The tale Gears, an intelligent construct abandoned in an ancient mine, as he is brought into modern Equestrian society.
Sentience. A trait possessed only by intelligent creatures. A trait thought impossible to find in any automaton, even with the most cutting-edge technology and the most advanced magics. A trait that, when mixed with immortality and solitude, can make someone quite the weapon. A weapon which a pony would do anything to get.
Princess Cadence feels a surge of powerful magic energy coming from the lower crystal wilds and, feeling concerned for the well being of her subjects, asks for help from the Princesses, who in turn send out the elements of harmony to investigate. What they find is what nobody could have ever expected.
This story takes place right after king Sombra's defeat, so Twilight is not a princess.
If one were to ever enter the Leviathan caverns, they would be met with the most beautiful architecture to ever be seen. They would be met with huge open spaces, filled with bridges and buildings. They would see that a vast majority of the numerous gigantic caves that the system had been named for (that is, back when the area was settled) had been filled with excess stone, minerals, dirt and clay that currently lacked a use, and for much of the stone and dirt, that would be forever, and new spaces, spaces deemed perfect by their creator, spaces that were regularly maintained, spaces that were filled with a special type of beauty that had only ever seen the light of its keeper's glow, took their places, though they were not as huge in both size and number. If they went into the caves, they would be met with the sight of ancient smelting ares, still maintained and used by the keeper, as well as a blacksmith's anvil and forge. Further still and they would find themselves lost in a maze of tunnels, the layout of which so extensive and complicated it can only be remembered by a machine. There were tunnels that had been mined out by organics some long time ago, but they were indistinguishable from the tunnels the keeper made. They were filled with the sound of pickaxe against stone whenever there was not building, sculpting, or smelting to be done. And when one followed that sound, they would find the keeper.
Gears was content with the life he had been living for the past (Hundred? Thousand? The construct had lost track of the time. Even he had his limits)years, a life of digging and creating. There was an innumerable range of things he created. Tools, buildings, statues, sculptures, pillars, bridges, and parts for his own body all fell under the category of what he made. The only light he had seen in the days he couldn't count was from his own body, seeping out of the cracks in his patchwork frame. The orange glow of energy being released from the powerful magic-infused crystal core that is what he used to move his body. His name derived from the original way he moved, which was, of course, a system of gears powered by little tendrils of magic energy that acted as nerves, working in a way that was far too complicated for anyone in their right minds to understand. The gears were rendered useless when the magic started to grow more powerful, though, and they eventually became a sort of flexible, ghost-like skeleton. His original body, modeled after a goblin, was buried beneath layers of iron, bronze, and any other material that was in excess whenever he needed to modify himself. In some parts even gems was used, which were set out in a scale-like pattern to allow maximum flexibility. Now he resembled that of what is usually the form of a clay golem. His fingers were wrapped around a pickaxe, and, even if it was less efficient than he knew he could be, he preferred pickaxe mining, as it was what he had been taught back when the goblins that mined with him still existed. Routine was familiar. Routine was safe. The goblins left because they strayed from routine, because they screwed up. The gasses they released might all be gone now, might have escaped out of some crack, but they had still strayed away from routine, and they paid dearly. They didn't even take out the bodies.
"Are you sure we're going the right way? We've been searching for days. How do you even know the thing's here?" Rainbow Dash tiredly asked her horned leader. "Princess Cadence detected a powerful sure of magic a week ago, and she wouldn't bother us if she wasn't sure." Twilight responded like a mother speaking to a whining child. Every holder of an element of harmony was in the little group, searching for whatever it was that was worrying princess Cadence. Rainbow Dash and Applejack, being the two strongest ponies in the group, were pulling the wagon that held everything that was needed for the expedition, such as food, water, and firewood. It wasn't much of a strain on the two. Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity brought up the rear, having their own conversations. Well, not really conversations, mainly just Pinkie happily spouting nonsense while Rarity tuned her out, nodding occasionally, and Fluttershy, despite hundreds of words of reassurance from Twilight, was scanning the area, watching for wendigos, trembling every so often. They weren't deep enough into the crystal empire wilds for there to be wendigos, and they mainly converged around the outside of the city anyways, but that wasn't enough for the timid equine. Suddenly, Twilight sopped dead in her tracks, staring blankly, registering the intense wave of magical power she just felt. After several seconds and the two pulling the wagon bumping into her flank, she began to almost gallop to the north, her friends finding it easy to keep up, not bothering to ask what was happening, since they knew all they'd get was a 'shush'.
Darkness. Complete darkness. And silence. Absolute silence. It took a second to register what had just happened. He must have dug too close to a vein of gutra crystals again. This was the second time in a span of two weeks, that he, again, couldn't count. Gutra crystals were a type of magic crystal, and they had a field around them that cancelled out the energy found in the stota crystals that were in his own body. The core would reset in a minute. He knew this because if the core had gone out completely, he wouldn't be thinking right now. A full minute passed before the spark that the core had been reduced to reset, sending of a huge wave of intense magical energy that would be felt for miles. He regained control of his body, and his sight and hearing returned, and left that tunnel, making a note to block it off when he got the chance. But now, he had to get back to work. Back to routine.
Twilight stopped at the base of an unremarkable mountain that had no name, the only unique thing about it being a small cave. It would be a bit of a squeeze and they would have to leave the wagon outside, but they could go in, one by one. But someone would have to stay with the wagon. Even if they were in the crystal wilds, it would be silly to leave a cart unattended. Fluttershy naturally volunteered, since they were about to go into a dark hole, as did Rarity, who believed her mane would fall victim to bats. The ponies that were going all went straight in, Twilight leading, with her horn's magic illuminating the cave with a purple glow. After quite a long walk, they were met with a dead end, but Twilight was not disheartened, and noticed that the end looked like it wasn't natural, like somepony had tried to block it off... It didn't matter, because with a single blast of energy, the boulder blocking the path was disintegrated, and they could make there way down, into the bowels of the earth.
Gears stopped again. The way the noise carried... it was wrong. Any other being would never notice it, but Gears was finely tuned to the sounds of the cave. And somewhere, back in the storage pits, some hole had just been opened, and not a hole he had dug.
Twilight was like a kid in a candy store. The room she was in was a massive cave, how far down it went she didn't know, but she was excited to be walking on a floor made completely of chunks of metal, gems, rocks, minerals, and dirt all thrown into a pit. There must be something exciting here! Despite the objections of her comrades, she continued onward. She was a mare of science, buck it, and science meant discovery! They moved straight across, Twilight eager to see if there was anything on the other side, and there was. Another tunnel. But this one was quite large. Almost two feet taller than Celestia, and half a foot wider than her wingspan. Something large once must have dwelled within these caverns, and they must have left something very powerful! The sudden appearance of an orange glow caught her eye, and, despite every bit of sense in her telling her not to, she ran it.
There was definitely something in the tunnels. In HIS tunnels. And they weren't goblins. No, goblins would never come in here again after what the gas did. They were too stupid to want to know anything about it, and too smart to want to be near it. He began to move to where the sound distortion was coming from, through the beauty of his underground architecture, and into the hall that connected the pits to the rest of the tunnels. And he stopped. Voices. Voices speaking something similar to goblin, but not quite. Then he saw a purple glow, and the face of an animal he had never encountered. The animal charged, it must've been attacking. The plates on his body shifted around until the most durable materials were on the outside, and his fingers were replaced with sharp-jagged pieces of gem and steel. And he charged, too.
Nobody saw it coming. Whatever it was that Twilight was trying to look at started to move towards her, and the thing was fast, too fast for her to charge up a spell by the time she realized it wasn't standing still. A massive arm appeared in her glow, but she didn't get too good of a look at it before it slammed into her side, throwing her against the cave wall and making her cry out in pain. The create next charged at Applejack, who had been right behind Twilight when they entered the cave. There was not much she could do, she was fighting a creature that for all she knew was a ghost, and she only knew it was there from the tiny amount of light emitting from its body. She felt a cold pressure on her front right leg before being lifted into the air. She would not take this without a fight, so she bit whatever it was that was wrapped around her, having no idea of knowing was a massive metal finger. Hard. She almost yelped in surprise from the before she was thrown at Rainbow Dash, who screamed. While her friends were being beaten, Pinkie Pie was angrily spouting words at the creature such as 'meanie' and 'party pooper'. That is, until the glowing began to approach her, stomping like the swamp hydra. That shut her right up.
The creatures were surprisingly easy to defeat, none of them resisting, save for the one that tried to bite his finger. He didn't know of their almost blindness, as he could see a hundred feet away with just the glow of his core, and expected everything to share that property. To Gears' surprise, they didn't even seem to be armed. The only thing that could be considered a weapon aside from their teeth was the horn on the first one's head, but even that looked quite dull. Well, not that a sharp one could harm him. Why would creatures intelligent enough to speak not have some form of weaponry with them? They were certainly not as smart as goblins. He couldn't explain the glowing of the horn, perhaps it was made of crystal? No, it didn't have the correct texture to be crystal. He was about to take care of the bouncing pink one, who was spouting strange words, one he could recognize as a twist of the word feces and other her could deduce meant 'mean', when a sudden burst of light blinded him.
A blinding light with a purplish hue filled the caves. Twilight's light. Hopefully, she thought, if she could see the monster attacking her friends, they could defeat it, or at the very least, escape. Her eyes adjusted rather quickly, as did the eyes of her friends, but she still rubbed them when she saw what they had been fighting. There was some sort of metal biped flailing about, one clawed hand over what she assumed was its eyes and another grabbing at the air. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were still dazed and laying against the wall, but recovered soon after the flash, and while Applejack was carefully dancing around the anomaly, looking for some way to hurt it, Rainbow Dash was smacking its head, but wasn't doing any damage. Twilight's horn had just gone supernova, and was still illuminating the entire tunnel, a spell that was too taxing for her to just use whenever she went somewhere dark. She quickly fired a bolt of magic at the automaton, but it did little to stop it. This must've been the anomaly. Such powerful energy radiating off the creature, and the glow coming from a cleft in the chest of the abomination, this had to be it, especially since a bolt of magic had no effect on it. The metal on its body was arranged like a dragon's scales, save for the lack of a soft underbelly, instead being armored all over. Stranger yet, the scales seemed to not all be of the same material. She could see steel, adamantite, and even a few diamonds, all in some sort of strange patchwork of metals and minerals. She was brought out of her thoughts when the automaton slammed a fist into the wall while flailing, making a loud bang. She had zoned out again, and had Celestia been present, or any other princess for that matter, she would have surely been chastised. She dug through her mind for something she could do. Maybe melt it? No, that would destroy it, she wanted the thing intact. Maybe constricting it with telekinesis? No, that thing would be too strong for her to hold... Perhaps freezing? Yes, that would do nicely. After recalling every frost spell she knew, she chose something similar to a flamethrower of magical ice, and immobilized the creature.
This light, it was impossibly bright. He didn't even recall the sun being this brilliant. Well, to be fair, he hadn't seen the sun in over a thousand years, but that didn't matter. He placed a hand over his face and quickly moved a few plates of steel over his optics, flailing around, hoping to destroy whatever was creating such terrible radiance. His fist slammed into the wall of stone that was his tunnel, but was unable to do any more when something covered his body. It was hard, and moved fast, seeping through the scales, covering each layer of his body in something hard, something that was forcing the tendrils of magic that operated his body back into the core, his optics being dragged by the tendrils back into their original spot, in the head of his central layer.
It would be quite the oddity if a creature in the crystal wilds was susceptible to ice magic, and even more perplexing if the creature in question was mechanical. So you can imagine the surprise on princess Cadence's face when the report stating that a hostile mechanical golem was frozen in the midst of battle in some sort of mine in the crystal wilds. But when the element of magic teleports a letter to you after being sent out to find a potentially dangerous source of extreme magic energy, it's best not to accuse her of lying. Even if she requests a large team of miners, movers and soldiers be sent out immediately, while there were still many construction projects to be finished to help repair what was destroyed during Sombra's reign. She trusted Twilight, and if that is what was needed to get rid of something she feared would endanger her people, then so be it.
The new orders were that, as soon as the labor crew finished extracting the construct, it would be brought to Canterlot post-haste for examination by the royal sisters. Only one of the six ponies originally sent on the expedition remained there, the rest having left so they could return to their duties back in Ponyville as soon as the labor team arrived. Twilight was happy to stay, but still wondered how Spike was doing back home. She hadn't brought him on the expedition, since someone needed to take care of Owlowiscious and the rest of the pets. There was also the fact that being in the crystal wilds to investigate a powerful source of magic wasn't exactly ideal for a baby dragon. And that he would probably just talk about wendigos the whole way there, which wouldn't have done any good for Fluttershy. She shook her head. Now is not the time to be thinking about such petty matters, for there was work to be done, and she was in charge of the operation. The process of making the tunnel large enough to fit the construct through had already begun, and the mining crew was hard at work, the transport crew was assembling the sled that the construct would be pulled on, and the four unicorn soldiers that were sent, who all had cutie marks indicated something to do with ice, were monitoring the construct and ensuring it stayed frozen. Soon, the behemoth would see the light of day, and whatever secrets this marvel held would be uncovered.
Gears almost felt fear when he began to think of the fate he had just been condemned to. What had happened? Did these creatures bring a shaman? No, he was certain that there was only four of them, but then again, there was no other explanation for the ice. Would this last forever? What would happen to him? Occasionally, he could hear the faintest voices, too muffled for him to ever be able to know what was being said, or even what emotion was being expressed. And this went on for days. Quite some time passed until he could feel something moving him. These creatures were monsters, they were taking him somewhere, removing him from his home. And why? Why did they do this to him? They must be a militant race. They had to be. Breaking into his home, trapping him in what he was beginning to think would be his icy coffin, with this psychological torture of uncertainty and anxiety.
Twilight could only use one word to describe her time in the caverns, and that word was amazing. All the rare metals and gems in those pits were impressive enough, and could put the royal treasury to shame, but the next chambers, they were the cream of the crop. There were pillars of gold, statues of gems and crystals. Splendid marble palaces, stone tablets on the walls depicting stories of ancient goblins slaying dragons and gathering impossibly large hordes of incredible riches. And everything looked new, save for one artifact in a tunnel behind the more stunning chambers, a tunnel filled with pickaxes and forges and metal scales. The artifact was a massive painting on the walls in some sort of green juice, and crudely resembled the palaces and pillars in the more decorated spaces. It was true that she almost wished she could stay, but the construct needed to be analyzed, and she could not waste the opportunity to document such a mechanical marvel. The transport crew was loading up the construct and soon they would all be on their way. At Twilight's request, an archaeological crew had been sent to the site to take over and examine everything. The materials would be gathered up and sent back to Canterlot, where the royal sisters would find a use for the bounty and improve the lives of their subjects. Once they had dealt with the construct, of course.
The movement, he was afraid it would never end. Just a short time ago, he had been on some sort of roaring, vibrating monster. Perhaps he was on the back of a dragon? Not likely, but possible. Some sort of earthquake? No, it had gone on for hours... or did it? He was losing track of time, not to say he had a good sense of it in the caves. He didn't move through the routine based on time, no, he did it based on how much he had done. It was a good system, too, not a single minute was wasted. His thoughts were interrupted by a strange tingling feeling deep within his core, a feeling he used to get whenever a shaman was casting a spell. The ice that had been holding him captive for far too long disappeared, all at once. The tendrils of energy began to expand, grabbing at all the little pieces of metal that made up the other layers of his body. Was he free? Did his captors decide to give him mercy? Everything was becoming so confusing.
"Are you sure it won't harm it?" Twilight asked princess Luna, not at all doubting her capabilities, but concerned for the well-being of the construct. If something were to happen to it, it could 'die', and they would never be able to watch it while it still functioned.
"We are certain the construct will remain intact. Our spell will only get rid of the ice." The princess responded, and was backed up with a nod from Celestia. Deep in the Canterlot dungeons stood the three mares, as well as a small troop of guards. The mechanical beast stood frozen in her magical ice inside a cell used for holding rowdy minotaurs, bars of steel six inches thick separating them from the construct. Luna's horn began to glow dark blue, and she fired a spell that caused the ice to melt and evaporate all at once.The biped instantly collapsed, falling to pieces. Twilight was at a loss for words. It was broken. This feat of ancient engineering was broken. They could never observe it when it was 'alive' now. She almost became angry at Luna, who was looking confused at the heap of metal, same as Celestia, but that near-anger faded when she could see little orange, glowing vines creep out from under the pile, latching on to every single chunk of metal and gem. There were hundreds of the vines, no, thousands, all reaching out to rebuild the construct. She tuned out the discussion of the perplexed royal duo, fixated on the scene before her.
When the vines had finished, the body looked exactly as it did before... and acted just as hostile. For a few seconds, it slammed against the bars, denting both them and his own hands. It was frightening, even to her, but with a few words of reassurance from Celestia, she felt safe. The feeling of safety was short-lived, however. The arm began to come apart, swirling in a tornado of orange energy and metal scales, which quickly made its way through the bars. The princesses realized what it was doing before Twilight did, and grabbed the shards of metal with their telekinesis. She could see that it was a bit of a strain on the two, even with their combined magic, but they managed to push it back into the cell, where they let go, both of them panting. It must be even stronger than she thought. It looked as though it was about to do it again, and Twilight charged up her horn. "I'm gonna freeze it." She told the princesses. The construct seemed to pull away at that, moving to the back of the cell. It must be smarter than she thought, too. Now that it seemed there was no need for freezing, she cancelled the spell and moved closer to the bars. "So, what do you think built it?" Twilight asked her superiors after a few seconds of silence, and Celestia was first to answer.
"Well, from what you said about the statues, I first thought it might have been goblin-built. But the goblins were not nearly intelligent enough to build something like this." She said after a long 'hmm', turning away from the construct and towards Twilight.
"Goblins smarter than you animals." Gears grumbled, and the three creatures behind the bars gasped. Even if their speech was odd, he was still able to tell what they were saying. It was brighter than he was used to down in this dungeon, but his optics adjusted.
"W-what did you say?" The purple animal asked, but he did not repeat himself. The blue one seemed to be irritated by his silence.
"What did thou say, construct?" Again, he refused to speak. She quickly changed from irritated to enraged. "Thou will listen to thy princess, what did thou say?" His princess? This beast dare call itself his princess? He was filled with a fury that could match even Rumbort the Wicked's, a goblin chieftain famed for his short fuse. This animal could never be his princess.
"Dirty animal not Gears' leader!" He yelled. His voice was almost monotonous, and quite deep, with only a hint of emotion. The blue one began to charge up a spell, but the white one said something to her in a hushed tone, which caused her to relax. She still wore an insulted expression, though. The purple one was bouncing up and down, clearly quite excited. These animals were... strange, to say the least.
The construct was... strange, to say the least. It called them animals, as though it had never seen a pony before, and seemed to not recognize the princesses. But also very, very interesting. Twilight had never seen such a marvel, and began yo ask it a series of questions, all too quickly for it to answer. "Who built you? What built you? Why were you in that cave? Did you make those palaces? How-" She stopped when she was hushed by Celestia, and her cheeks turned red with embarrassment. She was Celestia's student, she shouldn't be acting like some giddy schoolfilly.
"Why did you attack my student back in the caverns? And what were you doing to create such powerful bursts of magic?" Celestia asked the construct, who she learned was named Gears, who, in turn, grunted.
"Gears attacked by animal, not other way around. Gears not know what magic you talking about, Gears not shaman." There was still bitterness in his voice, though it was a bit hard to tell. She carefully observed the construct, watching the way it moved, listening to the way it talked, and staring at the cracks the orange glow came from. Celestia turned to Twilight.
"I thought you said it attacked you?" She asked, an eyebrow raised.
"Well, it did, but, I may have run after it when I saw its glow to see what it was, and I may have looked like I was charging at it it." She said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. Celestia turned back to Gears, clearing her throat.
"I apologize on behalf of my student for your imprisonment, and will see to it you are released.." Luna looked at her sister with a worried expression. "Are thou really going to let it out?" She nodded. "Are thou sure, sister? We fear that is not the smartest decision."
"Our friend here was imprisoned for defending himself from what he perceived as a threat. He does not deserve to be locked up any longer." One of the guards pulled a lever and the bars lowered. Even Twilight was doubting Celestia at this point, but she did not speak up, instead only watched as she extended her hoof in greeting. "My name is Celestia, welcome to Equestria."
So that was it, was it? They could just say they're sorry, pull a lever, and everything is okay? Everything he endured in the prison of frost was just water under the bridge? And now, after she dare try to ignore what had happened, she wanted him to shake her hoof? He hunched over, standing on all fours like a gorilla. "Celestia, you know what is like to be trapped in ice for days? You know what is like to have no idea what going on for hours and hours? What is like to fear you will be trapped forever, forced to just barely hear voices of animals that trap you for eternity?" He asked, conveying as much hatred as he could. "You know what is like to be treated like mindless object? Gears not shake Celestia hoof. Gears never shake Celestia hoof."
Twilight was shocked by his response. True, she and everypony else had never taken into consideration what Gears felt, and, in fact, nopony even thought he felt anything, but she still consider it impossible to decline shaking hooves with the princess. Luna was the first to respond, angry once again at Gears' disrespect. "It matters not what thou hath experienced, thou shalt never speak to thy princess like that!" Her voice was loud enough to fill the castle.
"Dear sister, after what it has experienced, I think it deserves to act in such a way. It does not have to apologize for its reaction, it is understandable." After clearing her throat, she looked at Gears. "Very well. I apologize once more, but I must, for the safety of my people, I must keep you here until I can deem that you are no threat to my people. If you do not accept these terms, I am afraid you will have to be frozen indefinitely." Gears grumbled a few swears, but reluctantly nodded.
The rest of the castle was much, much brighter than the dungeon, and a thousand times brighter than the caves. But his optics were able to adjust after a few minutes. To his surprise, it wasn't much brighter outside. It had been so long since he had last seen sunlight. Or clouds. or the sky. He was built in the mines, and he had been in mines all his 'life', only seeing the outside whenever he was still the size of a goblin and something needed to be transported from the mine to the village above, or vice versa. Four guards accompanied him at all times, and answered his questions whenever he asked about a plant. He had never seen any form of vegetation that wasn't fungus, so almost everything was new to him. Learning of so many new things even made him forget about his choler towards the 'ponies', as he learned they were called, and so, for the time being, he was largely docile. After all, he wasn't built for grudges, he was built to serve. And in order to serve, one must be submissive.
The girls would never believe this. She held the parchment that her letter to her friends back in Ponyville in her purple glow, that described in great detail, her stay at the tunnels and the happenings in the dungeon. Her old room in the castle looked exactly the same as she remembered, right down the trash bin filled with crumpled up first drafts of research papers, and it was where she drew up her letter. She had already received a letter from them, and from what it said, things were going well back home, even though they still missed her. They were planning to visit Twilight as soon as possible, which they said would be two days from now, and she was happy to hear it. Even with everything that was going on, she was still a bit homesick, and seeing her friends would be just what she needed.
Viscount Undying Loyalty had quite the ironic name, as he was anything but loyal. For years he had been looking for a way to remove the princesses from the political scene, as well as every other noble, so that he could take the position of ruler. He was far more deserving of ruling Equestria. The princesses were too soft, and were over a thousand years old. There comes a time when everyone must step down and let the younger generation take over, he thought, and every other noble was a boot-licking zombie, having no real opinions and just going with what the public said. It was time for Equestria to have his genius mind at the top of its political ladder, and he was constantly looking for ways to make this happen. The green coated, light blue maned pegasus considered himself perfect for the position, and would go to any length to get there. So, when his servant came into his study, telling him about the arrival of a giant metal monster, he couldn't help but smile. This monster could prove to be of use to him, even if it was frozen from what he was hearing. A genius such as himself could easily find a way.
When he was finished examining all the new flora and fauna that were all over the castle grounds, which had taken a few hours, he got to looking at the castle. Many doorways were too small for him to fit through in the form he was in, so he had to change his body shape several times just to see the rooms. It wasn't not a major annoyance, though. Overall, he found the castle to be lacking. It was nothing like the wonders he had created. It was definitely larger than anything he had ever built, and was indeed a sight to behold, but it still lacked his touch. The symmetry was imperfect, and the statues had plenty of faults, but it was alright. He would've offered his services to perfect the palace if he didn't resent the ponies so much. He was bothered by the fact that the routine was still being broken, but since he had dealt with that for days, it was almost nothing to him now. Still, he hoped to be back in the Leviathan caverns soon.
It had taken a mixture of pestering and convincing for Twilight to get Gears to sit down and answer a few questions for her, but after a day of it, she had gotten him to sit down with her in the royal library. Well, she sat down. He towered above her, intimidating even in his restful stance. "So, I'd like to clear up a few things about you in this interview. Shall we begin?" He nodded, and she scribbled down his reaction on the parchment she had floating before her. "How did you get all of those minerals back in the caves?" She asked,dipping her quill in ink.
"In Leviathan caverns? Gears mined them." His voice was flat. After writing down his response, she continued.
"Who built those buildings in the 'Leviathan caverns'?"
"Gears did." He acted as though she should have known that already.
"Who built you?"
"Wortvat the Smart." There was almost pride in his voice.
"I've never heard of this 'Wortvat the Smart'. What race was he?" He leaned forward, and after a few seconds, he slammed his fist into the floor, causing Twilight to jump in surprise.
"Do not play game, pony. Wortvat most famous goblin in world." He sounded irritated, had she struck a nerve?
"I don't know much about goblins, not many do. They went extinct a long time ago, when queen Chrysalis rose." The guards, who remained outside during the interview, stormed in, horns glowing and weapons raised, and Twilight signaled to them that she was fine.
"Goblins never die out. Goblins strongest race to ever live. Quit lying, pony." He moved closer, and the guards rose their weapons again. She wasn't concerned, however. She knew that as soon as she prepared the freezing spell and her horn started glowing, he would back off.
"It's true. There isn't a single goblin remaining in the world."
Not a single goblin. Surely, this couldn't be true. They were the the strongest race, the toughest race, and the smartest race. They were the creators... It didn't matter. Once the princesses let him leave, he could see for himself. "If pony is lying and I find out, pony will die." He relaxed into his previous neutral stance.
"Very well. Now, what is your favorite color?"
Ever since the pony had said that goblins were extinct, Gears had continuously scanned the city from one of the towers for any hunched bipeds. All he saw were ponies, ponies and more ponies. Of course, there were the occasional other creatures, such as what he learned were griffins, horses, and goats, but not one goblin. He didn't give up hope, though. For the entirety of the day, he stood on the towers of the castle, watching, hoping to catch at least a glimpse of just one goblin. There had to be one. He heard hoofsteps behind him that were too far to be one of his guards, and when he turned around, he saw the head of Twilight as she came up the spiral staircase. Her, a dragon, and five other ponies poured into the room, and he instantly recognized some of them, the other three that came in his cave. He made grunting sound and went back to watching the streets below with a spyglass Celestia lent to him.
Gears was still intent on finding a goblin so he would have a reason to rip her in half. Or try to, anyways. Twilight cleared her throat to get his attention, but then realized it was something he probably didn't recognize. "Gears, my friends would like to apologize for our intrusion into your home. I have already done so-" Not that you care, she thought to herself. "-so I'll just sit off to the side." First up was Rainbow Dash, who looked genuinely sorry.
"So, uh, I know we broke into your house or whatever, and I'm sorry, but can we just let bygones be-" Turned around and pushed her off to the side, then descended down the staircase, followed by his guards. "Hey bub, what's the big idea?" She said, throwing her hooves into the air. He ignored her, and she clenched her teeth, then flew after him. "Rainbow Dash, don't waste your time." Twilight said as the group followed her, but she would have none of it. "You are gonna accept my apology whether you like it or not!" She yelled. Gears grabbed the pony by the neck and held her up, staring her right in the eyes. It was obvious that she could breath, as she began to yell every dirty word she knew at the automaton. The guards raised their weapons and told him to put her down. Just as Twilight began to prepare her spell, he let go, then continued on his way. Rainbow Dash almost went after him again, but Applejack bit down on her tail, allowing Twilight to talk to her.
"It'd be best not to provoke him any more than you already have. He's from a much more primitive era, and in top of that, he was built by a very barbaric race, so he's a bit violent. I'll make sure the princesses hear about this." Twilight said, almost sounding as monotone as Gears. Dash grumbled something, probably obscene, and the group went on their way.
"Ooh, what's this?" Pinkie Pie asked, holding up a jar with the petrified remains of a gremlin.
"That's a gremlin, Pinkie." As soon as the group entered Twilight's room, Pinkie started asking a myriad of questions, all of them relating to the strange objects Twilight used to keep around, like an old religious griffin scroll or a prehistoric wyvern skull. Spike enjoyed being back in the castle he spent the majority of his life in, and was sitting happily on Twilight's back.
"So, Twilight, what's the big metal guy like?" Spike asked, changing positions on her back to get more comfortable.
"Well, he hates ponies, he hates dragons, though \that's because apparently goblins were fond of slaying them, he thinks this castle was poorly built, he hates the sun, his favorite color is orange, and I have a sneaking suspicion that every time we see each other, he's looking for some reason to kill me." Twilight said while scratching her chin, very casual about it considering Gears wanted to do unspeakable things to her, because she knew he'd never try, for fear of being frozen forever.
"The princesses shouldn't have woken him up, he's a ticking time bomb ready to go off at any moment." Rarity sounded almost disgusted. "He's such a... a... a savage!"
"I would agree, but there is so much we can learn from him. The information is just too valuable." Twilight picked up the parchment she had written their conversation down on an began to read. "Like what he said about this 'Wortvat the Smart' character. Goblins were supposed to be not that bright, but this one was able to make a sentient automaton. Perhaps if I can learn more about him, we could learn more about automatons, and this could push the entire world of technology forward a great amount. And if I can learn about that glow of his..." She began to ramble on about magic, her friends now only pretending to listen.
Stupid ponies. A constant annoyance. It's bad enough there's these guards, but that blue one... Stupid ponies. Twilight told the princesses, and they were peeved. 'You should not act that way towards the ponies who broke into your home and attacked you. It was all a big misunderstanding, so it's okay.' They didn't have the authority to do this to him. They weren't his rulers. Why was he even listening to them? If he could just evade their magic...maybe he could just run off? He was certain there had to be someone willing to give him something to defend against ice magic. Perhaps one of these newer races had shamans. He began to think of an escape plan while mentally mapping the entire castle as he walked.
He had been told the princesses were going to host a ceremony where he would be introduced to the nobility of Equestria, as well as several famous historians and archaeologists, by the end of the week. This would be the perfect time to leave. All he needed to do was take someone important hostage. They wouldn't dare fight back if he threatened to kill an archduke or two. It looked like the political lecture the blue princess had given him when the ceremony was announced to him was actually useful information after all. With the hostage in hand, he could break through the castle walls and escape, killing them as soon as he left the city limits. The stupid ponies wouldn't know what hit them. Then he could go back to the caverns to properly equip himself, and find someone to give him something to fight back the ice magic. It was perfect, and he almost shuddered with excitement.
He couldn't be more delighted. The princesses were making his life a breeze by organizing this ceremony. And apparently this machine was built by something called a goblin, which he learned were quite violent creatures, so it seemed obvious that anything they built would be quite capable in combat, which was perfect. Nopony but his flank-kissing servants had any idea of his intentions. Well, save for that pesky unicorn marquess Silver Shield. Of course, he had no proof that Loyalty was a conspirator, but he could present quite the problem in the future with his suspicions. If his plans were to succeed, he would need his watchful eyes off his back, and the only way to do that would be to kill the marquess. But assassinations in Canterlot nobility were surprisingly rare, and if Shield were to suddenly just drop dead, all hooves would point to him. Loyalty was the only one he didn't like, and the feeling was mutual. The marquess was quite active in charities and the like, so the common folk loved him. Even Loyalty had to admit he was very charismatic, and Loyalty was extremely morose, even by noble standards. So, he would have to have him killed on the night of the ceremony, giving him time to do what he wanted without being watched and without time for an investigation.
Twilight wasn't much of a drinker, everyone that knew her knew she could barely hold her liquor. So, when Rarity produced a bottle of expensive wine form her suitcase and suggested everyone have a drink, it took a bit of coaxing to get her to participate. And, just a single glass later, she was practically drunk. Granted, it was quite strong, but still, her friends teased her about it, all of them a bit tipsy themselves. Their conversations were those you'd expect teenagers to be having late at night. Spike was managing to sleep through their antics through the use of earplugs, far too young to partake in their drinking and venereal talk.
"You've never even kissed a stallion?" Rarity was in a giggling fit at Twilight, who had her forelegs crossed.
"Oh, leave her alone Rarity. There probably ain't a stallion yah haven't kissed, among other things." Chirped Applejack while Twilight shook her head.
"I don't think you can make of a mare's romantic pursuits when you've probably seen more of your cousins than you have of yourself." Rarity grinned as Applejack turned the same color as the apples that were her cutie mark. Just as she was about to release a slew of insults, all of which aimed at the looseness of her intimate parts, Pinkie Pie spoke up.
"Where'd Rainbow Dash go?" She said, looking around the room. Come to think of it, Twilight hadn't seen her since before Rarity opened the wine bottle.
"Well, um, she said she was going to go talk to mister Gears a little while ago." Fluttershy murmured, and all Twilight could manage was an 'uh oh'.
This pony didn't stop, did she? "You've got ten seconds to accept my apology, or you'll be scraping your flank off the floor!" The mare yelled in her annoying, cracking voice.
"Why pony think Gears won't just grab her like earlier?" He questioned, and she started to fly in circles around him.
"Cause this time, you can't surprise me!" She chopped at the air with her hoof.
"Go away." He didn't feel like dealing with her right now. No matter what happened or who was at fault, the princesses would no doubt punish him if he lashed out, and the guards he had around him were already preparing themselves for when he did. They allowed the pony to taunt him and threaten with violence, but as soon as he fought back, he was some sort of violent animal. Figures.
"Five seconds, you'd better apologize now or you're in for a world of hurt!" She shook her hoof at him, attempting to look intimidating.
"I do not feel pain." He said simply, turning away from her. As he did, she slammed her hooves into his back, and he spun back around. A few guards were already reaching out to pull her away, but he had his hand wrapped around her sides before they could get to her and he threw her against the wall. She didn't even have time to react before she slammed against the stone with enough force to break most of the bones in her body. Most of the guards had never actually experienced combat, since Canterlot citizens were very orderly and crime was incredibly low, so they broke away from the group and ran off. The others were all either raising their weapons or too paralyzed with fear to move. He sat down, picked up a book that he had been reading before she came by, and continued where he left off.
Twilight was at a loss for words. Gears was staring straight at her, sitting with his legs crossed and holding an open copy of the Mare of the Flies, all of the guards were shaking under their armor, and Rainbow Dash was laying in a bloody, broken heap, cracks in the wall behind her.
"W-what in the name of Celestia did you do?!" She yelled, getting ready to freeze him.
"Pony attacked. Gears fought back." He said, then looked back down at the book. Twilight grabbed the book with her magic and yanked it out of her hands. The rest of the group had rushed by to tend to the unconscious RD, unafraid of the construct as they had way more experience than the guards in handling these sorts of things. Gears looked up at her again.
"Gears was reading, give it back." He commanded. Twilight didn't hesitate and unleashed her spell.
Of course. That was what she chose to do. Obviously it was his fault. And it would be his fault when he slaughtered them all like the animals they were. Hours passed, and he wondered how the book he had been reading ended. It was a good book, about a bunch of fillies of various ages stranded on an island after a zeppelin crash. It was just getting good, too. He'd probably never get to finish reading it now that he had been trapped in ice again. Damn these ponies. Damn them all. His thoughts were interrupted when he was suddenly unfrozen. And back in the dungeons. The princesses stood past the bars again, as well as the guards that were with him when he lashed out.
"Explain thyself." Luna demanded in a voice so loud it almost overloaded what could be considered his ears.
"What is to explain? Gears defended himself. End story." He said when his hearing recovered.
"We have witnesses, it would be in your best interests not to lie." Celestia's voice was softer, but it still angered him. This pony he hated the most, always acting like she knew everything, always acting like she was fair. "This is your second incident with the element of loyalty in a 24 hour period. We were lenient last time, but this outburst requires harsh action."
"Pony demanded Gears accept apology. Gears did not. Pony kick Gears. Gears throw pony. Gears defended himself." Celestia looked at the guards behind her, who nodded.
"It was still a huge overreaction, and the injuries you inflicted on her were severe. So, as punishment, you will be locked in here for the remainder of this month and the next. The ceremony will be pushed into some time in the future." He lunged at the bars, his face level with Celestia's. They didn't have the right to do this to him. Worse yet, she thought she was being just.
"You not have right to do this!" He yelled at her, but she remained adamant.
"You are lucky you don't get a harsher punishment. You aren't receiving a standard sentence only because of your origins."
"Pony take Gears from home! Pony imprison Gears! Pony force Gears to stay! Pony pick fight! Pony is one that is at fault here!" The guards raised their weapons, and Celestia sighed.
It seemed Celestia could be reasoned with on at least some level, otherwise he'd be trapped here for months. He'd still be confined to the prison for a few weeks. And afterwords, he would be held in the castle for an extra few weeks. Though, it's not like that last part mattered. As soon as he would be released from the dungeon, the ceremony would take place, and then he'd finally be rid of this place. All he needed was time, and time was something he had plenty of.