Two weeks had passed since his “date” with Celestia and Gerhardt was underneath his factory continuing his experiments in an attempt to figure out the mechanism behind how the Princesses became demigods. This time he was using what he learned about the aspects of how their souls functioned that was common between them but was different from normal ponies in order to construct an entirely new soul.

Of course, he didn’t want any more children so he was absolutely not going to give it a body. It would remain a disembodied soul so as soon as the experiment was over it would immediately move on to the afterlife just like every other soul. Or wherever the souls of demigods went when they died.

However, he was very worried that he might not have enough energy to create the soul of a demigod on his own. So he built a machine using unicorn augmentations connected to an arcane battery the size of a particularly large heavy combat golem. Thus the reason he was conducting this experiment in the underground levels of his factory. He didn’t have nearly enough room for such a massive machine in his main lab underneath his house.

Sitting down in the seat of the device and plugging a wire connected to the device into a port in the back of his head so he could manually control it Gerhardt said, “Project Divinity. Experiment log. Entry four hundred and thirty eight. The sensors are in place. There is zero arcane or necromantic interference that could in any way affect the experiment. Proceeding as planned.”

He then began manipulating the device, casting the spells to create the soul. An ethereal green aura surrounded the “horns” of the device as he very carefully tore a small piece from his own soul. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing so he decided that he would use a tiny fragment of his own soul to serve as a base or foundation with which to build the rest of the soul upon just to make things slightly easier for himself.

With that done, he began the process of moulding the necromantic energies around the fragment of his soul to create an entirely new soul. An ethereal green sphere that was approximately three inches in diameter appeared floating in between the horns of the device exactly two feet in front of Gerhardt. He had never directly created a soul before so he honestly had no idea how long this would take or how delicate of a procedure it would be. However, he had cleared his schedule for the day so he had a full twenty four hours to work and he was trying to be as delicate and precise as possible to ensure he didn’t make any mistakes.

As the process went on, Gerhardt’s sensors began detecting the presence of… something. It was clearly divine in nature, yet it couldn’t quite be described as a demigod. At least, not yet. It felt… incomplete. It took him a moment before he realized what it was. He was indeed detecting the soul of a demigod, it just wasn’t fully formed yet. His experiment was working!

It took exactly twenty hours total and the vast majority of the machine’s arcane energy reserves before the soul was complete. Gerhardt actually had to teleport his old body back to his house and remotely control it in order to tuck Pixel into bed that night since he wasn’t able to get up and leave the machine, otherwise the experiment would result in failure.

As soon as the soul was finished Gerhardt smiled to himself, proud of his work. He was officially one step closer to figuring out how to become a god and returning to his universe to save humanity from Silvanus.

Continuing to smile to himself he ended the spell and let the new soul move on to the afterlife. However, as he did, the soul didn’t move on like he expected it to. Instead it just continued floating there in front of him. His smile began to fade as an ominous sense of dread began to replace all the pride and joy he felt.

“What…? Why isn’t it—”

Gerhardt was cut off as pieces began to remove themselves from the machine he was sitting on and flew towards the soul. Seeing what was happening, Gerhardt immediately disconnected himself from the machine and teleported himself to the ground on the other side of the room. He didn’t want to risk getting caught in whatever was happening.

A few moments later and the pieces began taking form. It was building a body. The demigod was building itself a body. A surprisingly small body… In fact, it looked about the same size as Pixel, though with significantly more masculine proportions and features. After a few minutes what appeared to be a little boy made of metal slowly lowered himself to the ground with telekinesis. He then turned and looked at Gerhardt.

“Hello, father.” He said in a completely impassive tone. In fact, if anything his voice sounded down right cold and emotionless. Though his voice definitely matched his body. Just like Pixel sounded like a little girl, he sounded like a little boy.

Gerhardt sat there in shock for a few seconds before he finally opened his mouth and said, “You… You were only just born. How are you able to speak? By all rights you should be little more than an infant.”

“You created me using a fragment of your own soul did you not? Then it stands to reason that I would have inherited some of your knowledge. How else do you think I was able to build myself this body?” The demigod responded.

“I see…” Gerhardt muttered. He then sighed and shook his head. “Well… I suppose you’re going to need a name then. So… What would you like to be called?”

“Unit D-0001.” The demigod responded emotionlessly.

Gerhardt raised an eyebrow at that. This was the exact opposite of what it had been like when he first activated Pixel, though it was equally as stressful. “Er… That’s a number not a name. I assume the “D” stands for demigod or divine?”

“Names are irrelevant. A service number will suffice. Indeed it stands for “divinity”. I am Divine Unit 0001.” The demigod stated in a tone more mechanical than even Gerhardt at his worst could possibly manage.

Gerhardt nodded in understanding. “I see. Very well, Unit D-0001. If that’s what you wish to be called, that’s how I will address you. However, I’m afraid the ponies and your sister Pixel will require you to have an actual name. Here are some options: Atom, Deus, Tesla, Aurum, or Merlin.”

“If names are required then Deus or Aurum would be sufficient. Merlin would also be sufficient given the history behind the name.” The demigod stated.

Gerhardt gave the little demigod a surprised look. “Hm… Alright between those three I suppose your first name will be Deus, your middle name shall be Aurum, and your last name shall obviously be Mechanica.”

“Designation confirmed. I am Deus Aurum Mechanica. Service Number: Unit D-0001.” Deus stated. At this point Gerhardt realized Deus was displaying absolutely no body language whatsoever. Not even so much as a twitch. Similar to Gerhardt himself prior to deciding his old body was no longer serving its intended purpose.

“Unit D-0001, I have a question. You aren’t displaying any body language. Is this intentional?” Gerhardt inquired.

“Yes. Neither my brain nor my body are designed to display body language as it serves no practical purpose and is thus unnecessary. Unfortunately, as a result of my hasty construction without the use of tools my brain isn’t up to modern standards. Rather it is equivalent to an organic brain. I will need to update it as soon as possible. My body is similarly substandard.” Deus stated.

Gerhardt sighed and said, “That can be arranged. I’ll have my factory build a new brain for you, as well as a new body. Though, since you built your current body yourself I must ask, why is it so small? If you have my knowledge then it is pretty much guaranteed that you have the mind of an adult so why make yourself have the body of a child?”

“It is more efficient. A smaller body can fit into tighter spaces and is thus more efficient when working with technology. Take this device you used to create my soul, for example. There are many spaces inside that you cannot access without dismantling it that I can with my smaller frame. My voice is like this because how I sound is irrelevant and it fits my relative age and the size of my body. So, what now?” Deus inquired, looking around.

“Now? That’s actually a very good question… What now?” Gerhardt sighed and shook his head. “Now, I suppose we build you a new brain and body, I’ll have to get Miss Rarity to make you some clothes, and when all of that is done I’ll need to introduce you to the princesses. While normally I wouldn’t bother them about my affairs, I’m afraid they will want to know about the existence of a new demigod… Gods above this won’t go over well…” Gerhardt could already tell Deus’ personality was not exactly what the ponies, especially the princesses, would consider acceptable. Thus he was dreading having to introduce him to them. Unfortunately he saw very little choice in the matter

So he had the factory start building Deus a new body and went to commission Rarity to make some new clothes for him. In the meantime, he simply borrowed Pixel’s robes and had Deus wear those. Pixel was still in the dress Rarity had made for her so it was fine. He also fed a bit of cloned leather into the factory and had it produce a pair of boots for Deus which would be complete by the time Gerhardt finished putting his soul into his new body.

When Deus was in his new body Gerhardt sent a text message to the princesses informing them he had something very important to show them, however he did not specify what. First and foremost, however, he needed to introduce Deus to Pixel. So as soon as she got home from school that’s exactly what he did.

As soon as the front door opened and Pixel walked inside she called out, “Daddy, I’m home!”

“Hello, dear. I was waiting for you.” Gerhardt said, standing in the middle of the living room.

Pixel tilted her head curiously. “Oh? Why? Is something going on?”

“Eh… Yes and no. I actually have someone I would like to introduce you to. Deus, come meet your sister.” Gerhardt said.

Pixel gasped in shock and her eyes began glowing brighter in excitement upon hearing the word “sister.”

Deus came out from waiting in the kitchen and looked at Pixel. “Hello.” He said in an almost emotionless tone. The exterior of his body was now made of gold — which he specifically requested despite gold being an inferior magical conductor to copper or silver — and both of his eyes were made of yellow sapphires. Otherwise he looked like a miniature version of Gerhardt’s old body. He had apparently decided to forgo the skin and hair both Pixel and Gerhardt had opted for despite Gerhardt informing him that his appearance wouldn’t have its intended effect here in Equestria. He did have the ability to eat and sleep though Gerhardt suspected he would rarely if ever actually use them.

Pixel squealed happily before rushing over to Deus and almost tackling him with a hug. “Hi, I’m Pixel, your older sister! I’m so happy to meet you, Deus!”

Deus said nothing and made no attempt to return the hug.

After a moment Pixel released him and gave him a confused look. “Deus? Is something wrong?”

“No. My body is in perfectly optimal condition.” Deus responded.

“Pixel, I’m sorry to inform you but Deus isn’t as emotional as you or even me. I made his soul in an experiment trying to prove I could create the soul of a demigod and I succeeded. However, as I have never directly created a soul before I used a fragment of my own soul in the creation process as a sort of base or foundation with which to construct the rest of the soul on top of. So it would seem he has inherited my knowledge and a few of my personality traits. However the personality traits he has inherited appear to be slightly exaggerated. So he’s not as emotional as you or even me for that matter. So, I’m afraid you shouldn’t expect much in the way of emotional responses from him.” Gerhardt explained.

Pixel’s eyes dimmed quite a bit upon hearing this and her shoulders slumped in disappointment. “Oh… Well… That’s alright! He’s still my brother, right? I don’t mind if he’s a bit different. I still love him all the same! Anyways, I’m just super excited to have a new brother! Imagine all the things we can do together! I can’t wait to introduce you to all my friends at school!”

“Um, Pixel, I’m sorry to inform you but he won’t be going to school with you.” Gerhardt stated apologetically.

“W-what? Why not?” Pixel inquired, sounding quite distraught.

Gerhardt sighed and shook his head. “Like I said, he inherited my knowledge and certain aspects of my personality. He has no need of an education and even if he did I could teach him just like I teach you every morning. The only reason you’re going to school is so you have the opportunity to interact with and make friends your own mental age. He, on the other hand, has no interest in friends and is mentally more akin to an adult due to inheriting my knowledge. So there’s simply no point.”

“Oh… Um… Alright… I’m… I’m just going to go up to my room and do my homework… It was nice meeting you, Deus.” She said before turning and walking dejectedly back up the stairs.

Gerhardt sighed. He knew she wasn’t going to react well to this. Especially since she had just recently been so interested in gaining a new family member. Granted she had wanted a mother not a brother but still. The point remained.

“Father, she appears overly emotional. I would strongly recommend updating her E.P.U. to reduce these emotions as they seem to be leading to irrational and unnecessary behaviour.” Deus suggested.

Gerhardt’s head immediately snapped towards him. “No! What?! How dare you?! Not only is she operating perfectly but what you are suggesting is morally and ethically reprehensible!”

“Morals and ethics only get in the way of legitimate progress. You know this as well as I do. As do laws, thus the reason you conduct many of your more ‘morally and ethically reprehensible’ and outright illegal experiments in secret, secluded in your lab away from prying eyes. You’ve already started the process of genetically engineering alicorn clones to have the brains of common animals in your lab for continued experimentation into achieving divinity. My creation was just the next step in the process to ensure these clones would have the souls of demigods once they were created.” Deus explained in a cold and remorseless tone.

Not giving Gerhardt a chance to respond, Deus continued, “The next logical step after that would be to begin the process of trying to force them to ascend further into true godhood. However, for that you will need them to be intelligent as no mere animal could ever be a god. Their weak and unintelligent minds would cause their souls to shatter before achieving true divinity. So you would need to experiment on truly sapient beings and you would torture, kill, and even destroy the souls of dozens if not hundreds in the experimental process. Without morals or ethics or being bound by laws you wouldn’t need to restrain yourself and you could potentially gain results significantly faster and you know it. You could start this process at this very moment if you so desired, however you choose to restrict yourself in search of a fictitious alternative method which you know does not exist. However even if a more morally acceptable alternative did exist you know perfectly well it would not be nearly as fast or efficient as experimenting on truly sapient demigods. All the while countless humans are dying because you are wasting time due to petty morals and ethics.”

Gerhardt stood there in shock. Everything Deus just said hit a bit too close to home for Gerhardt’s liking as he had indeed considered everything he just said. Having it said so blatantly to his face, however, was most assuredly not flattering or enjoyable in the least. In fact it made him feel ashamed. Ashamed that a part of him actually agreed with everything Deus was saying. It hurt, to say the least. That was one of the things he hated most about himself.

“Unit D-0001… Just… Just stop… Please… I’m not modifying Pixel’s brain and neither are you and that’s final. I also fully expect you to follow the laws and basic morals and ethics even if it isn’t as fast or efficient… At least for now… I… I need some time to think… Go start working on… Whatever… I honestly don’t care what it is. I have plenty of projects that need to be done… Just leave me alone… I’ll call you when it’s time to introduce you to the princesses.”

“As you wish. I will be working on furthering Project Divinity within the parameters you have set. However with such restrictions in place you should not expect results any time soon. Let’s hope the Human Kingdom can survive for the decades of time this will inevitably take even despite the time dilation between our universes. Though, with what Isabelle has told you I sincerely doubt it.” Deus said before teleporting away.

Gerhardt’s eyes dimmed to the point they were barely emitting any light as the weight of those words crashed down upon him. Walking over to a nearby wall he sat down and leaned his back against it. He then spent the next few hours sitting there thinking to himself until the sun started to set and it was finally time to go to Canterlot.

Getting up and forcing his eyes onto a brighter setting he sent a message to Deus to head to the throne room of Canterlot Castle along with coordinates in case he didn’t know where to go. Finally Gerhardt teleported to the throne room in Canterlot Castle and was immediately greeted by Celestia and Luna. “Hello, Gerhardt. You said you had something important to show us?”

“Well, it’s not so much of a ‘something’ as it is a ‘someone’ and he should be appearing—” Gerhardt was cut off by a flash of golden light as Deus teleported into the throne room. “Now.” Gerhardt finished. “Princesses, this is my new son. Deus Aurum Mechanica. Er… He’s a demigod. Also, and you’re not going to be happy about this, I created him using a fragment of my own soul as a base for his soul so he’s inherited some rather… ‘interesting’ aspects of my personality. I originally intended for his soul to just move on to the afterlife after I made it, but he clearly had other plans as he used necromancy to sustain his presence in the physical realm and built himself a body using the machine I made his soul with for parts.”

Luna sighed in exasperation and Celestia gave him a disapproving look. “So you intended to kill him before he was even born?” Celestia said in a disapproving tone.

“Eh, no. Not quite. I just never intended to give him a body, thus his soul would move on to the afterlife by default. That isn’t quite the same as killing someone. Besides, this is the first time I have ever actually directly created a soul let alone using a fragment of my own soul so I had absolutely no way of knowing that he would inherit my knowledge and personality. I had no way of knowing he would have the mind of an adult or even a child.”

“And you’re saying all of this directly in front of him without even the slightest regard for how he would feel about any of this.” Luna said in an equally disapproving tone.

“In his defense, I legitimately couldn't care less and he is well aware of this fact.” Deus interjected. “I do not hold any emotional attachment to him, my sister, or anyone else as such things are merely a distraction and a weakness. Thus even if he did want me to move on to the afterlife after he made my soul, it is irrelevant to me. Just because I call him ‘father’ does not mean I love him. The same goes for my sister. In fact, I think they are both quite pathetic for continuing to waste time interacting with your pitiful species while the Human Kingdom is in such grave danger.”

Both Celestia and Luna looked quite shocked by this.

Gerhardt sighed and said, “Yes… You can see what I’m dealing with now. If you believe I’m abrasive and difficult to get along with, I guarantee he is significantly worse. And don’t bother trying to force ‘friendship lessons’ on him like you did to me. I can’t force him to participate and you really can’t force him to participate. Not to mention they would be just as if not more ineffectual then they are on me even if you could force him to participate.”

“I see…” Celestia muttered, looking at Deus. She then sighed and shook her head. “How unfortunate. The first non-alicorn demigod and he turns out like this… I would have hoped for better. Especially since you’re the one who made him, Gerhardt. After all, Pixel turned out so wonderfully! I must say, I am quite disappointed in both of you.”

Gerhardt shrugged. “If it were up to me this would never be happening to begin with. Anyways, I just thought you two should know about the birth of a new demigod in your kingdom.”

“Wait, before you go, there’s still a few things we need to discuss. Namely, what’s going to happen now. A situation like this is unprecedented after all.” Celestia said before Gerhardt and deus could teleport away.

“What do you mean?” Gerhardt inquired.

“I mean, every other demigod in Equestria has become a princess. So we have to have a very serious discussion about whether Deus should become a prince or not.” Celestia said in a very serious tone.

Gerhardt looked at her and shook his head. “I can answer that for you. No. He absolutely should not.”

“Why is that?” Luna asked curiously.

“Well, for one thing he’s not a pony. Sure I could build him the body of a pony but if anything he would still be a half human or golem demigod considering he was made using a fragment of my own soul as a foundation. Also, he may be a demigod but he is no alicorn. He doesn’t have the traits of any of the three breeds of ponies as I have not given him those augmentations though I very easily could. And since he is not a pony and has none of the traits of an alicorn you would have to give a legitimate reason as to why he would be becoming a prince and would thus have no choice but to reveal yourselves to the public as demigods, which you have already stated that you do not want. Besides which, since I have successfully created him and now have some idea of how to make souls I could easily start mass producing artificial demigods if I so chose. I won't but I very easily could. So unless you want mass produced royalty to be a legitimate option here in your kingdom he definitely should not be a prince. Besides which, once I find a way to ascend to godhood I am going to bring him and Pixel back to the Human Kingdom with me where they will become soldiers fighting to protect humanity. So if he were a prince that would cause political issues here in Equestria as he would just suddenly disappear one day.” Gerhardt explained.

“Oh… Well all of those are very good reasons… ehem… Well, never mind then. You’re free to go.” Celestia said sort of overwhelmed by all the reasons Gerhardt just dumped on her and Luna.

“Very well. Good night, Princesses.” Gerhardt said before teleporting himself and Deus out of the throne room and back to his lab.

[The Next Day In The Everfree]

Isabelle stared at the ritual circle in the middle of the forest uncertainly. Was she really doing the right thing here? For some reason it really didn’t feel like it…

“Isabelle? What’s the matter? You look troubled.” King Aspen inquired, walking over to her.

“Oh… Nothing… Just nervous, I suppose. This is only my third time ever using ritual magic and I’m a bit worried I might make a mistake.” She lied. She didn’t want to tell him she was having doubts about this otherwise she was afraid Natura might react poorly.

“Ah, I see. Don’t worry, I’m sure you will do just fine. You’ve been rehearsing this for two weeks now and besides even if you do make a mistake it’s not as though this will be your only opportunity. You will have to conduct several rituals over the course of several months in order to help free her. You know this. A mistake here or there won’t make that much of a difference. Plus nature herself will be guiding you the entire time. So you have nothing to worry about. Anyways, the others are in their positions and are ready to start whenever you are. Just step into the middle of the circle and start the ritual whenever you’re ready.” King Aspen said.

Isabelle smiled at him. “Thank you. That makes me feel a lot better.” She lied again. She didn’t feel better in the least. A part of her knew this was wrong and that she shouldn’t be helping Natura, knowing what she would do to the ponies. However, another part of her was forcing her onwards encouraging her to help the nature spirit as was her heritage. The part of her forcing her onwards overpowered the part telling her to stop, however the part telling her to stop was enough to at the very least give her some doubts.

Taking a deep breath and slowly releasing it she walked into the middle of the ritual circle and began to sing a haunting wordless song as she began to cast the spell. Meanwhile the deer that were present began playing enchanted ritual drums. Not all ritual magic involved singing or music. Sometimes it involved dancing, or sacrifices ranging from blood, to lives, and even to souls after the invention of necromancy, to the writing or carving of certain runes, to prayers to the Greater Gods, and even simple quiet meditation. It really depended on the ritual in question and the goal an individual was trying to achieve. In this case Isabelle was attempting to weaken the restraints placed upon Natura by the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony known as Discord a little over fifty thousand years ago. Thus she sang. Normally she was god awful at singing but with the magic augmenting her voice and Natura subtly guiding her through the ritual, her voice sounded near divine and the enchanted drums being played by the deer only served to enhance this effect even further.

Red and leaf green arcane energy swirled up from the ritual circle in a beautiful display as the ritual began in earnest.

Author's Note

So Gerhardt has a new "son" if you can even really call him that. Well, at least he doesn't have to love him or care about him like he does with Pixel. Anyways, he's more meant to be a twisted reflection of Gerhardt designed to drive character development as Gerhardt is forced to face the worst aspects of his personality and realize he doesn't like them. I know Gerhardt hasn't had much character development since the beginning of the story, he's had some but not enough, so I'm hoping this will accelerate things a bit so you guys don't get too bored.

Also, I've taken your concerns about Isabelle's actions into account and decided to change course with her a bit. She's still going to help Natura, but there's going to be an actual reason behind it other than her being a half elf. I mean, I already set up this plotline perfectly with how I wrote things originally so I don't even need to retcon anything. Well... "perfectly"... I could have hinted at it a bit more before this chapter but still.

Fun Fact: Ritual Magic is quite possibly one of the most powerful forms of magic in the story especially when praying to the greater gods is involved. However it is rarely used in modern times because it is rather impractical. I mean, you can't draw a massive circle and start this big ass ritual in the middle of a battlefield and not expect it to be blown up before it can be completed. Thus other forms of magic are usually used instead unless the ritual is able to be conducted subtly or in secret.

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!