My Little Pony: Third Gear

Chapter 16: Just a Program

Gearhead spent the rest of that day coordinating with the Shadows through Dawn in order to establish the teleportation network to match the communication network already in place between each city and town’s Central Condenser. The idea was that instead of one or a few Unicorns exhausting their mana repeatedly teleporting themselves, Gearhead, and whatever equipment he decided to take, they would each take him and his gear on short hops forward. The next Unicorn would then ‘catch’ Gearhead and lob him forward for the next pony in line to catch, and so on until he reached whatever city the machine was attacking.

Of Gearhead’s several available measures, he was most afraid of the machine countering his Twin Engine somehow, before he had a chance to effectively use it. That would make it impossible to use either of his Stabilizers and leave him holding considerable dead weight. Worse, if he took the Engine off because it was no longer operational, the machine could try to take it and run. Gearhead had thus determined that he would take it on just with his magic this time, provided things came to blows.

On the second day, Dawn teleported Gearhead back to Fillydelphia where he checked in on everyone’s progress – not just his wild card team, but the other brilliant minds who were attending SorSci Filly. Some of them had come up with some interesting innovations that would help ponies live more at ease, including a different method of motion for carts from Gearhead’s chain-and-gear system.

Team Wild Card had hit a snag when it came to the distribution of power throughout the armour that was beginning to take shape. The problem came from trying to find a material that could fit underneath the external armour without compromising movement.

Fortunately Gaffer and Gizmo were messing around with some copper, and found by trial-and-error that it was conducive to electricity. Gearhead suggested treating it with heat and magic in a specific way, and then chiselling off the residue and shaping that into small, tight tubules. Twilight noted that the graphite in the pencils Spike sometimes used had a similar make-up, although the two materials were treated differently. The group decided to call the new transparent and durable material ‘graphene.’ Truth to tell, Gearhead had already used a similar material to wire the Wind, but the older stuff was not as flexible or conducive. Maybe he would get the opportunity to replace it later.

Gearhead spent the third day helping out at the shop, where Dawn and the others had already filled in the shaft the machine had dug. In the late afternoon, they finally got a hit: the creature was attacking Vanhoover’s Turbine-1. To travel that far west and north, Gearhead would need a long teleporter chain. “Should we do this outside?” He asked.

“That might be a good idea,” Dawn admitted.

“And should I take a run at it?”

“That could actually help, yes.”

“Okay then,” Gearhead said, leading the way outside.

“What should we do?” Radar asked.

“Keep the shop open unless something happens and we tell you to close. And try to establish a track: I would like to know where this thing goes between hits. Especially so far from the original point of contact.”

“Yes, sir,” Radar said, and she and the others threw off a salute.

Gearhead and Dawn chose an open stretch of path. Dawn took up position ten meters ahead of him, and slightly to his left. “Ready?”

Dawn tilted her head slightly, listening to something he could not hear because he was not part of her family’s telepathic network. “Ready,” she said finally. “Get straight to a canter, and no matter what, keep looking forward and keep moving forward, okay?”

“Understood.”

“On my ‘mark.’ Three... two... one... mark!”

Gearhead launched himself onto a path that would take him right past Dawn. Suddenly the ground was no longer solid, and his surroundings blurred away from the edges inward. As he got closer, Gearhead saw Dawn blur into a dozen different ponies, all of them dark-coated or dark-maned. He suddenly remembered to focus forward, and kept moving on reflex even though he no longer had the sensation of striking his hooves against any surface.

And then he was suddenly on solid ground again, and his surroundings came rushing back, together with the general sound. Gearhead stumbled, and the Unicorn waiting for him caught him, easing him to the ground even as he used his magic to determine whether an abnormality had formed, or if he had been injured in the transit process. “Receipt successful,” the stallion said finally.

Gearhead shook his head clear and reactivated his glasses and earpiece. “Central, Gearhead. Situation?”

“Gearhead, Vanhoover Central. This thing is just tearing at the casing. Fortunately the sensors aren’t logging any progress. The immediate area has been evacuated, and the City Guard has established a perimeter just in case it can’t be talked down.”

“I hope it can,” Gearhead said, and then he trotted toward Turbine-1, while the Unicorn who had served as the final link in his chain stood back and watched.

* * *

“I would thank you not to damage any part if the city’s defences,” Gearhead said as he slowed in his approach. The machine was standing up on its hind legs, although the joints were still articulated like that of a pony, rather than anything resembling Agile Form. It had been slashing at a single precise spot on the conical casing, and while so far it only showed minor scoring and scratched paint, the turbine was fine. Nevertheless, if the machine continued, it could conceivably get through. That was undesirable.

The machine stopped slashing and took one step to turn and face him. “Scanning... Subject not found in ‘Authorized’ listing. Scanning... Identity confirmed: Subject is Verdant Gearhead, creator of the Alicorn Engine.”

“If you are striving for accuracy then it is actually ‘Thirdson Gearhead of Herd Verdant,” Gearhead said dryly.

“Acknowledged. Updating database... update complete. Addendum: Subject ‘Thirdson Gearhead’ constitutes a direct step to fulfilling Directive One.”

“And what is Directive One?”

“Directive One: Locate and acquire Alicorn Engine magi-technology. Unit’s attempt to directly locate and acquire Alicorn Engine terminated prematurely due to royal writ. Unit’s attempt to acquire Alicorn Engine magi-technology indirectly by acquiring Alicorn Array turbine is ongoing. Logical corollary: Unit can acquire Alicorn Engine magi-technology directly by acquiring Subject ‘Thirdson Gearhead.’ Unit will now attempt to complete Directive 1-C.”

“Did you just alter your programming?”

“Affirmative.”

“That is impressive,” Gearhead said. The machine leaned forward, its ‘arms’ bending until they were legs again, and it was able to advance in quadrupedal mode. It took three steps toward him, then stopped, lifting one paw.

“Will Subject ‘Thirdson Gearhead’ accompany unit to origin?”

“What and where is ‘origin?’”

“Unable to transmit due to Directive Three. Will Subject ‘Thirdson Gearhead’ accompany unit to origin?”

“For what purpose?”

“Subject ‘Thirdson Gearhead’ will build or give Alicorn Engine to origin.”

“That technology is not for sale or distribution. Besides, I cannot trust an organization that first sends a machine out to do its work, trespassing and damaging property without even attempting direct communication or negotiation.”

“Directive One must be completed.” The machine took three more steps forward. Gearhead took one step back. “Subject ‘Thirdson Gearhead will come with unit?”

“What do I even call you?”

“Unit is ‘unit.’”

“Do you have anything that cannot refer to any other being?”

“Negative.”

“You are an automaton in armour, so how about ‘Otto?’”

“’Otto?’”

“Well, ‘Tom’ was already taken, may it rock in pieces. So ‘Otto M. Tonne,’ perhaps?”

“Unit does not have any need for a name, however if it will help Subject ‘Thirdson Gearhead’ to trust unit, Subject ‘Thirdson Gearhead’ may call unit that.”

“And Otto can call me ‘Gearhead.’”

“Very well, Subject Gearhead. Has trust been established? Will Subject ‘Gearhead’ come with ‘Otto?’

“Mister, you have a long way to go if you genuinely want to earn my trust. You did not even apologize for digging up my floor and trespassing, nevermind attacking one of my successful installations.”

“’Otto’ will fulfill Directive One. If Subject ‘Gearhead’ will not come with ‘Otto,’ then ‘Otto’ will bring Subject ‘Gearhead.’”

“That would be abduction, and it is against the law.”

“Directive Four conditions have been met. ‘Otto’ will now complete Directive One.”

How many of these directives does this thing have? As Otto charged on all fours, Gearhead drew the Geargem Dagger with his tail so he could call on his magic for physical reinforcement. He called a single Light Spirit into being and directed it into the small blade, then side-stepped as Otto came at him, slapping the machine across its side as it passed.

“Self-defence has been established,” Otto said as it skidded to a halt, only then to fully reorient on Gearhead. It unsheathed the claws on its forepaws.

“You are kidding me, correct? After you dug into my home, attacked my Array, and charged at me?” Unfortunately that ring of impact is fairly unmistakable: whatever or whoever this ‘origin’ is, they did not spare any expense on Otto’s armour: it is adamantine. He used the sensors built into his glasses to confirm that the machine’s armour was entirely made of the material. While it was not dragonfired like the turbine’s shell, it was still extremely durable. The Geargem Dagger would not cut through it unless Gearhead enchanted it rather heavily.

Otto pounced, but Gearhead called on his Light Wings to quickly gain some distance and altitude while he started to chant his next spell. Otto, however, had other ideas, immediately pursuing, and Gearhead was surprised to see that its wings used plasma-producing engines, similar to the ones Fixit had sported.

Gearhead decided to try another tactic, turning so he faced Otto, holding his extended blade between them. “Quattuor Magnae Spiritus invoco Sagitta Magica undecim Lucis.” Behind his mind’s eye, he imagined the corresponding magic circle. It appeared, firing off the eleven Light Arrows. Otto responded not by evading as Gearhead most expected, but by bringing its six wingtips forward. The Light Arrows unwound and got sucked into those wingtips without harming the automaton at all.

“You can absorb magic,” Gearhead said.

“Affirmative. Will Subject ‘Gearhead’ come..?”

“You have the ability, let us see what you can do with it,” Gearhead said. He called on his Anklet to activate its magic circuits, but not to call upon its fully-activated abilities. “Quattuor Magnae Spiritus invoco. Spiritus Fulgor, evoco ex vacuo et percutiam me inimucus. Fulgor Securis!”

“Subject ‘Gearhead’ struggles in futility. Subject ‘Gearhead’ will be injured, but recoverable. ‘Otto’ will now act to fulfill Directives 1-C and Four.” Otto continued to charge, while Gearhead continued to fly backwards, sliding left or right if it seemed like he could sneak in some more distance as the lightning energy gathered to his sword.

Gearhead created a charging circuit between himself, the Geargem Dagger, and his Elemental Anklet, with its circuits open to conducting and building up more mana than Gearhead could cope with on his own. Whatever Otto’s capacity, it had to be lower than what Gearhead had at his disposal, especially if it could not keep up with the demands entailed in absorbing magic power.

Gearhead unleashed a continuous blast of magical lightning directly at Otto. Again, the automaton slowed and angled its wingtips to absorb the energy, charging and protecting itself at the same time. To do this, however, it had to go through several steps with the single large beam: the energies had to be unbraided from each other and unbound. They had to be converted into useful energy that would not do any damage. Only then could the power be cycled into storage or use.

Even though the point where the blast energy was being visibly unbraided started out five meters in front of Otto, that point was slowly closing the distance as the machine could not keep up with the steady, unyielding flow. Perhaps it continued in its efforts in anticipation of the point when Gearhead would run out of mana, or when he would at least let up with his spell. Unfortunately that was not Gearhead’s plan, and the barely-visible, harmful part of the spell was soon centimeters from Otto’s wingtips.

Otto rolled to minimize the damage, trying to slip away, but an explosion signalled success for Gearhead and failure for the machine. “Error: Batteries at overcapacity. Wing-3 destroyed. Wing-4 medium damaged. Batteries leaking. Must deploy countermeasures. Must fulfill Directive Three.”

Gearhead had only understood part of that, and those consisted of the parts where he was beating Otto, but Otto was about to counterattack. Gearhead reinforced his shielding and prepared to launch a follow-up attack.

Otto’s left forepaw receded into its leg, revealing a large barrel, from which he shot a golden sphere. The sphere exploded with light and fury, even to the point of temporarily overwhelming the filters on Gearhead’s glasses. Even as he shook his eyes clear, and twitched his ears to try to clear the ringing, he zigged and zagged about the sky to avoid any attacks that might be coming.

Once Gearhead’s vision and hearing were back, however, he was able to see that Otto was gone, having fled the scene. If the automaton still was carrying some of Gearhead’s mana, the latter might have been able to track it, but the trail soon ran out, the machine having bled it all out, together with some of the mana it had originally been using as power. “Control, Gearhead. Do you have a track?”

“I’m sorry, sir. It went silent and completely invisible right after it released that flash bomb. It’s gone.”

“At least we learned a few things about it,” although it is hard to imagine how I could defeat it alone, and it learned plenty about me too.

“Yes sir,”

“It is getting late. Is the chain ready to send me back to Ponyville?”

“Yes sir,”

“In that case, I have some planning to do.”

* * *

How could Gearhead defeat an automaton that did not tire, could become undetectable, and which was armoured completely in adamantine? He needed something that would allow him to get underneath that armour, but the Geargem Dagger was not up to the job: it was designed more for energy delivery than for cutting, despite its form as a bladed weapon, and its diamond-hard surface had already been chipped. What was needed here was a blade that could cut even diamond with ease.

The prospect of such a weapon made Gearhead uncomfortable, but it seemed as though it would be necessary. To help avoid chances of anyone else using it with any ease, Gearhead went about designing the new weapon to only be compatible while using the Full Armour Stabilizer. At nearly thrice a normal pony’s size, even a Griffin would find it unwieldy, but many Dragons could still use it for a toothpick. There was not much Gearhead could do to mitigate that.

Gearhead used every trick available to him in order to ensure the cutting blade could only be used when certain conditions were met, and to pile on as many conditions as he could. He mounted it within a long, oval tower shield so it had to be released and swung into a locking position on the bottom of the shield, which was itself fairly large, but he also made it so he could wield it with the butt of the shield pointing off the end of his hand, so obviously it was best used in Agile Form. It was not impossible to use normally, if only as a lance.

To maximize the chances that the new sword would do damage without taking as much to itself, Gearhead crafted it from dragonfired adamantine with condenser gemstones, but he also used graphene along the support lattices for strength and conductivity. It was also double-edged, so more like Silver Wind’s prow than like the Geargem Dagger, that way Gearhead could use it to strike with backhand slashes as well as forehand ones. He fully expected to have to be as fast as possible to be able to hit Otto next time.

In Fillydelphia, Team Wild Card was trying to complete the final stages as quickly as possible, so they cut corners on development when and where they could: when it came to armour, they used several elements from Gearhead’s microscale for inspiration.

For power, they decided that it would be best to keep the armour as charged as possible by having a high-level Unicorn use it, and there was only one there who was also acclimated to moving in Agile Form, which would increase the armour’s effectiveness. They also mounted some canons and blades as back-up weapons, however the armour’s primary weapon would be a dagger and shield set, specially customized for the wearer.

Gearhead asked his network to keep all their senses peeled for any news of Otto, as well as any signs that it might still be suffering from having its batteries damaged. In all likelihood it needed to recharge, on top of requiring repairs, and any news on that front would lead to confronting it all the sooner.

* * *

Four days after Otto’s attack on Vanhoover, Gearhead had already moved all of his assets, stationing them in Canterlot. As central as the capital was to Equestria, the Shadow’s mages would be able to move him and his partner out to any point on the map equally fast. It would not matter where Otto attacked that way.

It was just as well that all that remained for the second armour was its fine tuning, since Gearhead decided to move them by flying Silver Wind to Canterlot. He had also added some parameters to the Arrays’ activation conditions, so they should be able to detect Otto before he started his attack. It was also just as well that Gearhead had decided to station himself in Central Equestria, freeing up all of the Unicorns who were stationed along all of the lines that did not lead to whichever city Otto attacked, because it would require two or three of them to teleport the Full Armour for him.

As it turned out, Otto targeted Hollow Shades, a town and one of the first that Gearhead had chosen to equip with the Alicorn Engine. Its smaller size relative even to Ponyville meant that it could be evacuated more easily. It was also located between Canterlot and Fillydelphia – closer to the latter, however the teleportation line would have had to have started there in the first place.

When Dawn launched Gearhead, the other armour was not ready yet, but Gearhead was confident he could stall Otto long enough for his wild card to arrive: he had come up with a few strategies to deal with the troublesome automaton that did not include the use of his Full Sword, however they required a great deal of casting time. To try to buy that, Gearhead ‘ported in wearing only his Twin Engine to start, although he was already in Agile Form so he did not need to take the time to change later.

“Subject ‘Gearhead’ detected. Target ‘Twin Core Alicorn Engine’ detected. Directive One will be fulfilled now.” Otto had gone from six wings to twelve, six on each side, all spread wide and acting as support for the two half-disks now mounted to his back, the barrels of a pair of canons sticking up past its head. Ottis lowered both barrels, and Gearhead saw the cones of light as they charged. He climbed, so there was nothing behind him that the blasts could hit when he flew a spiral path to dodge them both.

“Quattuor Magnae Spiritus invoco. Evoco Spiritus Lux et Spiritus Solis. Maturarent procella Ventis Austrinos. Torquent Aquae Aquilonis gelida. Congregate, et efficiamini mei ensis. Iovem Tempestas!” Otto simply hovered and waited while Gearhead completed the incantation, even opening fire with both of his bladecasters for good measure. The bolts splashed harmlessly against Otto’s adamantine armour, but it opened up several large vents in both disks to absorb the power from Jove’s Thunderstorm, which Gearhead continued to fire for a full ten seconds before letting up.

“Unit fully charged. No tactics will work a second time. Fighting is useless. Surrender now.”

“It is called testing the waters,” Gearhead said. “Cantus Bellax, plenum potestatem.” He flew up into the air, and then used his activation key again. Seeing this, Otto charged, moving twice as fast as before. Gearhead went into a spin, still wielding both bladecasters, but in sword mode now, and feeding them a constant, if small, stream of Light Magic to augment their strength.

Otto had swords of its own, extending from its arms after it transformed to bipedal mode. They showed little in the way of damage as Gearhead blocked Otto’s flurry of slashes and thrusts: while they were delivered at high speeds that stretched the capabilities of what a normal pony could do, they were also textbook attacks, and therefore predictable. They also lacked a certain energy, so Gearhead easily turned them aside, even if Otto was, at least at first, able to move slightly faster than him.

Gearhead countered one spinning move by crossing his arms all around his body and slashing up and across with both at the same time. He then followed through with a double-downward slash, but then broke into independent left and rights slashes where he aimed for an arm or a leg or Otto’s torso seemingly at random. Rather than having to keep up with the barrage, Otto backed off.

That was when the Full Armour, which Midnight and Dusk had sent barely a minute before, swooped in in docking mode, having scanned for, and found, the perfect opportunity. In flyer mode, the armour was one and a half times Gearhead’s own size, and somewhat resembled a bird with its wings on backwards. When it docked with the Twin Engine, however, the armour plating quickly swung and locked into place, with Gearhead sitting in the middle so his arms and legs only reached partway down each corresponding limb. His own head still sat in the head part of the armour, and he looked through a full helmet that was very similar to the one he had worn at Wonderbolts Academy.

The Full Armour had eight wings just like the smaller Stabilizer. The major difference was that it provided protection to the entire body, where the Twin Core’s harness only protected the torso. Apart from being large enough to accommodate Snowbelle, it also packed more power. Gearhead had painted it white with forest green and turquoise trim so it would stand out, even discounting its size. He adjusted the shield on his arm so it was positioned for easy access to the Full Sword if he ended up needing it.

“What’s that on its back?” Shining Armour asked, flying in to hover five meters to Gearhead’s right. Like Gearhead, he was in Agile Form, but unlike Gearhead, his armour made him normal sized. It was done in Armour’s colour scheme, two blade-like wings projecting from the shoulders, with a smooth, shallow pod that emitted a pale white light sitting between them. Armour wore his shield strapped to his left arm, but he had not yet drawn his own dagger. He had also borrowed the shallow V visor from the Wonderbolts design.

“I believe it is a high-capacity energy storage device. Possibly it can even emit that energy as well, just in case I try the same strategy as before.”

“But you never use the same strategy twice,” Armour said.

“Indeed not. Shall we see how much casting time you can buy me?”

“Absolutely,” Shining drew his dagger, growing it to sword size. Likewise, he changed his shield to long tower-style instead of the original buckler shape. Gearhead put his shield back the way it had been and switched to his bladecasters, made larger and more powerful by the Full Armour’s attachments, just like with his other Stabilizer.

“Two will not make any difference,” Otto said even as Armour and Gearhead charged together, Gearhead offering cover fire to his friend and former-teacher. Armour was also able to fire single blasts from his sword, but he used that sparingly, as though he could not use it often.

Several large vents opened up in Otto’s backpack as the two casters advanced on it, and then the air was suddenly filled with energy beams, an overwhelming fusillade. Both attackers continued to fly behind their shields, which took or deflected the beams they could not dodge. At close range, Otto switched to his blades, and had to deal with Armour attacking on one side and Gearhead still firing from the other.

Otto tried manoeuvring closer to Gearhead and further from Shining Armour, trying to manage them by their attack types, and even as turquoise particles began to fill the air around them, Armour pressed his attacks all the harder.

Suddenly Armour lunged for Otto’s back, and it turned to compensate. It opened up an emitter in the palm of its paw, and fired. In the same instant, Gearhead lurched closer to Otto, his shield rotating slightly. The Full Sword clicked free of its sheath within the shield even as Gearhead swung the armour’s arm faster. Otto slid to the left and back, making his shot graze Armour, but the Full Sword also grazed its own armour, putting more than a simple mark in its paint. It locked into place with another click, and then Gearhead was able to send particles and mana into the blade through the graphite channels.

Gearhead could practically see the calculations flying through Otto’s electronic mind, or whatever passed for it. The inevitable conclusion was that it was more dangerous to let Gearhead get close to it with the Full Sword than anything else. And while Otto wanted to steal the Twin Engine, if he could not do that without getting bifurcated, then that would not do any good. Better to see if it could wear Gearhead out, and then incapacitate him and take the Engine, as well as Gearhead himself.

As Otto spiralled and flipped and slid for space, Gearhead stowed his sword and shield, instead going for his bladecasters and the attachments that allowed him to use the Hyper Railgun. While Armour continued to press Otto alone, Gearhead flew little evasive patterns and charged for the shot, just as he had against Abyssal Trance.

Below, Otto tried to siphon Armour’s mana, but it could only get wisps of whatever was coming off of the prince’s sword or shield whenever they came into contact with Otto or its weapons. Otto switched to its full fusillade to try to push Armour back, but he just used his shield again. Gearhead was far enough away, and agile enough, to dodge the blasts that would have reached him.

When Otto stopped firing to try to flank Armour in his shielded position, Armour spun and stabbed his sword out over the lip of his shield, catching Otto and forcing it back into a defensive posture. Like the Geargem Dagger, Armour’s sword could not do more than dent Otto’s armour one swing at a time, but Armour was infusing it with magic for a much bigger impact. His armour was also supercharging his magic and feeding it back to him as boosted power.

The three panels on Gearhead’s rifle snapped shut, and he blinked in the command to let Armour know that he was ready. It was now Armour’s job to keep Otto fighting in one place and vulnerable to attack long enough for the bullet to hit. Gearhead glided slowly forward to make his partner’s job a little easier, and then he took his anchoring stance.

There was the echoing boom when Gearhead fired, the shockwaves as the bullet ripped through the magi-sound barriers during the acceleration phase, and Otto was half-turning to see what was going on. The bullet entered through the long radial of the right disk, and Otto jerked slightly as the shell buried into its shoulder. Then there was the secondary explosion of magical energy, even as Armour turned and flew as fast as he could for distance. The damaged disk exploded, releasing all of the mana it had previously contained, and delivering major damage to the wings on that side. Otto lurched at the explosion of energy in its shoulder as well, and then began to turn toward Gearhead.

The Earth Pony had already returned the attachments to his back, and he was deep into his spellcasting again, bladecasters held crossed in front of him. The air around him shivered as the energy responded to his call, and Otto charged. Almost immediately it got knocked off course by Shining Armour, charging in at full speed to strike its damaged left side and sheer away more adamantine plating. Otto tried to bring its blades into play against the Unicorn, and apparently realized that Armour was in under its range, so it reverted to using its claws.

In the same moment that it started to swing, Armour kicked off with both feet to launch himself away from Otto faster. He moved his shield quickly into position, and then shield rushed the damaged automaton. The impact was jarring, but this time Armour disengaged more quickly, flipping around to attack with his sword this time.

As though frustrated and determined to win this time, Otto threw all his claws and all of his swords into a furious dance. Razor-sharp adamantine surrounded Armour in all directions, closing fast. Even his microscale would not allow him to escape unscathed, and once Otto latched on, it would not let go until Armour did not have any will remaining to resist.

The two blade-like wings on Armour’s back opened up into halves, each completed by a dark purple blade of its own, and suddenly he was not in Otto’s attack range at all. Armour reappeared five meters above and behind Otto, who turned as soon as it detected the interloper, expecting an attack. Armour did not move, though. In fact, he was in the same ready stance as before, so Otto flew around to his right to flank him, but before even one blade could land, Armour blinked out of existence again. He reappeared five meters away, in the opposite direction.

Otto stalked closer, possibly trying to calculate what was going on. Suddenly the air around it became intensely cold. Ice formed all around it, but not as arrows are javelins with which it might have been attacked. It was as if the very air was freezing. Otto turned and scanned for a safe place, and detected that even Armour was getting caught in the flash freeze. Only he was not caught at all, vanishing and reappearing beside Gearhead, from whom an intense blue energy was pouring.

The spell suddenly coalesced and completed, encasing Otto in a thick shell of ice the size of Ponyville’s Town Hall. It did not even fall, but floated there, as if the very laws of physics had been broken – as indeed they had: Gearhead had completed casting a High Ancient Ice Spell. Absolute Zero did what should have been physically impossible and lowered the very temperature to the point where the bonds that held objects and even living things together were robbed of the energy they needed to move and stay together. This was a temperature called ‘absolute zero,’ and where movement on a micro scale was prevented, things shattered.

As indeed, the iced area did, with Otto still caught inside it.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Armour said, for although its wings and disk were gone, Otto remained, although in a much slimmer form now that its adamantine armour had been destroyed. Its eyes shone red, and it launched itself at Armour and Gearhead on a pillar of flame, long blades extended as it sought the kill.

Armour’s wings closed, the ability, engineered by Time Turner, to shift space around him, exhausted. Even though Armour powered his armour with his mana, and it amplified and fed it back to him, the effort he had put into fighting Otto had all but exhausted him. He could still fly, and he could rely on his shield for protection, but he could not fight this charging force of metal fury.

Gearhead was similarly exhausted after the preliminary fight, firing his Hyper Railgun, and then casting Absolute Zero, a spell he was not used to using with an element for which he did not have high affinity. But the Twin Engine had been mostly unaffected by the energy demands that he had placed on it this time, and the Full Armour offered him many options when it came to arms and protection. Gearhead only needed one.

As Otto charged unerringly toward them, Gearhead flew forward just one pace to meet him, swinging his rotating shield around, and down. The Full Sword swung into place, locking itself in, and became energized. That single quick slash severed Otto form left hip to right shoulder, and then both combat mages had to get down behind their shields again to save themselves from the explosion.

* * *

Doctor Sparks jumped in his seat when the console beeped at him, but then he sighed in relief: the receiver had recovered all of the information before it could get lost. Sparks quickly went about loading it all onto one small data crystal, and a couple minutes later he left the otherwise empty laboratory.

Naturally it was only a matter of time before the Defence Alliance found this secret installation. They would find it empty, and if they could lift any useful clues from it, they deserved it. If not, if they just skipped over anything Sparks had forgotten to take, then they deserved nothing, not even his respect, and the facilities could be used again: few ponies checked the same place twice, after all, and there was nothing more useful than a secret laboratory with prime real estate.

The last thing Sparks did was to unplug two thick wires that fed into two big tanks filled with flowing blue-white energy. He plugged each wire into its partners port, and cantered from the room. Minutes later he was outside, and all of the circuits inside the facility were completely overloaded by a massive feedback loop, rendering them useless.

Sparks patted his jacket pocket one more time to ensure the cluster’s final present was still there. While it had ultimately failed to recover a working Alicorn Engine or Array, or to bring back Gearhead himself, it had transmitted all the data it had gathered on the way an Alicorn Engine might work. Of special interest was the make-up of those warm, turquoise energy specks that the Engines and Arrays all produced. If Sparks could determine what they were, that was a step closer to discovering how they were made.

The sacrifice of a single mechanical unit was well worth that major step forward. Besides, they now knew that the cluster design worked. Their armour design worked. It all worked well beyond what Sparks had dreamed it would, even to the point of fighting hoof to hoof with Gearhead and his Twin Engine. All he and his team had to do was adjust some of the programming so it would not go wild, and they would have the perfect tool.

Sparks believed his lord and lady would be pleased at the unparalleled success they had won from a bad situation. TRINITY was finally ready to move forward, and best of all, neither Gearhead nor the DA nor even the princesses knew anything about the organization behind it all.

The cluster may have failed to fulfill one of its directives, but it had succeeded everywhere else. The data it had gleaned and sent might even lead to completing Directive One the way Sparks had originally intended.

* * *

Gearhead was fascinated by the concept of an autonomous, programmed being, but he would never create one himself. The systems he used to help control his Alicorn Engines, to control his automated fabrication machines, and to monitor and control the Alicorn Arrays were all programmed just for their specific tasks, and nothing else. They could never become self-aware the way Otto had, because they were there to assist, and would thus never have control.

Very few pieces remained from the automaton, as fully destroyed as it had been. There was, however, one small orb made of highly durable adamantine. When Gearhead carefully cracked it open, he discovered an arrangement of three cradles and the powdered remnants of three corresponding crystals.

Since the crystals had been protected by adamantine, and the only internal components to be so protected, it was easy to conclude that they were important. Gearhead scanned the powder and found that the crystals that used to be there were used to store data. Given how large they were, it had been a massive amount of data. He knew that Otto had been pre-programmed, and that it had learned as it experienced things. It had, apart from some very basic building blocks, operated independently, and could have easily gone beyond its original programming. All of that required a high degree of skill, which Gearhead had never seen before.

It also required the capacity to store the fruits of any labour using that skill. Gearhead was left guessing what means this apparent genius might have used. No being at SorSci was working on anything even remotely similar.

And that was fine with Gearhead, who watched as Armour and the others removed the borrowed elements from their armour and finished the project their way. Although SorSci still had much of three months to go, he already thought of it as a big success.

On the other hoof, the three heads of the DA, the royal sisters, and Gearhead himself wanted to discover who had made Otto. While Gearhead wanted to ask the creator some questions, he also agreed that there was a need for justice.