A changling drone towered over a small filly, cackling as its horn lit up in preparation for a burst of energy. The screams and fire roaring around the two of them only unsettled the filly more so than she already was. She just wanted all of this to end. Equestria wasn’t supposed to fall to the likes of these bugs.
“Any last words?” the drone asked.
“Please help!” the filly cried out desperately.
“Nopony can hear you scream,” the changling reminded her. “Nopony but me.”
Before the changling could strike, a bronze blur slammed into the offending bug like being, sending it skidding across the rubble covered ground. The sound of whirring gears and cogs shifting were a sharp contrast to the toxic sounds of terror around them, as a pair of wings folded against a now stationary stallion.
“You!” the changling hissed.
“You need to evacuate,” the stallion said, glancing down at the filly, who nodded before fleeing from the changling.
“Forget this!” the changling snorted trying to fly past the stallion in a desperate attempt to get at the fleeing foal.
“I don’t remember seeing you with the evacuation crew,” the stallion said before grabbing the changling by the tail and slamming it into a crumbling wall. Fortunately for the bug, they were naturally durable enough to survive such an impact. “For your own wellbeing I suggest you leave while you can.”
“You think your tough don’t you?” the changling spat rushing the stallion with all he had, aiming for his muzzle.
His reaction was faster only by a small margin as the changling’s teeth dug into the soft flesh of the pony’s face. It grinned as a large chunk came free in its mouth as it pulled away from the stallion. This grin swiftly changed however, as the stallion simply turned around to face the changling with one normal eye, and one that didn’t resemble an eye at all.
The ‘eye’ was little more than a blue light, accompanied by other components that the changling couldn’t identify. The light shifted as the pupil of a normal eye would as the stallion’s view changed. It seemed to dance over the changling’s form far quicker than a pony’s eye should be capable of.
“W-what…are you?” the drone stammered.
“A protector of the peace,” the stallion replied with a smirk.
In a heartbeat, the changling found itself on the ground, being pounded into oblivion by the raw strength of the unnatural stallion. In the span of a few seconds its horn and left wing had been torn from its carapace, rendering it defenseless before being tossed aside like a rag doll.
Loud, heavy hoof steps clanked against the ground, sending waves of fear along the changling’s spine. It crawled away from the towering juggernaut, regretting ever testing the stallion’s temper. This stallion was different; it was as if he didn’t care what happened to himself. Ponies were supposed to care, but he seemed almost oblivious to the injury to his muzzle.
Much to the changling’s surprise, the blue light in the stallion’s fake eye turned an ominous red, as did the pupil in his uninjured eye. Heat could be felt coming from the two glowing sockets, giving the changling a rough idea of what exactly was about to happen to it.
“Wait!” the changling shouted just as the red lights grew brighter. “I give up! Please, I don’t want to die!”
The stallion’s eyes retained their heat and color, fixed on the drone that was now cowering before him. It would be easy to finish his mission now, all he had to do was release his built up energy. Yet, something inside of him was telling him not to, something gentler and kinder than the chaos wanting to burst forth.
“Please don’t kill me…” the changling sobbed pitifully.
Slowly but surely, the stallion’s eyes began to regain their regular blue coloring. He watched as the changling in turn slowly began to dissolve as did the burning buildings. The damage that had been inflicted on the stallion began to regenerate and cover over his mechanical components.
As his surroundings dissolved, they were replaced by a seemingly endless expanse of blue tiles with glowing orbs in between each one. The symmetry in design of the room was perfect, and it was a room the stallion had become familiar with.
“Well done Zero,” came an upbeat voice. “I was a little worried you’d fail that one after ten tries already.”
“Ten, Doctor?” Zero tilted his head, cocking an eyebrow.
“Yes ten, but that’s neither here nor there,” Doctor Whooves replied. “The important thing is that you have the capacity to show mercy to your enemies. That brings you another step closer to being like us.”
“I am not sure what I felt…” Zero confessed. “All I know is that something told me not to.”
“You’ll have all the time in the world to explore this feeling,” Doctor Whooves said. “For now though, I’m letting those interested in your progress know your morality test have been completed.”
“That was the last one?” Zero asked with a slight rise in his tone.
The virtual image of Doctor Whooves smiled with a nod. “That’s correct Zero, you’ve come a long way from the hunk of scrap that was more or less dropped in my lap.”
Zero’s expression fell flat at the comment. Which only brought an approving nod from his mentor; he had been the one to gift him with a face at all. His former creator had deemed such features meaningless for his purpose. Doctor Whooves, however, had set out to make improvements, as well as keep him on the straight and narrow.
The good Doctor had also seen it fit to give him a new chasse, though the bronze coloration was kept. His mane and tail were still a lengthy flowing blue, which could change depending on the energy output in his system. For the most part, his eyes shared this coloration and trait.
Zero was almost entirely mechanical, save for the skin and sand colored synthetic fur that formed his muzzle. It gave him a more natural appearance, and with this small upgrade alone at first glance Zero looked like a regular heavily armored guard stallion.
“What happens now?” Zero asked.
“We need to power you down for a while,” Doctor Whooves replied.
No sooner had he spoken, the lights on the floor began to grow dim before dissolving completely. Zero stepped away from one of the deteriorating orbs that was near his hooves, uncertain what was about to happen next.
“I thought you said the test were finished?” Zero’s voice had the faintest hint of fear in it.
“They are, now I just need you to go to sleep for a while,” the image of Doctor Whooves replied, growing dim and fuzzy as the room around Zero began to decay and disappear.
Before Zero could utter another word everything went dark. He found himself caught in a state of awareness that no other pony could experience. He was neither awake, nor was he truly asleep. He was nothing again. He had dwelt in darkness before knowing what the warmth of light was, and experiencing it all over again terrified him.
While he was pleased that he could experience a few emotions, and display the appropriate responses, fear was one that was genuinely his. It triggered the stallion’s response to flee from that which disturbed him, since he was unable to address it with his first protocol, defense.
Mercifully, Zero’s response systems began to shut down as well, leaving only the low energy cycle active. This kept Zero from processing information and functioning, as well as left his consciousness dormant. Effectively sending him to what a normal pony would consider sleep.
Shining Armor sat in his office, which over looked the training area. Each of the crystal pony troops below were new recruits, all nervous about what to expect from their commander. A quick glance at the clock told him that it was time to begin molding the newest members of the army into respectable stallions and mares.
As Shining Armor was about to stand, a knock on the door, kept him in his seat; he wasn’t expecting anypony. All of his other officers were out with the regulars, and wouldn’t bother him today unless it was important.
“Enter,” Shining said, drowning his curiosity with a tone of professionalism.
Lucky Shot pushed open the door. Shining Armor recognized him easily enough; the stallion was a bit of a hero, after all. While he hadn’t taken part in the unintentional demolition of the stadium in Las Pegasus, he had kept a few civilians safe. That, and his aim was dead on with offensive magic, which provided the others that day with a few less metal ponies to deal with.
According to his report, a few had never made it to the track that day, and had tried to make a mess of the city. Thankfully he had intervened in time, and spared the inner city the clock work monstrosities wrath.
“Lucky Shot,” Shining Armor relaxed a bit, satisfied one of his officers wasn’t bringing a foul report on one of his favorite occasions. “What brings you this way?”
“It’s about a recruit, sir,” Lucky Shot said.
“Oh,” Shining’s tone soured slightly. “What happened?”
“I just came to let you know one of them is ready,” Lucky Shot reported.
“Ready?” the unicorn raised an eyebrow. “I would hardly call a fresh batch of recruits ready for anything more than patrols.”
“Not those recruits, sir,” Lucky Shot replied. “It’s Zero, he’s ready.”
