2482 = LOVE

“You want me to make what… for WHAT?!” Rarity shouted as she nervously peered at the mechanical explorer. It was sitting next to Spike in the back of the barn.

“Yes… a costume for Clunky. Applejack gave us the idea for the name earlier.” Twilight said.

“You mean… you gave IT a name? IT has a name?! How absolutely dreadful!” Rarity said scoffing at the probe dramatically.

“Rarity… we can’t lead it out of the barn and through town looking like this! Day or night, every pony would go crazy regardless! I just need to get it to the castle library.” Twilight said pleading with her friend.

“Can’t you just make a royal decree or something?” Rarity said like a brat child.

“That would cause even MORE suspicion and buzz! Even my magic can’t stop an angry, crazy mob of ponies!” Twilight said with a stomp.

“Oh… I suppose you’re right. We can’t have STRANGERS cluttering up Ponyville and making CHAOS can we?” Rarity said thinking about everything.

“So… you’ll do it?” Twilight held her breath.

“Of course… but there is just no way that I can do it in my studio! Sapphire Shores has already requested an entire wardrobe change and I’ve already started!” Rarity said with more dramatics.

“Uh… Granny Smith has a sewing machine and I can get some material from all our apple sacks. It don’t hafta be fancy.” Applejack said with a stern look at Rarity.

“For once I agree with Applejack. Quick and to the point will suffice… Just gather up everything, I’ll be back later to disguise your Clunky… whatever.” Rarity said as she started walking out the barn door.

“OK you heard her! Let’s get busy!” Twilight said as she suddenly jumped into organization mode. Everyone jumped to attention and started gathering materials.

Several Hours later… Princess Luna raised the moon and all of Equestria fell dark.

“Where is that prissy pony pants?! It’s been hours!” Applejack said with a snort.

“I don’t know but if she doesn’t show soon… we’ll have to try doing this ourselves.” Twilight said with a hint of doubt.

“Eeyup… I can sew a little bit.” Big McIntosh said. In the hours that followed, he was filled in on the entire situation.

“Big Mac… you can’t sew! Yer just funnin’!” Applejack said with a snicker.

“Eeyup I can… Granny Smith taught me. Who do ya think made ya that blanket for yer birthday? It was me!” Big Mac said with pride.

“Well, if that don’t beat all… I am impressed.” Applejack said with a look of awe.

“Eeyup!” Big McIntosh said.

“I’m sorry I am late every pony. Creativity calls you know…” Rarity said as she bounded through the door.

“Nnope!” Big Mac said in frowning disappointment.

“What’s wrong with him?” Rarity said as she watched Big Mac leave with his head hung low.

“Never mind him… let’s just get this over with.” Applejack huffed.

“Agreed.” Rarity said as she made her way to the robot for measurements. As Rarity approached, the robot scanned her. After a few moments of thinking… it spoke.

“Pony Rarity… seamstress.” The probe said.

“Seamstress?! Hardly! I am an ARTIST!” Rarity scoffed

“Amazing! In just the short time it has been with us, it has already learned our names and adapted to our conversation style!” Twilight said.

“Well it obviously cannot tell the difference between a… common… button stitcher, and a true talent!”

“Oh… get off your ‘high horse’ Rarity! And… let your talkin’ do some sewin’!” Applejack said with aggravation at Rarity’s bragging.

“EEYUP!” Big McIntosh said loudly from outside of the barn.

“FINE!” Rarity huffed as she started slinging apple sacks through the sewing machine. As Rarity sewed with Applejack as the material girl, Twilight thought it best to try to re-communicate with Clunky.

“Hello… It’s me again pony Twilight Sparkle.”

“Why does drag-on Spike make that sound? Logic requested.” Clunky asked.

“Oh… Spike… Well he’s a baby dragon and he needs his rest. Spike is asleep.”

“Baby dragon Spike asleep?” Clunky said.

“Yes.” Twilight said with a smile.

“Noted…” The robot returned.

“Where did you come from?” Twilight questioned.

“Command Central interstellar deep-space probe 2482… Firmware 34.233… commissioned June 16, 2009.” Clunky said.

“No… not when you were made or who you work for… where did you come from? How did you get here?”

Clunky paused for a long time as it pondered this question.

“Freeze warning. Malfunction. Anomaly 12485.667 kilowatts. Apple farm. No known logic. Logic requested pony Twilight Sparkle.” The robot said with an odd look upon its robotic face.

“So… you don’t know?” Twilight said

“Negative.” Clunky said.

“I’m trying to understand… what’s a kilowatt?” Twilight said as she thought hard.

“Kilowatt… a unit of electrical power. One kilowatt is equal to 1000 watts.” Clunky said.

“I know all about weather and that sounds like a big bolt of lightning… which would be awesome and cool of course!” Rainbow Dash interrupted.

“Rainbow Dash, where did you come from?” Twilight said bewildered.

“The door of course! Duh! I came looking for you because you skipped out on our book club! You know missing out on Daring Do is uncool!” Rainbow said with a frown.

“I’m sorry I missed it… but as you can see we have more pressing matters at hand!” Twilight said as she pointed at Clunky.

“Yeah… I saw this bucket of bolts drop from the sky, into the apple orchard earlier…” Twilight said with a yawn.

“…AND YOU DIDN’T COME HELP US!?” Twilight yelled.

“Hey! It was my scheduled nap time! Making weather is so tiring.” Rainbow Dash said with a stretch.

Twilight could only shake her head in disgust.

“Pony Rainbow Dash… noted.” Clunky said.

Suddenly, Twilight had a radical thought.

“Electricity… lightning… power… that sounds a lot like Equestrian magic!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Whataya gettin’ at Twilight?” Applejack said, rejoining the conversation.

“I… I… don’t know. Whatever this ‘anomaly’ thing was, it had a lot of energy.” Twilight said.

Applejack paused for a moment, and then smiled.

“Remember how you told us them stories about going through that mirror and seeing all those strange things you call ‘humans?’” Applejack asked.

“Yes. Whataya gettin’ at Applejack” Twilight said with a laugh.

“Well… maybe this here ‘nomolee’ is some kind of lightnin’ powered ‘spacey mirror’ that Clunky went through all icy and out of control, and brought it here.” Applejack said, unsure of herself.

“Applejack, you’re a Genius!” Twillight hollered.

“Logic acquired. Anomaly 12485.667 kilowatts confirmed Einstein-Rosen Bridge… wormhole… portal… noted.” The robot said putting all of their conversation together.

“Wormhole… hey that makes sense! A wormy goes in one side of an apple all chompin’ and chompin’ and comes out the other side. Clunky went in on the spacey side and came out on the pony side!” Applejack said with a proud smile.

“Good job Applejack! You’re smarter than you look.” Rainbow Dash said giggling.

“Hey!” Applejack said with a huff.

Clunky peered at Rarity with a puzzled look, as it approached.

“What is pony Rarity doing? Logic Requested…” the robot meekly said.

“I am sewing… trying to make you a large… ghastly… ugly costume. When this is done, please don’t say who made it… OK?” Rarity said with her usual drama.

“Can Clunky sew… Pony Rarity?” The robot said.

“Oh… Ha. I should like to see this! Please be my guest…” Rarity said as she backed away from the sewing machine. The robot picked up two applesacks and scanned them intensely. It then laid the material on the sewing machine and began to rock the large pedal back and forth.

“Amazing! A perfect chain stitch on this old thing! Well… I certainly misjudged you. You have some STYLE in you somewhere! Unlike… some ponies.” Rarity said glaring directly at Applejack.

Rarity then reached around Clunky and squeezed it tightly.

“I’ll take over from here… Thank you.” Rarity said as she motioned to reclaim her seating.

Clunky backed away, but had a very confused look upon its electronic face.

“Pony Rarity… What is… is… pressure? Logic requested.” Clunky said.

“I don’t understand…” Rarity said as she stopped sewing.

“What is pressure? Hold? Logic requested.” Clunky repeated.

“Oh! That is what we ponies call a ‘hug.’ It is a form of greeting and friendship. It is also something done when you really care about someone.” Rarity clarified as she started sewing once again.

Clunky looked hard at its own two robotic arm-like appendages.

“Hug… greeting. Hug… friendship. Hug… care. noted.” The robot pondered.

Suddenly, Clunky grabbed Rarity from behind and squeezed her. She was so startled that she messed up one of her stitches.

“Hug Pony Rarity… care friendship greeting? Copy?” Clunky said.

“Awwww It looks like you made a new friend Rarity.” Twilight Sparkle said smiling.

“Yes… wonderful… all of that.” Rarity said to Clunky with a hint of sarcasm.

Clunky released its grip and then quickly grabbed Applejack.

“Hug pony Applejack?” the robot questioned.

“It looks like ya’ already did little feller.” Applejack smiled.

Twilight Sparkle extended her hooves towards Clunky.

“OK I guess I’ll ride on this love train also… come here you!” She said. Clunky turned and slowly moved into Twilight’s grip.

“Hug Clunky… care friendship…” Twilight said in her best robot voice.

As they embraced, Clunky’s electronic face turned from a dull orange color to bright neon green.

“Emotional paradigm upgrade completed… 1.2 to 3.0.” The robot said, but in a different pre-recorded voice.

“What just happened?” Twilight said as she released.

“I think you just went up a level…” Rainbow Dash added in wonder.

“HUH?!” Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack said in unison.

“Oh Come on! Don’t you ever play VIDEO GAMES!? Back in the day, I was the BEST in Cloudsdale at ‘Griffon Invaders!’” Rainbow Dash said with pride.

The trio could only stare, still not knowing what it even was that she was talking about.

“Uh… you ground ponies don’t get out much… do ya?!” Rainbow nervously said.

All of a sudden, Spike started to stir awake.

“Wh… What did I miss?” Spike said slowly.

“Clunky went through a space mirror, learned how to hug, and went up a level! Isn’t that wonderful!?” Twilight said to Spike in excitement.

Spike blinked a few times and then went back to sleep.

“I think that came out wrong…” Twilight said with a laugh.

All of a sudden, Clunky produced a small, spinning antenna.

“Pony Pinkie Pie… approaching… slowly.” The robot said.

After a few moments, Pinkie Pie slowly trotted through the door.

“Pony Pinkie Pie… mass increase 2.9984 percent.” Clunky said.

“What have you been doing Pinkie?!” Rarity said with a gasp.

“I don’t feel so good…” Pinkie said with her head low.

“Pinkie… no stories. Just tell me how many CUPCAKES you ate?!” Twilight said with great concern.

“…oh …oh …47! Oh…” Pinkie said sickly as she held her expanded belly.

“Hey… NEW RECORD! AWESOME!” Rainbow Dash said with enthusiasm.

“RAINBOW!” Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity sharply said in unison.

As the moments slowly ticked away, The group watched Pinkie writhe in agony on the barn floor as Rarity continued her task.

After several minutes, Rarity spoke.

“FINALLY! Now I can go back to better… more important things!” Rarity blared with arrogance as she held up the completed costume.

Clunky looked puzzled at her statement with an electronic frown.

“Pony Rarity… hug… care… friend… better? more important? Logic needed.” The robot said with a lower tone.

“You hurt Clunky’s feelings! You prissy… high falootin’… snobby-snob!” Applejack hollered at Rarity.

“Well I Never! I was merely stating that… that…” Rarity said with a stammer.

“What?” Twilight said with a raised eyebrow.

“That… I was going to assist Clunky to the library… of course!” Rarity said nervously.

“Right… sure you were.” Rainbow Dash said sarcastically.

Rarity could only stand there with a nervous giggle.

“Spike… Spike wake up! We have work to do!” Twilight said to Spike with a shove.

“Ghhhaaaa! What is that thing?!” Spike said startled.

“That ‘thing’ is Clunky’s costume… and we need to get him to the library… tonight!” Twilight said.

“Come on every pony… the sooner when can get Clunky to the library, the sooner we can all get some shut eye.” Applejack said with a yawn.

“I deeply agree as I already said. Yoo-hoo Clunky thing! Come over here and let me slip this on you.” Rarity said holding the costume.

Clunky moved slowly towards Rarity’s hooves. She carefully slipped the costume over its mechanized frame.

“Perfect fit… of course.” Rarity said admiring her work.

It had a unicorn’s head and a scruffy mane and tail. The pale brown color made it have the appearance of old leathery skin. There were two small slits in the front so Clunky could see. Overall its look was very unkempt, as if it had not bathed or combed its mane in weeks.

“Looks like Cousin Braeburn after visitin’ a few days.” Applejack said with a giggle.

“Eeyup!” Big McIntosh said seemingly appearing from thin air.

“Or Twilight… when she goes crazy before a test.” Spike chimed in with a laugh.

“Spike! Applejack! You too Big Mac! Every pony listen! Now here’s the plan… we surround Clunky as we walk together through Ponyville. If anyone sees it and asks, we say something like ‘our dearest cousin has become ill… we need to get him home.’ Ok?” Twilight Sparkle said as the group huddled together.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“Pony Twilight Sparkle… travel to lyebarry? Copy?”

“Yes… we travel to the library!” Twilight said enthusiastically.

Little did they know… it was going to be much harder than they thought.