions. What had she missed? How much time had passed? How did she get here? And how was her battery almost fully loaded? Where was the energy coming from?

-:: New component detected ::-

Sweetie felt the energy pour in from an external source. She turned her head and saw a white, barrel shaped object buzzing gently beside her bed. It had a smooth plastic surface with a few blinking lights. A cord ran from the device to a socket in her foreleg.

“Ah. You're awake.”

Scootaloo's and Applebloom's heads rose over the end of the bed.

The two fillies had clearly been through an ordeal. Scootaloo had a plaster over her cheek and Appleblooms bow was relapsed with a band aid that held a small cloth to her forehead.

“How are you feeling?”

“Confused,” Sweetie answered. “What happened to you?”

“Nothing?” Scootaloo looked puzzled.

She rubbed her cheek.

“Oh you mean this?Ah, Nothing but the price of adventure.”

Sweetie Sat up. she wasn't sure if her friends looked better or worse then when she'd last seen them. They had clearly been bathed and groomed. Yet the lack of dirt and soot revealed a good few scrapes and scrubs.

“What did I miss? What time is it?”

“Its noon.” Applebloom said. Pulling apart the curtains.

Sweetie way dropped.

“I was out for a whole night and half a day!” She shouted. A little louder then she meant to. “Why didn't anyone recharge me?”

“Sorry Sweetie,” said Applebloom. We didn't have any crystals to feed you with. And even if we had, you wouldn't exactly swallow. Your belly didn't have any energy to process the crystals with.”

“And the power was out throughout most of the town.” Scoot added.

“Why didn't anyone take me to twilight's lab? She has a lot ways to recharge me.”

“True. But her basement lab kind of got, shall we say 'invaded' by the worms.”

“The whole castle was full of worms” Said Scootaloo “And once they had gotten in, they had no idea how to get out. So they ended up rummaging through the place and thrashing everything. You should have seen it,” she added, while making a big gesture. “there were worms waggling out of every window. It looked like a big tentacle monster had been summoned inside.”

Applebloom nodded.

“Sim wanted to use the adapter to convert some of that crystal sludge the earth mother puked up. But then Rarity came along and said that she would not allow anyone to tinker with you while you were out.”

“So she kind of went and took you home,” Scoot continued. “And you have been here ever since, while they looked for a way to recharge you.”

“By which we mean that they kind of had to sort everything out first. I mean, there was kind of a lot of confusion going on. With the worms being everywhere and the streets being turned all upside down.”

The two continued to switch back and forth, filling in for each other and taking over the story whenever the other took a breath.

Apparently a lot had happened yesterday evening. Or perhaps some of it had happened this morning Sweetie wasn't entirely sure in what order things had happened to each other, not with her Friends hopping back and forth between what they thought was important.

She felt a bit sad she hadn't been there to see any of it herself. It was like winning a big race only to faint out on the finish line and miss the celebration.

"… And after that, everyone was so tired that we kind of all had to get some sleep.”

“I guess over time most of the worms left”

“It was apparently quite the traffic jam, with them all trying to leave at once.”

“Wait a moment.” Said Sweetie “Where is Sim?

“Oh, she wanted to stay with her Grandmole.”

“By the way, Grandmole appeared.”

“And we kind of gave her those blue glowing mushrooms that I made a necklace of, I think they might be the last blue mushrooms that survived the destruction of the underground lake cave, and we put them in a pot and she said that this was the real symbol of the start of the age of illumination for them. ”

“I think in short they are gonna focus a little more on mushrooms now that they don't have to focus so much on crystals. But it was still kind of a sweet moment.”

“Sim could not wait to show every mole the sky. She had to like, go down there and show them the way up”

“And then Celestia was here.”

“She declared them new citizens of equestrian. Naturally many of them though that she was a god. In fact many of them still thinks we pony's are angels. And not just the pegasuses.”

“And then the Diamond dogs showed up.”

“Twilight had her hooves full trying to keep a pack of angry dogs calm. The moles were scared to death. They thought the 'Demon Dogs' had come for them.”

But the Diamond dogs said that they where finally fed up with all the chaos that happens around this town. So they were gonna move out of the quarry and went to form their own kingdom somewhere else.”

“And then she had to go and put this thing together.” Scootaloo pointed to the buzzing barrel. “After that. She said it was just a matter of time until you woke up.”

“We wanted to be here when you did.” Applebloom finished.

She looked at Scootaloo

“I think that's everything.”

They nodded to each other.

“Yeah, Except you forgot the part where Raindow dash showed up. She was so pissed to have been woken from her slumber, and wanted to kick worm tail. She almost whens sonic Rainboom on the earth mother after she saw what they had done to the town.”

“Yeah, there was a bit of confusion like that.” Said Applebloom “we had to explain everything several times over, as more and more ponies showed up”

“But after we did. She called me a hero, and she got me this new scooter you have to see.”

“My sister was just glad that I was alive.” Said Applebloom “She kind of almost hugged me to death worse then the worms did. And she kind of never wanted to let me go.” she shivered. “she can be a bit overprotective.”

“Oh. I'm glad for you both.” Said Sweetie Belle. “I wonder If my sister would ever call me a hero. She probably just scream at me for being stupid.”

At that moment. The door was pushed open, and a tray full of breakfast buns and muffins was levitated into the room. Followed by the mare herself.

“Oh … How is my little hero doing?” Said Rarity.

She sat the tray down on the bed, and gave Sweetie a big hug.

“You dumb, dumb, dumb little mare.” She whispered in her ear. “What were you thinking?”

“Whut?” Sweetie mumbled. The confusion not being allowed to completely settle. “Are you angry at me? Or not?”

She wasn't sure what tone of voice she should adapt. It may have something to do with that she wasn't sure which tone Rarity used. Her older sister beamed like the day, and her voice was almost playful (even when she had called her dumb) which, in itself was a bigger warning clock then if she had just been sad or angry.

“Oh no. I'm not angry Sweetie. I'm absolutely furious. You scared me to death today. ”

It looked like she could not be happier to say it. Yet, it wasn't malice or spite that

“Oh don't get me wrong. What you did was extremely brave. Heroic even. And extremely foolish. Why had you go and risk your own lives like that? You are but fillies. You are … not supposed to save the worlds. Leave that to the grown ups.”

Sweetie frowned, why did her sister have to be like this?

“Hey! You don't hear me complaining when you go out so save Equestira!” Sweetie snapped “In fact, I think its awesome that I have such an Heroic sister. So why cant you think that I'm awesome too.”

“I, well. I don't want to go out risking my life. I never wanted to be a hero. I'm no thrill seeker like Rainbow dash. Its just that. When something happens, some mares just step up while others don't. I guess what I'm saying is that I do what I do because nopony else would.”

“That's just what we did today? So how is that any different?”

“Yeah!” said Scootaloo. Spitting crumbs from the breakfast bun she was chewing on.“If we hadn't been there, then nopony else would have known how to stop the mole king. How many of you knew that he was mind controlling the worms using a magic instrument?”

“The difference is that I am a grown mare an I can take care of myself.” Rarity struggled to keep her tone down. ”And the truth is that you foals could have run to tell an adult, rather then throw yourselves into the fire. Why? Was it because you wanted to be heroes? Was it because you wanted to prove something? Do you actually understand how dangerous what you did was?” She sighed. “Please don't get me wrong Sweetie. What you did yesterday was incredibly brave. But that wont stop me from worrying about you.”

She lowered her eyes. And Sweetie finally got what it was that Rarity radiated. She was angry, sad, and scared that her little sister had risked her life, but above all else she was happy that she was unharmed.

Sweetie dropped back onto the pillows.

“I just. Want you to be proud of me. I just wanted to say sorry for all those gems I ate. That's all I wanted. To repay you for those expensive, hoofcrafted gemstones. And make my own stash so I would not have to bother you for gems again.”

“One thing king of led to the other after that.” Said Applebloom.

“I just wanted to be allowed to take care of myself.” Sweetie continued ”You have said that I am eating you out of the house.”

“Oh Sweetie...” Rarity sighed, and gave her little sister a kiss on the forehead. “you don't have to prove anything.”

“Luckily, I think we have found a solution to that problem.” Said a fifth voice from the door.

Twilight stepped into the room. No doubt having been eavesdropping outside, waiting for the right moment to make an entrance.

“You mean this.” Said sweetie, and Raised her hoof to show of the cord dangling from her foreleg.

“Yes.” Twilight said with a smile. “We figured that since you have an appetizer that not only rivals but sometimes surpasses spikes, an alternative could come in handy. Unlike Spike, you don't need the gems themselves. ”

“But, what does it run on? Sweetie asked. “Wont the generator need power in order to regenerate power? Don't that defeat the purpose of having a power generating device in the first place?”

“Nope. Its hoof cranked,” said Twilight.

She opened the lid on the generator and revealed a big dial.

“You just turn this dial a couple of times, and the dynamo will spin up and keep generating power for approximately one hour per turn. Should be enough to charge you up throughout the night. At least by my estimations, I haven't really had time to test it properly yet. But I got to tell you. Those kinetic force crystals that the moles provided are a blast. By outfitting a multi-layered cylinder with such components we created a ball-bearing dynamo that could almost spin forever after just a little push. Well – not forever – but approximately one thousand seven hundred and nine rotations after a single crank …”

“Ah hem.”

Rarity coughed in her hoof, stopping twilight from going out on one of her teck-savy lectures again.

“Oh, right. It should work – its what I'm saying.”

“Yes, It does.” Said Sweetie. Noticing that her battery was almost full. “But … does that mean I don't have to eat?”

She looked longingly over at the silver tray.

“In all due technicality, you don't need to eat. But that does not mean you don't have to.”

“And it does not mean that you get to skip out on breakfast, like you tried yesterday.” Said Rarity, levitating a breakfast bun over to Sweetie.

As if on cue, her belly had rebooted enough to realize that it was completely empty, let out a dissatisfied rumble.

Sweetie picked up the buns, and gulped it down in one bite. The Idea of not having to eat was a new one to her. Everypony did need to eat to recharge, except her. But that did not mean she did not get to enjoy the sweet tastes that life had to offer.

“Other then that. We kind of need to discuss what you have done to yourself, little mare.” Said Rarity. “I've heard that you mounted a drill on top of your forehead.”

“Yeah. We helped her build it.” Said Applebloom. “And she shrunk it into her her horn by using some crystal that twilight had given her.”

“Very interesting,” said Twilight. “Not exactly how I imagined that spell gem to be used, but very interesting how you managed to apply its energies to a much bigger object.”

“That's not all,” said Sweetie. “I got a new drill from the moles, Its kind of the one we used to break into the vault,” She added a little sheepishly. “And I got a adapter. Its a device that allows me to convert one form of energies into another. I'm basically able to recharge the magic crystals with my own energies.”

“Really? Most interesting. We should really get to the lab and do a few tests. I hope Spike has been able to clear out most of the ...”

“AH - HEM!”

“Oh, sorry.”

“I'm happy for you Sweetie.” Said Rarity “Truly I am. But you are gonna have to get rid of that drill.”

“Why? Does Sim want it back?”

Applebloom and Sweetie belle shook their heads.

“No. I don't think so. The topic has not really been brought up yet. I mean it is kind of theirs. But I think she kind of thinks you deserve it, for freeing their people.”

“So what is the problem?”

Rarity cleared her throat.

“The problem Sweetie. Is that I don't want you to go digging around in ancient caverns or anything.“

Sweetie got angry.

“Why am I not allowed to be who I am! What if someone told you that you were not allowed to be a unicorn? What if someone forbade you from using magic? Or sew? ”

Rarity sighed.

“Its not about you being a robot Sweetie. Its about that you are my little sister. And I don't want you to get hurt. Our parents gave me responsibility over you. And Its my job to look after you. To make sure that you are raised right.”

Rarity averted her eyes for a moment, and suddenly looked very sad.

“Every time you are out crusading I worry that you might hurt yourself. Or worse, that you are gonna stop caring if you break something, because you know you always can repair it.

Twilight cut in. “Because you know so little can hurt you, you take bigger chances. You become reckless.”

“But above all else. I guess I'm scared that you are gonna stop being a pony.”

Sweetie looked at her sister with the biggest eyes.

“When you don't want to eat breakfast anymore. When you don't want to wear your skin, Its very hard to argue against it because I know you don't have to. And every time you run off to Twilight to get some new upgrade I'm worried that you are gonna come home with eight legs of seven horns, or having done something else to yourself, just because you can.”

“I would never...” Twilight begun. But Rarity hushed her.

“I know. But my little Sis here might do it to herself. I would have been just as disappointed if you had come home with your body full of tattoos one day, or having gained some dark spell (don't ask me how, its just an example).”

She touched Sweeties horn.

“I'm worried that that drill is the start of something.

She sighed.

“You are a robot. That's just the way it is. But I don't want you to alienate yourself from Ponykind.

“Oh Rarity...” Sweetie leaned forth and gave her sister the biggest hug. She remembered Sims questioning, about why she chose to be the way she was. She had worried over these questions But she had never thought that Rarity might have them as well.

“You are going through a tumult time of your life right now Sweetie,” said Twilight. “I realize that. We all go though that time when we are testing out limits. When we want to find out just what we can do. But you got to be careful so you don't end up hurting anyone else, or yourself.”

“Sweetie. I know you are exited about all that you are. But you need to learn how to restrain yourself”

“I know.” Said Sweetie, breaking from the hug “But how am I suppose to learn how to restrain myself when you put restraints on me?! I don't see you doing that to any other pony. All others have to learn to use their powers in the right way without having their powers taken away when they push a little to hard. So why should I? I promise i will learn to handle my abilities. But i can't do it if you put me on a leash.”

Twilight made a strange face.

“That was a surprisingly mature way for such a young filly to lock at it.” She said, and smiled. “But I have to agree. We should not have looked for alternative ways to reel you in just because we could.”

She smiled.

“I guess we have a lot to learn as well. This is a new face in all of our lives. And I guess we are only gonna have to learn how to get along with them.”

She looked at bout Rarity and Sweetie when she said it.

“So. No more Restriction spells?” Sweetie asked.

She did a quick internal systems check. Though a lot of wires had been drawn around the distribution center, those that were connected told her that she was, once again in complete control over her energy setting.

“No more restriction spells. Instead … ” Twilight's smile became a sinister grin. “We will use a more traditional punishment.“

Applebloom, Who had been downing a glass of strawberry juice, sprayed the liquid all over the sheets.

“Punishment? For what? For saving the day?”

“No. That you can't be punished for. You are to be celebrated for what you did. But don't think this means you're of the hook. You still committed several severe crimes. You broke into the Diamond dogs homes. Attempted assaulted and robbery. And then you broke into the palace treasury, and attempted even more robbery, and assaulted the guards.

“But we did help free an entire people of moles and we did stop the evil moleking from destroying Ponyville!” said Scoot. “Is that not wort some pardon on our punishment?”

“And the mole king would have broken into the palace anyway!” Said Applebloom.

The Cmc addopted looks of guilt on their faces.

“We where used.” They said in their defense

“I know,” said Twilight. ”Luckily for you, you are under aged, so I guess your ignorance can be forgiven. More importantly, no one but a select few knows about Celestias secret vault, or the break in. And we want to keep it that way. No one is going to report about a crime that no one has seen happening. The guards are sworn to secrecy, and I'm trusting you girls can keep a secret as well.

“Crusaders honor.” Said Scoot, and threw a salute.

“Besides. I'm sure tomorrows newspaper is going to be mostly about the giant tremors that shook Ponyville.” Said Rarity.

“Now.” Twilight continued. “Me and your sisters and wards have bee discussing what to do with out. Ill have you know that I was considering Royally grounding you for a month...”

there was a collective DAWWWWWWWWW! From the trio.

“...But that would be no better then a prison. Besides. You three have proven that any attempts to lock you up or restrict you will only cause more harm then it does good. You have proven to have a neck for getting out of your restraints, no matter what form they take - With extreme collateral damage as a result.

So – Instead of risking further destruction I have decided that you will putt all that energy to good use. You are gonna help with the renovations around Ponyville. You are gonna help fill in the holes and stabilize the foundations user our town.

Then you are going to renovate the caves in the mines outside Ponyville, and help the diamond dogs and the the moles move out of their ruined homes.”

“And what will you be doing?” Scootaloo cheekily asked.

“We are going to help you with the renovations, and be keeping an eye on you at the same time. Not gonna lie, we are probably gonna be doing most of the work. Then I have a lot of paperwork to fill in and damages to cover, both here and in Canterlot. You happened to leave a few big holes behind in the castle and mountain.”

She rolled her eyes with a satirical smile.

“Guess that will be my punishment for causing all this in the first place. With my restriction and all.”

The Cmc looked at each other. Almost like they shared a hive mind they cried:

“CMC community Service YAAAAAAAAY!”

“I'm gonna use my new scooter to carry tools around town!”

“Ill be supplying all the material and refreshments from the farm!”

“I'll use strength to carry bricks all day!”

The two grown up ponies listened with disturbed smiles as the cmc ranted on about their plans. This was the kind of Destructive enthusiasm they had hoped to contain. But they said nothing. Instead opting for slowly backing out of the door.

Outside in the corridor. They looked at each other with a barely contained nervous laughter. They only hoped that their combined oversight would spare Ponyville from another apocalypse.

“Well. I guess this is the sort of thing I have to get used to in the future.” Said Rarity.

“Well. It is inevitable that all foals go through some change when they grow up Sweetie is no different. I guess there is a sort of comfort in that. But she is not going to stay the same little foal forever.”

“I know. Said Rarity with a sigh. I guess I have just not been able to accept all the changes just yet.”

“Don't worry Rarity, As long as we accept her for what She is, she is not going to become alienated.”

Down in the lobby, Twilight gave her a reassuring hug.

“But Rarity.” Said Twilight.” This whole affair started because of Sweeties sensational hunger for gems. Or more specifically because her battery runs out of energy to quickly. I have been thinking, and a generator could be placed in her body with the aid of a decompression spell. Alternatively, we could always get her a better battery.

Rarity gently put her hoof in front of her mouth in a silencing gesture.

“Don't say that to her,” she said. “You do not want a hyperactive little filly who is incapable of tiring out. Do you?”

”Point taken.” Twilight said with a smile.

********

Three days later.

********

“Ok Sweetie, now lets try that again.”

Sweetie closed her eyes and focused. Directing her consciousness into the adapter. The many machines around her began to buss and beep as they recorded the many activities that went on in her little body as she pushed some electricity into the adapter.

The pure energies of the adapter was transported into a secondary chamber. what Twilight and Sweetie called “a blender.”

At the same time. A string of magic was being loaded into the spherical chamber from the other end of the device. The two energies mixed together before taking on a clear pink energy.

Sweetie could see it clearly with her own eyes. As the blended was a big, glass made sphere standing upon a pillar of metal in the center of Twilight's lab. Wires ran between Sweeties open chest and the device. A device that shone in a shivering pink, A magical aura suspended in the center of a glass canister.

There, the energy took on the properties of a select choice of magic from a selection of magical crystals that had been placed in sockets on the outside of the sphere shaped blender.

“Wonderfull Sweetie.” Said Twilight as she cheeked the data on a paper being spewed out from one of the “monitors.”

She had been running a number of tests on Sweeties abilities to adapt one form of magical energy into another.

It was by her estimation that, Using this technology, Sweetie would be able to create and maintain a multitude of spells using only the minimal drain on the magical “charges.”

These “charges” were the different colored gems plastered around the blender. Minuscule crystals containing only a touch of any given magic. (Be that earth pony, unicorn or pegasi magic)

“Thanks to the adapter and the blended, you'll only need a spark of magic energy that served as a base code for the type of magic you are trying to create. Think of it as adding a drop of hot cause into a really tasteless paste.” Twilight went on.

Sweetie processed this information. As she did, she called for the energy inside the blender. The pink light was sucked into an exit port. The magic led out along a single wire back into her chest, and up into to a focal point in her horn. Here, the energy was allowed to spread across the structure of her forehead appendage, resulting in colorful aurora around her horn.

It was similar to lighting a light bulb. Lighting up at the same time as she reached her conclusion.

“In other words, Ill be using my own energies to make a spell, rather then draining the magic out of a charged crystal. And since the adapter/blender can always replenish the charges with new energy, there is no chance of the charges running out of magic.”

“Now you got it,” said Twilight with a broad smile.

As part of the test. Sweetie switched the active magic back and forth a few times, between all of the alternatives. The color inside the blender when through all the colors of the rainbow as Sweetie when through the different magic charges. The energies of the adapter working back and forth through the blender.

Yet, every time she switched the charge. The color inside the blender took on a darker and darker tone, until eventually, it all resembled green much.

“Interesting.” Said Twilight. “My data is showing that the spell inside the blender still corresponds with the charges data.”

“So why does it change color?”

Twilight checked her notes for a moment.

“The loss of color seems to indicate that the individual traits of the magical charges, those given by the the traits from those who original donated a little bit of their magic, is being erased, and replaced with something else.”

“Replaced by what?”

“Well – yours. Not the electricity that is. But the other, more subtle kind. The kind that requires simple good electricity to function: Your Cybermagic.”

“It seems that as you keep blending, the traits of the original donors is being erased and replaced by your traits.”

Sweetie looked back into the big glass blender. The aura of magic inside slowly took on a light green color. The same color she saw sparked behind her cybernetic irises.

“My magic.” She said, and touched the glass.

“Well.” Said Twilight. And shut the observer of. “There is more to you then meets the eye. In fact. I have developed a theory on why you are able to control crystal magic. I think its because when you send a wave of electricity through a crystal you also carry with you a flavor of your cybernetic pulse. This pulse forms the cup that holds the energies together, while the electricity provides the power. Its almost a symbiotic thing. As one can function without the other. Its this magic that spreads across any device you stays connected to for long. Making those devices and gadgets take on traits of you.

Sweetie turned her head around. Over in the corner. The Drill had been placed in its full scale upon a podium.

Its diamond encrusted sections glistered in the many strange lights of the laboratory, as did the several pink lines that framed the constructions with swirls running from tip to bottom.

Lines that hadn't been there before.

She also remembered the drill that her friends help make. Who had seemingly run just because she willed it.

Perhaps it was a part of her repair system that sweeper along into everything that became a part of her for any extended period of time? Reshaping the construction into something that always matched her aesthetic design. Just like how her cutie mark would always appear sooner or later on every new plate that was placed on her flank.

And the drill had been a part of her for longer then any other external component so far.

Sweetie wondered if she really considered the drill a part of her, or if it was just a tool to be put away when she did not need it.

Either way, she knew Sim sure had felt like it belonged to her now. That she had earned it.

Sim had said her goodbyes before venturing back into the underworlds with her Grandmole and her people. Sweetie wondered what would become of the moles now that they knew they could access the sky. It was clear that they were not going to abandon Moletown. All that their people had made was down there. Though it was clear hat there was gonna be some reforms now that the mole king was no longer with them.

As a partying gift, Sim had left the drill with Sweetie. She argued that it had served its purpose now that it had helped her reach the sky. And besides, the drills power was going to be wasted on any machines that they had.

Rarity had not been fond of the idea. But she had been convinced by twilight that denying Sweetie an upgrade – particular once she had earned for herself – would be like denying a unicorn a spell.

Granted – Not all spells are harmless, and can e very situation – and a drill tends to only have a few situation uses (like making a hole or breaking a giant enemy crab)

And Ponyville did at the moment not need any more holes.

It had been hard work to restore the streets to their former dirt covered glory. But when you lived in a town as destruction prone as Ponyville, you could count on everypony to help in the reconstruction. (and the local constructions crews weren't complaining about the steady income. Insurances on the other hoof were a nightmare.) In just a day or two the town was back to normal, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. (And for this town, that might be saying something.) And surprisingly, it had gone without the Cmc demolishing a single building in the process.

Afterwards they had reached an agreement in form of a compromise: Sweetie was allowed to keep the drill. But she wasn't allowed to use it. (At least not until she came of sufficient age). Unless she was helping Rarity or Spike find some gems of their own.

Sweetie didn't understand the difference. But that was the way grown ups were. You had to become one of them before you were allowed to make your own decisions.

Not that it mattered anyway. As Sweetie was sure she wast going on any excavation expeditions anytime soon. The new wire she had installed in her leg made sure of that.

Besides, she needed her horn for other things. Like all those spells she still hadn't been able to cast.

“But we are getting ahead of ourselves.” Said Twilight. “I wont be able to make a device like this who is stable for some time. And even then, I'll need components that are small and durable enough to fit inside you...

Sweetie wasn't listening. Her eyes had wandered away from the drill and over to the nearby table, onto a cup that stood so arrogantly upon a stack of paper. The cup that some days ago had been standing upon the armchair of Twilight throne.

The green inside the blender shivered as Sweetie selected the levitation magic, ( a donation of Twilight ). And with the adapter running the produced a constant stream of magic energy that she led out her horn.

A light green magical aura formed around her horn as she summoned the courage to use it.

She focused on that defiant little cup. It had refused to be levitated before. But this time she had an idea.

Instead of trying to grip around the cup with her mind. She charged up her horn and locked onto her target.

-:: Firing ::-

A beam of green electricity shot across the room. It missed, and knocked a breaker stand over the edge.

Twilight caught it in her magic just before Sweetie fired again. And struck a rack of test tubes.

Sweetie jerked her head back, and the rack was sent flying skyward, into another save from Twilight's grip.

But the third time Sweetie struck true. The beam bounced into the cup, and with the speed of electricity, an sparkling aura was formed around the object.

Very slowly, wobbly, and by an unshure hoof, the cup began to rise. Held in the air by a line of electrical levitation magic.

Sweetie bit her Tongue trying to keep the energy output just right. Not to much, as not to sent the cup flying, or to little to drop it.

Commanding the cup proved way more difficult then commanding her body. Her body had wanted instructions, where as the cup could receive none. Rather it was the line between herself and the object she had to control. Like a fishing line between herself and her catch.

The thread of energy remained in the air. A connection between her horn and the object in the form of a small visible magical ray that wriggled in the air. Sparkling and buzzing like lightning. And it carried the magical energy of the spell and its property's over to the object.

It was not like twilight magic, in which the connection between the object and the caster and the aura was invisible. It was the best she could do. And there was nothing wrong with that.

This was her way of doing magic.

This was her magic.

The cup wobbled around in her unsure grip before coming to a relatively sure stop, hovering in the middle of the room.

There where two ways she could go about this: she could carefully calibrate the exact amount of force and energy output she needed to apply to every the individual object, and every other object after that, and then save that as a setting for her magic output she would assess every time she cast magic.

Or - she could not do that and let the magic energy flow freely. Manually regulating the energy output and learning to control the magic flow by trial and error – like “fleshy” normal ponies had to do - right?
After all: twilight had said that learning is the best experience.

The other alternative fleet like cheating.

Besides. Using magic was way to much fun to be left to run on autopilot

“Sweetie! You did it ! You did it!” Twilight shouted. Dropping the breakers and glasses onto their ensured destruction upon the hard cellar floor.

She stumbled over the wires and more or less fell over Sweetie to give her a big hug.

She sudden snuggle attack Sweetie to jump in surprise. The cup shot skyward and embedded itself in the roof.

“Um, whoops!”

Twilight laughed.

“Na, It does not matter, every unicorn strugles with levitation in the beginning. What does matter is that you are taking the first steps to learning the use of something we previously though impossible. Oh this is great! So many wonderful discoveries that awaits us upon the uncharted field of Cybermagic! Oh I can barely wait... “

Twilight Hugged Sweetie closer as she went on one of her teck-savy ramblings. Sweetie was just glad she did not have to breathe.

She wrapped her tiny hooves around twilight's legs, and slowly but firmly her machine muscles removed the Alicorns death grip.

Then Sweetie had a thought. She tapped and opened her horn. She reached inside her open chest, and removed the wire that sent the blended magic back into her.

She instead opened up a port in her leg, and hooked the wire up there. She den aimed her hoof at something, a broom that had been left by spike after the cleaning out of the worm invaded laboratory. She sent a tiny overload down her hoof, Busting an internal coupling and letting the energy run out over her metallic hoof.

With a bit of aiming – she let another lightning beam fly – this time out of her hoof. It connected with the broom, carrying the magic energy with it and forming the same connecting bridge.

The broom left its leaning place by the wall and seeped over the floor a couple of times as she tried to sweep the broken glass of the floor.

The sweeping was not made more gracefull by that Sweetie was jumping up and down grinning mad with excitement. She had just done Levitation with her Hoof!

Twilight herself was jumping up and down around the room, nearly getting broken glass in her hooves as she realized Sweeties potential. That, for Sweetie, her horn did not have to be her magical focus point.

The victory dances ceased as the unstable blender gave a spurt, coughed up sparks, and went dark. The last of the magic cascaded out of sweeties hoof with such force that it sent the broom flying skyward. Uppon which it to embedded itself in the roof.

Twilight, having calmed her own excitement, gave sweetie a new approving hug, and helped her remove the wires from her body.

“Thanks Twilight.” Said Sweetie, as she put the chest plate back on. “do you think that device will be ready soon. I really want to show of this new trick for my friends.”

Twilight sighed as she looked at the dark blender. The silver tape that most of the components were fastened with had begun to come loose in places.

“I don't know. ” Its possible it wont be ready until next autumn.

“Oh” Sweetie sighed in disappointment. But then quickly changed back to optimism. “OH! Oh! Do you mean it will be ready for nightmare night!”

“That was an oddly specific.” Said twilight, eyeing Sweetie skeptically. “I hope you are not planing to do something too overblown. Not like you did last time, with the skin and everything.”

Sweetie nervously, and seemingly innocently scratched the back of her head.

“No, no,” she said reassuringly. “I wasn't thinking about anything like that.”

She felt the miniature cyberbrain inside her neck.

“Besides. I have a even better idea for next nightmare night.”

The end.

Author's Note

Merry Christmas everypony.

Morning Maintenance

Sweetie awoke to another beautiful day in Ponyville. She made a brief check of tonight’s dream, briefly considered saving it, before shuffling it into the back of her mind, where it joined with all the other random data. She then made a brief system check. Her batteries were charged up to 82%. That was good enough. No matter how long she slept she would never make that energy bar reach 100%. Or rise at all for that matter.

Contrary to other ponies. Sleeping would not actually recharge her batteries.

Sweetie threw open her bedroom window and basked in the morning sunlight. The light shimmered over her chromed alloy plates, making her glisten like a white diamond. Her heat sensors were telling her it was 28 degrees this lovely summer day.

She looked up into Celestia's sun. The irises in her cybernetic lenses shrinking to minimal proportions. A safety protocol was telling her she should blink or turn her gaze away. She overrode that protocol. Keeping her eyelids wide open and slowly expanding her irises till all she could see was a big bright glow.

Such sun staring activities would be dangerous and downright lethal for any ordinary filly’s eyesight - and it was because of this she was directly forbidden to challenge anypony to a sun staring contest.

Sadly, doing this would not recharge her batteries. She just liked the feeling of the sun heating up her metallic body. She wished she could take it all in. Absorb the energies of the sun like a flower would do through photosynthesis. Maybe she could get some upgrade that would allow her to absorb energy from the sun’s rays?

Satisfied with her dose of sun, Sweetie backed away into the room. Though the sun followed her, stuck like an orb in her vision. She blinked and the orb was replaced with the interior of the room, stuck in her vision like a photo that slowly faded away only to be replaced with a new still image every time she blinked.

Maybe she should get a camera installed in her eyes? That way she could take pictures with her eyes just like this? Just by blinking.
She closed her eyelids for a second, This time letting her eyes reset to normal indoor mode. When she opened them again, the ghostly still images where gone from her vision.

She exited her room and trotted down the stairs, taking in the small kicking sound that her metallic hooves made on every step. She finished her trot with a small jump. Skipping the last four steps, and headed straight for the main door.

“Where do you think you are going, little miss?”

A voice came from the kitchen doorway. It belonged to Rarity, her big sister and caretaker. Sweeties heart-drive filled with joy, only to be filed with annoyance a second later. There was something in her big sisters tone that hinted at a confrontation.

“Outside.” Sweetie answered. Even though she knew this answer would not satisfy her big sister.

“You do not go anywhere without first properly assembling yourself!”

Sweeties head dropped, looking down on the floor. From there she looked at her hooves, up her legs and finally her chest. Taking in every nook and cranny of her joints. The white flexible alloy plates that made up her entire exterior covered everything. Not a single nut or bolt was visible.

“But, Rarity....” Sweetie began.

“Higher up darling. What else are we missing today?”

Sweetie looked over across her back. Over the hips, down to the tailbone.

The tailbone... Right. That was what was missing.

Sweetie waggled the little rod at the end of her spine as she realized she was completely bald. Not just from the lack of fur. That much was obvious. But from the complete lack of a tail – or mane.

She reached up and taped her head with her hoof. Getting only a soft “klang” from the blank cranial plate between her ears.

Sweetie smiled sheepishly back at her big sister. Good thing alloy plates don’t blush. Otherwise her face would be red right now.

“Right... Sorry. I will go back up and.... put on my tail – and mane.”

“You will put on your entire skin." Rarity ordered "Not just those fake contraptions.”

“Are you calling any part of me a fake contraption!?!” The little filly's outburst was harsh and sharp. Offended by such an accusation.

“No!” Rarity shoot back, equally sharp, and equally offended. “I just don’t understand why you would choose to not wear a perfectly good mane when you have one. Don’t you appreciate the craftsmareship that goes into maintaining your hair?”

She punctuated her question by pulling a hoof through her own mane. Letting the curls flow down her neck. Well combed and freshly permed even at this early hour of the morning.

Sweetie sighed and turned to the stairs. Truth was she appreciated the craftsmareship of a cybernetic mane and tale even more. Just as much as Rarity appreciated the work that went into her dresses. But she guessed that’s where their senses for appreciation drifted apart.
With a puppy eyed look back at her sister she gave her pleading one last shot.

“But RARITYYYYY.....”

“It’s not up for debate young miss – now go to your room and don’t come down until you have dressed up properly, skin and all.”

With a deep sigh, Sweetie headed back up the stairs and back into her room. Shutting the door behind her a little extra hard to telegraph her frustration downstairs.

Then she walked over to what looked like a perfectly normal toy box, painted in colors that matched her own, a white base with pink trim along the edges. Except this chest was twice as big as she was, and had a big round button with a horseshoe symbol on it instead of a keyhole.

Sweetie put her front hoof on that button, her hoof fitting perfectly in the U shape of the horseshoe, and twisted it like the dial to a safe.

After a series of clicks there was a resounding “Bing” from the chest. Sweetie took a step back as the chest opened with a low hissing noise. Not just the lid. But the sides slid apart as well, revealing a sitting station with a few pillows surrounded by shelves and lockers of spare parts and tools stacked high above her head.

This was her maintenance station. Courtesy of ‘Sparkle Arcane Technology’. The first and only one of its kind. In essence the world’s most expensive and over complicated dressing table.

A very special dressing table for a very special little filly. Where other little fillies had makeup and eyeshadow, she had spray-paint and wax. Where others had little brushes, she had screwdrivers. Where others had hoof polish, she had chrome. Where others had contact lenses and fake eyelashes, she had a full rack of spare eyeballs. The eyelashes might be the same stuff other fillies used though.
She had the means to replace and maintain just about every part of her body.

In the center of it all was “the wardrobe”. A big cylinder shaped double door locker that contained her big sister's object of interest. Sweetie walked up to the doors, put a hoof on them, then let out another big sigh and glared off to the side. On what looked like a cross between a makeup table and a workbench – next to sets of different colored hooves – Sat the object of her own interest. It was a manikin head with a pink curly wig with purple streaks. It was no ordinary wig made out of horse hair, but out of fine synthetic fiber cords, woven with wires.

The cords and wires were bonded directly into a cranial plate that would fit perfectly between her ears and horn. It would hook up to her systems and she would be able to feel the sense of touch all the way out to the tip of the wires. Just like a real mane.

Sweetie walked over and stroked it. The synthetic strands were slightly thicker than hair. But much more durable and not so likely to loose their shape. Even when drenched wet, the mane would retain its style as others lost their shape and went flat.

Sweetie sighed that her sister wouldn’t help her attach it today. She touched the back of her blank bald head, behind the ears where she knew the screws to her cranial plate would be. Silently cursing her lack of magic. If she could levitate a screwdriver she could remove the blank plate and attach the one with her hair on it.

No matter. If she was to put on her skin, that would only be in the way.

She put down the wig and glared over at a tail of the same material that hung on the cabinet next to the bench. Almost looking like the trophy a hunter would take. Sweetie stroked it as she spun the chair around to face the wardrobe. Then kept spinning for a few laps till she ended up turned towards the other workbench. The painting station. It was full with little color bottles and a spray painting brush. A half painted replacement plate caught her attention.

She recognized it as a plate for her lower back. She toyed with the idea of waxing it till she could see her own reflection – wax goes on – wax goes off. Never mind. She would finish it when she got back home. She was stalling enough as it was.
This time she did turn to face the wardrobe.

She opened the doors and revealed a big transparent cylinder tube. Inside was a full body suit of biomechanical skin with organic white fur. With a pink mane and tale of real organic hair.

Her fur, her mane and her tail.

The skin was a one piece body suit that covered almost every inch of her body. As such, it looked like she was standing in the tube. Suspended in weightlessness on a levitation talisman. An empty, hollow copy of herself. The eyelids and lips closed on a blank face, almost like she was sleeping.

Sweetie put a hoof on the air tight tube, and it slid open with a hissing sound. The skin slid open with it. Long lines opened along the torso and all the way down the legs, like an invisible zipper was being pulled down to allow her to step into it.

This sight might have traumatized younger as well as older ponies. To Sweetie it was no different than to have your regular clothes readied for you, though she had been told not to “get dressed” in front of others.

On the inside, the skin was made up of a network of cybernetic cords running in a zigzag pattern, like chicken-wire. At regular intervals tiny dots of red and blue blinked with reflected morning sun rays.

This outer layer of organic tissue was sustained by several tiny restoration talismans and magical crystals that kept the skin alive and in tip top shape. The magic crystals themselves ran on power supplied by the wardrobe for as long as it stayed in the tube.
While connected to Sweetie herself, it ran on a tiny trickle of energy from her own power-source.

Sweetie stepped into the tube. Standing under the floating skin she pressed a hoof shaped button on the floor. The levitation ceased and she let it fall on top of her, like a rug.

The skin fastened to her alloy plates, folding on its own into every cranny of her ankles and fetlocks, over her ears, nose, lips and eyelids. The opening seams closed so tight you wouldn’t even be able to find a scar. Her sensory equipment extended their reach out to the tip of every last strand on every part of her organic exterior.

The skin was part of her body now.

Sweetie opened her eyes and stretched her limbs a couple of times. The only part of her that showed any sign of her mechanical being was the chromed hooves. Polished till they shone like silver. She really liked these hooves. But she had a feeling rarity wouldn’t allow her out the door until she had fully covered herself. She took a few extra minutes to replace the chrome hooves with regular white ones that blended in with her fur. One advantage with interchangeable hooves was that you didn’t have to spend all morning refreshing your hoof polish. Then she spent a few more minutes in front of the mirror to comb her mane. All the while contemplating that a mane made of synthetic fiber didn’t need as much maintenance as an organic mane.

She once again contemplated her lack of magic.

For all her abilities as a cybernetic filly, there were many regular flesh and blood pony abilities she lacked. The first and foremost being the lack of any trace of inherent magic at all.

Sure, many of her systems ran on arcane energy as well as electricity. And many of her parts were of arcane technology, a blend of “science and magic”, and “the science of magic”, or the “science of magic that went into the science of this technology,” or whichever convoluted way Twilight put it.

Twilight ... that happened to be the main reason Sweetie couldn’t wait to get out the door. Why her mind was so filled with the thoughts of “upgrades” this morning.

But all that didn’t help Sweetie lift this brush.

Maybe she could have passed off as an earth pony? But the annoying fact was she had a unicorn horn sticking out of her forehead. Her family had built her this way. Maybe it was just a designers choice so she blended in with the rest of her unicorn family.
She laid down the brush and looked herself over in the mirror.

No, wait. There was another thing that revealed her true nature – her eyes. They were bare visual lenses that glowed with a faint green light. Like two little lanterns in her eyes.

Sweetie let out a sigh as she knew Rarity would not let her go out like this. No matter. She walked back to the toolbox and pulled out a pair of cybernetic contact lenses. These served two purposes. Unlike normal contact lenses that just go on the eye - these were half an eyeball that went into her eye-socket, over the visual lens, Serving as a protective shell for the inner lens as well as making her eyes look more natural with pupil and iris. The iris on these lenses were bland and colorless, but the green color of the glow underneath gave her eyes an almost natural and familiar color as they were attached.

She looked back into the mirror and saw a completely normal filly looking back.

Well... almost.

If one looked close enough one could still see tiny nodes of energy running in the green iris of her cybernetic eyes. There were magically enchanted lenses that would hide all traces of cyber-technology in Sweeties selection. Lenses that made her eyes look completely organic, but she was not putting on those.

This rebellious act might be so small that it was insignificant, but it was still a conscious choice.

Sweetie headed back downstairs, without the enthusiastic bouncing, and once again headed for the door.

“And where are you going, young miss?”

Now Sweetie was starting to get really irritated at her bigger sister.

She turned, with a few responses to criticism loaded and ready in her mind. But found Rarity standing out in the kitchen next to a recently prepared breakfast. It was a simple but welcome gesture. The irritation vanished from Sweetie's face, and a reluctant smile fought its way through her rebellious streak.

As a bot, Sweetie did not have to eat. Except for the occasional crystals that powered her systems. But that didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy the taste of a bowl of cereal with milk.

Rarity had to remind her of table manners as she scoffed spoonfuls down her throat. Her taste sensors picking up the sweet sugary crunch as it rolled over her flavor sensitive tongue and down her throat.

A little light in her vision telling her she had 79% space left in her belly bag before needing to either use the little filly’s room or replace the bag.

“Don't forget to drink darling. A hot day like this every-pony needs to cool off and re-hydrate. Even you.”

It was true. If she was exposed to the hot sun for too long she could become burning hot (being made of iron and all) and even the grease in her gears could begin to dry out.

If she didn’t grease her gears (so to speak) every once in awhile her joints would start acting cranky like Applebloom's old Granny Smith, especially now in the hot climate.

Sweetie sort of expected that was why Rarity wanted her to wear her skin-coat. Since it did provide protection from direct exposure to the sun.

A small object was levitated into Sweeties vision as Rarity placed a small bottle marked “tear drops” on the table next to the bowl. They were of a special brand designed only for Sweetie. It was a lubricant for her eyes. Like tear drops for most ponies it worked as a sort of moisturizer that kept her cybernetic eyeballs clean and smooth.

The name was more literal in her case than others though, as the fluid would start to flow from her eyes in response to her crying sequences.

Sweetie picked up the bottle and then pulled down her lower eyelid. There, under the eye she found a small access port where she inserted the tip of the bottle.

It was sort of a sad notion that she had to refill her tear sacks manually in preparation for such emotional occasions. But if she was fresh out of tears a strong emotional breakdown could cause her lubricant channels around her eyes to overload and burst, leaking a different kind of fluid.

"Thank you for the breakfast," Sweetie said after she had refilled herself. "I'm going to see Twilight now."

"Do have fun dear, and you are not to stare into the sun, remember! To much of that will burn your eyes out."

Sweetie did her best to hide her response, but she hadn’t shut off the emotional signals to her face fast enough. Something must have shown on her face, for Rarity gave her a scornful look.

“You have done it again, haven’t you?”

No point in hiding it.

-::Imitate facial response “big look of defeat.”::-

“Sorry. I won’t do it... again.”

After that, she was finally able to get outside the door.

Sweetie had to admit, there was a certain enjoyment to feeling the soft warm breeze stroke over her fur. But she still knew she could have felt the same way with it sweeping over her plates. They were also sensitive to the touch of the wind and warmth of the sun. The plates that were now resting underneath her coat like a second skin. It felt good to have them. Like armor hidden under her coat.

She scratched the skin a little. Seeking to feel any cracks in the plates underneath. But true to arcane bio-engineering, there was only the feeling of soft tissue and fur under her hoof.

While Sweetie did enjoy the touch of soft fur she had just grown more and more comfortable outside it. But Rarity kept insisting she wear it for every social interaction.

Putting on your skin... this was something she had started to view as something more and more unnecessary. Since discovering her true nature, she had started to view her skin with more and more distance.

To her it was like Rarity had told her to put on a hot sweater. You don’t normally see ponies wearing clothes after all. Wearing skin just felt like trying to hide her true nature. Besides, everypony in Ponyville knew that she was a bio-mechanical entity at this point.

Or as some simply called her, a “Bot.”

Sweetie wasn’t entirely sure what “Bot” stood for. There was the “B” and the “O” In the first letters of BiO mechanical. And the “T” you found as the third and next to last letter of the word enTiTy.

At least that was a viewpoint she had been able to come up with when she had way to much free time on her hooves. Though the real reason people called her a bot was because it was a simple abbreviation of the word “Robot,” but she didn’t like that term. Not after finding out that Robot meant “slave worker” in some old language.

She preferred “Cyber Sweetie.” Though, perhaps she best preferred that ponies just called her “Sweetie” without having to put the abbreviation into her name.

Besides, you didn’t go around calling every pony out on their race as a form of greeting now, did you? It would be like saying “Twilight Alicorn,” or “Rarity Unicorn,” or “Scootaloo Pegasus,” or “Applebloom Earth Pony,” or “Zecora Zebra.” She had a feeling everypony would just be offended by that.

Or better yet, it would be just like her running around calling every pony “Fleshies,” just as people would use the term “Robot”, or just “Bot”, to describe a sentient cybernetic lifeform. She could understand why, because using those labels in full sentences was just too long.

Sweetie had been looking for her own word to describe organic lifeforms, other ponies, for the most part. She didn’t like to differentiate herself from others, but sometimes she had to. What was she supposed to say when she needed a general term for every sentient being made of flesh and blood?

“Bloodsacks?” “Meatbags?” “Fleshies?”

She giggled at that word “Fleshies.” Flesh ponies! It kind of made them sound like they were fat, because they had a lot of flesh.
As Sweetie walked on her way towards Twilight's castle, she walked past the Ponyville movie theater. Outside hung a big poster proclaiming the latest action movie:

Rampony McTails, staring in: Attack of the blood bots 2. The sequel.

Once, she might have enjoyed that movie. But after finding out her own true nature she couldn’t help but to feel a little offended by it.
As Sweetie went, she waved at the passing townsfolk.

The townsfolk had gotten used to her pretty quick, all things considered. It may be something about the little town that is on the frontier at the border of one of the most dangerous forests in the kingdom, and was under frequent attack and or visit from all sorts of things. Including a chaos lord that had taken a liking for the local animal caretaker whom had the power to crush any pony’s spirit with a single stare. The local weather mare could fly so fast she could shatter the light spectrum, creating a Sonic Rainboom that could tear the roof off of houses if performed too close to the ground. And a party pony that people were afraid to dismiss a party invitation from.

This town even has an all powerful sorceress working dual jobs, as a princess, and as a librarian. Though the library itself was no more, few would forget that time their soon to be royal librarian lifted the library itself by accident. It was no wonder nopony actually rented a book there–they feared being turned into books themselves if they failed to return them on time.

Honestly, a cybernetic pony-droid was the least of concerns for the ponies in this village.

As somepony had once said:

“We already got so much going on, why raise an eyebrow at one more thing?”

As somepony else said:

“Everypony in this town is CRAZY!”

Still, there were those who would freak out if they saw her. Especially if they saw her for the first time. Rarity had insisted that when and if Sweetie was to come along to any of her social gatherings she would have to look like a normal presentable filly.
Maybe that was the reason she had started to think of her organic exterior as little more than a dress?
So much so that last Nightmare night she chose it as her costume.

She had decided to go out as a murderbot in pony skin. Meaning she looked perfectly normal in the eyes of every-pony. When the others started mocking her for lack of costume she started tearing her own skin off, but only halfway so you could see the mechanical parts on one half of her face while still having a big smile on the other. That night she had not been wearing any alloy plates – so you could really see all the gears twist and turn as she laughed at their stunned faces. She had taken the liberty of spray-painting her interiors in a black oily color that contrasted with her white fur. Finally, she had switched her eye color to a glowing red, hiding that under green contact lenses to not spoil the surprise.

In retrospect she should probably only have gone with the contact lenses. For every other pony fainted in sheer terror.

That nightmare night had not gone over well.

Concerned parents of the traumatized children, and Rarity, asked that she never stripped in public again. And by asked, they outright forbade her.

Some times it seemed like everypony wanted to dictate Sweetie's behavior. Concerned parents, who were afraid of their children playing with a filly who literally was made of steel, asked that she be given certain restrictions. Unfortunately the authorities had agreed after a game in the rugby school tournament. Sweetie had only followed the instructor's words to give it 110 percent. And so she had given it all her mechanical body could give.

She had been a machine that game–literally. It had been fun plowing through the opposing line like a wrecking ball. And with her hydraulic legs she could kick a ball across the entire field. That match had gone over as well as last nightmare night. Though instead of leaving the kids with nightmares for a few weeks, it had left them with a few broken bones. Then there had been that one kid that caught a hoofball kicked with the force of a cannonball with his face.

So by royal command (By Twilight’s obligate) they had all agreed to give her a restriction in the form of a password protected safety system that only the princess knew the password to. This safety system limited all her abilities down to no more than what a normal filly should be capable off.

They said it was so Sweetie would not run the risk of harming herself or anypony else around her.
But she was certain it was mostly so she did not cheat at sports. Intentional or otherwise. Since she could not run out of breath or get muscle cramps she could easily outrun everypony in school. And she could lift many times more than any of them without risk of breaking her titanium reinforced spine.

These “Restrictions” hampered her abilities by making her simulate exhaustion, fatigue and other boring things. Like panting and (while wearing skin) sweating whenever she pushed herself over a certain point that they had set. It also meant that she could not kick a ball harder than any other filly.

Sweetie had no desire to hurt anypony. But what fun was it in being a cyber pony if you were not allowed to be a cyber pony? If she was suppose to be normal then she was just a magic-less little filly.

Once again her thoughts went to her horn.

They all wanted her to be so normal. What normal filly could not do magic at her age?

Actually that was not entirely true. Sweetie could do a sort of magic. She could channel electric energy through her body at will. That counted as magic right? At least everypony talked about channeling magic through the horn like some form of energy. It meant she could shoot lightning by channeling energy out her horn and zapping foals at school for making fun of her. (No names mentioned.)

Unfortunately. Concerned parents of said foals at school, (again, no names mentioned,) asked that she be given certain restrictions against that as well.

Sweetie frowned at all of them and their concerns. Sometimes it was as if she was not allowed to be a Cyberpony.

Personally, she thought these limitations were unnecessary since she had to restrain herself any way. Her real limit was in her battery power. The harder she pushed herself the faster her energy reserves would drop. That little bar displaying her power level guided her daily routines just like food and sleep guided every pony else's.

Unless Sweetie could find another way to replenish her energy without eating gems. Once again she thought about how nice it would be to be able to absorb the sun’s warm rays. Perhaps that's what the royal librarian had in store for her.

Sweetie was on the way to see said Librarian, trotting wishfully through Ponyville while basking in the sunlight. As she reached the outskirts of town and the tree-castle of Equestria's newest princess loomed above her, she pushed these irritated thoughts from her mind and locked them in a “grumpy” file instead.

As she reached the door she flung it open without knocking. Twilight was supposed to be expecting her anyway.

“Hello teacher! What’s the lesson!?” Sweetie called out at the top of her voice, (again, as loud as the restrictions allowed her to crank up the volume on her voice box,) causing it to echo across the long empty hallways.

Twilight however, must really have been expecting her, as she was at that moment not in the farthest reaches of her new home, but sitting in the lobby, surrounded by half a library worth of stacked books that had been delivered the previous day. She had been caught up in reading through one of the volumes on advanced robotics when Sweetie bludgeoned in.

Twilight looked up from the book she was levitating, revealing she had a pair of safety glasses on her forehead, with her mane tied up behind her head, complementing the long white lab coat and black rubber boots she was wearing. On her face she wore a big smile.

“Today I’m going to see if I can't teach you some magic.”

Breakthroughs and Breakouts

Prisons, as far a Sweetie knew them, were like a giant naughty spot for grown ups. It was like being grounded, except you did not get to stay locked up in your room all day.

No. Grown ups got sent away , on much longer time outs, To a house specifically for grounded grown ups, when they had done stuff that were way worse then some simple children prank.

Grown ups did not get caught with their hoof in the cookie jar. They got caught robbing the bank, usually by the Power Ponies or some other group of heroes.

The comic books did not say too much about the EPD (Equestrian police department) or the Equestrian royal Guard. But someone was needed to watch the bad ponies when they were sent away.

Some ponies simply needed to be sent away. Bad ponies. Ponies that hurt other ponies.

Sweetie had never dome anything to hurt anyone. At least not intentionally.

And she had never robbed anypony. At least not intentionally.

She had most certainly not just committed attempted burglary on princess Celestia's vaults.

At least … Not intentionally.

That's how the story went. They had not intended for a lot of things. They just of sort of happened on their own.

The guards had not been great listeners. They had first escorted the three confused little fillies to the underground guard quarters, where they had tried to make sense of their three confused stories. (Mostly the guard had asked only three questions – who they where, where they were from, and what they were doing breaking into the royal vaults.)

Then Scootaloo had demanded they get to speak to Princess Celestia.

Then there had been a brief stop at the dungeon – where the fillies were told to wait until summoned. The guards had even slapped them in chains and placed a magic nullifying ring on Sweeties horn.

Finally the girls had been escorted up into the glamorous halls of the castle propper, and finally the girls had gotten a bearing on where they were in the world.

And finally, any illusions the girls might have had about where they were in the world were shattered as they entered up into the glamorous halls of the castle, and were able to look out over the City of Canterlot and the landscape beyond its mountains.

Finally they had ended up face to face with the ruler of the land herself. And Scootaloo had instantly regretted ever demanding to speak with her.

Princess Celestial had listened until their full story was told, then she has sent them into one of the guest rooms in the outer wings of the castle, and told them to wait there.

And waited the girls did.

Their new prison was a clear upgrade from their previous, dog infested hole in the ground. It was one of the most luxurious guest rooms that any of them had ever been in. Perhaps not the most Luxurious in the entire castle, butt still enough to impress three little fillies.

It had a posted bed that was big enough for a whole family. It had white marble walls with column arches for the doors and windows. Huge windows with golden frames that gave Applebloom a good look over the city as she sat upon the tabletop of an ancient Rococo desk, wondering where her life had taken her.

“You know girls – this is starting to become a habit.” She said.

“Don't worry” Said Scootaloo, Who lay comfortably on her side in a big poster bed. Chewing on a biscuit from the silver tray of buns and soup they had been locked in with. “They cant do anything, were underaged.”

She spoke like a true pro at getting caught with her hoof in the cocky jar.

“Still. I don't think my sister will be so proud of me if I ended up with a cutie mark of jail bars.”

“Relax. Its not like were in prison or anything.”

“No... Of course not. Were just guests here.”

Appleblooms voice was thick with sarcasm as she shook the chains very much still on her person.

It was some very pretty chains. With fine silver links and cuffs padded with pink fur as to not scar their fetlocks. Chains that were crossed between their legs. preventing them from running. Or raising their hooves above their heads.

“They … they believe us right?” Sweetie said a bit uncertainly. “I mean, they know that we would not just do something like this?”

“Yeah, I think they do. Celestia has to. She knows who we are.” Said Scoot, but a little doubt crept into her voice. “But … She did seem a little angry.”

“I think that might be part of the problem.” Sighed Applebloom. “And that was not doubt, that was disappointment. I think I would be too, if someone broke into my place, unintentionally or not.”

“I'm sorry my little ponies, but with you three one cant take any risks. ”

The voice of Celestia came out of Sweetie's mouth as she replayed the last thing the princess had said to them before she closed the doors. Then the three had felt a magical golden aura sweep over them.

Not to prove Celestia right or anything, but Sweetie had tried the door. Big brown oak doors with an overflow of patterns that just failed to hide how heavy they looked. Sweetie had not been able to move them an inch. The door handles were unresponsive and the doors themselves held down with magic.

The whole room had become a gilded cage.

And, unfortunately, Twilight must at some point have taught Celestia about Sweetie's Restrictions. For she found herself unable to muster all the strengths her titanium body hosted. That spell had not only sealed the room, It had also made it impossible for Sweetie to do anything beyond the strict setting of “A normal filly”

The 'perfectly normal' filly now sat leaning on the door looking out over the room. There was no clock, and Sweetie was glad she did not have one installed. Hearing the seconds tick by as they waited would probably be a lot worse. Only the sun outside the window told them that more then half of the day had passed.

“We're grounded ain't we?” She said “Royally.”

She fell backwards as the doors swung outwards, gripped by purple magic, And found herself Staring up onto a crowned purple Alicorn.

“Twilight!”

Sweetie stood up, and the other two jumped to stand beside her.

“Twilight! Twilight! You've got to help us! It wasn't us! I mean it was us but not just us. I mean we were tricked!”

Twilight Raised a hoof to stop the kakofony

“Girls, girls. One at a time.” She said in a tone a little to serious for the girls liking. “I've just spoken with Princess Celestia. She summoned me here on a pretty shot notice, not to say 'Instantaneous emergency'. So I had to teleport all the way here. Got a pretty big headache from the effort.”

She rubbed her crowned forehead, and Sweetie took note of the black lines under her eyes. And the cape of ponytails official colors that hung from her side, held in place by a ribbon belt that crossed her chest, marked by an official seal.

Someone had gotten to to get very royal in a hurry, and that set of alarm bells.

“But not as big as a headache as I got when I got to hear a pretty unbelievable story.” Twilight finished.

Some part of the darkness around her eyes seemed to creep into her glance. Like it does to ponies who who's having a bad day.

Now, now. Celestia has already told me everything. And she knows I know you better, so she wanted to hear what I had to say, And before I say anything, I needed to hear what you had to say.

She gave them all a hard look.

“Now, Is it true that you broke into the vault beneath the castle?”

“I have the right to an attorney!” Screamed Scoot. Making Applebloom elbow her.

“N.. No … Not exactly, I mean … For the hundredth time today – not intentionally.”

Twilight sighed.

“So. You were not intentionally caught red hoofed with your saddlebags stuffed full of ancient relics and treasury?”

“I mean … Well . .. yes that is true but...” Applebloom Stammered.

“We did not know it was Celestia's would not even have known about that place if the mole king had not tricked us.” Sweetie added. “He only wanted the Sunstone. He took it!”

“No, he didn't.”

“What?”

“Luckily all of the treasury is right back where it belongs now. Every last piece accounted for.”

“You... You have to count it again. Maybe he took something Else!”

Twilight gave her a look of someone who was definitely not gonna do that. Again.

“Are you Sure?” Scoot added dumbfound.

“Yes I am. The Sunstone was found having rolled into a corner, Wrapped in the magic cloth that blocks its light. It was a little hard to find because of it, but there is no mistaking that stone when its unmasked

Furthermore The only thing we found outside the hole you made was a caved in tunnel fitting the Diameter of your drill Sweetie.”

She sighed.

Pretty impressive of you, to make a drill on a forenoon. I should be impressed, if I was not so disappointed over what you have used it for.”

The hard look returned.

“Do you understand that its not a pretty picture the reports have painted.”

“That … That's not possible.” The girls started shouting all at once “There … there was a giant drill, And lights and stuff! He must have move it! Or buried it! With the explosion! And there was another tunnel. And a shaft. You're looking in the wrong place! Twilight! You have to go and tell them they are looking in the wrong place! There were other tunnels next to them. Please believe us. We could not have come all this way on our own!”

Twilight flashed them a smile. All be it a weak one.

“I believe you girls. And we will look in to it.”

The three shone up.

“Oh thank you, thank you, thank you! We knew you would Twilight. Now just let us out of here and well show you.”

“No”

"WHAT?"

“No, girls, I think you've done enough for today. Do you see these bags under my eyes? this is from dealing with all the trouble you've cause today. And believe it or not, that vault break-in is not even the top of the crimes you have committed today.

“What are you talking about? Look – were the victims here.” Said Scoot.

“Yeah – We were just out digging for gems.” Said Applebloom

“And then the Diamond dogs captured us!” Said Sweetie.

“ Yeah, that's actually part of the problem girls. I've spent all morning trying to negotiate with some very angry dogs. And you know – they had every right to be angry. You broke into their homes, and tried to steal from them.”

“Well … When you say it like that it … sounds kind of bad.”

“They locked us up! And they forced us to work for them! WE had to escape somehow – what was we to do? Just sit around and wait for rescue?”

Twilight raised an Eyebrow.

“Besides – The diamond dogs don't own every piece of gem in the ground.”

“No.” Said Twilight, just the ones that are already part of their mines. - Trust me, there is a very clear set of quarry regulations in place between the Diamond dogs and Ponyville – It was actually the main cause of concern while forming the treaty. They don't kidnap any ponies – and we don't dig into their tunnels.”

She gave the girls a look.

“Did you really have to dig so ridiculously deep?”

”But Twilight. Your a princess. Cant you, you know, pardon us?”

“No.”

“But why not!” Scootaloo exploded “You cant just leave us in here!”

“No – I'm going to do something far worse.” Twilight said with a smile. That kind of warm and innocent smile that all troublemakers have learned to fear more then a cold stare from Fluttershy.

“I'm going to tell your Sisters.”

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle's faces dropped. Scootaloo smiled.

“Jokes on you! I don't have a sister.”

“And I'm going to tell Rainbow Dash.” Twilight added. Making the little pegasus face drop like the others.

“Just … Leave us in here.” They whispered. “We are going to be so grounded that it wont make a difference any way.”

“Sorry girls, but you are going to have to fess up for what you've done. I'm sure they will be much more disappointed then I am.”

“I'm especially disappointed in you Sweetie. I leave you alone for one day and you do and go something like this? I could have accepted a little mischief – But THIS!!!”

Sweetie lost it.

“What did you expect of me! Those restrictions finally come of and you just expect me to behave as if I still have them – then you are just like my sister! All of you are talking about how we all need to accept that I am a Robot but none of you will let me use the talents that actually comes with that! - So you know what – I'm glad I did it. I'm glad that you for once forgot to put your stupid spell on me. Because I was having way more fun today then I've had all week. ”

”Its not fair that im suposed to be ”restricted” but no one else. Just because you can do that to me does not mean you should! Others just gets sent to the naughty spot. But im suposed to have a whole part of myself be password protected????”

“You do know that those ”Restrictions” are a form of punishment right!?!” Twilight bellowed right back.”Have you already forgotten those foals in the hospital? You put them there because of what you did on that game! You had been a bad pony Sweetie! And we agreed that you had to be put on a time out! You still had it luckier then most as you were still alowed to roam around and play and not be grounded! I actually encuraged it because I thought that you might learn someting from it. I Believed it so much that I alowed you to walk away unrestricted today.”

”W... What....?”

That could not be right, Twilight had forgotten, she had goten into an argument with Rainbow dash and … let Sweetie walk away.

Like she read her mind, Twilight continued:

”Did you realy believe that I just forgot to put those restrictions back on? No. I let you go as a reward for having been such a good girl earlier today. I was qurious to see what you might do with that freedom.”

Twilight words just trailed of, and she just shook her head.

But I did not eccpect this...”

She began to walk off. But before she faded from view she turned around and said:

”Guess you got your wish. For now you are realy REALY grounded … Just like any other filly.”

With that, she turned around and walked away. The door once again slamming shut and gleaming as magic was put back on it.

“We've really done it this time girls” said Applebloom.

”Yeah – I can just see the headlines. 'Cmc – jewlery heist busted.' Said Scootaloo. Gesturing with her hooves as faar as her cains would alow.

Applebloom stomped the floor.

“Dang it! Its not Fair! Its the mole kings fault! Everything is! Its his fault that we are sitting here!”

“I don't understand why he would do it.” Said Sweetie “why would he use us like that?”

Because that's what he does.

The whole room froze up as everypony looked around for the source of the voice.

“Who's there? Who said that?”

“I did” Said Sweeite's tail.

All three watched as the straws of her pink and purple curls were being ruffled around, before a tiny goggled head surfaced.

“SIM!” Sweetie almost jumped in surprise.

“Yeah! Me.” Sim said as she pulled herself free. “Whats up?”

“What are you doing in my Tail? How are you even …”

Sweetie did a quick internal systems check. All her sensors were working correctly, And she could extend herself all the way out to the tip of her tail. But, Looking closer, the connection seemed a little off.

“Oh, that's easy” said Sim I simply redirected the flow of energy from the center of your tail somewhere else.

“I figured it out once you told me that your skin is connected to your sensors by an arrangement of magnets, That antenna of a tailbone became a weak spot as all I had to do was rearrange the connection a bit so that some of the sensors and magnets were sensing Each other instead of their targeted patch of skin, Basically left me a blind spot. After that I simply had to make myself comfortable.”

Sweetie blushed so hard that the cheeks started to smoke. Someone had hitchhiked on her, simply because she had taken for granted that everything was ok. All because her sensors did not bother with what part of the body they were connected to, as long as a signal came forth, everything was ok.

“When could you ever have learned that?, When Did I ever tell you that?”

“When you saved Slip from the great horrible hngine.”

Sim spoke as she pulled her sack free.

“True, it was a risk, I simply had to count on that you would not notice.”

“But why?” Said Applebloom.

Sim shrugged.

“The entire town was after me after what I did with the worms, So I had to hide somewhere.”

“You could have just hid in our bags.” Said Scootaloo.

“True. But I didn't want to get separated. Besides, someone might think to look in a bag. And, no offense, but you are fascinating.”

Sweetie had to turn of her blushing subroutine as the air started to smell like bacon.

“I overheard your conversation with the king, and I realized that if I ever wanted to see the sky then this would be my only chance.”

Sim slung the bag over her back, and looked around.

“So … This is it?” She said, taking in her surroundings with no small amount of bewildered awe.

Sim stared up at the window, and the great yellow sun that was hanging in the sky just outside.

The little mole quickly scuffed over the floor to the big desk under the window. Pulled out a hook and a rope (to the ponies no bigger then a bent needle on a fishing thread) and threw it with great precision around the top drawer handle. She then climbed up the line and hauled herself over and up to the bench with impressive speed before then simply walking slowly up to the windowsill.

“This … This is real right … I'm not dead.”

She put her paws on the glass. And stared out over the city of Canterlot and the landscape beyond. All underneath the endless blue sky and the big orb in the middle of it all.

It was a sight enough to inspire anypony. But Sim was drinking it all in like a thirsty soul in an endless desert.

"No. You are not dead. Why would you be?" Applebloom asked.

"Because... Thats what they all say. That all good moles go to the sky when their time comes. Unless you were bad of course, then you become a demon dog. Though I don't know about that either. I thought there would be more demon dogs to fight on our way here."

She hung her head.

"Tell me ... Are the dogs even real?"

"Well ..." Said, Scootaloo "I know the Diamond dogs are, But I dont know how whidspread they are."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Applebloom blurted in, and tried to wave her hooves as far as the chains would alow. "What do you mean "when a moles time come?"

"I Mean when they grow to old, When a tunnel colapses or someone gets caught in the gears of a machine, or perhaps just when the Deamon dogs, or some other meance takes them." Sim leaned against the window glass. "Everyone whos not coming back ... Have gone to the Sky."

"You mean ... Oh ... Oh no." Applebloom stamered. "You mean like ... the Ever-after?"

"I dont know what that is" said Sim. "But if its a place where your loved ones go and dont come back from ... then yeah."

Sweetie felt her processing power suddenly flipping on its head. Suddenly a lot of the strange, incomprehensible ways that the mole children had spoken about 'the sky' Made a lot more sence."

"Hold upp!" Said Scootaloo "you mean that no one down there acctually believes this is real?"

"Oh ... they believe its real alright." Sim was gritting her teeth. "Its as real as the mole king has made it to be. That place where all good moles go . A place seperated from uss by demon dogs and dangers. You knew, didnt you? you, who were the only one to reach the sky ... and return."

Sim banged her head against the glass.

“Sorry … Its just … All this time... It was here, It was right here … And you would not let us reach it.”

“Who?” the girls asked.

“The King of course! That bastard. Always claiming he was so special for having reached the sky and returned … But you knew dad … You knew it was a real place.”

The fillies gatherer around the bench.

“Sim, Shy would the king do this?”

“I don't know … Because he is evil? Because he likes staying in power? He's using moles, Forcing tiny once like me to work in his dangerous machines, while claiming it all in the service of saving out people.”

With great effort, Sim turned away from the window. Tears streaming down her face.

But my dad. He believed there was another way. He believed that there were others who had reached the sky, Just like my grandma told him.”

Sim pointed halfway accusingly at Sweetie.

“That drill. It was made by my dad. It was made to finally reach the surface … But the king. He only wanted it to break into some darn old ruins.”

“Old ruin.” Scootaloo sneered. “He'd had to have known all along that it was Celestias vault. He knew exactly what was in there.”

“Why didn't he just take the sunstone and run? What sense does it make to break into a vault and don't steal anything?”

“It makes perfect sense – who is going to check on a vault where you have already captured the burglars?” Said sim.

“A double bluff.” Said Scootaloo “To fill the guards with a sense of false security.”

“But, even so, Twilight said that it was right back where it should be.”

“Yeah - According to the guards, under a blanket that no one can see through. Remember, the king is pretty small to you ponies, He could just have hidden in some dark corner – then waited until the guards put everything back and escorted you off, then he probably made his move.”

"How do you know this?"

Sim shrugged.

“Its what I would do.”

Applebloom opened and shut her mouth a few times, trying to find an objection.

“But … Twilight believes us. Shes going to go down there right now and find them all – shell see that we are right.”

“It wont work.” Said Sim. “They'll never find them. Those tunnels are a maze and are constantly being demolished and re-dug.”

Sweetie knew that Sim was right. She had almost lost count of how many times their ride here had changed track. Even replaying her memory files backwards it was going to be trouble finding her way back, And if the underworld was constantly being reshaped it was going to be impossible.

“But … if no one ever finds them, then that thief is going to get away. That's not fair.”

“You know what else is not fair.” Said Sim “My fathers last creation going to waste on some darn heist.”

The little mole turned back to the window, where the heat of the sun dried the tears from her face.

“The king will probably take that stone down to Moletown, tell everyone that he has finally brought them the sun. And they'll love him for it. Revere him. Worship him. No one will ever have an incline to look for this place. And with daddy's drill gone...”

She took a deep breath, And spoke out towards the sky.

“No. Its not gone. Its right here, isn't it dad? Your drill finally pierced through to the sky! You were right Dad, Just like Grandmother was!”

She turned around. The heat of the sun having filled her with determination.

“You wanted to show them that the only thing you have to do to reach the heaven is to dig for it. Well, I guess its up to me.”

She looked across the three big fillies

“No. Its up to us. You wanna get that bastard to, I know you must. Because you're just like me. Your stubborn. Once you set your sight on something you don't back down.”

“YEEEEAH!” Shouted Scootaloo. “what – seemed right at the moment?”

”Youre right Said Applebloom” We have to get back to Mole citty. We have to stop that mole king and prove that we are right”

”Saving a whole kingdoom from a diabolical ruler should prove that we are good girls, right?” Sweetie Agreed. ”But … How are we going to get out of here?”

She shook the hoof. Making the chains between her legs clatter.

“What?” Said Sim “you've walked through impenetrable walls today. Don't tell me you cant break a meager little chain.”

“These are magical chains.” Sweetie said sarcastically “And then there is this Magical nullification ring.”

She pointed as far as the chains would allow her, Coming to think about it, that ring did seem pretty pointless on her, She guessed it was just standard procedures for captured Unicorns to be outfitted with one. The most it could do was prevent her from activating her drill.

Sim took a running leap of the bench and landed smack down on Sweeies forehead.

She tried to pull the moonstone ring off Sweeties horn. But It sat too hard, and she was too small.

“Blasted. Not gonna be able to remove that one.” She cursed. “Now if only you...”

She looked Sweetie up and down.

“Hang on – I've got an idea.”

From her sack, Sim pulled out a screwdriver of her own. It looked almost too big for the sack she carried on her back, but one who had lived around Pinkie pie had stopped questioning things.

She then jumped down onto Sweeties outstretched hoof. And after poking around a bit with her tools she opened a lid in the middle of the hoof-sole.

Sweetie just stared at the hole that appeared as the area behind her hoofs outer iron rim-horn. Before her own systems had time to even register that her sole had been opened like the hatch on a submarine – Sim had thrown her backpack and sack down the hole, and jumped in herself.

“Wait! WHAT!! NO!!!”

Sweeties other hoof reached instinctively. But only ended up smacking the lid shut on her hoof again. She instead began to frantically grab and knock down the length of her leg, past her shoulder and then her torso, as if doing so would allow her to grab the intruder through her own iron reinforced skin.

-:: !!Warning!! // Intruder detected // !!Warning !! ::-

-:: !!Warning!! // Breach of personal space // !!Warning !! ::-

-:: !!Warning!! // Personal integrity violation in effect // !!Warning !! ::-

“NO! Get out of there its creepy!” Sweetie cried. It dawned on her more and more that there was someone inside her! There was an actual living breathing rodent inside her and she could not do anything about it!

She did not even have any idea of where the thing was, her sensors were for the outside of her body – Not inside!”

“Stop crying, I'm just gonna get a feel for what I'm working with here!”

The tiny voice came from inside her.

“NO! You stop being inside me this instant! Get out of there NOW!”

A lump appeared on her belly as she registered a plate being moved aside.

“Nope – that's not it.” Said the lump. And dissipated again before Sweetie could smack it.

Another one briefly appeared on her neck, and a few seconds later it was on her back.

A shiver went down Sweetie's spine as she felt the skin disconnect from her hull as tiny paws moved over her back.

“Scootaloo! Applebloom! Get her! GET HER!”

Booth of her friends managed to trip over their own chains as they tried to reach that fast moving lump on Sweeties back. She all but jumped backwards herself, and managed to land on her back – But not before Sim had disappeared down another self made entrance.

“You know – This would be faster if you stopped wriggling around.” Sims tiny voice echoed from somewhere inside.

“It would be even faster if you would get out of my body!” Sweetie cried as her panic levels started to rise. She somersaulted through the room and managed to break a leg of the expensive desk out of pure defiance to her uninvited intruder.

“The mole king forced me to crawl around moving machinery all my life! Do you really think this is my first rodeo?”

Sweetie dropped down on the floor in defeat. An actual lump was growing on her forehead where the desk had struck her beneath the horn.

“Hmmm …. your pistons ain't working at peek efficiency.”

“Tell me about it.” Sweetie sighed.

“I just did.”

“No – I mean … Ugh … Its just An expresion … you know what, nevermind.”

“I'm trying to help you know.”

“Its pointless anyway. My performance is locked down by magic. Twilight casts a spell on me forbids me from doing all that I'm capable of.

“That's some strange magic” Said Sim “Why would anyone not want your Engines to 'peeking my efficiency'.”

“Because I'm not an engine!” Sweetie snapped. “Just who in the hay do you think I am?”

“A very angry machine pony?”

“Gaaah! ... And that's because were trapped here and they don't want us to leave. There! Did that answer your question?”

Sim was silent a moment. Sweetie thought her left microphone caught the soft echo of a “Hmmmmm” as someone thought really hard.

“This magic” Sim said. “Does it affect your entire body.”

“No” Said Sweetie … “actually, it does not.”

Twilight could most certainly have thrown a restraining spell on her, or anypony, in order to limit their abilities. Like a fatigue spell, or something like binding a pegasi's wings behind their back. The difference was that while this might prevent a pony from preforming their most basic functions, like their hooves had been tied with an invisible chain. Sweetie wasn't limited in that sense. A fatigue spell would not work on her. And one could of course try to bind her in magical chains, it would need to be some darn strong magic, since her machine muscles would fight against of the spell with a strength few ponies could muster, and render the spell ineffective, or perhaps even break it. Sure – she might run out of energy faster by doing so, but she would still not let herself be held back.

No – Instead, Twilight's spell had targeted Sweeties energy directly. More specifically her distribution center, the component in charge of regulating her energy output. It was a place that was – handy enough – already came with a series of pre-determined settings for what her creators had once upon a time agreed on that a 'normal' little fillies limits should be.

Twilight's spell had taken these settings and locked them in place. Like a switchboard with all the options set to low. Then it simply did all the work of regulating Sweeties energy output, and preventing her, like it had been designed to do, from surpassing her old “normal filly” setting.

She could not override these settings. It was like a lake pushing water through a tiny floodgate in a dam. Try as you might (and she had tried) you could only get so much water through at a time.

And so she told Sim.

“You have different setting? Why?”

“Its … something that's left over from before … you know what , I don't want to talk about it.”

She did not want to tell this stranger that she had not always known that she was a robot pony.

“These settings. From where are they regulated.”

“Its my distribution center. Basically I'm not able to pump more energy into any of my other systems then the setting in it allows.”

“hmmmm …. “Well I don't know anything about programming or spells. But I do know that if a part of a machinery refuses to work – you work around it.”

“What do you mean?”

“If the distribution station don't work. We are simply gonna have to take energy directly from the source.

There suddenly came a lot of sound from inside Sweetie.

“What are you doing!?”

"I'm gonna bypass your distribution station by hooking up your batteries directly to your legs. in other words I'm hotwireing you!”

-:: PANIC LEVELS RISING ::-

In an instant Sweetie was up and about, or at least she should have been. There was a hiss and a snip, and then Sweetie lost control of her legs.

-:: Power failure detected – Main power route compromised ::-

“No, that was wrong” mumbled the mole. “Sorry. Had to detach a wire – or four.”

Then her legs started jerking and spinning around completely beyond her control. She tumbled down on her back and started to tangle herself up in her chains.

“Sorry – My fault!” Yelled the mole.

Sweeties fear levels where rising. She was left completely at the mercy of the little thing inside her.

Her friends where screaming from their ends of the room at the mole to stop and get out of her this instant.

But Sim worked feverishly, and after a few hellish seconds of devious tinkering Sweetie fell still again.

“Ok! Try it now!”

Sweetie had control back over her legs.

She stretched her legs outward. Pulling the chains apart with all the strength her little pistons could muster. and even though the head told her she should not be able to muster enough energy to do so, the chains started to squeak and their metal rings beginning to burst.

Her fatigue protocols, the ones that simulated exhaustion and lactic acid, kicked in. Sweetie ignored it, Like she had so many times before. Of course, the protocols themselves were just programs, a reaction to when she pushed herself beyond her “normal filly” settings.

Turning them off did not actually let her push herself beyond the settings. It was like a lake pushing water through a tiny floodgate In a dam. Try as you might – you could only get so much water through at a time.

But even though her settings told her otherwise – Sweetie felt her cybernetic muscles charge up, And the chain strain and crack.

Of course – since her legs where disconnected from her distribution system they never got the reading that she was using more energy then her settings allowed to. A river had been opened in the landscape besides the dam and its tiny floodgates, and the lake was now pouring through.

Sweetie told herself to simply ignore the ghosts in her head, the voices of programs saying she was unable to.

She pulled again, and the chain snapped. Little metal rings went flying like projectiles and buried themselves in the walls and windows.

Applebloom and Scootaloo looked up from their cover under the blankets in the bed

“That was AWESOME!” Said Scoot, as they jumped out of bed. “I didn't think that was gonna work.”

“Neither did I” Said Sweetie, as she pulled the metal cuffs off her fetlocks.

“You must be the greatest Engineer in the Underworld or something.”

Sweetie realized that Scootaloo was talking at her – not to her.

“It wasn't that hard.” Came Sim's muffed voice “Only had to rewire a few cords. Your hardware is impressive but your electrical outlet is really straightforward.”

“Um … thanks?” Sweetie said, trying to keep an blush of embarrassment from spreading.

She pulled the chains off Scootaloo and Applebloom.

”Come on now, Lets get out of here ” Scootaloo said, jumping at the door and starting to pull at the handels.

”Thats not going to work. The doors and windows are held fast by magic.” Applebloom reminded her.

”Well if we cant go through it, Lets go under it.” Said Sim from inside Sweetie Belle.

She was already pulling the strings (quite litterally) Upp to Sweetie's horn.

”What?! Are you crasy?” Sweete shouted.

”Look – Do you wanna get out of here or not?”

”I do, But … Wait a second.”

Sweetie Puched the broken bench away, and looked out the window. Directly below them, there was a cortyard of stone, and it did not look like there would be anny floors below it.

Sweetie relied her idear to Sim, who laughed.

”Now you are speaking my laungage.” She snickered.

“Ok Girls! Grab onto me.” Sweetie said. And Applebloom grabbed a hold of her tail as Scootaloo grabbed a hold of hers.

Sim gave the little The little red crystal a shock. And Sweeties horn instantly expanded out with such force that the magic dampening moonstone ring shatered, as the drill foulded out into its full size.

With a gust of bypassed energy, the drill began to chew and spit white marble and stone as sweetie aimed the tip right below the windowsill. The magic had been designed to hold the window shut – And shut it remained as it flew out into the courtyard and landed, very unbroken, upon a statue below.

Sweetie might have simply stopped there. But the bypass feeding directly into her battery meant she could not stop. And she was dragged along as the teeth of the drill had been designed to pull itself forward by its own force. And sow it did – Until it was clear of the much larger circular window that now occupied the wall above the courtyard … Three floors below.

With no other Choice then to obey the forces of gravity, Sweetie took a leap and jumped, Her friends clinging on for the ride.

She felt the gust of air blow past her as they descended out into the cool canterlot air. For a second she saw the afternoon sun beginning its decent over the second half of the sky-arch. Over the roar of the drill she barely heard Scootaloo Screaming The CMC catchphrase at the top of her lungs. Then she felt the tug of gravity pulling them all down towards the cobblestone.

But she did not feel the impact they hit the ground. For the ground gave way as the drill sliced through it like a hot knife through melted butter. And very soon, Sweetie found that she was running almost vertically, trying to keep up as the drill pulled her down through the bedrock of Canterlot mountain - with a tiny voice in her head laughing like a maniac.