"So who's this Princess Celestia or whatever." Gaige asked as they walked into the library.
"She's the co-ruler of Equestria. She raises the sun in the morning and lowers it at night. Her sister Luna raises and lowers the moon." Twilight answered.
"Um. No."
"What do you mean no?"
"No she doesn't move the sun. The planet orbits the sun and the moon orbits the planet via gravity, it creates the illusion of the sun and moon going around the planet. Seriously, I learned that in like, fourth grade." Gaige stated. Twilight gave her a strange look. "What."
"I never new your world was so different. I know they're technologically advanced but that is just ridiculous."
"Sure. My world is ridiculous." Gaige said, rolling her eyes. "Not the world with the ability to defy physics."
"I told you it's magic." Twilight retorted.
"Magic is just science that people don't understand yet."
"Magic IS a science." Twilight stated, stomping her hoof. Gaige began to get agitated.
"Let's just drop the subject before I get mad." She said.
"Fine. Spike! Are you there?" Twilight yelled out. A nervous voice rang out.
"I-Is it gone?" It asked.
"Is what gone? Twilight asked.
"The thing that came here earlier."
"Wait, you mean Gaige? She's not going to hurt you." Twilight said glancing at Gaige.
"Yeah if you're a friend of Twilight's here, then you're cool." Gaige added. The small purple reptile from before peeked out of a closet. Gaige waved and smiled. "You must be Spike. Gotta say, that's a pretty badass name. I'm Gaige." Spike came out of the closet and eyed Gaige. His eyes widened when he saw Gaige's left arm.
"Is that a metal arm?" He asked.
"Yeah, pretty cool huh? I built it myself." Gaige replied proudly.
"Spike, meet Gaige, she's a human. Gaige, this is my assistant Spike."
"Hi." Spike said enthusiastically.
"Hey, are you a dragon?" Gaige asked.
"Yes I am." He answered, puffing out his chest. "How did you know?"
"Lucky guess, you know, they don't have dragons where I come from. But we do have things called stalkers."
"Stalkers?" Twilight asked.
"They have natural shields protecting them and it also allows them to become invisible. They're a pain in the ass to kill."
"K-k-kill?" Spike stuttered. "Why?"
"They're predators, it's me or them. Besides, the things are feral anyways. Now that I think about it, this place is a nice change of pace from my usual life-threatening, well, life." Spike's fear returned as he realized that this human has killed before. "Oh, and if you're worried about me hurting you, relax, I won't." Gaige added, seeing the fear in Spike's eyes. He calmed down a little.
"O-kay, changing the subject. Spike can you take a message?" Twilight asked.
"No problem." Spike answered, getting paper and a quill. Twilight began.
"Dear Princess Celestia, I'm sending this message to inform you that a creature has arrived here in Equestria. Her name is Gaige and she says that her species is called human. From what I've seen, their technology is centuries ahead of ours which I assume is compensation for their inability to use magic in any way. It has even advanced enough to be able to travel to, and colonize other planets. She is experienced in combat and is capable of using these projectile weapons called guns. From a demonstration she performed on a log, they are more than capable of penetrating through wood and possibly even stone. She has disarmed and handed over these weapons to me saying that she trusts us not to attempt to harm her. She also has something called an inventory unit, it utilizes a technology called digistructing. I'll send a full report on my discoveries soon, but in the meantime, I request she meets you personally. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."
"And done." Spike said, finishing scribbling down Twilight's letter and rolling it up. "Shall I send it?" He asked.
"Yes please." Twilight answered. Spike took a deep breath and shot a jet of green flames at the scroll. It burned into a wisp of green and grey ashes and left out the window. Twilight looked at Gaige expectantly.
"What?" Gaige asked.
"You're not curious as to why he burned the letter?" Twilight replied.
"The flames broke the letter down into particles and those particles are sent to a specific location and then reassembled. It's just like a fast-travel station." Gaige said. "Just instead of humans and digistruction, it's letters and fire." Twilight was amazed.
"Wouldn't that hurt?" Twilight asked. "That kind of transportation doesn't sound comfortable at all."
"It's not very painful but I have to agree with you on the comfort part. But it's fast, that's good enough for me." Suddenly, Spike began to look as if he were about to vomit. He belched out a burst of fire that formed into a scroll which was caught in Twilight's magical grasp. Twilight opened the scroll as Spike went to go lay down.
"Hm. Curious." Twilight said.
"What does it say?" Gaige asked.
"Brace yourselves." Twilight responded quizzically. Before the conversation could continue, a bright flash of light enveloped the room. When the light faded, Gaige looked around. They were in a large room, white populated the majority of the floor with the exception of a long, pinkish-red carpet along the length of the room. The walls and roof were different shades of pink and purple and there were rows of large stained glass windows bearing images of different ponies, they seemed to tell a story of sorts. At the end of the room there were two thrones, intricately designed and fairly expensive looking. On each of the thrones were two taller ponies, both were at little taller than Gaige. One of them had a white coat with an ethereal floating mane that was several shades of green, blue, and pink. It had shoes, a necklace, and a tiara made of gold. A purple gem sitting in the center of both the tiara and the necklace. It had a large wingspan, a long horn, and a picture of a sun on her flank. The other had a dark purple-blue coat and a mane that resembled the night sky. The shoes were a lighter shade of blue while the necklace and tiara were a midnight blue. The image of a crescent moon on its necklace and flank. It had wings and a horn as well.
"I take it you are Gaige? The white one asked.
"Yeah." Gaige replied, she could feel the regal aura they gave off.
"Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!" Twilight said running to the two.
"Twilight Sparkle, and how is my student today." The one Gaige deduced was Celestia asked.
"Good, as you can tell, there have been some... interesting events recently." Twilight responded.
"Ah yes." Celestia said, turning to the human in question. "So you are the one that Twilight was talking about."
"Gaige, this is Princess Celestia and her sister and co-ruler Luna." Twilight said gesturing to the two.
"Hey." Gaige greeted.
"Gaige comes from a planet called Pandora, her species' level of technology is incredible!" Twilight exclaimed. "Oh! That reminds me, here are her weapons." She said as she levitated the weapons from her saddlebags and handed them over to the princesses. Celestia eyed them curiously.
"Interesting." Celestia stated. "It has a similar fashion to something found in the courtyard recently." That statement caused Gaige to speak up.
"So my gear is scattered across Equestria. Dammit."
"It would seem that way. Please, come with us, we have much to discuss." Celestia said as she an Luna got up and made their way towards a door. Gaige and Twilight followed suit. A few minutes later, they found themselves in the dining hall. "Are you hungry?" Celestia asked.
"Starved, haven't eaten a full meal in days." Gaige replied.
"Well that mustn't do, what would you like?"
"Humans are omnivorous, we'll eat most things, with the exceptions of things like grass and hay. Wheat products are fine though, and I'm not picky."
"Very well." Celestia turned to the servant in the room that was eying Gaige warily. "Can you please bring us a few salads please?" The servant quickly nodded her head before giving Gaige one last glance and rushing out of the room. "So." Celestia said, turning back to Gaige. "Tell me, why do you need such dangerous weapons?"
"It comes with the territory, Pandora is a wasteland full of things that wouldn't hesitate to either eat, rob, or kill you in general." Gaige replied. "It's either kill or be killed." The princesses seemed to be taken aback by that statement. Luna was about to speak up when Gaige interrupted her. "Before you start pegging me as a heartless killer, which I know is what you think I am, I only harm those that try to harm me or are a problem to Sanctuary or the Crimson Raiders."
"Sanctuary? Crimson Raiders?" Luna asked.
"Sanctuary is probably the one place on Pandora that keeps you safe without oppressing you or putting you under their propaganda induced hypnotism like in Opportunity. The Crimson Raiders is the organization running it. We're the only ones trying to civilize Pandora without enslaving it." Gaige answered.
"So these Crimson Raiders are who you fight for?" Celestia asked.
"In a sense, it also helped that they were enemies with one of the most oppressive organizations in the galaxy, who's leader was insulting and trying to kill me and the others since day one all while claiming he's the good guy! He practically enslaved his own daughter! Brick's pet dog Dusty, Mordecai's pet Bloodwing, Roland. All of them and more are dead because of him." Gaige replied. "Handsome Jack, more like Handsome Jackass. Killing him was the best accomplishment we'd ever achieved." The room went quiet.
"I..I see. So that is why you are so used to violence." Celestia said solemnly.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up." Gaige apologized.
Luna spoke up. " You have seen a lot of bloodshed, haven't you?"
"Hell, I've probably caused most of it. But only to those that deserve it." Gaige said as she propped up her head on her arm, fingers drumming the table.
"What about Marcie Holloway?" Twilight asked. Gaige stopped drumming her fingers and clenched them into a fist.
"That was an accident. As much as I hated her I never wanted to kill her." She said through gritted teeth. "That was a fault in Deathtrap's programming."
"Who is Deathtrap?" Celestia asked.
"A robot I created originally intended to stop bullying in schools. I used him for other purposes after he... accidentally... killed Marcie. He was supposed to use non-lethal force. Needless to say, killing the daughter of one of Eden-5's richest people made me fairly unpopular. If you have a training area of some sort, I can introduce you all to him after we eat." Gaige offered.
"I would like that, thank you." Celestia said. After eating, Celestia and Luna led them to a courtyard populated with training dummies.
"Ladies, allow me to introduce you to my greatest creation ever, the D374-TP, A.K.A Deathtrap!" Gaige announced. And with the rise of her robotic limb, a flurry of blue lights appeared and formed into a floating metal torso. It had grey and red painted metal along with several blades jutting out of its back and forearms. Several blue lights were dotted around the torso and one larger one came out of what could only be defined as the head. On it's chest, slightly to the left, a picture of a heart with a lock through it was painted on. The other three could only gape at the metal creature that formed before them.
"Twilight's letter said you didn't have magic where you came from." Luna said.
"We don't." Gaige replied smugly.
"I take it this is the 'digistructing technology' Twilight's letter mentioned?" Celestia asked.
"Hit the nail on the head. All the digistructing data is programmed into my robotic arm, also made by yours truly." The Mechromancer answered. "Now, for his performance. Deathtrap?" The robot turned to its creator. "Can you do the honours?" She said, gesturing to a small group of dummies. The robot quickly got to work, slicing down dummies with its digistruct claws. After slicing down a few it backed up, a red light building up in Deathtrap's eye, it unleashed a bright orange beam that sliced through and burned the remaining dummies. It then floated into the center of the wrecked pile of dummies. The machine reared back its hands and unleashed a clap that blasted the smouldering remains of the dummies into even smaller pieces. "Awesome work Deathtrap! Gimme five!" The robot proceeded to float over to its creator and give her a high five before it disappeared in a flurry of blue particles and disappeared. Gaige turned to the three onlookers. "So?"
"You built that?" Luna asked in disbelief.
"Yup. I'm the greatest engineer I know." Gaige replied with a smile. "Since we're here, can you show me what you found in the courtyard?"
"Ah, yes, I have it here with me" Celestia said as she levitated a familiar looking rifle to Gaige.
"My skewering rifle! I was starting to miss this one! I suppose you would like a demonstration of this too?" Celestia nodded. With that, Gaige spun around and took aim at one of the dummies. In seconds, the unfortunate dummy was riddled with holes. Gaige reloaded the clip and turned around. "Ta-da." She said with her arms spread to her sides.
"I see Twilight wasn't exaggerating about the power of these weapons." Celestia said. "Now, may I have it?"
"If it's all the same to you, I'd like to keep at least one of my weapons." Gaige replied. "I don't feel safe without them."
"Gaige, while I respect the reason you would want to keep your weapons, it would be most unsettling to my subjects if you always carried a weapon around."
"That won't be a problem." Gaige replied, storing her gun away in her inventory unit. Celestia looked at the unit for a moment. If I let her keep her weapon, it gives her the power to harm others. Although I doubt she needs it to do so. She hasn't harmed another yet, and if she does then the elements can handle her. She thought, Celestia looked back at Gaige.
"Very well, I will allow you to keep a weapon if you vow not to harm any of my subjects. Also you will only use it in self defense or the defense of others." She offered.
"Will they try to kill me when my back is turned?" Gaige asked.
"I highly doubt that."
"Then deal."
"Now that that that's out of the way, I think we should arrange where you'll be staying." Celestia said.
"Well I'm fine with pretty much anything. Hell, I'm fine sleeping outside." Gaige said.
"You can stay with me! I have a guest room you can stay in, and this way I can ask you more questions!" Twilight said excitedly. Gaige stood in shock at what she just said. She's really okay with her staying with her? After what she found out?
"Are you serious? I'm surprised that you're okay with me being in the same building as you." Gaige said.
"Well I'm not saying that I agree with what you've done, but you had a good reason." Twilight replied.
"It seems that's settled then, I shall send you back now." Celestia said as her horn began to glow.
"Before we go." Gaige interrupted, the three ponies looked at her. "I've come across a lot of leaders and organizations, so far the only one I've found that isn't completely corrupt is The Crimson Raiders. But from what I've seen, you seem to be the second. I'm not quick to trust government leaders but you're off to a good start. But I'll be watching you."
Celestia chuckled, "And we will be doing the same." She said. Luna nodded in agreement and smiled. Celestia's horn then glowed again, and in a flash, they found themselves back in Twilight's library. Gaige looked over to see Twilight was still disoriented from the sudden transportation.
"Heh, lightweight." Gaige remarked.
"Hey! I wasn't prepared!" Twilight retorted.
"Neither was I, and look at me." Gaige replied smugly. Twilight groaned in response. "So, if I'm gonna live here I guess I gotta meet the locals." But before Gaige could walk out, Twilight stepped between her and the door.
"Wait! If you go out now the town will go into panic!" She exclaimed. "I'll organize a gathering tomorrow. That should help ease you into society. Besides, it's getting late, you should get some rest." She said before walking out the door. Gaige began to realize how tired she was, she only had that one nap in the acreage for the past 48 hours and the fatigue was catching up to her. Gaige was snapped out of her thought when a red dot appeared on her minimap. She whirled around and saw Spike walking towards her. He yelped and jumped back at the sudden action.
"Oh, hey Spike." Gaige said.
"H-hey." Spike responded, refusing to make eye contact.
"You still scared about the stalker thing?"
"Yes."
"You do realize that I'm not gonna hurt you right?"
"How do I know you're not just saying that."
"Why would I?"
Spike thought for a moment. "Good point. So, where's Twilight?"
"She's going to go plan a gathering to introduce me to the town. She'll be back in a bit." Gaige said, slumping onto the couch. "So, do you live here?" She asked.
"Yeah, Twilight and I used to live in Canterlot before we came to Ponyville a while ago." Spike answered as he sat next to her.
"You two always live together?"
"Yeah, Twilight's the one that hatched me."
"What?" Gaige asked as she raised an eyebrow at the dragon. Spike's face turned beet red.
"N-not like that! I was abandoned as an egg so when I was found, I was Twilight's entrance exam to Celestia's school for gifted unicorns. As you can see she passed." He explained.
"So Twilight's kinda like your mom?"
"Not really, more like a big sister."
"That's cool."
"...Wait, you don't think that's weird?"
"Spike, I've seen a lot of things; I've seen deadly robots, ferocious creatures, an ancient alien warrior with the strength of a god that would've enslaved Pandora if it weren't for me... 'stopping' it, and the tyrant that was controlling it cry in front of me. That doesn't come close to weird in my books."
"You sound like you've gone on some crazy adventures."
"You don't know the half of it."
"Actually I kind of do."
"What?"
"Twilight and the others have gone on a lot of adventures as well."
"I'll have to ask her later. Hey Spike?" Gaige asked.
"Yeah?" Spike responded.
"Can you show me where the guest bedroom is? I'm going to be crashing here for a while."
"No problem." Spike said. They got up and Spike led them to the guest room. "Sorry, It's kinda small, and there's not much to it." Spike said. He was right, the room was small, had a single bed, a dresser, and a small bathroom. To most, it would seem like a below average room, but to Gaige, it was the best room she's been in a for long time.
"Are you kidding? This is amazing!" Gaige exclaimed. "Thanks Spike. Give Twilight my thanks as well."
"Alright, see ya tomorrow."
"Night Spike." As Spike left the room, Gaige walked over to the bed. She unlatched her left arm and put it on the dresser along with her inventory unit, shield, belt, and goggles. After setting her equipment down and slipping off her sneakers, Gaige slid under the covers, not caring to undress, and quickly fell asleep.
Twilight stepped inside, it was late at night and she had finished making the plans for tomorrow. Spike noticed her and sat up on the couch.
"Hey Twilight, done with the planning?" He said.
"Yeah... wait, how did you know?" She responded.
"Gaige told me." He replied.
"Ah, where is she?"
"Asleep in the guest room. I was waiting for you before I went to bed."
"Thanks Spike, let's go." Twilight said as she began walking up the stairs. Spike hopped off the couch and quickly followed. They both went to their respective beds.
"Hey Twilight?" Spike asked.
"Yes Spike?" She answered.
"What do you think about Gaige?"
"Well... She's definitely strong, she also seems pretty smart. And although she can be crass at times, she also has a nicer side. She has done a lot of bad things in the past but from what she says, it's either to defend herself or to help her make her world a better place. I'm not saying I like her methods, but she has a good motive. Why do you ask?"
"She just seemed nicer than you would expect. She doesn't judge others, and she can be really polite at times." Said the dragon. "Speaking of which, she told me to tell you thanks for letting her stay."
"Well she's welcome anytime." Twilight said with a smile. "Good night Spike."
"Good night Twilight.
Gaige woke up early next morning. She hadn't had a soft bed to sleep in since she can remember. She slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. After mostly waking up, she got out of bed and began to put on her equipment. She started with her left arm, locking it in and moving it around experimentally. The arm was a little rusty and needed a little maintenance. She'd have to clean it up before her reveal, she took pride in her work and wanted her arm to be in top condition for her reveal to the world. She then quickly but carefully put on her equipment, making sure she had her goggles perched just right on her forehead. She never really needed them except for when she was building or making something and could easily have it stored in her inventory, but she liked the way they looked on her. After she had everything ready, she made her way downstairs. A sweet scent took her nose and she found herself following in it. It led her to the dining room where she saw Spike setting down a plate stacked with pancakes and Twilight finishing her task in setting three spots on the table for them. Twilight turned and saw Gaige walking in.
"Oh! Good morning Gaige. Have a good sleep?" The unicorn greeted.
"Best in a long time. Beds like those are luxuries on Pandora." Gaige replied. "So. Pancakes?" She asked.
"Yeah. I was about to come and get you, but seeing as you're already here, we can get started." Twilight answered. Gaige took a seat next to her and greedily dug in.
"Wow, these are really good." Gaige complimented.
"Spike is a pretty good cook." Twilight informed.
"You cooked this?" Gaige asked, turning to Spike.
"Yup, but I wouldn't say I'm a master chef." Spike said.
"Well you're the best I know." She responded, taking another bite.
"Thanks." Spike said, returning his attention to his food. After practically inhaling her pancakes, Gaige got up and began to put away her dishes. "You don't have to do that, I got it." Spike interrupted.
"It's no problem, I don't want to be a freeloader. I gotta contribute." Gaige returned.
"Thanks again then." Spike said. "You know, I honestly expected you to be... meaner. But you're actually pretty nice."
"My parents raised me well. The tough warrior thing is something I keep up to counter my cute appearance and let people know not too mess with me." Gaige responded. After that, they quickly finished cleaning up. "So Twilight. When's the gathering?"
"In about an hour." Twilight answered. "But first, I want you to meet a few of my friends first. Would you mind waiting upstairs until I introduce you to them?"
"No problem, I gotta do some maintenance on my arm anyways." Gaige said as she began to make her way to her room.
"Thanks." She called out to Gaige.
"Alright Twi'." Called a southern voice. The Mane 6 and Spike were all together in the library, all eyes were on Twilight. "Why'd ya bring us here."
"I brought you all here because of the gathering that's happening soon. I met somepony yesterday, a new species called human. Rainbow Dash, I believe you know her." Twilight responded.
"Oh! This is about Gaige!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed in realization.
"Exactly." Confirmed Twilight. "But before I call her down, you should know two things; her species doesn't have magic and is very technologically advanced, and the planet she came from, Pandora, is very dangerous so she is very skilled in combat. I'm not even going to start with Deathtrap."
"Deathtrap? Gaige never told me about a deathtrap." Rainbow questioned.
"She sounds a little barbaric if you ask me." Rarity added.
"Not really. She is actually pretty nice." Spike interrupted.
"Well... I guess we should give her a chance." Fluttershy quietly spoke.
"Well then. I think it's time you should meet her." Twilight said, turning to the stairs. "Gaige! they're here!" She called. After a few moments a voice called back.
"Kay, just a sec! Almost done the maintenance on my arm!" All of them, sans Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Spike, were confused by that statement.
"Uh, Twi? What was that about maintenance on her arm?" AJ asked.
"Oh! That's right! Gaige has a--" Rainbow's sentence was cut short by a lavender aura surrounding her muzzle and shutting it.
"Shush Rainbow. I want to surprise them." Twilight stated. Footsteps could be heard coming from upstairs and soon, a tall, bipedal creature with orange hair came down. It stood twice as tall as a normal pony, but the most prominent feature was the fact that her left arm was entirely made of metal. The group gawked at the sight but it was short lived as Rainbow Dash flew up to her.
"Hey Gaige." Rainbow greeted, extending her hoof.
"Hey Dash." Gaige returned, bumping her mechanical fist against it.
"Well now we know what she meant by maintenance." AJ mumbled loud enough for the ponies around her to hear, but not Gaige.
"Gaige, these are my friends." Twilight began. "Applejack." She said, pointing to the orange pony with a blonde mane and tail. Three apples portrayed on her flanks.
"Nice ta meetcha." She greeted, tipping her stetson briefly. Her accent reminded Gaige of Scooter and Ellie. Hopefully that's where the similarities end.
"Rarity." Twilight said as she pointed to the alabaster unicorn with the curly purple mane and tail. The image of three diamonds on her flanks. She clearly puts a lot of effort into her appearence. She practically screamed 'high class citizen'.
"Pleasure to meet you darling." She spoke with a slight accent.
"Fluttershy is the one behind her." Continued Twilight. Rarity then stepped aside to reveal a butter coloured pegasus. She had a pink mane and tail, the former in which she was hiding her face behind. I can see how she got the name. Gaige mused.
"And that's-" Twilight was cut off as a pink blur rushed past her and stopped right in front of Gaige.
"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! Where are you from? How did you get here? How do you stand on two legs? What'syourfavouritecolourdoyouprefercakeorcupcakesisthatametalarmdidyoubuilditar-mmph." Her ramblings were cut short as a lavender aura surrounded her lips and shut them.
"Sorry about that." Twilight apologized. "Pinkie can be a little-"
"A human, Pandora, long story, toes and I think something in the ears, purple, cupcakes, yes, and yes." Gaige interrupted. Everyone just sat there, shocked looks plastered onto their faces. "What?" She asked.
"How the hay did you understand that?" Rainbow Dash blurted out. Gaige shrugged. Meanwhile, Pinkie rapidly scribbled notes onto a piece of paper she got from seemingly nowhere.
"Oo-kay." Twilight said slowly. "Now that I've introduced my friends, can you please tell us about yourself?"
"What do you want me to say? I'm not exactly used to the people I meet wanting to get to know me." Gaige responded.
"You can start with why yer arm is metal." Applejack inquired.
"Alright then, take a seat cause it's a long story." Gaige announced, plopping onto the couch.
"So lemme get this straight. You cut yer own arm off... for a science fair project?" Applejack questioned.
"Not just any science fair project. My greatest creation!" Gaige retorted.
"W-wouldn't that h-hurt?" Fluttershy stuttered. "Somepony dosen't just cut off a l-l-limb and not feel pain."
"Oh it hurt, but the real pain was connnecting the nerves. I had to basically solder them to the receivers in the socket." Gaige said, unlatching her arm and showing the metal connector in her shoulder. Fluttershy's face flushed of all colour, Applejack and Rainbow Dash cringed, Twilight looked like she was going to be sick, Pinkie gave her a concerned look, and Rarity fainted. "Yeesh, I didn't know you all were a bunch of pansies."
"Why would you do that? That dosen't sound fun at all." Pinkie asked.
"Like I said, Deathtrap is one of my greatest achievements. Of course I was going to devote myself to my work. Besides, the job was already partly done when I cut myself on some sheet metal."
"What is Deathtrap anyways? You've mentioned it before but I've never seen it." Rainbow Dash added.
"I can introduce you if you want." Gaige offered. The others looked uncertainly at her. "Relax, it's not like he'll attack you."
"Well... Okay, bring it out." Twilight confirmed.
"Alright!" Gaige exclaimed. She made a quick motion with her mechanical arm and a flurry of blue lights formed together into the structure known as Deathtrap. "Ladies and... well, ladies. I introduce to you, Deathtrap! Flying legless torso, of pure... AWESOMENESS!" The group stared at the metal creature that appeared in front of them. Mixed responses between the group.
"That is so cool!" Rainbow shouted in glee.
"Ooh, another new friend!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"Dosen't look too friendly." Applejack stated, eying the robot warily. Gaige looked around the room, noting each of their responses.
"Hey, where's Fluttershy?" She asked. A small squeak emitted from behind the couch, Gaige looked over and found the pegasus quivering with her head under her hooves. "You alright." Gaige asked.
"I-it looks s-s-scary." Fluttershy whimpered. Gaige realized just what the situation is. Deathtrap was designed to intimidate her foes and that design it now backfiring on her by intimidating them.
"Gaige," Twilight said, gaining her attention. "We might want to do something about that."
"I think I still have his original design stored somewhere, it's not as intimidating, but it'll take some time fishing it out." Gaige informed.
"Perfect, do you mind doing that? It would make things much easier." Twilight requested.
"On it, anything else while I'm at it?" Gaige asked.
"Well, I don't think calling it 'Deathtrap' would be a good Idea. Are there any other names we could use?" The unicorn asked.
"I call him 'DT' for short. Will that work?" Gaige said, digistructing Deathtrap out of existence. Twilight nodded as Gaige threw up a blue, holographic screen that curled about halfway around her. She began to sift through the files before glancing at Twilight's awestruck face. "Interactive hologram." Gaige stated idly as she continued to sift through the data.
"I'm still so amazed at how advanced your technology is." Twilight said, intently focusing on Gaige's work. "What else can it do?" She asked.
"It records audio and video, writes and records text, it actively creates a digital map of the land as I traverse it, records everything I have in my inventory unit, manages my shields, and so on." Gaige said matter-of-factly. "Ah there you are." She selected a file and an image sprung up of Deathtrap, but it looked different. This Deathtrap lacked lights, blades, and other parts that he had when Gaige summoned him..
Gaige tapped a small square in the corner which read 'set as active model' below it and a yellow 'X' appeared within it. She closed down the 'menu' and summoned Deathtrap again, this time it looked like it did in the image that she selected earlier.
"There we go. That better Twilight?" Gaige asked.
"I think we should let Fluttershy be the judge of that." Twilight recommended. "Fluttershy? Come on out, Gaige made some changes to Deathtrap, er, DT. He should look a little less intimidating now." Fluttershy timidly peeked out from behind the couch to view to view DT.
"I-It looks a little less scary." She murmurs.
"Well, it's a start." Twilight says. Gaige digistructs DT away and sits back down.
"So, when's the gathering again?" She asks. Twilight looks at a clock on the wall and lets out a sharp gasp.
"In five minutes! We gotta go now!" She exclaims. "Where's Spike? SPIKE!"
"He left when Gaige did the thing with her arm." Dash said as she pointed to said human's mechanical appendage. Spike stumbled back in, his face slightly green.
"Here I am." He groans.
"Perfect, everypony's here." Twilight begins. Her horn flares with a magenta aura and a blinding light flashes. When everyone regains their sight, they find that they're standing on a stage behind a large red curtain. The murmuring of the crowd on the other side muffled. A beige pony with a grey mane and tail jumped back in surprise from the sudden teleportation.
"Twilight! You're here! Just in time, I take it this is Gaige?" She asks, nodding towards said human.
"Yes she is." Twilight responds. "Gaige, meet Mayor Mare."
"Hey." Gaige greets.
"Hello." The Mayor returns. "I would love to get acquainted but we're starting now." She says, pointing to the curtains.
"I'll start off, wait here." Twilight says to Gaige before walking between the curtains and out the other side. The entire town of Ponyville was gathered before the stage. Twilight suppressed a gulp before walking up to the microphone and cleared her throat. All conversation abruptly stopped and everypony focused on the stage. "Many of you may be wondering why I gathered all of you here today." Twilight began. A series of confirmations emitted from the crowd. "I am here to inform you of a new visitor to Ponyville. She is a creature not native to Equestria or the planet in general. She is known as a human and, due to unfortunate events, she is stuck here until further notice. I'll let her answer any questions you may have. Fillies and gentlecolts, I introduce to you, Gaige." Twilight moved aside as Gaige stepped out from behind the curtains and walked up the the microphone. Murmuring broke out throughout the crowd at the sight of the human.
"Hey. Uh, I'm Gaige as you have probably guessed." She started. Silencing the crowd. "I'm not exactly sure what to say so I guess I'll just answer any questions you have." Several hooves rose from the crowd. "Yes, you." She said, pointing to a cream coloured pony with a two-toned pink mane and tail, and the image of a rose on her flanks. I need to ask Twilight what those tattoos are about. She thought.
"Is your arm made of metal?" She asked.
"Yes, I made it myself." Gaige responds. "Uh, you." She says, pointing to another pony.
"Do you mean any harm to us?" She asks.
"No." Gaige answers. Slightly annoyed someone would assume such a thing. "That said, I'm not just gonna sit there and take it if someone attacks me."
"Why don't you have any fur?" Another asks.
"I dunno, that's just how we are."
"How did you get here?"
"Beats me."
"What will you be doing here?"
"Probably any odd job someone needs done. Speaking of which, come to me if you need help with something dangerous. If it pays, I'll deal with it.
After several questions and the reveal of DT, the gathering was wrapping up and the mayor had come out to give a small statement informing everypony where Gaige was staying and how she was to be treated the same as everypony else. Gaige went backstage where the mane 6 and Spike were waiting.
"Glad that's over with." Gaige muttered.
"Surely it wasn't that bad." Rarity said.
"Well, it beats being shot at." She commented. Gaige's minimap detected someone behind her. The human turned around to face a mint green unicorn with a white and green mane and tail and the image of a lyre on her flanks. She had a massive grin on her face. Gaige remembered her from the gathering and how she had asked if she could have her arm. "Uh, yes?" Gaige asked warily.
"Hi, my name is Lyra Heartstrings." 'Lyra' said, extending a hoof. Gaige reluctantly took it in her right hand and gave it a firm shake. Lyra admired her hand momentarily before breaking the hand\hoofshake.
"Can you, not grin like that please?" Gaige asked.
"What's wrong with my grin?" Lyra asked, slightly offended.
"You remind me of Shade like that. It's kinda creepy." Gaige responded.
"Who's Shade? Is he another human?" She asked excitedly.
"Yeah, an insane and clingy one."
"Oh. Okay." There was an awkward silence.
"So. You need something?" Gaige asked.
"Oh, right. I'd like if you could come with me and answer some questions." She answered. Gaige thought for a moment.
"Eh. I got nothing else to do." Gaige said. She turned to the mane six. "See ya later." Each pony, and Spike, spoke their farewells before Gaige was practically dragged off by the ecstatic unicorn.
"Are you sure you can find your way back?" Bonbon asked. Gaige was standing just outside of the front door to Lyra's home. Lyra had taken her there and began to ask all manner of questions involving humans. There she met Lyra's roommate and longtime friend Bonbon who had quite a tame reaction to finding Lyra and the new resident of Ponyville conversing in the living room. Bonbon was a cream coloured earth-pony who had a mane and tail which were half pink and half blueberry coloured and had the image of three pieces of candy on each of her flanks. Apparently, humans were supposedly mythological creatures in which Lyra had always had a fascination in and "never shut up about" according to Bonbon.
"I'll be fine, thanks though." Gaige responded. They bid each other their farewells and Gaige left for the library. The teleportation to the town hall meant that there was a good amount of blank space on her map between her and the "Golden Oaks Library" so Gaige decided to take the scenic route and meet a few of the locals. She met a few ponies such as Filthy Rich whom she found out disliked her and considered her "a trespasser in Equestria and a danger to the public", along with an eccentric stallion named Time Turner who was walking with Derpy (In which Gaige found out that her real name was Ditzy Doo and that Derpy was just a nickname) and her daughter Dinky, to name a few. She also came across Rarity at her shop whom offered to make her a new set of clothes to replace the "Garish" and "Inelegant" ones she currently had. Gaige declined the offer explaining that the style she wore describes her childish but tough and intelligent personality. Though Rarity still managed to convince her to let her draw up some designs for Gaige to judge at a later date. Leaving "The Carousel Boutique" that, true to it's name, resembled a carousel and headed for the library. She needed to see if she could get a workshop set up somewhere out back so she could work on a project Lyra asked her to do.
"Hey Twilight." Greeted the Mechromancer as she walked through the door to find Twilight and Spike reorganizing the library. "Hey Spike."
"Hi Gaige, how was your talk with Lyra?" Twilight returned. Spike simply waved.
"It was good, I met her roommate Bonbon."
"I honestly didn't expect you to get along so easily."
"I have social skills, I just don't get a lot of opportunities to use them. Anyways, would you mind if I built a workshop out back? Lyra asked if I could make something for her." Twilight pondered that for a moment.
"Okay, but only if you tell me what it is." She answered.
"Deal, but it stays between us." Twilight gave a nod and Gaige knelt down and whispered something in her ear.
"Ah, I see." Twilight stated. "One question, how will you be funding all of this?" She asked.
"Every town has some odd jobs that need to be done, I'll just head to the nearest notice board. Speaking of which, where would I find one?"
"There's one by the town hall. Would you like some directions?"
"Sure." Gaige threw up her holographic map. "This is the map of where I've been so far, can you pinpoint where the town hall is?" Twilight walked over next to Gaige and took a look at the map.
"Here." She stated as she put her hoof on a part of the map where the tow hall would be. She gasped as she withdrew her hoof to find a hollow, white diamond where she had placed it.
"Thanks Twi." Gaige said as she closed down the map and headed for the door.
Gaige was standing in front of a notice board at the town hall and looking at the odd jobs needed around town. Needless to say, they were all boring. Roofing, woodcutting, cleaning. Argh! Does anyone have something interesting for me to do! The mechromancer huffed in frustration and crossed her arms. No hunting, no wanted posters, no bandit camps to clear. Boooooriiiing. She was about to leave the town hall when one of the staff walked up to her.
"Can I help you with something ma'am?" She asked.
"I'm just looking for something to do to earn some money but there isn't anything interesting to do. I'm pretty sure the most dangerous job here is the roofing." Gaige responded. "Pandora may be a hellhole that tries to kill you every ten minutes but at least there are some interesting jobs there."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Said the pony. "I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but there's a potion brewer named Zecora that lives out in the Everfree Forest that might need some assistance."
"And why would her jobs be more interesting?"
"Well, the Everfree Forest isn't exactly a safe place. It's populated with many dangerous predators. She might need some help involving the local wildlife." Gaige thought about this for a moment."
"Sounds like something you'd have on Pandora. Alright, I'll bite. Can you tell me where to find her?"
"Head straight down the road until you find a cottage near the edge of town. The pegasus that lives there should be able to point you in the right direction from there."
"Alright, thanks."
"Don't mention it." And with that, Gaige parted for the cottage.
The cottage was easy enough to find, there wasn't exactly a lot else to see. The human walked up to the door and gave it a few knocks. The door opened to reveal a familiar butter yellow pegasus hiding behind her light pink mane.
"Oh, hey Fluttershy. I didn't realize you lived here." The Mechromancer greeted.
"Hello Gaige." The timid pegasus greeted. "Yes, I do live here. Did you come here for something? That is, if you don't mind me asking."
"I was told that you could give me directions to some potion brewer named Zecora's house." Gaige returned. "I'm looking for a job and someone told me that Zecora might have one more suited to my skills."
"Oh, well I do know where she lives. But, the Everfree is a very dangerous place."
"So is Pandora, but I'm still here."
"Well, o-okay. I guess I can take you there if you want."
"Thanks Fluttershy." Gaige finishes. The two then depart for the dark treeline.
Author's Note
To all who stuck with me so far,
Thank you for putting up with my lazy, procrastinating ass.
