In just two days, Sonata had turned her room into a laboratory Sunset would be proud of.

Or at least one she'd recognise as a laboratory.

Or just proud that Sonata had made the effort.

Sonata had a lot of materials scattered around, and she'd scraped up an old, mouldy crate she'd repurposed as an actual work top, covered further with the remains of an ancient banner. It looked about what she'd expected a laboratory to look like, if it had survived several decades or centuries of neglect. She even had a hoofful of small boxes with assorted bits and pieces she'd found around the castle.

Organisation. That's what Sunset called it. She'd said it was good to be organised, even if Sonata wasn't sure what she needed to organise for just yet. A lot of the wotsits and doohickies she'd accrued didn't really have a purpose, or at least hadn't been given one yet, but they looked similar in shape and size and function. That had to count for something, and plenty of others had been grouped into little families that made sense to Sonata.

Throwing herself into something she could call work had definitely helped her state of mind, too. Sunset had been oh-so busy the past few days, and while she'd dedicated a decent amount of time to teaching, she'd also spent a decent amount of time on her own. Locked away in her room, disconnected from everyone else.

Everyone except Chrysalis, apparently. She came and went a little more freely.

The thing on the table looked a mess. Like all of Sonata's experiments thus far she'd prioritised the castoffs and scrap for her work, the things Sunset wouldn't likely miss. A leather band with a strand of copper wire inserted into it, occasionally poking through here and there. A few blackened lengths of iron lay across it, the copper poking through gaps in the rust like thread. She'd carefully stuck down a few jagged gems with something tacky over the little shining brown loops, pressing them down hard.

Sunset talked up the importance of anticipating problems and finding solutions. Trial and error worked, and thinking on the fly was a valuable skill that she'd praised in Sonata. The work she did on Aria was inspired, a wonderful in-the-moment piece of engineering that worked phenomenally well.

At least that's how Sunset sung about it right until she called Sonata out for not testing a single part of it ahead of time. A smile and a pat on the back, coupled with a bop on the nose and a stern talking to.

The importance of anticipating problems and finding solutions had been stressed. What issues might come out, how could they be corrected or prepared for.

Thus Sonata anticipated a problem. She wasn't a unicorn and thus couldn't use telekinesis to delicately handle things, and the inhibitor around Sunset's horn hadn't been removed still. While she could ask Chrysalis for aid here and there it's not as though she'd always be around at the drop of a hat. Even if and when Sunset could use her horn again, that meant Sonata would still be reliant on others for delicate work.

Flipping the strap over, Sonata followed up by dropping a hoof onto the surface top. She winced a little, sharp short ends of metal shards digging into her skin. It didn't hurt, but she didn't like the idea of Sunset disapproving over her methods either.

She'd forget that quickly when Sonata showed her what the new invention could do.

With her teeth, Sonata flipped the rest of the strap over her leg and carefully weaseled it through a buckle before tugging it tight. Each metal bar stabbed through her, down to the chassis beneath, and for a split second she felt something strange. It made her shriek out and she started waggling her hoof in front of her, the contraption gently tinkling with the vigorous motion.

After backing up a few steps, the sensation subsided, a dull ache in the fetlock of her hoof. She stared at it, the strap around it, and the slowly bending, wriggling digits of each metal length.

With a thought she commanded the new digits to bend in, and each pointed tip met a couple inches from her frog.

Sonata beamed.

Turning her hoof around as best she could, she unfurled one of the digits and tapped herself on the snout.

Her plan worked. Of course it did. She was just that good.

Turning her attention back to her work table, Sonata trotted back to it. The digits wriggled again as she tried wrapping them around some of the scrap leather, struggling to get a grip. After five tries she managed to pinch a length of it then dangled it in the air.

"Far be it for me to say that looks a little creepy."

Startled, Sonata tensed up, only to partway relax again when she saw Chrysalis standing in the doorway. She gave her a quiet wave with her new appendage, waggling the digits.

"You inspired it! Sort of." Sonata flexed each digit a few times, trying to make a pattern of rolling claw-tips. They mostly twitched at random.

"I see." Chrysalis stepped into the room. She dominated any space she entered, filling it with her darkness. The glow behind her eyes only made her shadow larger.

It always put Sonata on edge, but she believed Chrysalis didn't mean her any harm. So far she'd only talked to them occasionally, and she'd even defended them when they needed defending.

Leaning in close, Chrysalis examined Sonata's claw. "I do see a connection," she said. "What is it for?"

"Grabbing things," Sonata said, and she grabbed a hoofful of metal off her work top. Some of it slipped out her grip and clattered down on wood and stone, but she managed to tighten her grasp around the remainder.

Chrysalis' jaw tilted in a way that looked like a smirk. "Cute. Though I suppose that will have its uses." Humming, Chrysalis rubbed her chin and tilted her head a little. "I suppose that means Sunset's lessons are sinking in. I'm surprised you learned so much in so little time."

"She says I'm good at inclu—insip—" Sonata scrunched up her face and concentrated hard on getting the syllables right in her head before saying them out loud. "In-tui-ting things. Like I just sort of know what everything does. She's just helped me along with getting names for things and stuff."

"Mhm." Chrysalis nodded slowly.

With the struggle at small talk, the urge to start prattling on about everything Sonata knew bubbled up inside her. She raised her shoulders as if she took a breath, then held the position as Chrysalis gave her a come-hither gesture.

"I have something to show you. Something I think you might be interested in."

That definitely got Sonata's interest. What did Chrysalis have to show her? Would the others be there? "What is it?"

"Something old and useful. It's in that dusty old lab beneath Sunset's. She's asleep right now, but I figure you might know enough now that you could explain something to me." Chrysalis turned and started off out the door and down the corridor.

Sonata furrowed her brow and followed after. Both their hooves clacked on the floor, echoing in the ancient ruins. She drew her claws back enough not to disturb her steps, though they still clattered on the ground like a dog's paws. "I can give it a try, I guess, but Sunset still knows waaay more than me."

"Maybe that's true," Chrysalis said. "But maybe you can figure out what it is and impress her with your newfound knowledge."

With a blink, Sonata slowed a little just as they reached the winding stairs. She'd received plenty of praise over the past while, overwhelmingly so. But if she could outpace Sunset's new expectations...

"Let's go take a look," said Sonata as she resumed down the stairs, shuffling a little faster to catch up with and overtake Chrysalis.

It felt wrong to be in the new lab without Sunset's permission. That hadn't lessened as she'd grown familiar with everything there, all the different tools and devices Sunset managed to save during their flight.

Her absence made it even stranger, as if Sonata were trespassing where she didn't belong. A part of her knew there was no harm in being there, so long as she didn't touch anything she shouldn't, but it didn't shake the wrongness, nor dampen the discomfort in her gut as Chrysalis disappeared behind the shoved-aside work top in the middle of the room.

The basement looked mostly the same as when Sonata first entered it. Some of the detritus had been organised, stacked up on one table. The since scattered gems had also been added to Sunset's collection, and a few of those made it into Sonata's boxes.

Chrysalis lit her horn, adding some colour and contrast to the space that Sonata lacked. before. Dust and grime covered the floor, save for the line where Sonata scooched herself along days ago, and the various hoofprints all of them made during their brief visits down there.

Interestingly, a new passageway had been opened up. Not forced open, not broken. As Chrysalis approached, Sonata realised it was just a door that didn't seem like a door at first. More secrets in the secret basement.

"Who needs this many hidden passages?" She asked. Her echo answered first, and Sonata pinned her ears back.

"Someone who has a lot of secrets to keep." Chrysalis took the lead down the passageway, under what was probably the front of the keep. It sloped down a little, vanishing further into the dark, with more doorways to either side.

Chrysalis passed the first few without looking, though Sonata took a look inside. An old library full of the rotten remains of books, what might have been an old bedroom from the wide, flat furniture that had decayed. None of them revealed much more than what Sonata could glean on a first look, as Chrysalis' light continued ahead, taking away the details.

She bumped into Chrysalis' side before the next set of passageways, letting out a grunt and puttering backwards. Giving herself a moment to relocate her balance, Sonata shook her head then looked the way Chrysalis faced. Another dark room, though with Chrysalis stationary it let Sonata see much more inside.

It seemed like another armoury. Sonata had seen a few now, in half the castle towers she'd been in. Only this one lacked weapons and instead had what looked like pony-shaped armatures. There were three, though two looked bare, old iron skeletons that looked a little like Chrysalis if she didn't have the added armour and skull.

The middle, however, was clad in golden armour from head to hoof. It shone brighter than it perhaps should, reflecting some of the sickly green light in golden hued tones.

Sonata stepped forward, then paused in the doorway. "Is this what you wanted me to see?"

"Tell me what you think of it. There's something about it that feels familiar, but I cannot explain why."

To her surprise, Sonata could feel whatever it was too. A familiar energy she was sure she'd been around plenty of times before.

She approached the suit and examined it closer. Chrysalis followed behind, her horn brightening up like ill moonlight. It brought the articulate patterns out, swirling designs that flowed and swirled over the shoulders and limbs, around the four pointed purple gems set into each piece.

The suit was as big as Chrysalis herself. Maybe even bigger. Sonata couldn't picture a pony that big, it seemed silly, impossible, and yet there it was.

She wanted to meet that pony one day. They'd probably be pretty cool, though given how old everything down there was it seemed unlikely they were still around.

Reaching out with her new claw, Sonata tapped the armour. She winced, and for the briefest of moments Sonata experienced more than just herself. Like the addition of her claw, her awareness expanded, encompassing the suit.

It overwhelmed her. Jerking her hoof back, Sonata stumbled back into Chrysalis. Another jolt ran through her, though this had a lot less behind it. Just a mild little buzz, something she'd barely noticed before.

She finally figured out where she'd felt the suit's power before. She'd felt it in Chrysalis, in her sisters, in herself. It'd waned before in at least one of them, back when they'd dragged Adagio up from the river.

"I think it's like us," she muttered.

Chrysalis snorted and put a hoof on Sonata's rump, giving her a small but firm push forward. "Unlikely. It hasn't moved an inch since I saw it last, and I suspect it'd have done something with all the noise upstairs."

"I guess. Maybe not exactly like us, but there's definitely something like us there." Scrunching up her face again, Sonata inched closer to the armour once more. She sidled along, eyes on the seams and joints. The bends seemed far more sophisticated, though something in her said that made more sense. It didn't just have to rotate, it had to bend around whoever wore it.

"Come here," Sonata said. She used one of her clawed digits to motion Chrysalis closer.

After a moment, Chrysalis did as asked. She stopped short of the armour, staring up into the empty helmet. "What is it?"

Without a word, Sonata reached for Chrysalis' hoof. She got the same initial jolt she experienced touching the armour, but her senses stopped at the claw. "It's definitely like us," she said. "Mostly like you. Maybe it just needs a core, or maybe we can use it for something else?" With a step back Sonata tippy-tapped her hooves on the floor. "Ooh! This is going to be exciting! I've got so many fun ideas we can use this for."

"Explain, please," Chrysalis barked. "I don't follow."

The authority in Chrysalis' voice brought Sonata to an immediate stop.

The words escaped her. She had a better idea of what she was looking at, how it worked, what she could do with it, but that didn't mean she could teach the concepts. Sunset had said the word, and it hovered just under the front of her mind, known but hard to reach, hard to recall.

"It's, uh... Kind of like the creek outside?" Sonata knew she sounded uncertain, but there was no helping it. "Our energy goes into it like water in a ditch, and then we can tell it what to do. It's sort of how our bodies work though there's something else to that too. Kind of like our legs have their own minds and we tell them what to do. We just don't really think about it."

Using her non-clawed hoof, Sonata tapped the armour's flank. It rang gently, muted and short. "This doesn't have those instructions. If I touch it with my metal bits, it becomes a part of me."

Understanding seemed to fill Chrysalis, and her jaw opened a little. "Ah, that explains Aria then. How you fixed her."

Sonata nodded. "Yeah! But this is... Something else too. There's a lot of 'it'. I, ugh..." She sat down, bringing her claws to her chin to pinch and stroke it. "Sunset had a word for it but I can't remember it. Cod-plucker? Con-suck-toad?" She kept repeating the 'k' sound over and over.

"I see your lessons have definitely paid off." Chuckling, Chrysalis approached the armour, squaring off before it. She held out a hoof, hovering over the pauldron, but something kept her from reaching all the way. "I still don't know how this is mostly like me."

"It's... just a feeling. I think there's something about the metal and gems that are different. Sunset might know better."

Chrysalis nodded. "Alright. So, tell me small one, how can we use this?"

Ideas aplenty swirled around in Sonata's head. A suit that large could provide enough material that they could probably make another Chrysalis with enough material left over to make a sixth little sister closer to Sunset's size. But Sonata had no idea how to make a core, and from the way Sunset talked about them she wouldn't be able to in the near future either.

Sonata looked over her claws, rolling them in sequence. Another one of them was out of the question, but perhaps additions, improvements...

"Can you do other magic?" Sonata asked. "Like zappy spells or fire and stuff."

Chrysalis tilted her head. "I believe I can figure out how. Why?"

Sonata smiled. "I need to bend it into new shapes. I want to make a few things!"

It felt weird to give Adagio instructions. She'd been hesitant at first, which didn't surprise Sonata. It must have been strange when Sonata and Chrysalis had approached her and demanded her to lay down on Sonata's work top, out of Sunset's sight.

She'd adjusted and relaxed once Sonata had given her the explanation, and Chrysalis presented one of the armour's forelimbs for the bossy sibling's inspection.

Since then, she'd laid herself down on her front, her legs splayed out ahead and behind her. They'd already fitted some of the reshaped armour to Adagio's new leg, with special care given to the joint and coverage down to the hoof.

Sonata slowly bent another piece as Chrysalis blasted it with her horn. It took a little practice, and it had singed some of Sonata's skin, turning it black around the hoof. It turned out that simply firing a full range of energy all at once caused some sort of bounce back, though Chrysalis bore the brunt of it well.

She'd tuned her magic, apparently 'aligning' it in different ways. The details didn't make a lot of sense to Sonata, but as long as Chrysalis understood enough to help her, it didn't matter much.

"This feels so strange," Adagio muttered. The improved leg twitched, the skin bunching up as she restlessly wriggled it around on the table. Sonata tried to ignore it, focusing on the patch of metal she slowly wrapped around the other leg.

"The upgrade or us?" Chrysalis chuckled, and the beam of energy wavered a little. Sonata's tongue stuck out from her lips as she focused more. "Because I do not believe we can be anything but strange."

Adagio fell still, and her shoulders lifted and fell in a way that reminded Sonata of the way Sunset huffed and sighed. "True enough. Though I did mean the upgrade. It's... tingly. Is it meant to tingle?"

"No idea!" Sonata shouted. "Stay still, please."

Immediately ignoring Sonata's order, Adagio peered over her shoulder at the pair behind her. "I hate being the test subject so, so much. Can't wait for us to get Aria back so you can go back to experimenting on her." She curled a hoof up, resting her chin on it. "Or maybe you can take her place, Chrysalis. So far Sonata hasn't shoved anything on you or tried to mess with your parts yet. Care to change that?"

Adagio hissed as Sonata clamped the piece on fully, and slid a sliver of the armour they'd shaved off elsewhere through a new little hole. It secured it to Adagio's leg, mashed against the metal chassis beneath.

"Believe it or not I had considered that." Chrysalis' hum came out like a purr, and she trotted around in front of Adagio, leaving Sonata to inspect their handiwork.

A poor job, but it's not like Sonata had better tools or actual practice. The metal had lost some of its luster, taking on a tarnished look. A few long, narrow scars had made an appearance too, like stretch marks on unyielding skin.

"Oh yeah? Forgive me if I don't believe you."

Taking her eyes off her work, Sonata's attention turned to Adagio and Chrysalis in full. Adagio had turned her head to the taller robot, though Chrysalis had her smug grin fully on show. The jaw angled up strangely, an angle that looked inequine.

Sonata tapped her own jaw, wondering if she could do that herself is she made some modifications.

"You don't have to believe me. I had considered taking the armour for myself, asking to have it refitted. But I'm plenty tough as it is. You, on the other hand..." Her eyes wandered to the once removed leg. "I feel all three of you could benefit."

Gathering a few more pieces underhoof, Sonata shuffled over to Adagio's side. "I don't want us fighting," she muttered.

"It's not like we have a choice." Adagio scoffed. "And that is strangely altruistic of you. I'm pretty sure you're playing some sort of game with us. Whatever it is I don't like it." Then she sighed, actually sighed, though the noise came out as a buzzing whine with none of the deflating tummy Sonata had expected on a flesh-and-blood pony. "But I guess I can appreciate that you thought of us and not just yourself."

"If I didn't know any better I'd say that sounded like a 'thank you'."

The supporting hoof jabbed out at Chrysalis, though it failed to make contact. "Don't be getting any big ideas. I don't like you. But you're useful and clearly smart enough to know that I and Sonata and Aria are too."

Sonata kept the thought to herself, but she had to agree. Even with Adagio's added protests that sounded a little too much like respect. She kept her smile small, but her core felt a little lighter and brighter.

"So, what's next?" Adagio asked over her shoulder. "I can feel you prodding around back there."

"Oh, uh." Tapping the pieces on Adagio's back, Sonata's lips went thin in thought. "We cover you more, maybe your head too." The flash of an image, of Adagio's core barely moving,the bare minimum of light needed to actually be light. "But I think making sure your core is most protected is the best thing right now."

"Well that's a little creepy."

The door to Sonata's room creaked, and all three of them turned to look at Sunset.

She looked awful. Deep bags cut under her eyes, and her hair looked even more frazzled than normal. She'd grabbed a piece of twine or something from somewhere and tied her mane back behind her head, a lot of its luster and life long gone though the curls stubbornly remained.

"What is going on?" she asked.

Glancing to Chrysalis and Adagio, Sonata stepped forward between them. "Upgrades!"

"Upgrades?" Sunset leaned to one side, her eyes flickering side to side over Adagio's legs. "Please tell me you thought this through and this wasn't spur of the moment."

Sonata wobbled her claw in front of her in a so-so gesture. "Yes and no? I mean I only just came up with it but I know what I'm doing now." She lowered her hoof to the floor, the claw clattering on the stone. "More or less. This should make us a little tougher when we fight more!"

The stare Sunset levelled at Sonata made her feel small, but after a moment she sighed. Her shoulders went slack and her head bowed down. The roles reversed, with Sunset looking small, a tiny mare in a castle too big for her, surrounded by giants of her own making.

"I wish I could avoid that happening." The exhaustion in her voice dulled it, turned it creaky. Sonata wanted so much to step over and put a hoof over Sunset, pull her in close. She even took a step in the right direction, but Sunset's deep inhale and squared shoulders stopped her.

Her head lifted up, a small light flickering back to life in her eyes. "I have a plan."

"Finally." Adagio scoffed.

"I hope I haven't messed it up already," Sonata said.

With a shake of her head, Sunset walked up to Sonata and put a hoof on her shoulder. "No, you haven't. I'll check over your work later but I think this will actually help us."

Even more of the weight in Sonata's chest lifted, and for a moment she oh-so wanted to bounce on her hooves. The only thing that kept her grounded, from leaping up into the air, was Sunset's touch. It kept her rooted to the spot, but Sonata let a grin crack across her face.

Looking over at the others, and Sonata's smile grew even broader. Adagio's expression looked the least pissed it had in ages, while Chrysalis' smile remained the same as ever. A fangy, terrifying grin, though with the promise of violence being used to help Aria.

"I take it that means we're going after Aria then?" Adagio asked. "Because if you're not, then we're through and I'm going after her myself."

Sunset then let go of Sonata and walked over to Adagio, her head leaning in close to inspect the metal over her legs. "We're going after Aria, and we're going to save her." A hoof tapped one of the legs, followed by Adagio hissing. "The Summer Sun Celebration will happen in the next few days. After that, it's likely Twilight and her guards will take Aria away. We're not going to let that happen."

Sunset looked over the three of them in turn. Adagio first, with a softer expression and a small nod. A gentle smile for Sonata, and a stern look up at Chrysalis. "Celestia should be present. If we can cause a ruckus and get the guard to focus on her, it potentially makes it easier for us to get Aria."

"Wait, we're going after her?" Adagio shook her head. "Isn't she like, super powerful or something?"

With a snort, Sunset shook her head. "Heavens no, we're not going to go after her. The guard will wipe the floor with us if we try that. We just need them distracted."

She then turned more of her attention to the armour. Her eyebrows scrunched together as she examined the piece under her hooves, turning it around and flipping it over. The metal shimmered in the sunlight, as if the surface danced and swirled. "I don't remember this being in my inventory. Where did you get this stuff?"

Sonata met Chrysalis' eyes, but she couldn't read anything from her expression. The malicious grin had faded, but she still retained an amiable, discomforting smile.

"We found it downstairs," Sonata started. "There's more to the lab, apparently. It goes deeper and further."

"'We'?"

Chrysalis made a sound like she was clearing her throat. A distorted coughing noise coupled with a hoof over her mouth. "I took the liberty of exploring when you were resting. There is a passageway down there, and it leads elsewhere, closer to that town. This--" Chrysalis pointed to the armour but didn't touch it "--was in one of the rooms. Some ancient armoury."

Sunset hummed. "Remarkable. A unique platinum-gold alloy, if I had to guess, though there's something else to it. I think I've only seen this sort of craftsmareship in one other place."

She held up a narrow band of armour, an abdomen piece meant to give flexibility and protection. "You two, do you know what this is by any chance?"

Chrysalis shook her head.

"It's very conducive?" she tried.

Sunset chuckled. "Conductive, Sonata. And yes, that is true. But the material here is unique. There's some rare metals in here that allow it not to just channel magic, but amplify it, too."

Sonata's eyes widened. That must have been why she felt so much bigger touching it. She literally was, in a way. So much more than just herself, her mind expanding to fill the armour. She found it hard to recall the sensation in full, and she winced, her face contracting as she focused harder and harder.

Pain. Such a novel and rare sensation, but Sonata knew she felt pain in her head.

Sunset placed the plate back down. "How much do we have here, is this the whole set?"

"There's more down there," Sonata explained. "Enough to cover Chryssy."

Sunset started to hum, rubbing her chin. "And what were you doing here? Just remaking it and attaching it?"

"Something like that. I figured it would help with, uh..." Sonata flicked her hoof toward Adagio's back legs. "With things coming off."

Shaking her head, Sunset tutted. "And here I thought I'd taught you more." She shuffled back to Sonata, patting her on the shoulder. Sonata shrunk in on herself a little, rolling her shoulders forward. "I'm messing with you, just a little. That's actually a very good use for it, though your design leaves a little to be desired..."

"Did she do shoddy work again?" Adagio asked. She wriggled on the work top, rolling partly to her side so she could follow the conversation with more than just her ears. Several pieces slid off her back, but the wooden panel that served as a table had more than enough space for both the robot and her attachments-to-be.

"A little, but it'll do for now. We can improve it later. What I want to suggest is something better, though. Even the odds further." Beaming, Sunset pointed to the armour pieces. "Have you talked Chrysalis through how to code instructions into the gems yet?"

Sonata shook her head. Despite Sunset's explanations prior, the idea of coding had been beyond her so far. She knew more or less what it meant, that she could tell certain things what to do, but that was it.

"That sounds a little more complicated than I'd like," Chrysalis said. "Though I am curious what idea is swirling in your mind."

"How much do you know?"

"Absolutely nothing."

Sunset beamed. "Ooh, finally I get to teach you some actual magic." Clearing her throat, Sunset straightened up. "The short explanation is the gems can be enchanted with a series of simple spells that activate under certain conditions. For example your limbs are controlled by telekinesis spells, focused on the joints. They just wait for the right signal and they bend.

"I could also apply other spells. Something with different utility, or even offensive capability. Say a lightning spell, or fire." The smile turned into a smug little smirk. "Teleportation, too. The problem is that for the spells to affect more than the objects they are attached to, they require more power."

"The special metal lets you do that." Giggling, Sonata clapped her front hooves together. "It will make it easier to fight off unicorns, and earth ponies won't hit as hard."

"Flight might be trickier, but I think I can handle any pegasi myself." Chrysalis laughed. "Well I do so enjoy the idea of learning a few new tricks."

Sunset's smile faltered a little, but she nodded to Chrysalis. A hoof rose up to her horn, to the scuffed ring still wrapped around the base. It looked well wedged there, now.

"Your spellwork will be rough, but it'll be enough." Sunset faced Adagio once more.

"You know what," Adagio started, "I take back my guinea pig comment. You can test on me all you like if you let me throw a fireball or two at Twilight."

Author's Note

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