Gerhardt’s first lesson in friendship consisted of a lengthy lecture about friendship and the so-called Elements of Harmony. Twilight also gave him an assignment. She had said quote for quote, “Gerhardt, your first assignment is to try to make a friend by the end of next month. I know your views on friendship but please at least give it a chance, I know you won’t regret it.” So that’s exactly what he planned to do. He would follow her instructions to the letter though perhaps not in the way that she had intended. Due to the laws of the Human Kingdom surrounding golems, he had never done something like this before. However those laws did not exist here in Equestria so he was going to give it a chance as Twilight had suggested. He already had schematics in mind for it.

He would essentially be building a sapient golem with a fully artificial brain. He knew how. He was the one who invented brain augmentations after all and that was centuries ago so there was nothing stopping him from building a fully artificial brain from scratch. The only reason his own brain wasn’t fully artificial already was because he had not managed to figure out how to safely replace the frontal lobe without the use of certain aspects of necromancy that were completely illegal. The frontal lobe was the area of the brain that controlled an individual’s higher thought processes, thus it was the location where an individual’s soul was bound to their body. In all of his experiments over the centuries, every time he tried to replace a test subject’s frontal lobe without using illegal necromancy to transfer the soul’s bond to the frontal lobe over to the augmentation it resulted in the soul detaching from the body, effectively killing the test subject and creating a perfect mind clone with a brand new soul in their place.

He obviously didn’t want to kill himself in such a way if he could avoid it so he never attempted to replace his frontal lobe. Thus frontal lobe augmentations had been effectively useless until now. Now he would be using them to create a sapient golem to be his “friend”/assistant. He would even design it to include all of the “elements of harmony” that Twilight had lectured him about. Perhaps he could even grant it the ability to use magic by either using a bit of necromancy to alter the conditions present during the formation of its soul, or perhaps by figuring out the biological component behind the magic of unicorns and replicating it in the construction of the golem’s body.

However, he did want to make at least something of a prototype first as a proof of concept as he didn’t want to waste the materials if it turned out that it wouldn’t work. Thus he planned on building a much smaller and much less complex golem first. Remembering what Twilight had told him about him needing to do something to make Fluttershy less scared of him a few days ago and seeing how Fluttershy seemed to be particularly fond of animals, he decided this might be an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. The only question was what he would build for her.

He already had a few ideas in mind such as: a tiny dragon with an internal telekinetic lift system to allow it to sort of mimic actual flight (obviously with a significantly more docile and friendly personality then actual dragons), a bird with the same internal telekinetic lift system, and a spider or scorpion. He was considering several other types of golems as well. Eventually, however, he came to a decision.

Other then that he also decided that since Equestria didn’t have the same laws as the Human Kingdom, he could potentially look into using necromancy to replace his own frontal lobe with an augmentation without having to worry about dying and his body being taken from him by a perfect mind clone. It would be a major relief for him to finally be able to get rid of that last little bit of organic matter that he’s been stuck with for a little over 800 years. However that did leave the question of whether or not he would still truly be able to be considered human anymore if he did such a thing. Though, honestly, did he even care if he could be considered human or not? He wasn’t entirely sure.

Regardless at the end of the week he received 8,503 bits from all twenty of the sterilization rays that had been sold to the hospitals. He then used what bits he had earned to order as many more materials as he could possibly afford from Canterlot. It took four days for the materials he had ordered to arrive.

In that time, he had managed to carve a small square out of the floor of his storage shed and had made good progress in digging the shaft that would lead to the lower levels of his lab. Furthermore the Changeling that Queen Chrysalis had sent to stay in Ponyville had finally arrived. This time when they tested it the prototype love generator that Gerhardt had built did not explode like the proof of concept that he had hastily slapped together back in canterlot had even after he had cranked it all the way up to its maximum setting. However, it had required maintenance after testing as it had still been slightly damaged and the changeling had reported that the love it generated still tasted metallic and sour, with a hint of cherry oddly enough.

When his materials finally arrived, Gerhardt immediately began working on more of the sterilization rays as apparently the hospitals had requested more, as well as the golem for Fluttershy. He also built a small scanning device about the size of a pen that had a wireless connection directly to his brain. Its primary purpose was to let him see what was actually happening when the changeling fed off of the prototype love generator, which it did to great effect, however it also had the secondary purpose of scanning the inhabitants of this world to help him understand how their biological magic worked. What he learned from the Changeling alone was absolutely astounding and granted him a tiny bit of insight as to how magic in this world differed from magic in his own. It also let him know how to tweak the prototype love generator to improve the taste of the love that it generated, which he did.

Twilight had also started coming over every so often for lessons in technomancy and was making progress at a rate that was actually a bit baffling to Gerhardt. He had only given her a few lessons but she seemed to retain everything he taught her almost perfectly and was already at the point where she could build simple golems, which usually took even the most talented of recruits at least a year or two. If he didn’t know any better he honestly would have assumed that she had replaced the memory centers of her brain with augmentations. When he inquired as to how this was possible she informed him that her “special talent” was magic and that she actually spent some of her free time studying and practicing what Gerhardt taught her.

During one of their lessons, Gerhardt asked if she would be willing to allow him to scan her so he could figure out how the biological aspect of unicorn magic worked and she had agreed. What he learned was extremely fascinating. Apparently the unicorns had magic constantly flowing through their bodies via a system of nerve-like structures whereupon it was channeled to their horn which acted like a sort of catalyst that allowed them to bend arcane energy to their wills just like a mage. Whether this magic originated from their soul or from the ambient arcane energy in the atmosphere was a mystery to him, but it hardly mattered which it was as the effect was the same either way. It might take a bit of experimenting but he was absolutely certain that he could replicate this, and quite soon at that!

He also detected something about the “cutie marks” the ponies had, but none of it made absolutely any sense to him whatsoever. To put it into perspective, to him it was essentially the magical equivalent to reading the text that occurred after an individual repeatedly smashed their face into a keyboard while their computer had a writing program open. It was complete and utter gibberish.

After about a week and a half he had managed to send off the next set of sterilization rays, had made several major improvements to the love generator for the changelings, and had just about completed the small dragon golem for Fluttershy when he heard a knock at his door. He would have thought it was Twilight having come over for another lesson in technomancy if it hadn’t been for the fact that his sensors were actually detecting two pegasi rather than a unicorn.

Curious, he set down his tools and went to go see who it was. Opening his door he was surprised to see Rainbow Dash standing there with a somewhat reluctant and very uncomfortable expression and next to her was Scootaloo who seemed both eager and somewhat scared. “Good day to you both. What brings you to my lab today?”

“Can you really fix my wings?!” Scootaloo demanded excitedly.

Gerhardt blinked in surprise, caught completely off guard by this question. “I… Suppose? What’s wrong with them, if you don’t mind me asking? I can’t help if I don’t know what the issue is. Also I will admit this has caught me by surprise. What brought this about in the first place?”

“Well, me and Rainbow Dash were hanging out, then I got to thinking about how you saved us from the timberwolves a while ago, then I got to thinking about how you’re all metal and stuff but you apparently used to have skin and stuff like everypony else. So I asked Rainbow how this happened to you and she said she thought you probably did it to yourself and told me how you helped some changelings in Canterlot that had somehow lost their limbs by giving them new ones like yours! So I asked if you might be able to fix my wings like that and she said that you might be able to! So she and I rushed over here to ask if you really could!” Scootaloo explained.

Gerhardt looked at Rainbow Dash who was looking a bit embarrassed and extremely uncomfortable. He then looked back at Scootaloo and said, “Alright… That most certainly explains why you came here, however that does not tell me what’s wrong with your wings.”

Scootaloo sat down and looked at her wings sadly. “They’re too small… I can make myself go really fast on my scooter, but I can’t fly…”

Gerhardt sighed and said, “I see… Well, based on what I learned about the biological aspect behind how unicorns’ magic works I can at least confirm that I might be able to fix your wings. In fact, while I am not a medical mage, I might potentially even be able to use biomancy to fix them rather than having to conduct surgery to remove your current wings and attach new artificial ones in their place. However there is but one small issue. I am not familiar with how the biological aspect of pegasus magic functions thus if I did either of those things there is potential that I would just end up doing more damage then truly fixing the issue. That being said, I do have a simple non-invasive scanning device that should allow me to learn everything I need to know in a matter of seconds. Might either one of you be willing to allow me to use this device on you? If you have any concerns, just know that I have already used it on Miss Sparkle to learn how unicorn magic functions and she is perfectly fine.”

Rainbow Dash sighed and said, “Metal head, I need you to be perfectly honest with me. Can you really fix Scoot’s wings?”

“As you wish. Then I shall indeed be perfectly honest with you, Miss Dash. I have never built augmentations like this before because where I come from the ability to use magic is not biological in nature. It has to do with the conditions present during the formation of an individual’s soul prior to birth. I know some individuals in this land may not believe in such things, however there are dark forms of magic that I honestly wish didn’t exist that have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that souls are very real and that’s all I shall tell you on the matter.” Gerhardt explained in a deathly serious tone.

Continuing in a more casual tone he said, “That being said, I am or was the best technomancer in the Human Kingdom. And no, that’s not me simply boasting in order to inflate my ego, it’s just a simple fact. Furthermore I was the one who first invented brain augmentations. Compared to that replacing a limb like a wing is a matter of simplicity in and of itself. The one and only issue I have with replacing Miss Scootaloo’s wings or trying to use biomancy to fix them is the fact that your species magic is biological in nature and I have no idea how your particular breed’s magic actually works. I do have theories and speculation but that’s all I have. Thus I need to learn how the magic of pegasi functions before I can even consider attempting to do anything. Also for legal reasons I will require her parent or guardian’s permission first, which I assume is you, correct?”

“Me? Nah… Scoots is like a little sister to me but we aren’t actually related or anything. Her parents are away most of the time so we’ll have to send them a letter and see if they’re willing to come back to Ponyville for a while to talk to you about this. Anyways, if you’re really confident that you can fix Scoots’ wings then I guess I’ll let you scan me or whatever, as long as it doesn’t involve anything weird.” Rainbow Dash stated.

Gerhardt opened a small portal over to where he had left the scanner before reaching through and grabbing it. Once he had the scanner and his hand was back out of the portal he released the spell and let it close. “Excellent, and not to worry Miss Dash. As I said, it is completely non-invasive. Just hold still for a moment.” Pointing the scanner at Rainbow Dash, he pressed a button and a blue light shot out from the scanner and enveloped her body for a few moments. When it was over the blue light disappeared and Gerhardt lowered the scanner.

“Fascinating…” He muttered half to himself and half to Rainbow Dash. “Absolutely fascinating. Like unicorns you have magic constantly flowing through your body via a system of nerve-like structures. However unlike them where the magic is then channeled into their horns which then acts as a catalyst for them to cast spells, you have more densely packed structures in your wings where the magic is then used to compress the air underneath them to allow you to fly despite the fact that your wings should be much too small to allow for any sort of flight whatsoever. It also appears that the nerve-like structures throughout your body are… tuned, for lack of a better word, differently than those of unicorns. If I am not mistaken they should make it so that you can stand on large bodies of water vapor such as clouds and even manipulate the weather to some extent… Well that certainly explains how you ponies supposedly control the weather…”

“Ugh… Enough of the egghead talk! Can you fix Scootaloo’s wings or not?” Rainbow Dash demanded impatiently.

“Indeed I can. As I said, I can either build her new artificial wings to replace her current ones once I have more materials or — while it may be somewhat difficult for me considering the fact that I’m a technomancer not a medical mage — I could potentially use what biomancy I know in order to fix them. It honestly depends on which she would prefer and what her parents say. So little one, assuming your parents agree to this, you ultimately have two choices. Would you like brand new wings made of metal, or would you like them to be the same as they are currently but just a bit larger. If you choose metal, I swear on my reputation as a technomancer you would not have to worry about the weight. I would be using very light but strong metals and alloys.” Gerhardt inquired, looking at Scootaloo.

“Well… Metal wings sound pretty cool… But then again I might get made fun of for something like that… I’ll have to think about it. Either way I can’t believe my wings are going to be fixed! Wooohooo! Thank you so much Mr. Mechanica!” Scootaloo cheered happily.

“Hey Scoots, what d’ ya say we go celebrate at Sugar Cube Corner?” Rainbow Dash suggested.

“Really?! Sweet!” Scootaloo exclaimed excitedly.

“Yeah, you go get a head start, I’ll catch up with you in a minute. I’ve still got a few things to say to Gears here.” Rainbow Dash stated.

“You do? Well, alright! See ya later Mr. Mechanica!” Scootaloo said before taking off towards Sugar Cube Corner.

As soon as she was out of earshot Rainbow Dash looked at Gerhardt with a serious expression and said, “Alright since you were honest with me earlier I’ll be honest with you. I don’t like you and I definitely don’t trust you. It’s kinda hard for me to after seeing how casually you decided to mutilate those Changelings back in Canterlot. So I just wanted to let you know that if you hurt Scootaloo, I will be kicking your giant metal butt! Now that I’ve made that perfectly clear, thanks for not telling Scoots just how those Changelings lost those limbs. A filly like her doesn’t need to hear that kind of thing. Also, you’ve already saved her and her friends from timberwolves once so that was a pretty good start in getting me to trust you a bit more. So if you actually do end up fixing her wings for her, that’ll go a long way in convincing me to like you a bit more too. So you had better give her the best gosh darn wings that you possibly can!” Before Gerhardt could respond, she turned and began flying off in the direction that Scootaloo ran.

If he had eyebrows Gerhardt would probably be raising one of them at the moment. “What an egotist. She says that as though I'm supposed to give a damn about her opinion of me.” He muttered before shutting the door and heading back over to the golem he had been in the middle of building for Fluttershy. Fortunately he had not gotten around to building the telekinetic lift system just yet. Instead he could use what he had learned from his scan of Rainbow Dash and incorporate that into the golem in order to allow it to actually fly rather than just levitating and flapping its wings uselessly in a crude imitation of flight, as well as allow it to do everything else a pegasus could. It would also work as a sort of prototype for Scootaloo’s augmentations assuming she chose the mechanical wings, which Gerhardt honestly hoped she would. He was much more comfortable with technomancy then he was with biomancy. He could use biomancy but he would rather not if he didn’t have to unless he was using it to build another machine.

[Meanwhile in the Human Kingdom]

It had been about two months since Gerhardt had been banished by Silvanus and the war was very rapidly starting to escalate. All of the High Lords agreed to approve the use of antimatter weaponry and other W.M.D.s. Things had not improved any in these two months, in fact they had only deteriorated.

The R&D branch was in the middle of some strange combination of an arms race to see who could build a weapon to kill Silvanus first and a miniature self contained civil war over who should succeed Gerhardt as high lord — since no one seemed to want to accept the job — or indeed if anyone should succeed him at all. Quite a few of the members of the R&D branch were actually outright demanding that the high lords temporarily lift a few of the laws surrounding golems and necromancy so they could use the most recent backup of Gerhardt’s memories — which he had apparently made in case the memory centers of his brain were ever damaged — in order to create a golem that was a perfect mind clone of him and they could use necromancy to ensure the conditions present during the formation of its soul would ensure the mind clone would become a mage like he was. Even worse, the destruction Silvanus was wreaking all across the Human Kingdom was quickly getting out of hand and other kingdoms were apparently preparing to get involved.

So to say that the four remaining high lords were currently under a lot of stress was a severe understatement. Currently all four of them were sitting around a circular table which had one empty seat.

The high lord of the army branch, Lucian Ward, was a very old, very skilled, and very powerful war mage and strategist with heavy augmentations that certainly extended his life but did not make him truly immortal since he legitimately wanted to die at some point if he wasn't killed in battle first, which he likely would be as the vast majority of high lords tended to be at some point or another. Like most members of the army branch he was clean shaven and had a buzz cut. One of his eyes had been replaced with an augmentation and the corundum crystal he chose to replace it with was a ruby, while his other eye was still organic and had a dark brown iris. Numerous scars covered what parts of his face were still organic. Both of his arms and everything below his chest had been replaced with augmentations. Like all mages in the army branch, he wore a drab olive green robe. The golden symbols on his shoulders depicted a shield surrounding a pentagram. He was also currently drinking from a large flask containing very strong alcohol.

The high lord of the medical branch, Isabel Sano, was a half elven medical mage. She was currently the oldest one at this table though due to the elven half of her blood she looked like she was in her late twenties to early thirties. She had little to no augmentations whatsoever and would easily live for centuries even without them assuming she wasn’t killed first. She had moderately long blond hair and blue eyes. She had one scar across her right cheek but that was it. She would have had more but she had used her skill as the leading expert in biomancy to heal them all. She had a rather muscular and athletic build for a half elf due to the training regimen and diet required by the human military for individuals with little to no augmentations. Like all mages in the medical branch she wore a dark red robe. The golden symbols on her shoulders depicted a stylized heart surrounding a pentagram. She was currently rubbing the sides of her head in an attempt to ease her now chronic migraine that just kept coming back from the intense stress and anxiety no matter how much biomancy she used to heal it.

The high lord of the navy branch, Morgan Waterman, was just a normal human but had more than earned her position as high lord of the navy branch. She was very heavily augmented and thus could likely live forever assuming she wasn’t killed first however one wouldn’t know this as, unlike Gerhardt, she had decided that she wanted to keep looking like a normal human being. She had short synthetic black hair and two purple sapphires for eyes. She had no scars due to the fact her skin was entirely synthetic. She wasn’t a mage but like all high lords her uniforms were hooded robes, though hers were navy blue. The golden symbols on her shoulders depicted a wave surrounding a pentagram. She was usually the most jovial of the high lords but right now even she had a deathly serious expression on her face.

The high lord of the aviation branch, Alexander Sky, was also just a normal human but just like all three of the others he had definitely earned his position as a high lord. He only had just enough augmentations in the right places to extend his natural lifespan by a century or so and none of them were visible, though it was still quite clear that he was very old. He had short white hair and sky blue eyes. He had a few scars but not many since the majority of his fights took place in the air and he was the best damn pilot in the entire Human Kingdom. His robes were white like the clouds. The golden symbols on his shoulders depicted a cloud surrounding a pentagram. He was currently deep in thought.

After a few moments of dead silence Morgan slapped her hands on the table and said, “Alright... If no one else is gonna say it I will. This situation is fucked up beyond all recognition. So what in the infernal realm are we gonna do to un-fuck it? We’re at war with a god for fuck sake! All of us have to realize that this is well on its way to escalating into another full blown War of Survival in a matter of weeks.”

Lucian set down his flask on the table in front of him and said, “Well… As far as I see it... That pretty much depends entirely on just how desperate we think we are to get another creepy as fuck metal ass in that there seat. Personally, I think we’re pretty damn desperate. What about all of you?”

Isabel jerked her head to the side in order to look straight at him. “Lucian, you can’t possibly be serious! Please tell me you aren’t actually considering what those imbeciles in the R&D branch are demanding of us!”

Lucian took another swig from his flask and said, “And what if I am? I mean, what gods damn choice do we have? Those complete jackasses in R&D aren’t any closer to finding a new high lord to replace that creepy son of a bitch then they were two months ago after he first got banished by that divine prick Silver Ass or whatever his name is, I don’t give a damn. Gods above they’re damn near ready to start killing each other to try and force one of ‘em to become the high lord because none of ‘em even want the damn job in the first place! It’s a gods damn mess, and if all it takes is bending a few laws to clear it up and ensure the continued survival of our species then I’m all for it.”

“No! Absolutely not! All of us know damn well that this isn’t what he would have wanted! He would have wanted his legacy to end with him and for a new high lord to pick up the torch!” Isabel stated very firmly.

Lucian chuckled and said, “Well, Isabel, I honestly don’t give a damn what he wants. I want what’s best for the kingdom and I’m damn sure he does too. Also, stop talking like the bastard’s dead when we know he’s not. He told us what Silver Ass was doing in his last message before he disappeared and besides if he were dead that would mean that Silver Ass would have broken the rules of the Greater Gods and well... if he had done that then he wouldn’t be devastating our kingdom at the moment now would he?”

“Doesn’t matter. Wherever he may or may not be right now, he’s as good as dead to us.” Alexander said in a dark tone. “That being said, I am neither for nor against this idea. I just want to get another ass in that seat to start cleaning up the mess that the R&D branch has become as soon as physically possible, whether it's a “creepy as fuck” metal one or not.”

Lucian whistled and muttered, “Damn, and here I thought I was supposed to be the pessimist of the group...” He then took another swig from his flask. “Well whatever… Apparently Alexander’s feeling like being both indecisive and a prick today which means you’re the tie breaker, Morgan. So just how desperate do you think we are right now?”

Morgan was silent for a moment as she thought to herself, weighing their options. Finally she sighed and said, “I say let’s give it one more week. If they still haven’t managed to pull their heads out of their collective asses and decided on a replacement by that point then we really won’t have any other choice. Sorry Isabel, I’m not exactly happy about this either... I just don’t get why the fuck they’re making this so damn hard! None of our branches have this sort of issue so why in the infernal realm does the R&D branch? Gears for brains wasn’t exactly the most likeable person ever and he wasn’t nearly important enough to warrant this shit! I mean seriously, the survival of our species is at risk!”

“Fuckin’ techies are just weird like that. Learned that a long time ago when I saw one of ‘em crying over a broken combat golem as if he had just lost a damn child.” Lucian stated. He tried to take another swig from his flask only to find it already empty. Setting down the empty flask he sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Gods damn it… Empty already and I’m still not nearly drunk enough for this bullshit…”

“Well maybe you should take that as a sign that you’ve already had more than enough. I realize that your liver is augmented, but alcohol still isn’t good for you especially in the quantities you’ve been ingesting it over the past two months. Regardless, I can’t believe we’re actually doing this. It's down right unethical! I don’t like to come off as uptight or preachy, I really don’t, but… Gods… Are things really so bad that we’re having to resort to this?” Isabel inquired to no one in particular.

“Yup...” Morgan muttered before resting her head on top of her arms on the table.

“Well!” Alexander clapped his hands before standing up. “I don’t know about any of you but I certainly feel like dropping an antimatter bomb directly on top of that divine piece of shit’s head, so I think I’m going to go get in my bomber and do just that. I’ll talk to you all again later.” He said before walking towards the door.

“Once you do that, make sure to do a second pass as a big ol’ “fuck you” from me!” Lucian called out before Alexander left the room.

“Alright, you got it buddy!” Alexander called back, giving Lucian a thumbs up as he left the room.

[Meanwhile in Equestria]

By late the next morning Gerhardt had finished the golem for Fluttershy. Now all that was left was to give it to her. He wondered just how he was going to go about doing that considering the fact that she was terrified of him. It wasn’t like he could just open a portal to her house, walk up to her door, knock, and hand it to her. She would just panic the moment she saw him and would slam the door in his face. Thinking about it for a few microseconds, he decided to ask Twilight if she would be willing to assist him.

Picking up the now completed golem he opened a portal to Golden Oak Library and walked up to the door. He raised his hand and was about to knock when the door suddenly opened up before he could. Twilight jumped slightly upon seeing him, clearly not having been expecting to see him behind the door, but immediately calmed down upon seeing who it was. “Oh… Uh… Hello Gerhardt.”

“Greetings, Miss Sparkle. It would appear that you were about to head somewhere. I can return later if now is a bad time.” Gerhardt stated, lowering his hand.

Twilight shook her head. “Oh no, it’s fine. I was just about to head out to go buy some groceries but that can wait. What can I help you with?”

Gerhardt held up the golem he had built so she could see it and said, “I built something for Miss Fluttershy that I hope will help her not be so afraid of me. Unfortunately due to her fear of me I have no way of giving it to her on my own. So I came by to ask if you would be willing to assist me in this matter.”

“Uh… Of course! I’ll be more than happy to help, but what is it exactly? A statue?” Twilight inquired examining the golem curiously.

“No, not at all. It’s a sentient golem. You informed me that she liked animals so I built an animal for her. Don’t worry, despite how it may look I guarantee that it’s completely safe. The only reason it’s not moving right now is because I haven’t brought it to life just yet.” He explained, looking down at the little golem in his hands.

“Alright, as long as you’re absolutely certain it’s safe.” Twilight said, giving the golem a wary look.

“I am.” Gerhardt confirmed, before casting a spell and creating a portal behind him leading to the end of the path leading to Fluttershy’s cottage. “So, shall we get this over with as soon as possible so you may carry on with your day or should I just come back later?”

“It’s fine, we can go right now. I’ll go grocery shopping on the way back.” Twilight stated.

“Very well.” Gerhardt said before turning and walking through the portal with Twilight following close behind. Once they were through, Gerhardt let Twilight take the lead and hung back slightly so as to not immediately spook Fluttershy with his presence. It was a good thing that he did as Fluttershy was outside of her Cottage tending to her animals. Upon seeing her, Gerhardt stopped where he was and let Twilight continue on ahead of him.

Once Twilight finally reached Fluttershy she began talking to her. Gerhardt increased the sensitivity of his audio processors in order to be able to hear what the two of them were saying.

“Hey Fluttershy! How’s it going?” Twilight greeted cheerfully.

“Oh… Hi Twilight.” Fluttershy quietly greeted back with a warm smile. “Everything is going well for me. What about you?”

“Same. So… You know how you’re so afraid of Gerhardt?” Twilight inquired.

Fluttershy’s smile immediately fell and she visibly began trembling in fear. “Y-yes… I still have nightmares about him and what he did to those Changelings… I actually feel a bit bad about it since I know it’s just making more work for Princess Luna, but I just can’t help it… He’s so scary…”

Upon hearing that Gerhardt frowned slightly. He knew that Princess Celestia had nightmares about the recordings he showed her after the peace negotiations and was probably still having nightmares about it, but he hadn’t known that his actions had affected any of the ponies to such a degree. He wasn’t really surprised but he did feel somewhat bad about it. Not that feeling bad about it would have changed his actions that day any. He had accidentally traumatized countless civilians in the past and he always felt bad about it, but that didn’t change the fact that he did everything for a reason. Thus none of his actions throughout history would have changed the slightest bit no matter how bad he felt about the effects they had on others.

Twilight sighed and said, “I see… Well, please try not to freak out, but he built a gift for you that he hopes will help ease your fear of him at least a little bit. He actually came over to the library to ask me to help him give it to you since he knows you would probably just panic if he tried to give it to you on his own.”

“H-he has…?” Fluttershy stuttered in horror. Looking past Twilight she saw Gerhardt standing on the path a fair distance away from them. “Eep!” She squeaked before immediately getting behind Twilight and cowering in fear.

Seeing this Gerhardt sighed and returned his audio processors to their default settings before starting to walk over to them. He stopped once he was at the very edge of the radius in which the two of them would be able to hear him speaking to them without him having to increase the volume of his voice or shout. “Miss Fluttershy,” She squeaked in terror and began cowering even further behind Twilight as he addressed her directly. “I realize that you are afraid of me and I completely understand why. From my large size and my intentionally eerie appearance and movements to what you witnessed me do to those Changelings back in Canterlot, I honestly do not blame you. However, I have made you something that I sincerely hope should help ease your concerns about me at least somewhat.”

He held up the golem that he had made for her so she could see it. It was a little ornate metal dragon. It was a little less than a foot and a half long from the tip of its tail to its snout. It looked almost exactly like a real dragon from his world except its scales were made of polished magically reinforced gold. The limbs and “fingers” of its wings were also made of magically reinforced gold while the “membrane” in between the “fingers” were made of plates of magically reinforced silver with ornate engravings on both the top and bottom surfaces. It’s tail was the same as the rest of its body but was strong enough to slit the throat of a fully grown Troll with but a single whip and was slightly prehensile.

It had two separate sets of claws on all four of its feet. Its main set of claws were made of normal low carbon steel and were designed strictly for climbing and walking without damaging anything, thus they were very dull and round. However it could retract those claws and extend its secondary claws. These ones were made of high quality high carbon steel that had been magically reinforced making it even stronger and were designed to cut straight through flesh and bone with ease. Thus they were about as thick as the blade of a knife and were shaped like little scythe heads with monomolecular edges.

Its head was roughly an inch wide and like the rest of its body was covered in tiny magically reinforced gold scales. It had two relatively large curved backwards facing horns and a second smaller set of curved backwards facing horns in between the larger two, all of which were made of normal high quality mild steel. It had two of the clearest and most perfect crimson red rubies that Gerhardt could find, which were currently covered by a set of magically reinforced gold eyelids. It had two tiny artificial nostrils with tiny internal sensors and a small internal vacuum system that gave it the ability to smell. Its snout had sliding golden plates that allowed it to snarl and reveal its teeth. It had three rows of needle sharp serrated teeth made of high quality industrial grade steel that could shred through flesh with ease. It also had a little silver tongue that had hundreds of dust-like grains of enchanted quartz embedded in it which would allow it to taste.

In order to simulate the dragons’ ability to breath fire, it also had a fairly simple and outdated but very powerful magic pistol mechanism in its throat. Whenever it used this mechanism — if it ever used this mechanism — it would lock its throat into a perfectly straight position, it would then open its mouth wide enough that its lower jaw would be out of the way, then it would fire a very powerful beam of pure arcane energy that could melt through a foot of high quality non-enchanted steel just as fast as an old fashioned armor piercing bullet. The only drawback being that it could only fire this beam five times in rapid succession before it needed to let the mechanism recharge for anywhere between five minutes for a full charge or one minute per each individual shot.

Gerhardt cast a quick spell to activate it and bring it to life for the very first time. He made sure to keep a very good but still gentle hold of it in case anything went wrong and it went berserk since this was the first time it was being activated and he had no idea how it would react. Suddenly it’s golden eyelids flicked open, its eyes flared to life, and it immediately began squeaking in protest and trying its best to squirm out of his grasp. Then it turned its head and managed to get a look at his face.

Gerhardt had programmed it with artificial instincts one of these instincts was to recognize him as its creator and realize the fact that it was always safe in Gerhardt’s presence. As such, upon seeing Gerhardt’s face it immediately calmed down and instead of struggling it began nuzzling Gerhardt’s arm affectionately making noises of happiness and contentment. This legitimately surprised Gerhardt as he had only programmed it to feel safe in his presence and to run away and use its built in tracking system in order to return to him should it ever be abused, which he sincerely doubted it would be but it was always better to be safe than sorry. However he most certainly had not programmed it to be affectionate towards him in any capacity. Regardless, seeing as it had not gone berserk he released it from his grip, though he was ready to grab it with a telekinetic spell at a moment’s notice should it do anything even vaguely threatening.

Upon being released it immediately grabbed onto the sleeve of Gerhardt’s robe and began climbing up his arm and onto his shoulders whereupon it draped itself around the back of his neck and began nuzzling his face. For the first time in centuries ever since the day he had been informed that Caedes had been killed by someone in the army branch, a small smile formed on Gerhardt’s artificial lips. He raised a hand and started to stroke the little golem’s neck. “You know… This is probably the first project that I have legitimately enjoyed working on in eight hundred years, and it seems that this little one is quite affectionate… It was a very nice change of pace.”

“Gerhardt, are you actually smiling?!” Twilight asked, shocked by this fact.

“I suppose I am, Miss Sparkle.” Gerhardt responded, somewhat surprised by this fact himself.

Hearing Twilight’s voice the little dragon golem finally stopped nuzzling Gerhardt’s face and looked to see where the voice had come from. Only now did it even seem to realize that the two ponies were even present. It examined Twilight curiously before it spotted Fluttershy cowering behind her.

This was another instinct that Gerhardt had programmed into the little golem. It was supposed to recognize Fluttershy as something akin to a maternal figure, and was programmed to defend her if anything were ever to threaten her. So upon seeing her, it squeaked happily before launching itself off of Gerhardt’s shoulder, spreading its wings, and flying over to her before landing in front of her and nuzzling her foreleg. She seemed somewhat taken aback by this but she wasn’t actually afraid of it like she was of Gerhardt, in fact she lowered her head to it and muttered, “Oh, uh… Hello there. My aren’t you just the friendliest little creature?” She smiled at it.

“Indeed. I’m glad you like it. Miss Twilight informed me that you liked animals thus I decided to build you the single rarest animal in my entire world. Well… the rarest save for animals that have actually gone extinct, but I digress. This is a miniature and significantly more docile version of my world’s version of dragons. Though admittedly I may have taken some artistic license with the engravings on the wings and the shape and number of horns. Keep in mind, while it may be artificial it is still very much alive. It has emotions and can feel just like a normal animal. I can even guarantee that it has a soul, though I know full well that Miss Sparkle doesn’t believe in such things. It should even be somewhat more intelligent than a normal animal. So please treat it with the same respect that you would any other animal. That being said, while it can taste things it does not require food or water, though — while not necessary for its survival — I have granted it the ability to sleep like a normal animal so it doesn’t have to be constantly awake at night while you are asleep.” Gerhardt explained, still smiling at the little golem.

Letting his face return to its normal expressionless state he continued, “Furthermore if you are ever in any danger while it is around, it will try to protect you with its life. I know your kind’s views on violence so you may order it to attempt to be non-lethal if you wish and I guarantee that it will attempt to obey you to the very best of its abilities but keep in mind it does have free will and survival instincts so it will do whatever it thinks is necessary if it is ever pushed too far by something it deems too large of a threat. Lastly it’s obviously genderless seeing as it’s a golem with no actual reproductive capabilities and it has no name, so you may call it whatever you wish. Just tell it what its name is and it will respond to whatever you decide to call it. Oh and just so you are aware this is the first truly sentient golem I have ever built so if any unexpected issues arise please inform me as soon as possible and I shall do my best to fix whatever it may be.”

“I see… Well then, I think I’ll call you Goldy for your beautiful golden scales. Do you like that name?” Fluttershy asked the little dragon golem.

Goldy squeaked happily in response.

“Well. I suppose I shall leave the two of you to get acquainted. Good day to all three of you.” Gerhardt stated before turning, opening a portal to his lab, and walking towards it.

However, before he could reach the portal Fluttershy took a deep breath before approaching him and saying, “Um… Mr. Gerhardt… uh… I-I’m sorry I’m so scared of you… but um… I just wanted to say… Thank you for building Goldy for me… er… I… I really appreciate it… I’ll be sure to take really good care of them!” She then ran and hid behind Twilight again, clearly still very afraid of him. Goldy followed after her the entire time.

“It is quite alright Miss Fluttershy. As I said, I completely understand and I do not blame you one bit. It was very courageous of you to approach me like that, considering your fear of me. After all, courage is not the lack of fear rather it is doing something despite the fact that you are afraid. Your welcome, it truly was my pleasure, and please do.” Gerhardt said before finally stepping through the portal and closing it behind him.

Author's Note

That's another chapter done! Sorry, I realize that a very good chunk of it is just descriptions. I'll try to do better in the future. On a side note, isn't Goldy just an adorable little ball of golden death and carnage? XD

Also, I was going to hold off on this particular plot line until later in the story but after watching episode 1 of season 6 again, I realized that Twilight would indeed very likely try to get Gerhardt to make a friend as his first friendship lesson. Soooo... uh... yeah. This is happening a bit sooner than I had hoped.

Fun Fact: These high lords are by far one of the longest lived generations of high lords in history. Most die somewhere between five to twenty years maximum after taking the job. However the newest high lord of this generation, Alexander Sky, has been in office for 54 years. The oldest of this generation (aside from Gerhardt), Isabel Sano, has been in office for 92 years. As for the other two, Lucian Ward has been in office for 71 years and Morgan Waterman has been in office for 64 years.

This is a testament to their skills, luck, and experience. In fact the only reason Gerhardt has lived as long as he has is a combination of luck, skill, experience, and the fact that his augmentations make him really damn hard to kill. The same can be said for Morgan given the fact that she is similarly augmented though she lacks Gerhardt’s advantage of being a mage.

Fun Fact #2: The reason the members of the R&D branch have black uniforms is to hide any oil stains from working on machines. Similarly, the reason the uniforms of the Medical branch are dark red is to hide the blood stains from helping wounded soldiers and civilians and from having to conduct surgery.

Fun Fact #3: Have you noticed how all of the characters have names that are in some way related to their profession? Mechanica, Sano, Sky, Ward, Waterman. Heck even Caedes and Silvanus. Sano is Latin for "heal" or "remedy" and Caedes is Latin for "slaughter" or "bloodshed". Silvanus is the name of a Roman god of the woods. Just an interesting fact I thought I'd share!

Sad Fact: The real reason that R&D member that Lucian had mentioned was crying over a broken golem was because his wife had died in combat only very recently at the time and that particular golem was the last thing they had built together before her death. It wasn't really because he was all that attached to the golem itself but more so the memory of his wife. Of course Lucian had no way of knowing this and he didn't bother asking, so he just assumed the dude had just been really attached to that golem for whatever reason, thus leading him to think people in the R&D branch are weird. They are, but in most cases it's not for the reasons he thinks.

If you see any major issues with how I am portraying everything just let me know and I'll try my best to fix it!

Edit: Also I wanted to ask, what do you guys think? Should Scootaloo get new mechanical wings or should Gerhardt just use what biomancy he knows in order to fix them?

Anyways, 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: while reading on my phone I accidentally hit the unpublish button. I don't know that might have sent out notifications so I sincerely apologize if it did.