Tales of a robot

"What the FUCK do you mean you're not going back!"

Apple Bloom glared at me angrily. She yelled as I sat there with a blank stare on my face. I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm not going back. I would think that a mare as smart as you would know what that means."

She pointed a hoof at me. "Don't you dare get smart with me! After all of the fighting we did, you're going to throw it all away? What was the point of that fight? A complete massacre?"

I shook my head. "Scootaloo was mean to me."

"So what? I was fighting this war so that you would have a chance to come back to Ponyville."

"Come on! Wake up Apple Bloom! They're never going to let me back into Ponyville! What did you think was going to happen?"

Apple Bloom shrugged. "I don't know. I thought that maybe if they heard that you saved the town from Scootaloo, ponies might still accept you."

"Yeah but even what we finished here doesn't finish what I did in the first place."

Apple Bloom sighed. "Listen Sweetie Bot, please."

I lowered my voice as I looked at Apple Bloom in her orange eyes. I put a hoof on her shoulder. "Listen AB. I understand how you must feel right now, but-"

"No." Apple Bloom smacked my hoof away. "You have no idea how I feel right now. Sure maybe your sensor can read emotions, but you have no idea how I truly feel! Do you know what we did here? Do you even understand? We killed these ponies Sweetie! I did this for you! If you don't come back, you aren't just disappointing me. You're disappointing all of the ponies that died here to give you a chance."

I rolled my eyes. "For the last time Apple Bloom! I was never going to have another chance! Just let me go back to my cave and we'll forget this ever happened!"

Apple Bloom sighed. "Fine."

"Fine?"

"You win. Go back to your cave. I won't talk about this ever again."

"No! I want you to tell the story of what happened! I want people to know what we've been through together."

Apple Bloom begins to walk back towards the forest. "You know, you'll never get rid of me. I'll come visit you. Every week if I have to."

I nod and we walk into the forest together.

The walk was uneventful. We didn't talk about any important things. Mostly catching up on other things. Gossip, news, and such. Apple Bloom told me about Button Mash. He was in a new relationship with some other unicorn mare. I tried to play it off like it was all fine but I could feel that sting more than anything else that had happened today.

Eventually, we reached my cave. "Well, this is my stop."

Apple Bloom raised a hoof. "It was an honor fighting with you Sweetie." We connected hooves and I smiled as I heard the clack sound.

I waved goodbye and entered my cave. To my surprise, the place was almost exactly how I had left it. Aside from the small pool of Apple Bloom's blood on the ground. I walked over to my joyboy and turned it on. It's time to finish my new games.

I smiled as I clicked on the buttons. I couldn't help but think positive thoughts. It's all over. We won.

* * *

Ponies gasped as Apple Bloom walked out of the forest. Everypony had believed that she was dead. She couldn't help it any longer. She picked up her hooves and dashed as fast as she could to Sweet Apple Acres.

She burst through the door receiving gasps from everypony sitting in the room. Applejack was the first to rush forward and tackle her little sister into a hug. She was followed quickly by Big Mac and Granny Smith. Tears were running down Apple Bloom's face as she embraced her family.

"I don't understand sugarcube. I thought you were... y'know."

"I have quite the tale to tell. But first, you may want to get Rainbow Dash down here."

Applejack pointed at Apple Bloom's bandaged sides. "What's all this?"

"Call Rainbow and I'll tell you all about it."

When Rainbow arrived, Apple Bloom told them the entire story. She was surprised when Rainbow didn't even seem fazed. Applejack however, wasn't very sympathetic. She said, "That bitch had it coming. If she wants to go fucking around with things she doesn't understand." Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement.

By the time Apple Bloom had finished her story, she was in tears. She cried because she was forced to remember that she was the one who had put a bullet in her best friend's head. Despite not showing it before, she did feel sorry for Scootaloo. What she couldn't understand, was why Rainbow didn't.

As the family meeting dispersed, Rainbow walked out the door, turning down Applejack's offer for her to have dinner with them. Apple Bloom rushed after her. As Rainbow was about to kick off the ground, Apple Bloom tapped her wing. "Yeah kid?"

"Why weren't you upset by Scootaloo's death?"

Rainbow closed her wings and looked down. "I don't know. Ever since Sweetie Bot left, she's been off. She voiced her opinions on her many times. When she said Sweetie Bot had killed you,I had believed her. Until she said it was with a knife. I knew Sweetie Bot didn't need knives to kill ponies. Something told me somepony else had stabbed her. I tried to be a supportive parent as much as I could since I adopted her. So I wasn't strong enough to stop her from going face to face. I attempted to make her late for her mission but the royal guards showed up to get her anyway. In my opinion, if she couldn't see her unnecessary aggression was un-called for, then that's her problem. You both were adults and could make your own decisions."

Apple Bloom nodded. "That makes sense."

Rainbow smiled. "I'm glad you're alright kid."

Apple Bloom smiled. "Yeah me too."

* * *

Apple Bloom did just as she said. Every week, she told the mayor where she could stick it and came to visit me in the Everfree Forest. Whenever the mayor tried to argue with her about it, the rest of the Apple Family and even Rainbow Dash came to her side.

I could still feel it though. Every single time she came to visit me. A yearning to finish what I had started and kill every single pony who was on that battlefield. Apple Bloom included. I always blocked out the feelings. I knew that somewhere, there was still a virus inside of me. It was still brewing.

Things went on like this for a few months. Apple Bloom would come to visit me on Wednesdays and we would hang out until the end of the day.

After the end of her term, Mayor Mare was finally voted out of office. The ponies decided that if they had a princess living locally who was already meant to solve friendship problems, they wouldn't need a mayor. Twilight agreed to the task and took on the role of Ponyville's leader.

Eventually, the visits from Apple Bloom began taking a darker turn. I was having more and more trouble with the virus. Eventually, I couldn't take it.

When Apple Bloom had left on Wednesday night, I grabbed a small sheet of paper and a pencil out of my bag, I began to write a note.

When I had finished the note, I walked my way out into the forest. I found a good sized area and began to dig my hooves into the dirt. I was digging there until morning. I stopped when I had a decent sized hole in the ground.

I jumped into the dirt and began filling the hole with me inside it. I could still hear my AI.

Sweetie Bot. This isn't the only way. I could try to run another data wipe.

Me: Yeah. But how long would the effects last? A week? A moon? 10 Moons? Face it. It will never be destroyed. This is for Apple Bloom's safety.

And with that, I struggled with the dirt to get my hoof behind my mane.

And I flipped the switch off.

* * *

Apple Bloom walked through the forest happily and bounced a little. She had gotten me something. I don't know exactly what it was but I know she had done it. The present clattered to the ground with the sound of breaking glass as Apple Bloom walked into the cave to realize I wasn't there.

She ran over and picked up the note and her eyes teared up as she read the note I had left for her.

Dear Apple Bloom,

I'm sorry. For everything. I never meant to hurt you or
Scootaloo. I want to tell you why I left.
When we were activating the robots in the SparkWorx
factory, I accidentally downloaded something. There
was a virus on one of the robots. A virus that
compelled me to kill. Not just to kill my enemies, but
to kill everypony who was on that battlefield. That
even includes you. It was getting out of control.
I decided to take things into my own hooves before
they went to far.
It's just like you said, my friend. It's all in my head.
But I believe this is something that will never be
able to go away on its own.
Don't come looking for me. I turned myself off.
I hope this doesn't make you look at me any
differently. I loved the time we spent together.
Almost as much as I loved you.

-Sincerely, your best and most loving friend,
Sweetie Belle.