Around three months had passed since the manticore attack and winter was finally coming. Gerhardt had finally managed to pay off his debt to Celestia and Luna with about 20% interest and had purchased a plot of land in the Crystal Empire to build a second factory/operation facility/store where individuals could go to receive augmentations or buy some of the technology he was selling.

His fountain pens in particular were rapidly becoming very popular around Equestria and were slowly starting to replace quills and inkwells. His computers were also becoming very popular among the more scientific and scholarly community for their raw computing power. His cellphones were also gaining some traction, if a bit more slowly than the rest of his technology, as an alternate form of communication over sending letters. His radios had to compete with other fairly well established companies that sold radios, so those were lagging behind a bit but they were still selling.

The Apple family had also finally agreed to have him build a truck for them. He even helped them customize it to suit their needs.

In secret his army of combat golems was steadily growing. He now had about five hundred of them. This was mainly due to the fact he had built several factories along the W, X, Y axes two of which were dedicated solely to building combat golems and were running night and day. He also had several personal mines for metals and crystals along the W, X, Y axes as well, though he was still purchasing materials from Canterlot due to his agreement with Celestia and Luna and so as to not raise any suspicions as to where he was getting all of his resources. Fortunately there didn’t appear to be any intelligent life along the W, X, Y axes so he was able to do all of this relatively unopposed.

The underground levels below his factory in Ponyville were coming along very well. They still had a ways to go but he hoped the barrier generator and the mechanism to raise and lower it as needed would be complete by the end of winter.

He also had a few construction golems working on a ship that would launch into space and deliver objects into orbit. Objects such as orbital telescopes to figure out what exactly was going on with the sky and to prove Celestia and Luna didn’t control the sun or moon, satellites for the handful of cell phone towers that were now scattered across Equestria, and orbital cannons in case war broke out with the Changelings. He already had the first satellite and orbital cannon built and stored in the underground portion of his factory in Ponyville, they were just waiting on the ship which was about 80% of the way to completion. He was certain he would make his goal of putting them in orbit before the year came to an end, which would be in a couple of days.

Isabelle was making him attend therapy every other week. He didn’t see the point but ever since he had started attending he was slowly starting to enjoy his work again, so he supposed they were making progress? He honestly had no idea. He didn’t think anything was wrong with him to begin with, but Isabelle disagreed.

Gerhardt was currently in the underground levels of his factory working on the barrier generator that would protect Ponyville in the event of a Changeling invasion. He actually finished installing a new control system in his old body where his brain used to be and was controlling it remotely to help him with large projects like this. Having two bodies was indeed speeding up the process quite a bit, but it would still take a few months to finish. In fact, having two bodies was one of the only reasons he would be able to finish this particular project by the end of winter.

Suddenly he received a call, looking at the phone number inside his head he saw that it was Twilight. After learning about the phones he was selling, Twilight had made sure to buy one as had Celestia and Luna.

“Hello? Gerhardt?” Twilight said through his built in communication device.

“Yes, Miss Sparkle?” He asked, not pausing in his work even for a moment.

“Um… There’s a situation here in town… Isabelle is freaking out. Something about us enslaving nature and angering some spirit or spirits of nature or something like that?”

“Oh good gods… Really…? Ugh… I suppose I should have seen this coming. Where are the two of you right now?” He inquired, setting down his tools in frustration.

“We’re at a restaurant near Sugar Cube Corner.” Twilight informed him.

Gerhardt hung up the call and immediately teleported to Sugar Cube Corner. It only took him a few seconds to spot Isabelle in a furious argument with some pegasus Gerhardt didn’t recognize. Her face was red with anger and she was shouting. The pegasus was similarly angry and was shouting back at her.

Sighing in annoyance, Gerhardt shook his head. He really didn’t want to deal with this right now. Still he walked over and cast a powerful noise dampening spell on both of their mouths. They were both confused when they were suddenly no longer able to shout.

“I believe that is quite enough of that… You two are going to stop yelling and you are going to have a calm discussion like civilized adults. Before that, Isabelle, I know you’re angry but I need you to tell me what happened. Do you think you can do that without shouting?” Gerhardt asked, giving Isabelle a stern look.

She scowled at him, clearly still absolutely furious, but nodded her head.

“Good.” Gerhardt released the noise dampening spell keeping Isabelle and the Pegasus from speaking.

“Gerhardt! Why didn’t you tell me the ponies have enslaved nature?!” Isabelle demanded the moment the aura disappeared from around Gerhardt’s hand.

“Hey! I don’t know what your problem is, but I’ve already bucking told you we’re just doing our jobs!” The Pegasus said in a slightly raised voice, clearly trying to restrain himself from shouting.

“It never came up. You still haven’t told me what happened.” Gerhardt said, crossing his arms.

“Fine. You’re right… I was enjoying my holiday off work, eating lunch with Twilight when I saw the pegasi messing with the clouds to manipulate the weather! Apparently they’re actually trying to control the seasons themselves and according to this one the Earth Ponies apparently manipulate plants to assist with this!” Isabelle explained, motioning to the pegasus she was just arguing with. “It’s… It’s abhorrent! How have the nature spirits of this world not already gotten angry and attacked them for this?!”

“I don’t know, maybe they’re not insane like you?!” The pegasus snapped back at Isabelle.

“Hey, enough of that! I said, you are both going to have a polite conversation like civilized adults and I meant it! No insulting or antagonizing each other! Now… I apologize for Isabelle’s behavior, sir. Things work very differently where we are from and I suppose she still needs some time to adjust. Elves are especially sensitive to what they consider “crimes against nature” and as Isabelle is a half elf she is similarly sensitive about such things. The Elves view the manipulation of the weather, the seasons, plants and other such things you ponies do on a regular basis as crimes against nature since you are actively controlling nature rather than allowing it to take its natural course. You see where we are from, the spirits of nature are significantly more aggressive than the ones here in Equestria, thus they will try to kill anyone who tries to control nature in any capacity like you ponies do. And the Elves have a very close symbiotic relationship with these spirits, thus the reason why they are so sensitive about such things. So what’s happening here is merely a conflict between two extremely different cultures.”

“Uh huh… I couldn’t care less. I don’t have time for this. I have work to do if winter is going to get here on time.” The pegasus responded before launching himself up into the air and flying away in a huff.

“Isabelle, we need to have a very important discussion. Preferably somewhere private. Where would you like to talk? Your house, my house, or my factory?”

“Your factory.” Isabelle stated, her face still red with anger.

“Would you mind if I come too?” Twilight inquired, walking up to them.

“Very well.” Gerhardt said before teleporting the three of them back to the above ground portion of his factory.

“So, Isabelle, I would like to explain something to you. The ponies have been controlling nature in almost every capacity for over a thousand years. And they have been doing so with zero repercussions whatsoever. I have no idea how or why and I honestly couldn’t care less. Regardless, as a result manipulating nature has become an integral part of their culture. Nothing either of us can say or do will ever change that. So you can’t just go around shouting at random civilians just for doing their jobs. I know you take after the elven half of your heritage quite a bit, but we are no longer on Earth. This isn’t either the Human Kingdom nor the Elven Kingdom. Besides, if the spirits haven't done anything about it yet even after thousands of years of this then logically they must not care quite as much as those from our world. So if the spirits themselves don’t mind then why should you?”

“Hmph… I see your point but… Gods above… This… This is absolutely appalling! To me and my mother’s side of my family. They have enslaved nature itself!” Isabelle stated, starting to calm down a bit but still absolutely infuriated.

“I understand that. However, as I said, there is nothing either of us can do about it. So you are just going to have to learn to live with it.”

“Um, excuse me for interrupting but… are these nature spirits from your world really that bad? Do they really attack you for trying to control the weather or plants?” Twilight inquired.

“Yes. They have driven several species to extinction for less than what you ponies do. And I have been to the Everfree so I can say with absolute certainty, the nature spirits of this world are definitely angry with you ponies. Thus the reason the arcane constructs you call “timberwolves” attack you ponies whenever you enter the Everfree. The spirits are trying to guard their territory from your kind due to your manipulation of nature. Though since they haven’t done anything more than that, I suppose they don’t care so long as you don’t invade their territory. That or something is restraining them from attacking you. It doesn’t matter either way. You ponies are not going to change your entire culture and civilization just because the two of us say you should. Thus the reason I haven’t told you anything about this yet, Miss Sparkle.” Gerhardt explained.

Twilight appeared highly disturbed by this information. “Okay… And how did you not learn we control the seasons, weather, and plants sooner?” She looked at Isabelle in confusion. “You’ve been here for months. Statistically speaking, you should have learned this a lot sooner.”

Isabelle sighed and sat down on top of a wooden crate. “I’ve spent most of every day in the hospital and the evenings teaching Pixel biomancy. And whenever I haven’t been doing either of those, I have been catching up on my painting. It was one of my favorite hobbies before I became a high lord, and ever since becoming a high lord I haven’t had the time to paint at all except on holidays. So I’ve been trying to make up for eighty years worth of time. I planned to start reading about pony culture after spending maybe another month or two of painting because I was and still am quite curious about it. So since I’ve spent the vast majority of my time inside, I haven’t seen any pegasi manipulating the weather or earth ponies controlling plants. Today was the first day off I’ve gotten since coming here, and that’s only because there haven’t been many patients coming in recently and it's apparently a holiday week. So when I was having lunch with you it was the first time I’ve been outside long enough and the first time I was paying enough attention to see any pegasi messing with the weather.”

Twilight nodded in understanding. “I see… Well, um… Sorry to change the topic so abruptly but speaking of holidays, since it’s the beginning of winter Hearth’s Warming eve is coming up soon. So do either of you plan to go to the play in Canterlot this year? Oh, and Gerhardt, do you plan to get Pixel any gifts?”

Gerhardt shook his head. “To be perfectly honest, I was completely unaware that another holiday was coming up so soon. I don’t keep up with these things. I’ve never had much interest in any but two very specific holidays from the Human Kingdom, one of which I am no longer able to celebrate. So no offense but the holidays of an alien species are not something I am particularly interested in. However, if exchanging gifts is part of it, similar to the Day of Salvation, then perhaps I can give Pixel another augmentation. This one being unicorn augmentations. No I will not be giving her a horn, that would look ridiculous, but perhaps I can alter her hands in such a way as to allow her fingers to serve the same purpose. I’ll have to experiment a bit. Regardless, I wasn’t planning on giving her unicorn augmentations so soon, but I suppose I can speed up my plans a bit. So when is this “Hearth’s Warming Eve” exactly?”

“It’s in three days. Um… I don’t think giving her the ability to use magic, which I would remind you she already has, is a very good gift. Why not go out and buy her a toy like a stuffed animal or something, or build her something she would genuinely enjoy.” Twilight suggested.

“I suppose I could do that instead… Hm… I’ll have to think about it.” Gerhardt stated.

Twilight nodded and turned her head to look at Isabelle. “What about you, Isabelle? Do you plan to come to the play in Canterlot for Hearth’s Warming Eve?”

Isabelle shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m supposed to stay in Ponyville in case of an emergency at the hospital, but I’ll ask. If they say yes, then most likely. If not, then unfortunately not. Though I do have a question. I have heard that there’s going to be a performance in Canterlot even before you told us just now, but that’s about it. What is it going to be about?”

“Oh! It’s about the origins of Equestria and the three pony tribes coming together and uniting! That’s the entire point of Hearth’s Warming, to celebrate the birth of Equestria!” Twilight explained with a large smile on her face.

Isabelle raised her eyebrows, “Oh? Then I really do wish to come see it! As long as it doesn’t have to do with you ponies enslaving nature and bending it to your will, that is… I’m still positively repulsed that you do such a thing.”

“Uh… Nope. It’s just about the three tribes uniting in the face of adversity and creating Equestria.” Twilight said in a somewhat cautious tone. “If anything, the wendigos were the ones manipulating the weather. Wendigos are malevolent spirits of winter that feed on hatred and disharmony.”

Gerhardt blinked in confusion and stared at Twilight. “Hm? That makes no sense… Spirits don’t require sustenance, and they definitely don’t feed on emotions like the Changelings… Are you sure these creatures are the physical embodiment of the concept of winter? Because spirits are literal concepts given form. So a nature spirit is literally nature itself given form. A spirit of technology is literally technology itself given form. A spirit of war is literally war itself given form. So in the same vein a spirit of winter would be winter itself given form and winter does not feed on hatred. It doesn’t feed on anything. It just exists due to the planet tilting along its axis as it rotates.”

“Uh… Well… They definitely aren’t physical beings. I don’t know what else you would call them.”

Gerhardt frowned. “I’m going to have to build a device to generate hatred so I can research them… Likely in the frozen wasteland around the Crystal Empire where they won’t be able to cause any damage by generating extra cold. Not to mention that is the most likely area for them to inhabit, as I would assume they are arctic dwelling creatures if you believe they are spirits of winter… I should probably wait until summer when it’s warmest just to be safe, to minimize any risk the cold I assume they generate may pose. Thank you, Miss Sparkle. You have just given me a new project to research.”

“Your welcome?” Twilight said in confusion.

“Well, if that’s all I still have work I need to attend to. I’ll speak with the two of you later.” Gerhardt then teleported back into the underground levels of his factory and got back to work on the barrier generator.

A few days passed and Pixel insisted on him bringing her to Canterlot to see the play so with great reluctance he went to go see it with her. He was largely unimpressed. Not by the performance, the actors did a very good job portraying their characters as far as he could tell. His issue was with the story itself. He hated all three leaders of the three tribes. The leader of the unicorns was a stuck up, arrogant, whiny, milksop to borrow a word from Dwarven vocabulary. The leader of pegasi was a hot headed idiot. And the leader of the earth ponies was just an idiot in general. None of them deserved their positions as leaders as far as he was concerned. To him the only lesson to be learned from this story was to have idiotic leaders like those three executed for gross incompetence.

The next morning he was waiting in the living room with the gift he bought for Pixel hidden behind his back as he waited for her to wake up and come down stairs. He didn’t have to wait long.

“I see you’re finally awake. Well, I have something for you.” Gerhardt said as soon as she was in the living room with him.

“You do? What is it?” Pixel inquired excitedly, running up to him.

“Here.” He pulled his arm out from behind his back and handed her a stuffed bear. “I didn’t know what to get you and the pony at the store recommended this. I hope you like it.”

Pixel took the toy bear from him with the largest smile he had ever seen on her face and wrapped it in a big hug. “I love it! Thank you, daddy!”

“Of course, dear. I know you were disappointed that we couldn’t celebrate the Day of Salvation or any other Human holiday, save for the Day of Retribution which we will celebrate, so I suppose this Pony holiday will just have to do as a stand in. I mean part of it involves giving gifts, so it’s already similar to the Day of Salvation in that regard.” Gerhardt explained.

Pixel smiled at him happily. “Daddy, I know you’re really busy but if we’re celebrating Hearth’s Warming can we spend the day together?”

Gerhardt raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms behind his back. “Well, I expected that you would rather spend the day with your friends but if that’s what you want I suppose there are a few projects you can—”

Pixel shook her head. “No, I mean can we spend the day together outside of the lab? I understand you’re really busy but please? Just for today?”

Gerhardt frowned slightly. “Hm… Assuming I did agree to this — which I haven’t yet —, what would we even do? Work is the only thing I really know.”

“I don’t know. We could go for a walk, build snow sculptures, whatever! Oh and I have a few presents I want to deliver!” Pixel exclaimed happily.

Gerhardt sighed. He really didn’t want to do this, but he didn’t want to upset her either. “Fine… If it makes you happy I suppose we can spend the day together. Though just for today. Would you like to deliver these gifts now or later?”

“Later! Maybe this afternoon or this evening. For now, let’s go for a walk!” Pixel chirped before running to the front door.

Gerhardt shook his head and followed after her.

As soon as they were outside Pixel grabbed Gerhardt’s right hand and smiled up at him, her stuffed bear held tightly in her other arm. He was a bit surprised but he didn’t try to withdraw his hand.

“So, where do you want to go? Or do you not have anywhere in particular in mind?” Gerhardt inquired.

“I don’t really have anywhere in mind. For now let’s just walk through the town, and maybe Canterlot if we wander over that direction.”

“As you wish.” Gerhardt then began leading her on a randomly generated path through Ponyville that would eventually lead them through the portal arch at the train station into Canterlot.

“Daddy, can you tell me a story of your time back on Earth?” Pixel requested as they started to walk.

Gerhardt looked down at her. “Are you sure? Most of my stories are either really boring or really violent. I don’t think you would particularly enjoy them.”

Pixel nodded. “Mhm! I don’t mind if they’re violent. You don’t need to tone it down or filter any of it for me. I want to know what Earth is like. What it’s really like.”

“If that’s what you want… What time period of my life would you like to know about? I am 893 years old so you may choose from the first through the ninth century of my life.”

“Hm… What were the most important periods of your life?”

“All of them. Every century had something that made them particularly important and memorable to me such as different wars and projects.”

“Oh… Alright, could you tell me the story of the first major war you ever participated in?” Pixel requested.

“Ah. The first major war I participated in would be the 461st military campaign the Human Kingdom waged on the Goblin Autocracy which occurred when I was thirty two years old. We won, of course… Oh but I’m getting ahead of myself.” Gerhardt began telling the story of the extermination campaigns the Human Kingdom waged on the goblins and the reasons behind it.

The story, which Pixel had insisted on hearing in every detail, took about two hours for Gerhardt to tell in full. At certain parts Pixel was absolutely horrified by the brutality of war and at other points she was on the verge of crying from the tragic sacrifices made by soldiers and the deaths of innocent civilians on both sides among a range of different emotional reactions. That was in spite of Gerhardt trying to tell it as accurately as possible without exaggerating or glorifying any details. In his opinion war was not something to be glorified in any capacity and attempting to do so was a disservice to those who gave their lives fighting it.

There was no honor or glory to be earned in war. There were no heroic last stands or any other fictitious crap portrayed in children's story books. No. War was bloody, brutal, slow, occasionally boring, and most often painfully strategic and involved. There were occasionally exceptions to this rule, such as when one side or the other was invading a city or there was a particularly large battle for some strategically important military base or another. However, even then the only major difference was that the pace of the fighting and the body count increased a bit otherwise it was largely the same. Carefully calculated strategy was always employed no matter the situation. Human wave tactics and similar poor or outdated strategies like those portrayed in fictional stories made by civilians were pretty much never used. And he made sure to convey all of that as accurately as he possibly could.

By the time Gerhardt’s story was over the two of them were walking through Canterlot.

“Daddy, what happened to the Goblins after the war was over?” Pixel inquired.

“Well, their military and industrial capabilities were crippled for quite some time afterwards. This spanned from the end of the war all the way to the First Necromantic War. Unfortunately, their lack of military left them defenseless when Caedes invented Necromancy and went rogue. So while this wasn’t the Human Kingdom’s intention the Goblins were one of the first species to be driven to extinction and turned into an army of undead when the First Necromantic War started. They weren’t the only species that met this fate, but they were one of the first.” Gerhardt explained, remembering having to protect various tanks, heavy combat golems, and transports from hordes of undead goblins during the First Necromantic War.

“Oh… That’s… That’s sad…” Pixel muttered looking at the ground.

Gerhardt shrugged. “I disagree, but then, admittedly, I suppose I am a bit biased. Are there any other stories you wish to hear?”

“Hm… Nah. I’m still thinking about the one you just told me. Right now I sort of want to build a snow sculpture. I know! How about we go to the Frozen North! There’s tons of snow there! I can teleport us!”

“If that’s what you want. I’m following your lead today since we aren’t working in my lab or factory. We can do whatever you desire, so long as it’s legal.” Gerhardt told her.

Pixel smiled at him and teleported them to the snowy wasteland between the Crystal Empire and the Train Station.

“Is there a particular design you have in mind? Also, do you wish for me to assist you or should we make two separate sculptures?” Gerhardt inquired.

“Well, a few of my friends have mentioned making snow ponies and snow forts. So how about we make one of those?” Pixel suggested.

“Snow is a horrible material to make a fort out of. It’s far too weak and easily destroyed even when packed and compressed. Hm… I suppose we could just turn it into ice after the snow is in place and we have molded and carved it to the proper shape. Though ice is also an extremely weak material…”

“Daddy, it doesn’t have to be very strong. No one is going to attack it. It just needs to look like a fort.” Pixel told him.

“Ah. Very well. In that case this will be much easier. Though perhaps we should still turn the snow to ice so we can go to the different floors without worrying about them collapsing underneath our weight?” Gerhardt suggested.

Pixel tilted her head in confusion. “Hm? It’s going to have multiple floors?”

“Indeed. While forts have been out of date for around a hundred thousand years due to modern technology, they always had multiple levels as they always had walls. Soldiers would be stationed on those walls to hold back any hostile forces laying siege to them. Often regular soldiers would be armed with weapons such as bows or crossbows as forts were used well before the invention of modern firearms. Mages would almost always also be stationed on the walls, both to provide extra protection via arcane barriers and to cast combat or war spells and curses at the invading forces. Plus the soldiers would always need somewhere to sleep, somewhere to store rations and other resources, a command center to plan future invasions against their enemies using the forts as bases of operations, and other such things. Occasionally they would also have guard towers.” Gerhardt explained.

Pixel nodded in understanding. “Oh… That makes sense… Okay! We can make it out of ice!”

“Very good.” Gerhardt stated before sending Pixel a virtual 3d model he had just created for the fort. “Feel free to make any additions to those schematics you wish. Just be sure to send the updated version to me so I know what you wish to do.”

“Okay!” Pixel exclaimed. She then sent him an updated version of the fort almost immediately.

Gerhardt studied the virtual model for a moment. The only difference he could find was a small sculpture of the two of them in the middle of the courtyard. He honestly didn’t see the point of this addition but he was fine with it. It would only take them a few seconds to make.

“Alright. Now, let’s get started, shall we?” Gerhardt then raised a hand and began using telekinesis to form, compress, and shape a large amount of snow into what would become the front entrance wall of the fort. Pixel followed his lead and began doing the same thing to make one of the towers that would be connected to the front entrance wall. When those were finished, the two of them began casting spells to turn the packed snow into solid ice. They then continued to repeat this process over and over again until the outer walls were complete. Finally they began working on making the buildings inside the walls. Whenever they would run out of snow, they would just create portals and pull a few more tons through from a bit further away in the icy wasteland.

The entire process took about five hours in total. By the end of it they had made what was essentially an entire walled town a bit larger than Ponyville completely out of ice and Gerhardt’s arcane energy reserves were almost completely depleted. He had built half of it while Pixel built the other half, and the process was quite energy intensive. He was honestly surprised that he had managed to stretch his energy reserves to get as much work done as he had.

Pixel had just finished making the large twenty foot tall sculpture of her and Gerhardt in the middle of the town inside the ice fort. The sculpture depicted the two of them holding hands and smiling happily, the ice Pixel was also holding an icy version of the toy bear Gerhardt had given her in a one armed hug.

Having just finished the last building and finally run out of energy, Gerhardt approached Pixel and stood next to her staring up at the massive ice sculpture. “Well, this was quite the project. I have to say I'm impressed. I didn’t think we would actually finish it all today.”

Pixel nodded and smiled at him. “Yeah. I had lots of fun! Thank you for building it with me, daddy!”

Gerhardt nodded and gave her a small smile in return. “Of course, dear. Now I suppose we should choose a building and rest for an hour or two. My arcane energy reserves are all the way down to 2%, so I don’t have enough to bring us back to Ponyville at the moment. Unless you want to do it? You are far stronger than me. What are your energy reserves at?”

“Oh! I’m at 65%. I have more than enough to bring us back to Ponyville whenever we want. But first I would like to walk around and take a look at the finished product if you don’t mind!”

Gerhardt shrugged. “As you wish. However, it’s 3:28 pm so we should probably hurry if you still wish to deliver those gifts to your friends today. After all, I assume you will want to deliver them in person.”

Pixel nodded. “Okay. It will just be a quick look around, I promise!” Grabbing him by the hand again, the two of them began walking around taking in the sights of the town.

The buildings were perfectly designed, were designed more like human buildings rather than the comparatively small pony buildings, and were even fully functional. All of them even had functional doors and windows. A few of them even had fireplaces, though those were significantly less functional since they would melt if someone lit a fire inside of them since they were made of ice. Though none of the buildings had any furniture in them.

Similarly the walls were about thirty feet tall and had machicolations just like the walls of historical forts had, and the front and back gates were both fully functional and could be raised and lowered via thick chains attached to a pulley system. The chains were also made of ice, of course, but Gerhardt and Pixel had magically reinforced them so they wouldn’t break. Both entrances were wide enough to fit a two lane road built for cars. In fact, all of the roads in the town inside the walls were designed with cars in mind, and there were sidewalks made of ice for people to walk along. Of course the ice that made up the sidewalks was textured to minimize the risk of anyone slipping on them, since Gerhardt was absolutely certain this place would be discovered sooner or later.

After another thirty minutes, Pixel finally teleported them back to Ponyville. “Alright, let’s get to giving everyone their gifts! Come on, daddy!” She immediately began leading him through Ponyville the moment they were back.

Their first stop was Twilight’s Library. Pixel knocked on the door. “Hello? Miss Twilight? Are you home?”

“Come in!” Twilight’s voice called back from the other side of the door.

Pixel pushed the door open and the two of them entered the library.

“Hello, what are you two doing here today?” Twilight inquired, putting the book she had very clearly been reading back on its shelf.

Pixel teleported two wrapped boxes to her, and grabbed them with telekinesis. She then levitated them over to Twilight and Spike. “Happy Hearth’s Warming, Miss Twilight! One of them is for you, the other is for Spike!”

Twilight appeared quite surprised by this, but took her present while Spike did the same. “Oh! I appreciate the gesture but you really didn’t need to get either of us anything.”

“Maybe not, but you two are my friends so I wanted to! I got presents for all of my friends! I hope you enjoy them!” Pixel responded with a large smile on her face.

Twilight chuckled and smiled back at her. “Well, that’s very kind and generous of you. Thank you very much.”

“So, do you mind if we open them now? Mine is… surprisingly… heavy!” Spike inquired, lifting his present and struggling to keep it up off the ground.

“Go ahead! I would love for you to open them! After all, that’s sort of the point isn’t it? They aren’t very good presents if you can’t open them.”

Having Pixel’s permission, Spike immediately began ripping his present open. Twilight rolled her eyes at this and proceeded to open hers as well.

Spike gasped as he tore open the wooden box his present was contained in and revealed a massive, perfect, lab grown ruby that was easily just as large as he was. “Sweet Celestia, this thing is huge!”

“Mhm! I heard you dragons eat gems so I made you a really big ruby! I hope you like it!”

“Like it? I love it! Thank you, Pixel!” Spike exclaimed.

“Just try not to eat it all at once Spike.” Twilight commented as she opened the cardboard box her present was stored in and pulled out a computer and illusion projector that would serve as the monitor. “Is this…?”

“Yep! I know you were thinking about buying a computer from daddy so I built you one myself! It’s a lot bigger than the ones he sells but it's also about five times more powerful! Congratulations, Miss Twilight, you now have the single most powerful computer in the world! Well, for now anyway. I even made a few games and installed them on it for you!” Pixel explained.

“Thank you so much! I… I can already do so much with the cell phone I bought from him… I can only imagine all the things I can do with this!”

“I’m glad you both like your gifts! We have to go now. We still have more gifts to deliver to all my other friends!”

“Okay. See you later, Pix! Thanks again for the ruby!” Spike said as Pixel and Gerhardt turned to leave.

Their next stop was Isabelle’s house. Once again Pixel knocked on the door. “Miss Isabelle? It’s me Pixel! Are you there?”

“It’s open.” Isabelle’s voice responded.

The two of them entered and saw Isabelle standing next to a canvas on an easel. She had clearly been in the middle of painting. And by the looks of it, Gerhardt assumed she had been painting a picture of the capital city of the Human Kingdom.

“Hello, Pixel. Gerhardt. How are the two of you today?” Isabelle inquired, setting down her brush and palette on a nearby table.

“I’m doing great! How are you?” Pixel returned the question.

“I’m doing as well as I can, I suppose. What can I do for you?”

Pixel teleported another gift to her and levitated it over to Isabelle. “Happy Hearth’s Warming!”

Isabelle raised her eyebrows in surprise and took the wrapped box before she began tearing open the wrapping. Opening up the cardboard box underneath she pulled out a solid gold statue of the same symbol that was on her shoulder. A stylized heart with a pentagram in the middle of it. “Oh my. Now this is interesting.”

Pixel gave her a sheepish look. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to make for you. You already have your own art supplies and I didn’t think you would want a brand new set of surgical tools so I made this for you instead. I hope you like it!”

Isabelle smiled at Pixel and shook her head. “There’s no need to apologize. I like it. Thank you very much, Pixel. If anything I’m the one who should be sorry since I didn’t get you anything in return.”

“You're welcome, and that’s fine! I already got the best present ever today, I don’t need anything else! Well, we should let you get back to your painting. Bye, Miss Isabelle!”

“Good bye. I’ll talk to you later.” Isabelle responded.

Next they went to Sugar Cube Corner and were immediately intercepted by Pinkie Pie. “Hiya, Pix! Hey, Gears! How are you two doing today?” She then noticed the stuffed bear Pixel was carrying and gasped. “Pix, you have a super cute stuffed bear!”

Pixel chuckled at Pinkie Pie’s antics. “We’re doing great, and thank you very much! Daddy gave it to me!”

“He did?! That’s great! I was suuuuper worried he wouldn’t get you anything for Hearth’s Warming!”

“Speaking of gifts, happy Hearth’s Warming, Miss Pinkie!” Pixel said before teleporting another present to her freehand and holding it out for Pinkie to take.

“You got me a gift? Aw, Pix, you shouldn’t have!” Pinkie said before taking the present.

“I wanted to! You’re my friend and I got presents for all of my closest friends! Oh, but don’t open it just yet. I actually have presents for Mr. and Mrs. Cake too! Though I didn’t get anything for Pound Cake or Carrot Cake since I’m not sure what sort of presents would be appropriate for such young foals… Either way I just thought all three of you might want to open your presents together.” Pixel said as she teleported two more gifts to her hand, one stacked on top of the other.

“Oh my goodness! Thank you! And don’t worry about Pound Cake or Carrot Cake, they got plenty of presents this year!” Pinkie said as she placed her gift on her back before taking Mr. and Mrs. Cake’s gifts and stacking them on top of her gift. She somehow managed to balance all three boxes on her back without any trouble.

“I didn’t get you anything this year, but here! Have a cupcake! It’s on the house!” Pinkie said before rushing inside Sugar Cube Corner and rushing back out with a cupcake on a plate in less than a second. The boxes on her back were gone suggesting she already put them down inside.

Pixel smiled and took the cupcake and said, “Thank you, Miss Pinkie!” before taking a bite.

“No problem!” Pinkie said before proceeding to bounce back inside Sugar Cube Corner.

Their next stop was Applejack’s farm, where they found Applejack and Big Mac clearing out some of the snow around the farm house.

“Hey Miss Applejack, I hope we’re not interrupting too much!” Pixel called out as she and Gerhardt walked up to her.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. This snow ain't goin’ nowhere. It can wait a few minutes. What can I do for y'all?”

Pixel teleported another four presents over to them. “Happy Hearth’s Warming! I got a present for you, Big Mac, Applebloom, and Granny Smith! Don’t worry about getting them confused, they’re all labeled.”

“Well gosh darn if this ain’t a surprise! You really didn’t need to go through the trouble to get any of us anything. Thank you, Pixel. Just set them down next to the house, out of the snow. I’m sure everypony will love whatever ya got for us!” Applejack said, looking at the presents.

Pixel levitated the presents over to the porch of the farm house. “I hope you do! We still have a few more presents left to deliver so we should get going. I’ll talk to you later, Miss Applejack!”

In order to save time, Pixel teleported her and Gerhardt to their next destination, the carousel boutique. The sign on the front said, “open" so the two of them just walked inside.

“Oh, good day. What can I do for you two?” Rarity inquired as she looked up from what she was doing.

Pixel teleported another two presents to her and levitated them over to Rarity. “Happy Hearth’s Warming, Miss Rarity! I made you and Sweetie Belle presents!”

“Oh my! Why thank you, darling. I’m sorry, I didn’t get you or Gerhardt anything. Hm… I’ll make it up to you by making you a lovely scarf, how does that sound?”

Pixel shook her head. “It’s fine. I made you presents because I wanted to, not because I wanted anything in return!”

“Well that’s very generous of you, darling. Sweetie Belle’s out playing with her friends right now, but when she gets back I will make sure she gets your present.” Rarity said, smiling at Pixel.

“Thank you, Miss Rarity! I’ll talk to you later!”

“Of course! I’ll see you later.”

When they were outside again Pixel began looking up at the sky and saw Rainbow Dash flying overhead.

“Sorry, daddy. I’ll be right back.” Pixel said before releasing his hand and taking off after Rainbow Dash.

Gerhardt watched Pixel catch up to Rainbow Dash and have a short conversation before handing her a present. They exchanged a few more words, then Pixel flew back down to Gerhardt and grabbed his hand again. Pixel then teleported them to Fluttershy’s cottage, where they saw Fluttershy feeding a few animals that hadn’t gone to hibernate for the winter. Goldy was nowhere in sight, indicating it was likely either flying around somewhere or it was inside taking a nap.

“Hey, Miss Fluttershy!” Pixel called out as the two of them walked over to her.

Fluttershy jolted slightly, clearly startled by this but she quickly recovered and turned around to see the two of them. “Oh, hi. How are you two today?” Fluttershy inquired.

“We’re great!” Pixel responded before teleporting another present to her and levitating it over to Fluttershy. “Happy Hearth’s Warming!”

Fluttershy seemed a bit surprised but took the present from Pixel. “Oh, you didn’t have to get me anything…” Fluttershy muttered.

Pixel smiled at her. “I know. I just wanted to! I made gifts for all of my closest friends!”

“I see… In that case, thank you very much.”

“Of course! Sorry, I would stay to talk longer but I have four more presents to deliver.”

“Oh no, it’s fine. I don’t mind… Feel free to come by for tea some time!” Fluttershy responded in an understanding tone.

Before Pixel could teleport them anywhere again, Gerhardt turned and began walking away from Fluttershy’s cottage bringing Pixel along with him. Once Fluttershy was out of earshot Gerhardt asked, “Four more? I think I know who you have in mind, but I would like confirmation from you. Who are those gifts for?”

“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, and Prince Shining Armor. Why?” Pixel asked, slightly confused.

Gerhardt sighed and shook his head. “I suspected as much… Pixel, they are royalty. The leaders of two separate kingdoms. We can’t just teleport in and interrupt whatever they’re doing to give them gifts. What if they’re in the middle of important diplomatic negotiations and we interrupt? We could get in a lot of trouble. No. Instead of just going and barging in, I’m going to send them messages first to see if they’re busy. If they’re not then I suppose we can go to see them, but if they are then you will either just have to wait or send them their gifts rather than giving them to them in person.”

“Okay, daddy. I want to give them their presents in person but I don’t want to get in trouble…” Pixel muttered looking down at the ground.

“Don’t worry, I’m not mad. I’m just being cautious as I have experience in dealing with the leaders of nations. For now, let’s just head home. I promise this should only take a few minutes. Maybe a bit longer if they’re in the middle of something, but that’s the point. If they’re in the middle of something we don’t want to interrupt them anyways.”

As the two of them walked back to their house, Gerhardt sent a text message to Celestia’s phone. ‘Forgive me, but are you and Princess Luna too terribly busy this evening?’

He received a response surprisingly fast. ‘I’m in the middle of a public appearance right now, and Luna is sleeping but we might have a bit of time later on. Why?’

‘I see. Well, that’s why I sent a message ahead of time. I didn’t want to just teleport over in case you were in the middle of a meeting or something. Apparently Pixel has gifts to give you, Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, and Prince Shining Armor for this “Hearth’s Warming” holiday. I believe she plans to teleport us to Canterlot to give the two of you your gifts in person, then plans to teleport us to the Crystal Empire to give Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor their presents.’

‘Oh really? That’s fine. I’ll call you when I’m finished with this and Luna is awake. Actually, I am in the mood to visit the Crystal Empire so perhaps she can give all four of us our gifts together. It would be nice to have dinner with Cadance and Shining Armor.’

‘If that’s more convenient for you or if that’s what you want to do then as you wish. I see no reason to refuse. I’m sure she would enjoy talking to you four a bit. After all, she apparently considers you four some of her closest friends otherwise I don’t think she would have made gifts for you to begin with. Though I’ll send a message to Shining Armor and Cadance to see what they think first. I’ll let you know what they said when Pixel and I come to deliver your gifts later.’

There were no further messages after that. Eventually Gerhardt and Pixel reached their home. Gerhardt immediately retrieved a piece of paper and wrote Cadance and Shining Armor explaining everything and informing them what Celestia had planned, and asking if they had time. When he was finished, he had Pixel teleport it to the throne room of the castle in the Crystal Empire for him since his arcane energy reserves hadn’t had time to recharge after helping her build the ice fort. A few minutes later he received a letter back informing him that they had time and would love to have dinner with the four of them.

While they waited, Gerhardt told Pixel another story about another major war in his life. At exactly 6:57 pm his story was interrupted as he received a call from Celestia through his built in communication device. “Hello, Celestia. I assume you have time now?”

“Yes. I’m done with everything I had to do today and Luna just woke up. You and Pixel may come over now. We’re waiting in the throne room.” Celestia responded.

“Very well. We’ll be right there.” Gerhardt said before hanging up the call. He then looked at Pixel and said, “I apologize but it seems we’ll have to cut this story short. Celestia and Luna finally have time to meet with us.”

“Okay, but can you finish telling me the story later?” Pixel requested.

“Of course, dear.” Gerhardt responded before raising a hand and teleporting them to Canterlot Castle. Several hours had passed so his energy reserves had recharged enough for him to do at least that much. As soon as they arrived they saw the Princesses waiting for them.

“So, what did Cadance and Shining Armor have to say?” Celestia inquired.

“They said they have time and they would love to have dinner with us.”

“Wonderful! In that case…” Luna said before her horn started to glow and she teleported all four of them to the throne room of the castle in the Crystal Empire. Shining Armor and Cadance were waiting for them.

“Aunties!” Cadance exclaimed before rushing over to Celestia and Luna and nuzzling them.

The two of them returned the gesture. “Hello, Cadance. How have things been here in the Empire?”

“Things have been well. Shining Armor and his soldiers have been doing a lot of training and practice with the new equipment Gerhardt sold us. In fact, shining armor has been spending a lot of time in the combat simulators Gerhardt sold him.” Cadance has explained.

“Yeah. I have to say, Gerhardt, those simulations are really hard. I’ve only won any of the scenarios about… five maybe six times? But I’m getting a lot better! In a few more months I’m sure I’ll be winning more often than I lose.” Shining Armor stated confidently.

Cadance nodded. “I actually tried out the combat simulator once myself… Sweet harmony, it was horrific. Did you really have to make them that gory?”

Gerhardt nodded. “Indeed I did. He requested I make them as realistic as possible so I did. That is simply the nature of war. Real war. And that is exactly how those particular species and factions would act.”

Celestia cleared her throat, drawing everyone’s attention to her. “Excuse me, what? What do you mean new equipment? What are combat simulators and what do you mean by “gory”? Can somepony please explain?”

Prince Shining Armor and Princess Cadance looked at eachother. “I thought you wrote them a letter about this!” Cadance said to Shining Armor.

“I thought you did!” Shining Armor responded.

Gerhardt sighed and rested his face in one of his hands. “Gods damn it… I’ll explain it all to you two over dinner. For now, Pixel, didn’t you have things you wanted to give them?”

Pixel nodded. “Mhm!” She then teleported four gifts to her and levitated them to the respective individuals they were meant for. “Happy Hearth’s Warming, everyone! I hope you like your gifts! I made them all myself!”

All of them proceeded to open their gifts. Inside Cadance’s present was a life sized model of the Crystal Heart, the only difference being the fact that carved in the middle was an image of her and Shining Armor. Inside Shining Armor’s present was an illusion projector that would alternate between displaying Canterlot and the Crystal Empire every few seconds. Inside Celestia’s present was a stylized model of the sun made of gold that was designed to look exactly like her cutiemark. And finally, inside Luna’s present was a model of the moon made of silver that was designed to look exactly like her cutiemark.

“Aww! Thank you, Pixel! I love it!” Cadance said as she looked at the carved image in the crystal heart.

“Yeah, thank you! Is there a way to make it stay on either the Crystal Empire or Canterlot and manually switch it, or does it just permanently alternate on its own?” Shining Armor inquired.

“I love this model of my cutiemark, thank you. Though what does this button do?” Celestia asked before pressing the button. Suddenly an illusion of the sun appeared above it. The actual sun, not a stylized one like the model or Celestia’s cutiemark.

“Indeed, thank you. Mine is also quite well made… It has a button as well.” Luna said before pressing the button. Suddenly the room seemed to get really dark and little motes of light appeared filling the air making it appear as though the six of them were in space surrounded by stars.

Pixel smiled at them, her eyes glowing slightly brighter than normal as she was glad they enjoyed their gifts. “You're welcome everyone! Princess Cadance, I know how much you care about the Crystal Empire and love Prince Shining Armor so I thought you might enjoy something like this.”

Cadance smiled back at her and nodded. “That’s very thoughtful of you, Pixel.”

Pixel then turned her head to look at Shining Armor. “Prince, there’s a button on the side of the projector. Just press it and it will just display the Crystal Empire, press it again and it will just display Canterlot, press it a third time and it will revert back to alternating between the two. I know you were the captain of the Royal Guard, so I thought you might enjoy something to remind you of everything you strive to defend.”

“Oh! This makes a lot more sense now! Thank you very much!” Shining Armor said, looking at the illusion of the stars all around him.

Pixel looked at Luna. “Princess Luna, I know how much you like the night so I thought you might like this. This way you can have the night and the stars with you wherever you want! Also, if you keep it near your bed during the day when you sleep it should be able to record your dreams so you can re-watch any of them you want whenever you want! Press the button again to display an illusory screen that will let you select and play back your dreams whenever you want! Then just press it a third time to turn it off.”

Luna smiled at her. “Why thank you! I love it! I may use this during the day to project the stars all around me while I’m sleeping. This is a wonderful gift!

Finally Pixel looked at Celestia. “Princess Celestia, I know you enjoy the sun and daylight. As such I made this for you so you could have the sun with you any time you want, even at night! Though it isn’t bright enough to blind you or keep you awake at night. Also if you press the button again it will instead make a large beautiful rainbow that will adjust to fit whatever room you’re in! Just like Luna's, all you need to do is press it a third time to turn it off.”

Princess Celestia smiled at Pixel. “I might use its rainbow setting in the throne room to liven it up a bit every so often! Thank you very much. I really do appreciate it.”

The two celestial princesses turned off their gifts and teleported them back to their respective bedrooms in Canterlot. Cadance and Shining Armor did the same thing and teleported their gifts to their bedroom elsewhere in the castle.

“Well, that was nice! So how about we head to the dining hall and start dinner? I’m starving.” Shining Armor suggested. The princesses and Pixel all agreed with him. Gerhardt didn’t care. He was only here for Pixel.

Almost as soon as they sat down and everyone who was able to eat started eating, Gerhardt did as he said he would and began explaining all of the technology he sold to Prince Shining Armor. When he was finished explaining, Celestia sighed and shook her head. “Why am I not surprised… Shining Armor, I suppose I understand your reasoning behind wanting better military technology, but don’t you think those combat simulators are a bit much? When we first met, Gerhardt showed me some of his memories so I know what war is like in his world. The worst of what it can be at least. I’m worried that going into simulations of his world’s form of war that you believe are completely real while you’re inside may lead to you or your soldiers developing a form of posttraumatic stress disorder.”

“Well, I have to admit, fighting the Ghouls in the simulations is really bucking harsh… to say the least. However there haven’t been any reports of anypony developing such issues from the simulations so far.” Shining Armor stated.

“Just… If you’re going to keep using the simulators just keep an eye on your soldiers and keep me informed on if any of them start showing signs of developing mental issues.”

Shining Armor nodded. “I will. The point is to prepare them for any situation, no matter how harsh. I definitely don’t want to mentally scar them.”

“On a more casual note, how was your day Pixel?” Princess Cadance inquired, trying to change the topic to something more friendly and light hearted.

“It was great! Daddy gave me this!” She then set down her silverware and held up her stuffed bear for the four of them to see. “After that I got to spend the entire day with him! We went on a walk for a couple hours and he told me a story of the first major war he fought in. After that we came here to the Frozen North and built a snow fort between the Crystal Empire and the train station! Well… It’s more of an Ice fort since we turned all of the snow into ice since Ice is stronger than snow, but still. It was made out of snow at one point!”

“It's also larger than Ponyville.” Gerhardt added.

Hearing that Princess Luna nearly choked on her food. The rest of the ponies were similarly surprised. “W-what?! What do you mean it’s larger than Ponyville?” Luna exclaimed after she managed to stop choking.

“I mean exactly what I said. She asked me to help her build a snow fort, so I helped her build a fully functional ice fort. If the buildings weren’t made of ice it would actually be fully inhabitable… Actually, I think there are a few alchemical reagents I can create to turn the ice into another form of crystal with a much higher melting point so no. It can actually be fully inhabitable if we decided to make it so. It’s effectively an entire town made entirely of ice, surrounded by defensive fortress walls that are also made of Ice. Everything is fully functional from the doors to the windows and even the front and back entrance gates.”

“That… Gerhardt, when foals say they want to make snow forts they don’t mean they want to build actual forts! H-how did you even do all of this in a single day?!” Celestia exclaimed.

“Magic of course. We used telekinesis on the snow to make the walls and the buildings out of snow. Then we cast spells to turn the packed snow into ice. I’ll be honest, I didn’t think we would be able to finish it all in one day but working with snow as building materials made it far easier than I anticipated. Though by the time we were finished, I only had 2% of my arcane energy reserves. Pixel is, of course, far more powerful than I am so she still had 65% of her energy left despite us splitting the work 50/50. So she had to teleport us back to Ponyville since I couldn’t.”

“Hm… I know it’s late, but do you think you could show us this ice fort after dinner or something? I’m sort of curious as to what it looks like. Also, I’m a bit worried it might have to be torn down at some point if it’s in the path between the train station and the Crystal Empire. We can’t have it obstructing the path.” Shining Armor said with a somewhat concerned expression on his face.

Gerhardt raised a hand dismissively and shook his head. “Oh no. I assure you it won’t obstruct traffic in the least. I designed it specifically so the streets are large enough to fit a two lane paved road made for cars. And there is a relatively straight path between the front and back entrance gates. The only obstruction would be the statue Pixel built in the middle of the fort. Though there is a very clear road around it. Though even if we do have to destroy it, we can just build it again somewhere less in the way. I still have the virtual 3D model saved in my internal memory banks. Regardless, I suppose we can show it to you after dinner if you desire.”

“That would be appreciated, thank you.” Cadance stated.

After that they had a bit more casual conversation until all five of those who could eat had finished their dinner. After that Gerhardt teleported the six of them to the ice fort he and Pixel had built. Unfortunately it was dark out so he was forced to cast a spell to create a bright ball of light that floated above them and followed them around. Normally he would have just increased the brightness of his eyes until they functioned like flashlights, but they came to let the prince and princesses look at the fort. So greater visibility than what his eyes at maximum brightness could provide was preferable.

They started right outside the front gate. As soon as Gerhardt created the orb of light to better illuminate everything Shining Armor said, “Wow… You two, uh… You went all out while making this place huh?”

Pixel smiled at him and nodded. “Yup! It was really fun! I think I want to do it again some time!”

“Alright we don’t mind you building these, at least in theory. But next time please ask us if it’s okay to build them in whatever location you want to make them or not.” Cadance requested.

“Oh. Okay. I’m sorry…” Pixel muttered in response.

“It’s okay, Pixel. Neither you or Gerhardt are in any trouble. Right now we just want to take a look around.” Shining Armor told her.

“I have to say, you two did a very good job in constructing this place. From what little I can see in this relatively low light, it looks absolutely beautiful!” Celestia stated, looking around at the icy fort.

Pixel smiled at her. “If you think it’s pretty now, just wait until you see the town inside! Come on, daddy and I will show you!” She then began jogging off towards the inside of the fort, using her eyes as flashlights to light her way.

Gerhardt motioned for the Shining Armor and the Princesses to follow and began walking after Pixel. As soon as they passed the front entrance, Pixel ran up to the crank that operated the gate and said, “Look! The gate actually works!” She then began twisting the crank and lowering the gate. Once it was all the way down, she began spinning the crank in the other direction and raising the gate back up. Finally she locked the crank back in place so the gate wouldn’t fall shut again on its own.

“This is… Why? Why go into so much fine detail for a project you apparently only spent a few hours on?” Luna inquired, looking at the gate.

“Why not? We had the time to spend on it and it didn’t take that much extra effort. Besides, if you are going to do something you may as well do it right.” Gerhardt responded. “Like I said. Everything in this fort is fully functional. Well, except for the fireplaces but that goes without saying since everything here is made of solid ice which would melt if exposed to any actual heat. Regardless, the gates, the doors, the windows, everything that is supposed to move in a normal building can move as it is supposed to.” Gerhardt explained.

“I see. Well, would you mind if the four of us split up and went off to explore a bit on our own?” Luna inquired.

Gerhardt nodded and motioned for them to go ahead. “By all means. Explore as much as you like. Pixel and I will be waiting by the statue in the middle of the fort until the four of you are finished looking around. Feel free to go into any of the buildings you want. There is no furniture but that’s quite literally the only thing that is missing from them. Just remember it’s all ice so strong impacts and other such things can break anything and everything you see here.”

The four of them nodded and split up. Cadance and Shining Armor went off to explore together while Celestia and Luna split up and went off to explore on their own.

Pixel and Gerhardt went to wait by the statue as Gerhardt said they would. They waited for a solid forty seven minutes before everyone returned.

“Well… I have to say, this place is way too nice to just tear down. Hm… Hey Gerhardt, during dinner you said something about being able to turn the ice into crystal. So how much would it cost to turn the entire fort into crystal?” Princess Cadance inquired. “Oh, also, I love the statue. It’s very cute!”

Gerhardt took a few microseconds to run some calculations in his head. “Well it partially depends on the type of crystal you want me to turn it into. The cheapest type of crystal to turn it into would be quartz which would cost approximately ten thousand bits for the materials to create the amount of alchemical reagent necessary for such a process. The most expensive but strongest crystals would be an opaque form of diamond or corundum crystals. I specify opaque because walls are not meant to be translucent. That’s what windows are for. Regardless, that would cost twenty to twenty five thousand bits for the materials to create the reagents. Though if I were to charge my normal rates it would cost about twelve thousand and thirty thousand respectively.”

“Well, considering how much it would cost to build an entire town like this, thirty thousand is actually pretty cheap. Plus It would generate some revenue as travelers on their way to the Empire would have a place to stop and warm up for a bit before finishing the rest of the journey there, and would spend money on hot food and drinks. And it's big enough that ponies could have their own shops and businesses.” Shining Armor muttered to himself, trying to consider whether the benefits outweighed the cost. “What do you think, Cadance?”

“I think we should go for it! I mean it’s a win win. The Crystal Empire gets a new town for relatively cheap and Gerhardt and Pixel’s hard work making all of this doesn’t have to go to waste!” Cadance stated.

“Alright. I suppose… We’ll take the thirty thousand option. However, I would also like you to make something to ensure it’s blizzard proof so the ponies living here in the future don’t have to worry about being trapped inside their homes for extended periods of time if the weather ever gets too bad.” Shining Armor stated.

“So you want it all made from diamond. Understood. And very well. I can do that cheaply enough that I won't even throw on any extra cost. It will take me a few days to make enough of the alchemical reagent and to build the barrier generator to protect it from the snow, and it will take another day or two for me to apply the reagent and turn it all into diamond.”

Cadance smiled at him. “If that’s all the time you need, that’s perfectly fine. There isn’t any major rush.”

“Hm… Well, I will be interested in seeing this place once it’s finally habitable. I’m sure it will be a lovely town when it’s finished! Though that does beg the question, what will it be named? Gerhardt, Pixel, you two built it so do either of you have any suggestions?” Celestia inquired.

Gerhardt shook his head. “Not particularly, no.”

“Hm… How about Ice Town? Or Fort Ice?” Pixel suggested.

“That’s a bit on the nose don’t you think?” Shining Armor commented.

Pixel gave him a flat stare. “You rule the “Crystal Empire” which is literally made out of crystals and you think “Ice Town” is too on the nose? What about “Ponyville” which is literally inhabited by ponies? I can list plenty more examples if you want, but I think you already see my point.”

Luna chuckled to herself and said, “Well, she’s not wrong.”

“No. It’s honestly difficult to argue that point. So, Ice Town it is!” Cadance said.

Celestia yawned. “Oh, excuse me. I suppose it’s getting late. I should really go to bed soon.”

“Same. I’m getting pretty tired too.” Shining Armor agreed. “Well, it was nice talking to you all. And thank you again for our gifts, Pixel.”

“You’re welcome! Good night everyone!” She waved goodbye to the princesses and the prince.

“Yes, good night.” Gerhardt stated. And with that he teleported himself and Pixel back to his house in Ponyville. “I suppose you will also be going to bed then.” He said to Pixel as soon as they were back.

“Mhm! Oh, but first!” She teleported one final present to her and held it out for Gerhardt to take. “Happy Hearth’s Warming, Daddy!”

Gerhardt blinked in surprise but took the gift. He then proceeded to open it and pulled out an illusory projector depicting the capital city of the Human Kingdom in perfect detail. “So this is why you wanted to know what the capital looks like…” Gerhardt muttered as he examined the illusory image.

“Mhm! I know you miss your world a whole lot, but since I can’t do anything to bring us back there I decided to make this for you instead! This way you always have something to remind you of home! I hope you like it, Daddy!” Pixel explained.

Gerhardt smiled at her, kneeled down and wrapped her in a hug. “I love it. Thank you, dear.”

“You’re welcome, daddy!” Pixel said, happily returning the embrace.

Author's Note

Wooo! Finally a long chapter again! Thank god! I always feel a bit bad when my chapters are too short. Anyways, I hope you all liked it!

So, Gerhardt and Pixel essentially just built an entirely new town for the Crystal Empire. Mostly unintentionally since neither of them actually planned on it ever being used as an actual town, but still. So that's a thing that happened. And Pixel hand made and gave out a lot of gifts that were all personalized specifically for the individuals she gave them to. So that was also nice! Ah, what a lovely calm before the storm... That's pretty much the entire winter season by the way. Just the calm before the storm.

Fun Fact: In this story the Goblins were actually a fairly civilized species with their own advanced society and culture, unlike how they are portrayed in other stories. Same with the Orcs and Ogres. They wouldn't have survived as long as they did if they were just idiotic barbarians that were forever stuck in the stone age.

Anyways, as always, constructive criticism is more than welcome. Please, tell me what you guys thought of this chapter and how you think I could improve if at all. I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter as much if not more than I enjoyed writing it!

Stay safe out there everyone!