Sweetie Belle looked up as instructed and her eyes went wide. "Rarity? What're you doing up there? How did you even get up there?"
        Rarity sighed. "I wish I knew. Weird stuff like this has been happening all morning. What're you doing here, anyway?"
        Sweetie paused for a moment before responding. "Mom and Dad are going on a 'date-cation, so I'm spending today with you. You didn't remember?"
        "It just slipped my mind is all." Rarity cleared her throat. "A lot has been happening lately.
        "Why didn't you just leave the door unlocked for me? Sweetie asked. "I could've let myself in."
        Rarity shook her head. "A mare can never be too careful this time of year."
        Sweetie raised an eyebrow. "What's the worst that could happen?"
        "Well, you could end up with a baby niece or nephew fathered by whatever ruffian sneaks in here first. I have no intention of becoming a mother until I'm absolutely sure I'm ready, and that includes several steps in my career that haven't happened yet, and finding the stallion of my dreams to settle down with. I'm not letting some ruffian wander in and ruin that for me."
        Sweetie Belle sighed. "You're being paranoid. Do you really think anypony in Ponyville would actually do that? Just sneak in and… have his way with you?"
        "It's not that simple…" Rarity explained to her little sister. "Some stallions just… aren't themselves when mating season comes around. All the pheromones they're surrounded with start affecting their brains, and they do things that they'd never do if they were thinking clearly."
        "I guess that makes sense…" Sweetie said. "Diamond Tiara said she saw a pegasus stallion fly down and snatch up Twist. I'm kinda worried about her."
        Rarity shook her head. "She's probably just trying to upset you. I wouldn't worry too much about it."
        "But Diamond Tiara said he had his… *thing*… out!" Sweetie protested. "And I haven't seen Twist in a while…"
        "You rarely see her anyway…" Rarity observed. "You drifted apart after she got her cutie mark."
        Sweetie Belle shook her head. "I mean not even at school!" She sighed. "Twist is an earth pony. If he took her to a cloud house… she wouldn't be able to get out." She cleared her throat. "At least, not without… well, *jumping*…"
        Rarity gave her sister a reassuring smile. "Don't be silly. If she were taken to a cold house, she'd fall through the floor. Don't let Diamond Tiara get to you."
        "Not all pegasus houses are made entirely of cloud!" Sweetie objected. "The floor could be marble."
        Rarity sighed. "Even if it did happen, he would've let her go as soon as he'd… used her." She cleared her throat. "The effects of the pheromones don't longer very long after the stallion has… achieved release."
        "Well, what if he was just a… a bad pony?" Sweetie asked. "Maybe he wants to keep her for next year. She could be his… his broodmare! Broodfilly!" She was shaking. "Stuck there making foals for the rest of her life!"
        Rarity wished she could reach her sister to give her a hug. "Calm down, Sweetie; you're letting your imagination get the best of you." She sighed. "Diamond Tiara isn't the most reliable source of information, after all. She probably just heard Twist was going on vacation and saw an opportunity to push your buttons."
        Sweetie forced a smile. "Yeah, I guess you're right; I shouldn't just take her word for it. She's always starting rumors, so she's not very trustworthy."
        Rarity nodded. "Right. Now that that's taken care of, I have a little problem of my own that needs addressing." She pointed to the ceiling.
        Sweetie blushed. "Oh, right, that looks pretty important. I'm sorry for getting distracted."
        Rarity shook her head. "If true, that news about Twist is concerning. But even if it were the case, I'm not sure what we would do with that information. Search every cloud in Equestria?"
        Sweetie looked down at her hooves. "I guess there's nothing we really could do. Hopefully she just made the whole thing up."
        Rarity nodded. "Now, could you be a dear and fetch Twilight for me? I'd like to get this sorted out before anything else weird happens."
        Sweetie Belle chuckled. "Sure, I'll be right back. Good luck with the… ceiling." She waved goodbye and headed out the door.
        Inside her womb, Self was pleased that it had so many more vibrations to analyze. However, it's attention was focused elsewhere. Specifically, at itself. Inside the Structure, changes were taking place. Some of the long Chains in the central Mechanism were bundling more tightly together. In addition, they seemed to be *copying* themselves. In fact, they seemed to be structured such that they could replicate themselves using only the ways in which Units tended to attach to each other.
        At least, most of them did. Of the dozen of different Bundles, one of them failed to replicate itself. It was stuck in an indeterminate form, a state of flux between a four-limbed shape and a smaller three-limbed shape. Seeing that one of the two shapes was similar to that of another similar Bundle, Self used its newly discovered control over the Context on the indecisive Bundle and stabilized it into the four-limbed shape, and observed what happened.
        Once the Bundle was stabilized, Self watched as the Structure sprung into action. After it was stabilized, the last Bundle successfully replicated itself, allowing the Structure to continue. The duplicate Bundles pulled to opposite ends of the Mechanism, which divided in two. Then, the Barrier pinched off in the middle, and Self realized that she was now composed of *two* Structures, with the Matrix now connected to both of them.
        Analysis of the Vibrations could wait; this new development was worth investigating. Self yet again had to re-evaluate her self image. She wasn't an Entity. She had been a Structure. Could she now be turning into a Superstructure?