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."