Replicated Wanderer

by QuartzScale

IV. Relate

Author's Note:

Once again thanks to FTR2017 for editing this so quickly for me. Stay awesome.

We have been walking for the better part of an hour without much incident - though I could tell how on edge everyone was. I couldn't see Starswirl’s face but his stance did say that he was tense. Rockhoof remained stone faced but the grim frown on that face said volumes of how he really felt. The yellow pegasus was in a very wide stance even though he needed to walk. He seemed ready to take off to strike whatever he could at any angle.

Taking a chance I glanced behind me and the other three got just as tense. The orange pegasus seemed to want to gallop away as fast as she could but didn't, even when I looked at her. The lilac unicorn kept her horn somewhat lit but not enough to seem threatening though she seemed shocked when I noticed. The blue pony kept her mask down making it impossible to tell what she was thinking though her steps were long and deliberate as if she was lost in thought.

‘So is this what constitutes for hospitality, or am I just that odd looking? I mean, yeah - I'm a bipedal warbot from an alternate future version of earth, but there's no need to be giving me the silent treatment at all.’ I kept moving even though I didn't really know where they were taking me - still it was better to play along in the long run. I didn't know anything about, I guess magical pony land, and if I could gain info about different topics I would at least be more wary of things around here.

---

‘What are we going to do…? It's sapient. Horseapples this is worse than I could possibly imagine. Next thing you know it'll try to take over Equestria. No! No Starswirl, calm down. It's latched on to your team as its pillars of understanding. That gives all of you the chance to get him under your thrall… no not thrall, stop thinking of it, no, him as something you can control. Reformation and any mental spells only work on organic minds. All you need to do is get him to consider being on your side. You can do it Starswirl… right?’

Starswirl immediately thought himself as the biggest plot hole in the history of plot holes, and he didn’t even know what a plot hole was... but that it felt appropriate at this point.

---

‘Well… this is something weird. A golem that is stronger than even I. Didn’t think that was possible, still, that means we have something in common. There is a chance now to grow stronger.’

Rockhoof absentmindedly nodded to himself. He was sure of his path and ready to follow through on the path he decided on.

---

‘Brave for a golem. Then again I doubt it would actually know what true bravery was. From all those times Starswirl lectured us on the practicality of golems on the battlefield I doubt it would actually know what fear truly was. Still… maybe finally I can get some of the other pegasi trained to fight against golems. The Crystal Empire still has stubborn problem with keeping their idiot politicians from trying to expand deeper into Equestria.’

Flash Magnus immediately flapped his wings and kept at a personable hovering height. His excitement was as palpable as his need to keep flying.

---

‘His armor is healing… he is healing in the sunlight. The golem has now shown more than I thought was possible. He runs off the energy of the sun. He is able to hold a monumental amount of weight from crushing him and anyone under his protection. He has an arm mounted weapon capable of firing blasts of light comparable to the sun. Somehow he is capable of exploring locations and finding his way through labyrinthian proportions. This makes him both a danger to all ponykind and a commodity that could be used for its betterment if we can bridge the gap between us.’

Meadowbrook kept her emotions hidden beneath her mask but the smile that adorned her face was looking forward to the attempt at making a new ally.

---

‘Magic is not flowing off of him. All of my aura detecting spells sense no amount of mana off of him. Still the form he wears is very streamlined. Capable of great feats of strength as he towers over all of us. Even Rockhoof barely reaches his shoulder. He is no minotaur either. What is he?’

Mistmane pondered over the ramifications that the new being before them held. She was excited and slightly scared of what this all meant - but there was always a certain beauty to a new mystery to uncover.

---

‘We must remain wary. This figure is so different than any other being we have ever met in our life. I may be hopeful but… I don’t want to let my heart be hurt again. Stygian left too big a mark. Starswirl is certain that he was trying to steal our powers but… I hope he is wrong. I hope he will come back to us one day to reconcile what he was doing. I should give this ‘X’ the benefit of the doubt. I cannot let fear destroy the hope I feel for a new being to earn our trust. He has complied with following us back and that means he is understanding. I’m sure of it.’

Somnambula smiled to herself keeping that flame of hope burning brightly within her heart. She would not be deterred by the perceived betrayal she felt. There was a reason and she was sure time would reveal it all.

---

‘Damn it all to Tartarus. That plan was not sufficient enough. Still new things were learned all around at the very least. Still… he was found by the pillars, and that will be harder to turn things to my advantage. While I am the spirit of chaos and disharmony, my powers are still a bit too weak for my tastes. I still haven’t been able to change the very environment around me to my liking. There’s enough chaos as is but so far there hasn’t been something created to balance me out. How strange that I would need something like that to fully exercise my full power. Still… that means that there is still further I could go. That blasted… golem, I think, managed to hurt me and that is something that can never be forgiven at all. Petty? Maybe. Doesn’t matter. I’ll crack that toy for daring to play back.’

Discord cracked his paw and talons before snapping once again. He needed to create a pocket dimension for now at the very least. With the pillars still around it would be difficult to truly manage to have as much fun as he possibly wanted. They did far too well in banishing those idiot sirens. What the buck were their names anyways? Didn’t matter to him in the least at the very least. He needed to plan his next move on that blasted X.

---

‘We have been at it for days Shadow. What are we looking for?’

‘There are creatures of shadow that we must drain slightly. Even now we are still too weak to face all the pillars without being dragged into limbo. I will not permit us to be taken without a fight. To do that we must gain more strength.’

‘This is slightly frustrating though. What are changelings? Why not just gather strength from the wastelands beyond the Ghastly Caverns? Or even the island out closest to Griffonstone where dragons enjoy striking for their own amusement? Even the Crystal Wastes to the north probably hold more darkness. It’s frustrating to look for myths.’

‘I assure you that they are no mere myths. They - like the Nightmares, the Umbrum, and the Stormlings - are true beings out in the wide world. Even beyond what you and your former associates know of. Changelings are merely the easiest to filter darkness out of. Their screams will fill us with more power than you would ever think possible.’

‘I suppose. Still, the Badlands have been completely barren for the last couple of hours. We would have more luck finding things to feed my power deep within that jungle, or even battling the Arimaspis that live on the mountain due west of us.’

‘Another day, trust in me friend.’

The Pony of Shadows ‘consulted’ his other half. In truth, the entity was slowly eating away at the pony’s sense of self. While he was fully entranced into darkness there were still doubts and fears breaking through the two becoming more than they could be. It would take time but eventually it would be strong enough to not be overwhelmed by useless emotions. It carefully treaded around the topic as the shadows fully explored the badlands to their fullest.

---

If I had to think about it logically... it felt as though everyone here was frustrated. We could probably relate to each other through our mutual confusion.They knew nothing of me and I certainly knew nothing of them. It’s quick, but everytime I glance in their general direction or peer at them from the corner of my eyes, I can tell. I was never good at reading others - my uncle especially - but these ponies wear their emotions on their ears. Almost all of them were pointed down and each were either scowling, staring, or furrowing their brows. The only mysterious one was the mask wearing one.

My own examinations only came in small bursts but after three or four days in this realm... I think I’ve identified four different sapient species.

Whatever that creature in the forest was was probably something I would never understand in the long run.

The winged one were pegasus-like so that would probably be their catch-all term, even though I’m still confused on how they are flying, especially the one with armor.

The ones with horns are obviously a homage to unicorns though the female one behind me actually has a curved horn for some reason. Also their hair looks to be moving on its own. Magic was a thing, huh? Well I can’t be dreaming if the worm managed to hurt me back within those caverns.

Finally there were regular ponies though they had the strangest abilities out of the rest. The big guy, Rockhoof I think, was far bigger than a pony should be. Maybe he would be the only horse like creature… maybe. The mask wearing one I could have sworn teleported somehow and even that is pushing it; even if she actually disappeared from my sensors for a moment and reappeared back in the caverns.

All in all this trek gave me time to check on other things. The weapons archive was finally done activating and the seal was undone.

=Weapon Archive Unlocked=
=Releasing Series One Seal: Eight Armaments Unlocked
-Fire Wave: Flame Mammoth Module unlocked
-Shotgun Ice: Chill Penguin Module unlocked
-Electric Spark: Spark Mandrill Module unlocked
-Rolling Shield: Armored Armadillo Module unlocked
-Homing Torpedo: Launch Octopus Module unlocked
-Boomerang Cutter: Boomer Kuwanger Module unlocked
-Chameleon Sting: Sting Chameleon Module unlocked
-Storm Tornado: Storm Eagle Module unlocked
=Weapon Capabilities Series One Cannon Upgrade
=Arm Cannon Upgrade… Searching… Searching… =
=Downloading: In Progress=
=Weapon Limiter - TBD=
=ETA:15 Hours=
=Armor Synthesis: In Progress=

“We’re here… X, if you please follow me. Welcome to our humble home. We need to show you to the guard we have on staff for now, to make sure they don’t try anything stupid.” Starswirl explained as he opened the door.

Surprisingly, the stone floors were polished to a lustrous shine as several guards seemed to stand at attention. The ones who saw me immediately raised their weapons - which were an assortment of spears, swords, shields and crossbows - until Rockhoof and the amber colored pegasus raised their hooves to stop them. I really need to figure out all their names eventually. The unicorns I seemed to know, since the unicorn mare seemed to be called Mistmane, while the stallion was called Starswirl.

“But Sir!”

Some random guards started saying a lot of racially bias things which made me quirk an eyebrow. As far as I could see a lot of ponies were basing their opinions off of my appearance. At the very least I thought they were when I realized just what they were actually saying.

“A golem! Are you mad!? They always go insane!”

“Hurry! We must deactivate it before it goes the same route as Raven Scar!”

“It’s looking at me funny…”

“Another golem! I can’t do it! I just can’t!”

Right then… looks as though I’m in a very bad spot. All I have to do is keep my arms down and not get dragged into a dangerous fight. I would be in a very bad position in the long run, as I haven’t even managed to unlock my first armor set and the buster enhancements would make it so I could turn intangible or generate a shield… not to mention that my sensors haven’t even managed to find the next pod either. I don’t need more enemies around me - like that lizard bird pony thing in the forest. I think having one is enough and I still haven’t sensed him around me since that night.

“ENOUGH!” Rockhoof immediately slammed his hoof down, silencing every single pony in the room and forcing them to attention once again. The floor had a large crack reaching the walls which I think was a thirty foot range. “You will all conduct yourself as one of the guards chosen for our new burgeoning kingdom. You were chosen under careful consideration by Commander Hurricane, Princess Platinum and Chancellor Puddinghead to be the best of the best and not a roving band of barbarians!”

Several of the guards flinched at the mention of those three for some reason. The ones with wings nearly curled said wings at the mention of this Commander. The Unicorns held their horns at the mention of the princess and the regular ponies curved their hooves at the chancellor.

At the very least, this unpleasant scene is giving me plenty of information on the inner workings of the government without me having to appear too ignorant, or gain antipathy by asking them openly.

Even at this point I had to think further on the cries the guards gave. Raven Scar was a golem apparently but it had a name… they also talked about it as if it were dead. I’ve read enough about the inner working of robotics to see that they probably did something stupid that made whatever created life they had turn against their masters. It was something I saw within the Megaman series as I played through it. While I will always contend that the X series was my favorite I also knew more of the lore in it.

The Maverick Wars, in story, were some of the most destructive conflicts within the entire series with the Zero series being the only thing that reached that level of horror. That game explicitly spelled out that over ninety percent of all reploids and seventy percent of all humanity was wiped out before that first game was even released. Those numbers would be in the billions on both sides depending on how advanced those worlds got.

“He is a golem but he is under my control. It is a project I was working on for several weeks already. Golem please stand before me.” Starswirl commanded me.

I was lucky that I found out I could dampen my emotions enough to not show how bad an idea this was. I wanted to immediately kick his ass right then and there for improvising without consulting with me… but with a robotic brain dictating my thought processes I had to conclude that it was a decent plan to keep ponies from trying to pick fights with me. The sensors in my head also found that all six of the ponies who found me had actually seized up. While I couldn’t see the ones behind me, the ones in front were frozen in complete worry. I took a few steps in front of Starswirl and saluted him. It was best I didn’t talk yet.

“You see. He is perfectly safe and not one of those… other ones we’ve dealt with. His designation is X, and he will listen to me and the pillars and only us.” Starswirl was sweating at this point.

I really doubt that improvisation was something unicorns were comfortable with - if the deep concern and worry in Starswirl’s eyes was anything to go by. I think he could tell I wasn’t exactly happy with this development.

---

‘Damn it! Damn it! Starswirl you flankhole! Why didn’t you think before you opened your mouth!? He doesn’t look pleased at all! Please… please be understanding, X. At this point we can at the very least keep the ponies on your side - even with their bad blood with golems in the past.’

---

I mentally sighed at this point. I needed to find more of those pods that would deliver me weaponry to deal with any threats and armor to keep from being ‘destroyed’. It was working as several ponies seemed to ease themselves back down. They still gripped their weapons to make certain that nothing bad would happen.

When my eye looked over their weapons though I felt something deep within cringe in horror. Their weapons were horribly maintained… so many chips and cracks. How did they fall to ruin so badly? I have to fix those mistakes. I must fix those mistakes that they call weapons - so goddamn horrible to look at.

My inner blacksmith, as my uncle would call it, demanded that these mistakes be fixed up.

“How can we trust that it not go rogue? Don’t you remember what happened with all the others we’ve faced? Raven Scar nearly killed your apprentice Starswirl! How could you forget about the terrors of the Lavan and Charlatan golems that were created. They managed to nearly destroy several landmarks of Dream Valley before they were stopped.” A large grey regular pony with very heavy armor stepped up confronting the pillars.

This one seemed to have seen a lot of bad things in life, judging by the thousand yard stare in his eyes - and they were locked on me intently. I could see the horror deep within him - which made me more than curious about the golems that were created. It sounded almost exactly like the mavericks in some case but at the same time it sounded different.

A blip appeared in my sensors again as I tipped my head slightly. It was faint but off in the corner of the main hall of this fortress was a very tiny pair of eyes staring at me, each a sickly yellow with red dots watching me closely.

I knew he would come for some reason. I don’t know how, but I could feel the logic centers of my brain try to drill into my brain the fact and warning that he was always watching me. The guard noticed me not looking at them anymore and peered into the corner I was staring at. He dismissed it immediately.

“This golem is looking at the ceiling for some reason… I think it’s trying something funny…” Another guard clutched his weapon tighter as the heavy armored pony stepped forward as well.

“ENOUGH! We shall handle all this. All guards back to your positions now!” Rockhoof ordered with another stomp getting every single pony aside from the armored one. He gave me in particular one more harsh glare which I didn’t react to, otherwise all the work already set in place would go to waste.

And sure enough all I could see was frustration on everyone’s faces that matched and in some cases exceed even my own by country miles. Throughout that, all I was certain was this: I could hear cackling come from Discord… loud enough to be heard for miles with only me privy to his existence...

Comments

[Status L]

Good story.