The Twin Technomancers

by Phantomdust

Chapter 4

Reading up on Equestrian history and law took the three of them all day. By the time they were finished it was already time for dinner. Dinner went quick that night. After spending another four days discussing it and getting to know the princesses, Pixel, Gerhardt, and Alexander all finally came to a decision. That night they spoke to the Princesses and agreed to become royalty. Alexander then spent some time discussing it with the Princesses and determined a date to hold the announcement. They also determined that despite his age they would be adopting him as a nephew rather than the other way around.

Of course upon hearing that they had accepted and the date of the announcement Prince Blueblood insisted on taking all three of them to a tailor to get outfits made. They were currently waiting for him at the entrance of the castle.

“Oh cheer up would you? It’s not that bad. In fact I’m sure it will be really fun!” Pixel said to Gerhardt.

“‘Fun’… Right… Just like stabbing myself in the eye with a hot soldering iron would be ‘fun’…” Gerhardt scoffed. “I fail to see the issue with the robes the Church of Science and Technology gave us. They’re functional, they look just fine, and more importantly they are what all of our siblings in the Human Kingdom wear.”

“Not always.” Alexander stated. “You’ve never been to any as you are much too young but there are certain ceremonies in the Church that require more formal attire from all of our siblings who attend. Granted that more formal attire is just fancier and more ornate versions of what we normally wear, but that’s besides the point. So just think of it like that.”

“Hm…” Gerhardt grumbled bitterly. He was genuinely embarrassed that he was acting like this but he didn’t want to tell either of his siblings the real reason behind his reluctance to go get clothes tailored for them. Ever since they were ambushed by Silvanus’s children in the middle of the streets and he had to watch his father die in front of him he absolutely hated being out in public. He just didn’t feel safe whenever he was walking through the streets of a city. In fact he was absolutely terrified at the moment, especially with Alexander being blinded and thus incapable of protecting him and Pixel if they were attacked. But he was trying his best not to show how scared he was. Ever since their father died he always tried to put on a brave face for Pixel.

Pixel was similar in that she was also trying to put on a brave face for Gerhardt. She was also just as scared of going out in public as he was, she was simply better at hiding it than he was. She was able to run a simulation in her head of exactly how she should act if she didn’t have her fear of going out into public and could force her body to follow that simulation perfectly, giving her a distinct advantage that Gerhardt lacked. However, ever since they were attacked by Viridios in their workshop she didn’t exactly feel safe there either. Unlike Gerhardt who preferred to keep his emotions to himself she was actually considering talking to Alexander about it. Specifically she was considering talking to him about how she didn’t feel safe in the workshop any more, she didn’t want to bother him about something so situational as her fear of going out into public since that was a fairly rare occurrence for any of them.

Eventually Prince Blueblood entered the castle and walked over to them. “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting for too long. I’ve already spoken to the tailor and confirmed that they have a few design sketches ready to show you. They are currently waiting for us.”

“Thank you, Blueblood. Your help in getting us in contact with this tailor is most appreciated.” Alexander said in a polite tone.

“But of course. You will be becoming royalty soon. It wouldn’t do for the three of you to show up to the ceremony in such pedestrian attire. It would be an embarrassment to the entire royal line… And as I told you before I can personally vouch for this designer, she is the one I go to for all of my own clothes.” Blueblood explained. “Now I suppose we should be on our way. Just follow me. I’ll lead you there.”

Alexander, Gerhardt, and Pixel then all began following Blueblood through Canterlot. Both Pixel and Gerhardt grabbed parts of Alexander’s robe with telekinesis and led him through the city like that.

As they exited the castle grounds Gerhardt immediately went on guard and kept looking around, searching for any sign of danger. His heart was pounding furiously in his chest from panic. It was a struggle to attempt to keep himself from tearing up. Images of vines and roots shooting up from the ground and attempting to grab him and Pixel and later tearing their father to pieces flashed through his mind. He could practically still hear the screams of the crowd, Pixel’s screams, and their father shouting at them to run away before cutting to screams of agony. The scent of blood mixed with the almost suffocatingly overpowering and nauseatingly cloying scent of flowers, the coppery taste of his own blood, the terrible pain of his wounds, all of it came flooding back to him as they continued walking through the crowds of staring ponies.

“You, uh… Forgive me, I’m still trying to memorize your names… Gear heart?” Blueblood inquired.

“It’s Gerhardt.” Alexander corrected.

“Ah, thank you. Gerhardt. Are you alright? You look shaken by something.” Blueblood asked.

“Huh? Oh… I’m fine…” Gerhardt muttered.

Blueblood raised an eyebrow at that and said, “You’re trembling quite visibly.”

“I said I’m fine!” Gerhardt snapped. He then took a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you like that. Let’s just keep moving.”

“Hm… Very well…” Blueblood said. He then leaned over to Alexander and asked. “I believe I don’t need to state how obvious it is that he is most definitely not alright. If I may ask, why does he seem so scared?”

“Scared?” Alexander asked in confusion, whispering back to Blueblood. “I honestly have no idea. He’s never acted scared before as far as I’m aware so to my knowledge this is a first… It could be any number of things.”

Alexander was telling the truth. He had never once seen either of the twins act scared before, the only exception being the day they were attacked by Viridios. He had been in another country on business for the Church during the month they had been attacked and their father was murdered. So he hadn’t been present at any time that the twins had to leave the church and go into public for their father’s funeral. As such he hadn’t seen either of their behaviour in public around that time and they hadn’t left the premises of the Grand Cathedral ever since. So he never had the opportunity to see their behavior in public before and thus genuinely had no idea about their fear.

“I see… Well you do realize that I’m going to have to bring it up to Aunt Celestia and Aunt Luna.” Blueblood whispered back.

“I understand and I suppose I can’t stop you, but believe me when I say I will be looking into this myself as soon as we get back to the castle. My younger siblings' safety and wellbeing is my number one priority.” Alexander responded.

“Very good. I would expect nothing less.” Blueblood stated, no longer whispering. After that he picked up the pace a little trying to get them to the designer as quickly as possible.

As soon as they arrived Gerhardt and Pixel were both presented with three sketches each, all of them displaying different designs for clothes. Gerhardt picked the simplest and most basic looking one while Pixel picked the one she thought looked the prettiest.

Being blind Alexander couldn’t exactly see the sketches to pick the design he liked the best so he ultimately left it up to the designer herself. Finally seeing him in person and now having an idea of what he actually looked like and having been given free reign to make whatever she wanted for him the designer decided to scrap the original three designs she made for Alexander and make a new one she thought would suit him better.

After that the designer quickly measured all three of them and wrote the measurements down for future reference. Once that was all settled, not wanting to walk through the city again, Gerhardt just teleported them all back to the castle.

After saying goodbye Blueblood immediately turned and left, heading straight for the throne room to speak with Celestia.

As soon as he was gone Alexander said, “Alright. What the hell was that?”

“What do you mean?” Pixel inquired in confusion.

“I mean, why were you acting so scared out there, Gerhardt?” Alexander inquired.

“I don’t know what you're talking about.” Gerhardt lied.

“Gerhardt, don’t lie to me. Something is very clearly wrong.” Alexander stated.

Gerhardt remained silent.

Alexander sighed. “Gerhardt, you know you can talk to me about anything. I won’t judge you. Or do you just not trust me enough to talk about it even after all this time?”

“I trust you…” Gerhardt muttered.

“Then why won’t you tell me what’s wrong?” Alexander inquired. “I can’t help you if I don’t know what the problem is.”

“I think I might know.” Pixel stated.

Alexander turned his head in her direction. “Oh?”

“Mhm… I think I might know because I think I might have the same problem… But, um… I don’t want to bother you and I don’t think Gerhardt does either.” Pixel explained.

“Well, now I’m worried about both of you. So now you’re bothering me more by not telling me than you would if you told me.” Alexander said, trying to be as patient as possible.

“Alright… I’m afraid of going out into public. Specifically, being in large crowds of people on the street scares me. I think Gerhardt might be the same. Right?” Pixel asked, looking at Gerhardt.

Gerhardt said nothing but eventually just looked at the ground and nodded.

“I thought so. He just nodded.” Pixel informed Alexander.

“Alright… You should have told me sooner. If I had known I would have requested to have the tailor come to meet us here rather than the other way around… Well, it’s too late now. So, would either of you mind explaining to me why you’re afraid of going out?” Alexander inquired.

“Remember how our father died?” Pixel inquired.

“Uh… Give me a moment to recall… I think it was our sister Nora who told me…? Ah! You were ambushed by Silvanus’s children. Sorry, Nora didn’t really give me very many details and what few she did were rather vague so that’s all I really know.” Alexander said.

“Well, that’s correct, if lacking in a lot of details. Daddy’s car had something wrong with it that he couldn’t fix on the spot so we had to walk home. But while we were walking we were surrounded and attacked on the streets in the middle of a big crowd.” Pixel explained.

Alexander frowned. “I see… It sounds like they set the entire thing up. A car is a fairly simple device so a technomancer like your father should have had no trouble fixing it even in the middle of a parking lot. For him to not have been able to fix it suggests the damage to the engine must have been extensive. I suspect it was intentionally sabotaged by them to force you to walk home so they could ambush you at a strategically viable location… Bastards… And I assume this event left you two with lingering trauma resulting in your fear of going out into public… Fuck… Alright… Well, I have no idea how to deal with this. I might ask the Princesses for advice during dinner tonight. For now, if you have any more issues like this please tell me immediately so I can try to help you and so I can avoid putting you in uncomfortable situations.”

“Okay… I’m not sure about Gerhardt, but after we were attacked by Viridios in our workshop I don’t really feel safe there anymore either…” Pixel stated.

“Good to know. What do you think could help you feel safer there? Built in defenses? Automated turrets? Combat golems guarding it? Actual guards? We spend a lot of time there so you should feel safer there than anywhere else. The fact you don’t is a problem.” Alexander asked.

“I don’t know…” Pixel muttered uncertainly.

Alexander sighed. “Alright, we’ll work on finding a solution then. What about you, Gerhardt? Do you feel unsafe in our workshop as well?”

“No.” Gerhardt stated.

“So it’s just Pixel then. That’s fine. For now, Pixel, I’ll let you take a few tools and materials into your room. You can work there. Just try not to damage anything or make too much noise, and remember to clean up after you're finished working. Understood?” Alexander inquired.

“Mhm.” Pixel hummed in confirmation.

“Good. Seeing as you two have had a rather stressful day, how about we take a break to relax for the rest of today?” Alexander suggested.

They then did as Alexander suggested and spent the rest of the day resting. Eventually the sun began to set and it was finally dinner time. As Alexander, Pixel, and Gerhardt sat down at the dining table Celestia started their conversation by saying. “So, Blueblood came to me a few hours ago and informed me that something occurred on your way to the designer today.”

Alexander nodded. “Yes, indeed… I was actually going to ask for your help with that because I honestly have no idea what to do.”

“I’m sorry, but what’s this issue? I was asleep so I’m a bit out of the loop.” Princess Luna asked groggily.

“It would appear that Gerhardt and Pixel both have some lingering trauma from witnessing their father’s murder at the hands of Silvanus’s children. Apparently it made them terrified of being out in public. Specifically being in large crowds in the middle of the street as that’s where they were ambushed and attacked. I honestly had no idea about this until today as we have never left the grounds of the Grand Cathedral ever since I first met them and they never told me. I have absolutely no idea what to do to help them. I was hoping one of you might have some ideas.” Alexander explained.

Celestia gave him a deadpan stare. “You’re ninety three thousand years old and you don’t know what to do in this situation? Seriously?”

Alexander shrugged. “I don’t know what you expect. I usually left dealing with this sort of issue to the Church. I don’t actually have any personal experience helping others through it myself.”

Celestia slapped a hoof against her face before sighing in exasperation. “Why am I not surprised…? Alright. What we need to do is have both of them speak to a therapist. I’ll try to get that scheduled tomorrow. For now, just avoid bringing them back outside the castle grounds. Understood?”

“Perfectly. Thank you Princess.” Alexander said gratefully.

Celestia smiled at him. “Of course.”

[Elsewhere]

Viridios grimaced as he took his afternoon painkillers. “Gods above, that’s vile.” He muttered after swallowing the concoction. Setting down the now half empty clay bottle, he turned and walked back outside. Looking around he decided it was a beautiful day for a walk. He had gathered enough supplies to last him several days at this point so he didn’t need to go out to collect any more for at least another day or two, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t go for a simple walk.

Right as he was about to start his walk however he was stopped in his tracks as someone unexpected appeared before him. “Hello, son.” Silvanus greeted him with a warm fatherly smile. Unlike Viridios he was still in the form he usually took. He wore a green robe made from plants, had long green hair and a beard that were reminiscent of vines, grassy green eyes, pointed ears, and very pale almost glowing skin similar to that Viridios had in his elven form.

“Hello, father. I was about to go for a walk, but—” Viridios said, only for Silvanus to cut him off.

“Ah, that’s fine. Would you mind if I joined you?”

Viridios shook his head. “Of course not. I would love for you to join me.” He said before proceeding to start walking off into the forest. Silvanus followed closely alongside him.

“So, father, I hope you don’t mind me asking but why do you look like that? Shouldn’t your form have changed upon coming to this world as well?”

Silvanus chuckled. “Tsk, tsk… I thought you of all my children would know by now that gods can take whatever form we choose. I choose to look like this, thus I do. Granted, I will admit I can sense this universe’s magic trying to force me to change to a form very similar to your own. But it’s influence isn’t strong enough to forcefully alter my shape against my will. Why? Would you prefer it if I took a form similar to your current form?”

Viridios shook his head. “No, you can use whatever form you wish. I was simply confused as it had forced me into this form the moment I arrived, and it appeared to do the same to Scientia’s children as well.”

“Ugh… What have I told you about mentioning that name around me?” Silvanus asked in a stern tone.

“I’m sorry, father. I realize your hatred for her. I was merely attempting to explain my confusion to the best of my abilities.” Viridios apologized.

“It’s fine… You know I can’t stay mad at you for something so small. Just try to be aware in the future.” Silvanus told him.

“Of course, father… Er… I have a few other questions, if I may?”

Silvanus smiled at him. “Of course. I am more than happy to answer any questions you may have for me. Within reason, of course. I do have to abide by the rules after all.”

“Where are we? Is there a way back? And what business do you have here?” Viridios inquired.

“Hm… I was expecting you to ask those one at a time but it’s fine. To answer your first question, we’re in another universe completely unconnected to your universe. To answer your second question, that depends. Does such a way back exist currently? No. Could it exist currently? Also no. as the universes are unconnected. Could the universes be connected and could a way back exist in the very near future? Most likely. That brings me to your third question. You see, us gods had no idea this universe even existed. That was until you and those you were trying to kill ended up here in a freak accident.”

This confused Viridios greatly. “You didn’t know it existed? How could you not have known it existed? I thought all gods were omniscient?”

Silvanus shook his head. “Yes and no. We very much could be truly omniscient if we wanted to, but we are not. This is for two… maybe three reasons. For one, other gods from other pantheons dislike it when forgine gods look in on their universes. So there is an agreement amongst the pantheons to limit our knowledge of universes outside of our direct control. As a result we don’t know all of the infinite number of universes that exist. Second, omniscience is hellishly boring. You are quite intelligent so I’m sure you can imagine why. So we discard some of it for entertainment. Third… Well, there are certain things even us gods do not wish to know.”

“I see… But that doesn’t really answer the question of what business you have here.” Viridios stated.

“True, I suppose… Well, now that we know this universe exists and that no other pantheon has claimed ownership of it our pantheon will be claiming it for ourselves. I’m not actually the first to come here, as much as I wish I was. Other gods have already visited this and other planets. I’m merely the first to visit this particular continent, and I most certainly won’t be the last.” Silvanus explained in a matter of fact tone. “As for why I’m visiting you, I just want to say how proud I am of you. Even if you failed to kill those disgusting abominations you still fought quite well. I also wished to inform you that several of your siblings have been asking as to your whereabouts. When I told them, a few wished for me to send them here so they could be with you. But I wanted to leave at least part of the decision up to you. Would you like for me to bring a few of your siblings here? I’m sure it must be at least a bit lonely being here all by yourself.”

Viridios was silent for a moment as he thought about it. “Would it be safer for any of them here?” He inquired.

“Hm… Yes and no. On the one hand the majority of the bastards of that mechanical whore aren’t here to try to kill them. On the other hand, there is a chance that she will send a few more of her children here as I might. Why?” Silvanus inquired.

“You know why. I’ve never been a fan of violence and I simply want what’s best for my siblings. Especially the youngest.” Viridios stated.

“I see… Well, if I could offer a bit of advice? I do believe Alice would be safer here with you, if no one else. The mechanical abominations attempts on her life have been growing in intensity in recent days, and she does care for you quite a lot. And it may help to have one or two of your other siblings here to help defend her in the event more of that metal bitch’s children end up coming here.” Silvanus suggested.

Viridios sighed. “Fine… If she would be safer with me, I can look after her. I suppose I could accept two more as well. How about… Weiss and Flora? I get along with them quite well and I believe they could be a good influence on Alice considering they haven’t fallen victim to Accidia Immortalium just yet. A better influence than myself for sure… That is, if they are okay with the idea. I don’t want to force them into anything.” There was another reason he chose Weiss and Flora that he left unsaid. They were both some of the least violent members of the family and were thus the least likely to go picking a fight with Scientia’s children unnecessarily, but weren’t pacifists by any means and could thus defend themselves and Alice should it come to that. Viridios hoped that choosing less violent members of the family would mitigate future conflict in this universe. However, he knew that ultimately the future peace or violence depended upon how aggressive Scientia’s children were towards them.

“They were actually two of those who were requesting to be sent here so I believe they will be quite alright with the idea.” Silvanus stated, coming to a stop.

Confused as to why they were stopping, Viridios turned and looked back at Silvanus who was now holding a hand out to the side. Suddenly a little filly with wings and a horn walked out from behind Silvanus in confusion. She had a mane and tail the color of kelp, ocean blue fur, eyes that were the color of coral, and a symbol of a wave on her rump. Not even a moment later two other fully grown Alicorns walked out from behind a couple trees. One had a pure white ethereal mane and tail vaguely resembling clouds, grey fur, sky blue eyes, and a symbol of a storm cloud flashing with lightning on his rump. The final one had a red ethereal mane and tail the color of roses that resembled flower petals blowing in the wind, pinkish fur the color of tulips, violet eyes, and a symbol of a blooming rose on her rump.

“Where am I?” Muttered the filly who then looked around and spotted everyone else. “Daddy? What’s going on? Why are you so big? What are these creatures?”

“Your siblings, my dear. The one in front of you is Viridios. That’s Flora and that’s Weiss. The magic in this universe, and yes you are in another universe, seems to alter the form of anyone who comes here. Even you aren’t unaffected. Just take a look at yourself.” Silvanus explained.

Alice didn’t even bother looking at herself and instead immediately bounded over to Viridios. “Big brother!” As soon as she got close enough she immediately wrapped her forelimbs around one of Viridios’s legs.

Viridios smiled at her and patted her on the back. “Hello, little one. I’m happy to see you again as well, even if it is in an unfamiliar form.”

“Well… This has got to be the weirdest thing I’ve ever experienced…” Weiss stated looking at himself curiously.

“What, never changed forms before?” Flora inquired jokingly.

“You joke but no. Not even once. I simply never had a reason to. So this is a first for me… Gods above it's going to be hard getting used to not having hands any more…” Weiss stated, looking at the hooves where his hands used to be.

“It’s not that hard, honestly.” Viridios told him. “Just give it a day or two. You’ll adjust in no time.”

Silvanus smiled at all of them. “I’m glad to see you all seem to be alright with this arrangement. Now, I’m afraid I must be going. The discovery of this universe has made me quite busy.”

Viridios nodded. “Very well. Goodbye father. I hope to see you again soon.”

“I’ll try to make time to visit again soon, but we’ll have to see. Goodbye.” Silvanus said before seeming to blink out of existence as if he had never been there to begin with.

Once Silvanus was gone Viridios said, “Well, that wasn’t a very long walk but it will have to do.” He then teleported all four of them back to his hut. “I’m sorry it’s not a bit larger. I wasn’t expecting anyone to come stay here with me. I’ll help you all make your own huts if you wish.”

“Nah, I’m fine. I’d rather make my own. No offense, your little hut is nice but it's just a bit lacking in color for my tastes.” Flora stated.

“Actually, I believe it would be best if we took down your current hut and made a house in its place. That way we could all have our own rooms but save a bit more space than we could if we all had individual huts to ourselves.” Weiss suggested.

“I suppose that’s a decent idea. Fine. Let me just get my things out of my hut first. Before you ask, I didn’t have time to make much. All I have is a few clay pots, dishes and cookware, some food, some drinking water, and a bit of medicine.” Viridios explained as he headed into his hut and started levitating things out.

“Um, speaking of medicine, you look hurt… What happened?” Alice inquired.

“Ah, nothing. Just some wounds from my most recent battle with the children of the machine. Nothing to worry about. They’ll heal up in a month or two. Might leave a scar or two for a while but even those will fade in time. They hurt like hell so every few hours I need to take some painkillers I made, but I’ll live.” Viridios explained.

“Painkillers huh? The non-addictive kind, I hope?” Weiss stated.

“Oh bite me, Weiss. I’m in pain but I’m not fucking stupid…” Viridios grumbled. He almost wished they were the addictive kind since those tended to be quite a bit more powerful than non-addictive painkillers. The painkillers he made didn’t get rid of the pain entirely, they just lessened it a bit. It was still very painful.

Weiss chuckled at this. “Ah, good. We wouldn’t want our big brother being a negative influence on little Alice now would we?” Viridios snorted at this and threw an empty basket at Weiss. Weiss caught the basket with telekinesis before it could hit him and set it down on the ground next to him.

“By father, I forgot how annoying you can be.” Viridios stated. He then chuckled and said, “I missed you, little brother… How long has it been again? Fifty, maybe sixty years?”

“Just a little over a century if my memory serves correctly. Way too long.” Weiss sighed.

“That long? Gods, where has the time gone?” Viridios muttered. “And what about you, Flora? How long has it been since we last saw each other?”

“Not quite as long. Just thirty years. I tried to come visit you a few times but… Well… Things happen.” Flora stated. “Hey, would you mind if I used a few of these flowers to make my room?”

“Uh… Sure. Just avoid that big purple one. I don’t know how rare it really is but it's the only one of its kind I’ve seen in this forest so far. So I want to be careful with it and see if I can’t get it to produce a few seeds for me to plant.” Viridios said and he levitated the last few things out of his hut.

Flora frowned slightly. “Aw… That’s the prettiest one too… Oh well, I guess. Thanks, Viridios. I’ll help you collect some more flowers later to replace the ones I use.”

“That would be appreciated.” Viridios stated before casting a spell. Suddenly the hut began to wither and die before crumbling to pieces. “Now, shall we get started on this house?”

Author's Note:

Sorry this chapter took so long. Anyways, with the gods becoming interested in the MLP universe I finally set up some interesting conflicts for the future. Other kingdoms getting demigods of their own, for example. I'm pretty excited because I think I have a pretty fun idea in the works. Only time will tell if the idea will be as good as it is in my head but we'll see!

Fun Fact: Silvanus's children often smell like flowers. There are occasionally exceptions that can smell like rain, the ocean, or other pleasant natural scents, but most of them smell like flowers. So that overpowering smell of flowers that Gerhardt remembers was because there were multiple of them in one place. On the other hand Scientia's children usually smell like metal, oil, ozone, smog, or other such things. However that's not so much because they naturally produce such smells as it is a side effect of working with machines.

Anyways, as always, constructive criticism is more than welcome. Please, tell me what you guys thought of this chapter and how you think I could improve if at all. I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter as much if not more than I enjoyed writing it!

Stay safe out there everyone!

Comments

[Wereowl9]

hey are you still writing this story?

[Phantomdust]

11189398
Yeah. Sorry it's taking so long. Like my blog says, I've been trying to focus on wine school and getting a job. That being said, I'll try to get the next chapter out within the next week.