Flesh and Chromeby MuffinpatrolChaptersBlood, Sweat and Gears.MetalmorphosisA Literal Heart of GoldMarked for LifeBlood, Sweat and Gears. ONE "I told you, my compass always points to Sweetie Belle." Apple Bloom told Scootaloo. Little did they know that they were being watched. Up in a tree sat a pony, one who was sent here for investigation of a potential robot. She appears to have the inner workings of one who would be a robot, but you can never be TOO sure, she thought to herself, remembering what happened in Manehattan. How was I supposed to know that it was from her necklace. She sighed, brushed her midnight blue mane out of her eyes, then continued watching the fillies. "Cool! Teach us?" Apple Bloom and Scootaloo exclaimed. "Well, we aren't supposed to think about death, but ok." replied Sweetie Belle. "That voice," muttered the pony. She lifted up her hoof and spoke into a watch. "Agent Bend reporting to base," "Any development on the suspect, Bend? Crackled the watch. "She appears to redirect compasses, and you already know about the voice." Bend muttered. "Carry on." the watch said. The fillies had left by now but she took to her wings, pressed a button on her ever-so-helpful watch, and became unseen to all. She scanned the ground for any sign of the potential robot. No luck. After an hour of vigorous flying, she landed on an apple tree to rest. "I am uninstalling you from my heartdrive and reinstalling Applejack," A familiar voice said. "Buy some apples!" "Buy some apples!" "Buy some apples!" The ground shook, "Applejack loves me no matter what." "Now listen here sugar cube, don't go putting words in my mouth." That was enough evidence, the so called Sweetie Belle needed to be destroyed, she would let her finish the day at least. After the eclipse, she would strike. It had been a week since the eclipse, yet she still hadn't made her move, she kept telling herself, today is the day. but for no use. She wanted to just scream she was so annoyed. Why was she taking so long? She had encountered others before Sweetie. Was it because she was a filly? "No, that can't be it." Bend muttered. It was going to be Nightmare Night tomorrow, she will do it then, she'll get Princess Celestia to send her sister to Ponyville to cause a commotion. Then she will, she promised herself, then she will. Her watch vibrated a bit. She lifted up her hoof and spoke into it. "Agent Bend speaking." "Bend, have you gotten the bot yet? "Negative, sir." "What are you waiting for?" "A distraction sir. Could you get Celestia to send 'Luna', as she calls herself, to Ponyville tommorow?" "And you will take her then?" "Yes sir." A pause, then "I'll see what I can do." crackled over the watch. NIGHTMARE NIGHT "She tipped over the bowl! The spiders are escaping!" Screamed a pony. Sweetie Belle ran into an alley in fear. Perfect. Thought Bend. I'll go now. She silently swooped down in front of the robot. "Scanning... Scanning.." Muttered the filly. "My system does not recognize you." "It shouldn't." Said Bend, realizing that this was yet another hint to her true functions. "My name is Hypothesis Bend. I have come to take you away." "Where to?" Sweetie said uncertainly in that queer voice of hers. "Are you part of the Fashion Police?" She began backing away. "Don't hit me with your fabulous baton!!" she shrieked. "No no no.." Hypothesis said gently. "I am not part of the fashion police." The potential robot let out a sigh of relief. "Then, who are you?" She asked, "Apart from the name, I mean. Why do you want to take me away?" "You see, Sweetie.." "YOU KNOW MY NAME?!" "Yes. I am part of the.. the robot police." She sighed. "we need to run a couple tests on you." "No!" Sweetie Belle cried. "I am not supposed to me a robot! Initiating cry sequence." "We don't know if you are a robot!" The policemare exclaimed. "We just need to run a few tests first, to make sure." She already knew Sweetiebot, as she was going to call her, was a robot. But she wanted to make sure that she came willingly, not by force. "I would never personally hurt you, if anyone wanted to kill you I would personally guard you with my life." she smiled sweetly. It was true, if Rainbow Dash wasn't the Element of Loyalty, she would be. Sweetie paused, reeling in this information. She opened her mouth. "O.K, take me there." What a brave little filly. Bend thought. I mean robot. Agent Bend regretfully lay down and let the bot onto her back. "Lets go." she whispered. She took off into the air, the robot on her back. She flew for a while, letting the cool night breeze flow through her mane. She realized the irony of Sweetie's costume, a cool looking dress with an intricate gear and wire pattern, she had two bolts on the sides of her neck, like Frankenstein's Monster. All of the sudden she heard a squeak. Not a mechanical one, a vocal one. "Are you ok?" she asked. Sweetie was shaking, scared shaking. "I'm, I'm scared. What if I am a robot? What happens next? Do I get destroyed?" "Oh no, of course not." Bend said, lying through her teeth. "You will be.. brought into the security system." That was kinda true. The leftover parts from the disassembly were used as security cameras. "That is, if you are a robot in the first place." Hypothesis started to feel tiny drops of water on her back. Tears? Impossible. Robots cannot cry. They leak... clear oil. She landed on an outcropping in the middle of the forest. but androids can.. androids aren't robots. "Where are we?" Sweetie asked. "Sorry, I got tired." Agent Bend said, faking a pant. "Hey, don't cry." She reached out a deep grey hoof and wiped away some tears. She tasted them. Sweetie Belle ran up and hugged the strange pony. Bend let one of her forelegs wrap around the small, quivering device. "Sweetie, do you trust me?" She asked. "Y-yeah?" Sweetiebot replied. "Ok, this might hurt a little, but it will be short," Bend took a small pocket knife and clicked it open. Sweetie's eyes grew wide. "What are you doing with that?" she squeaked. "I'm sorry." Bend said as she inched ever so closer to the scared filly, "I'm sorry.." __________________________________________________________________ Well there you go. I hope you are enjoying my story. Ooh, cliffhangers and whatnot. Do you call this a cliffhanger? Anyway.. My inspiration was off of a parody titled Friendship is Witchcraft. I suggest watching them if you haven't yet. Like I said in the description, this is my first My Little Pony related story. Not saying that I haven't written before. I just haven't written any fanfiction. Please tell me what you think. If you found any grammatical errors please notify me. Also tell me if I should label this as something else. ok? (I hope nobody else has done this before) Regards- Muffinpatrol MetalmorphosisTWO "What are you doing?" Sweetie cried. "Get away from me!" But still she walked forward, the small knife gleaming by the moon. Sweetie Belle was too scared to move, the fear rooting her to the spot. Bend knelt down. She moved her head close to one of Sweetie's forelegs. The knife made contact with her. Sweetie let out a yelp of pain. Bend pushed the knife in a little further and waited for blood. None. She pushed the knife in a little further, Sweetie was sobbing in complete agony. No blood. Bend let the knife go in a little more and hit something. A dull thud sounded from within Sweetie's body, she struck the metal core. Agent Bend slowly pulled out the knife, clicked it shut, and put it back in her bag. Sweetie was staring expectantly at the cut, waiting for the blood that would never come. The slit left by the knife healed instantly. "Honey, I'm sorry." Hypothesis Bend said sadly. "You are a robot." "I do not understand, the calculations are wrong!" Cried Sweetiebot. "MALFUNCTION!!! MALFUNCTION!!! INITIATING RAMPAGE MODE!!" She started to grow, fast. "NO!" the robot policemare shouted. "DON'T!" She knew it was of no use, so why was she trying to prevent it? Sweetie wasn't any different from the others. She thought, Why am I wasting my time? Suddenly the giant robot shook violently. It started to quickly diminish in size. "Sweetie? Sweetie Belle?" Agent Bend asked quietly. "A-are you ok?" The small robot was fainted dead away on the ground, exhausted from the growing and shrinking. Suddenly bright lights flashed from everywhere around the Robot Policemare and the strange robot. "THIS IS THE ROBOT POLICE!" echoed a voice from all directions. "WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED! RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!" "Settle down men, its me." Bend said calmly. "Let me speak to Radiant." The lights all suddenly turned off. A brown stallion with lightning blue hair stepped out from the shadows, his horn letting out a firm glow. "MEN!" he shouted, a sneer on his face, "SURROUND THE TRAITOR!" Twelve other unicorns stepped out of the forest's darkness. "You see, my dear Bend." He said, walking around the two wanted ponies in a circle, "When you tried to stop the rampage, we were all shocked, and then when the robot," he said, pausing to kick the unconscious filly, "applied, we knew you shared a bond with her Bend, we knew." Bend rushed over to Sweetiebot, a look of concern in her eyes. "Oh how quaint, rushing over to your friend." Radiant growled. "Its of no use. You will be exterminated immediately." He waved a hoof in the air and all of the troops advanced forwards. In one fluid motion, Hypothesis scooped up the robot with her wings, placed her on her back, pulled off the communication watch, then took off at a speed that would make Rainbow Dash proud, leaving the unicorns all dumbfounded. She flew for a while, listening to the whirrs of the machinery coming from the sleeping robot. She had slowed down to a steady speed of around fifty mph. She noticed that she was reaching Ponyville. "TALKING LOUD SHOULD DO THE TRICK!!!" a voice sounded from the ground. "Whoah!" Hypothesis muttered. A slight hum came from Sweetiebot, sounding like a tiny snore. She was very well made, Bend realized. The creators must have put a lot of care into her.Bend knew that any time now, she will be chased after by the Airborne robot police. She scanned the ground for any sign of a perfect hiding place. None. She was around in the middle of the Everfree forest now, lightly skimming the treetops, when she noticed some smoke coming out of the Froggy Bottom Bog... She silently landed on a tree branch right at the edge of the bog. The smoke was coming from a small hut. Hovering about two inches above the ground, she carefully approached the hut. It isn't Zecora's hut.She realized with relief. Zecora had been one of the top members of the Robot Police. She carefully knocked on the door. A gasp was audible from the inside. A shuffling of hooves, a click as the lock unlocked, then the door peeked open a bit. "H-hello?" Asked a frail voice, "W-who are you?" "My name is Hypothesis Bend, former member of the Robot Police, may I ask yours?" Bend said firmly. "I-i'm Flora." She said, "come on in." The door opened and Hypothesis walked in. It was a nice place, stone floor, couch in one side with blankets behind it. A small fire was burning in a fireplace at the immediate back of the room. There were tables and chairs, and a cauldron sat nest to the fire, a giant mixing spoon in it. Over to another side of the room was a small sink and drawers, probably holding silverware and plates and bowls. Next to the sink was a pantry. A door next to the couch led in into the bedroom. All in all, it was a very homey place. Sorta reminds me of Hagrid's hut in Harry Trotter.Hypothesis Bend thought. She turned to look at the kind pony who let them in. She was also a pegasus, a clear sky blue color with a purple mane that had seaweed entangled within it. She had shocking green eyes and her cutie mark was a pair of swim goggles. She gave a warm smile. Bend looked down at her cutie mark, a silver question mark, and once again marveled at it and remembered the way she got it. "Um, h-hi?" Flora ventured. "Wh-who's that?" She pointed to the sleeping Sweetiebot. "She is Sweetie Belle. My former target." Bend said blankly. Then looking at the shocked expression on Flora's face, added. "Yes, she's a robot." She lay her down on the couch and covered her up with a blanket. "Is that ok if I do that?" "Y-yeah.." Flora replied. "Just fine. I was about to go to bed, but now that you are here, I will stay up." "Oh no, by all means, you can go to bed." Bend offered."I promise I won't touch anything." "Now I can't let you do that." She said. " You must be hungry. Let me cook you something." Hypothesis' stomach growled at the sound of cook. Flora let out a light chuckle. "I'll make you soup." Bend sat down on the couch, at the other end from where Sweetie was resting. She stared at the robot. Sweetie really was a marvelous piece of work. And beautiful too. I bet all the colts in her class were after her attention. She chuckled. "Yes I love my sister Rarity..." Sweetiebot sang quietly in her sleep. "And a good singing voice too.." Bend murmered. "What was that hon'?" Flora asked from beside the fireplace. "I didn't catch that." "Oh nothing Flora, just marveling at the wonderful job the creator of this robot did." Sweetie opened her eyes. "Scanning... Scanning..." Her eyes locked on Bend. "Sis, where are we?" Bend didn't know how to respond. Sis? That's short for sister, isn't it? But she was just singing about how she loved her sister, Rarity. She thought.Isn't Rarity the element of Generosity? She was in the war too. I remember fighting by her side.. I think.. "Uh," She said. "We are in Flora's house. You are safe right now, Sweetie." "Oh, ok." Sweetie shifted onto her side and drifted off. "Hey Hypothesis, Dinners ready." Flora said and pointed to the table, on it sat a bowl. "Thanks Flora." She walked over to the table and began to eat the soup. "So what was that sister thing about?" Flora asked, " Oh, by the way, my full name is Swamp Flora." "Honestly, Swamp, I have no clue." She sighed, "I guess that I achieved ranking of sister, and let me tell you, I am proud." The former policemare smiled and looked over at the sleeping filly. "Yeah, I am proud." A Literal Heart of GoldTHREE The next morning Bend woke up on the floor beside the couch. Sweetie was still sleeping and Flora was making some sort of good smelling thing for breakfast. She stood up off the floor and brushed herself off with her tail sub-consciously. "Hey Flora," she said, "What's cooking?" "Oatmeal." She responded, "Good morning, by the way." Hypothesis glanced out the window. "What time is it?" she asked. "Oh, around ten." "Ah, I see." she replied, "Wait, ten?!" "Yeah, why?" "The police must've had some time for searching by now." "Yeah? so? You are in the Everfree forest, does that not make you feel any safer?" "It doesn't." Bend sighed, "That's probably the first place they are looking, and if I saw the smoke coming out of your chimney at night, imagine how much it stands out during the day!" "So it would be a clear give away that somepony is there, no?" Flora tilted her head, "And you are too smart for them, so you wouldn't make a fire, no?" "..So logically, they won't go towards the smoke.." Bend realized, catching on. "Swamp, you're a genius!" "Flora dear." Swamp Flora admonished, "I don't like it when people call me Swamp." "Flora, how old are you? You are talking like you are twenty years older than me or something." "I'm twenty one. Unless you are secretly a foal, I can't be twenty years older than you." "Oh, I'm eighteen." "Input age twelve!" piped up Sweetie, who woke up right before Swamp, I mean Flora, told her age. "Hi Sweetie Belle!" Hypothesis Bend smiled. "Ready for a new day?" "Affermative." Sweetie replied, "Where is the start up meal?" "Breakfast?" Flora asked, "Its almost ready." She walked back over to the cauldron and checked the oatmeal. "Are you baking a portal?" Sweetie inquired. "No, dear, just oatmeal." Flora replied, "Why did you think portal?" "Because the gypsy uses cauldrons to make her portals." Sweetie said, jumping out of the couch, still wearing her Nightmare Night dress, the bolts fell off sometime during the flight. "Sweetie Belle, who made your dress?" Bend asked, genuinely interested. "Rarity, my sister, sis." Sweetiebot replied, "She is a master of dresses and giant hats." "Sweetie," Flora said, "Why do you keep calling Hypothesis Bend your sister?" "Because.." Sweetie said.."Because she seems like my sister. And she helped me get away from those awful ponies, oatmeal is at a satisfactory temperature, take it off the fire." She looked at the cauldron in the back. Flora walked into the back and took the cauldron off the fire, Sweetie Belle was right,she thought, this *is** perfect!* She scooped the oatmeal into three bowls and they ate the 'start up meal'. Halfway through breakfast, somepony knocked on the door. Bend immediately stopped eating and glanced toward the door. "Sweetie," she whispered, "Follow me." She looked at Flora, who nodded, then walked to the bedroom door, opened it, led the scared filly inside, then closed and locked it behind her. The door knocked again. Flora quickly put the two other bowls in the sink then ran and opened the door. "Hello?" "Robot Police ma'am. We are looking for two ponies, a filly and a mare, wanted for treason to this wonderful country." A rough voice barked, "May I enter?" "What makes you think that they are in the Everfree forest sir?" Flora asked, letting in the pony. "Eyewitness accounts and these," he said, pulling out a small plastic bag, inside it was the screws from Sweetie's costume. "We found these in the Everfree." He began looking around the house. "And who are you, may I ask?" Flora questioned. "The name is Radiant Beat, Robot Police chief and DJ extraordinaire." He barked, "And you?" Bend froze at the sound of his name, Radiant was her old boss. He was good at his job, very good, almost TOO good... "Oh no.." She muttered.. The window creaked open behind the two hiding ponies, neither of them heard it. "I'm Swamp Flora, call me Flora." She replied, "And there is no way that I would ever strike my country with such a low blow of hiding traitors." Radiant's necklace flashed once. "My dear Flora," he smirked. "But you did." Flora's eyes widened. "How did you.." Radiant's horn glowed a bright green and stopped Flora from moving. The bedroom door opened and out floated Bend, covered in glowing blue magic, and SweetieBot, covered in glowing purple magic, then two unicorns, their horns' glow matching the color. "Lets go." Growled Radiant Beat, Robot Police chief and DJ extraordinaire. "Welcome to the robot police headquarters," chuckled Radiant, "We hope you find your stay...Satisfactory.." He smirked then left the room, shutting and locking the door behind him. "I hope he isn't serious." Bend said, on the verge of laughter. "Serious about what, big sister?" Sweetie questioned. "I know how to get out of here." "Oh? Do tell dear." Flora chirped. Bend walked over to the wall of the room, knocked on it in a certain place, then a door opened. "That is in case a Robot Police member gets trapped in here." smirked Hypothesis. "C'mon!" Radiant was almost all the way down the hall when he stopped dead in his tracks. "GAH!! THE ESCAPE!!" he cried and rushed back. HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID AS TO NOT LOCK IT!?!?!? His mind yelled at him. "SHUT UP!! I AM GOING TO CORRECT IT!!" He yelled back. Granted, he did look insane, yelling at himself, but he didn't care right now. YOU DARE CALL YOURSELF A ROBOT POLICE CHIEF?!? YOU DIDN'T EVEN REMEMBER TO LOCK A FREAKING DOOR! His mind snapped at him. "I SAID SHUT IT! I AM GOING TO GO FIX IT!!" STUPID LONG HALLWAYS!! THEY ARE PROBABLY ALMOST OUT BY NOW! "Where does this go?" Flora asked. "It goes three miles out into the forest. At the end of the passageway your magic gets locked. But seeing as we are both pegasi, and Sweetie doesn't know any magic, we should be good." Bend replied. "You see, the reason that the magic locks is that because any police member who accidentally locks themselves in automatically gets the punishment of the long walk back." The end was in sight, they started to walk a tiny bit faster. Suddenly all of their foreheads were covered in a pink goop. "See, magic block." Bend said, scooping some off with her wings and putting it in a jar. "This will come in handy." She put it back in her bag. They began walking away from the building. If they flew they would be spotted. After a while they came upon a river. A sea monster with a strange, two-colored mustache rose out of the water. "Why hello! What awful pink goop you have on your head! Care to wash off?" He motioned to the river. "C'mon Sweetie, its about time you took a bath." Bend smiled then walked into the water. "But the water makes me feel funny..." Sweetie Bell complained, took her dress off, and grudgingly walked in. "Ok guys, want to see why I have my cutie mark?" Flora asked. "Yeah!" The two adoptive sisters cheered. "Show me." the sea monster smirked. The blue pony dove into the water, rose up, and began swimming close to the speed of light, it seemed that fast. She zoomed this way and that, jumping out of the water over rocks and the sea monster's tail. She finished by diving down in the middle of the river, waiting a minute, then bursting out of it at high speed, sending water everywhere. "WOOHOO!!!" Bend cheered. Sweetie clapped wildly and the monster's jaw dropped. Stepping out of the water, Bend noticed something on Sweetie, something.. interesting.. "Sweetie, look there." She said and pointed. Sweetie screamed. __________________________________________________________________ Hope you enjoyed. Regards, Muffinpatrol. Marked for LifeFOUR "OH MY GOSH!!!" Sweetie squealed, "Is it really..?" "Yeah," Bend replied, "Congratulations!!" Flora walked up to Sweetie. "Good job kiddo." She said and gave her a pat on the head. "Thanks!" Sweetie squealed. "What do you think it stands for?" "Hmm.. I'd say it stands for finding out your true identity and not rampaging." Bend said. "I mean, what else could a gear stand for?" "Woohoo!" Cheered the filly, she bounced around in a circle. "Achievement unlocked! Obtain free tattoo! I got my cu-tie mark! I got my cu-tie mark!" She stopped in her tracks and asked Bend, "Can we go to Ponyville? I want to show Apple Bloom and Scootaloo!" She squealed with glee. Flora and Bend couldn't help but laugh at the display of the robot. "Sure honey, we'll go to town." Flora chuckled. "Setting phasers to HUG!" Sweetie cried and hugged Bend and Flora. "You ponies are the best ever!" "Thanks." Flora smiled. "Now put on your dress, we don't want to lose such a fine piece of work." "No ma'am! I got my cutie mark! doesn't that mean anything to you?" "Its ok Flora, I'll put it in my bag." Bend said and put the costume away. "Let's go." Sweetie hopped up onto Bend's back, they said thank you to the sea monster and took off toward the village. "WOO HOO!!!"Sweetie shouted in her queer voice. "Jeez Sweetie, could you turn it down a bit?" Bend asked her, rubbing one of her ears. "Sure! setting volume to twenty five." Sweetie chirped. "Are we there yet?" "Almost, Sweetie." Flora said. "You know, I'm feeling that I am overlooking something stupid.." "Like what, Bend?" "Well, if I knew, I would tell you, no?" "True.. True.." They flew for a couple more seconds until Sweetie piped up. "Turn left." The pegasi obliged. "You have reached your destination. The route guidance has ended." They landed in front of a clubhouse Hypothesis Bend remembered all too well. "Sweetie Belle, what was that thing you just did?" Flora asked tentatively. "Location services. My tracking device told me that the other two were here in the Cutie Mark Acquisition Program Headquarters," Sweetie chirped. Sure enough, when we walked in, two fillies squealed in excitement and ran to Sweetie. "Sweetie Belle, you're back!" The girl with the bow exclaimed and hugged the robot. "Yes Apple Bloom. I have returned. And look! I have obtained a cutie mark!" The other one, an orange pegasus, gasped. "That's so cool!" she paused, "what's it stand for?" "It stands for her knowledge of her real self, and not destroying everything because of it." Bend piped up, then noticed the two other fillies looking at her and Swamp Flora in confusement. "My name is Swamp Flora, call me Flora though. My friend here is a former robot policemare, her name is Hypothesis Bend." "Emphasis on former there." "Right, what Bend said. We are Sweetie's guardians and friends." A pause, then Scootaloo and Apple Bloom nodded. "That's cool. So why are you here?" Scootaloo asked. "I wanted to show you guys my achievement and check up on how you were doing." "We're holding up just fine. Are the robot police still after you?" After that statement, Bend glanced to the side, out the window. A flash of something disappeared from the corner. She dismissed it as some branch, then paused. "The robot police are always listening..." She muttered. Her eyes grew wide. "Nowhere is safe.. WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!" "What do you mean Bend? We just got here." Flora replied. "The robot police are always listening! C'mon!" She scooped up the filly robot and dashed outside. Flora nodded to the two confused fillies. "Nice meeting you two." She dashed out of the clubhouse after Bend."Wait for me!" "Well, that was interesting.." Scootaloo said. "You can come out now, she has confessed." "Perfect, thank you two for letting me spy here. Here are your two hundred bits. One hundred for each of you." The sound of a bag filled with coins hitting the floor was heard. "Have a good day now, thank you for your assistance." "Aww.. The pony teleported away.. I was going to ask him if he would help me be the president.." "What was that all about back there Bend?" Flora panted. They had found a place to rest in a desolate cave in the Everfree. It was rather dry and had a nice little wall of stalagmites in the back, making a little room which they quickly dubbed the bathroom because of a little hole in the ground and a freshwater spring on the other side. Beyond that was the cave's back. The ground was pure rock, as with the sides of the cave. Bend recognized, and Sweetie confirmed, that the wall on one side was flint. "We can't go anywhere near civilization Flora. There is a bounty on our heads, and not the paper towel kind either. I was in the robot police force long enough to know that the robot police are always listening. It is slightly a lie, because they only patrol the city areas. That's why we can't go in them. Welcome to our new home." She began to unpack blankets and pots and matches and all sorts of other stuff out of her bag. "How big is that bag, and is some of that from my house!?" Flora asked. "The bag is impossibly big, and yes, some is from your house. I took them in case of emergency, and would give them back if there was none. Obviously there was. Now, get some sleep." She motioned to a completely unzipped sleeping bag with blankets on top of it and pillows at one side. "Tomorrow, we must play out the final act. Let's get this over with, once and for all." Flora nodded and tucked herself into one side of the sleeping bag bed. "Ok. See you in the morning." Sweetie Belle chirped. "I hope I do, Sweetie," She walked over to Sweetie and tucked her into the makeshift bed, kissed her forehead, and climbed into it beside her, bringing the robot close to her body. "I hope I do..."
Blood, Sweat and Gears. ONE "I told you, my compass always points to Sweetie Belle." Apple Bloom told Scootaloo. Little did they know that they were being watched. Up in a tree sat a pony, one who was sent here for investigation of a potential robot. She appears to have the inner workings of one who would be a robot, but you can never be TOO sure, she thought to herself, remembering what happened in Manehattan. How was I supposed to know that it was from her necklace. She sighed, brushed her midnight blue mane out of her eyes, then continued watching the fillies. "Cool! Teach us?" Apple Bloom and Scootaloo exclaimed. "Well, we aren't supposed to think about death, but ok." replied Sweetie Belle. "That voice," muttered the pony. She lifted up her hoof and spoke into a watch. "Agent Bend reporting to base," "Any development on the suspect, Bend? Crackled the watch. "She appears to redirect compasses, and you already know about the voice." Bend muttered. "Carry on." the watch said. The fillies had left by now but she took to her wings, pressed a button on her ever-so-helpful watch, and became unseen to all. She scanned the ground for any sign of the potential robot. No luck. After an hour of vigorous flying, she landed on an apple tree to rest. "I am uninstalling you from my heartdrive and reinstalling Applejack," A familiar voice said. "Buy some apples!" "Buy some apples!" "Buy some apples!" The ground shook, "Applejack loves me no matter what." "Now listen here sugar cube, don't go putting words in my mouth." That was enough evidence, the so called Sweetie Belle needed to be destroyed, she would let her finish the day at least. After the eclipse, she would strike. It had been a week since the eclipse, yet she still hadn't made her move, she kept telling herself, today is the day. but for no use. She wanted to just scream she was so annoyed. Why was she taking so long? She had encountered others before Sweetie. Was it because she was a filly? "No, that can't be it." Bend muttered. It was going to be Nightmare Night tomorrow, she will do it then, she'll get Princess Celestia to send her sister to Ponyville to cause a commotion. Then she will, she promised herself, then she will. Her watch vibrated a bit. She lifted up her hoof and spoke into it. "Agent Bend speaking." "Bend, have you gotten the bot yet? "Negative, sir." "What are you waiting for?" "A distraction sir. Could you get Celestia to send 'Luna', as she calls herself, to Ponyville tommorow?" "And you will take her then?" "Yes sir." A pause, then "I'll see what I can do." crackled over the watch. NIGHTMARE NIGHT "She tipped over the bowl! The spiders are escaping!" Screamed a pony. Sweetie Belle ran into an alley in fear. Perfect. Thought Bend. I'll go now. She silently swooped down in front of the robot. "Scanning... Scanning.." Muttered the filly. "My system does not recognize you." "It shouldn't." Said Bend, realizing that this was yet another hint to her true functions. "My name is Hypothesis Bend. I have come to take you away." "Where to?" Sweetie said uncertainly in that queer voice of hers. "Are you part of the Fashion Police?" She began backing away. "Don't hit me with your fabulous baton!!" she shrieked. "No no no.." Hypothesis said gently. "I am not part of the fashion police." The potential robot let out a sigh of relief. "Then, who are you?" She asked, "Apart from the name, I mean. Why do you want to take me away?" "You see, Sweetie.." "YOU KNOW MY NAME?!" "Yes. I am part of the.. the robot police." She sighed. "we need to run a couple tests on you." "No!" Sweetie Belle cried. "I am not supposed to me a robot! Initiating cry sequence." "We don't know if you are a robot!" The policemare exclaimed. "We just need to run a few tests first, to make sure." She already knew Sweetiebot, as she was going to call her, was a robot. But she wanted to make sure that she came willingly, not by force. "I would never personally hurt you, if anyone wanted to kill you I would personally guard you with my life." she smiled sweetly. It was true, if Rainbow Dash wasn't the Element of Loyalty, she would be. Sweetie paused, reeling in this information. She opened her mouth. "O.K, take me there." What a brave little filly. Bend thought. I mean robot. Agent Bend regretfully lay down and let the bot onto her back. "Lets go." she whispered. She took off into the air, the robot on her back. She flew for a while, letting the cool night breeze flow through her mane. She realized the irony of Sweetie's costume, a cool looking dress with an intricate gear and wire pattern, she had two bolts on the sides of her neck, like Frankenstein's Monster. All of the sudden she heard a squeak. Not a mechanical one, a vocal one. "Are you ok?" she asked. Sweetie was shaking, scared shaking. "I'm, I'm scared. What if I am a robot? What happens next? Do I get destroyed?" "Oh no, of course not." Bend said, lying through her teeth. "You will be.. brought into the security system." That was kinda true. The leftover parts from the disassembly were used as security cameras. "That is, if you are a robot in the first place." Hypothesis started to feel tiny drops of water on her back. Tears? Impossible. Robots cannot cry. They leak... clear oil. She landed on an outcropping in the middle of the forest. but androids can.. androids aren't robots. "Where are we?" Sweetie asked. "Sorry, I got tired." Agent Bend said, faking a pant. "Hey, don't cry." She reached out a deep grey hoof and wiped away some tears. She tasted them. Sweetie Belle ran up and hugged the strange pony. Bend let one of her forelegs wrap around the small, quivering device. "Sweetie, do you trust me?" She asked. "Y-yeah?" Sweetiebot replied. "Ok, this might hurt a little, but it will be short," Bend took a small pocket knife and clicked it open. Sweetie's eyes grew wide. "What are you doing with that?" she squeaked. "I'm sorry." Bend said as she inched ever so closer to the scared filly, "I'm sorry.." __________________________________________________________________ Well there you go. I hope you are enjoying my story. Ooh, cliffhangers and whatnot. Do you call this a cliffhanger? Anyway.. My inspiration was off of a parody titled Friendship is Witchcraft. I suggest watching them if you haven't yet. Like I said in the description, this is my first My Little Pony related story. Not saying that I haven't written before. I just haven't written any fanfiction. Please tell me what you think. If you found any grammatical errors please notify me. Also tell me if I should label this as something else. ok? (I hope nobody else has done this before) Regards- Muffinpatrol
MetalmorphosisTWO "What are you doing?" Sweetie cried. "Get away from me!" But still she walked forward, the small knife gleaming by the moon. Sweetie Belle was too scared to move, the fear rooting her to the spot. Bend knelt down. She moved her head close to one of Sweetie's forelegs. The knife made contact with her. Sweetie let out a yelp of pain. Bend pushed the knife in a little further and waited for blood. None. She pushed the knife in a little further, Sweetie was sobbing in complete agony. No blood. Bend let the knife go in a little more and hit something. A dull thud sounded from within Sweetie's body, she struck the metal core. Agent Bend slowly pulled out the knife, clicked it shut, and put it back in her bag. Sweetie was staring expectantly at the cut, waiting for the blood that would never come. The slit left by the knife healed instantly. "Honey, I'm sorry." Hypothesis Bend said sadly. "You are a robot." "I do not understand, the calculations are wrong!" Cried Sweetiebot. "MALFUNCTION!!! MALFUNCTION!!! INITIATING RAMPAGE MODE!!" She started to grow, fast. "NO!" the robot policemare shouted. "DON'T!" She knew it was of no use, so why was she trying to prevent it? Sweetie wasn't any different from the others. She thought, Why am I wasting my time? Suddenly the giant robot shook violently. It started to quickly diminish in size. "Sweetie? Sweetie Belle?" Agent Bend asked quietly. "A-are you ok?" The small robot was fainted dead away on the ground, exhausted from the growing and shrinking. Suddenly bright lights flashed from everywhere around the Robot Policemare and the strange robot. "THIS IS THE ROBOT POLICE!" echoed a voice from all directions. "WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED! RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!" "Settle down men, its me." Bend said calmly. "Let me speak to Radiant." The lights all suddenly turned off. A brown stallion with lightning blue hair stepped out from the shadows, his horn letting out a firm glow. "MEN!" he shouted, a sneer on his face, "SURROUND THE TRAITOR!" Twelve other unicorns stepped out of the forest's darkness. "You see, my dear Bend." He said, walking around the two wanted ponies in a circle, "When you tried to stop the rampage, we were all shocked, and then when the robot," he said, pausing to kick the unconscious filly, "applied, we knew you shared a bond with her Bend, we knew." Bend rushed over to Sweetiebot, a look of concern in her eyes. "Oh how quaint, rushing over to your friend." Radiant growled. "Its of no use. You will be exterminated immediately." He waved a hoof in the air and all of the troops advanced forwards. In one fluid motion, Hypothesis scooped up the robot with her wings, placed her on her back, pulled off the communication watch, then took off at a speed that would make Rainbow Dash proud, leaving the unicorns all dumbfounded. She flew for a while, listening to the whirrs of the machinery coming from the sleeping robot. She had slowed down to a steady speed of around fifty mph. She noticed that she was reaching Ponyville. "TALKING LOUD SHOULD DO THE TRICK!!!" a voice sounded from the ground. "Whoah!" Hypothesis muttered. A slight hum came from Sweetiebot, sounding like a tiny snore. She was very well made, Bend realized. The creators must have put a lot of care into her.Bend knew that any time now, she will be chased after by the Airborne robot police. She scanned the ground for any sign of a perfect hiding place. None. She was around in the middle of the Everfree forest now, lightly skimming the treetops, when she noticed some smoke coming out of the Froggy Bottom Bog... She silently landed on a tree branch right at the edge of the bog. The smoke was coming from a small hut. Hovering about two inches above the ground, she carefully approached the hut. It isn't Zecora's hut.She realized with relief. Zecora had been one of the top members of the Robot Police. She carefully knocked on the door. A gasp was audible from the inside. A shuffling of hooves, a click as the lock unlocked, then the door peeked open a bit. "H-hello?" Asked a frail voice, "W-who are you?" "My name is Hypothesis Bend, former member of the Robot Police, may I ask yours?" Bend said firmly. "I-i'm Flora." She said, "come on in." The door opened and Hypothesis walked in. It was a nice place, stone floor, couch in one side with blankets behind it. A small fire was burning in a fireplace at the immediate back of the room. There were tables and chairs, and a cauldron sat nest to the fire, a giant mixing spoon in it. Over to another side of the room was a small sink and drawers, probably holding silverware and plates and bowls. Next to the sink was a pantry. A door next to the couch led in into the bedroom. All in all, it was a very homey place. Sorta reminds me of Hagrid's hut in Harry Trotter.Hypothesis Bend thought. She turned to look at the kind pony who let them in. She was also a pegasus, a clear sky blue color with a purple mane that had seaweed entangled within it. She had shocking green eyes and her cutie mark was a pair of swim goggles. She gave a warm smile. Bend looked down at her cutie mark, a silver question mark, and once again marveled at it and remembered the way she got it. "Um, h-hi?" Flora ventured. "Wh-who's that?" She pointed to the sleeping Sweetiebot. "She is Sweetie Belle. My former target." Bend said blankly. Then looking at the shocked expression on Flora's face, added. "Yes, she's a robot." She lay her down on the couch and covered her up with a blanket. "Is that ok if I do that?" "Y-yeah.." Flora replied. "Just fine. I was about to go to bed, but now that you are here, I will stay up." "Oh no, by all means, you can go to bed." Bend offered."I promise I won't touch anything." "Now I can't let you do that." She said. " You must be hungry. Let me cook you something." Hypothesis' stomach growled at the sound of cook. Flora let out a light chuckle. "I'll make you soup." Bend sat down on the couch, at the other end from where Sweetie was resting. She stared at the robot. Sweetie really was a marvelous piece of work. And beautiful too. I bet all the colts in her class were after her attention. She chuckled. "Yes I love my sister Rarity..." Sweetiebot sang quietly in her sleep. "And a good singing voice too.." Bend murmered. "What was that hon'?" Flora asked from beside the fireplace. "I didn't catch that." "Oh nothing Flora, just marveling at the wonderful job the creator of this robot did." Sweetie opened her eyes. "Scanning... Scanning..." Her eyes locked on Bend. "Sis, where are we?" Bend didn't know how to respond. Sis? That's short for sister, isn't it? But she was just singing about how she loved her sister, Rarity. She thought.Isn't Rarity the element of Generosity? She was in the war too. I remember fighting by her side.. I think.. "Uh," She said. "We are in Flora's house. You are safe right now, Sweetie." "Oh, ok." Sweetie shifted onto her side and drifted off. "Hey Hypothesis, Dinners ready." Flora said and pointed to the table, on it sat a bowl. "Thanks Flora." She walked over to the table and began to eat the soup. "So what was that sister thing about?" Flora asked, " Oh, by the way, my full name is Swamp Flora." "Honestly, Swamp, I have no clue." She sighed, "I guess that I achieved ranking of sister, and let me tell you, I am proud." The former policemare smiled and looked over at the sleeping filly. "Yeah, I am proud."
A Literal Heart of GoldTHREE The next morning Bend woke up on the floor beside the couch. Sweetie was still sleeping and Flora was making some sort of good smelling thing for breakfast. She stood up off the floor and brushed herself off with her tail sub-consciously. "Hey Flora," she said, "What's cooking?" "Oatmeal." She responded, "Good morning, by the way." Hypothesis glanced out the window. "What time is it?" she asked. "Oh, around ten." "Ah, I see." she replied, "Wait, ten?!" "Yeah, why?" "The police must've had some time for searching by now." "Yeah? so? You are in the Everfree forest, does that not make you feel any safer?" "It doesn't." Bend sighed, "That's probably the first place they are looking, and if I saw the smoke coming out of your chimney at night, imagine how much it stands out during the day!" "So it would be a clear give away that somepony is there, no?" Flora tilted her head, "And you are too smart for them, so you wouldn't make a fire, no?" "..So logically, they won't go towards the smoke.." Bend realized, catching on. "Swamp, you're a genius!" "Flora dear." Swamp Flora admonished, "I don't like it when people call me Swamp." "Flora, how old are you? You are talking like you are twenty years older than me or something." "I'm twenty one. Unless you are secretly a foal, I can't be twenty years older than you." "Oh, I'm eighteen." "Input age twelve!" piped up Sweetie, who woke up right before Swamp, I mean Flora, told her age. "Hi Sweetie Belle!" Hypothesis Bend smiled. "Ready for a new day?" "Affermative." Sweetie replied, "Where is the start up meal?" "Breakfast?" Flora asked, "Its almost ready." She walked back over to the cauldron and checked the oatmeal. "Are you baking a portal?" Sweetie inquired. "No, dear, just oatmeal." Flora replied, "Why did you think portal?" "Because the gypsy uses cauldrons to make her portals." Sweetie said, jumping out of the couch, still wearing her Nightmare Night dress, the bolts fell off sometime during the flight. "Sweetie Belle, who made your dress?" Bend asked, genuinely interested. "Rarity, my sister, sis." Sweetiebot replied, "She is a master of dresses and giant hats." "Sweetie," Flora said, "Why do you keep calling Hypothesis Bend your sister?" "Because.." Sweetie said.."Because she seems like my sister. And she helped me get away from those awful ponies, oatmeal is at a satisfactory temperature, take it off the fire." She looked at the cauldron in the back. Flora walked into the back and took the cauldron off the fire, Sweetie Belle was right,she thought, this *is** perfect!* She scooped the oatmeal into three bowls and they ate the 'start up meal'. Halfway through breakfast, somepony knocked on the door. Bend immediately stopped eating and glanced toward the door. "Sweetie," she whispered, "Follow me." She looked at Flora, who nodded, then walked to the bedroom door, opened it, led the scared filly inside, then closed and locked it behind her. The door knocked again. Flora quickly put the two other bowls in the sink then ran and opened the door. "Hello?" "Robot Police ma'am. We are looking for two ponies, a filly and a mare, wanted for treason to this wonderful country." A rough voice barked, "May I enter?" "What makes you think that they are in the Everfree forest sir?" Flora asked, letting in the pony. "Eyewitness accounts and these," he said, pulling out a small plastic bag, inside it was the screws from Sweetie's costume. "We found these in the Everfree." He began looking around the house. "And who are you, may I ask?" Flora questioned. "The name is Radiant Beat, Robot Police chief and DJ extraordinaire." He barked, "And you?" Bend froze at the sound of his name, Radiant was her old boss. He was good at his job, very good, almost TOO good... "Oh no.." She muttered.. The window creaked open behind the two hiding ponies, neither of them heard it. "I'm Swamp Flora, call me Flora." She replied, "And there is no way that I would ever strike my country with such a low blow of hiding traitors." Radiant's necklace flashed once. "My dear Flora," he smirked. "But you did." Flora's eyes widened. "How did you.." Radiant's horn glowed a bright green and stopped Flora from moving. The bedroom door opened and out floated Bend, covered in glowing blue magic, and SweetieBot, covered in glowing purple magic, then two unicorns, their horns' glow matching the color. "Lets go." Growled Radiant Beat, Robot Police chief and DJ extraordinaire. "Welcome to the robot police headquarters," chuckled Radiant, "We hope you find your stay...Satisfactory.." He smirked then left the room, shutting and locking the door behind him. "I hope he isn't serious." Bend said, on the verge of laughter. "Serious about what, big sister?" Sweetie questioned. "I know how to get out of here." "Oh? Do tell dear." Flora chirped. Bend walked over to the wall of the room, knocked on it in a certain place, then a door opened. "That is in case a Robot Police member gets trapped in here." smirked Hypothesis. "C'mon!" Radiant was almost all the way down the hall when he stopped dead in his tracks. "GAH!! THE ESCAPE!!" he cried and rushed back. HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID AS TO NOT LOCK IT!?!?!? His mind yelled at him. "SHUT UP!! I AM GOING TO CORRECT IT!!" He yelled back. Granted, he did look insane, yelling at himself, but he didn't care right now. YOU DARE CALL YOURSELF A ROBOT POLICE CHIEF?!? YOU DIDN'T EVEN REMEMBER TO LOCK A FREAKING DOOR! His mind snapped at him. "I SAID SHUT IT! I AM GOING TO GO FIX IT!!" STUPID LONG HALLWAYS!! THEY ARE PROBABLY ALMOST OUT BY NOW! "Where does this go?" Flora asked. "It goes three miles out into the forest. At the end of the passageway your magic gets locked. But seeing as we are both pegasi, and Sweetie doesn't know any magic, we should be good." Bend replied. "You see, the reason that the magic locks is that because any police member who accidentally locks themselves in automatically gets the punishment of the long walk back." The end was in sight, they started to walk a tiny bit faster. Suddenly all of their foreheads were covered in a pink goop. "See, magic block." Bend said, scooping some off with her wings and putting it in a jar. "This will come in handy." She put it back in her bag. They began walking away from the building. If they flew they would be spotted. After a while they came upon a river. A sea monster with a strange, two-colored mustache rose out of the water. "Why hello! What awful pink goop you have on your head! Care to wash off?" He motioned to the river. "C'mon Sweetie, its about time you took a bath." Bend smiled then walked into the water. "But the water makes me feel funny..." Sweetie Bell complained, took her dress off, and grudgingly walked in. "Ok guys, want to see why I have my cutie mark?" Flora asked. "Yeah!" The two adoptive sisters cheered. "Show me." the sea monster smirked. The blue pony dove into the water, rose up, and began swimming close to the speed of light, it seemed that fast. She zoomed this way and that, jumping out of the water over rocks and the sea monster's tail. She finished by diving down in the middle of the river, waiting a minute, then bursting out of it at high speed, sending water everywhere. "WOOHOO!!!" Bend cheered. Sweetie clapped wildly and the monster's jaw dropped. Stepping out of the water, Bend noticed something on Sweetie, something.. interesting.. "Sweetie, look there." She said and pointed. Sweetie screamed. __________________________________________________________________ Hope you enjoyed. Regards, Muffinpatrol.
Marked for LifeFOUR "OH MY GOSH!!!" Sweetie squealed, "Is it really..?" "Yeah," Bend replied, "Congratulations!!" Flora walked up to Sweetie. "Good job kiddo." She said and gave her a pat on the head. "Thanks!" Sweetie squealed. "What do you think it stands for?" "Hmm.. I'd say it stands for finding out your true identity and not rampaging." Bend said. "I mean, what else could a gear stand for?" "Woohoo!" Cheered the filly, she bounced around in a circle. "Achievement unlocked! Obtain free tattoo! I got my cu-tie mark! I got my cu-tie mark!" She stopped in her tracks and asked Bend, "Can we go to Ponyville? I want to show Apple Bloom and Scootaloo!" She squealed with glee. Flora and Bend couldn't help but laugh at the display of the robot. "Sure honey, we'll go to town." Flora chuckled. "Setting phasers to HUG!" Sweetie cried and hugged Bend and Flora. "You ponies are the best ever!" "Thanks." Flora smiled. "Now put on your dress, we don't want to lose such a fine piece of work." "No ma'am! I got my cutie mark! doesn't that mean anything to you?" "Its ok Flora, I'll put it in my bag." Bend said and put the costume away. "Let's go." Sweetie hopped up onto Bend's back, they said thank you to the sea monster and took off toward the village. "WOO HOO!!!"Sweetie shouted in her queer voice. "Jeez Sweetie, could you turn it down a bit?" Bend asked her, rubbing one of her ears. "Sure! setting volume to twenty five." Sweetie chirped. "Are we there yet?" "Almost, Sweetie." Flora said. "You know, I'm feeling that I am overlooking something stupid.." "Like what, Bend?" "Well, if I knew, I would tell you, no?" "True.. True.." They flew for a couple more seconds until Sweetie piped up. "Turn left." The pegasi obliged. "You have reached your destination. The route guidance has ended." They landed in front of a clubhouse Hypothesis Bend remembered all too well. "Sweetie Belle, what was that thing you just did?" Flora asked tentatively. "Location services. My tracking device told me that the other two were here in the Cutie Mark Acquisition Program Headquarters," Sweetie chirped. Sure enough, when we walked in, two fillies squealed in excitement and ran to Sweetie. "Sweetie Belle, you're back!" The girl with the bow exclaimed and hugged the robot. "Yes Apple Bloom. I have returned. And look! I have obtained a cutie mark!" The other one, an orange pegasus, gasped. "That's so cool!" she paused, "what's it stand for?" "It stands for her knowledge of her real self, and not destroying everything because of it." Bend piped up, then noticed the two other fillies looking at her and Swamp Flora in confusement. "My name is Swamp Flora, call me Flora though. My friend here is a former robot policemare, her name is Hypothesis Bend." "Emphasis on former there." "Right, what Bend said. We are Sweetie's guardians and friends." A pause, then Scootaloo and Apple Bloom nodded. "That's cool. So why are you here?" Scootaloo asked. "I wanted to show you guys my achievement and check up on how you were doing." "We're holding up just fine. Are the robot police still after you?" After that statement, Bend glanced to the side, out the window. A flash of something disappeared from the corner. She dismissed it as some branch, then paused. "The robot police are always listening..." She muttered. Her eyes grew wide. "Nowhere is safe.. WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!" "What do you mean Bend? We just got here." Flora replied. "The robot police are always listening! C'mon!" She scooped up the filly robot and dashed outside. Flora nodded to the two confused fillies. "Nice meeting you two." She dashed out of the clubhouse after Bend."Wait for me!" "Well, that was interesting.." Scootaloo said. "You can come out now, she has confessed." "Perfect, thank you two for letting me spy here. Here are your two hundred bits. One hundred for each of you." The sound of a bag filled with coins hitting the floor was heard. "Have a good day now, thank you for your assistance." "Aww.. The pony teleported away.. I was going to ask him if he would help me be the president.." "What was that all about back there Bend?" Flora panted. They had found a place to rest in a desolate cave in the Everfree. It was rather dry and had a nice little wall of stalagmites in the back, making a little room which they quickly dubbed the bathroom because of a little hole in the ground and a freshwater spring on the other side. Beyond that was the cave's back. The ground was pure rock, as with the sides of the cave. Bend recognized, and Sweetie confirmed, that the wall on one side was flint. "We can't go anywhere near civilization Flora. There is a bounty on our heads, and not the paper towel kind either. I was in the robot police force long enough to know that the robot police are always listening. It is slightly a lie, because they only patrol the city areas. That's why we can't go in them. Welcome to our new home." She began to unpack blankets and pots and matches and all sorts of other stuff out of her bag. "How big is that bag, and is some of that from my house!?" Flora asked. "The bag is impossibly big, and yes, some is from your house. I took them in case of emergency, and would give them back if there was none. Obviously there was. Now, get some sleep." She motioned to a completely unzipped sleeping bag with blankets on top of it and pillows at one side. "Tomorrow, we must play out the final act. Let's get this over with, once and for all." Flora nodded and tucked herself into one side of the sleeping bag bed. "Ok. See you in the morning." Sweetie Belle chirped. "I hope I do, Sweetie," She walked over to Sweetie and tucked her into the makeshift bed, kissed her forehead, and climbed into it beside her, bringing the robot close to her body. "I hope I do..."
