It is difficult to awake and not remember your name. And yet, that is what happened to the construct who now awoke, confused, alone, and uncertain, lost deep under the catacombs of the Palace of the Royal Pony Sisters.
Long ago it had been created by a mad unicorn whose name was unknown to its creation. The unicorn had once tried to peer into dark void, and much to his horror, something had looked back. He was never quite the same after that and lived in constant fear of what might be.
Such was his fear that he created his construct, to protect against the darkness.
Alas, it never properly activated, and it sat, lost to time, in the bottom of a secret laboratory beneath the catacombs of the Palace of the Royal Pony Sisters.
Until today, when it suddenly jerked to life, questioning its existence, and getting no answers. It stood, a newborn, lost in the dark, not knowing what to do.
And then, a light flared, a directive buried deep within the creation’s mind, that directive being stave off the darkness.
It peered around at its surroundings, seeing broken cracked walls, a crumbled and partially caved in ceiling, and a broken down door. It moved toward the door, a new directive in mind.
❖Find water
It thought for a moment, knowing that it could function without water, but water would allow the steam motivators to function, increasing power outputs. It lurched ahead, movements jerky, magic allowing only the minimal amounts of movement, the lowest amount of power. Once it found water, it knew that precious magical essence would be freed from the animation process, and would be redirected to the thinking processes.
It lurched into the darkness, taking feeble light with it as it went.
Sunlight. Glorious sunlight. The gift of She Who Raises the Sun.
❖Recharge sunstones
The sunstones would provide the heat needed to boil the water to power the steam motivators. The construct stumbled around jerkily, having crawled forth from a long forgotten storm drain. It could sense water. It was somewhere nearby. The journey to the surface had taken a long time. How long was unknown, but it had to excavate multiple passages. It lacked the advanced thought functions that it was capable of, but it had concluded that approximately 10 years had passed, slowly moving each stone and then waiting for the magic to trickle charge from his spark battery. How much time exactly would remain unknown until it could reclaim its advanced thought processing abilities.
The construct struggled to remember its creator’s name.
It staggered through grass and shrubbery, struggling to move under minimal power. The artificial horn flashed occasionally, still seeking water, and then, something wondrous happened.
A new directive activated.
❖Seek out detected equine-? ERRONEOUS MALADAPTATION
Confused by the conflicting directive, the construct wobbled off towards where it sensed water, legs wobbling like a newborn foal. It struggled to maintain balance, tripping and wobbling over every stick and bump on the ground. It moved slowly, inches at a time, freezing in place for several minutes, leg raised in the air, waiting for the trickle charge in the spark battery to replenish.
The construct’s heart was made from a glowing red crystal, and it glowed through chinks found in the constructions metal skin.
❖Water reserves restored
The construct froze up for several minutes, not moving at all, as several new functions came online. The sunstones began to heat the water and magical power was rerouted through crystalline fibres, now free to power more advanced functions.
It swiveled its head finally, and then lifted its strange fibrous tail and farted out a puff of steam with a faint “toot” sound. It directed steam power to its limbs, which now moved fluidly and smoothly, also swiftly and surely. Its clumsy movements were now gone, and it rapidly moved over uneven ground.
❖Seek out detected equine based lifeform
It moved with alarming speed, occasionally puffing out a little toot of steam from its backside, legs pumping. It moved now with a sense of purpose, even though it did not know what its purpose was. It was a slave to its directives.
Zecora sat meditating, pondering the many mysteries of life, trying to sooth her mind after a visit from Apple Bloom. The filly was excitable and intelligent, a combination that caused no end of questions, some of them quite difficult to try and answer. She sat on her haunches, her front hooves pressed together in front of her barrel. Her eyes were closed.
The first sign of something wrong that Zecora noticed was a lack of birdsong. Everything had gone silent. She opened her eyes slowly, beginning to feel concerned. The Everfree was a dangerous place. The silence in the air was a sign of danger.
Perhaps it was time to head indoors, she mused to herself.
She rose, too late, seeing an odd figure moving swiftly towards her. Before she had a chance to panic, it stopped suddenly, staring at her, unmoving. It looked like a mechanical pony.
“I must be suffering some horrible dream, before me is a mechanical stallion farting steam,” said Zecora, looking quite surprised.
It stood looking at her, head cocking to one side, and then another, ears swiveling. There was a hiss from within it’s wide barrel, a clanking sound, and then a loud thunking noise. “You bear the symbol of the sun. I await directives,” it announced in an oddly smooth voice.
Zecora looked back at her zebra tribal mark and then at the mechanical pony. “You have looked upon my buns, how did you know that those were suns?”
“Directive?” the construct insisted.
“Very well, I will play your game, but before I can tell you, I need a name,” replied Zecora.
“Name?” replied the construct.
❖Initiate naming directive
“Name me Sun Goddess,” commanded the construct.
Zecora recoiled in surprise, her eyes wide with shock and concern. She thought about her reply very, very carefully. She studied the mechanical pony, its shining metal skin, blue crystal eyes, strange crystalline fibre mane and tail, and the occasional toot of steam puffing from the creature’s backside.
“I have heard your plea and I answer thus; you shall be called ‘Mechanequus.’”
“Thank you Sun Goddess. What is my purpose?” asked Mechanequus.
The zebra stared at the mechanical construct, blinking rapidly. She had no idea what the mechanical pony’s purpose was. Zecora barely understood her own purpose at times.
“Purpose?” Mechanequus repeated, a sense of urgency in his voice.
Zecora had no idea how to respond to the insistent questions of the curious mechanical pony. They stared at one another for quite some time, a growing sense of unease blossoming in Zecora’s barrel.
Author's Note
Just checkin' to see if this sticks to the wall.
I looked at the mechanical entity and studied it as it stood watching me, waiting for me to tell it its purpose. What do I tell it? I barely understood my own purpose at times. I am just a zebra far from home, and it believes I am the sun goddess because of my tribal markers.
“Mechanequus would you be so kind, could you lend a hoof to ponykind?” I said to the mechanical construct.
“What do I do?” he replied, letting go another puff of steam from just under his tail as he spoke.
I did not know what to say or how to reply. I did not know what he was capable of. He seemed so eager to please however, and I felt terrible about my inability to offer better instruction.
“I will tell you this, you must do no harm, now come with me, we’re off to the apple farm,” I instructed, trotting off to meet with Applejack, who could probably use the help.
“Do no harm. To what?” the construct asked as it trotted along behind me, clanking riotously.
“Swear to me and with a promise bind, you will do no harm to ponykind,” I stated, looking back over my shoulder at my new companion.
“I am not allowed to harm ponies. That is within my directives,” Mechanequus replied.
I nodded, feeling secure with my new companion. I did not understand him, but I did know a little bit about golems. I had studied zebra-lore considerably, and we had our own golems that we made, which were bound by the instructions of their creators.
We trotted through the forest together, and I led the way. Nothing disturbed us, which was pleasant for a change, there was no running, no hiding, or having to use magical powders as a defense. Everywhere we went, the local wildlife departed, leaving the Everfree Forest quiet and tranquil.
After a long but pleasant walk, we neared the apple farm, my companion occasionally tooting to relieve pressure. He was quiet and somehow seemed thoughtful, even though he was a machine.
There’s a thought that will keep me up late, can this construct contemplate? I thought to myself. I studied my companion further. I could not shake the feeling that he was thinking.
I saw the orange mare that I was looking for bucking an apple tree and causing a shower of apples to fall down into well placed buckets.
“Applejack, before you yelp, he is friendly, and here to help,” I said in greeting, gesturing to Mechanequus.
Applejack took off her hat, she wiped her brow, and then she began to size up my companion. She looked worried, irritated, and somewhat afraid.
“Nope, no I don’t think so,” Applejack said. “If he applebucks a tree, he’ll kick it to splinters. That’s no help, that’s a hinderance to me. I can’t have no robot pony destroying my trees. Where’d you get that robot pony anyways?”
A tough question, difficult to put in rhyme for answer. “Seeking purpose he found me… he emerged from within the Everfree.”
“Uh huh,” Applejack acknowledged, nodding her head. “I think I’ll stick with the earth pony way of doing things, no offense,” she said. “I have a lot to get done. Please excuse me.”
Feeling dejected, I hung my head. My new companion would have to find purpose and function elsewhere. Perhaps he would be useful in Ponyville.
This is a bad idea so please have a care, you must remember how they felt about one zebra mare I mentally reminded myself. I turned trail and began to trot towards town, leaving the orange mare behind to do her work the earth pony way as she had requested. At least she was no longer openly hostile, but I still got the feeling that she didn’t trust me very much, which made me sad.
I fled rejection, much like I had fled my homeland, looking for something better, something with more meaning and purpose. I was very much like my mechanical equine companion. I still had not found what the purpose of my life was, even though I spent every day looking. So desperate was my search that I had lapsed into becoming what was called a marabout in my own native tongue, or what the locals called a hermit.
Mechanequus followed me, and on his face I could somehow see emotion. I am not sure how, perhaps I was projecting my own feelings upon him. But for a moment, I was certain that I could see rejection upon his cold metallic features and sadness in his soulless eyes.
I began to fear that there would be no purpose to be had for either of us. It was a dreadful thought, one that filled me with apprehension and worry. Ponies were still afraid of me, skittish, and I feared that I would never truly find acceptance.
The walk was devoid of any conversation, the only sounds were made by my hooves and the clanking of my automatonous companion, who occasionally lifted his tail to vent a quantity of steam from his exhaust port.
As I walked, I pondered why the walk to Ponyville always seemed so long, while the walk home always seemed so short. It was a mystery that I had yet to figure out, and it was something I often thought about as I traversed these roads.
There was another toot from my companion, which distracted me, snapping me from my reverie. Ponyville loomed before me, we would reach the edge of town soon. Perhaps Twilight Sparkle would have knowledge of my companion, or at least have a useful purpose for him.
“Soon my friend we shall have some explanation, we are bound to find some purpose here in civilisation,” I announced.
Reaching the edge of town, I smiled, glad to see ponies.
Sadly, the ponies were not glad to see me.
Three ponies I knew, the flower trio, Lily Valley, Daisy, and Rose, ponies who lived in fear of everything, took one look at my companion and began shrieking. Their fear was contagious. Soon, everypony nearby was screaming and fleeing, and a stampeding herd had formed. I shaked my head sadly, realising there would be nothing to be gained by staying here. My head drooped and I cast my eyes sideways to look at my companion.
“Mechanequus, this was not meant to be, we should depart at once for the Everfree. I was wrong to have such hope, with this sadness I cannot cope. We both are feared without compunction, they will not accept you or your function. Do not worry and don’t you fret, I will find a purpose for you yet. It was a mistake to leave our wood, so let’s go home where you can still do some good,” I said, my final parting words to Ponyville, where I was not sure if I would ever return.
Author's Note
This started off as something else, and over time, it changed. I rewrote this chapter at least a hundred times, struggling with the first perspective aspect of writing, something I am not well practiced in. Each time I wrote it, I got inside Zecora's head a little more. Eventually, I ended up here. I have no earthly idea if I wrote this well or not. I don't know if I slipped out of the proper perspective or if I screwed up. But something about it finally felt right to me. It stopped being a comedy, so I removed the tag. The next chapter will be called "I, Mechanequus" and hopefully it shouldn't take as long for me to finish.
Feedback on the first person aspect is much appreciated, as it will help future work.
