“So remember, when you go to the polls, a vote for Tiara is a vote to keep Ponyville our shining diamond in the rough!” Diamond Tiara stated from the stage. Beside her, Applebloom raised her hooves to lead the gathered ponies in a round of applause, her smile growing tense as the crowd initially regarded her with silence, but then finally came round to show their support after a moment or so. Both mares heaved a sigh of relief as the atmosphere in the town square turned to their favor, several ponies hefting banners declaring their support for Diamond Tiara as the new mayor of Ponyville. From where they were sipping their milkshakes, Spike and Sweetie watched in quiet observation.

“I gotta admit, considering her family's’ reputation, the somewhat questionable slogan, and what her mother’s done to try and wreck this place, Diamond’s prioritizing of the common ponies’ needs is pretty admirable.” The dragon commented as he read one of the campaign brochures. “Making the Everfree Forest an official wildlife sanctuary, getting a new orphanage and hospital built for the town’s growing population, revamping the zoning laws to allow for a larger residential sector… is this really the same mare that used to loathe those she saw as beneath her in her foalhood? Or do you think the changelings captured the real Diamond Tiara and sent an imposter disguised as her?”

Sweetie looked to Applebloom as she lead Diamond off the stage, checking the mare wasn’t about to hyperventilate from how raggedly she was breathing.

“Well I could tell you my own conclusions, based on my analysis of her respiration, heart rate, blush factor and eye movement in response to the rather emotionally provocative questions she was asked… or I could just let you run wild with your own fantasy.” The robot unicorn giggled. “I would like to posit whether it really matters in the end. If she wins this, then Ponyville will be that much better off, and even if she doesn’t, at least Applebloom will still be better off.”

Spike glanced up as Diamond bid for Applebloom to stop for a moment. The cream colored mare got a worried expression as her pink colored fiancé placed a hoof to her chest and took a deep breath. After a moment, Diamond gestured she was okay, then smiled and patted Applebloom’s shoulder in reassurance that there was no need for her to fret. The farm mare shook her head that she couldn’t help worrying over those she loved, but if Diamond was certain all was well with her, then Applebloom would trust her.

“Honestly, if she can make her smile again after all what happened, then I don’t care who she is.” Sweetie replied. Spike features fell as he recalled memories that still seemed painfully recent, even if they had in fact happened over a year ago. First had come the inevitable death of Granny Smith, the old mare having seemingly deemed she had done all she could for her family and passing away peacefully in her sleep one quiet spring night. The weeks afterward had been solemn, but respectful, with everyone paying their support to Applejack as she prepared to assume ownership of her farm.

And then came the funeral itself… an event that had started out so well, and ended so disastrously when a certain Spoiled Rich prevented Granny’s body from being buried in the spot her will had specified in the Ponyville Memorial Garden, proudly stating about how she had purchased the entire garden for her family and her friends to be buried in, seeing to it that the land not be tainted by common farmers and other such low life rabble. A lot of stress and arguments later, Applejack had finally conceded, stating Granny could be buried under her favorite tree on Sweet Apple Acres instead.

Well, that apparently turned out to be just the opportunity Spoiled had needed to deliver the second part of her one-two punch. Seems there were also several still lingering debts and property issues with who owned what part of the Apples’ orchard, and with Granny’s death, everything now fell to Applejack to deal with. Since the farm mare wasn’t exactly loaded down with bits, and the orchard represented one of Ponyville’s biggest industries, Spoiled had been hankering to jump on that and claim it for herself, see to it that, again, those pesky low life farmers were made to work for the ponies that mattered, and only the ponies who mattered were able to make use of the profits.

More arguments, legal battles, and endless headaches had ensued, with it looking very much like the end of the oldest generation of the Apple family was going to be followed by the end of their family business too. The only reason that things had turned out differently was due to what Spike saw before him, quite possibly the last source anypony had expected to aid Applejack.

While she may have been a scared, angry, and bitter soul in her foalhood, the ensuing years had gifted Diamond with growth that was not only physical, but also spiritual. Once she had buried the hatchet with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and repaired her relations with Silver Spoon, the pink mare had finally come to realize she didn’t need to constantly live under her mother’s hoof, or stand idly by while Spoiled did her best to be a constant pain to everyone else. Using her education in business and economics, Diamond subtly worked to start a new chain of jewelry stores and silversmiths with Silver Spoon, amassing each of them a handsome fortune that neither of their parents could meddle with (even if Silver swore her own folks were nowhere near as insane or money hungry as Diamond’s). Once her own position was secure, Diamond officially disowned Spoiled as her mother, cementing the separation by paying off all of Applejack’s debts, and ensuring Sweet Apple Acres would remain firmly in the hooves of its founding family. It had been intended largely as a final ‘buck you’ to the one who had made Diamond’s life a nightmare, but it had also attracted Applebloom’s attention and affection to see her foalhood bully had truly discarded her old ways.

Just as well really, with Diamond’s efforts to replace Mayor Mare, now that she was retiring from her position, meaning she was again going to be butting heads with her ex-mother, the pink mare probably needed all the emotional support she could get.

“Alright, let me ask you a different question then, is this enough for you to vote for her when election time comes around?” Spike queried as the two stepped away from the town square.

“Presuming I’m qualified to vote… well, I know I have to register first but… in light of what just happened…”

Sweetie awkwardly averted her gaze as two more passing ponies turned to look at her, caught off guard by the sight of her robotic self. In fairness, they quickly realized their error, and nickered an apology. At the same time, however, before today, no one had seen cause to give Sweetie any manner of passing glance. She was just another pretty but normal unicorn… and now… the truth was out for all to see, for better or for worse.

“Are you afraid you might be disqualified? Is that it?” Spike queried. Sweetie pulled her milkshake closer and took another somewhat nervous sip.

“I know I should give our neighbors due credit. They’ve come a long way from the days when a zebra in a cloak sent them running in fear. However, at the same time, we still made waves when we started going out.”

Spike furrowed his brow. “Well, yeah, but hardly in a bad way. We turned heads because cross species relationships just haven’t become commonplace yet, not because anypony sees them as wrong… erm… right?”

Sweetie lowered her gaze to the table, her eyes dilating as if she was scanning the threads of the table cloth for imperfections.

“I bore being a ‘blank flank’ in stride because Scootaloo and Applebloom were in the same boat as me. I accepted my problems applying for the Canterlot Opera because I know there are hundreds of other aspiring singers wanting to snag one of the few coveted spots. This, however…” Sweetie looked at her leg, moving the fetlock, bending her knee, and listening to her well maintained mechanical joints whirr with the motion. “This I have to deal with all on my own. Unless there’s some dramatic revelation that there’s other robots in our midst, I’m the only one around.”

Spike cocked his head. “Does that bother you?”

Sweetie snorted. “I’ve run through hundreds of simulations on what might happen if and when my true status was ever revealed. I’ve calculated the probability of every possible reaction from other ponies according to every potential situation. If you’re wondering, this exact course of events is what I investigated with simulation #1109.”

Spike snickered slightly. “And did your findings reflect what’s happened so far?”

Sweetie looked to the square, watching as the crowd dispersed to resume their daily lives.

“Pretty much, yes… which is why I find this emotional feedback so paradoxical. I’ve planned for this, I know what to expect… yet I’m still experiencing anxiety.”

The lights around Sweetie’s horn sped up with their alternate rotation. Spike noticed her pupils grew and shrank rapidly as she processed her feelings.

“Well, if you’ll forgive me for going a bit Twilight-ish here, but in every situation there’s always some element of unpredictability… or maybe she called it the ‘chaos factor’… no wait, that was from her studies on Discord’s hobbies…” Spike sighed and shook his head.
“Whatever, the point is, there’s always something you can’t plan for, no matter how much you try. That’s actually why I tell Twi to always include a ‘random act of Celestia’ entry on her checklists. Believe me, it never fails to come up at some point.”

Sweetie looked up from her table cloth musings and giggled slightly at her coltfriend’s expression.

“Point is, I doubt you could have anticipated everything about this point. I mean, could you have anticipated I’d still want to be with you? That I wouldn’t care whether you’re a pony or a machine?”

Now the mecha-unicorn blushed slightly.

“Well… I calculated the chance was there… but it was far from a certainty.” She said feeling her circuits sizzle when Spike reached over to hold her hoof. He was fond of doing that, like it would convey how much he wanted to hold onto her better than words could. It made her feel… comfortable, would be the closest classification.

“Well, if that much was something you couldn’t see coming, then maybe we might want to look into the other random parts your calculations didn’t account for. Explore the unknown, so it doesn’t give you anxiety!” Spike replied. Sweetie nodded slowly.

“And… how do we do that?” She asked. Spike finished off his milkshake and rose.

“Well, you said you haven’t registered to vote yet. So, let’s do that, and see what happens. Town Hall is only two blocks away from here.” The dragon bid his marefriend to follow him. She did so with minimal fuss, telling herself this was just like any other walk the two had made through Ponyville. Sure, ponies continued to stare, but they didn’t bolt from her, or scream, or show any other sign of alarm. They just weren’t used to seeing Sweetie as she truly was, that was all… at least, the robot hoped so.

The two were soon climbing the steps to the newly rebuilt Ponyville Town Hall, a rather eclectic building that showcased the hamlet’s rustic roots, while still demonstrating how the extra bits Princess Twilight was bringing in were being put to good use. While the exterior utilized the same thatch roofing and simple white stone as the houses around it, inside the furnishings were considerably more up-scale. No example of this was more prominent than the fountain situated in the center of the lobby, and behind that the huge polished mahogany desk which the receptionist mare, Callie Grapher, was sitting at.

“Oh good day Spike! And… ermm…” The teal colored earth pony paused as she beheld the robot beside the dragon. “Sweetie Belle?”

Sweetie nodded cautiously. “I know, I know. Don’t feel like you have to hide your reaction to this.”

Callie blinked then frantically waved her hooves.

“Oh no, no, I didn’t mean to infer… you just… well, it’s a shock to see this. That’s all I assure you!” The mare smiled awkwardly. “Um, how are you and Rarity doing? In light of what happened at the boutique, I mean.”

Sweetie blinked then her pupils did some more dilating as she processed that she might have misjudged the receptionist’s initial reaction. She too now had to give an awkward smile.

“We’re all fine, even Opalescence. Stroke of luck for that darn cat; she was having her weekly grooming session at the pet salon when everything went up in flames… including me.” Sweetie said, hoping a bit of humor might diffuse the tension. Unfortunately it didn’t do much beyond shocking Callie more, to the point her jaw just flopped limply onto her desk.

“I’m fine! Seriously, I’m just… well… I’m still me.” Sweetie quickly assured. “Well… that’s part of why we’re here at least.”

Callie nodded dumbly, then seemed to snap back into gear upon realizing that was meant as a prompt for her to respond.

“Yes… yes of course! I mean, what can I do for you?” She asked.

Spike nodded outside.

“The political rally in the square got us eager to help. We want to query if Sweetie can be registered to vote.” He replied. Callie nodded and turned around to start hunting in a filing cabinet.

“Well that shouldn’t be too hard. We’ve tried to keep the guidelines updated for every race…”

The mare turned back around and dropped a small mountain of documents on her desk.

“Let’s see here… uh… we’ve got axexes, changelings, chimera, dragons, gryphons, manticores, sea serpents… uh… sphinxes… zebras… wait…” The mare shuffled back to the top of her pile. “Natural born citizens… permanent residents… visiting dignitaries… green card holders…”

The teal pony went through her papers a third time, pulling sheets out at random and reading through them at speed.

“Extra-terrestrial landers… inter-dimensional immigrants… mirror world refugees… there’s gotta be something here for robots!”

A fourth shuffle of the papers was made, with Callie looking increasingly despondent as every time she failed to find any literature on whether machines were allowed to be part of the Equestrian democratic process. Sweetie felt a creeping trickle of negative data seeping through her CPU that her own phobia of the fallout from being exposed for who she was was about to be realized.

“Is there a problem out here?”

All eyes turned to see Diamond stepping out of the lobby’s rest room, her face damp as if she’d been splashing water on it. Behind her Applebloom followed tossing some used paper towels in the trash can.

“Uh… maybe?” Callie said through tense teeth. “We… we have a mare who wants to register for the upcoming elections, but, as you can see, she apparently is of a stature not covered by the official guidelines.”

Diamond looked to Sweetie Belle, narrowing her eyes as the robot stared awkwardly back. A very tense silence held the room.

“Hmmm…I know this isn’t really what one says when greeting an old acquaintance, but you were… ’born’ here in Ponyville, right?” The tiara wearing mare queried. Sweetie Belle’s lights flickered in confusion.

“I was… well, I was activated here… if you want the truth.” She replied. Diamond nodded.

“And since then, you’ve lived here, worked here, and earned all your income domestically, right? Nothing to indicate you were ever a resident of anywhere else?”

Sweetie nodded in perplexity. Diamond exhaled softly.

“Just give her the form for a natural born citizen, Callie. Save yourself the headache.” Diamond turned to the flustered receptionist.

“B-But… Miss Tiara, the due process…” Callie began.

“Can be revised later. Sweetie fits the criteria for a citizen of Equestria, let’s go with that so she can do her part for our cause.” Diamond turned back to the robot with a suspicious look. “It is our cause you want to aid, right?”

“Diamond!” Applebloom scolded, to which the tiara wearing mare let out a long exhale and hung her head.

“Sorry, sorry, you’re right, I shouldn’t insist. The stress is still messing with my manners.” Diamond said apologetically while smoothing back her mane. “Thank you for wanting to participate in the polls, Sweetie, remember, the choice is ultimately yours. Make the right one.” Diamond turned and walked out of the lobby. “Can we go to our usual quiet spot for a bit? A few moments away from everything would really help steady my nerves, Bloomy.”

Applebloom nodded softly. “Course we can, Di. Nothin’ else is on the schedule till tomorrow.”

The farm mare shot her friend a quick apology, and hurried over to drape a comforting foreleg over Diamond’s shoulder. Silence held in the town hall lobby for a moment after the two had left, both Sweetie and Spike just staring at the entrance in quiet amazement.

“Okay… so… that happened.” Spike finally said. “Uh… so, are we good here, Callie?”

“Huh? Oh, sure!” The receptionist mare turned and grabbed a form from the filing cabinet. “Just fill this in, Miss Belle.”

Sweetie accepted the form and grabbed a quill, levitating it with her horn in a manner similar to typical magic, but instead of an aura surrounding the feathered writing instrument, a cone shaped beam of neon blue light shot out of the robot unicorn and ensnared it like a net. Spike made a note to ask about that later as he watched his marefriend jot down her information and credentials and slide it back to the receptionist.

“Thank you, we’ll notify you around the time of Election Day what polling station to report to!” Callie stamped the form and slid it back into the filing cabinet.

“Thank you, Callie. We’ll be going now.” Sweetie gestured for Spike to follow her back out into the square.

“Guess that proves you’re still a pony to somepony other than me.” Spike suggested.

“Yes, and true to your previous statement, that somepony was not in any of my simulations.” Sweetie raised her eyes to the horizon. “Can we chase after Diamond, Spike? After what just happened...I...I think we should continue your idea of exploring this unknown factor.”

Spike now snickered. “Sure. I’m certain they’ve gone to the same place we all usually gathered at when we wanted to get away from things.”

Sweetie looked dubious at this statement, but a playful wink from Spike had her blushing again.

“Ponies may change, but they don’t change that much.” The dragon intoned, before spreading his wings. The two ran down the road leading out of Ponyville, to a quiet cliff area overlooking one of the nearby valleys. True to the dragon’s words, Applebloom and Diamond were there, the farm mare gently holding her marefriend in her forelegs, rocking her back and forth as she vented what was on her mind.

“You worry way too much, Di. You heard the cheers, yah saw the banners, we got this in the bag!” Applebloom soothed as Diamond groaned.

“Yes, until that… that bitch holds her own rally. A few promises of rewards for those who kiss her flank, or cushy jobs, or some other crap she ultimately won’t deliver on, and she’ll have all those ponies eating out of her hooves again. Like she always does!” The pink mare whimpered. Applebloom just shushed her gently as she stroked her mane.

“So? Let her rant. Ya spoke the truth, plain as day, that ultimately she wants to see only the privileged few benefit, while the rest o’ society suffers. Believe me, enough ponies will remember that come Election Day to matter. Can’t fool all the ponies all the time, as one of our past leaders once said.” The farm mare replied, to the amazement of her friend and lover. “Yeah Di, Ah do actually listen to you when you go off on your political tangents. May not understand a lot of what you say, but Ah remember the important bits.”

Diamond just stared, then leaned in and kissed Applebloom thankfully on the lips.

“And that’s why I need to make certain things will be okay for you, and ponies like you. In the end, it’s the simple, honest souls who really make a difference.” The pink mare said, much to Applebloom’s amusement.

“Hey now, Ah ain’t that simple! Ah proved Ah know enough ‘bout marketing and salesmanship to see yer campaign keeps right on rollin’!” She said with a smile, and a sigh as Diamond rested her head against the farm mare’s chest.

“I didn’t mean ‘simple’ in that regard, Bloomy. Just that you’re different enough from me in the right ways, the ways that matter. Silvy’s good at making bits but she hasn’t benefited Equestria the way your sister or you have. Same goes for the other upper crust ponies who think they hold all the power, but ultimately have just deluded themselves into believing being rich is the same as being important. Just like I… once did.” Diamond sighed. “Out of all the Elements of Harmony, Twilight’s the only one who had any big social status beforehoof. Every other one, including your sister, was just an average soul trying to make it in the world, and look at the difference they’ve made. Not even dad can claim to have saved the populace on a regular basis, nor can Fancy Pants, Hoity Toity, or… her…” Diamond’s voice briefly gained a hint of venom before she shook her head. “Point is, with Mayor Mare stepping down, we can’t let the town that’s bred such influential and accepting souls fall into the hooves of those who want to just turn it into another company sprawl. We gotta protect that which has protected Equestria… and now I’m just reiterating my speech from the rally.”

Applebloom giggled as Diamond slapped a hoof to her face.

“After Election Day, whatever happens, we need to get you away from all this. Yer working yerself way too hard.” The light yellow earth mare mused. Diamond looked up and smiled softly.

“Well, I’ve got hearts to win over, and opinions to sway, which I trust I’ve done for two of the most unusual types in town.” Diamond turned to look at the bushes. “Are you two going to come out here and join us? Or just sit and eavesdrop like some sleazy reporter trying to get a scoop?”

Spike and Sweetie Belle emerged from the bushes, both looking equally amused at being discovered.

“Sleazy reporter? That’s harsh, Diamond. Even if it’s been years since the whole Gabby Gums incident, the memories still nag at me.” Sweetie said, noticing with intrigue how the tiara wearing mare just pointed to a spot next to her and went back to cuddling with Applebloom.

“Not as much as they nag at me. It’s one thing for others to forgive you for what you did to make life terrible for them, it’s another to try and forgive yourself.” Diamond sighed. Sweetie’s eyes narrowed as she sat down.

“Is that why you stepped in to see to it I could register to vote?” She said. Diamond shot her a likewise disdainful look.

“Is it so wrong I want everypony in this town to feel included?” She said. Sweetie Belle increased the skepticism of her expression, her eyes glowing with greater demand for the truth. Diamond finally sighed and hung her head.

“Look, I need every vote I can get, okay? If that bitch gets into office, you know who’s gonna be first on her hit list!” The pink mare retorted, before adding. “And I wanted to get the awkwardness of seeing you as you are now out of the way as quick as possible. Show you right off the bat I wasn’t going to regress to my old ways of calling you out for being… heh… what you are.”

The glow in Sweetie’s robotic eyes dimmed slightly.

“Really? You have no reservations that the mare you tormented for years for being different is in fact even more different than you originally thought?” Spike asked. Whether it was intended as a test of Diamond’s character or if he really did still harbor doubts that Diamond had reformed herself, it did the job of raising the pink mare’s hackles.

“Oh don’t get me wrong. I have a lot of questions about you being a machine, and the fact that you hid it from everypony! As I’m sure Applebloom has!” Diamond replied, weathering her lover’s shocked reaction.

“Wha? No Ah don’t! Well… not bad questions… Ah mean…” Applebloom groaned and rested her face against her hoof. “So Sweetie’s a robot. Okay fine, that’s jarring fer sure, but what does making a whole song and dance about it accomplish? Ah mean, Sweetie, are you still Sweetie?”

The robot looked to Spike, blushing as he hugged her for assurance.

“Spike seems to think so, as does Twilight, and my sister. I suppose if you want my own personal opinion on it… well.” Sweetie closed her eyes and emitted that strange harmonious hum again. “My opinion is, I really can’t be anypony else. The data and system augmentations that I’ve accumulated and put into shaping my identity are all I really have to go on. There’s nothing in my programming to indicate if I was supposed to be anything else, thus what you see and who you’ve known all these years, that’s pretty much who I am.”

Diamond snorted her approval.

“And thus, the physical differences are irrelevant. Least they should be… others, I’m sure will say differently, but hopefully if I get elected I can…”She broke off upon noticing Spike and Sweetie were giving her funny looks. “What?”

“Just… heh… look, I know it’s been years, we’ve all grown up and done stuff and changed and so on, but… I still never thought I’d be hearing you of all ponies saying stuff like that.” Sweetie commented. Diamond looked to the horizon, comparing how the valley looked now versus how it did when she was a foal.

“I never thought I’d be actively fighting against… that… bitch… and engaged to be married to a mare I spent so many years tormenting. I’m sure if you told Spike he’d be with someone other than Rarity, he’d have laughed you off.”

Spike furrowed his brow, then let his face slacken.

“Point is, Equestria is always changing. It’s not the same place it was 1,000 years ago, it’s not even the same place it was 10 years ago. Trying to keep things the same, just because you feel comfortable doing so, just means you’re going to stagnate and get left behind. Instead, we need to embrace change, and welcome it, and part of that is accepting even the ponies you’ve known all your life aren’t the same as they were before, whether that means they’ve come to regret their past behavior, or they’re actually a… well… a robot in disguise.”

Sweetie narrowed her eyes as a smile crossed her lips.

“Do you always have a speech prepared?” She asked. Diamond suddenly looked horrified and slapped both hooves to her face.

“She’s still in ‘work mode’. Don’t worry Ah’ll fix that.” Applebloom stood and helped her fiancé up. “What say we stop by Berry Punch’s shop and grab a bottle or two of her best cabernet? A few glasses of that, a nice brie, and watching ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ for the 200th time and we’ll get ya unwound from the stress o’ today.”

Diamond’s ears rose in utter adoration of what she was hearing, to the point she had to giggle like a nervous lovestruck school mare.

“Sometimes it worries me that you know me better than even Silvy.” She said while kissing Applebloom again. The farm mare just shrugged.

“Ah have had to promote the real you fer this whole campaign, and that was after you had me over for multiple sleep overs… and what you did that gave me cause to want to focus on you and you alone.” Applebloom smiled lovingly. “Speaking o’ which, mah sister wanted to run an idea by ya: would it be premature if we stuck a dedication plaque in your name on the front gate o’ the orchard? Jest so everypony knows who made it possible for us to hold onto our family business?”

Diamond’s filly-ish expression faltered.

“Has she done as I asked first? Replaced the gate with a sturdier metal version and put some padlocks on it?” She asked. Now Applebloom’s cheery visage faltered.

“It’s… it’s still on the to-do list."

Diamond sighed.

“Come on now, Bloomy, I only made one request, and it was so you can keep ‘vermin’ off your farm.” She said.

“Yeah, in front of the whole town… while giving a lot of ponies the evil eye. Ah know you were angry as a hive o’ bees at the time, but we kinda got an image to maintain for the folk like yer father who relies on us fer supplies.” Applebloom replied as the two began walking off.

“And I’m sure taking one precaution won’t tarnish it too much. I just don’t want any ponies with sinister intent trying to get revenge for what happened, and…” Diamond said as they disappeared into the brush, leaving Sweetie to just stare in amazement, and Spike to snicker.

“Did you estimate THAT in your simulations as well?” He asked. Sweetie let out another low hum as the lights on her body flickered on and off.

“No… no I didn’t. How strange that I actually feel better now because of it.” The robot turned to the vista, pulling up a file full of images she’d taken from the many times she’d come here over the years. “Then again I think that helps illustrate your point. Kind of like this valley…”

“Oh?” Spike propped his head on his marefriend’s shoulder, relishing how her mane felt as silky and soft as ever.

“I’ve run over 1,000 simulations on how the view here might change. I’ve estimated which trees will grow, which flowers will bloom, how the size of the lake will change due to climate factors…” Sweetie hummed softly again. “Looking at it now, and comparing to my estimates from 10 years ago… even with the multitude of revisions, I was only around 78.32% accurate.”

Spike rubbed Sweetie’s barrel, fascinated by the fact that even that felt relatively warm and plush, not in the sense that she was putting on weight, but more just she didn’t feel like a machine.

“That tree over there as an example? I calculated it would be 18 feet tall now. Instead, that freak thunderstorm we got last summer reduced it to an ashen stump.” Sweetie pointed to the valley. “Then there’s the wild daffodils that sprung up and pushed out the daisies I estimated would be growing strong all along the lake, and the frog population that’s expanded far beyond my simulations…”

Spike nodded with a smile. “Just goes to show the future is not set. You can estimate how everything might be later on but in the end there’ll always be something to show there is no fate but what we make…“

Sweetie gave her coltfriend a stern glare. “You’re seriously going to start quoting a movie about killer robots, to the love of your life who also happens to be a robot?”

Spike’s smile quivered slightly as he tried to hold it on his face.

“Well… it’s to help illustrate why I want us to still be together. I want to see what sort of future we can make, what can be possible if we give the unknown a chance. Whatever that entails, I’ll do what’s needed to make it work!”

Sweetie’s ire faded somewhat, then promptly went out like a light when Spike kissed her again. She turned and hugged the wonderful gentledrake, trying not to blush as he wrapped his arms around her to hold her back panels closed.

“You’re a geek, Spike, in all the right ways.” Sweetie whinnied as she turned and let Spike hold her while they both just stared as the beautiful vista.

“You trusted me enough to show me the real you. Least I can do is return the favor.” He replied.

Silence fell with the slowly setting sun, colors all across the spectrum rising up across the landscape to provide a feast for the eyes of the two onlookers.

“You know, some of those killer robots got reprogrammed to be good. Think that might be the case with…”

“SPIKE!” Sweetie said indignantly.

"Right, right, dropping that line of thought now!" The dragon hastily meeped.

Author's Note

So a few chapters back, someone mentioned in the comments they were fond of Diamond Tiara x Applebloom shipping. Admittedly it's a pairing I'd never considered before, but the more I thought about it, the more I agreed it could be fun to explore as the story turns to focus on what the other foals around Ponyville have grown up to be.

Please, everyone note, I am NOT making any commentary on current political situations. The set up of Diamond running for mayor is just an idea I thought would mix well with her cutie mark power of being a natural leader, and also provide an avenue to demonstrate how far she's matured and redeemed herself in the years after the TV show.

Funny to think that two years ago I had a whole series planned around Diamond being the main villian of a given situation with the CMC, and then the TV show had to show us the true reason why she was so horrible to everyone which in turn made me realize I could never cast her in that light. A mare growing up with that sort of maternal figure just does not deserve to be demonized, she needs to be pitied and helped, ideally in a way that will make her realize she's way better than she thinks she is. So yeah, that fanfic will most likely never see the light of day now.

I am such a complete softie.