Having finished building the last of the augmentations — each of which had numbers engraved on the bottom of their hoofs to indicate which changeling they had been built for — Gerhardt piled them all in a wooden crate that some of the materials he had requested had come in. He then proceeded to put all of his tools back in his portable cloth tool-kit and generally cleaned up his work station. He threw any left over scraps, bits of wires, and any other unusable trash that was left over from building the augmentations into another smaller empty crate which he set next to the door for disposal by the maids. After all, there wasn’t enough there to truly warrant keeping it for recycling for the raw materials.

He had already informed Celestia during breakfast that he would be finished and ready to install the augmentations today, and she had already sent someone to the hospital to tell them to prepare the Changelings for surgery. So all that was left for him to do was head to the hospital and begin the operation. Thus he cast a telekinetic spell and picked up the crate containing the artificial limbs, then he cast another spell and created a portal leading to the front entrance of the hospital. Walking through with the wooden crate floating along behind him, he closed the portal and pushed open the doors.

Walking up to the receptionist he said, “Good day. I am Gerhardt Mechanica. I am one who built the artificial limbs for the eight changelings that are currently staying here and am the one who will be installing said limbs today. Princess Celestia sent someone earlier today to let you know I would be coming and to prepare the Changelings for surgery. This crate contains the new limbs, each of which will need to be sterilized before the surgery begins. Furthermore they each have numbers engraved on the bottoms of their hooves that correspond with the changeling’s respective room numbers. Is there anywhere I should set it, or should I just bring it with me?”

The receptionist looked a bit taken aback by this but quickly composed herself, cleared her throat, and said, “Yes, we’ve been expecting you. Uh… Just set the crate down here and I’ll have the nurses come get the limbs and bring them to their respective rooms. Oh, and the head surgeon of this hospital would like to have a word with you before you begin. She should be in room 203 with who I assume will be your first patient today.”

“Very well. Thank you for your assistance, ma’am.” Gerhardt stated, setting the crate down next to the reception desk. He then proceeded to head straight for room 203, which he knew the way to having already been there once before. Entering inside he saw the changeling already unconscious on a surgical bed which had apparently been rolled into the room for this procedure and a unicorn wearing a white coat, possibly some sort of uniform, writing something down on a clipboard. “Greetings, ma’am. I am told that you wished to speak with me prior to the operation.”

The pony turned to look at him and jumped slightly, apparently startled by his appearance. “Er… Yes. You’re the one called Gerhardt, correct?” She inquired.

“Indeed I am.”

“Wonderful… Well, Mr. Gerhardt, could you please inform me as to what exactly this surgery you are planning entails? From what I understand it is to replace these changelings missing limbs but what does that mean exactly and how is such a thing even possible?” The surgeon asked.

Gerhardt rolled up one of his sleeves and held up his arm so she could see it. “I will be conducting a very similar procedure to the one that gave me this. To put it simply, I will be grafting a fully mechanical prosthesis onto their bodies in place of their missing limbs which will be wired directly into their nervous system. The augmentations, as they are called, will move and feel just like ordinary limbs. As for the specifics of how the procedure will be conducted, you are more than welcome to observe and take notes as I conduct the surgery. In fact I would encourage it, as what you learn could potentially be very useful in the relatively near future once I am able to begin mass production of augmentations such as these.”

A unicorn nurse walked in carrying two of the artificial limbs with her magic. She then set them next to a sink off to the side of the room before turning to Gerhardt and saying, “Um… These two limbs have yet to be sterilized. We are in the process of bringing the others to their respective rooms where they will be thoroughly sterilized before you arrive.”

“Very well, thank you for your assistance. I shall take care of these two myself.” Gerhardt stated, approaching the limbs which were engulfed in a copper aura as he cast a sterilization spell on them. Casting the same spell on himself, just to be safe, he picked up the two limbs and set them on the tray next to the surgical bed.

Turning back to the surgeon he said, “Well, doctor, have you decided whether or not you will be staying to watch?”

The doctor nodded and said, “I suppose so.”

“Very good. Then I shall begin.” Gerhardt said, picking up a surgical saw that was sitting on the tray since he had to remove the remnants of the old limb up to the first joint and he needed to get through the Changeling’s carapace to be able to do so. Over the course of the first surgery he explained the entire process to the doctor as he worked, and answered any and all questions she asked him. Each individual surgery took about two and a half hours but all of them went quite well. By the end of it all eight changelings had brand new limbs that looked exactly like their original ones but made out of steel, which had been lightly enchanted to prevent it from rusting, rather than flesh and black carapace.

When it was over, Gerhardt cast a quick spell to clean all of the blood off of him and his robes and told the medical staff to keep the changelings on some non-addictive painkillers for at least a few days to give their bodies time to recover. He then left the hospital and proceeded to walk straight back to the castle, not caring if it was slower than taking a portal as having already finished installing the Changelings augmentations he had absolutely nothing he needed to do at the moment, much to his frustration. Ponies stared at him in fear and some even ran away as he walked by, which he completely ignored.

He supposed once he got back to the castle he could just head to the library and continue reading since he hadn’t finished all the books there, though he knew full well that option wouldn’t last very long with how fast he read. Still at least it was something.

As soon as he reached the front gate one of the guards standing in front of it approached him looking somewhat intimidated and said, “Uh… You’re Gerhardt Mechanica, right?”

“Indeed.” Gerhardt confirmed.

“The Princess told me to bring you to the throne room as soon as you returned from the hospital.” The guard informed him.

“Very well, please lead the way.” Gerhardt stated.

The guard turned and led Gerhardt to the throne room. As soon as they reached the doors leading to the throne room, Gerhardt thanked the guard that led him there and immediately proceeded inside.

Princess Celestia was sitting on her throne reading a scroll, however as she heard the doors open she rolled it up and set it off to the side. While she didn’t look that much different from a week ago visually, she had actually changed quite a bit. Gerhardt’s sensors informed him that she was already several times more powerful than he or any but the absolute strongest of mortal mages could ever even hope to be. And while Luna and Cadence were not present he knew from the breakfasts and dinners he had been forced to attend that both had grown in power just as much as Celestia. Cadence had actually grown somewhat and her mane and tail had slowly started gaining the ethereal quality that both Celestia’s and Luna’s had. Apparently all of them had read the tome Gerhardt had written on magical fitness and proper training techniques and were all making astounding progress with it despite how little time had passed, though to be perfectly honest he would have expected nothing less of demigods.

Gerhardt approached her, stopping a respectful distance away, and said, “Greetings Princess. I have finished installing the Changelings augmentations. However, now that I have nothing to do I must ask, what is the status of that paperwork for my new house? I would like to get started setting up my new lab as soon as possible.”

“I finished it a few days ago. All that’s left is for you to sign your name on the deed and it will officially belong to you.” She said, levitating a different scroll over to him.

He grabbed the scroll out of the air and created a small rectangular shield directly in front of him. Taking out his fountain pen he opened the scroll, placed it on the shield, quickly read through the entire thing to ensure there were no tricks or conditions that could potentially be used against him, and then signed his name at the bottom. He then put away his fountain pen, rolled up the scroll once more, and let the shield he was using to write on dissipate. “I assume that I am to keep this, correct?” He asked, holding up the scroll.

Celestia nodded. “Yes, be sure not to lose it as it is the proof that you own the property. Oh, and here’s the key.” She said before levitating the key over to him. “There is a flying chariot already waiting to take you there. Please follow me.” She said before getting up off of her throne.

She led him to a wide balcony where, as she had said, a chariot being pulled by two pegasi guards was waiting. “I have already had somepony deliver a few crates of materials to your house. I didn’t know what else you might need so it is essentially the same materials you requested in order to build the augmentations for the changelings, just in a bit higher quantity. They should already be in your storage shed. If you need anything else to help set up your lab and get your business started just send me a letter telling me what you need. Within reason, of course.”

“Very well. Thank you very much for your generosity, princess. While I still think the punishment you have decided upon for defending myself is absolutely ludicrous, very few if any leaders from my world would be willing to offer someone in my situation anywhere near as much assistance as you have provided me. I may not show it but I am indeed very grateful, despite my disagreement with you. Goodbye.” Gerhardt stated, bowing politely before turning and walking over to the flying chariot.

Celestia smiled at him. “You’re very welcome, Gerhardt. I have already sent Twilight a letter letting her know you will be arriving today. Farewell.”

Gerhardt sighed in annoyance as he climbed into the back of the flying chariot. When he was inside the two pegasi guards took off and began flying away from Canterlot. As they flew, Gerhardt casually examined the chariot, wondering how on earth it managed to stay oriented like this while in the air. He didn’t see any actual wings other than the ones on the backs of the guards that were pulling it, which still confused him as to how they could possibly function well enough to allow for flight let alone flight that was strong enough to pull this chariot behind them when they were so tiny. There didn’t appear to be any sort of thrusters anywhere on the chariot either, which wasn’t surprising to him considering how primitive equestrian technology was. Could it have been some sort of enchantment?

His thoughts were abruptly ripped away from the flying chariot when he spotted a train on a long line of train tracks on the ground below. He blinked in surprise and ran a systems diagnostic on himself to ensure his eyes weren’t malfunctioning. They were not.

‘How? HOW?! HOW IN THE WORLD CAN THESE DAMNABLE PONIES POSSIBLY HAVE INVENTED TRAINS WHEN THEIR SOLDIERS ARE STILL USING PRIMITIVE WEAPONS AND ARMOR AND THEY ARE STILL USING QUILLS AND INKWELLS AS THEIR MAIN WRITING IMPLEMENTS?!’ Gerhardt mentally raged to himself. He glared at the train and train tracks in complete and utter outrage for the entire rest of the flight until they finally started descending and it disappeared from his line of sight. Even then he continued glaring in its general direction until he finally felt them land.

Finally he stepped off of the chariot and took a look at where they had landed. It was apparently in the middle of town, and now there was a small crowd of ponies staring at him. Some were clearly terrified of him while others simply seemed more curious, likely due to the transportation he arrived on. He ignored all of them and started looking around for his house. Having read the deed earlier he already knew the address and it only took him about a minute to find the building with the matching address.

It was a relatively small primitive looking two story house surrounded by a small wooden fence. There were a few hedges with flowers growing under and around them underneath some of the windows, as well as a lawn, neither of which he had any intention of taking care of. In fact he planned on getting rid of them as soon as possible as they reminded him of the plants that had been growing through the walls on the day Silvanus threw him through that vortex. Otherwise the house was rather unremarkable. He would make sure to tear it down and build a proper lab in its place as soon as he had the funding and materials. He needed a place to work, not a place to live.

““SURPRISE!”” A small crowd of ponies shouted as soon as he opened the door and walked inside. This was immediately followed by gasps of shock and horror as soon as the crowd managed to get a look at him. “Welcome to Ponyville, Gerhardt!” Pinkie Pie shouted excitedly.

“What are all of you doing in my new house? Why are there all of these strange decorations? What is going on here?” Gerhardt inquired, both confused and annoyed by all of this.

“It’s a surprise party to welcome you to Ponyville!” Pinkie Pie stated as if that explained everything.

Gerhardt sighed in frustration. “I see..."He lowered his hood so as to look at least slightly less intimidating and said, “Greetings to all of you that I have not already met. I am Gerhardt Mechanica, a technomancer. I do realize that my appearance is rather frightening, but I mean you no harm I assure you. I will be starting a business building, selling, and repairing technology from my home kingdom and machinery in general hopefully very soon. I thank you all for welcoming me into your town, it is greatly appreciated.”

That was a lie. He did not appreciate this uninvited intrusion in the least. However, he needed to make as good of a first impression as possible since he knew that these ponies were more than likely going to be his main customers, other than hospitals across Equestria, until he eventually earned enough money and resources to expand his operation. Fortunately they all seemed to relax a bit after he assured them that he meant them no harm.

“Unfortunately this event was rather unexpected and came at a rather bad time as I have quite a bit of setting up to do before my business is up and running and I would like to get started on that as soon as possible. So I sincerely apologize if this comes off as rude as that is not my intention, but I’m afraid I must request that you all vacate the premises immediately.” He said stepping to the side in order to allow them through the door.

Noises of disappointment ran through the crowd of ponies but they all began approaching his door. That was until Twilight Sparkle pushed ahead of the crowd and shouted, “Everypony please wait!” The crowd paused while Twilight walked up to Gerhardt and said, “Gerhardt, Pinkie Pie worked really hard to set up this welcome party for you. Instead of kicking everypony out, why not use this as an opportunity to start learning about friendship? Interacting with everypony and getting to know some of them would be an excellent start, and it would be better for your future business in the long run. So it's a win win!”

Gerhardt stared at her for a moment before reluctantly saying, “I suppose I see your point, Miss Sparkle. Very well… You all may stay, at least for now. If any of you have any questions for me, I shall be standing by the fireplace.” A small cheer ran through the crowd of ponies as Gerhardt closed the door behind him and began making his way over to the unlit fireplace on the side of the room.

The first thing Gerhardt had noticed as soon as he had opened the door and walked inside — other than the crowd of ponies and the strange decorations — was just how large what he assumed was intended to be the recreational lounge was. It occupied almost but not quite half of the entire first floor. It would have actually been the perfect place for him to set up his new lab had he not needed a place to display and sell his wares once his business was finally up and running. The second thing he noticed was just how low the ceiling was. This house was clearly not designed with bipeds in mind, let alone bipeds of his height. Thus he had to bend his head and upper body slightly in order to be able to fit. He made a mental note to fix that as soon as he had the time and resources to build construction golems and have them do it for him.

Ponies almost immediately started coming up to Gerhardt to ask him questions, most of which consisted of questions about what he was, what a technomancer was, and even a few questions about his past. He wasn’t much for casual conversation but he tried to answer their questions to the best of his abilities while leaving out the fact he was from another world, let alone a completely separate universe. He also tried his best not to mention any of the wars or battles he had been in or the fact that he had killed before, so as to not scare any of them. He even asked a few questions of his own and learned many of the ponies' names and professions, though not much else as he couldn’t care less about them as individuals or their personal lives, though he kept his complete and utter lack of interest to himself.

The party lasted about two hours and thirty seven minutes, at which point most of the ponies slowly began filtering out one after the other until Twilight and Pinkie Pie were the only ones left.

“Everyone else has already left. Why are you two still here?” Gerhardt inquired after the final few ponies left.

“We’re here to help you clean up! We set all of this up, after all, and it would be rude to leave a mess in somepony else’s house.” Pinkie Pie stated happily.

Twilight nodded in agreement and said, “That, and I wanted to tell you how good you did tonight! Even though you weren’t the one to start any of the conversations you had, you still handled them all very well!”

“I see. While I appreciate the fact that you would be willing to assist me in cleaning this up it is completely unnecessary.” Gerhardt stated, completely ignoring Twilight as he simply didn’t care. A copper aura engulfed his hand as well as all of the strange decorations and trash that was left over after the party as he cast a mass telekinetic spell. He then proceeded to drag all of it into the fireplace and cast a simple fire spell. This included the floating rubber sacks of helium gas which he popped before tossing their remnants into the fireplace in order to burn them with the rest of the trash.

“If there is anything else to clean up that I am unaware of, please feel free to do so. Otherwise I will be taking a look at the rooms upstairs, after which I must begin building a few of the tools and machines that I will need before I begin converting this place into my new laboratory. Please leave as soon as your business here is concluded.” He told them before promptly turning around to start heading for the stairs.

“Wait, um… Is there anything either of us could do to help you get things set up?” Twilight inquired.

“No. You, Miss Sparkle, only have very basic knowledge of technomancy and engineering principles from my world, essentially that of a recruit from my kingdom. Miss Pie has no knowledge of either. Right now I need to build my tools and machines, which neither of you are capable of helping me with. Thus the best thing you could do is leave, so I may work uninterrupted.” Gerhardt stated, before finally heading up stairs. Hearing the front door open and close a few moments later, he assumed they had both left.

Upstairs there were two of what he assumed were intended as private barracks like the ones the other High Lords and other individuals of sufficient rank in the human military had. There was also a restroom. Several things about the house absolutely infuriated him just as much as the train had, such as the functioning electronic lights and plumbing. Granted, these things were extremely convenient as it meant he wouldn’t have to rely on light spells, enchanted crystals, candles, or lanterns in order to see properly and he would have easy access to water for cleaning, but the huge disparity in Equestrian technology was as infuriating as it was confusing to him, and he found it very confusing.

Heading back down stairs, he examined the kitchen which took up about as much of the first floor as the living room. He immediately decided to use the kitchen as the main lab room. He would use the rooms upstairs for things that he didn’t have space for in the kitchen. Essentially, he planned on using the entire house as his new lab, minus the living room which he would use to display and sell his wares. He knew that Celestia likely intended for him to only use the storage shed as his new lab, but he honestly didn’t care. He had no other use for any of these rooms so he would use them as his lab and just use the storage shed for storage as it was intended for. Speaking of which, seeing a back door in the kitchen, he walked to the back of the house in order to get a look at the attached storage shed.

It was of decent size, about half as long as the living room and as wide as the width of the living room plus the width of the stairs. Otherwise it was rather unremarkable. Opening the door and walking inside the storage shed he immediately saw twelve wooden crates which were stacked into two groups of six against opposite walls on one side of the shed, while the other side was completely empty. He immediately decided to use half of the materials to make at least a few of the tools and machines he would need so he didn’t have to keep using what meagre tools he had in his portable toolkit. He would then proceed to use the other half to make things to sell, though he would have to use a small portion of it to begin working on the love generators for the Changelings.

What would he make though? Weapons? There were no wars… Armor? Same issue… Séance devices to communicate with the dead one final time during their funerals like the ones he had built for Silvanus eight hundred years ago were obviously out of the question, that bastard Caedes had already more than proven just how terrible of an idea those had been… Celestia did say she wanted him to start out with a focus on medical technology as part of their agreement. So augmentations? That was a possibility, but each of them would have to be custom ordered as he would need to get the proper measurements for each individual patient. He would also need to make virtual reality training simulations for the doctors otherwise he would have to conduct the surgeries himself, both of which would be extremely impractical, especially the latter option.

Sterilization rays were a possibility. They would allow the doctors to sterilize their equipment as well as their patients wounds far easier. Manually controlled surgical golems were also a possibility, but those were rather large so it would eat up a lot of his very limited resources. He didn’t have the correct materials or the equipment necessary to build the healing rays used by the medical branch to mend broken bones and minor injuries so the medical mages could focus on more serious injuries, unfortunately. He couldn’t even build the machines he needed to make the healing rays without building other equipment first. Thus sterilization rays would probably be his best option for the moment.

With that in mind, he cast a telekinetic spell and picked up three of the crates. Levitating them out of the storage shed he closed the door behind him and went back into the kitchen, where he set the crates against the wall. Opening them up, he immediately set to work building some of the most basic tools and machinery that he would need. When the crates he brought in were either empty or mostly empty, he took out any remaining materials and brought the empty crates back to the storage shed. He then proceeded to take the other three crates that were still full back to the kitchen where he immediately continued where he left off. When he eventually made all of the equipment he could with the materials he had, he began building the sterilization rays for the hospitals.

He continued working for about five days until he eventually heard a knock at his front door. Sighing in frustration, he set down what he was working on and proceeded to go see who it was and what they wanted. Unsurprisingly when he opened the door he saw Twilight Sparkle. “Greetings, Miss Sparkle. Is there something you require?” Gerhardt asked somewhat impatiently.

“Hello Gerhardt. I just had a bit of free time today and thought I might show you around Ponyville, since I assume you haven’t left your house since you arrived a few days ago.” Twilight said with a friendly smile.

“While I appreciate the offer, I’m afraid I must decline as I am quite busy. Good day.” He stated and was about to close the door when a purple aura enveloped the handle as Twilight cast a telekinetic spell in order to hold it open.

“Gerhardt, you’ve been working non-stop for five days. I get that you're augmented and stuff so you don’t really need to rest like everypony else, but I’m sure you could use a short break at the very least. Besides, be honest, is there ever a time that you aren’t busy?”

Gerhardt stared at her for a moment, mentally debating what he should do. On the one hand he really didn’t want to leave his work for something so trivial as this. On the other hand he knew that he was going to have to stop working and deal with Twilight at some point or another, as per Celestia’s damnable punishment, so he might as well just get it over with so she would leave him alone for another few days at least.

With a frustrated sigh he said, “Fine…” He stepped out of the house and closed and locked the door behind him. Turning back to Twilight he motioned for her to lead the way.

She smiled at him before turning and leading him through Ponyville. “So, uh… After your welcome party you said I was about as knowledgeable about technomancy as a recruit from your world. So I’ve sort of been meaning to ask, would you be willing to teach me a bit more? I would love to learn some of the more advanced concepts, if at all possible!” Twilight asked as they started walking.

Gerhardt looked at her. “Miss Sparkle, I hope you realize that technomancy is not something that can be learned in a week. It is an entire field of both magic and engineering which even the most talented young mages take years of intensive study and practice to learn. It even took me until I was well into my late twenties to learn enough to begin conducting research on my own. I could teach you more on occasion, however please do not expect to become a master technomancer capable of conducting your own research or making bleeding edge technology overnight. There are also certain concepts you will not be able to grasp and forms of technology you will not be able to build without having a firm grasp of other fields such as alchemy, biomancy, or n… ehem… please excuse me. My vocalizer had a minor glitch for a moment. Anyways, I’m sure you get my point.”

Twilight smiled at him and nodded understandingly. “Yeah, I think I get it. Don’t worry, I’m not asking you to make me a master technomancer or anything like that. I would just like to learn as much as I can and you’re sort of the only source of knowledge on the subject in the world right now. Speaking of which, do you plan on ever publishing any books about it or that biomancy thing you mentioned? I’m also sort of curious about how advanced your world’s alchemy is compared to ours.”

“Possibly once I build an automated printer system as it would be more than a little impractical for me to write dozens upon dozens of volumes on the subject entirely by hand. Though, while I know just enough about biology and biomancy to develop and install augmentations and the like, I’m afraid I’m no true master of the subject. That would be the high lord of the Medical Branch’s area of expertise, not mine. I am passable in almost every field of study however I have only truly mastered the purely scientific fields.” Gerhardt explained.

“I see… Well that’s unfortunate. Anyways, we’ve reached our first destination.” Twilight said motioning to a large tree that had quite obviously been converted into a building. “This is Golden Oaks Library. If you ever need a book, you can come here to read whenever you want. This is also where me and Spike live, in case you ever need to find us for whatever reason.”

Gerhardt blinked in surprise. “You live inside a tree? Gods above, I thought that only the Elves ever did such a thing… Well, I shall keep this in mind should I ever be in need of any reading material.”

“What’s wrong with living inside a tree?!” Twilight demanded indignantly.

“Nothing. I simply find it rather surprising. Though, admittedly, I do not exactly have the best relations with nature, to put it mildly. Thus I do have somewhat of a negative impression of plants in general.” Gerhardt explained.

Twilight gave him a confused look. “What do you mean by that? How can you possibly have a bad relationship with nature?”

Gerhardt sighed and said, “That is a topic I would rather not think about let alone discuss… Please forget that I said anything and let’s just move on.”

“Um… Alright, I guess… But if you ever need anypony to talk to, I am always willing to listen.” Twilight offered.

“Thank you, but no. As I said I would rather not even think about this let alone talk about it.”

Not pressing any further, Twilight turned and began leading him elsewhere. After that their walk to their next destination was mostly spent in awkward silence. After a few minutes they arrived at a building that had by far the strangest architecture that Gerhardt had ever seen.

“This is Sugarcube Corner, the best bakery in town. It’s also where Pinkie Pie works.” Twilight informed him, motioning to the building.

Gerhardt looked at her. “Miss Sparkle, need I remind you that I am physically incapable of eating?”

“Er… No... I remember. I just thought that I’d show you where it is.”

Gerhardt was silent for a moment as he thought to himself. Finally he said, “I suppose I might be able to make a machine to automatically clean dishes or a small golem to keep out pests such as insects and rodents. However, other than that I don’t believe there is much I could build that would be of any use to them whatsoever.”

“Uh… I didn’t show you here just for your business either.” Twilight mentioned.

“Then I’m afraid I fail to see the point in bringing me here at all… Oh… Gods damn it... Unless you are planning on making me try to befriend Miss Pie at some point in the future…” Gerhardt groaned in a mixture of frustration and annoyance.

“Nah… That would be silly. After all, why would you need to try to befriend me when we’re already friends? Also, you do know you can just call me Pinkie, right? All the rest of my friends do!” Pinkie Pie stated happily, seeming to appear as if from nowhere.

Gerhardt’s sensors hadn’t even detected her approaching, though they seemed to be detecting her just fine now. He found this fact extremely concerning. “How on earth did you…? Something must be wrong with my sensors. I’ll have to look into that as soon as possible. Regardless, I’m afraid you are incorrect, Miss Pie. We are most certainly not friends. Acquaintances, perhaps, but not friends. I do not consider anyone to be my friend as I hold nothing but contempt for the very concept of friendship. So please allow me to amend my earlier statement. Miss Sparkle, your plan for bringing me here is to try and convince me to be friends with Miss Pie at some point in the future. Am I or am I not correct in this assessment?”

Pinkie Pie looked dejected after Gerhardt denied that they were friends. Twilight gave her a sympathetic look before turning back to Gerhardt. “Gerhardt! There’s no need to be so rude!” She scolded.

Gerhardt blinked in surprise, genuinely shocked that his words came off as rude. “Rude? I do apologize if my words caused any offense as that was not my intention. I was merely being truthful.”

Twilight pressed one of her forehooves against her face in frustration. “Ugh… Fine but you really didn’t have to word it like that! Anyway, yes your assessment is correct. I’m actually going to try and recruit Pinkie to help me teach you about friendship. That is, if you’re willing, Pinkie. I won’t try to force you to do anything you don’t want to. I do plan on asking the other girls too.”

Hearing that Pinkie Pie seemed to cheer up considerably. “Oh of course, Twilight! I would be more than happy to help teach him all about laughter and friendship!”

Gerhardt rolled his eyes. “I fail to see how the involuntary spasming of one’s diaphragm as a reaction to something they find humorous has anything to do with the concept of friendship whatsoever.”

“That is the saddest description of laughter I have ever heard... Don’t worry, Gears, I’ll teach you all about laughter, just you wait!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed excitedly.

“Gears?” Gerhardt inquired in confusion. He would have assumed it was an insult had it not been for her tone of voice and the context in which it was used. Thus he had absolutely no idea why she called him that.

“Yup! It’s a nickname that I just came up with for you! Your name is sort of difficult to shorten so I was having a really hard time trying to come up with a nickname for you. Then I realized that “Ger” sounds a lot like the word “gear” and hardt sounds a lot like the word “heart”! So then I thought about calling you “Gear Heart” but then I realized the word “heart” doesn’t really suit you at all since you aren’t really all that caring or emotional not to mention the fact that you’re a stallion rather than a mare. That just left the word “gear” which suits you perfectly considering you’re all mechanical and stuff and you’re a technomancer and are super into technology! So I decided “Gears” was the perfect nickname for you! So do you like it? Do ya? Do ya? Huh?” Pinkie Pie explained at a rate that made Gerhardt slightly speed up his perception of time just so he could understand her properly.

“Um… I suppose it’s... alright? What on earth is a nickname?” Gerhardt said in confusion. Thinking about it for a microsecond he added, “You know what? Never mind. Don’t answer that. I honestly don’t care. Anyways I am no longer a high lord so call me whatever you wish. It doesn’t matter to me.”

“Okey dokey! Gears it is!” Pinkie Pie declared happily.

Twilight chuckled. “Well, I’m going to go show Gears here the rest of the town. It was good talking with you Pinkie.”

“Alrighty then! Bye Twilight! See ya later Gears!” Pinkie exclaimed before proceeding to bounce back towards Sugar Cube Corner.

Twilight then turned and began leading Gerhardt elsewhere. This time they went over a bridge, past what Twilight informed Gerhardt was a school house, and down a long dirt path through an area littered with apple trees. The fact that this world had apples came as a bit of a shock to Gerhardt, who had expected all of the flora and fauna of this world to be completely different to that of his world.

They continued walking for a few minutes before Gerhardt finally started to get fed up with it. “Miss Sparkle, might I ask what in the names of the gods we are doing all the way out here? The town is a fair distance behind us. What could possibly be out here that you wish to show me besides more gods forsaken trees?” He demanded impatiently.

“Applejack’s family farm Sweet Apple Acres! This is her orchard. Anyways, just calm down and be patient, we're almost there.” Twilight told him.

Sure enough only about a minute later a farm house came into view. They also saw Applejack dumping a bucket of apples into a cart.

“Well. I now know where this place is and shall be sure to avoid it in the future. Now let’s return to the town.” Gerhardt stated before turning and casting a spell to create a portal leading back to the bridge they had crossed to get here.

“Gerhardt, wait! What’s wrong? We haven’t even spoken to Applejack yet!” Twilight exclaimed, trying to block his path to the portal.

“That’s exactly the point, Miss Sparkle. I would rather avoid speaking with her if at all possible. I realize that I am not exactly in her good graces and I would much prefer to avoid any potential confrontation caused by my trespassing on her property.” Gerhardt stated.

“Mighty kind of ya, Mr. Mechanica, but y’all do know that I can hear ya, right? Also, it aint that I hate ya or nothin’. It’s just that after seeing what ya did to those changelings and seeing how Princess Celestia and Twilight’s brother reacted to yer past, I realize what you’re capable of if somepony crosses ya and I don’t like it. Now I don’t think ya would go around killin’ anypony unless they attacked ya first, seein’ how ya did warn them changelings to back off before they shot ya and ya shot em right back. But the fact that ya would do it and ya would do it without even the slightest hesitation is a bit… disturbin’, to say the least.” Applejack told him as she set down the bucket she had finished emptying and began walking over to him and Twilight.

Gerhardt sighed and let the portal close. Turning to face Applejack he said, “I see. Well. Your world is significantly more peaceful than mine, to say the least. That is not an excuse, it is just a simple fact. I will not apologize for my actions as it was a simple case of self defense. However, rest assured that you are correct in that I will not go around maiming or killing anyone unless they are a very clear threat to me and I feel as though I have no other choice. Violence is always a last resort for when an individual or a group of individuals intend you harm and it is clear that diplomacy is not an option.”

Coming to a stop in front of them Applejack adjusted her hat slightly. “Yup… That’s pretty much exactly what I expected. Don’t get me wrong, I get where you’re comin’ from but I still don’t like it.”

“That is completely understandable, given your perspective.” Gerhardt stated.

“Glad we have an understandin’ then.” Applejack nodded at him. “Anyways, why’d ya bring him here Twi? He don’t really have much use for apples considerin’ the fact that he apparently literally can’t eat.”

“Yes, I realize. He already reminded me earlier when I showed him where Sugarcube Corner was.” Twilight said in a slightly irritated tone. After taking a short breath, she continued on in a more friendly tone. “Anyways, I was just showing him around Ponyville and thought I’d show him your farm too. Also, I sort of wanted to ask if you would be willing to help me teach him about friendship? I already asked Pinkie to help too and she agreed and I plan on asking the other girls too. Of course this is only if you have time and don’t have any issues with it. I won’t try to make you do anything you don’t have time for or don’t want to do.”

Applejack thought to herself for a moment. “Well… You and me would have to work on schedulin’ it since I’m usually pretty busy on most days. But yeah I think I could do that. Well… assumin’ he’s willin’ to leave that flashy whatchamacallit that he used to shoot those changelings back at his house. I wouldn’t want to risk it fallin’ out of his robes and Apple Bloom or one of her friends gettin’ their hooves on somethin’ that dangerous.”

“It’s called a teleportation pistol and it is clipped in a holster so there is no chance that it would fall out of my robes. There is even less chance that I wouldn’t immediately notice even if it did. That being said, I do see your point and it would not be the first time I have had to go unarmed. I’ve had to leave my weapons behind on numerous different diplomatic missions, and I suppose this would not be too dissimilar from that.” Gerhardt explained.

He didn’t particularly like the idea of going unarmed since he wasn’t exactly a combat or war mage from either the army or navy branches, but it wasn’t as though he was completely defenseless without his weapons. He was still a soldier so he still knew how to fight without weapons or magic and he was still a mage from the human kingdom so he still knew plenty of combat and war magic, as well as plenty of curses. So leaving his concealed weapon back at his lab was not that much of a concern to him.

“Why is it called a teleportation pistol? It just seemed to cut through their limbs. It didn’t look like there was any teleportation involved.” Twilight inquired curiously.

Gerhardt reached into the top of his robes and pulled out the ornate gold and silver weapon. He was sure to keep his finger off the trigger and double checked just to make absolutely certain that the safety was still on. “That is because it effectively weaponizes catastrophic teleportation failure. The atoms of anything that comes in contact with the beam are immediately teleported randomly across the universe. Weapons like these were developed a few centuries ago but have proven to be extremely effective even to this very day. This is but a small if quite versatile version that I built myself and carry around for self defense, in case I am attacked by assassins or other such situations as I prefer to err on the side of caution.”

Gerhardt stuffed the ornate pistol back in its holster underneath his robes. “In fact back in my world my kingdom’s enemies would send an assassin or two to kill me pretty much every year, almost always sometime around winter. It actually became something of a tradition, if not for them then certainly for those in the R&D branch. The assassins rarely ever made it to me as the others in my branch had turned the entire thing into somewhat of a game. Whoever captured or killed the assassin first would win said game then once they were off duty everyone else in the R&D branch who were off duty at the time would hold a big celebration for the victor, which usually involved copious amounts of food and alcohol. I only ever learned of this by pure chance. That was a rather interesting day to say the least. I couldn’t exactly punish them or tell them to stop since they had just stopped an assassin that was trying to kill me, plus it wasn’t as though they were breaking any rules, technically. So I sort of just let them have their strange little tradition.”

Both Twilight and Applejack were staring at him with odd expressions. Gerhardt blinked wondering what the issue was before it finally registered in his mind. “Oh… Gods damn it… It would appear that I was rambling… ehem… My apologies…” He said, feeling slightly embarrassed.

“It’s fine… Uh... It was interesting to learn a bit more about the culture of your particular branch of your kingdom’s military.” Twilight offered somewhat awkwardly.

“Yeah… Granny Smith tends to go on and on about stories from her past too, so I’m sorta used to it. Though admittedly her stories are quite a bit less… uh… morbid?” Applejack stated, obviously trying to put the last part as politely as possible.

Gerhardt sighed and looked up at the sky. “Yes, I would imagine so…” He lowered his head again and looked at Twilight. “Anyways, Miss Sparkle, is there anything else you wished to discuss with Miss Applejack or is that all?”

Twilight shook her head. “Nope. That’s pretty much it.”

“Very well then. Goodbye, Miss Applejack.” Gerhardt stated before immediately turning, casting a spell to open a portal to the bridge, and walking through. As soon as he was on the other side of the portal he stood there waiting for Twilight to follow him through it.

“Thanks Applejack, I’ll talk to you later.” Twilight stated, waving goodbye as she walked through the portal.

“See ya, Twi. Make sure to come talk to me about that schedule later.” Applejack said as she waved goodbye.

“I will.” Twilight said, smiling at her.

As soon as Twilight was through the portal, Gerhardt immediately closed it behind her.

“Alright, onto our next destination!” Twilight declared before leading Gerhardt somewhere else.

This time they ended up in front of another strangely shaped building. “This is the Carousel Boutique, where Rarity designs all sorts of clothes. You seem to wear clothes a lot for some reason, so if you ever need a new outfit or if the one you’re wearing gets damaged you can always come here! I’m sure Rarity would be absolutely delighted to make a new outfit for you.”

“I shall keep that in mind. After my business is officially up and running and I have a stable source of funding I might consider requisitioning a more formal uniform, in case I must ever attend any future meetings or formal events. Regardless, is it safe to assume you will be asking Miss Rarity to assist you as well, just as you have done for the last two of your friends? If so then I will simply wait here as I do not believe my presence is required for this.”

Twilight gave him a flat look. “Come on, Gerhardt. A bit of conversation won’t hurt you.”

“You are correct. However, my presence in said conversation is entirely unnecessary.” Gerhardt stated.

“Maybe, but even if that were true, it is equally unnecessary for you to avoid the interaction in the first place.”

Gerhardt sighed in irritation. “You are not going to back down on this matter, are you?”

Twilight shook her head. “Nope.”

“Gods damn it… Fine. Whatever. I do not care. Let’s just get this over with so that I may return to my lab as soon as possible.” Gerhardt grumbled marching over towards the door. Twilight followed along behind him.

Pushing the door open Gerhardt stepped inside the shop, having to keep his head and upper body bent slightly just so he could fit inside since the building was most definitely not built with bipeds of his height in mind. Inside he saw Rarity working on what appeared to be a dress on a pony shaped mannequin.

Looking over from her work to see who just entered, Rarity jumped slightly upon seeing Gerhardt before she finally realized who it was. “Oh. Mr. Mechanica, you startled me. I honestly wasn’t expecting you to visit my boutique any time soon. Well, regardless, what can I do for you? Do you need a new outfit?”

“Apologies for the intrusion Miss Rarity. And no, not at this time, though I do plan on requisitioning a more formal uniform at some point in the future after my business is up and running and I have a steady supply of funding with which to pay you for your services. Miss Sparkle was just showing me around the town and brought me here. I would have simply stayed outside, but she insisted that I come in with her.” Gerhardt explained, turning and motioning to Twilight.

Rarity finally realized Twilight was there as well. “Oh, hello Twilight. Anyways, hold on a moment, did you say a more formal uniform? You mean to tell me that what you’re wearing now isn’t what you would consider formal attire?”

Gerhardt looked at his uniform then back to Rarity and said, “No, definitely not. This is the uniform I wear everyday while working in my lab, since that’s exactly what I was doing when I was accosted by Silvanus and was sent to this world against my will. This is possibly the most casual of my uniforms. My formal uniform is a bit thinner than this and is significantly more ornate. It’s honestly extremely gaudy in my opinion but it was the official formal uniform of the high lord of the R&D branch since long before I was born, thus I didn’t have any say in the design.”

A copper aura suddenly flared up around Gerhardt’s hand as he cast an optical illusion spell on himself. His clothes changed, at least in terms of its visual appearance, to depict his formal uniform. Like his other uniforms it had a pitch black base, however it had quite a bit of ornate gold and silver embroidery depicting lines like those on a circuit board and gears arranged like clockwork. The silver trim on his normal uniform now looked like gold, and the gold symbols on his shoulders looked like they had been replaced with platinum. The front of his robe also appeared to be held shut with several black diamond encrusted platinum buttons. The belt wrapped around his torso had also changed in appearance. Now it appeared to be made of gold wire fabric and had an ornate platinum belt buckle.

Rarity was silent for a moment as she examined his outfit. “I… I honestly can’t tell whether I like it or not… I don’t know how it’s possible but it has somehow managed to be both absolutely gorgeous and positively hideous at the same time…”

“I disagree. It’s just plain hideous, and quite heavy on top of that. I have always hated this uniform. So once I do eventually requisition a new one from you at some point in the future, I will be requesting a vastly different design.” Gerhardt stated, allowing the optical illusion to fade. “Regardless, that isn’t why we are here at the moment. I believe Miss Sparkle wanted to ask you something.”

“Hm? Well what is it, darling?” Rarity inquired looking back at Twilight.

“Well, I just wanted to ask if you would be willing to help me with teaching Gerhardt about friendship? I’ve already asked Applejack and Pinkie Pie and am going to ask Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Of course you don’t have to if you don’t have time or if you just don’t want to.” Twilight asked.

“Hm… Well, I suppose I could help on occasion whenever I’m not busy. However, I’m not sure how much luck you’re going to have convincing Fluttershy. I’m afraid the poor dear is still quite terrified of him after what happened with those changelings back in Canterlot.” Rarity stated before looking back at the dress she had been working on earlier. “Oh, before I forget, I actually have a question for you, Mr. Mechanica, if you don’t mind?”

“Very well. I shall attempt to answer to the best of my abilities.”

“When do you think you will be able to begin creating more of that absolutely gorgeous gold and silver fabric and thread that’s on your attire? I would love to purchase some from you at some point! It would be perfect for several ideas I have in mind for dresses!” Rarity asked excitedly.

Gerhardt blinked in surprise. He honestly hadn’t been expecting that question. In retrospect he probably should have been, but as it was he hadn’t. “Originally I wasn’t planning on making any to begin with. However, I suppose I could build a machine to craft some. I estimate it will take somewhere between a few weeks to two or three months. Other than that I’m afraid that I can not give you any specifics.”

“That’s fine. Though please inform me as soon as you are able to make some!” Rarity requested.

“Very well. I shall be sure to do so. Or I will send a golem to do so for me. Whichever. Good day, Miss Rarity.” Gerhardt stated before turning to leave.

“Thanks Rarity! I’ll talk to you later.” Twilight said, following Gerhardt out of the boutique.

“Good day, Mr. Mechanica. I’ll see you later Twilight.” Rarity responded, resuming her work on the dress.

As soon as they were out of the store, Twilight once again began leading Gerhardt elsewhere. This time they had to cross yet another bridge over a river, and down yet another long dirt path, though this one was significantly straighter. This time they ended up near a strange cottage with a roof that appeared to be covered in leaves and surrounded by all sorts of animals, many of which Gerhardt recognized as being extremely similar to the animals of his world, except for the fact they had cartoonish shapes and proportions.

“This is Fluttershy’s cottage. She takes care of the animals that live in the area.” Twilight explained motioning to Fluttershy’s cottage.

Gerhardt stared at Twilight. “Alright, two things. First, Miss Fluttershy is terrified of me so I refuse to go over there. This time if you try to force this issue I will simply leave and return to my lab and there will not be a gods damned thing that you can do to stop me. Second, what on earth do you mean that she takes care of the animals that live in the area? Does she take care of other people’s pets or something?”

Twilight sighed and said, “Yeah, this time I sort of have to agree with you. It would probably be for the best if you wait here while I go talk to her. And no, while I’m sure she would be willing to look after somepony else’s pet if they were leaving town for a while or something, I mean that she takes care of the wild animals that live in the area. I mean, somepony has to do it and she absolutely loves animals.”

Gerhardt continued staring at her incredulously. “What? Why would anyone ever need to take care of wild animals? They already take care of themselves, and the ones who can’t take care of themselves get eaten by larger carnivorous animals or die and get eaten by scavengers. It is simple natural selection which is the driving force behind the entire ecosystem and is the primary cause of evolution. If wild animals relied on an intelligent species to take care of them as though they were pets, then there would be no animals to begin with as they would have all died off long before they evolved into what they are today as there would have been no intelligent life to take care of them in the earliest stages of life on this planet as none would have evolved by that point. That very much includes your species. Not to mention how unbelievably impractical it would be to try to take care of all the animals that live in any general area, let alone for a single individual.”

Twilight stared at him in surprise. “You mean to tell me the animals of your world actually take care of themselves? It sounds like your world has a lot in common with the Everfree forest.”

Gerhardt sighed. “Alright, I have determined that this matter sounds as though it is important enough that we will actually have to sit down and discuss it in depth at some point in the future. In the meantime, you still have to go speak with Miss Fluttershy, though I strongly suspect that I already know what her answer will be.”

Twilight took a deep breath and said, “Alright, well, wish me luck!” She then proceeded to walk over to the Cottage.

While Gerhardt waited, he eventually decided that he may as well take a look at the town from above so he could make a complete map of it. Thus he looked up towards the sky in order to calculate the most optimal position for his portal. When he was finished he looked forwards once more and cast a spell to create a small portal to look through. He then walked over and stuck his head through just enough so he could see the town below. He stared at the town for a couple moments trying to see as much of it as he possibly could.

His map was about 98% completed when he heard someone shout, “Watch out!” Recognizing the voice as belonging to Rainbow Dash he looked up and saw her flying towards him and his portal at an extremely high velocity, unable to stop herself in time due to her sheer momentum. As Gerhardt was unable to react fast enough to slow her momentum to a stop with a telekinetic spell in his non-over clocked state, Rainbow Dash collided with him at high speeds knocking him completely off his feet.

Both of them were sent tumbling to the ground. Gerhardt tried his best to maneuver to avoid injuring her any further causing him to tumble in a slightly different direction then her. Eventually pain exploded throughout Gerhardt’s body as his back slammed into a tree, causing it to crack and splinter where his magically reinforced metal body impacted. Immediately dozens of warnings popped up in his vision informing him of all the damages his body had suffered. Several of the plates that made up his back were dented rather severely rendering his torso immobile until he could fix them, one of his eyes had been shattered leaving half of his vision completely black, all four of his limbs had sustained numerous minor dents, and the joints in his neck were unresponsive and had completely locked up. Fortunately his brain had not received any damage so none of this was even remotely life threatening to him. Inconvenient? Most definitely. Life threatening? Definitely not.

Groaning in agony he shut down his pain receptors and started to force himself up off the ground. As soon as he was back up on his feet, he heard the tree begin creaking and snapping as it crashed to the ground behind him. His head was stuck at a rather awkward angle that forced him to look to his right. Thus he grabbed his head with both hands and forced it into a forward and slightly downward facing position.

Having to completely turn his body in order to look around he eventually found Rainbow Dash laying in a nearby bush, looking rather dazed. Walking over to her he asked rather urgently, “Miss Dash, are you injured?”

“Huh? Wha’? Oh… Nothing’s broken or anything… I think. Anyways, what the hay dude?! Why the buck did you… Uh… Wow… Are you alright?” Rainbow Dash inquired after seeing Gerhardt missing an eye, and the remnants of the shattered sapphire that still littered the socket.

“Thank the gods…” Gerhardt sighed in relief upon hearing that she wasn’t injured from their collision. “The plates that make up my back are heavily dented rendering my torso completely immobile, my left eye is shattered leaving me blind in one eye, and the joints in my neck are locked up. So, yes actually. I am perfectly fine, despite how bad what I just described may sound to you. I did not sustain any truly critical damage, and what damage I have received is nothing that I can not repair back in my new lab. It will be a bit awkward trying to repair my neck but I shall make do.”

Raising a hand he cast a spell to remove all of the dust and dirt from both himself and his clothes. “Regardless, despite how astronomically low the chances were that you would be flying in the exact same place that my portal was positioned, I will readily admit that this is indeed my fault. I honestly should have realized that it would be a bad idea to open a portal above the town considering there are pegasi flying about. I offer my sincerest apologies.”

“Uh… I guess it’s fine. You’re right, the chances of that portal being directly in my path like that were super low... But why did you have a portal open that high up anyways?” Rainbow Dash inquired as she pulled herself up out of the bush that she had landed in.

“I was trying to look at the Ponyville from above so I could have a perfect map of the town. It was an attempt to remain productive while waiting for Miss Sparkle to finish speaking with Miss Fluttershy.” Gerhardt explained.

“Gerhardt?! What happened out here?! Why is there a tree broken?!” Twilight shouted as she came running over from the Cottage

“Speak of the devil...” Gerhardt muttered before turning to face Twilight, stepping to the side slightly to so that he was no longer blocking Rainbow Dash from view. “Apologies Miss Sparkle, there was just a bit of an accident. It was my fault. While I was waiting I opened a portal in the sky to get a better look at Ponyville so I could have a perfect map of the town. Unfortunately that portal ended up being directly in the path that Miss Dash had been flying at the time. She happened to be flying at rather high velocities at the time and was unable to change her trajectory in time and I was unable to react fast enough so there was a bit of a collision. As I said, it was entirely my fault. Fortunately Miss Dash escaped relatively unharmed.” Gerhardt informed her. “So, how did your conversation with Miss Fluttershy go? I expect that she refused.”

Twilight grimaced at his question. “Er… Well, she’s still absolutely terrified of you. So yeah I wasn’t able to convince her to help. Still it was worth a try. I think you’re going to have to do something to help her not be so afraid of you before she even agrees to come anywhere near you. Anyways, I’m glad to hear you and Rainbow Dash are both alright. Well… mostly alright anyways. Though, I have to say it’s a lucky coincidence that you ran into each other… uh… figuratively speaking. I was having trouble thinking of a way to find her, since she lives all the way up in Cloudsdale.”

“Huh? You wanted to talk to me? About what? Also, why is he here?” Rainbow Dash inquired curiously.

“I am showing him around Ponyville, that’s why. And I just wanted to ask you if you would be willing to help me teach him about friendship. I already asked the other girls and all of them except Fluttershy agreed. Of course, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. I’m not going to force anypony to do anything they don’t want to or don’t have time for.” Twilight explained.

Rainbow Dash pointed at Gerhardt with one of her forehooves. “Him? Learn about friendship?” She then burst out laughing only to be forced to stop by the pain. “Ow… Yeah… That was a mistake… I’m still way too sore to laugh... Anyways… Twi, I get that the princess said his “punishment” was for you to teach him about friendship, but come on! You’ve got to realize this guy’s a lost cause! You heard what he said back in Canterlot about his views on friendship and how he didn’t even want to learn about it in the first place!”

“Miss Sparkle, I’m afraid that I must agree with Miss Dash. This is nothing but an exercise in futility. I am unsure what Princess Celestia is expecting, but I’m afraid that my views will not be swayed so easily.” Gerhardt interjected.

“See what I mean?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, gesturing towards him.

Twilight frowned at both of them in disapproval. “Well I disagree. I’m certain that anypony can learn the value of friendship, including him.”

“What about Discord? Or Nightmare Moon?” Rainbow Dash inquired skeptically.

“I know of plenty of beings that I’m certain are completely incapable of anything even resembling “friendship”. Demons come to mind, though admittedly they are a very extreme example.” Gerhardt offered.

“We uncorrupted Nightmare Moon using the Elements of Harmony, and Princess Luna understands the value of friendship just fine. Discord… I’m honestly not sure. What are demons though?” Twilight inquired looking at Gerhardt curiously.

“They are lesser spirits of evil, meaning they are the physical embodiments of the concept of evil.” Gerhardt explained. Holding out one of his hands with the palm facing down towards the ground, he cast an optical illusion spell. The 3D image of a demon appeared between his hand and the ground. “Doesn’t look very friendly, now does it?”

Both Twilight and Rainbow Dash stared at the image in a mixture of primal fear and existential dread. “W-what the BUCK?! What… Why does it...? So many eyes and mouths… Sweet Celestia… Why are it’s bucking eyes so bucking dark?!” Rainbow Dash stuttered in fear, instinctually backing away from the image.

“E-eyes? I-I don’t see any eyes… All I see are mouths, claws, and…” Twilight said unable to finish her sentence, her horn flaring up defensively.

“Yes, demons look different to everyone who sees them as everyone perceives evil very differently. Fortunately this one is but a mere illusion so you do not have to be so concerned.” Gerhardt informed them before allowing the illusion to fade. “See? It never existed in the first place. If it had been a real demon then it would have been much larger and well… I believe I shall stop there. You get my point.”

“Y-yeah… I honestly can’t see something so horrific having friends…” Twilight mumbled as the purple aura surrounding her horn started to fade. “But, whatever that thing was doesn’t count!”

“I kinda have to agree with her on this one… Bringing up those things is basically cheating… No. Not basically. It is cheating.” Rainbow Dash stated, still visibly flustered but slowly calming down now that the illusion was gone.

“Cheating? I was unaware that one could cheat in a simple conversation. Regardless, the point remains.” Gerhardt stated

“Hmph… Well, I noticed an interesting commonality between everything both of you suggested. All of them were evil. Personally I don’t think Gerhardt is evil like them, do either of you?” Twilight inquired, having already calmed down significantly.

“Er… Well… He doesn’t exactly seem like he’s trying to take over Equestria… Then again, he did cut those changelings limbs off...” Rainbow Dash said uncertainly.

“That depends as good and evil are purely subjective. Well, unless you are a demon or any of the higher ranking spirits of evil, or a spirit of good such as an angel in which case it is an objective fact, but I digress. Personally, I do not view myself as evil though I will readily admit that I have done many terrible things in order to protect my Kingdom and my people. Whether I am good or evil from your perspective is entirely for you to decide. If whether or not I plan on trying to conquer your kingdom is the measure by which you decide my morality, then I am as good as a saint. You are not humans so your kingdom is of absolutely zero interest to me. Furthermore I do not plan on committing any more acts of violence unless someone else attacks me first as those changelings had.” Gerhardt answered trying his best to be at least mostly unbiased.

Twilight groaned in irritation and slapped one of her forehooves against her face. “Alright, while he may not exactly be the best pony… er… human ever, he’s neither overtly evil nor a megalomaniacal maniac like Nightmare Moon, Discord, or any spirits of evil of any rank. So logically speaking he should be capable of learning the value of friendship, right?”

“I mean… I guess that makes sense.” Rainbow Dash said, still sounding unconvinced.

Gerhardt just remained silent, having nothing to say that he hasn’t said already.

Twilight sighed in resignation. “So, I guess that’s a “no” then?”

“Yeah… Sorry, Twilight, I just really don’t see the point.” Rainbow Dash said somewhat apologetically

“No, it’s totally fine. Like I said, I’m not going to try to make you do anything you don’t want to. Besides if nothing else, I’m certain that Pinkie will be able to get through to him eventually.” Twilight said, somewhat jokingly.

Gerhardt rolled his one remaining eye. “Highly unlikely.”

“Oof, sending Pinkie after him? That’s just cruel... Well good luck, metal head, if Pinkie’s involved you’re probably gonna need it. Anyways, I’ve got to get going. There’s still a few clouds I need to clear out before I can take my afternoon nap. Later Twilight!” Rainbow Dash said before immediately taking back off towards the sky.

Gerhardt turned to look at twilight. “That sounded rather ominous. Should I be concerned?”

Twilight shook her head. “Nah, Rainbow was just exaggerating. Pinkie really isn’t all that bad.”

“From what few interactions I have had with Miss Pie, I honestly find your words somewhat difficult to believe. Now, while I apologize for having to cut this short, I really need to return to my lab so I may repair the damages that my body sustained from my unfortunate collision with Miss Dash. Hopefully I have a corundum crystal of sufficient size and clarity to replace the eye that I lost.” Gerhardt stated while running a full systems diagnostic just to double check and make absolutely certain that none of his other internal systems had been damaged.

“Oh, alright that’s fine. Uh, why a corundum crystal specifically though?” Twilight inquired curiously.

“Because corundum crystals such as sapphires and rubies have unique magical properties that make them by far the best crystals to use for optical devices such as cameras or, in my case, artificial eyes. The color of the crystal does tend to tint my vision slightly but not to the extent one might expect due to the enchantments placed upon the crystal prior to installation. Goodbye, Miss Sparkle.” Gerhardt explained before casting a spell to open a portal back to his lab and immediately proceeding through it.

Author's Note

Hey everyone! See? I told you I would try to upload a bit more frequently. My goal is every one or two weeks but we'll see if I'll be able to maintain that consistently or not.

Fun fact: Gerhardt has enough about pretty much every form of magic to be able to incorporate them into his machines, as long as it's actually possible to incorporate them, since that was sort of his job. However he has only truly mastered the purely scientific fields of magic like Technomancy and Alchemy. So he's a bit of a jack of all trades, ace of one.

Edit: Fun fact #2: With Gerhardt’s disappearance the tradition of killing or capturing the yearly assassin has been replaced. Now everyone in the R&D branch are in a bit of a race to see who can build a weapon to capture or kill Silvanus first. Bonus points if the inventor is the one who actually kills Silvanus.

Anyways, I hope I didn't portray anyone in a way that was too out of character. If I did, please let me know so I can fix it.

Also, I have a bit of a question. Should I have Sombra return immediately, like he seems to in the show, and have a bit of character development occur in the crystal kingdom? Or should I have a bit of character development happen first and then have Sombra return? Or should I have Sombra return and have Gerhardt just stay in his lab while the main six go deal with it and not have him be included in the event whatsoever?

Keep in mind, either way Gerhardt is not actually going to become friends with anyone any time soon. He might start lightening up a bit but that'd be about it for now. I mean he might be mechanical but that doesn't mean someone can just flip a switch and suddenly make him friends with everyone.

As always, constructive criticism is more then 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!

Edit: I just noticed some really weird spacing issues in a couple different paragraphs while reading this chapter on pc. I have no idea why that's happening. Sorry, if anyone finds it annoying but I honestly don't think there's much I can do to fix it.

Edit#2: Gerhardt originally only mentioned demons and spirits of evil when explaining how good and evil are subjective. Upon receiving an excellent recommendation I have edited the second sentence of that paragraph slightly to have him also mention spirits of good such as angels.