"No! I'm not dealing with you two again," the mechanic shouted angrily whilst picking the pipe back up. "You even destroyed my wall wit these-eeeYeee!" He flinched after seeing what exactly was present in his home. The maker's gaze focused primarily on Rahllup and her flame-face then trailed towards Dissonance and the charred machine. "...Where do you even find t-No!" He chastized himself and smacked the sides of his head with his partially clenched hands. "Get out!" he ordered. He walked up towards Rahllup and started beating her with his pipe.
"Hey! W-stop it!" the giant pleaded whilst bending away and raising her arm.
"No! Get out! I don't want to deal with you again!"
Annoyed, Rahllup caught the pipe and ripped it out of the aged maker's hand, causing him to fall to the floor. The giant crushed the pipe in her hand, tossed it aside, and readied for a backhanded slap.
"No, Rahllup, you're going to kill him!" Biddy shouted.
"Ah ain't gonna slap him that hard!" Rahllup shouted. "Just 'nough to teach 'em some manners," she stated calmly. "Now stop hittin' people you d--"
The flame-faced machine was punched hard into the wall by the colossus which had been previously watching everything passively. Its insides whine sharply as it put its own functions into overdrive. One of the tanks containing the black energy was pierced, and a furious black cloud started leaking from it, devouring everything it could.
"Plug the hole!" Dissonance howled in panic.
Rahllup detached the pack and charged angrily at the colossus while the sisters and Galah grabbed whatever metal scraps were lying about to block the leak while Dissonance ran around looking for welding equipment. The giant and the colossus were embroiled in battle -one that the maker's creation was winning- while the tank continued to leak. As for the charred machine, it just watched the events unfold silently.
"I can't find anything to weld the metal!" Dissonance shouted in a panic.
"Angry little thing," Biddy commented. The energy was pounding angrily at the metal slab she and the sisters had placed on the hole. "We need to keep this inside! We'll run short of energy quicker, and Rahllup is already likely burning through hers."
"Get out of the way!" a familiar voice shouted angrily. The maker pushed in-between the arms of the trio and held up a blue-colored jelly-like substance in one hand and multiple yellow nails in the other. "You can't seal away black energy or contain it with metal." The metal scrap was almost shot through the mechanic when Biddy let go, but he was quick enough to place the blue jelly before too much energy leaked out. It quickly compressed itself in reaction to the contents of the tank and fused into said tank's material. "The chemicals of this compound will get hyper-excited in reaction to black energy, and these tacks should hold it in place, solidifying it in contact with itself." He chuckled. "Interweaving molecules keeps the solid and malleable parts from breaking off each other." The maker looked to the two fighting and bellowed. "That's enough!"
The colossus backed away and left Rahllup to get a free hit in...if Biddy and Galah hadn't pulled her away.
"Although I'm loathe to say, as I don't want to add more aggression to the air, if we had our actual bodies I don't think this ramshackle machine would have survived Rahllup," Biddy commented as she watched the colossus return to the maker.
"Your what?" the engineer spurted out after a pause.
"We're the cores of our bodies," Biddy explained. "I figured mentioning something about us might incentivize you to hear us out."
The maker looked Biddy up and down and leaned towards Rahllup. "You're not cores," he stated with annoyance. "That kind of concept never went past the theoretical stage." He pointed at the flame-faced giant. "Maybe that slapped-together one could have been designed with that idea, but no way you're the same. Your design is too intricate." He noticed the charred machine standing next to the damaged wall, waiting for an opportunity to flee if things got worse. "And how is that one even still functional?" The maker looked at the sisters and shouted once more. "Where did you even get these weird things?! No, the question should be 'how' instead."
Luna floated forward while Dissonance explored the junkyard and analyzed everything to its heart's content. "We came here so you could register these machines under your name while they're in the blue."
The maker crossed his arms and shook his head obstinately. "Nope. Nup. Nnnn nnn. Not happening. You're liable to bring in some freakish incidents my way if I do that. Go ask someone else."
Luna rubbed her chin pensively, trying to come up with a solution. This maker adored all things robotic, and the machines she brought back were of the black. Perhaps there was a solution. "Do you know what the 'gray' is?"
The maker's arms dropped and he stared limply at the blue machine. "The what?"
"The gray." Luna gestured to Biddybee who stepped forward. "The PABs we encountered crashed when they saw her, calling her a 'machine of the gray'."
"I am from a canceled line of next generation robots that were meant to be deployed in the black," Biddy explained. "My caretaker found me and rebuilt me along with Rahllup."
There was a long pause before the maker spoke again. "I honestly can't say that I've heard of anything called 'the gray', although I did hear rumors that those of the black were developing a new energy source. When nothing came the people became jaded and the rumors died out." He remained pensive whilst looking at Celestia pull the charred machine closer. "Considering tensions between the two energies, it would surprise me that the black wouldn't have developed anything while we're developing pink energy." He approached Biddydee and started grabbing, wiping off, and observing every inch of her triangular body. "But a prototype and of the gray, you say? Such a fascinating design. It vaguely reminds me of those two that came here randomly while exploring. That you're still able to function on the black is a marvelous feat of engineering. Was it this 'caretaker' you mentioned that allowed this to work?"
Biddy shook her head. "No. Pa just fixed up my broken bits and powered me back up."
"Pa?" the engineer repeated in disbelief. "Then they were somehow aware of something wrong and tried to compensate for it with some foresight." He looked to Rahllup, now calmed down, looking over the husks of newly acquired machines. "And I suppose that one is just cobbled together?" The triangular machine nodded. "Then it's a scrapyard bot, much like my own. I would very much like to meet this 'Pa' and know how he made you two."
"Can you take a look at this machine?" Celestia asked.
The charred machine was doing its best to hide behind Celestia but couldn't fight her grip, allowing the engineer to approach it and observe from a close distance.
"How in the world is it even working? All its power cables are damaged or exposed and just from looking from the outside its components are all partially destroyed." The maker's voice took on a somber undertone. "This is abnormal. I fear this thing might be older than it appears to be. I don't know if I even have the tools or parts to fix it."
"What do you mean?" Celestia asked. "It cannot be very old. Without active maintenance it--"
"Look at it!" the engineer interrupted loudly. "This thing is a model I've never even seen before, and its body is in pieces." He stammered, trying to find proper words to convey the situation. "We barely have any data, if any, on previous energy used. The only proof they ever existed is the waste we can find when it pops up. Wh-wh-what if this is a machine from that era which somehow found a new way to sustain itself, a way that circumvents all known logic and laws of physics? What if this energy we're using is doing something to us and the world and we aren't aware of it?" There was a long moment where he metaphorically slobbered over the charred machine before realizing what he had been doing and sputtered multiple times. "Don't think this changes anything! I still want you out of here!" He slowly shrunk down. "A-after I look at these machines of the black." The engineer cleared his throat and straightened himself out, displaying his paunch. "It's a rare opportunity to get any machines of the black here in such conditions, let alone fully functional."
"You know, those PABs didn't seem like as much of a threat as I thought they were when you introduced them," Twilight explained. She was lying down on the ground with her forelegs crossed. "I'm assuming, judging by the name, that they're just the first line of defense?"
"Oh wow. Your student didn't need everything explained to her like an expositional prose of a story," Luna said flatly whilst staring at the alicorn.
Celestia slapped her in the back of the head. "You're right, Twilight Sparkle. They're the patrol and assistance bots, so it stands to reason that they weren't designed with handling potential 'super threats'." She gestured with quotation fingers. "The blue is very different from the black in that they don't show anything...aggressive up front. They're sort of hidden until something warrants their appearance. As far as I know, by the time we were active, they weren't ever sent out as the PABs were always sufficient."
"Biddydee and Rahllup were just too abnormal for them to handle, and as you saw, Biddybee's mere existence caused system crashing," Luna explained.
Twilight's creased her eyes. "Then, what is it that they use? Is it dangerous?"
The colossus was holding down the charred machine while the engineer shone a light through the holes in its body, humming and mumbling to himself while he worked.
"The cables transferring power through the whole thing aren't even connected," Celestia overheard him say. He sat up onto his knees and grabbed a dirty cloth lying on the floor to wipe his hands with. "I'll need a moment to think about what to do." He watched Dissonance complaining loudly and taking his fluffy scarf off to pat it hard and chase off the dust. "What in the world."
Noticing the maker's gaze, Dissonance moved forward with a haughty and quite revolted demeanor. "Sir, I wasn't told that this...establishment would be so dirty and dusty," they stated matter-of-factly. "Why is your place of work so dirty?"
The engineer stared at the flamboyant machine, dumbfounded. "Who messed with your hull? That's an awful welding job." The maker did his best to not laugh at the sight and behavior of this strange contraption before him.
Dissonance looked down at their chest and were quick to cover themselves back up. "N-no one did that. I did it to myself."
The engineer shook his head. "How? And why?"
"To add the blue to my insides for my theater displays!" Dissonance declared loudly.
"You're working on both..." the engineers said in monotone. He shook his head. "I need new plating to weld onto this thing's body as well as a plethora of wiring. There should be more than enough in one of my storage warehouses." He pointed at Biddy with his flashlight. "You, triangle, hold this thing down. I'll see about its voice box later on."
Biddy's body clicked as she glared at the maker. "Right."
The colossus was sent to the warehouses to recover the needed parts, leaving the engineer to look at the hole in his wall and grumble angrily. "I'm surprised you two even came back." The maker sat down, grunting the whole way. "I thought I was finally free of you." He rubbed his forehead and rotated his neck. "I'm getting too old for this."
"Well, we haven't been gone that long," Celestia said.
Her response was met with a dumbfounded expression. "You've been gone for over two years." Luna and Celestia's bodies seized up while the maker chuckled to himself. "Oh right. Of course. Entities like yourselves can't perceive time like we do." The two machine's lights started to flicker as they stared at themselves and the world around them, something that didn't go unnoticed. "Is something wrong? Power supplies malfunctioning?"
"We weren't gone that long," Celestia said.
"But you have, though. I'm certain you noticed the expansion of my terrain and the...better walls." The engineer coughed awkwardly.
"We weren't gone that long..." Luna repeated.
"Oh, I know what's happening," Dissonance said.
The engineer flinched and fell backwards. "You're still here?!"
The flamboyant machine put a hand on the two machine's shoulders and pulled them down into a hug. "We all know what you're going through right now. You're aware of the time but don't see it as they do. Events are just that to us: Events. Until you can create a way to affix your perceptions it'll be like this constantly for you, I'm sorry."
"But...we weren't gone that long..." Celestia said with a distorting voice.
Twilight stared silently at the princesses with giant eyes, teachers who seemed absent-minded.
"We learned how to perceive time like everyone else," Luna shrugged. "After being able to take on organic forms, we started learning about various points during the day to mark the passage of time."
"Sleeping is one of those," Celestia squeaked. "And one of the most enjoyable, I'd say."
Luna started counting off her 'fingers'. "There's also the moments of the day like breakfast, lunch, and dinner." Her arms drooped. "Took us....took us a while to understand and learn how to eat and drink, among other more revolting necessities." She looked at Celestia from the corner of her eyes. "Of course, not all of us learned that they didn't need to eat incessantly during the day, such as my sister and her cake obsession."
The white machine snapped out of her daze and clenched her fists and dropped them to her sides. "It's not an obsession!"
Her sister stared at her and spoke in an exhausted, deadpan voice. "You ate ten of them in an hour yesterday." Celestia remained silent. "They were wedding cake sized. You could fit two ponies in each of them."
The solar princess huffed several times before turning her back. "You're exaggerating. They weren't that big."
"I'm pretty sure your anchor points in time are based on how much cake you eat and when you eat the next one...or onezzz," Luna mocked derisively.
Twilight had tuned out of the conversation the moment she heard of 'anchor points'. Would she be in the same situation? The musty stench of the old cave became more pronounced as new fears started to consume her. Would her future feel stale and demented the longer she went on?
"You're unlikely to feel the same way as we do, Twilight," Celestia reassured. Twilight snapped her attention to her former teacher. "You grew up as an organic, we didn't. You have ways to anchor yourself regardless of how old you get, but things will get tiring the longer things go on for you if you don't remain active," Celestia explained. The white machine heaved a sigh. "It was like that for us, unfortunately. Became really exhausting just to be active all the time."
"And no pad, so we couldn't even go to 'sleep'," Luna added. She 'lied down' in the air, placing her arms behind her head and crossing her legs. "Don't even need to recover power anymore. Just have to stand in place and we're replenished."
"To be fair, we were offline for most of the time we have existed," Celestia added. She shrugged. Twilight's distress didn't escape Celestia who leaned over her former student. "You needn't worry, Twilight. We're still here. If ever you feel you have any troubling thoughts invading your head," The white machine 'climbed' Twilight's muzzle with her fingers to reach her head. "then you can come to us. Just make sure that you don't tell anypony about our actual forms," she asked.
"Not like they would believe her anyways," Luna said dismissively.
"Well, let's get back to our story to take your mind off things."
"And the lands of the black are covered by some kind of permanent cloud? That drops snow on everything?" the engineer repeated with enthusiasm. He was sanding down the burnt body of the charred machine and laser-cutting parts with far too much damage to be repaired. The 'patient' seemed intrigued by the bright light the laser produced and no longer needed to be held down while it was worked on.
"That's right. Figured this place'd be the same," Rahllup noted. She looked around and stared at the sky. "That open sky terrified me, as did the sun. Thought it was just a bright white light in the sky. Had no idea it'd actually be that bright," she looked towards the sisters and her flames flickered. "Still believe that yer sky is just cause of that blue energy you're usin'."
The engineer chucked away a piece of bent shard metal and nodded. "I suppose that would make sense with what you told me, although how anything managed to survive where you live is beyond me." He dropped his tool and wiped his forehead, taking a moment to breathe. "I would've preferred to work in my workshop rather than on the floor." He grunted in pain and put a hand to his back. "I'm getting too old for this. Need a bionic spine."
Dissonance placed their hands on the male's back and started vibrating. "I'm an actor of many talents," the flamboyant machine declared. "The comfort of my public is always the priority!"
"That-! Actually, that feels nice. Wof." The engineer let his body go limp as his muscles were stretched out and relaxed. He looked at Dissonance, noticing the 'teeth' displaying a haughty looking face with closed eyes and a bow tie under its chin. "Printed discs?"
"Yes. I made it myself from cobbled together scrap and refuse." They shrugged. "Not the best origin story of one of my modifications, but it's served me greatly to get emotions across thanks to my lack of proper facial movement."
"And who modified you?"
"I modified myself."
Dissonance was met with a look of confusion and outright disbelief and amazement. "I can't believe that. A machine modifying itself," the engineer laughed. "That pair really finds the strangest of machines."
The group heard a thump of metal partially muffled by the dusty land absorbing most of the impact and spitting dust into the sky. The colossus rushed forward towards a gate entrance on the blacked side of the building.
"What's happening?" Rahllup asked.
"Someone opened the gates, but only I can do that," the engineer spoke stoically.
He looked on grimly at his colossus standing tall, threatening whatever had breached his security. Galah was the second to take a look at them, at which point his systems started screaming.
"What?! They're still in service?!" he shouted.
Dust followed behind Galah as he rushed past the engineer, quickly joined by the charred machine. A pair of machines stepped out from the blind spot, revealing themselves. Their bodies were bulky and armored and looked like they had been divided into several different sections. They were very angular, and the edges of their 'sections' raised and closed like flaps, releasing steam with each action. Their heads were an assembly of lozenges, making that their ocular receptors were fused into a single black lens above and below their relatively flat noses composed of multiple layers of rectangular metal that stretched forward almost into a point. The back of their heads revealed something of a gap, along with two sharp extensions of overlapping, hollow cubes. Celestia found them to look like overly complicated pieces of bismuth. Five digits with similar features to the 'horns' extended from thick forearms, but the wrist joints could not be seen. Instead, a long bill of metal hung threateningly above the fingers. That said digits seemed able to retract wasn't a good sign.
"A disturbance was detected. Multiple PABs were found incapacitated within the vicinity of this area," one of them declared. Unlike the PABs who still had a strong and imposing-but-gentle voice, these things' voices were far deeper and much more aggressive. "We are conducting an investigation to determine the source."
Rahllup scoffed, her flame crackled, and she brought her companion with her. "Ah don't think these guy's've understood yet."
"I agree with my sister. It would be best to deal with them again and then be registered, provided you're still in agreement to that," Biddy added as she spoke to the engineer.
Galah watched them silently from his hiding place behind several piles of old, rusted machine chassis. Rahllup grabbed the head of one of the machines, intent on crushing their heads then being through with it. Her systems whined at the resistance they faced, but then came a loud 'clonk'. The sisters floated out of the way and both Dissonance and the Maker had to dive to avoid the giant flying across the yard and against the walls.
"I didn't think I'd ever see those things," the maker said in a hushed tone. "Those haven't been used in a very long time." He rubbed his chin. "I can't remember how long for the life of me. Some 'expert' in machine I am," he grunted as he forced himself up. Biddy was forced to the ground by the other machine then left alone as they approached the maker, towering over him as the regular PABs did. "Can I help you with your investigation?" he asked the first one.
The second was the one to speak. "Disturbances point to these machines within your compound." It pointed to Biddy. "Some here are of the black, but that machine is of the graaa---ay."
The make shrugged and feigned ignorance. "Of the gray? Is that a new energy source we're working on? I thought we were working on the pink," he responded innocently.
"You are in possession of an illegal, classified material," the machine continued.
The maker scratched his chin. "I was under the impression, after initial tests, that it was of the black. I gave it black energy and it functions just fine with it."
The armored PABs two sets of eyes glowed brightly behind their pitch-black, angled 'visors' and screeched almost inaudibly during whatever process they were performing.
"Error-error-error-error-err-Acknowledged," it blurted quickly. The maker heaved a sigh of relief. Luna could see his body trembling in fear despite keeping a stoic appearance. "You are in illegal possession of machines of the black. These machines have caused damages to the outside and harmed many."
"You cannot put the blame on me when I have yet to register these deliveries, and how do you know they're responsible?" he asked.
"Damages conform with their physical traits," the first explained. "Extensive strength of the larger models conforms with hull deformities in PABs."
The engineer cleared his throat and tried to sound as 'smooth' as possible. "They were meant to arrive to me as a new shipment." He chuckled. "But the idiots tampered with them!" He suddenly became loud and furious, startling the sisters. "They activated and fueled these machines and, as I hadn't checked their programming nor limited their capabilities, all of this occurred!" He sighed and placed a hand on his face. "As for why I have them, I am legally permitted as one of the few allowed to actively experiment and recover machines of older generations for restoration, study, and eventual potential donation to a museum or to make use of them at my discretion. That, and it seems they were at least preprogrammed with the location of my junkyard here."
The first machine stomped forward and pulled the maker towards its visors aggressively. Not liking this, the colossus stomped forward, ignoring Galah's warning. The second armored PAB spun around quickly, bracing for the impact the machine was going to make. It clearly underestimated it as it slid a foot closer to the maker. Massive hands enclosed upon it, forcing the smaller machine into a squeeze, but it was resistant. Slowly, the hands eventually came to a stop, and the segments of the PAB opened, expelling large quantities of super-heated air. The metal hands of the colossus slowly crumpled from the strength of its opponent as it was gradually pushed back.
"Stop!" the maker ordered. "It is meant to protect me and my property," he explained to the first armored PAB. "Your aggressive approach to verify my identity and legal jurisdiction set it off. I never saw a reason to make exceptions to the threats since PABs don't usually come here."
"There are no shipment manifests pertaining to these machines of the black," the second armored machine stated. "Maker error in place. Machines of this standard cannot be shipped without notice."
"Correction: We are not PABs," the first armored machine stated.
"Then what do I c..." The maker caught himself. "What is your designation?"
"Credentials permits divulgence of minor information," the machine declared. Containment, Elimination, Suppression unit 56 series 57-ZZL. Slated for decommissioning thirty seven years, twenty-seven days, four hours, and thirty-seven minutes ago. Postponed until further notice."
"Containment, Elimination, Suppression unit 122 series 3-QFP," the other one declared. "System diagnostics optimal. Functions nominal. Decommission slated in ten years rounded up."
The maker crossed his arm. Luna watched the colossus move towards the wall to pull Rahllup out. "I"m not allowed to work on you even if you had issues without express permission from the ones charged with your construction and regular maintenance," the engineer explained sternly. "That said," he sighed. "I'll still fix all the damaged PABs free of charge." His voice lost energy as he seemed to die inside with every word spoken.
"I don't like this," Celestia said to her sister. "The CES are military-grade machines of very advanced design that are only brought forward when something really bad is happening."
"Like the PABs getting squished by Rahllup and Biddydee?" Luna added.
Celestia shook her head and stared intently at the armored machines. "A large group of PABs would have been able to subdue the two." She looked to the maker, her programs coalescing into a strange mess of code. Stress, was it? "Does he know anything?"
"Hey, wouldn't they know about us?" Luna wondered. "We've been missing for a long time."
"If it was a priority we would have been apprehended already."
The CES picked the engineer up, put him back on his feet, then boxed their heads to the side and slowly left, leaving everyone in a stupor.
"Why did they leave?" Luna asked.
"They're going to verify the new information I've given them, and I have twenty-four hours to register all your friends under my name as active machines while they also investigate whatever happened at the docks and the port, wherever you came from." He dusted himself off and bounced in fright when his colossus dropped Rahllup in front of him. "You idiots are lucky I have such clearances and authorizations to my name. Wasn't easy to get them. I can register you all right away, but at some point they're going to take me away for personal interviews on the incidents."
"What a rush! Such tension!" Dissonance said. "I'm furiously writing multiple notes and plays on my storage drives." They bounced in place, clapping furiously. "I wasn't expecting that. At all!" Their 'teeth' were spinning furiously the whole time they marveled at the events that had just unfolded.
Galah, on the other hand, was still hiding along with the charred machine. Whatever was wrong with them, they weren't going to tell. At least, Galah wasn't going to tell. The sisters were used to the skittishness of the charred machine.
"Rahllup isn't reactivating!" Biddy shouted. She had accompanied the colossus carrying the flame-faced machine over.
"It just never ends with you all!" the engineer complained. He smacked his palm with the back of his other hand while he spoke. "Just. One. Thing. After. Another. No room to breathe!" Rahllup was lowered by the colossus so the maker could get a better look at her. He went along the contours of a deep dent in her torso with his fingers pensively. "Might've shattered something in this ramshackle body of hers," he said while tapping the machine with the back of his hand. "I should be able to fix her right away, maybe even give her an upgrade. I likely have more parts available to me than the one who made you. Mm, what was their name again?"
"We call him 'Pa'," Biddy explained.
"Well, I have more available to me here than this 'Pa'." He looked over his shoulder to the charred machine peeking over the pile serving as its hiding place. "Then I can get back to that bizarre mess of wires and metal." He went to the warehouses, closely followed by a nervous Biddydee and a giant colossus whose sentience was still a mystery to the sisters.
Galah looked around and slowly came out of his hiding spot, visibly drooping from the current in his body lowering and was joined by the sisters and Dissonance.
"Quite a reaction you had there," Dissonance commented slyly. They leaned forward and booped Galah's face. "I figured a dense machine like you wouldn't be so scared of them. Aren't you a military-grade robot?"
"I don't know, but you don't mess with those things." He tapped his head several times with a semi-closed fist. "What were they called?"
"CES," Celestia answered flatly. "Employed during times of crisis within the blue."
Dissonance stared at her. "And those two squishing their weaker siblings counted as a crisis?" he asked derisively.
Celestia shook her head. "As I told my sister, a group of PABs could have subdued them. Judging by the damage incurred and how far she flew, I can come to the conclusion that they weren't sent here just because of the damaged PABs and a few wounded makers because of the stowaway."
"Then...then why would they be out here? Were they already active?" Dissonance asked.
They were met with a shrug as a response.