Norrath, Earth, Equestria. A Construct's Journey

by Nimnul


Meeting Alicorns

"What do you think it is, Luna?" Celestia was inspecting the damaged bipedal being her little ponies had found near the border of the Everfree. It clearly still remained active, if incapable of independent movement due to damage to most of its joints. Its doll-like eyes alternated between keeping track of either of the diarchs.

Luna employed her magic to inspect the entity in question. "It seems to me like some manner of golem, but I cannot imagine why its structure is so...dainty. And its animating force seems to be woven into its whole being, not placed into a command word or power source."

"Indeed, sister. There's also something else there. The magics used in this being's creation were quite sophisticated. There's an enchantment here which seems to have been added later. It appears rather clumsy." Celestia frowned. She didn't have a good feeling about this additional bit of magic.

Landshark was uncomfortable with her current situation. She was surprised to be alive and had been even more surprised to be displaced into this reality. Lightning did strike twice, she supposed. The ease with which the horses in front of her were able to gather information about her construction clearly implied considerable magical power, which was generally a bad thing to notice in captors. She knew well what enchantment had been laid on her, and hoped the horses would not try to undo it.

"My sisters and I are called bellikos," the construct stated in a droning monotone. "I am Landshark."

Celestia allowed herself a small smile of amusement, considering the construct had a set of teeth akin to a bear trap. Luna did not display similar amusement as she inquired, "Do you have a true name as well, aside from the obvious alias?" She was not convinced someone with the power and skill to craft a 'bellikos' would give it a humorous name.

Landshark emitted a snorting sound, perhaps surprising the diarchs with what appeared to be an emotional reaction. Rather than monotone, she sounded defiant and proud now. "What I am is a renegade bellikos. Who I am is Landshark. The name I was crafted with has no bearing on either. It is not part of my Self and shall remain lost. Who are you?" Certainly they were likely the most ostentatious horses Landshark had yet met. The room she was in seemed more like a guest room than a holding cell, but then, the construct was not going to be going anywhere for some time.

"I am Princess Celestia," the white horse introduced herself.

"And I am Princess Luna! We are the diarchs of this nation," the darker horse proclaimed more grandly. "Will you tell us where you are from, and how you came to be here?" It didn't really sound like a question.

"No." Landshark certainly did not wish to share any information about her adopted home with the rulers of another nation in another reality. Even if she had wanted to, there were things she would never be able to share.

Princess Luna wasn't wholly accustomed to this type of situation. The previous millenium had been a lot less varied for her than for her sister after all. "You dare defy us?"

"I dare," Landshark agreed, falling back to her monotone. She was pretty impressed by the set of lungs on the dark princess, though. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I haven't had rest in days. I'm checking out for a few hours." It was risky, of course, but Landshark really did need rest, and she had never been particularly good at resisting the temptation to annoy people in positions of authority. If she was destroyed for the insolence, she would at least not be questioned. She let her head fall back and closed her eyes.

She also, of course, knew nothing of Princess Luna's powers.

Initially, Luna sputtered angrily before Celestia, apparently willing to humor the construct, motioned for her younger sister to be quiet.


Landshark dreamt. This was not in itself unusual. Her body was a tireless construct, but her mind occasionally required rest and, perchance, dreams, to keep itself in good repair. In this regard, she was much like any naturally born mortal.

She considered herself no more prone to nightmares than her colleagues, and besides, an interrupted night did not impair her physically. Nevertheless, her most common nightmare sprung, she assumed, from a fear of future failure.

She was back in the Convorteum, home of the First, attempting to aid others in spreading the knowledge of the Self to the First's slaves and battle thralls. In this dream version of events, they failed. Delth, the one to find the truth, was captured. The First's record keeper succeeded in preventing the spread of the message.

"You are fools to come here and try to turn the children of the First against each other. He permits no dissent, and there is no Self. We are his creations, and he is our master and lord. You either serve Brell or the First; there is no other path. The Self is but an illusion in the sight of your god. His will is an ocean; you are but the smallest vessel. And you will drown."

Often, at the end of these dreams, she would find herself trapped in her own form as her body bowed down and returned to the service of the First. Helpless to stop herself, she marched upon the servants of Brell, whose only crime was choosing, of their own free will, to remain loyal to that deity rather than betraying him for the First. No nightmare was more terrible than losing her own freedom and being forced to commit an injustice so great.

Just as she once again lost control of herself, she heard a new voice.

"Take heart, stranger! This is but a dream, a memory. Take control and remember the true course of events to correct this scenario!"

The realization shocked her into lucidity. Of course this was just a dream. They hadn't failed. They had had help! As she realized this, scores of mortal champions stormed the keeper's chamber, freeing Delth and engaging the monstrous figure of the Keeper in battle.

Landshark found herself holding a blacksmith's hammer and began using the tool on the loyal servants of the first, even her own sisters. Conflict raged as half of the powerful constructs turned on their brethren, throwing off the First's slavery. Again and again her hammer struck fellow constructs of clay, stone, or metal as both sides fought with terrible zeal. Delth's followers fought to spread the idea of the Self, the First's minions chose loyalty to their creator. Landshark's bellikos sisters mostly favored rebellion, and though she respected the choice of the loyal ones, she neither granted nor expected mercy from them as she swung her hammer.

The dream skipped a great many details. The doctrinal conflict crippled the forces of the First, and Landshark never knew whether he recovered or tried different plans in his war on Brell. The remaining Bellikos only knew that they would be the last of their race – incapable of crafting more of themselves, they'd always relied on the creator they had now defied.

Now however, her dream seemed to fade and she found herself confronted by Princess Luna. She considered this problematic. A little dream manipulation did not seem too far-fetched, considering the amount of magic this world had. Although Bellikos were often resistant to behavior modification through spellwork, mind or memory reading were another matter. She would have only her own willpower to rely on.

The princess, for her part, watched Landshark curiously. "Nightmares of failure are quite common. At first we thought you might be a mere automaton. Your mind, I suspect, is just as sophisticated as that of any pony."

Landshark's dream-self grinned with expressiveness she would never have in the waking world. "And hello to you too. I assume you helped me turn that nightmare around?"

Luna nodded. "Indeed. T'is a simple matter for the Princess of the Night." She took on a regal posture. "We did not expect your history to be so complicated. Although you seemed frail for a construct soldier, I suppose."

Landshark chuckled and began walking around the alicorn curiously. "Complicated, yes. You're pretty composed considering the implications. Uncooperative captive, you invade their dreams, and when you give me the chance to get a 'good ending' out of my nightmare, that ending still includes the nearly assured extinction of my people as we cling to principles over survival."

Princess Luna hesitated. The construct did not seem particularly impressed by her, and its words gave Luna pause. "Nonetheless, we are here because you would not talk to us in the waking world, yet we must know more of the world you came from before arriving here."

"I do not wish to share such information." The construct now stood at ease, hands clasped behind its back.

Luna snorted with the beginnings of irritation. "For the sake of our ponies, we really must know more of your world. You came here, and so others might also."

"I've been displaced by accident," Landshark countered. "But fair enough. Let me see your best shot. No hard feelings. Just remember: 'Put a Bellikos where you will, there she stands'.

Princess Luna said nothing, instead trying to draw up more recent memories into Landshark's dreamscape. She preferred more subtle approaches to aid ponies with their nightmares, but she considered this to be crucial. She felt the construct attempt to resist.

Landshark could feel her thoughts being drawn to her adopted home world and her comrades, almost as close as family. She probed at Luna's force to see whether or not it was feasible to resist. It might have been possible once, but after nearly a decade in a world almost without magic, it was not. She'd learned to love that world, but it had diminished her also.

She comforted herself with the thought that she'd be fondly remembered by her human friends, and fierce pride filled her. Her expression spread into a smile again. She'd never done anything less than her duty. Her experience had been uniquely hers. And her oath removed any chance that the hated First might gets his hands on her essence after her death.

She briefly considering trying to recall the highly classified image of a Langford Basilisk, but she knew that was her petty nature talking. Although the attempt to share knowledge, even just the concept, of something so dangerous to a networked society would certainly kill Landshark, trying to crash the brain of a foreign head of state as an act of spite would do a huge disservice to her own people. Besides, she couldn't know if magic horse brains were vulnerable to the same visual hacks as humans.

"Very well, Princess. I go unbowed." She conjured up a classified memory that she hoped would be of little use without context.

Luna was about to mention that things would be easier for their guest if she agreed to cooperate when suddenly, the shared dreamscape shattered. She felt it only indirectly, but Landshark had been ripped awake by sudden intense agony.

Luna focused back on the waking world – she had taken up a position close to the captive construct's lodgings to perform her dream walk. Now she hurried there, where she knew her sister should still be watching over the being, in case of unexpected reactions such as these.

She burst into the room. "Tia, what is happening?" She saw the shattered construct remained unmoving and alert. She knew it had to be in pain, but it betrayed nothing.

"Luna, that brutish piece of spellwork layered upon its animating force is going to destroy her!" Celestia was furiously working to stall the process. She might not be the Element of Magic, but few magical feats were beyond a being of her experience and power.

Landshark was in agony. Not from her existing physical damage, of course. Being aware of damage to her body had never impaired the construct, as pain might a living thing. Yet now she felt her very spirit being slowly seared away. She was not used to pain and decided that it really sucked, to use a human expression. Hinging her damaged jaws open, she addressed the Princesses haltingly as she felt herself slip away. "As I said ... no hard feelings."


Landshark woke up feeling as feeble as an infant. Or so she thought, infants weren't generally within her frame of reference. She was alive, which was unexpected and actually somewhat unwelcome. She experimentally considered blurting out something classified, but felt a warning tingle from the chain upon her soul. Comforting, but strange. Before she could try and think of how she survived along with her chain oath, she found herself confronted by an evidently furious Princess Celestia.

"How could you do that? What did you do? Princess Luna believes she nearly killed you!"

Landshark returned the alicorn's gaze and slowly worked her protesting jaws open again, causing Celestia to pause in her accusations to allow her to speak.

"I'm bound by oath and contract. Unable to resist the coercion of the dark Princess, I should have been destroyed to take all that I am beyond your reach." Landshark hadn't been cleared to know if the oath was a piece of ancient magic rediscovered, or knowledge extracted from an intruder upon the human world.

Celestia stamped a hoof onto the ground. "You have made your point well enough. You would take your own life before sharing information. If I had not been able to force the curse upon your soul into dormancy once more, you would have succeeded!"

She'd in fact volunteered for the oath. For a number of reasons, but it also allowed the scholars to study it. With the extremely rudimentary state of magic scholarship on that world, she had not even known if the oath would truly destroy the soul. They'd eventually learned that breaking the oath would in fact be lethal, but they hadn't had the means to measure the presence of a soul or the effect of the oath on it. Her secondary motive was to possibly avoid her spirit returning to the Underfoot and the First upon her death.

Apparently the oath wasn't quite so lethal to her, or at least it did not act quickly enough. The being in front of her had stopped it. The power and especially the precision necessary to achieve this, without preparation and ritual, in the short time available, was beyond anything the construct had encountered in the last decade. She wished she could put a good sneer onto her doll-like face.

"It is my duty to keep knowledge of my people from falling into the hands of outsiders, no matter the personal cost. Do your people have nothing they love so much that they would die for it? Nothing that is worth more to them than their personal safety? None who would pledge their courage and their life to protect their fellows?" She didn't mention that most of her comrades had simply signed a contract, not sworn an oath that would literally kill them for breaking it. Humans, in general, didn't trust magic, at least in Landshark's experience.

Celestia hesitated before responding. "We are not your enemies. There is no reason for your rulers to demand your unmaking over something so petty." Celestia regarded the shattered construct before her evenly before continuing. "You are one of the created, a construct. How do we know that you were not designed to be so obedient and ready to sacrifice yourself for your masters?

Landshark emitted the sound of bitter laughter, then leaned forward as best she could while locking eyes with the Princess. "I hate my creator."

Celestia almost took a step back before checking herself. She was still trying to get used to the idea that a machine might be able to feel and think as deeply as a pony, but what she had heard in the construct's voice now was loathing on a level she'd rarely encountered before in her long life.

Landshark snapped her jaws in agitation before she continued. "He made us to preach about freedom, then turned around and created an army of slaves, meant to subjugate a people divided by our teachings! It is he who betrayed us. My loyalty to my current employers is earned, not designed." The construct seemed diminished after the outburst. "Don't talk to me about being created for a task. My people know freedom of choice better than most other mortals. If you take the oath I have chosen to swear away from me, you'll make an enemy of me."

Princess Celestia could see that she had apparently offended the strange being. Although now that it had stopped talking and was merely watching her, jaws shut, it was once more impossible to tell what it felt.

"My sister has not yet explained what she saw before you nearly died. We could attempt to repair you, Landshark. Your animating force was not diminished by your physical damage, and might yet recover from your near-death."

Landshark had no difficulty hearing the kindness and concern from Celestia's voice. Still, she was confused. "I'm sure you could, but why? What good is my health as a bargaining chip? If I live, I will recover in time. But my shell is not nearly as important as my Self, which would be diminished if I gave up the things you wish to know."

"Consider it a gift then, or if you like, an apology for offending you. I will talk to my sister and ask her not to intrude upon your dreams." There was a pause. "I have been thinking of having a way to return you to your home researched, but now I feel that perhaps you would prefer that we did not and left it at that?"

Landshark nodded. She wasn't an infallible judge of character by any means, but she didn't detect any deceit in the words of the tall equine. "Please." The construct's voice caught, and if its face had not been flat and lifeless like a doll's, Celestia might have expected to see sadness. "Let it be. I might never see my friends again, but I would not be true to our work if I failed to discourage attempts by more outsiders to enter our reality."

Celestia considered, sure that there was no use arguing right now. Besides, although she would have liked to offer an exiled being a way home, it might well be better not to take the risk. Her first instinct was to offer help, but there were long-term risks to be considered. "We'll welcome you to Equestria as long as you abide by the rules like anypony else. Perhaps you could tell me a little about yourself? Not the whole story, if you do not wish to, but perhaps there is a detail or two you do not mind sharing? In the meantime, I will send for a unicorn experienced with magical artifice, perhaps we can find a way to speed your recovery."

Landshark carefully considered what she could tell, probing her oath for any resistance to facts she might vocalize. As she did this, Princess Celestia bade one of the guards outside the chamber to go on her errand to find a unicorn with the relevant skill. That done, she turned back to face her guest expectantly.

"Landshark isn't my real name. It started as a joke, perhaps at my expense. But in my line of work we do not use real names. My colleagues protect their next of kin that way. I picked that moniker to fit in, and it is a good way to get a chuckle out of people during introductions." There was a brief pause as if the artificial being had to catch her breath before continuing. "I've had little occasion over the last decade as a soldier, but every so often I enjoy wearing elegant dresses. Wearing beautiful things was common when I was still newly crafted. I'll also need to learn about your world."

Princess Celestia smiled. The new arrival might have been inorganic, but she seemed to have a personality nuanced enough to make her seem alive. "I'm sure there are adventurous dressmakers who would be willing to work with you. And of course, if you are to stay, you should learn about our world. You can talk to us already, I'm curious whether you can read the script of our language." Remembering something else, Celestia seemed briefly uncomfortable. "Speaking of sharks, when we found you in the state you're in, there was quite a bit of dried blood ... on your teeth. Would you mind summing up in your own words what happened?"

Landshark hinged her jaw open wide. "Had a disagreement with a manticore. My long gun was not combat ready and my handgun didn't convince it to keep its distance, though I suspect it may have succumbed to the wounds later." She snapped her jaws shut again, like a bear trap, before opening her mouth just enough to speak. "I am eager to learn of your world. Perhaps I will be able to practice a peaceful trade. Make new friends, keep the memory of old friends alive. I'm not particularly ambitious."

"I do not know, but I'm sure that can be arranged, although there are some concerns about your weapons that we will address once you have recovered." Celestia made note of the fact that Landshark, for whatever reason, did not mention the ponies she had saved from death by attacking the manticore. Her subjects had fled, but alerted the local guard of a strange biped, which they had subsequently found dismantled at the site of the fight.

Landshark thought she'd offer up some knowledge of the guns she had on her – they were all badly outdated designs she'd been given or talked into buying because she'd been known as a gun nut of sorts. She had taken a shine to guns conceptually and because she'd imagined what a modern automatic firearm could have done in her original home, but her comrades had insisted that she develop an appreciation for their history also. If things had gone as planned she'd be out camping and shooting inanimate targets with a friend during their leave right now.

"They use a bit of explosive chemical to launch bits of metal. Smallest gun holds two, has to be cracked open and reloaded after that. Next handgun holds six in revolving cylinder, reloaded one chamber at a time. Long gun holds eight. Ammunition: Outer brass casing, contains chemical propellant, projectile. Casing re-usable when collected in good condition. Same projectiles for the small guns, long gun is more powerful." She was never sure if she should be amused by the little derringer, but she'd been drilled too hard on firearm safety to really feel contempt for any gun, even that one, which had been a gift.

"My comrades suggested these specific types have some historical value. We were preparing to spend a weekend camping and having some friendly competition shooting practice targets before we encountered the phenomenon that displaced me." Landshark produced a sigh. "My friend was caught in it first. I pulled her free, but was caught myself. The act of freeing my friend had injured her too badly to allow her to help me. I am not sure an organic being could have survived the transition. I did not expect to survive the phenomenon, and there was a nasty fall on this end as well."

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Quite noble of you, Landshark. But you appear, if not conventionally tough, still quite difficult to destroy permanently. What did you think you were experiencing?"

"Roaming high gravity anomaly. Relatively common in areas where reality isn't as real as we would like it. They're silent, about the size of a garbage can. You only see them by a faint ripple in the air when they move. An inexplicable pocket of disobeyed physics. Crushes all matter and leaves behind tiny spheres that are really cold to the touch, or so I'm told." Landshark paused again before commenting, "Gruesome way to go. I hope my friend was able to call for medical attention after I pulled her leg out."

Princess Celestia felt just the slightest bit queasy. "Truly? I suppose we are fortunate that we haven't encountered such in our world yet. And I think if you were expecting your destruction, you may as well count yourself lucky to be here instead, wouldn't you agree? But tell me, why suddenly so forthcoming with information about your weaponry?"

"I suppose I wanted to cooperate as far as my oath would allow me. I do experience a measure of regret for the grief I caused your sister. I do not trust the mighty, but I hold myself to a higher standard. Besides, my weapons here are old technology. My actual service weapon isn't something they just let you take on leave with you." Landshark was, to an extent, pragmatic. She accepted that it was unlikely she'd ever return home. Therefore, it would be prudent to cooperate as far as her conscience would allow to earn freedom of movement in this world. It was her deepest instinct to be free of these powerful magical equines, but she wouldn't allow herself to compromise her duty to do it. She wasn't one to trust her instincts much, in any case. "And I've told you nothing your scholars would not have established themselves, given time to inspect my equipment."

Landshark paused briefly. "You're going to let me go free?" She was surprised and her voice reflected the fact. "When I ... when I signed up with my current employers, they had me in quarantine first. Scrub for alien germs, see if my presence has any sort of negative effects on equipment or people, that sort of thing, you know? Standard procedure for cooperative Outsiders."

The Princess offered an amused smile. "Heat sterilization should be no trouble at all for the Princess of the Sun. We would also be surprised if you were able to sneak a harmful magical effect of your presence past us." She shook her head. "I would be disappointed to discover that you lied to us about being stranded here on your own, of course."

Landshark chuckled. "I may not remember the kiln of my birth," she joked, "but I can withstand a lot of heat. But some of my belongings can't. I'd appreciate it if they were handled with care." After a moment's thought, she continued. "Well, I stated that to the best of my knowledge. Everyone will think I died because my judgement that I was dealing with a lethal anomaly, while incorrect, was based on previous intelligence gleaned from similar phenomena." She attempted to shrug. Her shoulders seemed to be in better shape than her other major joints. "My people do not pursue connections to other worlds. Standard procedure would have been to secure the perimeter of the affected area, contain any strange beasts emerging from it, and protect civilian populations in the region until established normalcy has returned to the anomalous zone."

"Sensible enough. But tell me, what would have happened to you if you had not been willing to work for your last employer? After all," Celestia reasoned, "I would hardly expect you to serve me, or Equestria in general."

The construct tilted her head. That sort of knowledge wasn't classified, or at least not covered by her contract. "Depends on appearance, honestly. If they were human or near enough, we usually helped them settle in somewhere, help them integrate ... if they cooperate enough not to go around telling people where they're really from. If they look too alien they were generally offered a home somewhere out of the way." She paused. "We had a number of ways to support refugees of that sort, and we did continue keeping an eye on them, of course. But generally, if they were peaceful, they arrived accidentally, there's no reason to make their exile worse than it is, right?"

"I agree." Celestia nodded. "And although I'm sure you had voices in your organization calling for more stringent containment, I suppose it is good to know the reasonable ones are making policy. Fear of the unknown is a powerful force." The Princess seemed thoughtful. "What would you do if you did have a way home?"

"Depends on the means," Landshark explained. "If you just cast a spell and sent me over, well, I'd contact my people and make a full report on everything I saw here. If it was an actual gateway of some sort ... I'd contact my people and mark the location. I don't know what would happen then."

"No standard procedure for that case? You've used that term twice now."

Landshark shrugged again. "Not as far as I know. Stable, instantaneous and save two-way universal overlaps are not thought to be possible." She sounded amused. "Few years back the administration invited the grunts to mail in ideas how to handle it. You know, thought experiment. Probably hoped someone would come up with something pragmatic or at least shake loose an idea among the eggheads."

Celestia smiled. She was not unfamiliar with that particular term for various scholars and scientists. "Sometimes an outside perspective can be a good thing, if you aren't managing to think outside the box by yourself. Did you have an idea, then?"

"I wasn't that great at thinking outside the box then, but a guy in another section had a good one, I thought. I think he had family in the construction business. Basically if you find a gate, you secure it. By force, if something already came through. Then you just get cartloads of large rocks and other debris and send them through until there's enough of a pile on the other side to block it for solid things. Then you pour cement through the gate to fixate the pile. Finally, you wall it in on our side and fill the whole space with cement to form a stopper. See, he figured you can't start off that way as long as things can still go through the gate. Once you got the stopper set in you hopefully bought time for the smart people to figure out how to close the actual gate, and if something tries to bust through by force it'll at least take long enough to wake up any garrison forces."

Landshark paused briefly and sounded thoughtful as she continued. "I thought that was pretty good, but of course it assumes the gate isn't in mid-air somewhere, or mobile, and that nothing intangible transitions through. Really, there's a bewildering array of worst case scenarios you can think of regarding permanent, save gateways. Pressure differential, incompatible atmospheric composition, hostile micro-organisms, invasive pest species, radiation leakage, maybe the other side is in a volcano or under water ... really most people hope they stay impossible."

Princess Celestia had listened patiently, then tilted her head. "Well, I suppose fear of the unknown need not necessarily be a bad thing if you put it like that. In any case, we won't attempt to get you home or contact your reality, and I have a location in mind where you might be able to get used to life in Equestria and settle with minimal trouble among my little ponies. Minimal, not none."

"I'm looking forward to being able to walk again, most of all. Then, I should probably learn a thing or two about your people's cultural mores." Landshark generally preferred to know what constituted acceptable behavior in any group she was about to join. It was good sense, of course, but maybe it was also part of her construction to be concerned with fitting in, the better to spread her ideas. She was not a fan of the thought.

"We'll arrange all that, within reason. Just between you and me, you will be better off learning about my little ponies anywhere other than among the local nobility." Princess Celestia sound amused, but there might have been a hint of exasperation also. "For now, though, I must return to my duties. We will talk again. In the meantime, I hope you have a speedy recovery."

"Thank you. Please extend my apologies to the other Princess as well. I insist on my position but causing her anguish is not worthy of the person my friends learned to like."

Celestia sighed. "I will let her know. I wish that encounter had gone differently, but I suppose we should credit your loyalty. Farewell for now." With that, the ostentatious pony left the chamber. With the promised artificer nowhere to be seen yet, Landshark went back to sleep.