It had been a week since Gerhardt had created Deus and he was in a somewhat depressed state. Deus had this way of talking to Gerhardt that just demoralized him because a part of Gerhardt actually agreed with everything Deus said but he knew that by truly agreeing with Deus he would have to abandon his morals. It made him feel disgusted with himself. Thus he tried his best to keep Deus and Pixel as far away from each other as possible since he didn’t want her to suffer the same thing.

Gerhardt was currently working on the love generator for the changelings while Deus worked on Project Divinity. Apparently Deus had decided that project divinity would officially become his main focus. This was both good and bad. On the one hand it meant Gerhardt had more time to focus on his other projects such as the Love Generator. On the other hand it was Deus who was the one doing most of the work on Project Divinity and thus Gerhardt was constantly worried that Deus would go behind his back and start experimenting on sapient beings. So far his fears seemed unfounded as Deus hadn’t done anything Gerhardt himself wouldn’t do.

As Gerhardt was finishing the upgrades to this version of the love generator when the portal device connected to the mail slot on the front door of his house activated and spat out a letter. He walked over and picked up the letter. It seemed to be closed with a very official looking wax seal of some sort. Breaking the seal, he opened the letter and pulled out the paper inside.

Dear Gerhardt Mechanica

You and your esteemed daughter are both formally invited to have dinner with the royal family of Minos. It is of the utmost importance and could potentially benefit both you and all of Minos immensely. An escort of my finest guards will be picking you and your daughter up tomorrow morning — assuming this letter arrives on time — and will be bringing you to our castle in Minos in the finest airship money can buy. My family and I are very eager to meet you both.

King Iron Fist of Minos.

P.S. I can’t possibly thank you enough for giving my son an artificial heart. Having heart cancer at such a young age, I was absolutely terrified he wouldn’t live to see even so much as his early teenage years. From one father to another, I’m sure you can understand my relief. You and your technology saved his life and for that I am forever grateful.

Gerhardt sighed in annoyance and cast a spell to incinerate the letter and teleported the ashes to a random location in the Everfree Forest. He had no idea what Minos was or what sort of creatures inhabited it but he found this entire situation highly inconvenient. He would have written a letter back refusing the invitation if it weren’t for two things. First, the letter had not included a return address. Second, it really didn’t seem like this “King Steel Horn” was giving him much of a choice in the matter, if the letter was anything to go by. He hadn’t phrased it as a request. No, he just said he was sending an escort to come pick up Gerhardt and Pixel tomorrow at noon and that was that.

Furthermore he got a bad feeling about this. The letter said “It is of the utmost importance and could potentially benefit both you and all of Minos immensely.” He didn’t trust that for a zeptosecond. As far as he knew, the part about Gerhardt saving his son by replacing his heart could have been completely fabricated in order to get him to lower his guard.

So if he was going to have to attend, he was definitely bringing his teleportation pistol and he was going to conduct some research into this “Minos” kingdom and the creatures that resided there. He had never heard of them before and he wasn’t about to go into a situation like this uninformed. A few hours later he went to Twilight’s library and began reading.

Apparently Minos was inhabited by Minotaurs, which Gerhardt was quite surprised to learn. His world also used to have Minotaurs several centuries ago. In fact they were close allies of the Human Kingdom. However, they all went extinct during the ending years of the First Necromantic War. Granted he knew this world had dragons just like his world did, but the dragons of this world were vastly different to the dragons of his world. He assumed the Minotaurs should be similarly different, but apparently the only major difference was their appearance, culture, and religion. Otherwise they were effectively the same.

He found this revelation unsettling. Perhaps the gods of this universe had some contact with the gods of his universe and thus decided to create a few similarities between their respective universes? That was the only rational explanation he could come up with. He supposed it made some sense. This was the first universe he came in contact with after being cast out of his universe by Silvanus as it was for Isabelle as well which suggested it was likely in very close proximity to his universe. So it would stand to reason that perhaps the gods may converse with one another.

Well whatever the case, he now knew his potential enemy well enough to know how to fight them if it truly came to it. Hopefully he wouldn’t need to but better to be safe than sorry.

The next day he and Pixel were both dressed up and ready to go by the time there was a knock on the front door.

“Alright, Pixel. Remember what I told you. I don’t know what this is about but be sure to remain on your best behaviour. I would rather avoid starting any sort of diplomatic incident. Understood?” Gerhardt said, looking at her.

She nodded in response. “Yes, daddy. I promise.”

“Good.” With that Gerhardt opened the front door and was immediately greeted by two large muscular Minotaurs in fairly ornate steel armor, carrying shields and spears.

“Gerhardt Mechanica?” One of the soldiers inquired.

Gerhardt nodded. “Yes, that’s me. I assume you are here to pick my daughter and I up for this dinner with King Iron Fist?”

The minotaur nodded. “Mhm… Follow us. The air ship is waiting by the train station.”

“Ah, then please allow me to save us some time.” Gerhardt said before teleporting himself, Pixel, and the two minotaurs to the train station. There they saw something akin to a large ship of sorts suspended by ropes from a large balloon-like structure. Similar to a blimp or a zeppelin. It was floating a ways off the ground and had a long gangplank leading up to the deck of the ship.

Taking Pixel by the hand, Gerhardt began leading her up the gangplank followed closely behind by the guards. Once they were on the deck, the crew of the ship pulled up the gangplank and stowed it away. They then began rising up and away from the ground before turning and flying off towards the east.

Pixel grabbed the railing of the ship and looked down at the ground with a large smile on her face. Gerhardt gave her a confused look. “Why do you seem so excited? You can fly. You get to see this sort of view whenever you desire.”

Pixel looked at him and said, “Well, yeah but this is my first time ever being on something like this before! I might as well enjoy it, right?”

Gerhardt shrugged. “I don’t get it, but do whatever you like I suppose.”

The flight lasted pretty much the entire day. They flew over the forest between Baltimare and Fillydelphia, over what Gerhardt recognized from a map as Griffonstone, and further still. Finally arrived in another city Gerhardt could only assume was the capital of Minos, judging by the castle in the middle of the city. By the time they arrived the sun had already set and the moon had started to rise. Though this was likely due at least in part by Equestria and Minos being in slightly different time zones.

The crew lowered the gangplank and Gerhardt led Pixel down. The path was lit fairly well by the light of the castle so there was no need for Gerhardt to use his eyes like flashlights. As soon as they reached the bottom they were greeted by a butler who led them to the dining room of the castle.

“Ah, and our guests finally arrive!” Said a particularly large minotaur. He was wearing royal regalia and a crown and was sitting at the head of the table. Presumably King Iron Fist.

Other than him there were two other minotaurs sitting at the table. Both of them were significantly smaller than the King. One appeared to be female while the other appeared to be male and had a large scar across the front of his chest. Both of them were staring at Gerhardt and Pixel curiously. Gerhardt assumed they were the prince and princess respectively.

Gerhardt bowed respectfully and Pixel followed his lead. He then said, “Greetings. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

King Iron Fist shook his head and said, “No, no. The pleasure is all mine! Please sit, we have much to discuss.” He motioned to the two open chairs on the opposite side of the table from the prince and princess.

Gerhardt and Pixel complied and sat down. The chairs were significantly more comfortable than Equestrian chairs, being designed for bipeds rather than quadrupeds. “Forgive me, I’m physically incapable of eating. My throat is solid rather than hollow and I have nothing to process food or drink. However, my daughter is fully capable of eating so she is capable of joining you in eating where as I am not.”

King Iron Fist raised a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry. I already heard all of this from Celestia. I don’t mind that you can not join us. Though I do hope your species aren’t herbivores like the ponies, as us minotaurs are omnivores and I did have some meat prepared for tonight’s dinner.”

Gerhardt shook his head. “No. Humans are also omnivores. When I was still organic, meat was a primary part of my diet as I was a soldier and soldiers require quite a bit of protein to stay in peak physical condition. Granted, I was a bit of an exception in that I spent most of my time in a lab and would often forgo my meals in favor of my work leading me to become somewhat malnourished, but that’s besides the point. Pixel, however, was made in Equestria and has only ever eaten plant based foods. The only animal products being unfertilized chicken eggs and milk in the form of baked goods… Pixel, would you be willing to try some of the meat they prepared tonight?”

Pixel hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Of course! I’m always willing to try new foods. Besides, if humans usually eat meat then so should I, right?”

“Well you’re a golem not a human, technically speaking. So it’s really up to you. Still, thank you for being polite.” Gerhardt stated, patting her on the head.

“I’m glad to hear it! You wouldn’t believe how squeamish those ponies can be about our diet…” King Iron Fist said with a large smile on his face. “Anyways, let me introduce you to my children! This is my daughter Rose and my son Steel Horn. I would also introduce you to my wife, but she passed away five years ago… It was heart cancer, the same thing that was killing my son… I suppose it runs in the family…”

“I see… My condolences.” Gerhardt said, staring at him impassively.

“It’s fine… It’s just that when my son got it too, it… Well it reopened the wounds left by her passing… But you saved him! And for that you will forever have my deepest gratitude!” King Iron Fist stated giving Gerhardt a large friendly smile.

“U-um… The, uh… Golem? I think that’s what they’re called? Er… Yeah… The golem was really scary but I was really sick and my chest hurt a lot… So I layed down on the bed and did what it told me, and it fixed me! When I woke up I had this scar on my chest but I felt a lot better!” Steel Horn explained. He was a bit nervous at first but as he spoke he grew more and more enthusiastic.

Gerhardt nodded. “Good. Then the surgical golem did its job. I’m glad to have been of assistance.”

“As am I!” King Iron Fist said happily. “In fact, I’m so glad that I would like to make you an offer I believe would benefit both you and all of Minos.”

Gerhardt raised an eyebrow curiously. “Oh? And what might this offer be?”

“I’ll get to that in a moment but first I have to ask something. I realize that such technology only exists in stories but the same could be said for much of your technology, so can you create clones and/or modify the genetics of a child before they are born?” King Iron Fist inquired.

Gerhardt didn’t like where this was going. “Yes? That technology has existed for several millennia now. Why do you ask?”

“Well, I just had to know before I made this offer since I am well aware that neither you nor your daughter are capable of having children naturally. Anyways, I would like to arrange a marriage between your family and mine.” King Iron Fist explained. “I mean think about it. Minos could benefit greatly from your technology and you and your daughter could be royalty! It’s a win-win for both of us!”

Gerhardt’s eyes dimmed and he looked at Pixel for a moment before looking back at the king. “Is this why you wanted me to bring my daughter?”

“Well… Yes and no. I’m fine with either your daughter marrying my son or you marrying my daughter. I’m not particularly picky in that regard.” King Iron Fist said before taking a sip of wine.

Gerhardt could hardly believe what he was hearing. “I am 893 years old, your daughter appears to be in her early teens. I’m sorry but I would rather not marry an adolescent.”

“Bah, that’s not an issue. Of course I wouldn’t have you marry her now. I would have you wait a few years until she was an adult. The same goes for my son and your daughter.” The king stated dismissively.

Gerhardt shook his head. “You have my sincerest apologies but the answer is still no. I am not comfortable with marrying someone so much younger than myself and I will not force my daughter to marry someone she has only just met.”

King Iron Fist glared at Gerhardt. “Are you refusing my extremely generous offer, peasant?”

Gerhardt returned the glare. “I am. And I’m no peasant. I was the High Lord of Research and Development before the destruction of my kingdom, meaning I was one of the five rulers of the Human Kingdom.”

“Ah, but your kingdom doesn’t exist any more now does it? That means you now rule nothing but the dead. That makes you a peasant as a ruler is not a ruler without subjects to rule over.” King Iron Fist growled, setting down his fork and knife.

“Hmph. At least I actually earned my position rather than being born into it. You think you are better just because you were born into the right family? No. It’s a person’s actions and character that defines their worth, not their blood. So even if I am a peasant, I would prefer to be one knowing I have been the best person I possibly could and having earned everything I have or was ever given than to be a selfish king and have had everything handed to me on a silver platter. So please, by all means continue calling me a peasant. You are proving nothing but your own arrogance.” Gerhardt retorted.

“Um… Please stop fighting. Shouldn’t we get a say in this?” Pixel inquired.

King Iron Fist glared at her for a moment before his expression started to brighten a bit. “That’s a very good point, little one! So, Mechanica, you say you won’t force your daughter to marry someone she only just met. Fine. As a father myself, I suppose I can respect that. However, what if she decided to do so on her own? Would you refuse her then?”

Gerhardt crossed his arms in front of his chest. “No… I suppose I wouldn’t. Well, I would make her wait until she was an adult but that’s it. Why? What are you trying to get at?”

“Despite my name I am not a totally unreasonable individual. So how about a compromise. Let us arrange some playdates for them. Then if they like each other, we let them get married once they’re old enough. If they don’t, perhaps we can work out a more common business arrangement instead.” King Iron Fist suggested.

Gerhardt wanted to refuse since he fully planned on bringing Pixel with him once he figured out how to become a god and could thus return to his own universe. However, he knew that if he refused he would offend King Iron Fist which wasn’t the smartest thing to do considering he was in Iron Fist’s kingdom far from Equestria or his combat golems. Yes, he could still order orbital bombardments from his cannons orbiting the planet, however that was a last resort as he didn’t want to reveal he had those if he didn’t have to. Thus he only had one choice in this situation, as much as he didn’t like it.

“Fine. However nothing will be arranged prematurely. We’ll set up these playdates and if they like each other we can continue having them. However, what truly matters is how they will feel once they are adults. In the meantime, if you wish to discuss business I am more than open to it. I assume you would like for me to expand my business to have facilities out here in Minos?”

King Iron Fist nodded. “I agree to these terms. And yes, I would. Your technology could benefit my citizens greatly, however the fact you only have facilities in Equestria and the Crystal Empire makes it quite inaccessible for most here in Minos as they are quite far away. If you had operations in Griffonstone it might be a bit different as it is significantly closer than Equestria or the Crystal Empire, but even then many here in Minos wouldn’t be able to travel there to access your medical technology. So I would like for you to open at least… let’s say… five facilities here in Minos. One for every major city. Though one in every city would be preferable. I’m actually willing to give you the land for the first five facilities. You would, however, have to pay for the materials and build them yourself or pay some contractors to build them for you and unless you or your daughter agree to the arranged marriage you would not be exempt from taxes.”

“Very well. That’s agreeable. I can easily supply the material and the labor force required to build and operate the facilities myself. You do understand that like in Equestria they will be completely automated so you should not expect them to produce new jobs or opportunities.”

“I see. Yes, I expected as much and that’s perfectly fine. I’ll send you a letter with the details of the properties along with a couple maps. Though I’ll make sure the boundaries of the properties are clearly marked physically as well. It should only take a few days for the paperwork to get through.” King Iron Fist informed him.

The dinner lasted another hour and it slowly transitioned over from Gerhardt and King Iron Fist talking business to Pixel, Steel Horn, and Rose having a casual conversation. When dinner was over King Iron Fist stood up and said, “Well despite the rather rough start, that was a lovely dinner. Unfortunately it is rather late and it would take quite a bit of time for you to fly back to Equestria, so how about you two stay the night? In fact, this would be an excellent opportunity for Pixel and Steel Horn’s first playdate tomorrow.”

Gerhardt was reluctant to accept however it was too far for them to teleport back to Equestria in one shot and they hadn’t stopped in Griffonstone thus neither he nor Pixel had the coordinates necessary for them to make a two point teleportation. “Very well, but we have to get home by tomorrow night so this ‘playdate’ will have to be relatively short. Maybe an hour or two at most. In the meantime, might you have a library somewhere in this castle? If I am to do business here, I would like to read up on this kingdom’s laws.”

“Ah, of course. I’ll have a servant show you there. Young Pixel, I hear you are capable of sleep while your father is not. So I’ll give you a choice. I can have a servant lead you to a guest bedroom or you can stay up with your father.” King Iron Fist said.

“Um… I usually sleep at night, but I think I’d rather stay with daddy.” Pixel responded uncertainly.

A short while later a servant led them to the castle library. Fortunately all of the books were written in the same language as books in Equestria so Gerhardt was able to read them. As Gerhardt started reading, Pixel asked, “Daddy, do you think I should marry Steel Horn when I’m older?”

“That is entirely up to you. However, I will give you one piece of advice. If you feel uncomfortable or if Prince Steel Horn tries to pressure or coerce you into anything you do not want, call me immediately and I will bring you home even if we have to run back on foot. Do not feel pressured one way or the other. You are significantly more important to me than this business deal and I’m not even the slightest bit worried about any sort of retaliation so you shouldn’t be concerned either.” Gerhardt said as he read books one after another.

“Alright… Will anyone get hurt if they do try to retaliate?” Pixel inquired.

Gerhardt knew exactly why she was asking that. She was more concerned about the safety of the Minotaurs than her own happiness. So if she believed they would get hurt she would be willing to get married just to prevent that from happening. She was far too kind for her own good. “No. I would merely put on a small display of force and intimidate them into submission. I promise that none of them would be harmed in the process. And even if they were injured, I could easily replace any limbs they lost without any issues. You know that. So don’t worry about their safety or wellbeing. They would be just fine.” Gerhardt lied. He would definitely send in combat golems and orbital bombardments to beat the Minotaurs into submission if he was forced to. Unlike Pixel, he couldn’t possibly care less about hurting them or killing their soldiers. Those were completely normal things to him. However, Pixel didn’t need to know that.

Pixel sighed in relief. She trusted him completely and wholeheartedly so she had absolutely no reason to think he was lying to her. They spent the rest of the night reading and discussing whatever random topics Pixel could come up with.

In the morning they attended breakfast with King Iron Fist and his children. When breakfast was over, it was finally time for Pixel and Steel Horn’s play date.

As Steel Horn was leading Pixel through the castle he gave her an apologetic look and said, “Um, Pixel, I’m really sorry about my dad. He just wants access to your family’s technology for the kingdom and he thinks by having me or Rose marry into your family we’ll get access to technology you’re keeping from the rest of the world. We don’t have to get married if you don’t want to. I’m fine with just being friends!”

“Oh, I don’t mind! It’s not your fault. And I would be more than happy to be your friend! Anyways, where are we going?” Pixel inquired as they walked.

“Just the castle gardens. I’m not allowed to leave the castle grounds, at least not without a few guards to keep me safe. So the castle gardens are me and Rose’s favorite place to play!” Steel Horn said happily.

As soon as the two of them got to the garden they started playing a variety of games from tag, to catch, to hide and seek. Of course, being a good sport, Pixel intentionally held back. So she only ran as fast as Steel Horn did during tag, she didn’t throw very hard during catch, and she didn’t use any technologically enhanced senses during hide and seek. Eventually Steel Horn got tired and they decided to take a break.

“That was a lot of fun!” Pixel said happily as the two of them sat down on the ground.

“Yeah! I can’t wait until your next visit! Maybe next time Rose can play with us too!” Steel Horn suggested.

“I would like that. I didn’t get to interact with her much this time around. Ooh! I know! Maybe we could convince your daddy to let you and Rose come to Ponyville some time! I know you aren’t allowed to leave the castle without guards but that’s fine. I could introduce you to some of my other friends!”

“Yeah that would be a lot of fun! I’ll try to talk to him and see if I can convince him, but um… I don’t think he’ll let me. He doesn’t really let me play with anyone he thinks are ‘lower class’... And all the noble children I’ve interacted with are sort of mean and spoiled. You’re sort of the first friend I’ve ever had besides my sister…” Steel Horn said, sounding a bit embarrassed.

Pixel gave him a sympathetic look. “Oh… That’s terrible! I’m so sorry to hear that. I couldn’t imagine life without friends. I’m actually sort of the opposite really. I have a lot of friends but my new younger brother, Deus, is really mean. Well… ‘Mean’ isn’t quite the right word, but it’s close enough that you get the idea. He isn’t nice. I… I hate to admit it but I honestly don’t like him. I want to, I really do, but every time I try to interact with him he says these things that are just terrible… I don’t understand what’s wrong with him.”

Steel Horn seemed surprised to hear that she had a brother but became somewhat concerned as she continued to speak. “Have you talked to your dad about him? What sort of things does he say?”

Pixel nodded. “Mhm… Daddy tells me I shouldn’t talk to him even though he’s my brother. Well, Deus called me weak and pathetic because I care about Daddy and my friends. He also says being nice to or even interacting with others is meaningless and the only thing that matters is research and progress.”

“He sounds stupid. If that’s what he’s really like you should listen to your dad.” Steel Horn said, clearly already having a strong dislike for Deus.

“Yeah… Um… Anyways, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring the mood down like that.”

“It’s fine! Hey, I know you’re going to have to go home soon, but how about one last game of hide and seek before you go? It’s my favorite game!” Steel Horn suggested.

Pixel smiled at him and stood up. “All right! I’d like to hide first this time, if you don’t mind.”

Author's Note

Credit for the idea of this chapter also goes to Rikithemonk. Specifically they suggested "Foreign pressure from other governments causing trouble." This probably isn't quite what they had in mind with that suggestion but hopefully I still did a decent enough job.

Edit: Quick but very important question for you all. Pixel or Gerhardt? Don't worry it has nothing to do with what happened in this chapter. No arranged marriages or anything of the sort, you have my word as the author.
Strawpoll Link
Sorry, I should have added this earlier but I didn't think of it until a few minutes ago.

No fun facts this time. Sorry.

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!