//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: Music Machine 
// by LockandKeyHyena 
//------------------------------//

“Twiiilight! You shouldn’t have!”
“Oh, please, Rarity, it was nothing.” The bespectacled mare adjusted the glasses resting pointedly upon her snout, sparing herself a small but self-satisfied grin that betrayed her true feelings.

“It most certainly was not!” The white-furred unicorn feigned mock indignation, tripping over her ornate gown in her haste to make her way over to her companion. “What with the war going on and automaton parts being in short supply, this must have cost a fortune! Not to mention the fact that all the steamsmiths are preoccupied-” She stops suddenly, “Twilight. Darling. My most beloved in all of Equestria. Do not tell me you made her all by yourself.”

The purple unicorn let her chest puff out slightly, once again failing to contain her pride. “Well, technically I got help from Sunset Shimmer but she only assisted in putting together the blueprints so really- oof!” Twilight was interrupted in her spiel by a positively delighted Rarity sweeping her off her hooves.

“Oh darling! You did this all for moi?!” She peppered kisses across her marefriend’s face.
“Rarity!” Twilight spluttered out in between kisses, “Don’t you want to turn it on? Not that I’m complaining, in fact-“
Twilight was interrupted again as her assailant let out a gasp and turned her attention to the automaton standing, unresponsive, across from them.

She was small, reminiscent of a filly, and coated in white paint that reminded Rarity of a porcelain doll. Her pink and purple facsimile of a mane fell in neat curls over her neck and her tail elegantly rested behind her. The most stunning part, however, was the large gramophone attached to the automaton’s back.

“Right! Of course- what’s her name?”
“Well I was expecting for you to name it, but I’ve just been calling it UA-2.1”
“Twilight! You can’t expect me to call her a number, can you?”
“I wasn’t! That’s why I said you can name it!”
“And stop calling her ‘it’! She’s most certainly a ‘she’.”
“Right, of course. What are you going to name i- her?”

Rarity squinted rather inelegantly at the automaton, letting the tall, dark archways of the house frame her pale white coat.

“How about Sweetie Belle?”
“I think that’s a lovely name, Rarity.”
“So how do we turn her on? I’m in the mood for a dance.”
“Oh that’s easy enough, here- let me show you.”
Twilight guided Rarity’s hoof to the button positioned on the automaton’s flank. In an instant, the small filly sprang to life.

“Hello, Rarity!” She chirped in a tinny, pre-recorded voice. “What composition would you like to listen to today?”
Rarity let out a distinctly un-ladylike squeal of excitement and leant over to give her marefriend another kiss on the cheek.
Twilight looked distinctly pleased with herself.
“Ahem,” The purple mare cleared her throat, “play ‘The Automaton’s Waltz’.”
Shooting a sheepish glance at her lover, Twilight offered her hoof, “I thought it was a fitting choice.” Smiling back at her, Rarity took her hoof and swept the two of them away in a dance, dwarfed by the extravagant architecture of the house.

Sweetie Belle looked on.

And played music.