Typically, when one discovered that somepony they trusted implicitly had been lying or hiding something from them, things got awkward. That much was to be expected, and the true test would then be whether one could forgive the other party and move on, or if the deception would prove to be the fissure that thus drove them apart.

As Spike stood listening to Twilight and the robot that he knew as his marefriend, Sweetie Belle, talking away, he found himself wondering which of the above courses of action he would end up opting for. Finding out his special somepony was, in fact, a ridiculously sophisticated machine that resembled an equine in all save for her new appearance was indeed a shock… but the more Sweetie revealed about herself, the more the dragon had to ponder just how much of her masquerade was actually a deception. By her own account, it seemed Sweetie herself had sometimes forgotten about her true status, such was the thoroughness of her design in mimicking that of her organic counterparts, and with no information on why she’d been created in the first place, the unicorn had simply thrown herself into the persona Rarity had assigned to her. If there was any deception at play, it was as much at Sweetie’s expense as it was of her friends.

“So you can eat, drink, sleep, breathe and do everything else we can. Indeed, from my scans of your body, it looks like you were literally designed to be like we are from birth, save that you’re made of metal instead of flesh… at least….” Twilight looked over Sweetie’s flank. “Um… forgive my asking this, but, do you mind if I touch you?”

Sweetie cocked her head. “Of course not. I’ve probably cooled down enough from the fire to not burn anything.”

Nodding, Twilight gently placed a hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder. Her brow furrowed as she then moved to touch Sweetie’s face.

“Well, actually, no you haven’t. You feel warm… but not as in how metal normally feels if its heated… actually, is this really metal? It feels pliable…” Twilight pressed her other hoof to Sweetie’s cheek and studied how it sank into what looked to be a white steel plate. “It’s almost like skin… or a synthetic imitation…”

Sweetie Belle winced as she was poked and prodded, her expression contorting from Twilight pressing on different parts of her face.

“I guess this would explain how you pass so perfectly as a pony. This epidermal covering seems elasticated enough for you to perform the subtle movements inherent to body language and facial expressions, and with the flesh on top, whatever that was made of, there’d have been virtually no trace that there’s anything different about you underneath like…”

CLICK!

WHIRRRRRRR!

Twilight promptly broke off and backed away as Sweetie Belle’s back split open. Two large panels folded out like a pair of wings, permitting two very alien looking extensions to slide out from underneath.

“Like… uh… those? Whoa.” Twilight said as the cylindrical devices rotated to point at her. Their shape vaguely resembled canons, only they lacked the necessary parts for loading ammo and primer. That, however, didn’t seem to prevent them from performing the same aggressive function as their interiors glowed with the build-up of energy of some kind.

“I… I… uh… oooh, I’m really sorry, Twilight. This… I swear this has never happened before!” Sweetie blushed horribly. Spike cautiously stepped forward, his mind itching as he studied his marefriend’s new additions.

“Are those… blasters?” He asked while scrunching up his face. “They look similar to the weapons that Space Stallion has mounted to his ship.”

Sweetie blushed harder, which in itself was pretty interesting, now that Spike thought about it. It seemed being a machine didn’t mean the unicorn still couldn’t feel embarrassed.

“I… uh… maybe? I dunno, my body just does this from time to time. Somehow it keeps building new parts for itself every few months, or adds a new feature onto an existing component. I think that’s how I’ve appeared to grow older and bigger over the years.”

Twilight’s ears snapped to attention.

“Really? Hmmm...” She looked around the ER and noticed a ceramic cup on one of the counters. “Sweetie, I’m going to do something completely random right now. Be ready.”

The unicorn cocked her head in confusion.

“Be ready? For wha…”

The cup was suddenly thrown full force at Sweetie’s head. It made about half-way across the room before her blasters locked onto it and vaporized it with two streams of pink and purple colored energy. Everyone promptly ducked for cover.

“Twilight! Whatever do you think you’re doing??” Rarity demanded from behind a chair. The alicorn rubbed her chin and smiled in satisfaction.

“The same thing Celestia did to me to test my magical accuracy… or when she felt like having a food fight.” Twilight snickered. “So, much like a normal pony, your body changed to suit your age, but unlike a normal pony, it’s also been upgrading itself with additional defensive and offensive measures. This is immensely fascinating.”

Sweetie whimpered as the dust that had once been a cup drifted slowly to the ground. Seeing this, Spike finally decided to speak up.

“Well, is there a way we can study it without throwing things at my marefriend? I don’t think she wants to risk hurting somepony.” He said. The unicorn robot turned in surprise, as did Twilight.

“I’d say the same, Twi. Don’t want her getting like I did at the height of puberty… which makes me wonder…” Rainbow Dash looked at Sweetie’s smoking canons. “Does this mean robots get blaster boners? Like pegasi get wing boners?”

“Rainbow!” Rarity exclaimed, to her friend’s confusion.

“What? It happens at her age… right?” Rainbow queried. Spike facepalmed and let out a low groan.

“Look, can Sweetie and I have a moment alone? She did say she wanted to talk to me, and I think I know what it’s about.”

Twilight blinked, then winced as she realized what her assistant was getting at.

“Of course, Spike. Just come out to the waiting room when you’re done.”

The ponies left the room, and Spike closed the door after them. It gave him a few extra seconds to ponder just what was he going to say to Sweetie.

“So… uh… that bit about me still being your marefriend…” The robot cut in. Spike sighed and turned around. Of course it’d be just like her to beat him to the punch…

Yeah, it’d be just like her…

“Before we get into that, Sweetie, I need to know one thing: were you planning to tell me at some point about… this?” He asked. Sweetie’s ears drooped again as she rubbed her leg.

“Well, yes… when I remembered.” She said with a cringe. “I mean… you’ve seen how much I resemble a real pony. I'm not lying about how I’ve forgotten what I truly am at times. Seriously, there’ve been days, even weeks where I’ve felt so… so… normal I guess… it’s only when I finally get a reminder about needing maintenance, or I detect a joint is getting squeaky that the illusion breaks.”

Spike let out the breath he was holding as Sweetie looked at her canons.

“You’ve all treated me like I’m just another filly...in both good and bad ways...and you...oh, Spike, you said I’m a perfectly fine and suitable mare. Even if it’s because you didn’t know any better, I’ve never felt like I was any different from anypony else. No one's given me a standard for what's different from being normal. Well aside from my 'blank flank' years but Applebloom and Scootaloo had the same problem.”

The dragon looked to the shield and musical note shining like a badge of honor on the robot’s flank.

“How DID you earn your cutie mark, actually? I mean...uh...can you use magic? Or were all the skills I’ve seen you exhibit just more tricks of your body to maintain your cover?” He asked. Sweetie reared back as if offended by the notion. Spike immediately felt a strange sense of disgust at himself.

“Sorry that..that was the wrong word to use.” He meeped, folding his wings sheepishly around himself. “I just… this is quite a shock, as you can expect.”

“I know, I know Spike. It’s the same for me.” Sweetie looked up at her blasters. “I didn’t even know what these did until now. Guess it’s kind of a weird blessing my secret was exposed before they did it for me.”

The mecha-unicorn closed her eyes tight as if concentrating really hard. Presently, her blasters collapsed in on themselves and retracted into her back.

“So, now that your secret is out, you’re as in the dark about it as we are. You say you only know what we know about what you can do…” Spike walked over to Sweetie, cupping her head in his hands. “Does that include your feelings for me?”

Sweetie blinked as her eyes dilated wider. Spike felt entranced by that, like he was only now looking into the unicorn’s true soul for the first time.

“Of course it does! I mean… in the sense of…I mean” Sweetie sighed. “Oooh Spike, I don’t know if what I’m feeling for you is real, or just a programmed simulation to make me seem more real…”

Spike nodded and gently ran his thumbs across the robot’s cheeks.

“Well...um...okay let's try looking at this from another perspective. What do we know is real? Your body feels warm and soft enough to be real… and how your eyes…” Spike paused as again the green aura burning in Sweetie’s cybernetic eyes drew him in. “What I see in them seems real, it still seems like you…”

Sweetie shivered nervously as she felt Spike’s fiery breath on her muzzle. How that used to make all her hair stand on end whenever the two cuddled together… and now that she had no hair, it instead triggered a different sense of apprehension and excitement in her.

When Spike then kissed her, the robot feared she was going to short-circuit… which, ironically, was the same way she’d reacted the first time they’d shared such a kiss. Not that she’d wanted to admit it then, just as she didn’t want to now, but either way, the fact Spike stirred such emotions in her, that after growing out of his obsession with her sister he’d deemed her to be his ideal match… yeah, there was no way these feelings were just some part of her programming intended to make her seem more lifelike. Spike apparently was thinking the same as he broke the kiss and smiled.

“Yeah, that seemed real enough for me too.” He smirked as Sweetie felt her tear reservoirs filling her eyes. She was going need to refill those, but not before she showed her thanks to this wonderful, wonderful gentledrake. She threw her arms around him, clutching Spike in the tightest, most loving hug she could muster.

“So… so does this mean we’re still together? Am I...real enough to be your special somepony?” She asked, shivering again as Spike hugged her back.

“Yes you are, Sweetie. Whether you’re living or a machine doesn’t change that.” Spike replied before realizing something. “Though it does raise the question of whether I still call you my special somepony, or my special somerobot?”

Sweetie giggled softly. “Uuuh...actually either works for me. Right now, I gotta figure out how the heck we tell everyone else.” She shuddered as the realization of how much her revealed status was going to impact things. “Applebloom, Scootaloo, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Pipsqueak, Twist, Rumble, Miss Cherilee… Celestia, how are they all going to react to this?”

Spike smiled. “We’ll tell them, together. Just like together we’ll figure out what the heck else there is to know about you, maybe find something about where you might have come from and why…”

The tears, be they real or artificial, spilled freely as Sweetie hugged her dearly beloved drake. Spike let out a very strangled gasp.

“Also… ngh… is there a way to measure your strength?” He meeped. “My… ngh… my spine isn’t supposed to bend inward like that….”

Sweetie meeped too and promptly let go of the dragon. “Oooh sorry! I… without my skin, it’s harder to gauge when I’m exerting too much pressure.”

Spike giggled weakly as he bent over and felt his spine pop back into the right alignment.

“Ow… well, at least that explains why your hugs seem so passionate. And here I was thinking it was due to my charm.” He grinned teasingly at Sweetie, and was duly rewarded by her blasters popping out into his face again.

“Eeeeee… well uh, that was definitely a result of your charm?” Sweetie bleated as she nervously tried to angle her body to where there was no risk of her accidentally sending her boyfriend to the same fate as the cup. “I need to ask if Rarity has any tape lying around. This may be a problem.”

Author's Note

So yeah I caved. Thought I should wait a bit before posting the next chapter but I hated that chapter 2 ended on a rather dour note. I'm almost finished with chapter 4 anyway so at some point in the next few days I'll be updating this again as originally planned.

In the mean time, enjoy your third serving of fluff for this week. Remember to brush and floss after each one so the cuteness doesn't give you cavities.