I, Scrappy

by SkelePone

Rating: everyone
Tags: Tragedy, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sad, Main 6, Other, Original Character, Spike, Adventure, Princess Celestia
Length: 6568

Automatons. Ancient clockwork machines, built to resemble ponies. Nopony knows who built them. Why they are there. What they do. Nopony has found an Automaton that could work. Until now.

I, Scrappy
by SkelePone

Automaton [aw-tom-uh-ton, -tn]
noun (plural: Automatons, Automata)
1; a mechanical artifact built by ancient Equestrians for an unknown purpose, usually built to resemble ponies. they are comprised from brass, bronze, iron, nickel, and more. it is unknown if they were ever operable or if they will ever be operable.

Daring Do has helped excavate an ancient Equestrian Temple in the Amarezon Rain Forest.
She's discovered one of dozens of Automata. The strange metal pony, however, is ticking. Like an alarm clock. Except, the ticks go "ticktick-ticktick-ticktick". Like a heartbeat.

When Twilight Sparkle manages to do the unthinkable, to wake it up, it proves itself to be more than just a walking statue.

This is Scrappy.

The theme song for this story is:
Makkon - The Little Toy Shop

Alternate Theme:
Virtual Riot - Rise of The Robots ft. Messinian

Published 2015-08-31 02:50:02 UTC
Last updated 2015-09-30 02:01:22 UTC

Memory Recall

Command: Recall (Recalling...)

Memory
Date: 11/2/789;11:53AM
(Obtaining...)
Memory Obtained.
Command: Convert
Writing
Language: Equestrian
Format: Regular
(Converting...)
(Conversion complete)

I am Scrappy.

The stallion working on my gears tells me so. He is my Maker. He says that soon I will talk. But for now, I must wait. I am a unique Automaton, he says. But I must be patient. I try ask him what he means by unique. It is not a word or phrase in my records. But I cannot vocalize. But he knows that, and he knows what I am trying to ask. The Maker always knows.

The stallion says, you are Scrappy. Made completely from spare parts. You are special because of that. That means you are unique. There is something else, Scrappy, that makes you unique. Other Automatons are built for one job and one job only. You are unique because you can learn. You can learn to speak, you can learn to do things. To do anything! You are an incredible little pony, Scrappy.

I know that Automatons are not built to feel emotion. But I feel something inside that makes me feel good. It makes me want to stay being me. I search my records. My records are like an engine, with millions of intricate parts forming it. There, I can combine and create words and sentences. There, I store memories. There, I am Scrappy. My records show nothing. So I signal to the Maker, so he knows I am missing information. He opens my chest-plate and looks to my engine. I use the engine to inform him of my feelings.

Pride, he says. That is what you are feeling. You are proud to be Scrappy. You are proud to be my little Automaton.

The Maker pats my head, and seals my chest-plate again. He goes to work on my throat. There, he is placing tubes of glass. My vocalizer. What he calls my 'wind pipe'. I am proud of that wind-pipe. He pushes it into place. It locks, and I use the air sac in my core for intake. At his command, I exhale. Air rushes from my mandible. My mouth opens to allow the air out. Once the air exits, it closes again. He opens my chest-plate once more, and puts in a small box, attaching it to the end of the wind-pipe, connecting it and the air sac. I feel new gears put into place. My magical energy engine in my cranium allows me to sense touch and texture. I feel new gears start to whir as I test them. They have been connected to my records. My audio intakers, what the Maker calls my 'ears' are already attached to that same spot in my records.

"You are Scrappy. Record that."

You. Are. Scrappy. Record. That. I feel my record automatically update with words that my new voice box will be able to replicate. The recordings in my records match with definitions that are already there. I have learned my first words.

"Input command. I am Scrappy. Repeat."

Input. Command. Repeat.

I. Am.

"Command, repeat."

"I-Am-Scrappy."

"Very good."

Very. Good.

"Very-Good?"

"Yes."

Yes.

I have acquired twelve new words. My vocabulary is growing. I feel pride again. I wish I could record words that I already know. But I do not have my own voice. I must make recordings of the voices of others to communicate. There is a difference between recordings and records. Records are memories and general knowledge. Recordings are words obtained by using my audio intakers. My 'ears'. I have a new feeling. My records do not tell me my feelings. I need new information. I gesture. Maker answers.

"You feel excitement, Scrappy. And I do, too."

Feel. Excitement. And. Do. Too.

Powered by magic. Propelled by gears. Commanded by magic. Commune by gears.

Scrappy.

Excitement. I am unique. Pride and excitement!

Then there is knocking. I go to answer. Maker looks worried, tells me to stay. I obey.

Maker goes to door. Ponies enter. Identities unknown, facial recognition failed. Masks obstruct true identity. They touch Maker roughly. Maker is vocalizing, unintelligible noises. No words.

Unknown ponies make noise.

"You old bastard, should have known we'd beat the tar out of you!"

Old. Bastard (bastard not found in records dictionary, discarded as slang). Should. Have. Known. We'd. Beat. The Tar. Out. Of.

These ponies are a great help. They have assisted me with acquiring new vocab. I want them to keep talking, but they leave the house, taking Maker with them. I have been told to stay. So I stay.

I count hours. Two. Ten. Thirteen. Nineteen. Twenty-five. Forty. One hundred thirty two. At hour seven hundred sixteen, ponies come. I identify them easily. Maker's mother. Maker's father. Maker's brother. They are wearing black. They carry me and other belongings from Maker's dwelling.

I am excited. Maybe Maker is moving. They take me to the Temple. They take me to the Offering Room.

I recall this place, Maker took me. Offerings are made when a pony is born, when good things happen, when bad things happen. When a pony dies. They leave me there. I guess Maker will be returning to the Offering room to retrieve me. I wait. I continue waiting. I count hours, but my gears do not continue to count that far. I count days.

Thirty. Eighty-five. Two hundred forty five. One thousand three hundred nine.

Then I couldn't count anymore.

A Letter To The Princess

To: Princess Celestia
Canterlot Castle, Canterlot
North Equestria

From: Daring Do
Helios Ruins, Amarezon Basin
South Equestria

Dear Princess Celestia,

It was unlike anything I have ever seen before.

Before me, a deep hole is being dug, an ancient crumbling ruin directly in its sandy center. I am at the Amarezon Rain Forest Basin, as you've asked for me to be. A beautiful lush jungle, if I must say so, Princess. I can't wait to give my wings a stretch in the jungle's vast open forests, its roaring rivers. But of course, I have fulfilled your request of exploring the Helios Temple Ruins. And what I have found there is amazing!

A sunstone. One of the few naturally glowing diamonds in Equestria. A whopper, too. I bet this sunstone breaks the current record of the largest yet discovered. It was a pain to retrieve, too. So many bucking traps around that thing that I was lucky I didn't lose my head and all four of my legs nabbing it.

There was a beautiful mosaic on one of the walls. It depicted Helios, the first Alicorn, raising the Sun. I figured you would want it preserved. These thugs you sent to dig up the Temple wanted to knock it down. Made me want to knock them down. I told them to just chisel off the wall, and carry it carefully into the storage unit. We'll be shipping to you shortly, Princess.

The last thing I want to tell you about is by far the strangest. I know you have heard tell of Automatons, correct? The ancient machines of times long forgotten? I found one. The most pony-looking one I've seen to date. I'll be sure to send you a sketch of it. But the thing that stuck out about Automaton isn't it's looks. It's the sounds it makes. It ticks, like a clock. Of course, we knew Automatons were clockworks built by unknown ponies, but they have never ticked. None of them work. They're made out of metals that are easily corroded and rusted. There's no way any other Automaton could work.

But Princess! This one is so well-preserved, it's still ticking! We're sure it can still work, and imagine what we can learn from it when we get it in operation! It'll take a genius, but I've heard stories about Princess Twilight Sparkle, and I think maybe she could figure out a way to get the Automaton working.

Well, I guess I'll leave you with that! I'm sending this letter with the first shipment. So expect the mosaic, the sunstone, and the metal pony.

Sincerely,

Daring Do

P.S. Here's the sketch of the Automaton for you:

Revitalized

"So you understand, Twilight, why I would like you to accomplish this task?"

Princess Twilight Sparkle stood before Celestia, looking apprehensively at the pony-shaped hunk of metal. From the way it looked, it was mostly composed of bronze and brass. There were rusted hunks of iron as well. In all, it was a statue that looked like it was put together with trash. Twilight wasn't too sure what to say. But Spike did.

"I'm not so sure about this, Princess Celestia. It just looks like a heap of junk." He said, giving the rusted machine a light kick.

Twilight thanked Spike silently as she continued to inspect the machine. This 'Automaton'. It ticked slowly. And the ticks weren't the usual ticking sound like with a metronome or a clock. Ticktock-ticktock-ticktock... Twilight dared to imagine it sounded more like a heartbeat than clockwork. But a machine with a heartbeat? The idea was ridiculous. Twilight turned back to Celestia, and looked up at the taller Alicorn.

"I'm not too sure, Princess... I mean, how can I make this... thing... turn on?"

"From what we understand, it is that Automatons are clockwork, and the gears are so deteriorated it fails to work again. When Daring Do discovered this one, however, it was in prime condition. Like it was new, besides a bit of rust. The fact it's still ticking means it's in operation. It's just missing something. And we don't know what."

"Could it be... magic?"

Celestia smiled warmly at Twilight, answering her question.

"I don't know... I can try. That's the least I can say, though. I'll take him back to Ponyville. Maybe the girls can help me figure out how to make it work." Twilight cast a spell, which struck the statuesque metal masterpiece. It vanished with a loud POP! Spike marveled at the empty space where the statue had once been until Twilight magically levitated him onto her back. He walked out onto the stargazing balcony and opened her wings.

"Farewell, Twilight Sparkle. And do send me a letter when you figure it out!"

"Will do, Princess. Have a good night."

And with that, Twilight flew off into the night.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

"So what in tarnation is this doohickey 'sposed ta be?" Applejack exclaimed, looking at the trash heap with a puzzled expression.

"Perhaps it is nothing more than modern art, darling." Rarity answered, critiquing the Automaton.

"I think it looks awesome! Is it gonna come to live and destroy all of Ponyville?" Rainbow Dash asked, her voice bursting with glee.

"Oh my... I hope not... Maybe it'll be friendly... I mean... If it wants to..." Fluttershy mumbled. Angel Bunny sniffed at the metal pony, then looked away in disgust.

"MAYBE IT'S A PARTY ROBOT! AND IT THROWS PARTIES AND MAKES CAKE!" Pinkie Pie squealed. She was bouncing around the statue, blabbering on about everything that goes on at a party.

"Girls, this is an ancient artifact. It is thousands of years old. Treat it with respect." Twilight chided. The girls muttered their apologies before going right back to poking and prodding at the machine. Applejack gave it a swift tap with her hoof, and the chest-plate fell off with a clang. Twilight glared daggers at Applejack while the Earth pony grinned sheepishly.

"At least now we can see inside better." Rainbow commented, peering into the Automaton.

"Woah, that's a whole lotta parts! We better be careful not to lose any!" Twilight said, also peering in.

Spike was standing off to the side. He was pretending to file his claws when he was really checking out Rarity's plot. He jumped when Twilight shouted for him. He dropped the file and scrambled over to where the ponies were crowded around the junk.

"Some light, please."

Spike obliged, letting off a steady stream of green fire. It illuminated the inside, and Twilight immediately wished he hadn't. The Automaton's inside was completely gears. Gears, gears, springs, and more gears. None of them were moving, but that ticking heartbeat continued. The light, however, illuminated the bolts attaching the Automaton's head as well. Twilight studied them, then used her magic to slowly unscrew the bolts attaching the neck.

"What happened to being careful not to lose any parts?" Rainbow Dash grumbled as she picked up the bolts when they fell to the floor. Twilight didn't listen. She was too focused on her task of removing the machine's head.

Then, finally, she ripped it off.

Behind her, she heard a thud. Alarmed, Twilight turned to see that Fluttershy had fainted. Twilight felt she should have warned the timid pegasus before decapitating any metal ponies.

Twilight returned her attention to the head in her hooves as her other friends helped move Fluttershy to a nearby bench. There was a faint glowing in the forehead region, from what little she could see by looking through the neck. Twilight could sense some dim magical energy radiating from the light. The Automaton did run on magical energy. Or, at least, magical energy helped it somehow. And whatever spell had been cast upon the machine had long since faded to nothing more than a dim shimmer.

Twilight levitated several books towards herself.

Principals of Magical Engineering II

Basics of Arcane Sciences

Automata: For Dummies!

Magical Device Repair Guide #23

None of them told her what she wanted. Then she saw a different book, one she had never even thought about opening:

Archimaredes' Automata Appraisal And Accepted Activities

Twilight cracked it open, reading the table of contents. There, chapter thirty.

"'On magical maintenance; it is unknown of what spells were once used to assist specific Automatons. But it is possible that it is a mere animation spell. Of course, if this fails, perhaps a powerful combat spell would be enough to reboot any faulty systems. Of course this is only a-'" Twilight stopped reading and looked to her friends, still trying to wake up Fluttershy. A powerful combat spell, eh? Well, the Elements of Harmony could be used to solidify a draconequus and to remove the Nightmare Forces from Princess Luna's soul. That's pretty powerful combat magic, in Twilight's opinion.

She had reassembled the Automaton and carried it with a levitation spell into the center of the spacious room.

"Spike, go get the Elements."

"Sure thing, Twilight."

While he waddled away, Twilight cast a reviving spell at Fluttershy, who woke up immediately. When Spike had returned, they all placed on their respective elements while Twilight explained the plan. The others were skeptical.

"So lemme get this straight." Applejack said, hooking on the Element of Honesty, "we're gonna blast the thing ta the high-heavens and hope it wakes it up instead of vaporizin' it?"

"Well, if you put it that way... Yes."

"Fair enough."

They gathered together, the Elements of Harmony beginning to glow. Twilight began her spell, the magical energy flowing from each element into the crown on her head. Her horn began to shine dangerously. She bent low, and fired the shot directly at the machine's head. The magic died down, and the Elements returned once more to being shiny golden jewelry. They all waited, in hushed breaths.

The machine didn't move. Rainbow Dash began to snark:

"Well, THAT sure worked, I mean, c'mon how can-"

"I-Am-Scrappy. You?"

Good Morning, Equestria

Scrappy's internal clock was telling him it was morning. He wished to tell the six adult ponies and one baby dragon to have a 'Good Morning'. But the words were not yet accumulated to his recordings. He analyzed the area. Maker was not there. Scrappy felt un-energized. He felt low. He didn't know what this emotion was called, so he did not know what to do.

But he was sad.

He had taken a momentary power reserve so long ago. His internal clock couldn't calculate how long ago he had shut himself off. In fact, Scrappy couldn't tell how he had switched back on in the first place. Once he entered hibernation, only he could wake himself up. But he hadn't woken himself up. While Scrappy was conflicting with his information in his records, the girls were in a panic.

"It works!"

"It talks!"

"I think it's listening to us!"

Works. Talks. Think. It's. Listening. Us.

Scrappy was happily acquiring more and more recordings for his vocabulary.

"The way it spoke was so weird, though. It's like all these different voices saying different words... Creepy."

Way. It. Talked. Was. So. Weird (discarded, possibly profanity). Like. All. These. Different. Voices. Saying. Words. Creepy.

Scrappy's recordings and records told him he now had sufficient vocabulary to initiate a conversation.

"I-Am-Scrappy. Do-You-Think-I-Am-Creepy?" He asked. He felt pride that he had put together that sentence. The ponies turned and gaped at the Automaton.

"You-Talked-I-Listening. I-Repeat." Scrappy was less proud of that sentence. But it would have to do. He hoped that they would understand that he needed them to continue speaking so he could acquire more vocabulary.

"Darling, I think... I think that-that thing is talking to us!"

Darling (discarded, unknown word). That. Thing. Talking.

"I-Am-Talking."

"Darn tootin' he is! An' he's mimickin' our voices!" The orange pony could not help Scrappy. Her accent prevented him from identifying several of the words she used. A pity. She was one of the more talkative ones.

"These-Different-Voices-I-Repeat-Are-I-Talks."

Scrappy had been hoping for a more complete sentence, but his vocabulary wasn't extended far enough for that. He'd have to wait for the ponies to continue their chatter.

Instead, they all looked at each other and left the room. Scrappy felt that feeling again. He didn't know he was sad.

"Twilight, it's alive! You simply must send it back to Princess Celestia immediately, darling!"

"Now, Ah reckon Rarity's right. It's probably dangerous, an' we outta make sure we get it outta Ponyville."

"Hey, where's Fluttershy?" Rainbow asked aloud, looking about for the other pegasus. She was missing.

"Did she faint again? Or did she fly home?"

"Ah dunno, ah didn't see her."

They heard murmuring and creaking from the library they had ran out of. The five mares creaked open the door, peering in cautiously, ready to fight back should the strange metal pony attack them. Instead they saw Fluttershy speaking softly to the machine. It creaked and squeaked, recording every word she said. Every once in awhile, it would create a sentence using many of Fluttershy's recordings. Then she would praise it and reward it for more words.

Twilight went up to stand behind Fluttershy, and the pegasus looked up and smiled at her.

"Oh, hello Twilight. I was giving Scrappy here some more words."

"Giving him... some more words?"

"Yeah, that's how he talks. He listens, learns, and records words and then says them back, like a parrot. Except he can take those words and put them together, into sentences."

"I-Am-Like-Parrot. Fluttershy-Teach-Me-About-Parrots."

The Automaton had spoken up, and was staring at Twilight with seemingly empty sockets. She wondered how the machine could see without eyes or even cameras. Then she remembered he was built from ancient arcane science and unknown technology. The more Twilight thought about it, the more she wanted to study him. Dissect him, even. Because, after all, he wasn't alive. and she could always put him back together.

"Princess-Thinking-Long. What-About?" She whirled around to find the rusted Scrappy staring her eye-to-eye. For a hunk of old metal, he was pretty stealthy and quiet. She was readily impressed by his ability to speak, his voice was now mostly comprised of recordings of Fluttershy's voice, although the voices of the strange, aggressive stallions and the voice of a kindly, old stallion occasionally surfaced.

While the girls had been outside the library door deciding Scrappy's fate, Fluttershy must have been reading to him from a small dictionary.

"Fluttershy, we can't trust that thing." Twilight whispered to the pegasus as the Automaton tottered off, not having been given any instruction.

"But Twilight," Fluttershy said, in a naturally quiet voice, "look at him! He's not a monster, he's like a foal. He just wants to learn."

Scrappy had found a roach crawling about, and bent low to look at it with his empty eyes.

"Hello-I-Am-Scrappy. Who-You?" The roach began to crawl away and Scrappy simply shuffled after, keeping his eyes on it. "Wait-New-Friend-Come-Back! Acquire-Name-Please."

"Well, I'll just send it back to Celestia first thing in the morning."

"No please!" Fluttershy begged, "There's still so much I have to teach him!"

Twilight groaned and tried not to look into Fluttershy's watery puppy-eyes. Eventually, she gave in.

"Fine. I'll just write to the Princess."

To: Princess Celestia
Canterlot Castle, Canterlot
North Equestria

From: Twilight Sparkle
Friendship Castle, Ponyville
North Equestria

Dear Princess Celestia,

Hi, it's Twilight. I got your package and it's working.

It calls itself 'Scrappy'.

Yes, it can talk. And move. And see, and hear, and do anything else a pony can. Fluttershy had been teaching it new words, since it must learn in order to communicate. I was wondering if it would be alright if it stays with her. I would also like to be able to study it further. It seems to be magically controlled, like an animation spell, but its existence just doesn't make sense.

The animation spell that powers it is so odd. It could animate an actual solid statue of a pony. So I wonder why they chose to animate the Automaton. Maybe its because a statue wouldn't be able to see? Or talk? But it still doesn't make sense to me, because the actual engineering and clockwork put into this is astonishing. I still can't even begin to understand how this thing works. But Fluttershy had been keeping to it, and I've sent a letter to Time Turner to come and help her out with it. He seems more experienced with mechanics than I am.

Well, we're waiting for what you have to say about this thing.

Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle Princess Twilight Sparkle

To: Princess Twilight Sparkle
Friendship Castle, Ponyville
North Equestria

From: Princess Celestia
Canterlot Castle, Canterlot
North Equestria

Dear Princess Twilight,

I would like for Fluttershy to keep Scrappy with her. She seems to be very concerned for the well-being of the Automaton.

Also, I would much rather prefer for you to learn from this experience, not as a student to me, but as a student to Scrappy. The Automaton must have an incredible story to tell. We will be able to learn where Automata come from and why they used to exist in such large quantities. I would also have expected you, as Princess of Friendship to extend your ideals to even those who would not qualify as 'living things'.

With gratitude, Princess Celestia

Teatime: For Dummies!

Scrappy did not understand the concept of meals.

Of course, he required no sustenance of his own, his clockwork and magical energy providing a much more reliable source of power than organic materials he was expected to devour. So of course, when Fluttershy called for breakfast, he did not know that he was supposed to enter her kitchen along with the various fauna that shared her home.

He had assimilated quite nicely into her cottage. Scrappy was urinated on, scratched, scuffed, and hissed at. But he interpreted these noisy actions as being completely friendly. Fluttershy continually scolded animals as they emptied their bowels onto his leg armor, but he did not mind. It would potentially rust the remaining iron in his joints, but once it eroded completely, he would be able to have much smoother dexterity and agility. So in a way the urine was helpful.

"Animal-Urine-Good. Rust-Iron-Legs."

"What was that, Scrappy, sweetie?"

Scrappy decided to reword that.

"Never-Mind."

That was much more efficient.

Fluttershy returned to feeding her animals. Scrappy began to wonder why he had been ordered to come. But caught himself, and he allowed his mind to scold himself. He was never to question orders. He remembered long, long ago, when Maker's brother had order him to do a headstand. Scrappy was unable to do so, he was not built to be that way. But Maker's brother informed him that it was not an Automaton's position to question orders from ponies. Automatons are to take orders from ponies and nothing else. No matter how smart Maker claimed he was, Maker's brother said he was nothing but "a useless hunk of shit." Scrappy had not understood the meaning of the word 'shit'. But he could sense the other's aggression.

Scrappy stood there, watching Fluttershy. He did not wish to elicit a similar reaction in the pegasus.

Fluttershy gave him a confused look.

"What are you doing here?"

"Master-Called."

"Master? I'm not your master."

"My-Maker-Dead-Many-Year. You-Master-Now."

"Listen, Scrappy," Fluttershy sighed, "you don't need a master. You're not a slave. You're your own pony now. You're allowed to do what you want. Nopony can force you to do anything."

"I-Was-Built-To-Take-Orders."

"Maybe so, but that's no excuse. I'm a pegasus, pegasi are built to fly fast and control weather. I take care of animals. Everypony is built and destined for something. But that doesn't mean they have to be that way."

"I-Can-Change?"

Fluttershy beamed at Scrappy.

"Yep! You can be whoever you want to be! Now, who do you want to be?"

"I-Am-Scrappy."

"No no no, I know who you are, Scrappy. I want to know who you want to be."

"Scrappy."

"You want to be... Scrappy?"

"Yes-I-Was-Named-Scrappy-By-Maker. Maker-Said-You-Are-Scrappy. I-Am-Scrappy."

"Oh... my... well, good thing I know somepony who can help you."

If Scrappy found the concept of breakfast confusing, he found 'tea' to be even more so.

Placing a meal optionally between lunch and dinner? And naming it after the key beverage? Scrappy was curious to know if there was a drink called breakfast. Or maybe one named lunch. Or dinner.

He also did not understand the guest.

Scrappy's records could not identify the creature. Fluttershy referred to him as a "draconequus." Which would infer that the creature was of dragon and pony design. Or not design, but Scrappy couldn't find a better word for it. The creature resembled an adult dragon somewhat, but it in no way resembled a pony. Scrappy could see various parts from various animals. A lion's paw, an eagle's talon, a dragon leg, and a donkey hoof. A head resembling a zebra up until the long face. That was identifiable as a furry dragon's face, with mismatched pupils and scraggly hair everywhere. Atop the odd head was an antler and an ibex horn. His long furry body ended in a snake's tail with a tuft at the end.

Scrappy thought that draconequus was unsuitable. A better name would be dracoleoacciburrozebexian furred-serpent. Then again, draconequus was a much easier word for ponies without the leisure of a recorder to pronounce with their flesh mouths.

Mouths.

Another oddity to Scrappy. To form words, and maybe even new words? To make random sounds and speak unintelligibly and still be understood? Scrappy was glad he did not have a mouth. It would have been too much of a responsibility.

The Discord creature used it oddly shaped mouth to speak to Scrappy. Scrappy eagerly drank in the words, needing more information about this new world he resided in and the language it used.

"So you say that you cannot change?" Discord mused, drinking his teacup but not his tea. He tossed the suddenly solid block of tea away. Scrappy's records and gears were struggling to make sense of what he had just witnessed.

"I-Did-Not-Say. Fluttershy-Say-That."

"Ho hum, he said, she said, what I'm asking is do you feel like you can change?"

"I-Was-Built-For-Purpose-That-Is-To-Help-Ponies."

"Yes, that's all good and lovey-dovey and admirable, but if could change, would you?"

"No-My-Purpose-Is-Good-Purpose."

Discord dragged a talon across his face in exasperation. This conversation was getting nowhere. Time for some more chaotic methods of dealing with this sort of thing. Discord stretched his talon and then reached out to touch Scrappy's head. It had been quite some time since he had Discorded somepony...

"Discord, wait!" Fluttershy gasped, "What are you going to do to him?"

"Oh... I'm just going to open his mind, a little. A lot."

"O-Okay. Just be gentle with him. Scrappy is very old and very valuable."

"Don't worry," Discord announced boldly, "he's just a rusty old tin can. What's the worst he can do."

Seconds later, a deactivated Scrappy stood among the ruins of Fluttershy's cottage. The yellow pegasus had evacuated her animals the moment Scrappy went from caring, helpful little Automaton to unstoppable death machine. Discord was upside down, having been tossed into the ground painfully. The draconequus pulled himself up. He felt his spine snap painfully. He rubbed his back while he twirled a hoof. The various rubble, from glass shards to support beams, pulled themselves back together and reassembled into a furnished cottage.

"So that's the worst you can do." Discord scowled at the ticking statue. It was hard to imagine such a puny little shell full of gears could pack such a kick. And it was nearly as old as he was, as well.

"I told you to be gentle with him!" Fluttershy fussed as she flew back into the cottage, leading several of her scared pets along with her. Discord struggled with the urge to roll his eyes.

"Well, you should have told him to be gentle with me. I may be immortal, Fluttershy, but that thing is a menace-"

"Don't call Scrappy a thing! He is a living thing, like you and me."

"What do you mean? The machine is made of metal. Powered by magic. That doesn't mean that it's alive."

"He thinks! He talks! He moves, like us! He had emotions and thoughts and ideas..."

"That still doesn't mean he- I mean, IT, is alive."

"Then what makes YOU alive, Discord?"

The draconequus pondered this for a moment. Here he was, Master of Chaos, trying to explain the laws of reality to Fluttershy. Suddenly Scrappy's ticks grew in tempo, and the Automaton powered up once again.

"Hello-Fluttershy-Hello-Discord. Is-Tea-Over?"

The Automaton observed the warzone that had formerly been Fluttershy's cottage.

"Uh-Oh. House-Need-Cleaning."

Mad Science

"Princess-Twilight-Are-You-Sure-I-Am-Malfunctioning?"

The purple alicorn had lead Scrappy into a dark room. Nothing in it besides a table with straps and a tray filled with tools. She had lured him into the Friendship Castle with a guarantee that Scrappy was indeed falling apart. Which he wasn't. She only wanted to disassemble a little bit of him. Just to see how he worked. Then she would put him back together, seal him back up, and nopony would be any the wiser. Assuming she would be able to successfully reassemble the machine. But curiosity surpassed her fears, and she got to work, strapping in the clockwork pony.

Which was useless, because it didn't put up any fight whatsoever. Not even when she pulled out a ratchet and started unbolting the Automaton's entire chestplate. Beneath, Twilight marvelled at the glowing streaks of magic slowly spinning the many gears. A glass pipe travelled up the machine's throat from a large box in his chest, which Twilight assumed to be its voice-box.

"Spike, pass me the monkey wrench."

"Twilight... are you sure we should do this?" The baby dragon was looking at Scrappy with wide eyes. He didn't exactly like the machine either but this just seemed wrong.

"Spike, if we shouldn't do this, would we be doing it right now?" She snarked, finding the monkey wrench herself and struggling to remove Scrappy's voice box. She was knocking out a few gears, but Twilight figured she would put them back when she had removed and studied the voice box.

"Princess-Twi-Twi-Twi-Twi-Twi-"

Great. She broke it. Twilight smacked at the voice box, Scrappy's repeating voice becoming more high-pitched and scratchy. Spike covered his ears. The voice was beginning to get painful to listen to.

Twilight leapt up in surprise when the door slammed open and a very yellow and very angry pegasus swooped in.

"TWILIGHT WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Fluttershy screamed over the cries of the stuttering Scrappy. It was the loudest and by far the most enraged Twilight had ever seen her friend. Maybe she shouldn't have tried taking Scrappy apart.

"Scrappy? Scrappy, can you hear me? Scrappy, sweetie, if you can hear me, nod your head."

The Automaton twitched its head up and down rapidly. Twilight felt herself breath a sigh of relief.

"I'm so sorry, Scrappy," Fluttershy was telling the metal pony, "I thought it was fishy when Twilight told you that she needed to fix something. I should've stopped her right there..." As she talked, she was timidly placing back gears. Fluttershy only successfully replaced half of them. Scrappy was still having short spasms. Fluttershy began to scold Twilight, which made the purple alicorn just feel worse and worse.

"You should have known that the magic that gives him life also lets him FEEL things, not just emotions. He can feel PAIN. He told me so. You know, next time you have the urge to rip somepony apart, why not just ask it a few questions first? I know pretty much everything about how he works, and that's because we TALKED. Shame on you, Twilight Sparkle. Princess or not, that was the worst thing I have ever seen you do. And you're supposed to be the Princess of Friendship, too." Twilight was on the verge of tears.

"But... Fluttershy, it's just a machine."

"No! First Discord, now you. Scrappy can feel. He had a mind. He has a soul! I know he does! He's the sweetest, most kind and helpful pony I have ever met."

"The Automaton isn't even a male... they don't have gender. Scrappy is an it, not a he."

"So? That doesn't mean he's not a living thing!"

"Of course he... it isn't!"

"And why not?" Fluttershy demanded angrily, popping the last gear back in place. Scrappy let out a loud whirring sound. His squeal of repeating stopped, and the Automaton found himself able to talk once more. He adjusted his lenses to the dim light of the room and surveyed the two mares. Fluttershy, his new master, was experiencing symptoms of stress. He moved over, and gently rubbed her shoulders with his padded metal hooves. She visibly grew less tense.

"Oh... Thank you, Scrappy..."

"My-Pleasure-To-Help-Master."

"Scrappy, I've told you before, I'm not your-" but Twilight took this chance to make a very valid point.

"See? Scrappy can't even think for itself. All it ever DOES think about is how it can be of service to a pony. And it is definitely not capable of showing true emotion. Like happiness, sadness, love-"

But Twilight was interrupted by Scrappy.

"Scrappy-Love-Master. Master-Very-Kind. Like-Maker. Scrappy-Miss-Scrappy-Maker. Scrappy-Love-Maker."

Twilight let that sink in while Fluttershy patted Scrappy's head.

"There, there, Scrappy. It's okay. I'm sure you miss your creator a lot."

"Wait... Scrappy... you remember who built you?"

"Yes-I-Have-Recorded-And-Memorized-Every-Moment-With-Maker. Then-He-Left. Never-Come-Back. I-Sad-Long-Time. Then-Meet-New-Master-Fluttershy. I-Am-Happy-Now. She-Nice. Discord-Not-Nice. Princess-Not-Nice."

Twilight gasped as she realized, while it was extremely dim-witted and robotic in its motions, that was indeed a pony's soul locked in a machine. Scrappy COULD feel. And he could feel the most alive of emotions, he felt LOVE. He loved his maker, his creator. And he loved Fluttershy, the only pony who had been nice to him since they had managed to reawaken him with the Elements of Harmony.

"I'm... I'm so sorry, Scrappy... I didn't know..."

The Automaton regarded her, expressionless.

"Is-Okay-Princess-Twilight. I-Forgive."

He began to move towards her, and, before Twilight knew it, she and the oddly warm machine were hugging.

"Scrappy-Love-You-Too-Princess-Twilight. Scrappy-Love-Everypony. Even-Not-Nice-Pony."

Define Darling Please

"Oh, Rarity. Thank you so much for helping me out with Scrappy. I knew you'd be able to clean him, out of everypony else in Ponyville."

"Fluttershy, darling, I'm honored you'd come to me for assistance. Now what seems to be the problem?"

Fluttershy and Rarity were having an intense conversation, which Scrappy chose to ignore. They didn't really say any words he'd need in his databanks, so he decided to investigate the strange white-furred creature he had seen prowling Rarity's boutique. Scrappy had found he had a love for animals. And he had the intense desire to befriend the white one.

"Well... um... you see... one of my animals... I mean, I don't blame them, they really had to go... kind of went... y'know... on Scrappy's leg..."
"Oh dear! Scrappy, darling, in that case you better get off the Canterlotian rug."

Hearing his name, the Automaton teetered over to the mares and stopped, patiently awaiting any orders he may have missed. Rarity bent low and sniffed at his leg. She retched.

"Yes, yes. He does seem to need a washing. Fluttershy, darling, go into my closet there and grab the tub of jewelry cleaner. That should work on him. And Scrappy, darling, make yourself comfortable here on the floor." She tapped a hoof against the linoleum, well away from her precious rugs. Scrappy creaked over as he followed his orders.

When Fluttershy came back, she carried a sealed white bucket.

"Now Scrappy, darling, stand still while I clean your hoof."

Rarity popped open the container and levitated a brush over to it, where she dipped it into the strange-smelling liquid. She proceeded to wipe away at Scrappy's rusted leg. Scrappy could feel a tingling sensation as the cleaner wore away the scent of urine. The cleaner was so powerful that it removed the rust itself, leaving his leg now looking brand-new and positively gleaming. Sniffing in approval, Rarity went ahead and scrubbed at Scrappy's entire body, exposing the gleaming bronze and iron that lay underneath. Rarity and Fluttershy marvelled at his beautiful exterior. From the intricate designs etched across his body to the jutting pieces of interlocking armor, he truly was a masterpiece.

"Why Scrappy, darling, you're just absolutely fabulous! Like a walking accessory! Or an accessory that can wear clothes! Do Automatons wear clothes? Fluttershy do think Scrappy would look good in..." Rarity was rambling. Fluttershy merely stared at the Automaton with a peculiar look on her face.

"Scrappy... you know you can move now, right? I mean, if you want to..."

"Thank-You-Master-Fluttershy. But-I-Have-No-Need-To-Move."

"For the last time, I'm not your master! Nopony's your master! You are your own pony, Scrappy. You don't have to follow anypony's orders!" The pegasus fussed at him while the unicorn praised his armor. He was not sure whether to feel shame in his behavior or feel pride in his appearance.

So instead of placing himself in a mental lock, he decided to ask Rarity a question.

"Miss-Rarity-Please-Define."

"Define what, darling?"

"Please-Define-Darling."

"Well, Scrappy, darling is... darling is... um..." The white pony flushed red and sat her haunches. She was very suddenly deep in thought.

"Darling is... well, you see... it's an expression, darling. I mean Scrappy! It's an expression that means... um..."

Scrappy stood there patiently while the unicorn began to degrade slowly into a mental breakdown.

"It's... it's..."

Scrappy turned to Fluttershy, who was gaping at her friend with worry.

"Master-Fluttershy-I-Broke-Miss-Rarity."

"Darling, darling, darling... it means..."

"Oh my..." Fluttershy groaned with exasperation as the rocking unicorn lying on the ground and the stock-still Automaton staring at her both babbled on.