//------------------------------// // Chapter XVI // Story: What I've Done // by Knight Breeze //------------------------------// Chapter XVI         With a small, metallic rasping sound, the seam around the golem’s middle sealed itself, causing the eyes of the golem to glow as the various enchantments in the golem reactivated themselves. However, something was wrong this time.  As it started up, the enchantments responsible for giving life to the directions embedded in its arcanite core stuttered and skipped.  Instead of encountering a single block of arcanite with all the instructions for the golem’s operation carved into it, it instead encountered a network of much smaller arcanite nodes, each node being much more simplistic than an arcanite block, but altogether forming a far more complex structure that was well beyond the enchantment’s instructions to power. However, the enchantment didn’t have the ability to think, so it followed its instructions and began feeding arcane power drawn from Equis’s magical field into the object that appeared to be the closest match to the arcanite cores that it was designed to interface with.  Instantly, the whole thing became active, and the arcanite nodes began passing a wealth of information to and from the complex’s central hub of nodes and the complex’s storage device.  Subroutines fired up, and in a matter of minutes the complex had finished its bootup phase and was now feeding sensory information to the central arcanite nodes, which in turn fed information back to the storage device. After several minutes of this, the glow in the automaton’s eyes diminished, and it slumped to the floor as the central nodes took the automaton’s legs out of standby mode.  With a faint creaking noise, the automaton rose to its feet and looked around, taking careful note of its surroundings. What… what happened?  Where am I? it thought as it processed the information its visual sensors were feeding it.  It turned its head about to get a better look, but stopped, however, once it noticed its new form. “Never mind where am I, what am I?” it asked in an oddly masculine voice.  It remembered that it once had a body much more versatile than this one, but it also remembered that it was really more of a passenger in that body, waiting with the others while its owner got himself to safety. “Well, at least my voice is the same as I remembered it,” it said as it stood up on its four legs.  “I’m sure that if I can find him, he’ll make something a bit more suited to my needs, not to mention that the others need forms as well.  Hopefully he’s not too hard to…” The strange metallic creature stopped, however, when it noticed that it was being observed.  It briefly wondered if it should run away, but quickly discounted that notion as it remembered that this was one of Alex’s friends.  “Excuse me, Pink One, could you please bring me as quick as you can to Alex?  I need him to make me a more suitable body,” it asked cordially. The Pink One’s response to that was to grin widely and pick the automaton up.  She said something, but the automaton could not understand her. At that point, it could only hope that The Pink One would bring it somewhere where it could receive the help it required. *        *        * I was floating in that strange, viscous liquid again. The glass walls of my tank not only revealing the hideous monsters on the other side, but also casting my own disgusting reflection back at me, reminding me again of what I was.         Suddenly, the reflection in front of me grinned, its inch long teeth twisting in a disturbing fashion. “Why do you think they trust you? You, who have murdered hundreds. Why do you think they're keeping you around? You're a pawn, a bargaining chip. If they can't use you, they're going to turn you over as a last resort to save themselves.”         I tried to answer, to tell the accusing reflection that that wasn't true, but all that came out of my mouth was a muffled grunt as my voice was impeded by the mask I wore.         “The most delicious part about all this, however, is that you'll deserve it. You'll deserve anything you have coming to you, because–” the reflection started to say, but became increasingly garbled, until I could only make out a single word out of the hundreds that it said. As its voice became more and more distorted, its reflection also began to shift and change, until only a dark shadow remained.         Suddenly, a pair of piercing teal eyes opened in the shadows, staring into my soul with a look that I couldn't quite place. As it stared at me, the glass around me began to crack and splinter, until it shattered completely, sending shards of glass in every direction. Everywhere they struck also cracked, then shattered, destroying everything and everyone around me until only blackness remained.         “What... what's happening?” I asked, my mask somehow missing from my face.         “You were having a nightmare again. Only this time, your recent brush with death weakened you to the point where I could intervene,” said an extremely familiar voice behind me.         “Wait, brush with death? What are you talking about?” I said as I quickly spun around, trying to see the owner of the voice. I stopped, however, when I realized that the area behind me had been replaced by a place that was extremely familiar, yet at the same time seemed completely alien.         With shaking, tentative steps, I slowly walked forward until I was only a few inches from the object in the center of the room. Then, fearing that it might disappear on me, I slowly reached out my hand and laid it on the back of the all too familiar recliner.         “Is this... real?” I asked, not believing what I was seeing.         “Sadly, it is not,” the familiar voice said as its owner calmly walked into the room.         I looked up at her, almost unsure what was happening. “This... this is a dream, isn't it?” I asked Moon, my voice sinking.         Moon just looked at me with those large, sad eyes, then gently nodded her head.         “W-why did you bring me here?” I demanded as tears sprang to my eyes. “Why dredge up these memories?”         Moon shook her head at that, her hoofsteps sounding oddly muffled on the hardwood floor of my girlfriend's apartment. “I didn't bring you here. All I did was break apart your nightmare. With nothing torturing it at the moment, your own subconscious brought you to the place where you would feel safest,” she said as she took stock of the room we were in. “This is different from last time... where are we now?”         I turned my head, my gaze locked on a spot approximately a million miles on the other side of the opposite wall. “It's my... my girlfriend's apartment,” I answered, a lump coming to my throat.         Moon nodded at my words, her expression extremely sober. She then walked over to a nearby desk and gently picked up a picture frame. “Judging by how you have your arm around her, I would assume that this is her?”         I didn't need to look to know what she was talking about; the picture was so familiar to me that I could have drawn it in my sleep. “Yeah... that's her,” I said as I sat down, my head cradled between my hands.         “What's her name?” Moon asked softly.         “C-can't you just read my mind or something?” I asked her, not really wanting to open this can of worms. “Find out without my input? Because I'd really rather not discuss her.”         “In your present state? Yes. However, I do not wish to intrude upon things that you do not wish for me to see,” she said as she gently replaced the photo.         “Heh, isn't it a little late for that? You're already 'intruding' in my head,” I responded despondently.         “True, but I believe you recall our previous discussion about nightmares?” she reminded me gently.         I just snorted at that. “Well, why don't you just clap your hooves together and wipe the nightmares from my brain then? You said that my defenses are weakened now, why not just force me to never have these nightmares again? Would certainly help me if I was able to sleep uninterrupted.”         She didn't answer at first. Instead, she picked up the photo in her aura again and trotted over to me, her eyes locked with mine as she drew closer. “The intricacies of the mind are extremely... delicate, and doing such a thing would do far more harm than good,” she said, her gaze never leaving mine. “Yes, I could erase your pain, the memories that cause you such distress, but that would mean I would have to erase a lot more than that.”         “Wait, what?” I said, not really liking the sound of that.         “In order to remove the nightmares in the way that you suggest, I would have to wipe the part of your mind responsible for storing those memories that cause them. However, that would also remove the memory of your fallen comrades, as well as the memory of how you came to be here. More importantly, however, it would erase all memory of her as well,” Moon said, holding up the picture for emphasis.         As soon as my eyes fell on Valerie's beautiful face, my entire mind locked up. Her beautiful dark skin seemed to glow, and her piercing gray eyes looked like they were gazing into mine.  As I stared, I noticed that her smile looked almost... reassuring. “Would you really want me to erase her memory?” Moon asked me, breaking me from my trance. “Could you just cast aside every happy memory you've ever had with her, as if they didn't matter?”         “No, I could never do that,” I responded without hesitation. Forget Valerie? I'd truly be a monster then…         As I thought this, I looked up at the blue pony with hope in my eyes. “...You're really here to help me, aren't you? No ulterior motives, no tricks, you really just want to help me?”         Moon sighed as she returned the picture to its resting place. “I do. Though, I had hoped that would have been apparent by now.”         It probably would have hurt less if she had just slapped me in the face with one of her hooves. I could take physical pain, I was no stranger to it. What I couldn't take, however, was the hurt and disappointment in her voice. Sure, she was mucking about in my head, but it wasn't as if she was malicious about it.         Time after time I had mistrusted these people, measured them against my own race's values and history, only to be proven wrong at every turn. Sure, there were similarities between our peoples, but there were also more than enough differences.         So much, in fact, that any assumptions that I made should have immediately been assumed to be wrong.         “I'm sorry,” I apologized to her. “Trusting... isn't really my strong suit at the moment. I'm trying, I really am, but it’s still kind of hard to believe that all of this is really happening—that there are actually people who want to help me.”         Moon just smiled at that, her eyes filled with compassion and understanding. “I know it’s hard to change sometimes, but I have learned from from experience, however, that there are some things that are just too big for us to handle on our own.”         “Yeah, you ain't kidding,” I said as I glanced around. “By the way, why are we still here? I figured the dream would have changed by now.”         “Dreams are usually like that, but I've done a few things to this particular one. Normally, you would have started another nightmare by now, but I've been wanting to have a nice, coherent conversation with you for quite some time now, and a nightmare at this time would have been counterproductive to that end. Not to mention that any conversation we might have during the daytime hours would be hampered by the problems that our translation spells have with your language,” she said as she sat down in front of me. “Despite the regrettable circumstances that have weakened you to this point, it still gives us a unique opportunity to finally talk, and to clear the air about a few things that I'm sure that are confusing to both of us.”         I nodded at this. “Yeah, I guess it does,” I said with a smile. However, my smile quickly sank into a worried frown as what she said finally sank in. “But, what happened to me? Why was my life in danger in the first place?”         She sighed at my words, then shook her head. “I am afraid that the answer to that isn't the easiest to understand, especially given your background,” she said with a shake of her head.         I frowned at this, then leaned back, my arms folded across my chest. “Try me, I think you'll be surprised at what I can and cannot understand.”         Yeah, she may not have meant it in that way, but I always got riled up when my intelligence was called into question.         Moon gave me a piercing look at these words, then shrugged in resignation as her horn began to glow. “Fine, but do not say that I did not warn you,” she said as an image of myself appeared next to her... *        *        *         Twilight slowly made her way back to her room, her hooves dragging as the exhaustion finally caught up to her. She had been without sleep for a few days, and while coffee was a great way to fend off the exhaustion, it never did the same thing that sleep did.         With a huge yawn, she opened her bedroom door, only to be blasted back as something pink, energetic, and very, very loud sprang onto her as soon as the door was opened.         As soon as the two stopped rolling, Twilight found herself on her back, with two pink hooves on her chest and a wide, manic grin filling her vision. “I found you!” Pinkie Pie said as she jumped off her friend.         “Ghah! Pinkie? What in the world?” Twilight said as soon as she had caught her breath.         “Now it's your turn to find me! Make sure that you count to a thousand, okay?” Pinkie said with a bounce.         “Pinkie, I'm really not in the mood for this,” Twilight said as she got back to her hooves. “I've had a really exhausting day, not to mention that... Well, let's just leave it at 'exhausting,' okay?”         Pinkie's features turned down in a pouting frown at that. “Aw, that's no fun! I went through all that trouble to find you, too! Some of the ponies down at the labs were really rude when I went looking for you there, too!” she said as she puffed out her cheeks a bit.         Twilight shook her head at that. “I'm sorry they were like that, Pinkie, but we didn't exactly bring them on board for their people skills. They're here because they’re the top scientists we have in their respective fields.         Pinkie shook her head at Twilight's words. “Just because you're a super smart, smarty pants, doesn't mean you have to be a grump,” she said with a frown.  “Anyway, it's okay if you're too tired to play! I found a new, super fun new friend while I was in the labs, and I'm sure that we’ll have plenty of fun while we wait for you to wake up!”         Twilight frowned at this. “Pinkie, those scientists are very busy, and can't be bothered to play with you. Especially since they're working on a way to save us from the coming invasion,” Twilight reminded her.         “Oh, don't worry, the friend I made isn't a scientist,” Pinkie said with a bounce. She then turned towards the door that Twilight had opened, the grin on her face turning maniacal again. “Come on, Clanker! Let's go play hide and seek while Twilight sleeps!”         Twilight glanced towards her bedroom, irritated that Pinkie had let someone in that she didn't know, only to have her jaw drop in amazement as a small mechanical cat loped out of the room, its segmented, metal tail swishing back and forth as it crept up to Pinkie Pie. At first, Twilight thought it might be one of the two Minotaur's pet golems from the lab, but that didn't quite seem right. For one thing, its movements were far too fluid and catlike to be one of theirs. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that it was made of metal, Twilight could have sworn it was a real, living and breathing cat.         The notion that it was one of the minotaurs was further smashed to pieces when it looked up at Pinkie and spoke.         In ~Alex's~ native tongue.         “Pinkie, what is that!?” she asked in amazement.         “Well, I call him Clanker, on account of all the noise he makes whenever he walks! But I don't know his real name, on account of how he only talks like how ~Alex~ talks. He's really nice, though, and really friendly! Though he keeps glancing around sometimes, almost like he's looking for someone,” Pinkie said with a thoughtful look in her eyes. She suddenly brightened up, however, and kneeled down until she was eye level with the metallic automaton. “Hey, I bet you're already playing hide and seek! How about you and I go looking for whomever you're trying to find?”         Before Pinkie and Clanker could run off, however, they were stopped as a purple aura encased them both. “Pinkie, I think I already know who 'Clanker' is looking for. Also, I'm going to need you two to come with me,” Twilight said with worry in her eyes.         “Okey-doky-loky!” Pinkie said, completely ignoring the worried vibe that Twilight was sending her. *        *        *         “I really wish you'd send someone else in your place, sir,” Yvtil said disapprovingly. “At least take some soldiers with you!”         “I already told you why I can't,” Hazalk said as he scrolled through the list of things he would need for his trip. “Even though they don't have interstellar capability, if their abilities are anything close to the Quzin, any troops short of a battalion would prove absolutely useless.”         “Yeah, but it would at least send a statement!” Yvtil implored.         “Yeah, 'fear us, we're invading.' I'm trying to put them at ease, not put them at even higher alert,” Hazalk retorted. “If we're going to have even a shot at a peaceful resolution to this debacle, we need to show them that we're not all psychotic mass murderers, and that starts with a show of trust.”         Commander Yvtil shook her head in disbelief. “Yeah, but a show of trust is going to mean nothing if they kill you before you're able to establish communication. Then where would we be? Please, just let me go in your stead.”         Captain Hazalk just wiggled his antenna at her. “I can't do that. Not only does it send a more positive message if I go, but protocol dictates that the most senior officer available is present during any official negotiations with a new species.”         “Then let me come with you! Surely you'll need my help if-”         “Yvtil, I can't let you come with me for the same reason I can't bring any guards. Besides, I need you here in case any traitors, or Quzin, arrive while I'm down there,” Hazalk said as he stepped into the shuttle bay. The shuttle bay was currently filled with engineers, all running a complete diagnostic on the shuttle Hazalk would be taking down to the planet in a couple of days.  It was a simple thing for the Krin to land and take off from an alien planet, but the tidal forces caused by the hypervelocity star complicated matters, making it a number one priority that the shuttle was ready, lest it break apart from the gravitational forces that surrounded the planet.  “You're the only one I trust in this situation to either talk the Quzin down, or chase off the traitors that arrive. Though, if too many show up, I'm counting on you to get out of the system and come back for help without me.”         Yvtil shook her head at that. “We can't leave without you, sir,” she said with a tap of her leg on the metal deck plating.         “Please, as much as I appreciate your loyalty, we'll be much better served if you go for help. I'll be fine with the natives, even if it's from the inside of a brig, and that’s not even touching on the fact that I’lll be able to provide them with advice on how best to deal with the traitors while you go and fetch a Quzin armada,” he said with a twitch of his antenna.         “Just... just please don't get yourself killed down there, sir,” Yvtil said with a shake of her head.         “I can only try,” the captain said as he carefully inspected his engineer’s work. “Just... make sure that the old bird is still in one piece once I get back, okay?”         “I'll try, sir,” Yvtil said with a salute.         “Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I still have quite a lot to prepare before I just saunter into the metaphorical Kashhinka den.  At this point, I’m praying that the queen isn't feeling feisty, otherwise this could get... unpleasant,” he said as he approached his chief engineer.         “At this point, we can only pray,” Yvtil said as she turned and left the shuttle bay.