It took a few minutes before I was ushered into a new room far from prying ears and watchful eyes. Starswirl and Rockhoof quickly excused themselves, one on the grounds of being the princess’ tutor and the other needing to keep an eye on Vicious Aegis, who most likely was that pony who gave me that sour look before their dispersal.
That forced me to think once again. All their names so far have been… things turned into names descriptive of what they look like. Starswirl wore clothing that had stars which seemed to swirl on him. Mistmane’s mane flowed like mist which was a little too on the nose in my view. Rockhoof seemed to have hooves that could break rock. Was I overthinking this? It felt both right yet wrong at the same time. Everything felt like it was a joke waiting to happen yet I couldn't tell why. My musings lasted up until the regular pony with the mask tapped her hoof against the table they had brought me to.
The room was littered in times and charts of varying origin. I even saw a map of this world which just confirmed that this place, wherever I was was indeed wasn't Earth anymore. The lettering also seemed very different and more symbols than actual letters seem to be the focal point for their system. The earth pony tapped her hoof again gaining my attention.
“Sorry.” My eyes were focused mostly on my hands before finally looking back into the pony’s eyes. I was still uncertain of her name in particular.
“It's fine, X. I'm sure that being alive and all is something wondrous which we've all experienced. We need to get introductions out of the way. You know of three of us since I noticed you were listening whenever our names were spoken.” The earth pony started raising a hoof towards me in expectation.
“Unicorn male is Starswirl. Unicorn female is Mistmane. Male pony is Rockhoof.” I answered tersely - only to I realize the fact after I said my answer. My emotions had still been suppressed in order to keep up the charade that Starswirl had cooked up. My tutor looked a bit confused by the intonation I voiced.
“You sound… very monotonous. What's wrong? You didn't take Starswirl seriously did you?” She gasped slightly while fidgeting in place - needing both the unicorn and the female Pegasus to calm her down. I merely shook my head and held up a hand to stop them. I was lucky that that gesture was still known here. Didn't know how but I didn't want to look a gift pony in the mouth.
I would have groaned had my emotions been on at that moment.
“It's not that. I shut my emotions off for a bit to keep up with his plan. Sorry, please continue with the introductions.” I lightly shook my head tapping my hand against the helmet part to physically show my emotions were back… easier than flipping a switch, at least, now.
“Right…” she continued. “As I was saying we should introduce ourselves more clearly. I am Meadowbrook.”
“I’m Flash Magnus soldier of the Pegasi Legion.” The amber pegasus proudly announced.
“I am Somnambula, Advisor to Prince Hisan.” The scarlet Pegasus mentioned.
I, at the very least now knew everyone’s name. I still wasn’t sure how every being in this dimension was a pony. Still, now that I knew their names I had some frame of reference to be somewhat polite. Honestly I could still see the apprehension in Mistmane and Somnambula. Meadowbrook and Magnus were both looking at me differently. Appreciation seemed to radiate off of the regular pony while a challenging stare was on the pegasus. It wasn’t the look of thinking I was a threat… it felt more like that look my uncle gave me whenever I did a decent job on a new piece of armor. I was a pedestal to climb over somehow.
I wanted to scoff out loud at his look, but I kept my emotions in check through a whole set of logic gates that seemed to be streaming through my head. I had once read a book on the importance of safeguards through robotics. Albeit I was smart enough to know that these weren’t concrete laws on the aspects of robotics. Merely guidelines that could never truly exist because there is no set way to program ethics into something that didn’t have an understanding of what they are beforehand.
I was in a world where there were no humans at all. The laws held very little to a robot. I was technically just a robot. Reploids were the catch all term for every robot created in the likeness of X… who I am now. In that canon X, for all intents and purposes, was an anomaly because somehow… he had ethics placed into him that could shift and transform as he acquired more experience over time.
“I am X. I’m basically a ‘crystal golem’ created by Doctor Light from far across the sea. I don’t really know how I ended up here of all places. I just remember falling into a forest and being… aware.”
It was the best lie I could think of. I did stress the crystal golem line but that may have been stress at this point. I had to learn several thousand new concepts before I left this place to look for more of my - I guess they really were - capsules. Luckily something I noticed before I got close to one of them was that they seemed to resonate with me on some fundamental level almost with the same protection my mind had against that creature’s magic. I really should have learned his name before I shot him.
“Across the ocean? How far away are you from!?” Meadowbrook looked gobsmacked as if I had revealed the Arc of the Covenant… only without the face melting effect.
“I… don’t really know. My sensors weren’t calibrated when I was transported and I wasn’t active at that point. The impact made me awake. I just know it’s far away but not the direction or the relation of where in the world it is.”
There were looks of sympathy and while it was a lie, it wasn’t a complete lie. I did come from far away… it was just another plane of existence or even another dimension. Strangely those were two different things when looked at through context. The lack of a heart was coming in handy at this point even as it unsettled me with how unnatural I felt… I wondered if this was how most reploids feel when they weren’t performing their tasks and were left to act human. I was glad that they were not going too in-depth with any probing questions. My story is flimsy enough without the use of X’s story. All of it was metaphorically true… it just wasn’t my story.
“I’m sorry to hear that. No wonder you wanted to know more about Equestria - but I’m not certain how that would help.” Meadowbrook mused aloud showing some interest in my answer. An answer I didn’t really have.
“I felt it would be the best thing I could do with myself since I have nothing else I can do right now.” My hands were now wringing themselves on the table mostly out of habit. I could see it within my periphery and I was glad they didn’t know me well enough. It was a tell I figured I had whenever I was trying to lie, judging by my track record with my parents’ unerring capability to tell when I was bluffing..
Up to now, I was actually counting how many times I’ve lied to them so far. In total to this point... probably four times, depending on which statements could be considered lies. I wasn’t a crystal golem. I wasn’t created by Dr. Light technically. I was completely aware of how I ended up here. I did have something else I could do but it would take hours… maybe days just to figure out where a certain capsule could be. I had gotten lucky when I found that first capsule.
There were a few hums from Somnambula who seemed uncertain of the whole ordeal. Magnus was crossing his arms as he idly flapped his wings in a thinking position. Mistmane pondered by tilting her head back and forth, most likely weighing the pros and cons. It wasn’t until Meadowbrook placed a book on the table that the others were broken out of their mental debating.
“I can teach you a little of Equestria as it is now but I’m not certain if we can tell you much about it since we are still exploring it entirely. There are still many mysteries to uncover in this world. I, in particular, come from the swamplands out to the southeast from this castle in the Everfree Principality. Magnus comes from Cloudsdale, the pegasi capital near Mount Canter off on the east side from the peak.” Meadowbrook informed me.
“We’re in the process of moving the entire city in order to curb the wild weather.” Magnus cut off Meadowbrook before looking sheepish at her withering scowl.
“Yes… Mistmane knows about the eastern coast of Equestria, and Somnambula can tell you about the deserts to the southwest of Mount Canter. If Rockhoof was here he could tell you of the island nation he lived on that’s close to the Dragon Nesting grounds. Starswirl knows more about the other reaches of Equestria but I think he’s taking care of our resident alicorns now.” Meadowbrook finished.
“Alicorns?” My head tilted slightly in confusion… at least what I hoped came across as confusion. It sounded like a made up word… but english had made up so many new words already so it wasn’t that much of a stretch. I was getting a bit frustrated at the constant stream of information flowing into my brain even if my brain was better than multiple supercomputers at this point in my life.
“Yes. Alicorns are the collective aspects of all three pony tribes. They are to work towards being a symbol of unity and harmony when our triumvirate finally passes. Unfortunately, they will carry the gift and burden of immortality. Hopefully they will be able to make the most of their rule once they reach the maturity needed to hold that crown upon their head.” Mistmane explained as she used her magic to create an illusion of each three pony types and the collective known as an alicorn.
“Are there any other races out there that are just as sapient as ponies?” I let my hand fall down to urge her to continue. I needed more information. I needed to be prepared for anything and everything that could possibly happen. That creature in the forest would take whatever chance it was presented to it, if he was as persistent as I thought he was.
“Sapient?” Magnus questioned looking perplexed by the word. Mistmane rolled her eyes though.
“It means he wants to know about any races that have the ability to reason.” Mistmane chided the centurion pegasus.
“Oh… well, if he wants to know about other races then I can explain a few. Out to the far east are the Griffons. They are very militant and seem to always be running drills while working with the weather like us. I think far to the west are the Zebra tribes with the Minotaurs south of them. I guess you could consider the crystal ponies of the Crystal Empire to be another pony race. South of these lands is the home of the buffalo. To the far northeast lies the capitals of the yaks. Finally there are also… dragons if you must count them.” Magnus shuddered at the mention of the dragons.
Mistmane performed some more magic for me which allowed me to examine the races they knew of more closely. I was living in a pseudo monster manual maker’s wet dream at this point… I felt a bit sickened by that but quickly pushed it out of my mind. My mind actually made digital recreations of the illusions Mistmane had somehow created. Magic was beyond me and I still didn’t know if it could affect me like it did them. From what that thing did to me no one knew about him in any manner. I didn’t even know if it was magic and I just have to assume the worst given how vindictive he sounded after I wasn’t affected by whatever he was doing.
“There are quite a lot of beings here in Equestria, isn’t there?” I coyly closed one eye though I didn’t smile. Maybe it made me look lost in thought, I wasn’t sure. I only knew what ponies knew at this point. About ponies I could get every piece of information possible. When it came to other species… I was left wanting. Their dismissive tone did nothing to dissuade my conclusions. Race was a big thing among every single species on this planet and I was one of the more hated beings on the planet… by everyone.
“Sometimes ponies are the only ones you can trust to do anything right.” Magnus sternly muttered under his breath.
Apparently some ponies also didn’t think much of other races. If you weren’t a pony then it meant nothing in the long run. I noticed that all the mares - I think that’s the term - stared at Magnus with a disbelieving look. They acted as if he had killed a small innocent animal and the mother had found out they did it. The three looked at me which caused me no small amount of concern. They were trying to walk a tightrope that stretched over the pit of their own ignorance teetering on a rope I gave them which could have been a suspension bridge for all I cared. Statements made of disparaging remarks came from two places. The first would be horrible if I thought that that was what he meant. It was borne out of ignorance and should be hit in the face for. Something I did when they made fun of me for being of a latino persuasion. No. This was born from experience. Most likely from having to fight other creatures out in this world. I could tell the warrior outlook that painted his muzzle.
“Magnus! Stop thinking about the dragons!” Somnambula was the one who spoke surprisingly with a tone I didn’t think she was capable of. It was full of seething fury.
“Bah! It’s best to be honest about things. Remember how many disputes we’ve had with the buffalo even though we stopped trying to encroach on their lands. Nopony has even met with a yak in ages since their isolationists are starting to win seats in the war houses. The griffins are usually the only civil beings we’ve met with in ages and they are still prideful arrogant jerks from time to time. I haven’t even met any zebras in years either. The Crystal Empire is being run by some arrogant jerk known as King Corundum. I won’t even mention dragons… for obvious reasons. You won’t meet a more peaceful race out here in Equestria for another thousand years or so.” Magnus griped.
“That sounds like a very divided land…” I chided slightly. Enough to show concern if anything. I felt my mind burn with constant processes while my arms curled into each other trying desperately to shield me in some way. There were places I was going to be forced to go and most of those places would never allow me to walk around safely.
“Yes… it is. There are even rumors that some chimeric entity is out there messing with everypony but there haven’t been too many real sightings. The buffalo call him a chaos entity while the zebras refer to him as a god. There are some rumors out of the dragons that call him a chaos spirit who damns the name of dragons for being made of dragon parts. Though those dragons disappear soon after if the rumors are to be believed. There are whispers of some being only known as Discord.” Meadowbrook lectured once again.
“That is merely a legend. Unlike windigos some being like Discord would be impossible to exist.” Magnus dismissed the thought.
So… I now knew a name to the sight of my constant companion. I’ve noticed… he’s been watching me intensely during my entire time sitting her. Examining me as if under a microscope to the point where he has shown me that no one can see him. It’s almost like a perception filter has been placed so no one can notice him unless he lets them. I’ve had to ignore seeing yellow eyes with red irises, otherwise, they would think me insane. At least that’s what I thought.
Now that I knew that there were supposed sightings of that chimera I had a chance to find actual information on this being since he seemed to have taken great offense to the moment I wounded him, even if he healed it within seconds. There were several pieces of information I needed and while I may need to see other races on their rumors about Discord; I , at the very least, had a path I could finally walk.
“Please tell me more about Equestria as a whole, Meadowbrook.”
“Starswirl? Have you finally caught the golem? … Did you destroy it?” Celestia fidgeted in spot while Luna clung to her side worried as well.
“Well… no I didn’t. He is actually sapient.” Starswirl cautiously stated.
“What!? That’s impossible. Nopony has ever created a golem that had any form of self awareness without going insane from the sudden embrace of cognizance.” Celestia shouted out.
“Mine sister has been indulging in the dictionary once again.” Luna deadpanned.
Starswirl merely raised an eyebrow causing Celestia to blush in embarrassment. This wasn’t the first time she found her way into the bigger words and using them without really understanding what she meant.
“Did you finish your homework?” Starswirl calmly asked.
Celestia looked around making certain not to even look him in the eyes. Luna, in contrast, cooly shook her head up and down. Starswirl rubbed between his eyes slightly in disappointment and sudden acceptance since it meant he didn’t have to look over the homework and he could figure out what X really was. In context, he was a crystal golem but if what Mistmane said was true there were no signs of magical circuits nor the sign of aether crystals in any of his limbs.
“Sorry, Starswirl. The servant you left us with didn’t exactly keep an eye on us for very long. Don’t know why, but she just disappeared a few moments later - leaving one of the guards of this place with us instead before coming back and leaving again in a hurry.” Luna explained allowing Celestia some wiggle room for excuses.
“She? That servant was a stallion, Luna!” Celestia chided Luna, who gave Celestia a raspberry.
“Was a mare!”
“Was not!”
Starswirl interrupted their exchange, and asked: “Did she? Strange… did you get the name of the guard before she left?” Starswirl thought out loud.
“I think the guard called himself Twisted Spiral… but it was really weird - just like Topsy Towel, I’m not certain that he was a stallion or a mare… It was very confusing. After he left though we noticed that several of the guards started to get jittery. The talk of golems made everypony very nervous and Vicious Aegis was once again riling up several of the more… enthusiastic guards into a patriotic fervor. We had to remind him of Commander Hurricane once again to curb that enthusiasm.” Celestia announced almost regally… had Luna not been hanging on her head like a hat ruining the image.
“We never hired anypony named Topsy Towel… nor any guard named Twisted Spiral.” Starswirl muttered under his breath, making certain that neither of the future princesses could hear.
Too many thoughts swirled around Starswirl’s head that it was becoming hard for him to be objective or subtle about the possibilities of there actually being a spirit of chaos actually existing. Scorpan had assured him that it was a possibility since his father had actually met with the spirit once before. Abyssinia, also had met with him once before. The cat people of that realm had been oppressed by the dog people and Discord instigated a rebellion and their freedom at the expense of harmony.
Neither good nor evil he was said to be the true embodiment of chaos in their system of harmony. But… that also meant he was here in this realm dealing out chaos… secretly in fact. The problem was now figuring out if he even had a goal within the bounds of Equestria seeing as he had never made a move against ponies yet.
“Starswirl?” Celestia called out.
Then the implications of this golem appearing were starting to bring about new questions. There was a chance that he was a construct formed from Discord to sow and create chaos in some form but Mistmane noted that he was an extreme form of order with hardly any chaos within. There was some, she pointed out - but it was miniscule and organized in a way… it made no sense to him. Alternatively he could be a spirit of order given physical form to fight against the chaos… bring harmony instead. There were too many variables and not enough information to go off of.
“Starswirl!” Luna cried out trying to get his attention.
There were other possibilities though. He could just be a crystal golem and the chaos they felt was Discord giving him sapience… if he actually existed. The fact that Discord was kept so quiet in any history book made it impossible to actually find out anything about him. That was entirely reliant on whether or not he was real in the first place. X wasn’t a villain as far as he could tell and there was no doubt in his mind that he would not falter off that path. He was certain of his creed. Once a villain, always a villain. Once a hero, always a hero. Simple as day and night.
“Starswirl!” Celestia and Luna joined forces as they shook the stallion out of his revelry.
“Huh? Wha? What’s wrong you two?” Starswirl finally woke up from his thoughts.
“You spaced out once again, like those times you wanted to study those dimensional mirrors as you called them. They look like regular mirrors to me.” Celestia groaned from the strangeness of her experiences with the mirror. She had tried to go through it only to smack against the glass shattering it. Starswirl would never tell her that it was the wrong mirror.
“What is on thine mind, teacher?” Luna quickly refocused the derailed conversation.
“Nothing of too much importance. The golem is at the fortress with the rest of the pillars. Eventually we’ll integrate it into Equestrian society.” Starswirl quickly thought up.
“Really? Seems like that’s more trouble than it’s worth.” Celestia commented.
“Sister, you forget your place. He is a hero of this land and the redemption of others makes him such. Do you not realize the importance.” Luna groused seeing a bigger picture.
“Yes… that’s exactly it.” Starswirl answered immediately.
Both mares smiled at the sudden realization while Starswirl mentally sighed at the multitude of things he would be doing in the coming days now. He wasn’t even certain that X would even stay anywhere near them. They had never asked him what he was even doing in the Ghastly Caverns but those moments had been punctuated by fear and quarry eel attacks. For now there was more information to gather but with the moon now up he would have to reconvene at the fortress with the other pillars for future planning.
“By the by, shall we ever meet thy companions, Starswirl?” Luna immediately brought up, eyes shining with hope and curiosity.
“Someday Luna. Remember each of us is protecting Equestria one step at a time. I will eventually get them all to meet with you.” Starswirl responded.
“I shall hold you to that.” Luna smiled.
“Come sister. It’s time for bed.” Celestia called out as the two went off to their rooms.
Starswirl watched them go off before he sat at the table nearby in their study room and rested his head against the oak slab. Several lies were told today in order to keep the peace for some greater good. There were now several problems already coming along the horizon - should he exist, Discord was watching them in some unthinkable way and had gotten close to the princesses without even trying.
The next issue hid an at home threat in the form of Vicious Aegis. A Captain of their meager guard force who was a survivor of several fatal tests against crystal golems. The arrival of X had exacerbated that problem into a cancerous growth that would eventually spread to the entirety of the guard. It was no secret that only Rockhoof could get him to back down at the tone of his voice. Respect earned from their numerous sparring sessions he mused.
Another problem in progress was the constant threat of King Corundum, who had been specially searching for ways to make crystal golems that didn’t go insane. Their purpose was unknown but it was clearly not for a peaceful venture as he so constantly boasted whenever diplomatic ventures were made. Pansy had been certain that he was leering at her… undressing her with his eyes as she so aptly put it. Already Starswirl wanted to shoot a laser through his smug head.
Yet another place hid the other threats - with Yaks threatening for immediate shut down of their borders; Buffalos willing to trample ponies who entered their territory; Dragon attacks off the coast of the Hayseed Swamps.
Secretly, there were even talks of the deer kingdom not liking the encroachment of ponies into their realms either. Even a new pony tribe had been found in the western parts of the continent. Thestrals, as they were called. Too many problems and Puddinghead, Hurricane and Platinum were breathing down his neck to assist in matter of diplomacy which he barely had any experience at.
He could feel it. Being used as a cudgel whenever diplomatic meetings were made. Then there were the final two problems. The first he would handle immediately. X was an anomaly. But he was also more than likely built for combat… reluctance would have to be placed aside in order to persuade X to ally with the Equestrian government as is. That also meant that he would need to meet with the leaders...
The second… was Stygian, who had so far disappeared to places unknown.
Starswirl picked up a nearby candle with his hoof and threw it against one of the walls. The entirety of the staff was asleep though but he didn’t pick up the mess.
“Motherbuckers…” Starswirl groaned as he got up from the table and teleported back to the fortress.
Discord was upset. When he noted the strange magical energy, he thought he would finally have something interesting to keep him entertained - believing he had gotten a new toy that he could use to terrorize other beings of the realm - non-lethally, of course. Instead, it had resisted and made itself a player on the board - mocking him by negating the one power he really enjoyed using on others because chaotic things happened as a result.
In his deck were the powers he held and several artifacts that he had found over the years. A decent hand to say the least. In his opponent’s hand, though, were the Pillars of Equestria. So called ‘heroes’ of the realm with several names he couldn’t be bothered to remember. Another mediocre hand but Starswirl was the clincher. A real ace in the hole with his banishment spell. While an easy fix for him, Discord despised going to other dimensions since they were already chaotic without him to influence it, not to mention spread or increase it. They were retirement places for when he decided he wanted a break for a while - not a place to be sent to.
The cards were not in his favor and he hated it. What he hated even more than that thought was what X was doing now… just talking. Talking for hours on end about the state of Equestria which was still in the blank canvas state without his chaotic paintbrush to guide it. Boredom was the true thing he could hate, as even on the instinctive level he sometimes left his brain to follow whenever he needed to sleep within his chaotic pocket he conjured up.
Then again… there were other players at the table. None as powerful as he was but promising all the same. The anger he felt slowly ebbed away to a dull curious tingling in the back of his paw. It was itching for something chaotic and sooner or later it would come.
This so called ‘Pony of Shadows’ would sooner or later deal with the Pillars without him needing to lift a talon. Amateurish at best it was merely a stepping stone in the grand scheme of things. The fact he could undo all the magic it was performing was merely the icing on the cake.
The other one though was… worrisome on some levels. It wasn’t because of his strength, smarts, good looks, ruthlessness or anything of the sort that made Discord worried. It was merely his willingness to create chaos without even meaning to. It was disgraceful but he couldn’t snuff out anyone just because they were an amateur as well. King Corundum needed to be given something to test his true mettle against. X was his to deal with but… maybe it would be fun.
Stygian was tired. They had found the so called threat of the changelings after allowing the shadow to rest in his body. They surrounded him until they got too close. The shadow took that opportunity to grab several dozen in its shadowy appendages that sprouted from his body and began to drain them of their magic and inner darkness. They didn’t stand a chance as more fell to the shadow’s might.
A larger one came out with a strange crown and attempted to attack him only for several of the tendrils to drain them as well. Whether male or female didn’t really matter. When they all fell they were merely exhausted and nearly unable to move.
“Hear me O’ Shadowed denizens of stealth. Today is the day you shall forever know as the coming of the Pony of Shadow.” The shadow’s voice came out of Stygian who merely allowed himself to be used as a mouthpiece.
Within second shadow wings burst out of Stygian’s back as his horn was covered in shadows and curved. The few remaining changelings who remained grabbed the larger one while the ones on the ground lumbered back to their feet to protect it.
‘It must have been the queen or something like that.’ Stygian pondered while the shadow began to hurt the changelings roughing them up slightly. Before any fatal blows could be struck Stygian would stop the shadow. Grumbling, it complied… if only barely. Soon it slunk back into the shadows, much stronger than it was before - taking Stygian along for the ride as they made their way out towards the forbidden jungles on the outskirts of known Equestrian lands. More darkness would be needed to face the pillars.