//------------------------------//
// No Conscience 
// Story: Manufactured Emotions 
// by Bright Keys 
//------------------------------//

“He’s coming back online Volt.” A familiar voice said as Alpha once more found himself on the pedestal where he was first activated.
“What a relief,” Volt sighed, swimming before Alpha’s eyes. 
“How do you feel?” he asked.
“I believe the word is tired,” Alpha replied, “But other than that, all systems are green.”
“One of the wires in your generator was malfunctioning but we’ve replaced it and you should be fine from now on.”
“That’s good. Shouldn’t something like that have shown up on a diagnostic?” Alpha asked.
“It should have,” he frowned, “If you don’t mind, I’d like to look at that some time. But not now. Now, you should go relax.” He helped the robot to his feet. 
Alpha looked at the other pony, and noticed that he was the same one that activated him and rebooted him at the party. “Who are you?” He asked.
“My name is Copperwire.” The other replied. “I helped design your software and circuitry. Make sure that the technicalities run smooth and stuff like that.”
“Oh, here,” Volt said, levitating Alpha’s bandana to him and tying it around his neck, “We had to take it off to work on you. Where did you get it?” 
“Flitter gave it to me at the party.” Alpha said. His eyes suddenly widened, as if realizing something. “My apple!” He said.
“Your what?” Volt asked.
“My apple. I also got it at the party.” Alpha said. “I left it on the table when Omega brought me back.”
“Oh,” Volt smiled, “you’re fine to go now, if you want.”
Alpha nodded and walked out of the room, smiling when he saw that his apple was indeed safe, picking it up and taking it to his room before heading outside once more. Before he set out for Ponyville, he turned back and said. “I can go back to the town?”
“Of course,” he smiled, “Just come back before dark.” He turned to leave but stopped, “How did Omega perform last night?”
“I asked a few friends to say hello, but she didn’t take it well.” Alpha said.
“That’s a shame,” sighed Volt, “I will talk with her. You enjoy yourself now.” He trotted away, heading towards the library. 
Alpha waved as Volt walked away, flying off towards Ponyville again. Below him he saw two armored ponies walking up to the door and knocking. Alpha thought nothing of it, continuing along his way until he saw the town.
When he landed in the town, he was approached by a young stallion and mare who both had bright blue manes and tails. They smiled at him brightly and the stallion waved.
“Hello,” he said, “You’re Alpha, right?” 
“That is right.” Alpha replied with a smile.
“Hi,” the mare said, “I’m Silver Glint and this is my brother, Spring Lock.” 
“We were at your party last night,” Spring said, “We thought we’d get to know you better, maybe show you around town.” 
“I’ve already seen quite a bit of town, but if you have something you want to show me, lead the way.”	
The siblings exchanged glances and then trotted down the road. 
“This way,” Silver Glint said.	
“We need help with something we think you’d be good at,” added Spring Lock.
“Sounds like fun.” Alpha said.
“Great!” smiled Silver. The two led him up the road towards the quills and sofas shop. 
“So, what we need you to do is to go inside and take that box full of bits on the counter in there. Silver and I will wait out here for you.”
“Wait for us to start talking with the shop owner before you go in and try to be as fast as you can, got it?”
Alpha nodded. “Get the box, but not before you start talking, be fast.” He said.
“You’re a fast learner,” praised Spring Lock, “now go over there for a second so that we can call the store owner out.” He pointed over to the side of the shop.
Alpha walked over to where Spring Lock pointed, waiting for the store owner to leave.
“Hey, Davenport!” Silver called, “We want to talk to you for a second.” The door swung open and a brown earth pony joined them with a frown on his face.
“What do you two want?” he asked. 
“We wanted to apologize,” Spring Lock said, eyes glancing at Alpha.
Alpha took this as his signal and walked into the shop, walked to the counter, and took the box of bits.
“What are you doing?” asked an orange mare with a carrot cutie mark. 
“I’m helping those two. They told me to take this.” Alpha said, pointing at Spring Lock and Silver Glint.
“You’re stealing!” the mare cried, pointing, “Davenport! You’re being robbed!” The stallion turned around and pointed a hoof accusingly. 
“Thief!” he cried. Silver and Spring exchanged anxious glances and galloped away in separate directions.
“Run, Alpha!” Spring cried over his shoulder.
Alpha looked at the two running, then at Davenport, trying to figure out whether or not to ask questions, or to run away. After a few seconds, he decided that running would be his best option at the moment, and he ran after Silver and Spring.
The pony called Davenport followed him, shouting, “Give me back my money!” Ahead of him, Silver turned a corner and disappeared. Ponies all around were staring and shouting. Two armored ponies had replaced the shopkeeper in the chase.
“Stop!” they shouted.
Copperwire watched them run by. “Override Alpha two!” He shouted, and Alpha fell over, going into shutdown mode.