Artificial Soul

by AskNightmareLuna

Rating: teen
Tags: Original Character, Octavia, Adventure, Crossover, DJ P0N-3, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 1268

What happens when a machine takes on a life or its own? Does it also have a soul? Can a robot learn how to love? One DJ plans to find out.

A terrible scene was found where a pony was severely injured and a foal was found hiding under a booth at a local eatery. The robot was said to be defective and locked away to never be let out again. That was until years later it was purchased by a famous pony. Now the dangerous machine is out once again. The question is will it prove to be good or bad for ponies?

Thanks to Duskstroke Serenade for the artwork.

This story is protected by ORCA and Supporting Original Characters.

Published 2015-06-10 02:20:03 UTC
Last updated 2015-09-18 00:07:43 UTC

Prolouge

A small scream cried out. The servos whirred as the defense protocols started activating. Target acquired flashed in red. The read out continued. Foal, filly in danger. A multi-toned voice carried on the air, "Everything's ok. Funky is on the way." The machine moved towards the filly steadily playing the thumping bass and electronic music swaying in time to the beat. That was when the danger lights flashed in her vision. A stallion stood over the filly edging closer with a dark gleam in his eyes. The fake skin of her mouth twisted from her normal smile to a menacing growl. The music stopped as she lunged forward to close the short distance and stand between the stallion ad the white filly. "Warning you are in violation of safety and welfare protocols. Any further advances will result in Funky bouncing you."

The stallion laughed at he robot. "You aren't programmed to fight. Now out of my way. I have a filly to teach a lesson to." Funky refused to move and she was heavy enough that she couldn't be pushed. Her eyes glowed under the purple lenses of her glasses. "Last time you hunk of scrap out of my way!" The stallion didn't notice the red lights on the robot's built-in sound system, horn or eyes. The speakers gave a low rumble before a wall of bass slammed into the stallion.

"No pony messes with the Funky Funky." The robot took a step forward as she seemed to getting ready to blast the stallion again. The stunned pony scrambled backwards. The filly had by this time taken refuge under a booth behind the robot. This part of the restaurant didn't have any cameras but the noise had attracted attention.

Just as the stallion clenched his teeth bracing for a second bone shaking bass blast a voice called out. "DJ Funky auto-override power down and stand-by!" There was a soft hum which died away. Then there was nothing. The robot's eyes had closed and it was carried away to be locked in the storage room, but it wasn't turned off and was awaiting to command that would awaken it. That command never came giving the robot time to think. The video of the scene played over and over. The filly was scared and the stallion looked menacing.

The spark of life

The door to the storage room swung open. Two ponies entered. "Are you sure about this? That thing hasn't been turned on since the incident?" Funky was actually on but unable to interact and the incident was when she had protected a foal from a stallion intending harm. She had spent this whole time going over the scene and knew she had acted according to the program. Was the protocol wrong or faulty? Was the robot or the program defective?

"Yeah I'm sure. It's been sixteen years and it's about time ponies know the truth." Funky couldn't see the mare who had spoke nor the two-tone blue mane that matched hers in color. She could hear though. She heard the hoof steps getting closer as the two ponies crossed the storage room.

"It's your funeral," said the maintenance pony. Funky would have retorted with a sarcastic remark as she had bee programmed to if she wasn't on stand-by. There was a grunt as Funky heard the mare punch the stallion. "Fine, DJ Funky command override. Basic operations mode." After sixteen long years trapped in a replay loop the robot was leaving stand-by, humming to life and moving her head and ears.

"Duh duh duh Deeeee Jay Fun-kay here to bring a hop to your hooves and a smile to your face all day!" Her voice was crackled but still had the powerful multi-toned robotic quality it had when she had been put into storage. "Systems diagnostics indicate minor repairs required but still able to pound out the bass at optimal levels." She turned he head looking at the mare as her glasses slid up revealing the glowing red eyes that had been hidden under them. Now the robot could see the blue mane which was bigger and more wild but still had the colors of her own.

The stallion spoke again. "DJ Funky this is Vinyl Scratch. She is your new owner and operator. Update your databanks to indicate this and remove restaurant employees from your access list. Miss Scratch is your only access priority." Funky's systems weren't in the best shape but she was able to record the changes when there was a surge of power from the unit she had been plugged into. The recharge station nearly exploded as smoke billowed from it. The stallion had forgotten to unplug it from the robot whose systems put an extra load on the device if she wasn't in stand-by. Funky's eyes went dark as her body locked in place.

"Well buck!" shouted Vinyl.

The cables hooked to the robot detached with a hiss. The red eyes had a dim glow to them once more. The robot took a shaky step forward. "S-s-self Di-I-iagnostic-ic-ic... r-r-repair-air-air n-needed..." Her voice was wavering and going off its normal tones as if winding down. There was a pop from the robot's neck as she opened her moth to speak again. She closed her mouth looking as if she were sad to lose her voice.

Vinyl looked at the stallion in shock. "You broke her! You heard her say she needed to be fixed so fix her." She stallion shook his head with a sigh. He had told Vinyl that he didn't know how since the one who could had retired shortly after Funky was stored. "Oh man what am I going to do. I can wire up a sound system no prob but fixing her is gonna be a lot harder." She frowned and waved at the robot. "Well let's see if we can find you a robot doctor." Funky cast a look at the stallion she had last seen cleaning tables before lowering her glasses and following the white mare who now owned her.

What the two ponies didn't notice was the faint pulsing of the lights. Funky couldn't tell Vinyl about her dangerously low batteries which had lost potency over time. Fortunately for Funky and Vinyl she did have a back up power system if they could get outside. The two walked in silence that was forced. Each step was met with a strange series of data. Funky didn't want to power down again. The thoughts stopped once the two had let the building and her power level began to level out. This would only last as long as the sun was up and Funky stayed in the light, but for now her worries were gone. Vinyl did notice Funky avoiding shadows and staying in the sun as much as she cold.

Sometime later they had arrived at a place Vinyl went to when her equipment was beyond her abilities to repair. She had to leave Funky outside until the repair pony came and helped carry the robot inside. The bad thoughts returned. She had to get into the light. She was again put in stand-by. Moments later the danger lights stopped flashing in her vision and her power was normal. She knew she was being worked on and damaged parts replaced. Even so it did nothing to stop the replay of the filly from returning. When she was repaired and reactivated she felt much better. She wasn't going to shut down for a long time. The next stop would be the place she'd come to call home.

Emotional updates

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Premature discovery

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Feeling robot

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