//------------------------------// // Some Assembly Reqquired // Story: Wheatley Meets The Ponies // by Zubric //------------------------------// “What?!” Wheatley said, spotting the vehicle they were about to board. The Marestream, as the ponies called it, was an RV with wings by any mathematical formula that would be far too small to provide any satisfactory lift. At the same time, the core thought of the human phrase about the humble bumble bee and how it flew anyway.  Opening the main door of the RV, Zipp paused and looked back. “Something wrong, Wheatley?” “Are you going to drive? There is no way this will fly.” Wheatley said as he observed the lack of any evidence of engines. “Magic,” Sunny chimed as she headed inside the RV as if that explained everything. Given the new world the robot was in now, that probably did.  Izzy carried the core inside, moving him side to side to show off the interior. “Well, it’s very…uh spacious?” Wheatleyreplied, getting a closer look, noticing that most of the cabin was empty despite the colourful walls. The main feature appeared to be a booth along one side with various windows to peer out at the world. Besides that, there were a couple of cupboards for storage.  The front of the RV was a simple seat lacking a backrest along with its controls being a controller with numerous buttons and knobs. The setup felt strange to the core. Didn’t most vehicles have a steering wheel? Eh, it was probably a pony thing. As the others climbed inside, Izzy glanced about the carbon, tilting her head. “Hmm, now that you mention it, it is rather roomy. But that just means more space for friends.”  She moved over to one of the windows, taking a seat and preparing to help Wheatley have a good view once they got going. Zipp hopped onto the driver’s seat and slid on her shades as she looked back with a smile. “Alright, Wheatley. Hold onto your bolts.” Gripping onto the controller, the Mare Stream roared to life and took the air. As the RV ascended, the core peered side to side out the window, trying to find any sign of the engines, but could find none despite hearing them. His optics glanced downwards after a while, taking a second glance at the landscape now that he wasn’t plummeting towards it. Rolling hills and pristine rivers swept by, looking untouched by civilization. Not that Wheatley had much experience with the surface, only having reference photos from inside the archives to base opinions on.  “It’s very peaceful up here,” he remarked before being sat back on the table as the RV shook just a bit from an updraft. “If you think that looks nice, just wait till we show you Bridelwood.” Izzy chimed as she showed off her charm bracelets. “We have these huge crystals that can glow and all sparkly like.” “Oh yeah, like during the music festival,” Pipp said, checking her messages. “But everything changed when the Troggles attacked.” She waved her hoof about before chuckling.  The other ponies just tilted their heads until Zipp glanced back. “It’s a joke based on a book she read.” She glanced back out the window, a bring spread across her face. “Alright, ponies! We're almost there.”  As they approached the towering building, Wheatley couldn’t help but let out a digital whistle at the view, reminded of Aperture's large open areas.  A  bell over the shop door jingled as the group entered, with Zipp gesturing around. “If anypony knows how to build a robot body, it would be this stallion.”  The main area of the shop was full of various mechanical toys and gadgets, with numerous clocks hanging upon the back wall. In the center of the zone was a large glass display case. Inside was a boxy robot with some saw blades on the front. A plaque proudly declaring it the champion of Bashathon three years running. Sunny let out a whistle as she gazed about at all the mechanical wonders. “Wow, this place looks amazing, Zipp.” “Hey yeah, just wait till you see the owner,” Zipp said, raising a hoof to her mouth as he called out the back. “Hey! Gearbox you around!” “Coming,” came the response as sounds of clattering metals were heard moments before the door behind the counter swung open, revealing the dark gray pegasus stallion with a scruffy silver mane speckle with black lines. On his head sat a pair of golden-trimmed safety goggles. Upon spotting Zipp, he smiled wide. “Zipper! It’s been a while. Staying out of trouble?” He teased with his soft yet deep voice that echoed about the room, oozing with wacky uncle vibes. “You could say I brought you a new challenge. Say hello, Wheatley.”  Zipp said, gesturing to the core as Izzy floated him into view. As Wheatley took in the details of the shop around him and the owner, he thought of all the numerous mechanisms in Aperture. He wagged his handles as he spoke. “Uh, hello. I'm Wheatley. So? Can you make me a body?” Gearbox’s eyes widened as he looked at the new mechanical wonder. Wanting to see more, he made his way around the counter and moved up to the core. “Wow, I’ve never seen anything like you before. And it talks?”  “He comes from space!” Izzy chimed in, skipping in place. “I sort of brought him down to earth.” Gearbox raised an eyebrow as he tapped Wheatley’s body some. “Really? So you’ve brought me an alien? That sure beats a music box.” “Music box? What is he talking about, Zipp?” Pipp asked, now being reminded of something. “Wait, was this box Silver with gold trim and a pink ballerina?” Zipp shook her head at Gearbox, but it was too late as he spoke up. “Why yes. Actually, why?” Pipp gasped, putting her hoof to her face as she looked at her sister with shock. “Sis, what did you do to our family heirloom?” Zipp’s wings fluttered as she shook her head. “Nothing okay. I may have accidentally knocked it off your dresser when I was in your room years ago.” her hoof snuffed the floor in a small circle as he continued sheepishly. “Besides, Gearbox fixed it up so well that you never noticed.” “Good as new, if not better,” Gearbox boasted, adjusting his goggles. Before the group could discuss further, a loud crash echoed about the room, causing everyone’s heads to turn. Poking his head out of the spilled pile of cogs and spring was sparky cooing and looking all innocent as he clutched a large gear in his claws. “Sparky!” Hitch groaned, moving over the baby dragon and peering back at Gearbox. “Sorry, I lost track of him for only a moment.” “Well, how about we get out of Zipp and Gearbox’s way? I can take you three along. We can even show little Sparky to the park.” Pipp said as she took a photo of the rather cute chaos. “Yeah, that’s a good idea, Pipp. If it takes longer than the rest of today, I’m sure you guys can stay at the castle.”  Sunny skipped some at the thought. “Oh, a sleepover, that sounds like a good idea.” Izzy helped Hitch clean up the cogs and gears, looking back at the gang with a grin. “Better than the dungeons.“ she blew a raspberry before she continued. “I can stay and help too. I did build Zipp’s goggles.” As the group of friends discussed plans, it left Wheatley with a moment to self-reflect. This new planet was so alien yet had a lot of familiar elements. The ponies that had taken him in he was starting to like. Even with the short time spent with them, he was beginning to enjoy their company. His current observation showed that Zipp seemed the most nosey of his past. It would be hard to keep it under wraps for long. Would it be easier to come clean? Maybe, but he had his doubts still. Perhaps he was worrying too much. The world felt somewhat passive. Glados most likely would have chalked them up as good test subjects. Wheatley whistled as he glanced about the workshop while being carried in, seeing the numerous shelves of various tools and mechanical parts, wires, and other electrical bits and bobs. It reminded him of the assembly line back areas of the Facility. Once placed on the steel central table, he peered at Gearbox curiously. “So, what kind of body will I get?” Izzy skipped in place as she replied with glee. “Oh! Oh! A pony body, right? I mean, that’s doable, right?” Zipp softly facepalmed with her wing, letting out an amused chuckle. “You saw Judgement Neigh, didn't you?” Her hoof slid parts around as she surveyed the different servos. “Maybe,” Izzy gave a cheeky grin as she turned Wheatley to the side and looked closely at his backside and the alien ports. “Why? What is wrong with a pony model? I’ve seen those animatronics before.” Wheatley’s optics quickly took a second look at the pony's hooves and other attachments, shaking his head some. “No offense, mate, but I’d rather not have some useless hooves. Do you have any hands? Those are great. Can open doors and shoot portal guns and push buttons.” The ponies around him once more gave him odd looks as silence filled the room for a second. “Hands?” Zipp asked, tapping her chin for a second before her hoof shot up a light bulb going off above her head. “Ah! I got it.” She turned to Gearbox and pointed about the shelves. “You’ve been to Moscow, Right? Must have something like Griffon claws around here somewhere.” “Or like Sparky claws, big chubby claws,” Izzy quipped as the trio moved to a large blueprint board on a side table, leaving Wheatley to sit and wait. Upon mentioning the goblin, the core can’t help but imagine himself with a flamethrower torching the pesky nature. A minute went by before Izzy smiled back at him. “Oh, I think you’ll enjoy what we got planned.” It was an hour and a half of a flurry of wires, gears, cogs, and various metal segments as the trio of ponies slowly assembled a body that could work for Wheatley. The core was currently staring at what would eventually be his new arms. The three-jointed servo ended in 4-digit pinchers. Zipp was across the table, slowly assembling a metal frame for the main body with various wires dangling loosely, all ready to be plugged in. He rocked side to side as he sensed Gearbox poking at his backports, trying to make sense of them. “Gah, hey what are you doing back there!” Gearbox shined a light into various parts as he tilted his head. “Oh sorry, just trying to figure out how to plug things in. Never seen this orientation before.” “Yeah, Aperture is definitely unique,” Wheatley remarked surprised when he saw another message pop up on his display  “Adapting? Again?” Before he could ask further, a blue light blinked on and off on the back briefly before his optic lit up causing a blue scanning line to sweep across the table “Gah!” The bean swept over the many parts of his new body in less than a few seconds resulting in a beeping sound from his chassis. Unseen by Wheatley, the trio of ponies watched as the ports started to reconfigure a more usable interface. Perhaps a few of the nanobots from the facility were still lingering on his body. “Wow! Did you see that?” Zipp asked, amazed.  Izzy leaned in closer to look at the new equipment nodding in reply. “Oh yeah, he got quite the sparkle.” Spinning the core around she smiled at him. “That was quite the light show. Can you do it again?” “I-I don’t know. I didn’t even know I could do that. Probably because of that update or whatever from before.” He watched as diagrams rushed before his optics for a few seconds before they went away but paid it no mind for the time being. If it meant getting a new body, then he would deal with the funny magic. Gearbox adjusted his work goggles and chuckled. “Well, whatever magic that was, it has just made our job easier. It should only take another hour. Don’t you think?” Zipp nodded, twirling a wrench in her hoof as she smirked. “Let’s get to it.” The bell above the door rang out as the rest of the gang returned to the store, Pipp calling out. “Zipp we got your text. My fans can’t wait to see what Wheatley looks like.” Zipp entered the main floor with a smile, Gearbox behind her as she nodded. “Oh yeah, I think you’ll be impressed,” she said proudly.  Izzy nodded in agreement as she joined them now seeing that Sparky was wearing a mini tuxedo and shades. “Huh? What did we miss?” She asked, pointing to the drake. Hitch chuckled. “Yeah, funny story about that,” he started only to stop when he heard a thunk from behind the door as the sound of some cardboard boxes falling was heard. “Oops, sorry. Still getting used to these things,” Wheatley called out, some servo sounds being heard. Zipp chuckled before calling back. “Well? Come on out! Let’s show them all what you got.” As everypony eagerly watched the doorway, the sounds of treads vibrated as Wheatley wheeled into view. His lower half consisted of dual treads for his legs painted with blue and white pallets. The main metal frame of his body had matching colours as various servos and wires snaked up like a spine. Plastic coverings ensured that no cords would get snagged as he bent. Servos spread out to form broad shoulders, both sides having joints to simulate an upper torso. Each arm ended in a hand mimicking that of a minotaur’s with three fingers and a thumb painted a solid white. Wheatley waved with his new hand as his head moved on a swivel held in its little frame to allow for a full range of motion with a thick bundle plugged into his ports, similar to a spinal cord. “Hello. Check me out! I got hands, haha!” Wheatleysaid with glee, having enough flexibility to clap his hands together. As he gave a thumbs up, updated info idly scrolled through his vision. He was surprised at just how easy this had all been to set up. At least he now knew how those testing robots felt. He moved into the more open area in front of the counter before circling slowly, showing off his form. “Wow, you three did a great job,” Sunny said, admiring the machinery at work. Pipp flapped her wings as she held up her phone live streaming as the robot posed and adjusted his new body. “Oh yes, my pipsqueaks love your new look.” She said, watching all the little emojis slide along the side of her screen.  In return, Wheatley tried a muscle flex motion with his arms, feeling good about the praise. Although without any muscles, it just came across as silly. “Oh yeah, I like it too, much more freedom than some dumb rail.” “Glad I could help the princess’s new friend,” Gearbox tipped his goggles with a smile. “Try not to break our new toy.” “Hey, I am not a toy!” Wheatley said, startled, relieved somewhat when Zipp chuckled at the remark, clearly having been just a light jab. “Oh! Har-har, very funny.” Zipp moved up to her friends as she patted the core’s new back. “Hey, it’s all cool.” She beamed, checking the time as she moved to stand alongside her sister. “Well, it's almost supper. Might as well treat our friends to some castle catering, don’t you think?” “Sounds great,” Hitch chimed as Sparkly rubbed his tummy, causing the mares to chuckle at the sight. The group does a round of thanks before exiting into the evening streets With Wheatley wheeling behind, now free to foam on his own. As the group moved down the street to the palace, the core couldn’t help but wonder what he’d get up to next. Whatever it would be, he’d just have to find out.