(Earlier that day...)

Scootaloo was frowning as she walked through Ponyville. Inside, her heart was doing somersaults that she was finally getting rid of the robot she now hated. But obviously, the entire town had always thought they were friends so she had to put on a sad face.

By this point everypony knew about what had happened.

When the first incident had occurred, Scootaloo used it to its full potential. Everypony felt sorry for her and Apple Bloom. While Apple Bloom was crying almost every night, Scootaloo was using the "loss" of her friend to get out of things like homework, tests, and chores. It was messed up for sure, but Scootaloo didn't care at the time.

When Scootaloo got to the edge of town, she took off the ground. She flew up in an arc and landed in the front of Rainbow Dash's cloud mansion in the sky.

Once more danger had begun to come to Ponyville, Rainbow Dash had requested clearance to move her house from Cloudsdale to the edge of Ponyville.

Since Rainbow had adopted Scootaloo, she had a room in Rainbow Dash's mansion. She walked in and called out, "Rainbow Dash! I'm home!"

Rainbow Dash flew down from the second floor balcony. She landed down on the floor next to Scootaloo and ruffled her mane. "Hey there! How did the hunt go?"

Scootaloo jumped. "Better than you could ever imagine."

Rainbow Dash laughed. "Did you get her?" Scootaloo nodded. Rainbow Dash was the only pony who ever knew how she really felt about Sweetie Bot. Sure they had been friends. But when she left them, something changed for the worse.

"You'll never believe it! I get to lead a charge with the Canterlot Military to go hunt her down!"

"Oh my Goddess! What could have possibly happened that would require such drastic measures?"

"Well," Scootaloo scuffed a hoof on the floor. "That's the not fun part. She kind of... Murdered Apple Bloom."

Rainbow Dash gasped. "I heard that she was dead! I could never imagine Sweetie doing something like that! She's too small and weak. I could see you overpowering her but not Sweetie. Unless she still has her weaponry."

When Scootaloo heard the word "you" come out of Rainbow's mouth, she quietly laughed nervously. Unfortunately for her, Rainbow had heard her. Rainbow stared at her inquisitively. "Scootaloo? Do you have anything you want to tell me?"

Scootaloo smiled widely as a small bead of sweat dropped down her forehead. "Nope! Just really nervous for the hunt."

Rainbow smiled and backed off. "Do you want me to come with you?"

Scootaloo shook her head. "No. I want to try to do this myself. It is part of my job after all!"

Rainbow laughed. "Well, go on to your room and get ready. You have a big night tonight."

"By getting ready do you mean take a nap?"

Rainbow nodded quickly. "That's how I like to get ready!"

Scootaloo laughed and walked towards the stairs. "Okay then! See you soon Rainbow!"

* * *

Scootaloo lay in bed. She was trying to get to sleep. Her mind kept on drifting to the past few moons. She sighed and let her thoughts take her away as she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

It had all started the day of the incident. Scootaloo had a fear instilled in her that day. Watching her friend lose any sense of humanity and become a mindless killing machine. Suddenly, she felt unsafe around her. She felt as if anything could happen.

She had felt uneasy about her being a robot since she had pointed out the pain in her wing. If she was able to see that about ponies, who knew what else she would be able to see?

Despite her fears, Scootaloo still had hope for her friend. She would be able to overcome her fears just to stay with Scootaloo. She was sure there were ponies who were dealing with much worse over those few moons. Button Mash for example was definitely a little uneasy about continuing a relationship with her.

But then she left.

Scootaloo's entire life was flipped upside down over the course of a few moons. One of her best friends was a robot. Then one of her best friends was a murderer.

Then one of her best friends was exiled.

She cried a little. Definitely not as much as Apple Bloom though. But then there came another problem. The three of them had always planned on living together. They would cover crusading on the weekends and Sweetie Bot was holding a job with Rarity to pay for the house they were going to buy. Obviously, with Apple Bloom working at an orchard, they would never need to buy food unless they wanted something other than apples.

But when Sweetie Bot left, no one was making an income. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom tried to find jobs but nopony was hiring or willing to pay as much as Sweetie was Making working for Rarity.

Sure Rarity was pretty wealthy but they wouldn't feel right asking her for a job or for money. She was still in a really bad place over losing her sister. This was when the first seed of resentment was planted in Scootaloo's heart.

Why couldn't you control yourself Sweetie? Why did you have to kill her? You weren't even thinking about how anything could affect me or Apple Bloom!

By the time the next week rolled around, she met with Apple Bloom about what to do.

They met outside of Bon-Bon's sweet shop as they discussed how to make money. Sure, they could continue to live in the tree house, but neither of them wanted that to be a lifetime commitment.

"So what do you think we should do?"

Apple Bloom took a sip of her tea and said, "Maybe we could move to Canterlot! There's bound to be jobs there!"

"Even Rarity can barely afford a house in Canterlot. What makes you think we could?"

Apple Bloom scowled. "Maybe an apartment?"

"Those cost at least 3,500 bits a month!"

Apple Bloom scowled again. "Well at least I'm actually giving ideas!"

"What if we charge for crusading."

Apple Bloom held up a hoof. "Whoa! Don't you think that's going a little far. I mean, we crusade because we want to. Not because we want to make money."

"What other choice do we have?"

Apple Bloom said nothing else and just nodded. Scootaloo was angry on the inside. An anger that would grow for moons and moons. She didn't remember the exact date, but she vowed that one of these days, she was going to get her revenge on Sweetie Bot. And there would be nothing that would get in her way...

* * *

Rainbow Dash had to get in Scootaloo's way.

She couldn't quite understand why. Something about the way she had acted or the things she had said. It rubbed Rainbow Dash the wrong way. If she knew Scootaloo as well as she thought she did, all she had to do was unplug her alarm clock and she would be set.

Rainbow snuck her way upstairs by quietly flapping her wings. She quietly cracked Scootaloo's door open and looked inside. The pegasus mare seemed to be asleep by now. Rainbow flapped her wings again so as not to step on creaky clouds or anything like that. She opened the door a little more and flew inside.

She flew quietly over to the bedside table. As she was getting ready to unplug the clock, she heard Scootaloo stir. Rainbow Dash put on her best face and looked at her. "What are you doing in here?"

"Nothing," Rainbow said softly. "Just thinking about how much you've grown up. I sometimes miss the older days where would tuck you in."

Scootaloo flopped over and said, "Well I only have a couple more hours to sleep so, maybe watch me sleep another time." Scootaloo closed her eyes and went back to sleep. Rainbow exhaled and wiggled her wing behind the bedside table and unplugged the clock.

As she walked out of the room, she said quietly, "Don't worry Scoots. You have all the time in the world.

* * *

Rainbow Dash jumped as there was banging on her door. She opened it to see three pegasus soldiers there. "Hello boys. What can I do for you?"

They all stood straight up. Rainbow Dash sulked away a little when she noticed the guns strapped to each of their backs. "We're here for Miss Scootaloo. She was supposed to meet us at the town hall half an hour ago."

The knocking on the door had woken Scootaloo as she went to the door. "What time is it Rainbow?"

"Apparently, you're late."

"What! But my clock was set! My alarm was set to go off fifteen minutes before I had to leave!"

Rainbow shrugged. "The power flickered at one point while you were asleep. Maybe your clock reset at the same time."

Scootaloo stomped a hoof. "Give me a second. I'll be right out." Within no time, she had all of her equipment all together and she was back at the door. "Alright. Let's go. We're losing daylight. I assume the other soldiers I requested are down at town hall?"

"Yes Miss Scootaloo."

Scootaloo clapped her hooves. "Well then, let's get going!" She waved to Rainbow with a smile on her face as they flew down towards the ground. Rainbow couldn't quite figure it out, but she still felt a weird sense of dread in the pit of her stomach.

* * *

(That night...)

"Who's there!" I yelped as I looked around the room. I mentally got myself ready to fight.

"Relax! It's me."

I recognized the voice. A young voice with a slight country twang.

"Apple Bloom!" I ran forward as fast as I could. I noticed that she spread her forelegs open for a hug which I obliged to. I wrapped myself around her. "I thought you were gone!"

"Oh please. It'll take more than five stabs to keep me down."

"Oh my goddess! She got you five times?"

Apple Bloom nodded. "She always seems to forget that I always have medical supplies on me."

"You don't understand! Princess Luna said she couldn't access your dreams."

Apple Bloom laughed. "Of course she couldn't! I wasn't sleeping. In fact, I was up all night tracking your radio signals with this device Rarity gave me." I looked down at the device she was holding in her hoof. I recognized it as the receiver Rarity had shown me that I could contact her with.

I nodded. "You need to get out of here!"

Apple Bloom tilted her head. "Why? I just got here?"

I started trying to push her towards the door but she wouldn't budge. "Princess Luna warned me! Scootaloo's on her way right now! She told everypony I murdered you! She has military with her!"

"Actually, I have a bone to pick with that sad excuse for a friend. Why don't we fight back?" She notices my hesitance. "Come on Sweetie Bot! You can't keep running your whole life."

I nod. "I know. I'm just feeling a lot of emotions that I don't understand right now." I pause. "Wait. No I'm not. I'm coded to think this way."

Apple Bloom stomped a hoof. "Stop that nonsense right now! As far as I'm concerned, you're just as real as me or Rarity! Why don't you stop thinking this way?" I shrug. "Listen. Snap out of it! It doesn't matter if you're metal. We care about you anyway."

"We?"

"Me and Rarity. I promise Sweetie! After all of this, we can go back! We can explain the situation. We can beg for a new trial! We can do something Anything! Just don't give up yet."

I gasp in disbelief. I thought that everypony had forgotten about me. I thought nopony cared. I couldn't do anything but hug this mare. I still don't know how Rarity programmed this, but I began to cry softly.

"Oh my goddess! Sweetie bot! What happened to your eye?"

"What do you think?"

"Right."

"Well, she'll probably be here soon." I hop happily. "Don't worry about me. They may be able to crack and break my bulletproof skin, but they have to hit my broken eye if they even want to stand a chance."

"Well, what do we do to stop that from happening."

"I'm not sure. All I found in this warehouse is a crate of apple cider and a bunch of machinery."

Apple Bloom tilted her head. "Warehouse? Sweetie Bot! This is an entire factory!"

"It didn't look that big from the outside. Then again, I was at 2% battery when I got here. My sensors were a little loopy."

Apple Bloom nodded. "I saw a sign on my way in that said SparkWorx employees only.

"What in Equestria is SparkWorx?"

"Some old robotics company. I think it might actually be where Rarity got the base for you! Of course, she added most of the features herself but the base is from SparkWorx."

"Do you think that means there are more of me somewhere here?"

"Well, there's more bases.Probably in all of these crates. But they won't have your memories or conscience."

I put a hoof to my chin. "Hang on." I click my command key.

Me: Is there any way to get these bases to work for us?

Maybe. Do you have any kind of cord or something? If they really are similar to you, they should have the same memory access USB port on their heads as you do. Unless Rarity just added that feature.

Me: Good idea! Thanks! Run:EXIT

"Apple Bloom! Do you have a phone charger?"

"Yeah but it's USB."

I tilt my head. "What else would it be?"

She clearly forgot that I haven't been exposed to new technology since 20 moons ago. "USB C?"

"What the buck is that?"

"Never mind. Here!"

Apple Bloom tossed me a cord and I plugged it into my head. "Where's your knife?"

Apple Bloom tossed it over. I went over to one of the crates and pried it open. Sure enough, there were about twenty robotic bases that look just like ponies. The only problem was, they were all filly sized. I guess they haven't grown at all yet since they haven't been turned on.

"I guess Rarity lied when she said she made me from scratch."

Apple Bloom shrugged. "She lied about a lot of things. She probably didn't want to tell you that you came from a factory. At least she personally added all of your extra features! She's actually very technically minded!"

I turn my gaze down towards the crate of robot fillies. "Well, an army of robot fillies is better than no army at all."

Apple Bloom tilted her head. "How are you gonna get them to fight? They're brand new. Well, as new as they can be sitting in a box for years."

I plugged the cord into my head and plugged the other end into one of the bases. "Let's hope this works."

I started uploading files to the base's mainframe. I sent it descriptions of Scootaloo and the military uniforms of Canterlot. I placed them all in a saved target. I then ran one single line of code down its head. "Target: Enemy"

I realized quickly that I was the only one who had guns here. Apple Bloom had one I suppose but one handgun and two miniguns weren't gonna do much against a small army. I didn't know If I could run out of bullets but I didn't want to find out.

"Apple Bloom! Use your knife to pry the nails out of those crates. See if you can somehow break the boards in a way where they would make a good weapon!"

I made a copy of everything I had coded into the first bot. Finally, I unplugged and turned it on. The bot walked around aimlessly for a second until its sensors began whirring. Apple Bloom cracked a board in half and gave it to the bot. Then, the bot began to speak. "TARGET! ENEMY!"

I shook my head. "Not yet. Go over near the door. They'll be here soon." The bot nodded and walked over towards the door. I walked over to the next empty bot and did the same thing I did to the first one. I transferred the copy of the code into its head and Apple Bloom gave it a weapon.

We continued doing this until it was almost three in the morning. I was surprised Scootaloo wasn't here by now. I still had about fourteen bots left to program. I plugged myself into the next one but felt a jolt of something. It wasn't electricity. This was something different.

I could now hear my AI screaming inside my head. SWEETIE BOT! MALWARE DETECTED! UNPLUG UNPLUG!!

I yanked my cord out of the bot. How could a bot have malware? It was brand new! I looked at the bot and noticed that its power switch had been turned on. It was on before we even got here.

I could feel something bad running through my head. Something was corrupting my circuits. I could feel it. It was spreading everywhere.

Me: AI DO SOMETHING!!!

I'm trying!

Apple Bloom took notice of my panic. "Sweetie Bot! What's wrong? What's happening?"

I felt my voice go robotic. My mind was still whirring but I wasn't in control of my own body anymore. I opened my mouth as a robotic voice came out. "Diagnosis: Software corruption."

Apple Bloom backed off. My sensors turned a deep red. "Target: Enemy!"

Apple Bloom began to shake. "Sweetie? Are you alright?" I began to advance towards her. "What's going on?"

I could hear my AI still trying to fix the corruption.

I have an idea! Permission to delete folder Name: Enemy?

Me: Permission granted!

The file dissipated from my brain. I still couldn't control my body but it began to spasm.

Glitching sounds began to come from my speakers as I heard,

Target:Enemy
Define: "Enemy"
Failure: Defining "Enemy"

My body continued to spasm until I fell to the ground.

It was strange. I was fighting an internal battle with my AI against my own body.

Sweetie Bot! Rebooting hardware! I backed up memory files! Wiping software!

Me: Wait!

But it was too late. The last thing I saw before my sensors went dark was Apple Bloom's face. Data Analysis? Confused, sad, and determined. I heard one more thing. A voice over a megaphone. "SWEETIE BOT! COME OUT! WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED!"

I fell to the ground as I saw the code in my head...

Reconstruction of corrupted sectors at 90%

Author's Note

Please stay tuned! I'm wrapping this story up soon! I hope you all love it! I'm making this story as a tribute to Prince Whateverer. Go listen to his "Destabilize" Series if you want to know where the ideas come from.

Also, you'll understand more of the dialogue lines if you hear the song :)