The mare wandered around the main hall of the museum known as Dvautm Stable. This was a place renowned for hosting the most exhibits and information this side of Nine-Towers Academy, and was recognized as one of the most impressive collections of the arts, history, sciences and magics in the world. Even the restaurant served dishes gathered from across the world, including those suited to carnivores and other, rarer diets.

The mare had ordered a bowl of magically charged crystals, much to the initial confusion of the staff who worked there. They hadn’t complained when she showed them what she was. They more than likely fancied an explanation, but a customer was a customer, and they had no right to pry. She was known as simply “Up”; a shortened nickname inspired by her serial code, and she was a vacuum cleaner. More specifically, she was a Golem. An artificially created body imbued with all that was required to mimic life.

The word “mimic” passed through her head once again as her eyes came to a rest upon the entrance to the newest section of the museum. It was dedicated to the Plane Ponies, whose gradually growing population had recently been acknowledged as a sign that they’d become a species unto themselves. She was akin to them; artificial in Body but just as real as any “living” pony around her when it came to her Soul. This was what separated her from the bulky, stiff design that hung within its case before her.

It was a vacuum cleaner Golem. A very simple one designed only to complete its task and nothing more. It lacked a personality and any kind of spark behind its creepy, metal eyes. It was nothing like her. Nothing like the Golems were back when she was created.

Up pondered to herself, idly watching as a mare read out the information stamp to her little colt child beside her. How old was this Golem? Had it begun to grow deep within its featureless metal husk, like Golems of flesh tended to in this age? Had it begun to recognise the fact that it was getting dusty every week or two, despite being permanently switched off? The thought reminded her of her innocent youth behind the display window at an appliance store.

But quickly, the memory passed. There was no point in recalling a time so incomparable to the present day. For now, she would simply muse over the fact that ponies seemed to be slowly returning to their old ways of unstoppable advancement. The vacuum cleaner Golem was woefully basic, but it was definitely a worrying sign of things to come…