The pony looked up from his terminal, "Greetings Dr.Cherwood... I wonder if you know why I called you here..."

My host, filed out a line of paperwork from his saddlebag, "I'm assuming its about one of the multitude of projects you've set me into? I have had hardly anytime to pursue my own fields of research while overseeing your staffs numerous inventions. If I had to guess, you'd want update on the cybernetics division I presume?"

The other scientist shook his head, "While I always want updates on the progress of those... particular projects. It is not the reason I've called you here today. My focus for this meeting is the massive amounts of star alloy you've been requesting over the past few months." His eyes narrowed, "You do know that none of your sanctioned projects require the material, nor is it in particular, common."

"That's because I've been working on a project that wasn't sanctioned in advance, using my own funds and the permissions of Director Cyan."

"The Director has sanctioned your project? How come I've had no word of this?"

My host grinned, not a wide one, but one just enough to let him see, "I've been undergoing a lot of projects Dr.Shale. But I'll digress and provide the information you seek."

The view shifted momentarily as my host sorted through the folders, pulling out one and passing it over to Dr.Shale, who promptly started looking through it, "I assume you're aware of Project P.O.D.?"

Dr.Shale nodded, "Ponies On Demand. Our nations attempt at creating pony like robots in order to produce our own troops as well as lessen the loads of economic strain through free workers. Yes, why?"

"I was set the task to create the ultimate robot for a lead unit in the reinforcement divisions. The director saw a need for me to go all out after the ministry of peace came out with its game changer of megaspells."

Dr.Shale looked skeptical, "And how does this relate to the massive amounts of starmetal alloy you've been using between projects?"

"Its the perfect material." My unicorn host remarked, "It takes a magical frequency blasting it in order to melt it, and Zebras won't even go near the stuff, the whole paranoid superstitious lot."

Now the other ponies face went from skeptical to a deadpan, "And it explodes with a hundred times its mass under other frequencies and can be used as a power-source enough to power the entire face for just a gram of its mass in exchange for a month."

"Its also harder than any other metal. It takes an anti material rifle in order to even give it a scratch."

"You also robbed the starforge divisions of a quarter of their stock."Dr.shade gritted his teeth, "And these designs. Who are they based on, since its clear from the pictures side by side, they're based on her." He lifted out a picture, flashing the image of a blue mare with a brighter blue mane that was wearing a cloak of deep purple with the shape of various stars with an triangular wide brimmed hat made of the same material. She had a cocky look to her face while large sparks of multicolored light were stuck in mid flash and flight.

"She, Dr.Shale, was somepony who saved my life, as well as inspired the first modern firearm."

This caught the other ponies attention, which in turn, caused my host to avert his gaze, "She's... a rather interesting specimen isn't she?" Came Dr. Shale's voice, "So she's your infamous mother of gunpowder eh?"

"She called it sparkling dust, but yes."

Dr.Shale sighed, and leaned back into his chair, shutting the folder and passing it back with a hoof, "Alright Dr.Cherwood, what's its current state of operation?"

My host shrugged, "Still in testing phase, we've been working more on its interior, using a new sort of energy and battery system to try powering it in replacement of its emergency power core. What could power this building for a month, at the same time could power a small robot for dozens of equine lifetimes, however, as you said, the same process of powering it could lead to a devastating explosion if the core was ever breached, thus the need for a new system we are calling 'Celestia-1'. It is a solar powered generator that can take in enough energy from light itself in order to recharge it."

Dr.Shale added in a small quip, "If such technology was mass produced, we would of solved the energy crisis that's been plaguing our nation ever since the Zebras have stopped coal trade."

My host nodded, but a bitter feeling rose in his throat that became clearly evident in his voice, "Correct, but alas, the proper crystals and gemstones capable of taking in solar energy are too rare and in short supply. There are a few members of our work place working on producing an artificial version, but the day that sort of energy is readily available is long off. This is also one of the few vulnerabilities in my project if it were to ever break."

"Still impressive, however, have you a method of turning it off in case it did go rampant?"

The professor nodded, "the method of shutting it down is the same password that allows it to become free in the first place only reversed, 'In Star Shadow.' instead by using the word shadow instead of light."

"The Equestrian government will require a more randomized password than that in the near future, but continue on professor."

"That shall be noted when it is ready to be shipped off. Now, I have another matter I need to speak with you about..."

The world faded away again, as the orb ended, leaving the rest of their conversation a mystery.

As I came back to the world, I had to take note of three things. The first was that the loud banging and crashing about that the overly drug filled feral brute had been making was gone; meaning either he finally managed to get the scalpels out of his eyes, or that it had left my hearing range with its roaring rampage. The second thing I had to note: was that as I had came to, the memory orb that had contained what I was viewing had become dim, and glazed. No longer a slightly glowing sphere but an almost transparent murky grey.

And the last? I knew the password.

Climbing back out of my temporary hiding place, I opened up the terminal, waiting for the screen to load up once more from its sleep mode. As I typed in the password, 'In Star Light', I took note of my pipbucks notion of time, more than an half an hour had passed within that memory orb. Geeze, how time flies sometimes, and as the green screen of the terminal logged in a long dead professor, how slow it could be. I would have to take my chances with another creation of scientists, after all, Maul hadn't been that bad once I had gotten him to stop murdering my face off. Though my luck with mechanical robots had been far less successful thus far.

My offer still stands, little one. Untapped power yours to command, at only a small cost. My oh so unhelpful masculine stalker voice said in my head.

Well, nice to know, that despite losing my brain that was still there. Once more I told him no, If anything it was going to be hard enough maintaining my magic while I am here in a giant laboratory of emotionless lobo-ponies, feral brutes, and robots. None of those even had much that I could siphon off to replenish in the first place. I needed something solid, a weapon or companion. Not some spell that would deplete what reserves I had left. The slight ache in my horn rang with me in agreement, and I had the feeling of something rolling its eyes as it replied quite calmly in its irritatingly calm voice, You will have need of me sooner or later, the more you delay, is the more you delay getting to your true potential, rather than the potetnial of borrowed magic.

What did he mean by borrowed magic? I shook my head, he probably was referring to how I regained my strength off the emotions of others. I didn't dwell on it though, as I clicked through the commands to activate this invention. Praying to Luna that it wouldn't be yet another insane robot that would try and rip my face off.

There was a hiss, as air almost two hundred years old escaped its preserved tank. It was activating, and with it, came the sounds of sturdy machinery rotating long maintained gears forcing the tube like container doors to swing slowly open with rachetting clanks and the smell similar to that of the medical wing back in stable 103, sterilized, or at least was. I could only stare as inside it, a pale blue life like robot in the shape of a pony, suspended within its tanks by tubing and wires, slowly came free from its upraised position on its hind legs, and landed on all fours with a metallic crash of sound. Outside I heard the sounds of the beast, as it grunted, noticing the sound, and reaffirming that he was still out there.

Its eyes slowly opened, as large as any pony, and nearly identical were it not for the slightly visible lines suggesting that it was a network of plates that allowed her eyes to slowly expand and focus, taking in its first sight, which so happened to be me.

"Information updating. Would you please state your identification?" its voice was monotonous, and had a voice similar to that of a mare.... if a mare had a half a dozen clones of herself saying the exact same thing within a fraction of a second, giving a slight echoing quality to it that stood out from real ponies.

I spoke quickly, no reason to not anwser this things question, "Aria Web, also known as experiment 1993-13 in stable 103 and you are?"

Her eyes adjusted, from looking in my general direction to right into my own eyes, giving me a dead on view of her multi leveled camera system that made her optics, "This is a T.R.I.X. dash E. Ground combat model of the 'Ponytron' project. Also referred to as 'Trixie' by my creator, Dr.Cherwood."

"What does it stand for?"

"This units name stands for Timely Reinforcement In eXtreme Enviroments. It is this units function to serve as both a morale, entertainment, and supplementary defense unit for allied defenses while simultaneously participating in mass intimidation, sabotage, and elimination of enemy units." She scanned me over, and much to my surprise she didn't turn hostile, "You are a changeling, yet this unit detects a great number of cybernetic enhancements designed by Dr.Cherwood's cybernetic team."

"Cybernetics installed against my will." I muttered, "What about it?"

"My estimates and logic matrix would state that either Dr.Cherwood has somehow managed to stay alive for nearly two hundred years, which is a feat not possible to a unicorn, or he is dead. Which means this unit must submit to a new authority, until one such figure can be found, by default it means you're my commander, Miss Web."

What a blessing, a robot that wasn't going to try murdering my flank off, "Aria is fine Trixie."

I wasn't going to trust it, or her, as she was definitely resembled a mare. After all, I had yet to meet a machine that hadn't tried to do so. It was a good policy for just about anything strange really. There was a roar somewhere outside, either the feral brute had finally caught my scent again, or some new prey had wandered into its den.

"Hostile detected." Trixie added unhelpfully.

"And that's a feral brute, a type of ghoul which has lost its mind and had its body majorly enhanced from the norm. Its also a bit... angry." I said, my understatement being amplified as another roar caused small stones to fall from the cieling as the vibrations shook weakened concrete.

"Do you wish for this unit to neutralize the threat?" Trixie offered, her mechanical body giving off a series of clicks and clanks as she adjusted herself to face the door.

"You're going to either need to remove, or destroy its head." I warned her, I couldn't see any weapons on her, but then again this was a robot, who knew what Dr.Cherwood had packed into his creation.

She took it as permission, starting to move forward, "The problem shall be neutralized..." She looked to me, a questionable look was upon her face, "This is this units creators office... correct?"

I nodded and the robots brow furrowed, "This does not bode well."

She turned her gaze back ahead, and marched forward, and I trailed behind her, stopping short of the grey metal doors and moving myself to one side of it as she reached out to hit the button in order to open it. She didn't even get to press the button before the door was torn of its hinges by the large front hooves of the beast. Impaling its arms through the door and ripping it free, only to send it hurling into a another wall somewhere off to its left.

Trixies eyes narrowed in what I would determine was anger, "You are the brute that my commander has mentioned?"

It didn't wait. It roared, and swung its bulging front hoof at her head. I winced as I expected that her head would of come off, but to my shock she hardly swayed as the hoof stop dead on her, the ground underneath her cracking from the impact. "I'll take that as a yes you cur."

She stepped forward as the beast lunged at her, and before my eyes she was on her way, launching herself to the ceiling with a single leap, and causing the beast to hit ground as its target was suddenly gone and it lunged into the doorway. I squeaked as its face was right next to me once more, and it glared, remembering no doubt the scalpels that I had put in its eyes not so long ago. Though I didn't have anymore scalpels, I whipped out the taser in my pipbuck and stabbed it in that murderous cat like orb.

It roared as its eye exploded in electrical energy, and came back, clutching its head as Trixie leaped off the ceiling, her horn lighting up like a unicorns as it charged up a small bluish ball at the very tip of it. She landed with a stomp onto the beasts back, firing off her charged spell, and drilling a hole into its spine with a narrow beam that was rapidly widening, causing the beast to roar in pain as it thrashed and flailed against the mare that was on him.

I gagged on the smell of burning rotted flesh as she shut off her beam, and dropped down into the hole she had made, pressing her hooves into its weakened sides and pushing, causing the flesh to buldge and in some places where her hoof connected to the beasts sides, small black spikes erupted from the beasts side, and slowly its lower body came off, leaving the beast with naught but its tremendous upper strength. It was enough to kill a normal pony, but it was a ghoul and it turned, dragging itself around to grab an old terminal and throw it at her.

She shifted to the side, dodging the terminal as her look of anger intensified as it broke. "How dare you." She said, and as I looked, her hooves began to change, once perfectly smooth sides extending multi jointed talons.

From afar they looked similar to that of a griffons, and began turning from its pale blue coloration to a slowly warming red, as it began heating up. I kept my distance, as she stood up on her front legs, the beast pulling itself forward, still roaring deafening roars as it came at her, leaving a trail of thick ichor blood in its wake as it drug itself through rubble, its body slowly regenerating its body from the waist down, but it wasn't fast enough. In a bound she launched herself forward, grabbing onto its shoulder, clawed hands sinking into its massive muscles, and searing rapidly into the bone, and for once, the combined pain of its missing lower body and the searing pain of her claws caused the roars of the beast to change from deep anger to confounded pain.

One after the other she tore into its massive arms, ripping them off and searing the injuries shut. Leaving a massive torso with head. Which was trying to struggle to move as its eyes changed from that of a primal hunter, to one of cold blooded terror, as the mare jumped off its shoulders and landed in front of it, she spoke coldly, the monotone having vanished, "That computer held the hopes and dreams of an entire team of brilliant minds. Countless experiments were logged in there, and results recorded over various projects."

Her claws landed upon its face, but the heat in it had dimmed, slowly burning into its flesh, as it tried to wrench its head out of her grasp, "This laboratory, one of hundreds that tried to make the war better, and in which father Cherwood invented the first true gun and invented me in its mothers image."

I was horrifed as its flesh began to bubble, and catch alight, it groaned, shocking me as the beast spoke, shudderingly slow, "Leave me alo- Arrgghhhh" the words drawn out as it turned into a shuddering scream as she pressed deeper.

"Of all the places in this world you could of chosen to wreck and live in like a piece of swine, you choose to invade the home of Cherwood."

"Mercy..." The giant limbless ghoul begged, "Merrrccyyyyy!"

I shuddered, a once feral mindless beast reduced to... thinking? Guess it wasn't quite all the way there.

"Fool." She said, but she was running out of time to clutch nothing but its face, "But very well. Here is the mercy given to enemies of Equestria." And her claws began to turn hotter.

I couldn't take it anymore, "Wait!" I yelled, from the doorway.

To my surprise, she actually paused, "What is it Aria?"

"Spare him." I said, quietly since the stench of burning flesh was making it hard to breathe, "You've already delimbed him, and I have some questions to ask him." I made the excuse up quickly, I could already feel my stomach reeling from the amount of gore that was now filling the room, it was almost worst than Maul.

"Very well, but if he makes any more hostile actions this unit must warn you, that by order doctrine 33-b I will be forced to take his life regardless of standing orders."

I winced, but nodded, and she stepped away, her claws returning to normal coloration and withdrawing back into her hooves, the surface of her hooves becoming smooth once again, and I shuddered. How many other weapons did she have under there? I didn't want to know. But if this beast was still sentient enough to talk...

I walked out from my cover, doing my best to ignore the smell, the beast, or brute if that was the case, groaned, "Thank you pony... thank you..."

My training with Grey kicked back in as I tried to remembered the standard system for interrogation and conduct with prisoners, "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

It took him a second to speak, "Who...?"

"Your name." I asked, and he glanced behind me and gulped, I didn't need to glance to tell that Trixie was intimidating him from behind with glowing claws again.

"I am Soot." Each word sounded forced, just like the rest, "I came to stall metal crabs."

"Metal crabs...? You mean the think tank?" I pondered, they did sort of look like metal versions of the animal I had spotted in a few books recently, and to his nodding I had to continue my questions, "Why?"

"Dr. Terrible said to do it." He said simply, as if that was all the reason enough to wreck this laboratory.

"Why?"

He shook his head at the robot behind me, "That thing ripping my legs off isn't reason enough?"

Trixie spoke up, "This unit is armed with a C.L.A.W. unit that is easily able to destroy starmetal armor once heated. Let alone your flesh."

My pipbuck updated, but I ignored it for now, "Tell me more about Doctor Terrible." I asked him.

"He is leader, big glowing horned bull brute." the beast added, his limbs had healed to their first joint on the front, and he had finally regenerated his hip, and his lower body was starting to work on his legs, "He is seconded only to Doc Smile... Father of all us children."

"What are their motives on the think tank?"

He shook his head, "I do not know. Only that they didn't want them to leave."

I sighed, "Nothing at all?"

He shook his head, "Nope..." I could see his limbs starting to move as his lower limbs were almost completely repaired.

He's hiding something. The voice in my head rang through my head, and I had to stop myself from wincing, it was a lot louder.

Mind stop shouting at me? I gritted my teeth, And what do you mean hes hiding something?

I'm just as loud as normal... Although there is an abundance of starmetal right near you... Interesting, its amplifying my signal... Anyway, I can see that hes sane enough to remember some details that might interest you.

Why don't you just tell me?

Now if I told you everything everyone knew that you didn't what would be the point of you talking to anyone ever? Besides wouldn't you believe it from the horses mouth rather than from some voice in your head?

He got me there, I would of probably still interrogated him despite the voices answer, So, how do I get it out of him?

I would ordinarily have you take my offer before telling you, but instead, I just want you to take that little robot with you until your business is done in this facility. As for the brute, though it is clear his mind has only been temporarily freed from his own madness. The instinct of self preservation should snap the truth out of him before he turns back to his feral ways.

"Then I guess we're done here... Cleanly kill him Trixie." I began to walk away, but he shouted, "W-wait! I know the location of another object that you seek!"

I paused, holding up my hoof as Trixie started forward, and she took the sign to stop as well, "Go on..."

"I know where the stealth suit blueprints are!" He whimpered, his newly healed eye looking fearfully of the metal claw that was an inch from his pupil.

Xp Footnote: 40% left until level up.

DLC companion Gained!
TRIX-E: Companion Perk: Great And Powerful: This companion acts like a substitute intimidation perk, as well as granting 10% bonus to the use of magical weaponry and spells while this unit is your companion. Did we also mention shes great with technology?This perk is active as long as this unit is in your party.

Music Pack Unlocked: The G.A.P.T.

Next Chapter: Summer Smiles DLC 4: Stars and Emotion Estimated time remaining: 8 Hours, 9 Minutes