Beat walked calmly home. It was late afternoon, darker than usual thanks to the time of year. She glanced aside at where Pulse would normally be, but he had trotted off with his friend, Quartz. She was on the way home, alone, for once.

As she approached a corner, she turned it. Her eyes opened wide when her vision suddenly plunged into darkness. She stumbled over her own hooves, falling to the street with a clank of metal on stone.

"Your dam doesn't listen well. You will suffer for it." The voice had no obvious source, omnipresent and just as malicious as it had been the day prior. The presence closed around Beat, pressing down on her like a heavy blanket. She couldn't see a thing and simply lay there, waiting.

The seconds turned to minutes, hours? She had lost track. All she could hear was the faint clatter of her own metal plates as she shuddered with growing fear. "What do you want? Are you going to attack me?" She was braced for that, waiting for it to come.

"Tell her. Tell her or this will get worse." The voice sounded louder, angrier. "You and yours are not wanted in our city. You are filth. We want you out, now."

She frowned. "I don't know what you're talking about." She raised a hoof to point, but she couldn't see it. That fact unnerved her, her hoof shivering before it went back down. At least she could feel the hard road beneath her. "We are very sanitary creatures."

The world plunged into light again and she sat there alone.

A moment later, Tempo came trotting up the road, turning the corner sharply. She spotted Beat sitting there and hurried to her side. "Hello Beat, why are you on the ground?"

Beat raised her head and looked up at Tempo as if just seeing her for the first time. "Mother. I have a report for you. Please allow me a moment to." She glanced away as she stood up properly. "It was—"

"Stop." Tempo threw a leg over her daughter and began walking home. "Do not force yourself. We are going home, and when you are ready, we may speak, if you wish."

Beat walked with her, looking up with surprise. "You're not worried?"

"Error, I am deeply concerned." Tempo glanced down at Beat, her eyes glowing. "I want to be certain you are ready to give your report. It would be rude to force you, and poor parenting. I do not wish to do either of those things. Focus on yourself until you feel ready."

Beat looked forward. "Okay. Thank you."

"Tempo, you are welcome." She paused. "I nearly forgot to ask. Have you had anything to eat since school? Are you still hungry?"

That got a laugh out of Beat. "Mother, we do not eat. That was a joke. It worked." She leaned against Tempo. "That made me feel better."

Tempo laughed back. "I had considered that possibility." She smiled at her daughter. "I am glad you approve. I have been studying."

They arrived home a few minutes later. Pulse was sitting around the living room, reading a comic book of some kind. "Hey Beat! How was the walk? Mine was good." He paused, then closed his book and sat up. "Why are you and mom walking like that?"

Tempo waved downwards. "Calm. Beat is unharmed but mentally rattled. Let us provide a safe and quiet place for her to decompress. Mother will handle everything."

Beat walked along with Tempo, not arguing the matter.

Pulse nodded, looking worried, but he didn't press. "Okay." He sat on the couch, waiting quietly to find out what was going on.

Tempo led Beat to her room and saw her inside. "Father is home. Do you wish to speak with him?"

Beat perked at that. "Actually, yes. Please send him."

Tempo gave one of her little nods. "He will be here soon." She turned and headed into the living room, looking towards Blueblood. "Please go speak to Beat."

Blueblood started with surprise. "Oh! This is the first time she's called for me in need." He stood as tall as he could. "I had best put my best hoof forward and help our daughter." Without delay, he marched to Beat's room and knocked on her door.

"Beat, dear, are you there?"

"Yes," came the muffled reply.

Blueblood chuckled quietly to himself. "May I come in?"

"Yes." It was the same tone, as if somepony had just played the same record twice.

Blueblood pushed the door open to see Beat laying on her belly on her bed. He closed the door behind himself. "How can I help you, dear daughter? Tell me and I will do my utmost."

Beat rolled over to face him, then sat up slowly. "I need comfort and hugs, but also a proper explanation for some things."

He nodded gravely to her. "I will give what I can." He trotted to close the distance and sat beside her bed. Reaching over, he pulled her heavy metal frame across the soft covers to give her a proper hug. "I am always ready to give a hug to the ponies I adore, you being one of them. Now, what question is it that you're eager to ask?"

Beat nuzzled against him for a moment before sitting up properly and facing him. She looked him right in the eyes. "We are made of metal and other materials, not biological matter. Why do we act like biological entities? You call me your daughter and I call you father. We're very different."

Blueblood's expression went sad as he nodded. "I suppose that's true."

"So why do you call me daughter?" She inclined her head a very precise amount. "I am not the product of any biological function on your part."

"Now that isn't true." Blueblood shook his head. "We, your mother and I, both wanted dearly to have foals. We worked hard to have you. We may have had some help, but our own work is a part of you. Would that not count as a 'biological function', dear daughter? Beside that, even if it weren't true, I took you as a daughter, and so a daughter you will remain until and unless either of us were to disown the other. I shudder to imagine what would drive either to such an action."

Beat's gaze softened at that and she leaned in to hug him again. "Thank you. I accept your reasoning."

Blueblood smiled and hugged her right back. "You're welcome." He paused to consider for a moment before he spoke, "Is there anything more I can do for you?"

Beat sat quietly a moment. "I do not understand." She placed a hoof on Blueblood's chest. "I felt fear. It was not fear for another, but for myself. I felt as if I were lost, and the thought of not seeing you or mother or Pulse again, it made me shake and lose all my thoughts. I am metal. Why did this happen?"

Blueblood considered that. He rubbed a hoof over Beat's back gently as he did. "Well." He hesitated. He had to get this right. "It is a natural reaction. Everycreature feels fear, it's how our bodies tell us something is dangerous." He tapped a hoof to her metal snoot. "Before you cut me off, I know your body isn't living, but you want to keep existing, as do the rest of us. You felt fear because you weren't sure if you would keep existing as the thing you are now."

He huffed gently. "But, since you said that, could I ask what happened? I would know what threatened my foal in this way. Terribly rude, to start."

Beat frowned. "I saw nothing. Just heard a voice, but it was as if it came from everywhere at once."

Blueblood nodded slowly. "It may have been what your mother spoke of earlier. I will tell her." He squeezed Beat, unable to force her body to compress, but the attempt seemed appreciated. "You just relax. You can come out when you feel like it, okay?"

Beat nodded at him. "Agreed." She reached up and patted his cheek. "I appreciate your help, father."

He returned the gesture, smiling warmly. "I am glad that I can help my wonderful daughter in such dire times."

Rising to his hooves, he walked from her room, pausing only to open and close the door behind himself. He meant to turn towards the living room, but Tempo was right there. He jumped with surprise. "You can be surprisingly stealthy at times, beloved."

"I heard what she said." She turned to look into the living room, spotting Pulse and gesturing him closer. "Assemble children," she told Blueblood.

He blinked. "I just told her to come out when she was ready. I'll fetch Pulse at least."

Blueblood hurried into the living room to find Pulse hadn't moved very far. "Well, that was simple at least. Mother wants to talk to us."

Pulse looked up from his book. "I am ready to hear from her." He abandoned the book. "Father, while we wait for her, I want to show you."

"Show me?" Blueblood approached with a warm smile. "Please, I'm watching. What do you have?"

Pulse smiled warmly at his father. He closed his eyes, and then his entire frame shifted, shrinking until a very small, white scaled dragon sat in his place. His eyes opened again, glowing a gentle blue. Sure, that dragon was just as metal as he usually was, but he was a dragon-shaped golem instead of a pony one. "Ta da!" He had the same voice as well.

Blueblood blinked rapidly as he stared down at the little dragon. "Oh!" He grinned widely. "That is incredible, son. I hadn't realized you could do that."

The dragon puffed out its little chest, sitting tall. "I have been practicing that routine. I have dragon, filly, stallion, pegasus colt, and snowflower."

"That's an impressive collection!" He reached down and gave Pulse a gentle rub on the head. "I bet you've worked hard to get those forms right."

The little dragon preened, smiling up at Blueblood. "It was hard to get right, but I am proud of my progress. There are still errors." He spread his new wings. "I cannot fly, even when I have wings. Shouldn't I be able to?"

Blueblood sat next to Pulse. "I'm no expert in such things." He hadn't studied much about aerodynamics at all, really. "But you are heavier than those things." He reached to push Pulse a little, confirming the foal was just as heavy, no matter his form.

"Mother can fly, so why can't I?" He frowned. "I want to learn how. It would help with my goal of seeing as many things as possible."

Blueblood chuckled gently at that. "Well, that is a good question. I imagine one only mother could answer. She is the one that figured out how to do it. Ask her nicely, after she tells us what she plans to."

"Family Report." Tempo marched in with determination. "A dark creature does not desire my presence and is willing to attack my family to make this opinion clear."

Beat walked in, taking a seat on the other side of Pulse from Blueblood. "I was attacked by it. I heard it, but saw nothing." She shuddered and Pulse leaned over to give her a hug. She returned it, though her eyes were on Tempo.

"I must find it so I can question it. This is my top priority now. Expect me to be out most hours." She paused as she looked between the foals. "You are not to leave or return to the house without company. Make a request from the teacher to walk with you. It is a short distance."

Pulse frowned. "That sounds inconvenient, mother. Isn't there another way to keep us safe? I am fine with walking to and from school as a group. I just do not like this thing out there at all."

Tempo nodded resolutely. "Which is why my hunt will grow in intensity. I will not tolerate this, nor will I surrender to it."

Author's Note

Metal Family, assemble! They are all very aware of the problem, but can they locate it?

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