Tungstine looked up at the hulking bipedal form before him, checking it one final time for structural flaws. His heart hammered away inside him, and he found himself unable to stop grinning at the prospect of his years of hard work finally paying off.
He knew how to make a golem's body of course. Figuring out that part had been easy. Simply a lump of clay, shaped appropriately and enchanted with a variant come-to-life spell; it had served it's purpose perfectly. In all other aspects, however, that first experiment had been an utter failure. His rump ached at the very thought.
Satisfied with what he saw, he moved two large copper coils into position, triangulating around the golem. With that done, he lit his horn and began channeling his magic reserves into them. As he did so, he constructed a spell matrix in his mind. It was a very particular piece of magic. By itself it would not affect the golem in the slightest, but that was where the golem's heart came into play. A fire ruby, soaked in quicksilver for thirty days and finally cast inside a shell of the purest gold he could get his hooves on. It would act as a catalyst for the spell, allowing the golem's creation, and then onwards it would act as the golem's core. So long as the heart remained intact, the golem would be able to recover from any trauma. Or so he hypothesized.
The coils glowed with power, Tungstine slowed the flow of power to a trickle, leaving just enough of a connection to prevent the accumulated magic from escaping. Sweat poured down his coat and his breath came out in gusts. He was at his limit and he knew it for the way his horn was aching, for the way his legs were trembling.
With a grunt, he released the spell matrix into the golem. A deafening crack resounded through the room, each coil releasing a line of thaumic energy into the golem's heart. A gust of wind, powered by the waste mana emanating from the golem, blew in a vortex around the room, scattering loose items and papers. Ears still ringing from the shockwave, Tungstine failed to notice the low, wailing tone of the wind.
With the coils exhausted, the lines vanished, and the wind slowly died. Tungstine, eyes wide, gazed up pleadingly at his creation. His magic all but spent, all he could do now was watch and wait.
Long moments passed, and then the golem's eyes began to glow with a dull yellow light.
What... what happened? Where am I?
The first thing he noticed was that he hadn’t spoken those words. Alarmed, he tried again.
Where am I? Where am I?
The effort was wasted, the only sound he could hear was his own internal monologue. Nor could he feel his lips move, and when he moved to bring his hand to his mout-
"It's alive! It's alive!"
Startled by this sudden exclamation, he looked down to see a small horse standing before him, a pony even. It’s coat was a silvery grey, and it’s mane was a pastel brown. And clearly it had spoken, for it had a manic grin upon it’s face. Was that a horn!?
What.
“Fantastic! Okay, now follow me.” Said the pony as he turned to make his way to another corner of the large chamber around them.
Yeah, I don- what! What! What!
He found himself following the pony. Not of his own volition, but as if his legs had a mind of their own. He tried stopping, but found himself unable to, almost like the reverse of a dream where one found themselves planted to the ground. Also, that was definitely a horn.
“Yes, good, okay now wait here.”
With that, the pony strode through a nearby door, leaving him standing there. Disorientated, he made stock of his surroundings. From a casual glance, one would say that the chamber was littered with science debris. Honestly, the only clean space in the place would be the corner he was standing in now.
He clapped his hands in irritation and… wait…
He clapped his hands. Nothing. He couldn’t feel his hands. That wasn’t normal. For the first time, he took a proper look at his own body.
Oh no…
He looked around desperately. There, a mirror! He rushed to it, acutely aware now that he could not in fact feel a single thing.
No no no no no....
Stone. His body was made out of stone. Was that… clay?
No mouth! He had no mouth! And his eyes were glowing!
WHAT THE SHIT IS GOING ON!?
Okay, calm down… calm down. Think!
He glared at the mirror as his mind raced, trying to figure out what had happened. That pony was clearly from another world, or rather he was now in another world. Parallel dimension? Alternate universe? Whatever, it was irrelevant. Somehow it had dragged him here from his own world. And turned him into a golem. A clay golem with glowing yellow eyes.
What the shit?
What had he been doing last? He didn’t recall, he must have been sleeping. Well, at least it hadn’t taken him when he was in the middle of anything important.
Earlier… That pony had spoken a command, and he had obeyed. He had decided not to, but he had done it anyway. Clearly his free will had been tampered with.
“Ah, so you have discovered the mirror?”
He turned to the pony, who had reappeared with an amused grin, and was wearing saddlebags.
“Reflections are fascinating, are they not? Sometimes I like to imagine they could reach out and touch you.”
He turned as the pony approached. He came close… within arm’s reach...
The golem knelt down, taking the pony’s head in his hands. One squeeze would be all it took. Just crush this pony’s head, and he would be free. He would not be a slave. He refused.
Just kill him. He can't give commands when he's dead. He can't force you to obey.
“Oh, you want to know more about me? Well, let’s see. My name is Tungstine, and I’m your creater. Hello! This is my lab here in Appleloosa. Well, I call it a lab, it’s honestly more of a warehouse. I’m a wizard on a budget, you see. No money for a tower, not yet.”
The golem stared at the pony as he prattled on. This was not what he had expected. The pony wasn’t trying to wriggle out of his grip, wasn’t trying to fight back. He was just talking. There wasn’t even a trace of fear in his face, in his posture. It was like he didn’t even realize he was in danger, like he didn’t realize how close he was to death.
But above all, there was no malice. No derision, no ‘I’m better than this thing’ attitude. He was just… talking.
Damnit. You’re far too trusting!
Killing Tungstine probably wasn’t the smartest move right now anyway. Better to learn the lay of the land before doing anything drastic. He released Tungstine’s head, and drew himself back up to his full height.
"Hmm? You're done? Okay, on with it then."
Tungstine’s horn lit, because of course it did, and he levitated out a large number of glass tubes out of the saddlebags, because of course he did. Each one contained a small amount of a different substance. Most of these substances the golem did not recognize, but there were a few that seemed familiar. Tungstine then laid these tubes out on a nearby table.
“Okay, golem, memorize the alchemical samples inside these tubes by appearance please.”
Yessa, Massa.
Author's Note
Seen a typo?
Be a bro! Point it out to me. 