“THEY’RE ALIVE! THEY ARE AAAAAAAAAAALIVE!” laughed the doctor, wildly swinging past on a power cord, around him the room buzzing with electricity and magic. Nocturne put a hoof under her noise at a running feeling and saw a small trickle of blood mar her pristine coat, the power was an overwhelming sensation.

Before them the trembling forms of the two machine creatures began to rise slowly from their prostrate conditions. Mouthing words or screams in muted voices, their eyes twitching back and forth with apparent life and filled with uncomprehending fear.

The doctor had done it.

He had given the shell of flesh and metal a new soul.

Whilst she watched, her hair a mess, covered in all types of oil and fried with magical sparks of the doctors machinery, coat covered in soot only escaping under the folds of a bloodstained lab coat. He prowled around like a caged tiger, turning off all the machines and then advanced towards his half machine progeny.

She had never seen the doctor act so dotingly, it seemed almost as if he had just become a father, although the product of his work seemed to be more peculiar than most. Swiftly he paced between the two, seeing to their needs as a parent might whilst looking after a child. The screams seemed to make way for a dazed sort of realisation, and the two behemoth machine ponies were quickly sorted into comfortable positions on the couch with blankets haphazardly folded over them, with extremely confused expressions on their faces.

The doctor’s face was still alight in almost ecstatic joy but he had begun to temper it slightly in order not to put the two machine creatures into another fit of startled distress. The two had been observing them for some time, and then looked from one to the other in equal surprise, poking clumsily at each others mechanical enhancements and making ‘O’ expressions at the now glowing violet core which had replaced their hearts. Behind her she heard the doctor mutter about residual memories assisting in reconditioning them to the world –“although not really memories in our sense, more like having skills their past persons had acquired or knowledge of the basic functions of society…”- but apparently that would takes some time to appear.

The two were eyeing him curiously, although it seemed that something more was blossoming in their understanding… perhaps a realisation of what he had done to bring them into this world. She almost caught one nearly smiling at him, mouthing a word in a parched voice and pointing at him excitedly, nudging the other to follow her line on sight. The other one looked confused for a moment, then something seemed to dawn on him and he smiled and nodded.

The doctor seemed to have somehow visited the kitchen since the moments she had last seen him, but now he returned, grease stained, filthy and with mane a mess with some food and water. It took a while and some gesturing to get them to understand, but once they did they picked up on old systems. The pointing one seemed to be enjoying clearing her throat with the water, and attempting to speak, as her confused gasps slowly began clearing way to more audible sounds.

The doctor continued to pace about, checking on the diodes and colouration of the crystals imbedded in his creations, ensuring everything was functioning as it should. He began to talk excitedly about increasing the production process, these ponies were perfect creations in all ways, but he believed he needed something more mass producible to truly begin work.

“Maybe I could utilise something along the lines of generations with permanent connections, I’ll need a easily creatable work force, goodness knows trying to find workers in this mess of a world is hard enough. It will reduce intelligence, but basic manual labour should be easy to imprint…” He wiped the sweat from his brow, tossing back a blacking bronze mane giving her a big smile before returning to his checks, his metal progeny giving him strange looks as he did so.

“Scalpel, just what will you need this workforce for?” she queried, one eyebrow raised somewhat higher than the other.

“A large project of mine, I will be setting up a permanent base of operations somewhere in the disputed zone… mostly because my laboratories in other cities always end up being damaged or destroyed, partly because nobody in their right mind Is going to invade a place filled to the brim with cybernetic constructs.” He pause a moment and rethought that last comment, shrugging and flicking a hoof away in dismissal, “Well, unless you are a god.”

The two resurrected ponies seemed to be getting more comfortable around them, and also a lot more animate. They continued to make gestures to each other, increasing in complexity and expression, and slowly their voices were beginning to reappear in some low grunts or squeaks. Scalpel was tightening a screw when one of them began stroking his hair, he looked up and saw that the creature seemed fascinated by it for some reason, so he shrugged and let it continue. The next minute however he had to detach himself after the creature began to munch on the ends of it.

“Have you chosen any names for them?” Nocturne asked, already beginning to tidy up the laboratory behind them.

“Not yet, soon I think, once I get a better idea of their growing personalities.”

“Hmmm.”

Scalpel was busy digging through his notes again, tidying them into bundles and enclosing them in iron puzzle boxes to distinguish them from his main research. The boxes slowly clicked into place as he reconfigured them, smiling happily at his success. Off to the side a couple of letters had come through in a few days past from acquaintances and informants, pausing he picked on up and opened it, scanning its contents.

His smile visibly brightened at the information and he almost chuckled, “So you’re on to me at last old friend? I wondered when you’d show up, I doubt the old disappearing act could have fooled you. Still, whatever you are after me for, it must be damned important… not that I am not going to give you a merry chase in the meanwhile.”

Behind him a noise startled him and he looked back to both the machine ponies staring at him in animated excitement. The other nudged the first to repeat the noise and as it did so it became more and more distinct. 

The hairs on the back of Scalpels neck flicked up and Goosebumps prickled across his flesh as he heard it, that strangely comforting but almost alien word which he never thought he’d hear from any child or creation.

“Father.”