Celestia Trigger

by Thadius0

Chapter 35 - Bringing hope to the future

Eventually, the sight of a mostly-intact city on the coast caught our eyes. Of course, the fact that it was a city of metal was also of note, and I took a wild guess that it might be Baltimare. We parked the Wings of Time nearby and climbed out, to find that the population of the city was made up of robots. Nothing but metal, stationary and moving, met our eyes as we looked at this city.

It didn't hurt that when we took a step closer to the city, the robots beeped, whirred, and displayed their weapons at us. I took a wild guess that maybe, just maybe, they were protecting the city from us. I also recalled what had been discovered when this particular quest had been done in the game...

Hopefully we wouldn't find something similar here.

I held up a hand and called forth the lightning, sending it blazing into the city and causing the robots to malfunction for a short time. The seven of us rushed into the city and found that everything in it had been 'upgraded' to withstand the test of time. Metal made up everything, thick cords ran everywhere, screens hung off the sides of buildings. And in the middle of it all, a huge tower loomed over the city.

"Intruders!" we heard echoing around us. "Stop them, my soldiers!"

Around us came the whirring and clanking of metal as robots filled the streets. "Sombra, I think now is about the time we start showing off," I said to him as I charged up a Luminare.

"I couldn't agree more," he said as his horn was coated in a red aura. The both of us unleashed our attacks at the same moment...

And then something...different, happened.

There was no dark attack. There was no Luminare.

Instead, we seemed to have created a miniature sun above us that struck down our foes with beams of light and shredded them with solid darkness. The thing lasted for a minute or so, before exploding and blowing all the bits of the robots back. Sombra and I stared at one another before we spoke up, saying the same thing at the same time.

"We need to do that again."

"Less bonding over explosions, more checking this place out," Copper grunted. "We need to see why this place is so important. And maybe figure out who sicced those robots on us and give them a piece of our minds."

"Agreed," Justice beeped. "This facility should be explored and possibly dismantled."

The library, or what it had become, showed us that there was some sort of 'Mastermind' controlling the city, making it produce more and more robots constantly. In order to access him, we would need to find two keycards somewhere in the city. Resigning ourselves to searching and breaking robots, we made our way through the city.

Then Justice had an idea. A horrible idea.

"We should locate the production facility of this place and shut it down so that we may explore unmolested," he said.

What could I say? I agreed to go with them, and once we arrived.

"No!" Copper growled as she fired off a beam of pure energy at the robots strapping ponies into the processing machine. "I don't know what this thing does-"

There was a scream, a grinding noise, and then raw...parts...were moved from one part to another. Then a robot emerged from the end of the assembly line, before it got a power core inserted into it. A power core that had been made via pony parts being ground up into one.

"This...thing is nightmarish," Sombra said. "Can we not shut it off?"

Justice walked up to the machine and put a hoof on it, before the machine sparked and tossed him back. Once the robot got up again, he shook his head. "Negatory, it is wired into the main power lines of the city itself. We would need to take this entire place off-line in order to stop it."

"Whatever we need to do it, we better do it fast," Copper growled. "They're already making more robots to replace the ones that we've busted up to begin with."

The seven of us began our search anew. One keycard was found in the hospital, of all places, under heavy guard from the robots. A quick bit of Scorpan and Gregory bashing them to bits saw us with the card we required.

"These robots seemed of a different make," Justice observed.

"Yeah, when you need something guarded, you typically spring for the best," I agreed.

"Perhaps I shall return here, and assist Copper in upgrading herself with the parts from these ones?" the robot asked.

"Sure, why not, could be useful," the mare agreed.

The second keycard took a bit of work, but I eventually found it in the Police Department, sitting on a desk. Once I grabbed it, though, I heard the whirring of gears all around me. I barely got out of the room before I heard the walls crumble as what I could only assume to be robots marched through them in an effort to get at me. I booked it back out and panted while waiting for my companions to rejoin me.

It took them a few minutes, but eventually they all came out and saw the second card I was clutching in one hand. "You found it," Zehan observed. "Does this mean we can open the tower now, and stop this madness from continuing?"

"I bloody hope so," I muttered as I led them all back to the middle of town. Of course, the robots had returned, but Copper cleaned them all out with a quick Flare. Upon sighting the door, I took both keys in hand and swiped them through the reader on the side. There were a set of beeps before the door creaked open.

"Listen well, little mortals. Three hundred years ago, Lavos erupted from the earth and destroyed all life on this planet. Even now, his children swarm from Mount Canterhorn, growing larger before launching themselves off into space, to begin the cycle anew. Once they are all gone, life could return to this planet... if there were no ponies on it. We robots are the future. We could see to the needs of this planet far better than you ponies. We will never tire, never cease...we are superior in every way. We will make an empire of steel across this world, and it will be glorious."

All while we heard that monologue, we were moving through the tower in search of some sort of main control room. Surely there, we would find the Mastermind and be able to put a stop to it. It took us far longer than it should have before we found such a room, and the thing that awaited us there...

Well, it was a holographic display of a pony, talking to thin air as we walked up to him. "Ah, yes, hello, welcome," he said. "I don't suppose you've come to surrender, have you?"

The lightning running down my blade answered that question for him. "Fair enough," he chuckled. "Very well. Activate lethal self-defense systems!"

Turrets sprung to life in the walls, and the seven of us gathered our magical power.

I almost pitied this thing.

Almost.

---

The last screen lay cracked and broken on the floor, the turrets were all sparking and non-functional. The holographic display set in the floor was sputtering and cutting in and out randomly. "Wh-why? We...are the fuuuuuture," the display asked me.

I ignored it and stabbed my sword into the display one last time before firing up a quick Lighting to run down the sword, frying the system at its base. The display went dead, and with it, the entire city shut down. I could watch the lights go out from up here thanks to the window that took up one side of the room. One by one, buildings went dark, robots stopped moving. This vast metal city was dead now.

"It is done," Justice said simply. "No more shall this city live and harm ponies for their twisted vision of the future."

"Now all that's left to do," I said as I yanked my sword out, "Is free the ponies in that machine, let you and Copper work on potential upgrades, and then get back to Hora and see what's next on our list of things to take care of."

A process that didn't take longer than a few hours, all told. And for once, a pony from the future other than Copper showed an emotion. It was gratitude for all we'd done, and I merely told them I was doing what I had to.

Comments

[Trent Roogna]

Sweetness. Magus is getting dual techs!

[Seeking Dusk]

What did those robots expect to do when they ran out of ponies to make power cores from?

[Emperor]

Justice walked up to the machine and put a hoof on it, before the machine sparked and tossed him back. Once the robot got up again, he shook his head. "Negatory, it is wired into the main power lines of the city itself. We would need to take this entire place off-line in order to stop it."

Ah yes, video game mechanics. Never mind that you have the power to blow shit up with magic, if you try directing it at actual buildings instead of just monsters it won't do a thing

[Voldine]

And thus the Genocidome is broken.

[Frission]

"Wh-why? We...are the fuuuuuture," the display asked me.

"...and it doesn't involve you." |:< *krrrzzap*

[Dream Seeker]

I feel sorry for the poor Robots... Well, I always had a soft spot for Artificial Intelligences.

[Greatazuredragon]

Instead, we seemed to have created a miniature sun above us that struck down our foes with beams of light and shredded them with solid darkness. The thing lasted for a minute or so, before exploding and blowing all the bits of the robots back. Sombra and I stared at one another before we spoke up, saying the same thing at the same time.
"We need to do that again."

Agreed.

[Greatazuredragon]

6719535 Indeed. You may wield arcane might capable of obliterating even the strongest of beings with ease, but a simple locked wooden door can hinder your advance...

[SilentMech]

6719535
6728048 The Doctor occasionally has the same problem. And it's even less useful for him. Deadbolting something made of wood and he will never see the other side of the door unless some one breaks the wall.