Braeburn rolled over in bed, stuffing his face into the pillow. The joy he had felt at taking his first steps in months was tempered by the anguish he’d been forced to go though.

“At least you don’t have to work out anymore,” Valiant had told him. “Maybe not literally buns of steel, but pretty close, right?”

Braeburn squeezed his eye shut. The electronic replacement on the other side of his face did not respond, and continued feeding an image into his brain. All he wanted was to sleep, and there was no way that could happen if he couldn’t find a way to block out his vision.

Sighing, Braeburn sat up in bed. He was seriously considering going outside to find some mud to coat the electronics with.

Luna’s moon filtered in through the curtains. Braeburn had closed them as well as he could, but the trickle of light was enough to annoy him.

The whole town thought he was some kind of monster. His relatives here at Sweet Apple Acres hadn’t been so quick to judge, but Braeburn noticed how much differently they treated him now. Strangely, Valiant was the only pony whose attitude hadn't changed.

The strange pony was troubling. Braeburn had asked Applejack about him.

“He ain’t right,” his cousin had replied. “He’s rude, spiteful, and lies when it pleases him. At the same time, though, he’s smart, works hard when he wants to, and always keeps his promises.”

Applejack told Braeburn that Valiant had arrived in Ponyville shortly before the Summer Sun Celebration. While Braeburn hadn’t been present, everypony in Equestria knew the story of the ill-fated holiday when Nightmare Moon had returned. Claiming his cousin as one of the Elements of Harmony that defeated her had gotten Braeburn a few pats on the back in Appleoosa.

As much as Braeburn hated to admit it, getting help from the orange stallion might be his only chance at returning to a normal life. He decided to go see Valiant the next day.

Braeburn eventually found a solution to his problem by draping his hat over his ever-watchful electronic eye. It was fitful sleep to be sure, but it was better than nothing.

“I was thinking of going to town today,” said Braeburn at breakfast.

“That’s probably not a good idea, sugarcube,” said Applejack. She finished up at the stove and brought the food over to the table.

“Maybe you need some kind of cloak or disguise,” suggested Granny.

“Eeyup,” agreed Mac.

Applejack thought for a moment. “Ah think we’ve still got Pa’s old duster in the closet somewhere. It goes clear to the ground.” She went to find the weathered coat.

“You can come with me on the way to school,” said Apple Bloom.

Braeburn nodded. “I think I’d like that.”

“Here we go,” said Applejack, returning to the kitchen. The long duster she carried with her almost matched the color of Braeburn’s hat. True to her word, it looked like it would cover him to his hooves.

“Thanks.” Braeburn got up and slipped the coat on. It was heavier than it looked, but that didn’t trouble him. He shuffled his legs a little to make sure they stayed hidden.

“Come on Braeburn, it’s time to go!” said Apple Bloom. Braeburn hadn’t finished his breakfast, but decided that he shouldn’t keep the filly waiting.

There was no way that Braeburn could think of to hide the metal plate on the side of his head, so he resolved to just keep his hat pulled low. He followed Apple Bloom outside to the barn.

The filly threw open the doors. Braeburn stopped in his tracks, greeted with the last thing he had been expecting. It was some kind of large machine balanced on two legs. It towered over him.

“What in tarnation…”

“This is Valiant’s old robot,” said Apple Bloom. “He lost it in the lake, but when my friends and I were trying to get deepwater salvage cutie marks, we brought it back up. He said we could keep it.”

Well, Valiant may not know much about pony anatomy, but if this was his old work, Braeburn felt a little more confident in his prosthetics. Apple Bloom showed him how to climb into the robot’s cockpit and the two of them set off.

Braeburn held on for dear life. The swaying motion of the machine took some getting used to. Down the streets of the town, ponies moved nervously out of the way of the ungainly machine, but they didn’t seem outright scared of it. Braeburn wondered how much time they’d had to adjust.

“Where did you want to go?” asked Apple Bloom. “I have a few minutes before I have to pick up the girls and get to school.”

“I wanted to see Valiant.”

Apple Bloom brought the robot to a stop outside the Ponyville library. “He stays here with Twilight.”

“Are they…involved with each other?” asked Braeburn.

“Dating? No. Valiant said some really bad words the last time I asked him about that.” Apple Bloom shrugged.

“Thanks for the ride,” said Braeburn, climbing down. The borrowed coat hid him well, and nopony paid any attention to him as the robot lumbered away.

Braeburn raised a hoof and knocked on the library door. After a moment, it swung open. Braeburn dropped his eyes. He’d been expecting somepony taller to answer.

“Whoa,” said Spike, Twilight Sparkle’s dragon assistant. Braeburn had met him once before in Appleoosa. He stared with apprehension at Braeburn’s modified face.

“Hello Spike. I just came by for a visit.”

Having decided that Braeburn was not a threat, Spike invited him in. “What happened to you?” the dragon asked.

“It’s complicated.” Braeburn didn’t know Spike that well, and had no idea how he’d react if he found out about what had happened to the rest of his body. He’d prefer if Twilight was present.

Snoring on the couch in the front room was Valiant. Braeburn glanced out the window. The sun was already well up, but still the pony slept.

“Did he have a long night or something?” Braeburn asked.

Spike shrugged. “I don’t really know what’s up with his sleep schedule. He kind of goes to bed and gets up whenever.”

“Is somepony there, Spike?” called a female voice.

“It’s Braeburn,” the dragon answered.

Twilight Sparkle came down the stairs from the upper floor of the library. She seemed somewhat hesitant when she saw her guest. Her purple coloring was distinctive, and Braeburn remembered seeing her in the crowd at the failed cider making competition.

As a friend of Applejack’s and as another Element of Harmony, Braeburn thought that she would be more receptive to his condition.

He removed his hat. “Ms. Sparkle.”

“Uh, Twilight, please.” She seemed distracted by his face. It looked like Braeburn would have to get used to that with everypony he met.

“I came by hoping to talk to Valiant.”

“So wake him up,” said Twilight.

“I didn’t want to intrude.”

“He’d do the same to you,” said Twilight. She walked over to the couch and poked the sleeping pony. “Get up, Valiant.”

“Screw you, Twilight.”

Braeburn’s good ear jumped. He would never talk to a lady that way.

Twilight either didn’t mind, or was used to it. “Braeburn’s here.”

“Eh, fine.” Valiant rolled off the couch and got to his hooves. His mane was tangled and his eyes were bleary. “What’s up?”

“I need help. I can’t sleep like this.” Braeburn clunked a hoof against the metal half of his head.

Valiant shrugged. “Well, I guess I could do some tinkering. Do you want to do it here, or go over to Sugarcube Corner and have Pinkie help?”

Braeburn gasped. “I’m not going back in that basement!”

Valiant laughed. “Yeah, some crazy things have happened down there. That’s where Pinkie—” he shook his head. “Er, never mind. Anyway, have a seat and I’ll get my tools.”

Valiant walked out of the room. “What kind of problem sleeping were you having?” asked Twilight.

Braeburn explained to her the problems with his electronic eye. Valiant came back shortly with a small kit and began removing the external covers on Braeburn’s head to access the wiring inside.

“One last thing,” said Valiant. He took out a bottle and took a swig from it.

“This is not the kind of thing you should be doing drunk!” Twilight scolded.

“Well, if I wasn’t liquored up, I’d probably puke at the sight of the inside of his skull,” said Valiant. “Besides, it relaxes me and takes the shake out of my hooves.”

He took another sip. “Unless you wanted to do this,” he said.

“Oh, um, I’m not really sure I should,” said Twilight.

“Twilight’s afraid of brain surgery! Twilight’s afraid of brain surgery!” sang Valiant.

The unicorn rolled her eyes. “Tell me what I need to do.”

“Take this pair of snips and cut the wires I tell you to,” ordered Valiant. He dug in a box of parts and pulled out a small switch.

Twilight used her magic to maneuver the tool into the position Valiant said. Braeburn’s eye went dark and then his ear went deaf. He felt nervous, but was confident that if they could be disabled, they could also be restored.

“All right, just a few more cuts and then solder this up,” said Valiant. There was a faint sizzling noise.

“Oops,” said Valiant.

“What?” said Braeburn in alarm.

“Don’t worry about it. If you don’t feel it, it wasn’t important.” Valiant fell silent for a moment.

“I think I’ve got it,” said Twilight.

“Good. All right, here goes nothing.” There was a click, and suddenly Braeburn’s senses were assaulted with outrageous sights and sounds. He screamed and clutched his head, falling sideways.

“Too far!” boomed Valiant’s voice. He fumbled with something on the side of Braeburn’s head, his hooves making an awful scratching noise on the metal.

Suddenly, everything was as it should be. “What was that?” said Braeburn, shaken.

Valiant shrugged. “We installed a three-position switch. Number one is off, number two is normal, number three is extra.”

“You mean…for vision and hearing?”

“Yeah, now you can sleep and have super powers.” Valiant shrugged as if it was no big deal. “A great advancement in medical science, if I do say so myself. This calls for a celebration.” He took another glug from his bottle.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “We installed the switch behind your ear.” She showed Braeburn where to find it. “Is there anything else I can help you with?” she asked.

“No, I got what I wanted. Thank you very much.” Braeburn looked her in the eyes to show his sincerity as he said it. It was only after she turned away uncomfortably that he realized how he must look. She didn’t want to see his deformity.

“I’ll be going, then,” said Braeburn. “Thanks again.”

He stepped out of the library and began the walk back to Sweet Apple Acres. With his hat low, nopony paid him any attention.

That night, Braeburn lay in bed trying to relax. The newly installed switch did wonders, but that wasn’t the reason sleep eluded him.

Was he destined to be a freak for the rest of his life? Even Twilight, who’d spent more time around him than most other ponies couldn’t look him in the face. Braeburn sighed and sat up.

He idly toyed with the switch behind his ear. On setting number three, his examination of the world changed significantly. He could hear the gentle flapping of bats’ wings as they flew overhead. Despite the darkness, he could see them plainly and up-close.

Braeburn flipped the switch back to off. The hardware offered an new and interesting perspective, but it also scared him.

Sweet Celestia, what have I become?