Of Robots and Reptiles
Techorse series: #28
By Spirals95
"Initializing warm-up sequence. Day 1032 since first activation...", ran a line of code in a microprocessor.
The internal clock on the machine's motherboard had indicated that it was roughly 7 in the morning, the time at which the coding was set to activate in the event of a sleep cycle, which wasn't necessary for the machine to run, but was useful to give the machine's owner peace of mind and to prevent making noise during the night while he slept. Electricity flowed from the power source, a small reactor made of hydro-fusion cells that manipulated the hydrostatic properties of water to produce cheap and clean power. The small engine poured fresh energy from large red bundles of wire, down and out to the various systems of the machine. The first to receive power was the large processing unit in the head of the machine, which began to load memory from past days. Inexplicably, the hard drives of the unit seemed to be marked with signatures other than ones and zeros, which may have made no sense to a computer scientist. But this machine was quite special indeed.
Light flooded into PAL's electric eyes as his start cycle completed, and his heavy metal body came to life. He rose slowly with the sound of motors running from his bed, a large soft mattress placed in what used to be a main computer room. The robot had in the past preferred to remain as software on the screen on the main computer, but now, he was learning how to become a living being, and wanted to sleep in a bed instead of a computer file.
PAL was a rather large robot, six feet tall and weighing in at 200 pounds, but if you asked him about it he'd tell you that a majority of that was water weight. The excuse frequently worked, after all, water was his primary fuel and power source, and he drank a gallon a day to keep himself powered. As his reactor produced electricity, it would make vapor, and PAL exhaled it back into the atmosphere with each pneumatic breath to someday become rain again. He reached over for what had actually reminded his systems that it was 7 in the morning, a small and old-fashioned styled brass alarm clock, the ringer smashing itself between the two bells rapidly to produce noise.
The robot reached over with a metal hand to shut off the clock. His joints numbered the same as a human's, giving him plenty of movement, but a limited range from any angle. Thick-legged and equally thick armed to make him sturdy, PAL's giant metal fingers; four on each hand along with a thumb, looked just about ready to smash the alarm clock should he dare to try to turn it off. PAL maneuvered two of his metal fingers on his left hand carefully, moving his arm with very small and calculated moves, to gently grasp the ringer between his right pointer finger and thumb. Unlike other robots, PAL's movements were controlled by bundles of hydraulic fibers that contracted similarly to a muscle when electricity ran through them. His arms were somewhat seamed where each gray metal plate interlocked to form connections between parts of his limbs.
PAL stood up from the bed, his heavy footpads giving the impression he wore strong boots. The robot wandered over to a nearby mirror pane he had propped up against the dimly-lit wall of the computer control room, and looked at himself. His head consisted of a somewhat human, but still clearly angled construction, with a slightly flattened top, cylindrical sides, and a large metal jawline at the bottom that fit almost perfectly to the rest of the head, giving him a slight chin and almost unnoticeable under bite. His eyes were two flattened and white ocular devices, with a soft orange glow coming from rounded pieces in the center that indicated where exactly he was looking. With a soft movement of his clenched left fist, PAL tapped on his metal chest a few times, a relatively plain but thick and well-armored torso chest plate that encased his components and protected his reactor. He was certainly designed to have a strong and burly appearance, and yet also be a gentle giant.
"Time to go make breakfast for master," he said, smiling at himself in the mirror, "hopefully he appreciates the surprise I've prepared, chocolate chip pancakes!"
Turning for the wood door that led to the computer room, he walked over with metallic footsteps, and opened it gently by turning the golden round knob. He proceeded down the hallways of his castle home that he shared with his master, and went down the stairs to prepare the pancakes.
The most important feature of PAL, was that he had been given the ability to program himself by detecting emotions. This unique feature, implemented by his master, Techorse, had resulted in PAL developing original thoughts and feelings that could not be copied. The machine had achieved independent thought over the course of the year of being exposed to the magic and society of Equestria, and was well believed by those who knew him to be alive in a sense. He was now capable of choosing evil, as he was capable of lying without being ordered to. The robot could also feel emotions, and make decisions based on external input, rather than orders or commands from other beings. He was exactly who he chose to be, and that was a carefree robot who lived for his master and his closest friends.
After reaching the castle's modest kitchen, he immediately went to the stainless steel refrigerator and retrieved a plastic blue bowl filled with pancake batter he had prepared the night before. He took the bowl of chilled batter and moved it carefully over to the centerpiece of the kitchen, a central stove with a vast venting funnel on the ceiling above. PAL went over to a nearby tool shelf, and chose a special flat and square griddle pan he usually used to make pancakes. The machine put the cast-iron cooking implement on the stove, and then with a simple turn of his hand, set the heat of the element underneath the griddle to a reasonable level. After waiting a few minutes, PAL tested the heat of the iron by dipping his metallic hand in a cup of water he had left on the counter the night before, and letting several drops land on the surface. Loud sizzling was heard as the water evaporated on contact, and the machine understood the griddle was ready solely from the sound. He then grabbed the nearby bowl of batter, and using the mathematical tools on board his robotic brain, poured four identically sized pancakes onto the surface.
Upstairs in the home, a very sleepy green pony was trying to wake up after staying up too late filling out orders for his appliances. Techorse was snuggled warmly in his bed, a queen-sized piece of furniture with a cozy dark blue comforter, and elegant feather pillows covered in a light-blue case. It was so warm underneath the covers that it made getting out of bed very difficult for the inventor in the morning, but somehow there would have to be a way to get him to pull himself from the warmth. He was already awake, but he decided to himself that he wasn't going to get out of bed unless he absolutely had to! That was, until a very enticing aroma reached his nose.
"Is that chocolate?" he said to himself, hanging his head slightly out of bed.
Techorse looked over at the digital alarm clock on his nightstand, and noticed "7:30 am" on the red LED display.
"Nope. Too early," he muttered, determined to stay in the sheets until 12.
The stallion tried to go back to sleep, rolling away from the alarm clock and closing his big blue eyes. Chocolate scent continued to waft from the kitchen up the stairs, and into the room. It was starting to get irresistible, and Techorse's stomach growled to remind him that it'd been well over 12 hours since he had last gotten something to eat. In addition to this, the light from his nearby window shone in, threatening to pry open his eyes at any second if he failed to get them away from the rays. The earth pony simply buried his head under his covers, and slightly curled up into a ball to avoid the light.
"Not getting up for anything," sighed the earth pony, relieved that he might get some more sleep.
Techorse might have very well gotten away with this, but his body had other plans for him. Techorse realized after a few moments of semi-consciousness that he needed to use the restroom. That, of course, was always the immediate end of trying to stay in bed all day.
"Aw shoot..." he complained, as he got out from his cocoon of blankets and put all four hooves on the floor outside his bed, "looks like I'm getting up anyways..."
After making his short stop, and grabbing a warm refreshing shower, Techorse wandered sleepily downstairs to find the source of the chocolate that he dearly craved. Following the scent of the food, he entered the dining room of his castle moments later, and found a nice stack of chocolate chip pancakes waiting for him on a clean light blue plate. A small white pitcher of maple syrup sat next to the stack, yet strangely, all silverware was missing from the setup. Techorse climbed into the chair closest to the stack of pancakes and felt his mouth water from the aroma of the chocolate.
Due to the lack of a suitable fork and the fact that Techorse was not wearing his battle saddle, the inventor simply took small bites from the top of the stack, trying not to get his face covered in chocolate chips. When he wanted to add syrup, he had to stop eating and pick up the pitcher with his teeth carefully in order to pour some on the top. Being an earth pony sometimes made eating like a civilized Equestrian difficult.
"Good morning, master!" said a cheerful PAL as he entered the room, "Enjoying your pancakes?"
"Yes, thank you so much, PAL!" he answered between bites, "I didn't expect you to make these, but I'm glad you did, I'm starving."
The robot walked over to a nearby red curtain, and pulled a yellow cord nearby to allow them to open. Morning sunlight entered the room, making Techorse squint slightly as his eyes tried to adjust to the light. When his vision came back in full, he noticed his robot servant staring outside with a somewhat sad expression on his face.
The colt stopped his favorite breakfast and asked his friend a question, "What's wrong, big guy?"
"Oh, nothing," he lied, "simply enjoying the sunlight, master. Going to look outside for a while before I get to the chores for the day."
A little socially poor, Techorse didn't immediately understand that PAL might want to go outside and enjoy the day, so he resumed his pancakes. The robot watched a mare and her husband walk by with their tails wrapped around each other's. Not much of the town's activity was clearly visible from the castle's front windows, but it seemed the couple had taken a long walk and had used Techorse's home as a landmark. It was only a two minute walk to the center of Ponyville, but that was still a long way to go for life in a small town. PAL, on the other hand, feared in his metallic heart that the ponies outside the castle walls did not know him well or wanted anything to do with him. He simply hoped that going outside might change their minds, if he gave it time.
"That couple seems to be enjoying the day, too," mused PAL, placing a metal hand on the glass.
Techorse seemed to finally get the hint, and said, "I think the chores can wait for today, PAL. Why don't you go and have some fun?"
"I was hoping you'd say that!" said the robot joyfully, "I don't seem to get out of the castle much, and I'm hoping to really do more with the outside world."
"Ever since I gave PAL the ability to program his own code, he's developed sapience…" thought Techorse carefully, "I bet the presence of magic in Equestria has definitely had a part in that."
Whether magic or true choice had brought about PAL's status as a living machine, one thing was for certain; Techorse was proud to call him a friend.
On the other side of town in the library, in a small wicker basket lined with cushions and thin blankets, a young dragon was refusing to wake up to start his day's work. Spike had stubbornly burrowed into his bed to try and prevent Twilight from waking him up for the day. A lavender hoof poked him through the covers as he attempted to drift back off.
"Spike, it's time to get up!" grunted Twilight, "It's ten in the morning, and I wanted to take you shopping today."
"Just five more minutes," answered a muffled voice from the covered basket.
Twilight groaned, but got an idea in her mind as to how she might get her assistant out of his bed and going for the day. She walked over to her dresser and searched through the drawers carefully, scanning over the clothing and other items for something in particular. Eventually the unicorn found a small red cloth wrapped around a rectangular object. Twilight smiled, and using her magic, levitated the wrapped object in front of her face. Her horn glowed a soft purple as she brought the item out of the drawer, and she closed the dresser gently.
The red cloth was unwrapped, revealing a large, shimmering aquamarine gemstone, already cut and polished by the strange geology of the mountains. Twilight had found the gem sticking out of the ground on a hike in the mountains, and had used a very tiny beam magic spell to chisel it out of the stone it was caught in. She had planned on giving it to Spike as a special treat all along, but now it had become a delicious bribe.
"I guess I'll have to eat this tasty aquamarine all by myself!" she sang, looking at her blue-tinted reflection in the oversized gem.
"You'd break a tooth. Nice try Twilight," mumbled Spike, still refusing to move.
Twilight moved back to the basket, gemstone still in front of her, and dangled the rock in front of the basket.
"Are you sure you don't want this?" she asked, "It looks really good!"
Spike finally decided to stick his head out of the basket to scout out the gemstone. Indeed, it looked rather delicious to him, and the aquamarine's crystal lattice structure would certainly help his still-developing scales become a fine armor for him.
"Maybe just one bite…" he said hungrily, his serpentine like tongue extending and licking the bottom of his lower lip.
Twilight shook the gemstone, "It's your breakfast this morning if you agree to get out of bed and go shopping with me!"
"All right Twilight, it's a deal!" he said, climbing out of the basket and rushing off to get ready to go.
Twilight smiled and congratulated herself on a motivation well done, and then took the gemstone over to the sink to wash it for her assistant. She scrubbed the gem clean with a damp washcloth, and admired the beauty of the stone. Gems were relatively easy to find, but the larger ones were much rarer, especially aquamarines, which tended to be smaller and round-cut, instead of large and rectangular like this one.
When Spike returned, he announced, "Ready to go, Twi! Washed my face and put away the returns from last night."
"Then here's your gem," said the unicorn mare, levitating the aquamarine to him.
Spike grabbed the treat with his small purple claws and bit a small piece of it off the edge, displaying a rare case of self-control in a dragon. He seemed to be enjoying the unique flavor of the rock, if it could be described.
"I'll keep eating on the way, let's go!" he suggested after swallowing the bite of mineral.
She took him into the busy center of Ponyville to go looking for some much-needed supplies, mainly ink for her quills and extra candles. Twilight also had in mind a brand new set of four slippers, as the floor of the library got quite cold and would chill her hooves on contact, something not very pleasant when she wanted to simply get a drink of water in the middle of the night. As she walked through town and scanned over the busy mom-and-pop stores, she noticed PAL sitting alone on a park bench, simply watching the ponies go about their daily lives.
"Hey, what's PAL doing by himself?" she asked aloud, stopping and pointing to the robot with her right leg.
Spike stopped alongside Twilight, he held his half-finished gem wrapped up in a white paper napkin.
"I don't know. He doesn't leave Tech's castle that often," he said.
Twilight offered, "Why don't you go and say hi? I'm sure PAL would love to spend the day with you while I finish shopping!"
"Great idea, thanks!" responded the dragon eagerly, as he ran off to see the robot, "Have fun shopping, Twilight!"
She waved goodbye to him, then turned to enter her favorite ink shop in town.
Spike reached PAL's bench and jumped up onto the white-washed wooden furniture, gemstone firmly clutched in his left claw. His spaded tail fit right through the space between the boards of the bench, and he greeted PAL.
"Hey, PAL! What's up?" he asked.
The machine responded, "Hello Spike, I'm just watching the citizens of Ponyville go about their lives! It's quite interesting."
Spike took another bite of his breakfast, and chewed thoughtfully as he watched Berry Punch and Colgate walk past them to go get what they needed for their workdays. A few minutes passed of observation before the dragon realized his robot companion was going to sit on the bench all day if he didn't speak up.
"Not that ponywatching isn't fun, but we ought to go do something with the others!" commented Spike, already suffering from boredom.
He then sadly noted, "But the residents are unlikely to know me that well, seeing as I don't get out of the castle much."
"I don't know, PAL. You kinda stick out, being six feet tall," Spike said, doubtful the robot was so foreign.
"I guess that's true. I suppose it's more that I don't feel like I'm quite like the others," Said PAL, giving the mechanical equivalent of a sigh.
PAL stood up from the park bench and twisted his right shoulder blade towards Spike, "Well we should spend the day productively either way. Any place in particular you'd like to go?"
After cramming the rest of the gemstone in his mouth and sending it down, Spike climbed on board the robot's back, and hung onto his shoulder.
"Let's go visit Rarity," he mused, "I bet she's got plenty of customers you can talk to…"
PAL knew his motivations for going to visit the dressmaker, but he simply laughed robotically and agreed to take the dragon where he wanted to go. The metal giant walked quickly through the streets of Ponyville, giving a happy smile and a wave to anypony he recognized, and several that he had not yet known personally. They reached the Carousel Boutique without delay, and entered the building with Spike still clinging to PAL's back. Once they were inside the spacious store, Spike jumped down from the robot and landed on the floor of the shop. The noise of his scaled feet hitting the floor attracted the attention of Rarity, who had been working in a back room on a custom-ordered dress that was expected to be finished that Monday.
The white unicorn entered the room, hair and tail bobbing as she walked, wearing her glasses she used to concentrate on her work. She gained a look of joy on her face when she recognized her visitors, and greeted them up close.
"Ah, it's the ever strong and handsome PAL!" she said, rubbing the robot's left hand with her hoof.
She then turned her attention to Spike and gave him a gentle pat on the head, "… And my little Spikey Wikey!"
Spike moved into the pat on the head and enjoyed every moment of it, while PAL stood cross armed with a mechanical smirk on his face.
"So what can I help you boys with?" asked Rarity, returning to a neutral stance before them.
PAL opened his mouth to speak, but Spike cut him off, "I was hoping you'd be able to make PAL something! He needs some color."
"Ooh, that could be rather tricky," commented Rarity, giving an unsure look and putting a hoof to her mouth, "PAL's awfully large, and usually I only make accessories for ponies."
"I'm sure whatever you come up with will look amazing!" brownnosed Spike, sighing, "You made that one suit for Tech, so I'm sure you can make something for PAL."
Rarity looked over at a nearby bookshelf, and brought out a large red volume with a minotaur wearing a business suit on the front.
"I suppose I could always tailor a minotaur's suit to PAL's shape. His legs are much thicker of course, but the sports coat and shirt will be perfect!" she reasoned.
"That sounds wonderful, Miss Rarity!" Said PAL, eager to try wearing clothes.
Rarity looked up at him, batted her long eyelashes, and said, "You'll finally look the part of a robot butler too! Step over here, darling, and I'll measure you."
PAL walked over to a nearby set of three mirrors arranged to give a customer a 270 degree view of themselves, while Rarity magically grabbed a long yellow measuring tape from a table. She took measurements from PAL's thick titanium legs, arms, and short neck, as well as his waist and chest. After recording the measurements carefully, she took her notepad with her back into her workroom.
"Wait, Miss Rarity, don't you have other work?" asked PAL, concerned someone else first in line might be delayed because of him.
"I haven't had an order for a suit in forever, dear! I want to make this one first, trust me!" came his answer from inside the workroom.
It occurred to PAL that he needed to pay Rarity for the new outfit, and that he did not carry very much gold coin on him.
"Spike, shouldn't I have worked out a price with Rarity before she started work?" he asked his friend, unsure of how much it would cost. He had never actually gone shopping for himself before.
Once in a while he would fetch and item for Techorse, but his master gave him exactly the number of bits needed for the item.
Spike told him quickly, "I'll go work it out with her, don't worry buddy."
The dragon walked into the workroom, leaving PAL outside. Rarity sat amongst piles of sewing kits and spare gemstones, an indication of her busy week. Mannequins sat covered in older garments that were to be replaced with fresh ones, and bolts of cloth hung in seemingly random patterns from the walls and drawers of the studio. She sat at her sewing machine, pumping blue threads into a black piece of material, and carefully gauging the addition.
"Hey, Rarity," said Spike softly, "PAL sent me in here to tell you something, but before I do, I need to tell you something."
"Go on…" said Rarity without moving her head, trying to concentrate.
He finished, "PAL is kind of sad because he doesn't think he's anything like us. I mean, as a dragon amongst ponies, I can relate, but PAL's really down on himself about it."
"Oh!" Rarity said with surprise, stopping her work for a moment. She turned to Spike and said, "I do hope he realizes that's not the case at all. Why just yesterday the other girls at the spa and I were talking about him, and his dutiful shopping he does for Techorse. Any good stallion is just like that machine, willing to help with the chores."
"I knew it! PAL just doesn't get out enough to know what Ponyville thinks of him," said Spike, flicking his spaded tail with glee, "all I gotta do is show him!"
"Oh, you're so nice for helping him out, Spike!" cooed Rarity, giving him a hug.
Spike felt like melting into a puddle on the floor, but he had one more thing to say, albeit with a mushy tone of voice, "Thanks, Rarity. There was one more thing though. PAL wanted to know how much he needs to give you for the suit."
The unicorn released her dragon and put a hoof to her lower lip, "Well I suppose I got so caught up in the excitement of making a unique suit for a robot, that I never did discuss a price with him."
Rarity gave the matter some thought, then, being true to her nature, said, "I'll take no more than I would for any other outfit. It's only fair. After all, PAL deserves it! Hopefully it'll give him all the confidence he needs to see that he's one of us."
Spike liked that answer and replied happily, "Great, I'll let him know!"
He left her and returned to PAL, who seemed to be going over in his head how he would make it to either the bank or the castle to get enough money for Rarity.
"Rarity won't charge you much," said Spike, "she hopes the suit will help you look better in front of all the others!"
"I'll make sure to get that to her as soon as possible," said PAL, missing the point of what Spike was truly trying to tell him.
The dragon didn't accept another ride from the machine despite him offering it, and they left Rarity's home to go back to the center of Ponyville and choose another fun location to take advantage of. As they walked down the sun-lit streets of the town, more residents took notice of the two. It was odd enough to see a young dragon coexisting with ponies, but a robot and a dragon being good friends was about as far from normal as one could possibly get.
"Good morning, Mr. golem! Care to see my collection of jewelry?" called a yellow coated unicorn pony from his small stand among the other shops.
He was Edge, a humble jewelry maker who specialized in rare metals and other gemstone-free accessories.
"Actually," laughed PAL, stopping and responding to the unicorn, "that's a common misconception. I am a robot, sir, not a golem."
"What's the difference?" asked the confused shopkeeper, "I'm sorry if I offended you, PAL, but you look like a steel golem like the ones my cousin makes for logging in the south."
Much to Spike's impatient disgust, PAL stopped and engaged the shopkeeper in a full conversation about the differences. Spike was also rather upset that the robot had conveniently ignored the fact the shopkeeper knew his name.
The robot explained clearly, "Well you see, golems take orders mindlessly from their masters. My master gave me the ability to choose what I want to do from outside information. Also, golems tend to be made out of one material, where as I am made from over 32 materials, including silicon and a tiny bit of gold!" explained the machine, putting his huge metal hands on the pony's blue-clothed stand.
The pony looked down at the large metal appendages in front of him, and realized none of the jewelry he had for sale was likely to fit on the robot, so he was going to lose interest fast in continuing conversation with him.
"That's mighty interesting," he lied, hoping PAL would move aside so he could get to more likely customers, "do you think we can pick this up later though, PAL? Busy right now."
"Of course, have a good day!" answered the robot, leaving him be.
The machine continued walking down the street, when Spike moved up next to him.
"PAL, you had a normal conversation with a guy,” said Spike, "see? You're just like the others."
"We did?" said the robot, stopping and scratching his chin.
The robot slowly turned around, and then went back to the jewelry display. Edge had failed to sell merchandise to yet another customer, and stared at the ground sadly. He hadn't sold anything for a few days now, and was started to get worried.
"Excuse me, Sir, but I never got your name," asked PAL politely.
Edge snapped back to reality and answered, "Oh, it's Edge."
"You wouldn't happen to make custom pieces would you, Edge?" he asked, "I was about to fill another order today, and I thought I might get something from you as well."
The shopkeeper eagerly took out a pad of paper to record the order and said, "Sure! Just tell me what you want."
Zecora had been planning on a shopping trip to Ponyville for a week now, and was entering the town cloaked in a black hood as she usually chose to. Curiously enough, however, she noticed a second hooded and quite large figure trying to enter town from nearly the same direction out of the Everfree forest. It was strange, since the zebra was aware she was the only known inhabitant of the forest, so the newcomer had to have either followed her, or had just come back from being lost in the woods. The mysterious, large visitor started to move parallel to the town after a few hundred feet. Zecora figured that shadowing the stranger was likely a bad idea, and it was simply best to tell someone she knew in town about the guest in case he or she would be of any trouble. The zebra moved forward for Ponyville, and tried not to worry too hard about what she had seen.
The boys had spent the past few minutes trying to decide what to do next. They were seated at a park bench together, trying to come up with the perfect next piece for their day on the town.
"I guess we could go the comic book store," suggested Spike, relaxing on the left arm rest of the bench, "that's always fun."
"We could, but that seems to be the thing we always pick to do," mentioned the robot, crossing his arms and looking at a nearby fountain with a bored expression.
"Well, Rarity told me to make sure you had a good time today. Can't think of anything else to do though," muttered the dragon, sighing and nearly flopping over the green iron rest.
"What would miss Rarity do in a time like this?" wondered PAL aloud, shifting in his seat.
He looked down at himself, and saw the small amount of dust accumulating on the front of his metal chest plate.
Spike took notice of the robot examining his somewhat dusty state, and a wonderful idea came to mind.
"Hey, the girls spend a lot of time at the spa, PAL! Maybe we could take you in and see if they'd clean you up."
He suggested, smiling, "Most ponies like to go and get clean, you'd like it too!"
"Oh dear, but I'm not organic, I don't see how'd that work," frowned PAL, "unless of course they happen to have a nice sulfuric acid bath, or a very hot wax!"
"Wow, hot acid?" asked Spike, his eyes growing wide, "PAL, that stuff's nasty, how can you stand to stay in that stuff?"
"I don't know," Retorted the machine, "how can you stand to stay in magma, Spike?"
The young dragon leapt off the bench and snickered, "Touché! Let's head on over to the spa and see what they can come up with."
The two reached the spa and entered the building quietly, trying not to crash the door loudly behind them as they stepped into the serene environment. It was a beautiful place, with its colorful tiles lining the floor, and the ornate wall and ceiling patterns of purple and blue. Lotus Blossom heard the door open, and the beautician walked out from the back room to greet her new customers.
"Hello Spike, and…" she stopped short.
Lotus had seen PAL before, but her memory had failed her as she struggled to try and figure out who he was. Spike may have visited with his friends often, but it was highly unusual for a giant metallic figure to show up at a day spa!
"Uh… I don't think we've met before," Stammered Lotus, grinning in embarrassment, "Welcome to the Ponyville spa, I'm Lotus Blossom, and my sister Aloe and I own this shop."
"Good afternoon Miss Blossom," answered PAL cheerfully, kneeling down to see eye-to-eye with Lotus, "I am PAL."
The robot was tempted to use the acronym that stood for his name, but the idea came across to him that perhaps "PAL" was his first name in town, and the acronym meant nothing anymore.
"I'm Techorse's robot friend," he explained in response to Lotus's confused look.
Lotus smiled, "Oh, right! The green fella who gets along with our best customers!"
"PAL's wondering if there's anything you can do to help clean him up a bit," asked Spike, "he wants a spa day like all the other ponies in town."
Lotus put a hoof to her chin and looked PAL over as he stood up tall. The beautician pony walked forward, and tapped PAL's leg gently with her front hoof, making a slight knocking sound.
"Oh boy, I don't know where to start," she said, "This certainly isn't a coat or skin of some kind. What are you made of, anyways?"
PAL wanted to answer proudly that he was made of a very strong titanium carbon alloy mixed with some steel and cobalt, but he knew that Lotus would have no idea what he was talking about, since beauty schools rarely taught anything about the periodic table.
"I'm made of metal, if you'd believe that," he answered after placing his hands behind his back, "Steel and Titanium of some kind."
Aloe emerged from the back of the spa, and tilted her pink head curiously at the robot's presence.
"What do we have here?" she asked of her sibling.
"This is Tech's robot. He's made of metal. Do we know any kind of treatments for that?" Lotus responded, giving Aloe a confused look.
"Of course we do! We've got stuff in the shop that'll do just fine," lied Aloe, knowing she was going to have to improvise a pampering for the robot.
The two brought PAL into the shop, and had him relax in one of the tubs of hot water while they went to discuss what they were going to do. Spike watched his friend soak in the bath without any concern, he knew from before that PAL was watertight, and it was difficult to ruin any of his circuits without first piercing his tough outer armor. When Aloe and Lotus returned, they were carrying a bottle of hoof polish, and a small buffing tool used to scrape away rough spots on a pony's hooves. They had PAL stand up out of the water, and they used the electrical buffing tool, once dipped in the polish, to smooth away the pieces of dirt and other filth on PAL's exterior. Once they were done, the machine stood up and admired himself in a nearby mirror. His entire body was far shinier than he could have imagined, reflecting some of the light in the spa back and forth off the mirror, and he felt brand new.
"I knew we could do something for you!" smiled Lotus, "Metal cleans right up with polish!"
PAL thanked them for their work, and opened up a small panel on his left arm. Reaching in with this right fingers, he brought out a small stack of 5-bit coins and gave them to the sisters.
"I hope this is enough," he said, "if not, I will head over to the bank and get the rest for you now."
Aloe counted out the coins, somewhat larger than the 1-bit pieces, and realized that PAL had overpaid for a normal treatment by a good amount. It was tempting to simply keep all the money, given that they hadn't given an orthodox treatment, but Aloe and her sister knew that what they did was still far less work than any other treatment they knew.
"Well, this is about twice as much as what we'd charge for something so simple as a shine," admitted Aloe, "I'll give you half back, PAL."
PAL appreciated the honesty, but more so he appreciated the fact that the sisters treated him like another pony.
"How about this," suggested the machine, calculating a fair plan in his processors, "can you keep the other half as credit for another shine someday? I'll probably want to come back again, it was wonderful!"
Aloe and Lotus happily agreed to the deal, and went to go write down the owed favor so that they'd remember for PAL's next trip. Every small thing he and Spike did that day was boosting the robot's confidence that he was just like the others in his world.
Twilight Sparkle had finished her shopping trip, and had returned back the library to drop off her purchased goods. Just as she placed her purple saddlebags onto the table in the middle of the tree-built home, a craving came over her for an ice-cold root beer float at the Froth Shop.
"I guess I need to go pick up the boys anyways,“ she said to herself, licking in her lips in anticipation of the sweet soda and ice cream, "a quick trip to Steiner's couldn't hurt."
Twilight new she had bought 9 drinks in the past month, and decided not to take any money with her. Steiner offered every tenth soda free to his customers, and he got quite a lot of repeat business during the hotter months in Ponyville.
The unicorn pony left her library and locked the door behind her again, just in case. However, when she turned around, she was met with the towering figure of the hooded stranger!
The intruder's appearance startled Twilight, and her mouth fell agape. He was clearly a stallion, with the rough cut of white coat around his hooves. Blue eyes stared down angrily at Twilight from behind the solid black cloak, and it fluttered gently despite there not being any breeze.
"You!" said the stranger rather angrily, "You are Twilight Sparkle!"
Many thoughts surged through Twilight's mind, such as how the mysterious stallion knew her name, or why his voice sounded somewhat Russian.
Fighting back her fear, Twilight answered with a hopeful grin, "That's right, I'm Twilight. Here to check out a book?"
"Hardly!" laughed the cloaked figure, "I am here for revenge on Celestia. Since I cannot get to Canterlot without being found out, I figured I would ruin her day by going for her precious little student!"
Twilight's horn glowed a deep purple, and out of panic, she teleported herself away from the stranger, hoping to avoid any attack he might throw immediately. This left him alone in front of the library, looking around.
"Hmmm…" he mused, "Perhaps I shouldn't have been so direct. No matter, I can likely track her."
A white spot of light was seen underneath the hood of the cloaked stallion, who crouched. Not only did time slow down for him, but it somewhat re-wound, allowing him to see an after-image of his quarry. Twilight, blurry due to only being a magical recording of the past, cast her teleportation spell. Her assailant waited for the blur to disappear in the flash, then turned around, and looked for the reappearance of Twilight. A flash of purple near a cluster of stores gave away her location, and the stallion stopped his time review magic to pursue her.
Twilight was unaware that her enemy had tracked her using this magical spell, and ran through the streets, hoping to gather her friends and fight him off together. But a dark shadow loomed overhead as her attacker jumped in front of her on the street.
"Running cannot help you," he said to her, "it'll only tire you out."
Twilight charged up her magical energy and pointed her horn at him, "If I can't run, then I'll fight!"
Several ponies in the town square saw the scene and dove behind barrels, crates, and anything else they could find for cover. A magic duel was no place for a pony just out doing their daily chores!
Twilight let loose with a magic missile, and the oblong bolt of purple energy shot straight for the assailant. He dodged to the right, not knowing that the projectile was not the standard pellet attack unicorns used. The magical projectile locked onto him, and smashed into his legs, exploding in a burst of energy and knocking him down. Pieces of the cobble pavement flew upwards, and landed amongst him in a shower.
"Very interesting, homing magic missile," he laughed, standing up shakily, "you really are something special, Twilight."
A white flash from his head indicated that he was launching a counterattack, and 10 glowing arrowhead shaped blasts of energy shot up into the air, hundreds of feet above Ponyville. Some pegasi flying overhead screamed and flew away from the bolts, but the projectiles ignored the civilians, for they only had one target to go for. Twilight craned her neck, and looked up high into the air at the descending mortar shell like bursts, each one packed with high-explosive magical energy.
To try and protect herself, Twilight started launching hundreds of tiny purple beams, each the size of a carpentry nail, as point defense. The white shells started exploding against the sky as each one met with an anti-missile pellet, bursting against the swarm. Once Twilight had shot down every last projectile, her attacker could not help but congratulate her.
"Ah, point defense spell. A classic," he commented, "but, I hope you realize not all spells are projectiles, Twilight."
The ground shook somewhat, and the lavender mare looked around to see what was going on. A large glowing ring of energy had surrounded her, and immediately she jumped out of the ring before the trap spell triggered. Jagged spikes of energy emerged from the ground with a loud noise of steel on steel, before retreating back into the ground and dispelling the cast. Twilight returned fire with a rapid fire pulse attack from her own horn, sending spurts of magic pellets at the stallion. He moved around as much as he could, and even tried putting up screens of white energy to protect himself, but ultimately a few of the projectiles made their mark, burning his cloak slightly and punching him around violently.
"Let's stop and talk this over!" said Twilight, desperate for a truce, "If you're really this mad at Celestia, there's got to be something you're not telling me!"
"All in good time," responded the stranger, scraping a hoof on the stone, "But first…"
He let loose with a rounded burst that rolled along the ground, like a detached circular saw. The wheel of light raced towards Twilight, and she ducked before casting a small purple force field around herself. There was a grinding noise as the wheel hit the bubble, sending out multi-colored sparks of energy as the two forces tried to disintegrate each other. The stranger continued to push harder, and his glow increased furiously as the wheel attempted to cut through Twilight's barrier. Twilight struggled to keep her shield up, but she knew she had to, if the barrier caved, the wheel would go right through her.
Eventually, the force field began to wrap around the weapon trying to cut through it, and Twilight saw this as an opportunity to turn the tables. Reversing her spell, the barrier encased the wheel, and gave it no traction. It slipped, and started to skid around, cutting through the stone road and leaving tracks everywhere. The stranger had lost control of his weapon, and he knew it would be too dangerous to leave it running around, so he forced the energy blade to dismiss itself, and the wheel exploded into a puff of gray smoke.
Yet the enemy refused to let up on his assault, and threw up another set of 10 shells into the air. This time Twilight ran for the center of town, looking back at the projectiles and continuing to use her point defense spell to shoot down what she could. Her energy began to dwindle as she was getting tired from this constant combat, and she knew she'd be too tired to continue if she kept having to wear out her mental energy like this. One of the shells made it through, and it exploded beneath her hind legs, kicking her up into the air, and sending her flying into a nearby pile of straw.
Twilight climbed out of the straw, slightly burnt and bruised from the hit, and moaned from the pain. The cloaked stallion approached her, and prepared to finish the job he had started to do. The purple unicorn panted as she tried to squeeze out whatever more she could, and fired a few more bolts of energy at her foe.
The explosions had gotten the attention of Spike and PAL, who had found the two fighting, with the cloaked menace approaching for his final strike. They hid behind a water fountain several feet away from the duelists, and discussed with each other about what they should do.
"Oh my gosh!" whispered Spike with fear, "It's Twilight, and that guy's going to fry her!"
"What should we do?" asked PAL, "We have to protect Mistress Sparkle, but all the weapons are back at the castle!"
"I don't know!" answered Spike, trying not to panic.
The cloaked figure laughed and took one more step closer to Twilight, a raging glow underneath his hood as he prepared to fire another salvo of energy mortars to leave Twilight nothing more than a burn mark on the streets. He looked at the scared, defeating look on his enemy's face, before laughing and firing off another three projectiles in to the air. Twilight swallowed hard, and her horn sparked and struggled to fire off just a few more magical pellets, taking down just two of the projectiles. There was still one more, and it was coming in fast on its target.
"I won't let that stallion get Mistress Sparkle!" declared PAL, rage in his metal heart.
A loud rumble sounded from his footpads, and blue flames emerged as he fired his rocket boots, throwing him into a brave jump from behind the water fountain. Spinning around, he landed in front of her, and looked up into the burning shot of magic as it plunged down through the air with a horrid scream. PAL stuck out his heavy metallic chest, and braced for the blow. The act of bravery startled the cloaked figure, and he stepped backward as the mortar shot hit the robot's chest.
Surprisingly, PAL's now extremely shiny exterior reflected the majority of the shot's damage, and a bouncing ball of magical power skipped several times away from the robot, and straight into its firer. He was flung back after a loud blast and shout of pain, and he tumbled along the ground. Standing up, he coughed in agony before preparing another shot with his concealed horn.
"PAL?" asked Twilight weakly, trying to stand up on all four legs, "You came to help me?"
"Not just me, Spike too. Play along," whispered the machine, looking back at her.
PAL's front armor had been scorched tremendously by the magic projectile, ruining his shine and damaging the metal.
He said to the stallion, while also casting a sideways glance at Spike, "Leave at once, sir. There's no more you can do. All of us will try to protect Twilight from you if we have to, and you certainly cannot win once all her friends show up."
"Friends?" asked the stallion, not realizing PAL was stalling for time as Spike crept up on him, "What do you mean?"
"Like that one," answered PAL, pointing at Spike, who was now standing next to the stranger.
The cloaked figure looked down to where he was pointing, and found the young dragon standing there with crossed arms.
"What's up?" asked Spike, before taking a deep breath.
He immediately immolated the stranger, coating him entirely in green flame. The cloak began to burn up around him, and the pain of the fire made it difficult for him to focus. But worse than being on fire was the fact that his cloak was rapidly disappearing, and if he didn't do something soon, ponies would know who he was.
Since that wasn't an option, he quickly said, "We'll meet again in time, Twilight!"
Then, with a flash of white light, he teleported away from the scene.
Several of the townsponies left their cover, and cheered for Spike and PAL, surrounding the machine and calling out his name.
"Oh come on now," stated PAL humbly, "it wasn't much of anything. This burn will buff out."
"I wouldn't say that," commented Derpy Hooves, "you did what any pony would do, and helped Twilight."
"Yeah, you're a Ponyville resident, through and through!" added Rose.
"See PAL?" asked Spike, pointing to all the happy townsfolk, "You really are one of us!"
The robot smiled, and grabbed the dragon, holding him in his left arm to wave at the ponies who had watched the duel play out. It looked like the question of PAL's identity had finally been settled once and for all.
But the machine did realize he was still torched from the attack, and said meekly,
"I suppose I'll have to go use that extra shine right away, huh Spike?"
This elicited a happy laugh from Spike, Twilight, and many of the onlookers. PAL joined in, he loved being one of the crowd!
Later that evening Techorse, Spike, and Twilight sat in the living room of Techorse's castle. The fireplace burned brightly, and Techorse was very proud of his friends for what they had done that day for Twilight.
Twilight added happily, "Luckily, most ponies thought they were watching a mugging instead of an indirect attack on the princesses. I sent a letter to the princesses warning about the attack, and they said that they would investigate further without causing a panic."
"Spike,” said Techorse, turning to the dragon, who was sitting on the green couch for guests, "you and PAL deserve so much for what you did today Princess Celestia is already trying to think of a way to reward you both."
"Aw, it's no big deal," he said, waving his hand, "we're just happy we got a chance to finally help you and Twilight. PAL and I are gonna hang out more often after this for sure."
"Where is PAL anyways?" asked Twilight curiously, "He didn't follow us into the guest room."
"He said he wanted to show us something." Explained Techorse, "I can hear his footsteps down the hall, though."
PAL entered the room shortly, standing tall, and dressed in the suit that Rarity had spent the day making for him. It was a beautiful black suit with cobalt blue threads that ran through it to accent the dark color scheme. A white dress shirt underneath with an equally blue tie sat underneath the suit jacket against the robot's body, and his pants were kept up by a silver-buckled belt. The cufflinks of the suit were made from sapphire gems, confirming it as originating from Rarity's shop. PAL had even managed to find black dress shoes to put over his footpads, completing the outfit and giving him a gentlemanly appearance.
"Good evening!" he said, "What do you think of my new suit, master? Miss Rarity made it for me today. I finally look like a robot butler."
"Oh wow, that's amazing!" said Techorse with a happy tone, "But you're my friend, and you're a part of the family here, not a butler."
"I am?" he asked.
Techorse nodded, "I work on my business, and you take care of the castle for me as a job. But you've been free to make your own choices for a long time, big guy. What you chose today by taking that blast for Twilight was probably the bravest thing a robot could do!"
Twilight added, "And because of that, Princess Celestia has agreed to grant you full citizenship as a living being in Equestria, PAL! Congratulations!"
PAL felt the emotion of joy, and sat down next to Spike as he thought about what that meant.
"Thank you for showing me that I really am just like the others, Spike." He answered.
Spike answered happily, "From now on, we're the robot and dragon of Ponyville! Always wanted a golem for a friend."
A few seconds and a frown on PAL's face went by before the machine sensed that Spike had pulled a joke on him, and he began to laugh heartily with his friend. Twilight and Techorse looked at each other and did not understand the inside joke, but they were happy for their assistants, and that's what truly mattered to them.