The mission of Buzzbot

by Golden Paw

To make a time Portal

"So let me see if I have gotten this right?" Tinker Track asked the pony-bot in front of him, "The future Tinker Track sent you to myself? As in 'me' and this is all part of my master plan to fix things with the T.C.A.P board of directors?" Tinker rubbed his forehead in an effort to ease the headache brewing there.

There were so many new concepts to get his head around, the robot pony unblinking gaze was wearing on Tinker’s nerves. Pacing back and forth Tinker tried to ignore the low sound as it turned it’s head to follow him.

"That is my directive: Given to me by the future Tinker Track. I am to make sure your ideas are approved by T.C.A.P" The machine confirmed coldy.

"So you're programmed to help me? Does that mean you will obey my orders then?" Tinker's mouth slid into a little grin and he raised an eyebrow. The android didn't answer right away and Tinker was just about to ask again when it finally replied.

"Future Tinker informed me that he didn't trust you enough to be able to give me direct orders. I am however to ensure that your ideas will get approved, so I will of course act in your best interests." The pony-bot said levelly and Tinker’s grin vanished.

"My future self doesn’t trust me?" Tinker said, his brow furrowed at the idea. "Have I gotten paranoid in my old age or something?" The pony-bot hesitated again.

"He remembers well your youthful manner and wants me to curb some of your more flamboyant actions," The pony-bot answered flatly.

Great, even my older self is telling me what to do and how to do it. Tinker ground his teeth, “It's bad enough that the T.C.A.P council keeps poking their muzzles in. Now I have a robot foal sitter too. One sent by my future self no less, does any pony trust me at all?”

Tinker scrunched up his muzzle in annoyance before growling a reply, "So if I’m gonna be working with you I need know what to call you, I can't just keep shouting hey you! Did old Grandpa Tinker give you a name?" Tinker Track pressed petulantly. If the robot was put out by this it didn't show it.

"My designation is ‘Buzzbot. From what I understand it is part of some inside joke of Grandpa Tinker's. As to why I am called that? He never explained to me what that joke was." Buzzbot retorted without a hint of malice.

“Well at least I can call you something now,” Tinker grumbled. He also mentally filed away the 'inside joke' reference to find out about later. On the plus side, I do have probably the most advanced piece of technology in Equestria right now, could be worse.

Tinker thought back to the harsh words he had spat at the board of directors only a few days before, more directly at Princess Twilight Sparkle. He felt in his bones that she had a personal grudge against him. True, his latest designs hadn't been as safe to the ecology as council would have liked.

The small side effect of magical radiation coming off the new power units wasn't all that much of a problem was it? It had never caused any short term problems (Well those walking trees aside). He just hadn't had the time to perfect his designs. Coming back to the here and now, Tinker mentally shook himself.

"Well ‘Buzz’, what’s my next step then?" Tinker asked.

Buzzbot didn’t reply, but trotted over to Tinker’s blackboard where he’d dream up his designs. Buzz paused for a moment before levitating a piece of chalk in a yellow glow, "I didn't know pony-bots could do unicorn magic."

Tinker looked on in wonder as Buzzbot began writing a number of steps down on the black board. They looked suspiciously like the patronising style a teacher would use to explain basics to a foal.

Buzz revolved its head right around in an unnatural manner before speaking, "The current line of tech units are unable to make use of magic as anything more than a power supply. The means and methods of doing actual spells will be discovered in a few years time." Buzzbot instructed Tinker in the same voice it always used. This piece of information imparted, the it continued.

"The first goal is to get your ‘time gate’ in working order, the second is to begin gathering data on the bearers of the Elements of Harmony so that we can learn how to best approach the T.C.A.P council. By learning about how Twilight thinks and who she is friends with, we should be able to discover how to get on her good side. Thus greatly increasing your chances of having your designs accepted."

"Wait a minute, my time gate? I thought Grandpa had the time gate, can't we just use his?" Tinker countered.

"To answer that question, I will need to enlighten you on time theory.” Buzz said and Tinker almost thought he caught the hint of impatience there. “One important point of time travel is when going back in time you inevitably change the future.”

"Well of course, surely that's the point?" Tinker muttered in a disgruntled way, but Buzzbot ignored this and went on.

"Any new entity entering the past disrupts history just by being there. This will lead to changes that echo through time beyond that point, even if it's only in tiny ways. Thus what is changed in the past will already have affected the future. In effect the alterations caused will have already happened in the said future."

Tinker Track winced as he tried to follow the reasoning Buzz was trying to teach him. Unconcerned with Tinker's slow uptake Buzzbot pressed on.

"For example: In the future I came from it is you are the Tinker Track who builds the time gate, not Grandpa Tinker. The gate you will build is the same gate I use in the future to come to you here in my past. You will build the gate in my past, which is to say your present."

Tinker Track held his head in his hooves and whimpered softly. He felt like his brain was going to melt. But Buzzbot wasn't finished.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle shows this effect in her book 'My Tuesday Disaster Incident' where she accidentally forms her very own time loop. In which she causes her past self to become obsessed over an event in her future. By the very act of her future self attempting to warn her past self, she causes the very problem she is trying to avoid. Thus we see a self fulfilling time loop. We find ourselves in such a situation now Tinker Track."

Tinker was sat on the floor, his eyes had crossed with his hooves pressed over his ears in an effort of stopping his mind from oozing them. This was worse than the lecture he had heard on "The strange anomaly that is Pinkie Pie". At least the final point of that lesson was that there are just some things in Equestria we cannot explain. Whereas what Buzzbot was trying to say apparently was intended to make some sort of sense.

"To put as simply as possible, we need to build a time gate here and now so it will be ready to use later," Buzzbot finally concluded. As it turned around Tinker saw the board was now covered in complex lines, numbers and an intricate diagram detailing time/space theory.

The floor rose up to meet Tinker and he finished up on his back, splayed hooves twitching. Looking up he saw Buzzbot studying him with it’s head tilted to one side, "Any questions?”

"Just one, are you sure Twilight didn't program you to destroy my brain?" Tinker asked weakly as the swoon overcame him.

---

Tinker nursed a small cup of herbal tea while he watched Buzzbot going about the business of preparation, “Surely I should go alone? I mean I’ve sifted the spoil heaps before and well, you would draw lots of attention.”

"You did read my instruction manual, correct?" Buzzbot asked with just a hint of annoyance creeping into its voice before Tinker nodded.

"Then you know how foalish that line of reasoning is Tinker," Buzzbot said, the frustrated inflections gone again. "I am an infiltration model and so have come prepared, the method is roughly based on what ponies have learnt about changeling magic and how to effectively counter them."

Before Tinker’s eyes the machine was enveloped by a magical yellow glow, quickly followed by a small 'vumph' sound. Now in front of him was a completely monochrome mare, her coat, mane and tail all slightly different shades of grey. Buzz’s eyes were no different, black pupils each with a dark grey iris and she was clearly a blank flank.

"Well...." Tinker Track began, "That's sort of an improvement, but I still don't think you will pass as a normal pony," He went on with a little smile. To Tinker’s surprise Buzzbot actually rolled her eyes.

"This is just default settings Tinker," Her voice had lost its synthesized quality but was still said without expression or modulation. With another 'vumph' Buzz became a unicorn, before with a final flash Tinker was looking at a himself.

"I have some basic templates to work from, but once I have observed a pony for long enough I can recreate a passable imitation of them. I can however customize," With another flash of magic Buzzbot was a blue pegasus Tinker track.

"Now that's just showing off," Tinker Track moaned, "Along with being very creepy, don't do me again."

Buzzbot nodded and reverted back to the monochrome earth pony mare, "It's important to know that even though I can have the image of a pegasus pony I am still unable to fly. I Don’t tend to use a pegasus form. A pegasus who can’t fly? That would cause more questions than it's usually worth."

With a final adjustment Buzzbot became a different mare again, this time with a warm cream coloured coat and a pale orange brushed mane and tail. She had a cutie mark too, a dark red pair of stage faces, one laughing and one crying.

Tinker snorted, “Well that’s appropriate I suppose.”

"Now we’ve resolved that, it's time we got those components that we need," Buzz said with finality, all trace of the ‘machine’ now gone.

---

Tinker and Buzzbot wound their way up and out of the service tunnels of T.C.A.P and into the bright sunshine. All around the thronged trader levels surrounded the pair.

The sun shone through the large windows and fell upon a decorative plaza that was almost buried under the masses of people going back and forth with errands of their own. Packed tightly around a central silvery pillar were stalls and market vendors which had gravitated to T.C.A.P from across all the lands.

Tinker and Buzz were instantly enveloped by the crowds, buffalo, zebra and other more exotic creatures. The noise hit them like a solid wall. Voices raised as ponies offered their wares to passers bye while the air was full of winged patrons.

Tinker glanced at the huge dome above, the metal framework around the windows forming a grid and frowned. It always made him feel like they were in a giant glass lined birdcage. He turned to Buzz and saw to his astonishment that she was looking at the scene with wide eyed wonder.

A smile, grew on her face as she looked at the flowers, trees and grass that were encouraged to grow in assigned spaces within the dome. “Don’t know what you’re so impressed with,” Tinker muttered darkly, “It’s nothing compared to what you’ve seen I bet.”

Buzz started before giving a cough, “I er of course…”

Tinker looked out through the windows to the bustling town beyond and still failed to see what had gotten Buzz so excited. Equestria stretched out in all its beauty. The fine day was pretty average, blue sky with few clouds and the sun a little past its peak. The Ever Free forest quiet and untouched, T.C.A.P had turned it into a nature reserve, putting up barriers to keep the less welcome creatures out of Ponyville but leaving the land beyond untamed.

In the distance Cloudsdale floated and further still the shining aura of the Crystal Fiefdom danced in the sky showing off its bright colours. The white towers of Canterlot were clearly visible reaching out of the eastern mountains. The land was still just as wonderful as ever, but Buzz was acting like she’d never seen it before.

“It’s so small…” Buzz finally said and Tinker treated her to a raised eyebrow.

“Well it’s bigger than before T.C.A.P was set up,” Tinker mumbled, yet Buzz only seemed to half hear him.

“Such a little town, I never would have….” Buzz suddenly darted her way through the throng and pressed her hooves up against the glass.

Tinker was forced to weave and stumble his way through the heaving crowds to reach her side again in time for Buzz to squeal like a little filly, “And there’s the original cottages of Ponyville!”

“We’re here for parts remember?” Tinker tried in vain to drag Buzz’s attention back to the task at hoof.

“I mean I’ve seen the preserved examples of classic buildings, but they just don’t…” Buzz caught Tinker watching her and suddenly the old impassive expression was back, “See I can fool you easily enough, simulated emotions and actions that are so real no one can tell the difference.”

Tinker wasn’t so sure…. “Yeah, whatever you say Buzz.”

Without another word Buzzbot led Tinker back through the crowds to the ordered stalls of the market and began checking for the correct items. He studied the her carefully, not sure weather to be impressed or suspicious.

If he didn't know that she, no it, was a machine pretending to be a pony then Tinker would never suspected the truth. Buzzbot chatted with the store owners about the weather, gossip and Tinker was sure the robot even flirted with one old stallion, No one can tell the difference huh? Does that apply even to you Buzz?

By the time the sun was getting ready to set and the last of the stalls had shut, Buzz and Tinker had gotten almost all the parts they needed. Some of the more exotic materials would need to be picked up later, but they had sufficient components to start building the time gate at least.

Tinker was also greatly impressed by Buzzbot's bartering skills, they had been able to purchase a number of items for far fewer bits than he would normally have expected to pay. Not that it seemed to matter, Buzz almost seemed to produce money out of the very air. I wonder if she can? Tinker mused as they stepped back down into the awaiting calm of the service tunnels again.

Almost more shocking than the outbursts above was the way Buzz’s cheerful and carefree manner vanished as they left the trade levels. Still looking the part of a flesh and blood mare, it nevertheless shifted into the monotone way of speaking it used. Shame, all business as usual again I guess.

When Tinker and Buzzbot came back to the metal pressure door he suddenly felt a pang of embarrassment. With two ponies sharing the load they could fit all their purchases into the saddlebags with no need to carry things in their mouths, but that did mean….

"Welcome back User: Tinker, please tell me the password," came the gratingly cheery voice of his door. Tinker gave Buzz a pained look before mumbling it into the speaker grill.

While the door thanked him and began to unlock, Tinker felt his cheeks redden and out of the corner of his eye he was sure that Buzz had a little smile on her face. When he looked properly, Buzzbot still had a blank expression on her muzzle.

The door finished its cycle and Buzz motioned for Tinker to go in ahead, “After you oh greatest thinker.”Tinker quickly turned back and gave Buzzbot a suspicious look.

"There's a little pony prankster under all that metal isn't there? The whole 'I am just a robot and don't feel anything', it's all an act isn't it?" Tinker saw a slight twitch of her lips. Got-cha.

Finally replying in a fully synthesized and cold manner, "I am just very efficient at playing my assigned role Tinker Track".

There, deep in her eyes, a certain spark. Tinker didn’t know if Buzz was just that good at acting, but deep down he doubted it.

A smile played about his muzzle as, with a wink, he trotted past the utterly still Buzzbot and into the workshop proper.

---

“Could you pass me th….” Tinker called and to his mounting astonishment the welding torch was placed into his waiting hoof. Buzz had pre-empted him yet again.

He tried to focus on the panel before him and ignore the way Buzz had bent it into shape with a simple flex of its metal hooves. She’d dropped the outward disguise of a mare the moment they’d crossed the threshold of his workshop, putting even more effort into being ‘just a machine,’ and what a machine she was turning out to be.

Buzz was everywhere, performing several tasks all at once, screwing bolts while levitating heavy objects with her magic all the while reading out instructions from Do’s and Don’ts. Tinker estimated Buzz was doing the work of at least three ponies all at once and couldn’t help but be excited.

On the other hoof, Tinker was having trouble squaring the different ‘states’ Buzz would go through. After the last few days together he’d seen her swing wildly from cold machine to giggly filly at a moment’s notice. Nor did it seem to be linked to whether it was disguised or not.

She could be cold and mechanical as a mare to chirpy and bubbly as a pony-bot, when she thought he wasn’t paying attention anyhow. Buzz seemed to go to great lengths to dissuade Tinker that it could possibly be anything other than purely logical.

Tinker simply didn’t know what to think or quite what to say. Buzz was currently in a mechanical ‘mood’, only giving one or sometimes two word answers and then only in direct response to a question from Tinker. She’d been like that ever since Tinker had discovered that Buzz had raided his life savings to pay for the materials. If Tinker didn’t know better he would have guessed Buzz was being...

Instead of assuring Tinker that Buzz was ‘just a clever android’ it only stoked his suspicion that Buzz was far more than it pretended to be. Or maybe he was just getting used to how it acted? He sighed and refocused on his work, no doubt the answers would come.

He wasn’t all that bothered about the money to honest, he was in a roundabout sort of way spending it on himself, so as the last few bits were handed over, Tinker Track and Buzzbot were able to get the final components for the time gate. But Buzz had certainly acted like it felt guilty for taking the money without asking.

Then again it was money well spent. Tinker and Buzz had achieved the impossible, finishing the new time gate off with only two days left before Tinker's board review. True they hadn’t started it up yet, but Tinker had began to trust in Buzz’s abilities, if not fully its motives.

Tinker now found himself kitted out in lab coat, goggles and a slightly manic grin on his face. Whatever happened next was no doubt going to be impressive. He was standing over the crate that began this journey and withdrew one of the glowing cylinders, gently cradling the flask in a pair of gloves.

Buzzbot carefully took it in her magic, floated it across the room and delicately slotted it into the receptacle at the base of the gate’s control panel. Nothing happened for a moment then the power began to flow outwards. It traveled along power cables, sparked off etheric couplings before flowing into the gate itself.

The gate was a heavily circular ring set up against one wall, large enough for one pony to step through. It was almost drowned in wires and cables, that snaked and coiled across the portal like an iridescent spider web.

Heavy duty cables cluttered the floor, linking the command console, the gate and also the local T.C.A.P power grid. Where once workbenches had filled Tinker’s workshop, now there were clusters of glowing consoles and other more unfathomable machines.

Tinker Track looked about his much changed workshop and felt his own heart swell with pride. Gone were the tatty little projects, wayward components and dead-end inventions. The room now thrummed with purpose and direction.

“The power grid is supplementing the power cell sufficiently, we should be able to overcome the temporal resistance any moment now,” Buzz called out and Tinker held his breath. The charge continued to build, sending sparks flying off his coat and teeth.

“And you’re sure just testing the gate won’t drain the power cell?” Tinker shouted over the rising din.

“The grid should take the strain until we actually use the portal. Don’t worry I’ve done the maths, we should have enough power for three jumps: One there, one back and one to take me home,” Buzz yelled as paper scraps, old food boxes and other detritus were swept up by the sudden gale.

Reassured, Tinker went back to checking knobs and dials. He rushed up to a display screen to check that all was in order and before nodded to himself. As far as Tinker could tell all was ready.

“We’re as ready as we’re going to be Buzz,” Tinker paused before striking a suitably dramatic pose. "Throw the switch!"

He failed to see Buzzbot roll its camera eyes at his antics before she pulled the main lever on the other side of the room. The lights flickered once and then the background hum became a ear splitting whine.

Tiny arcs of magical lightning danced about the time gate and the space within its centre began to shimmer. Tinker began to laugh, a laugh which grew in volume until it was competing with the sounds coming from the generators. Bright flashes threw the room into a contrast of black and bluish light and Tinker felt a slight tremor run through the floor.

Just as the tables began to judder the shimmering in the centre of the main ring wobbled and rippled like disturbed water. The distortion grew to fill the entire inside of the time gate's ring, shining with a white glow. Tinker had to shield his eyes even through his goggles and then, and then... the power stuttered and died. The portal winked out and the noise dropped away to leave a shuddering silence.

Tinker lowered his hooves and glanced about in confusion. Buzzbot trotted over to the deflated earth pony and with a little 'tut-tut' sound gave the controls a once over. Then before Tinker Track could stop her she turned about and gave the whole panel a heaving buck.

"I don't think......." Tinker Track began before a 'Vuromf' sound wave knocked him off his hooves. Buzzbot retained its footing and seemed to watch Tinker with a smug expression again. Climbing his way back up he saw that the portal was fully formed and was rippling once more.

"Still the same problems on startup as in my time," Buzzbot said to herself. "Just needed quick and precise physical encouragement."

"That wasn't a very.....refined solution" He finally said, glancing at Buzzbot with a strange expression. He had begun to get used to it.....her acting like a robot again and then it threw another spanner in his thinking as she jumped the rails and did something unexpected.

"I can assure you Tinker Track I did all the necessary calculations before acting. I used the exact amount of force to gain the desired effect. Unrefined would not be an appropriate phrase for such an act, " Buzz replied looking right at Tinker with both its camera eyes adjusting.

"Keep telling yourself that Buzz," Tinker Track smirked, but Buzzbot didn't rise to the bait. Both pony and mechanical construct looked at the now smooth distortion floating within the time gate's ring. “It’s not terribly impressive Buzz, I would have thought after all that build up…..”

Buzzbot had regained her ‘Stage Cloak’ disguise again, “This was just the test Tinker, the real fun begins soon.