Let’s set up a scene, shall we?
You’re on a train that’s taking you to somewhere far, far away.
You don’t know where it’s headed, but the only thought in your mind is getting there.
Wherever ‘there’ may be.
The world outside is flying by, but you can’t see past the dense fog that has settled over the invisible world.
It’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen, but it doesn’t matter.
The fog isn’t where you’re headed.
As you look outside, you see a face in the window.
A tired, old face.
A face without remorse, without pity.
My face.
And the train keeps chugging on down the track, the whistle blowing a few times as it speeds up.
Yet all you can see is my face in the window as I peer at your very soul.
There is nothing else but you and me.
There is no god here.
Bright white lights; that’s all I could see. They flashed in my eyes for but a few seconds, before retreating to the dim ambiance of the train car. Rain pattered against the windows, filling the place with a drone that nearly muffled all other sound. Only a few others were here with me, wearing the same faded blue clothes given to us by our oppressors. I paid no attention to them, however. My mind was on the world outside, the bleak light of the sun diffusing through the thick layer of fog.
Just a dream, I reassured myself. Just a dream.
The train had been on the move for a few hours now, yet no matter where it went, the dense fog outside seemed to follow. I knew, deep down, that the fog didn’t come from Cloudsdale. Yet as to why, I had no clue. It was as if the world donned these gray colors for sheer symbolism, like it was trying to tell us, the whole world, something important.
To tell you that magic is gone.
“Let me out of this goddamn cage, you bastards!” An orange pegasus rammed into the barred windows repeatedly for a bit before landing back on the ancient carpeted floor, huffing.
“Fightin’ ain’t gonna get you anywhere,” a beige unicorn said. He sat upon the worn red seat nearest to the door, crossing his front legs and leaning on the wall behind him. “Just siddown an’ relax. Ain’t no way you gonna get outta here.”
“Shut it, you old codger!” The pegasus didn’t even bother to turn around. “I’m gonna get out of here even if it kills me!”
“Colt, you better watch your mouth. Ain’t nopony teach ya how ta talk to your elders?”
The pegasus turned around. “I told you to shut up!” He slammed one of his hooves down, making the wooden floorboards underneath the patterned carpet creak slightly. “I’m going to get out of here, one way or another.”
“Why do ya wanna fight so badly?”
“Because they took my family away from me!”
“And?” The pegasus was rendered silent. “And?” The old unicorn yelled at the top of his lungs, his words ringing in my ears for a few moments.
“You think you’re special? You think that if ya fight, you’ll get ‘em back? They took us all away from our families, our friends! Better stallions than you! You ain’t special, you ain’t different. Just ‘cause you wanna fight for your folks don’t make you a hero. It took those damn aliens seven hours to come ‘ere an’ take o’er. What chance do ya think you got?”
For a while, the unicorn’s words echoed throughout the train car before disappearing into my memory. A few moments of silence ensued, the only noise being the light tapping of the dying rain against the roof.
The pegasus slowly crept back to his seat and sighed. “Thanks for that. I… haven’t slept very well lately.”
“Why’re ya getting’ transferred?”
“No clue,” the pegasus said with a slight chuckle. “All I know is that they came to my door last night. Told me that I broke a few rules that I never knew existed. Next thing I know, I’m here on my way to wherever the hell we’re - “
“New Canterlot.”
The pegasus’ eyes widened. “This can’t be good.”
“Won’t be as bad as ya think it will.”
“That’s what you think,” the pegasus huffed. “One wrong move and it’s off to --”
“Ya shouldn’t think ‘bout those things. Just don’t get into any – “
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” The pegasus yawned. “I’m going to go to sleep for a bit. Only thing I can do, I suppose.” He closed his eyes.
The unicorn sighed and leaned back into his seat, closing his eyes as well. “You’ve been really quiet, ‘aven’t ya?”
My ears shot up.
“Aren’t you worried ‘bout where we’re goin’, too?”
Silence.
“A quiet one, huh?” The unicorn chuckled. “I can’t blame ya. Not much to say ‘bout the world right now. An’ I don’t think it’s gonna get any better.”
He turned towards me, a sincere look in his old, gray eyes. “I’m worried too, tho’ I fancy I don’t look it. I’ve been through more transfers than I can count. A bit of advice: keep low and they won’t bother ya… much.”
<--------------------------------------------------------------->
I covered my ears as the squeal of the train’s brakes shattered the still air of the car. The old wooden car jerked forward a bit as it came to a complete stop. We had finally arrived. The unicorn slowly slid out of his chair and shook the pegasus awake whilst I headed out of the door.
I took a long, deep breath of fresh, unfiltered air. It was magnificent: the feeling of finally being able to stretch my legs after such a long time. I couldn’t quite recall how long it had taken, but what bothered me still were the unicorn’s words, still ringing in my ear.
We ain’t got no family no more.
“Welcome! Welcome to New Canterlot. You have chosen, or have been chosen, to transfer to one of the finest urban centers we have left.”
I looked up at the rectangular screen that leaned off of a large steel pillar. A dark-blue alicorn smiled as she spoke calmly into the microphone situated before her.
“I kindly thank our benefactors for allowing me to have precedence over my home city, and also for the deliverance of our new beacon of the future: the Citadel. And so, whether you are here to stay, or passing through on your way to parts unknown, I would like to once again say: welcome to New Canterlot!”
The video relay fritzed out a bit before beginning another loop, droning on about the same message.
“Rarity! Rarity!”
A foal’s voice broke through the sea of noise that flowed through the air. A small little filly was frantically jumping up and down upon a raised concrete platform back against the far wall, her eyes frantically scanning over the small crowd that had gathered from the arriving trains. “Rarity, where are you?”
I slowly made my way through the dispersing crowd towards her, glancing around to see if anypony else had paid her any attention. Yet nopony seemed to notice. I sighed and continued my approach, stopping at the foot of the platform and looking up at the filly.
The platform was a few feet high, but it wasn’t a problem with a little backstep. Jumping up to the filly’s side, a desperate look in her emerald eyes was clearly visible amongst her panicking face. Turning to me, she stared at me straight on with a sense of fear I hadn’t seen in a very long time.
“Please, sir! Help me find my sister! I’ve been looking so hard, and-” she cried.
Amidst her pleas, I simply nodded my head to show my agreement. She smiled a little at the gesture, and nodded herself. I returned the favor, and smiled myself.
“Welcome! Welcome to New Canterlot - “
“Are you sure she’ll be outside?”
The little filly looked up at me with doubtful eyes. I only smiled and nodded in an attempt to alleviate her mood. We had been in this line for but a few minutes, having been unable to locate her sister in the arrival zone. Yet with each passing second, the tall fence that made up the line’s separators seemed to stretch higher than what the eye could see, whilst the drone of the looped video on the screen above neglected our ears a moment of rest.
“Welcome! Welcome to New Canterlot - “
“That video is really annoying, huh?”
I nodded in agreement as the line moved up a few feet, bringing the two of us ever closer to whatever awaited behind the guarded fence.
“Mister, how come you don’t talk?”
My ears shot up, but I did not answer her question. So I just stood there and ignored it, continuing my observations of the officers. They were as judges sentencing criminals to execution or to freedom. Many ponies had already gone before us, and not a single one was directed to the right. Only to a large metal door on the left, dull green and scratched.
“Next!”
The stallion ahead of us approached them. He seemed to be shaking as the officers examined him, one constantly looking back and forth between him and a clipboard that was levitating in front of him. The guard motioned towards the left, and the stallion fell before him and groveled.
“You can’t send me there! I didn’t do anything!”
Two other officers surrounded the stallion’s fore-legs in a uniform blue aura and began to drag him away.
“Please! I beg of you! Don’t take me there! Don’t - “
The door slammed shut behind him, the bam ringing through the air for a few seconds.
“Sweetie Belle.” I turned my head towards the little filly who stood quivering. “My name is Sweetie Belle.” Her eyes never left the officer, a small little tear escaping from her left eye.
“Before she left, my sister told me that it’s better to know more ponies and to have lost them than to have never met them at all...”
I sighed as I caught sight of her. She seemed so forlorn, so frightened - helpless even. Overwhelmed by a rush of sympathy, I slowly began to speak.
“My - ”
“Next!”
The hulking figure of a guard loomed over the gate, ushering me in without any hassle. There probably would be such a thing if I didn’t get through quick, so I gave the young filly next to me an approving nod as I approached him.
Any hope I had of Sweetie making it out safely vanished as I looked back, since another armored guard was ushering her through a side door into an interrogation hallway. Her cries for help fell upon uncaring ears, and the only one that did care was getting sent away. Despite only having known her for a short time, the sadness I felt was overwhelming. Yet the guard dragging her along paused before going through the door and turned back to face me.
“You too, citizen! Come with me,” a muffled voice came from the mask of the guard as he gestured towards me.
Walking down the hallway with Sweetie, we couldn’t help but comfort each other with empty smiles. We knew that this wasn’t a happy moment, but I tried as best I could to alleviate her sullen mood, and I felt a little more at peace.
Ushering us into the far back room, a disheartening sight fell upon us. It was an interrogation room, the floor covered with blood and other revolting things. A single chair fit for a pony lay in the middle, telling us of things we couldn’t even begin to imagine. Nor what we’d ever want to experience.
“I’m going to need some privacy for this,” our guard said as he- no, she, turned off the security settings and removed her helmet. Judging by Sweetie’s overjoyed face at sight of her, our hunt was over pretty quickly.
“Rarity!” The little filly rushed over to her sister and embraced her for a few minutes, refusing to let go. “I thought we were going to -”
“Don’t think about that, Sweetie Belle. You’re safe - at least, for now.” Rarity shifted her gaze towards me, and she smiled. “Good to see that you made it out of Uprising, Free. Where have you been? You’ve been gone for months!”
Sweetie Belle looked back and forth between the two of us. “Wha - you two know each other?”
“Sorry for the scare, you two. The cameras demand that I act... like them. Twilight asked that I work undercover for Civil Protection, so I really can’t spend that much time here with you two.” Rarity turned to the strange computer console behind her and began clicking away at the keys. “I’m incredibly behind on their demeaning work,” she heaved in disgust. “They really are brutes, you know.” The blue screen on the wall shimmered for a few seconds before an empty image appeared.
“What is it, Rarity?” A purple unicorn darted into the video, her face blasted by soot and her mane unruly and unkempt. “I’m in the middle of a very important test!”
“Apologies, Twilight, but look at who I just discovered.”
Pausing for a few seconds as she leaned closer to the screen, Twilight gasped. “Oh my - is that really you, Free?”
“Hey, I’m here too, you know,” Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
“Look at that, you’re both safe! I thought we had lost you in Uprising, Free!”
“They were about to be sent to Retribution. It was really a grand stroke of luck that I found them before that happened.”
“Well, they can’t stay there. It’s too risky.”
“Yes, darling, I know. Let me think.”
“Applejack should be around here... somewhere. She’d be able to bring Free here. And Zecora is ready to pick up Sweetie Belle out in the courtyard.”
“Well as long as the two of them stay away from checkpoints, they should be fine.”
“But, Rarity,” Sweetie Belle chimed. “I want to stay with you!”
Rarity sighed. “I’m sorry, Sweetie Belle, but you have to go with Free. I cannot afford to -”
A banging resonated throughout the room, making me jump a bit.
“Oh no - look, Twilight. I have to go.” Rarity pushed a button on the console, shutting the screen off. She ushered us towards a side door and pushed us through to a dimly lit hallway that looked far older than the room we had been in. “Free, take Sweetie Belle with you to the main hall. Zecora is in the courtyard ready to - “
Several more knocks rang out from the door, this time much louder.
“You two need to get going!”
“But Rarity,” Sweetie Belle whined.
Rarity sighed and lowered herself to eye-level with the filly. “I’m sorry, Sweetie Belle, but I can’t hide you here.” She smiled. “Free will take care of you until you meet with Zecora, okay?”
Despite the apparent lack of time, a short pause ensued. I knew that we had to hurry, but it was not my place to interrupt.
Sweetie Belle nodded. Rarity smiled. “Alright then, get going!”
<--------------------------------------------------------------------->
“Let me read a letter I recently received: 'Dear Princess Luna, why have the Combine deemed it right to suppress the greater usage of magic? Sincerely, a concerned citizen.' Thank you for your question! Of course - “
The large screen that hung from the far wall blasted the alicorn’s philosophical bantering repeatedly throughout the immense hall of the station. I could swear I remembered her from somewhere, yet I could only recall so much. The incident at Uprising, my escape, and him were the few things I could clearly rehearse in my head, every happening and everything said, like a broken record that nopony has ever bothered to stop. Without my grounded worries, I might have drove myself insane.
“Pick up that can.”
The foreign voice snapped me out of my thoughts and brought my attention to the officer whom gestured towards a bent can on the ground. Without so much as a thought, I picked it up and threw it into the nearby trashcan, only to be chuckled at by the expressionless guard.
“Heh. Alright, you two can go forward.” He stepped out of the way, allowing us through the barred hallway and into the foyer. Albeit with slight confusion, Sweetie Belle and I made our way into the sprawling area before us, brushing past the guard. “Back away.”
Apparently straying too close to the officer, I quickly sidestepped away from him and refocused my attention towards the near-absence of any others here. A few were standing in a line approaching a strange contraption that handed out white blobs of fluff while even fewer were making their leave at the far end of the hall.
“This place is huge!” Sweetie broke out of her solemn mood as she took in the sight of the place. And yet the place was so bland. The only remarkable feature was the glass-paneled roof that arched over the entire foyer.
“First, why don't we examine the fact that for the first time ever as a species, universal immortality is within our reach. This simple fact has far-reaching implications. It requires a drastic change of mind on the concepts of magic itself, which in turn requires that we neglect our desire to express. How will we achieve such unbelievable measures? The answer is simple: we must look towards technology and machinery for the security of our lives and our posterity -”
Machines. Machines bring nothing but trouble. Uprising is a perfect example of that -
“Free, can you get me a water? I'm really thirsty.”
It seemed that I was quite parched as well, and spotting two water dispensers on the far wall, I looked to Sweetie Belle and nodded in agreement. We made our way towards them as I took notice of an old brown stallion who appeared to be sleeping on an old wooden bench right next to them.
“This urge must be fought vigorously, beginning with the basest of our own minds: the desire to create. We should be thanking our benefactors for taking that burden off of our weary backs. They have thrown a switch and exorcised our demons in one fell swoop. They have given us a purpose to go on. Let me remind you that once we are able to overcome our own temptations to this sin, our benefactors will shut off the suppressing field and allow free reign again. And the day that will happen is close at hoof - “
If I don't get out of here soon, that damned thing will drive me insane, I thought. I sighed. We finally arrived at the dispensers, Sweetie trying her best to reach up for a button that was marked 'Water.'
“Don't drink the water, you two.”
We both stopped and turned towards the old stallion, his cold, dead eyes bearing onto ours.
“They put something in the water. To make you forget.” He chuckled and then shifted back into his sleep.
A drug in the water? I quickly guided Sweetie Belle away from the dispensers and ushered her to the doors leading outside.
“But I'm thirsty!”
I looked at her in silence as we pressed onwards, pushing one thought to her as best as I could convey.
Don't drink the water. Ever.
We burst through the doors and out into the dreary sunlight of the world. The fog seemed to have vanished completely, with no evidence it had ever even existed. Not even a cloud in the sky. The plaza were confronted had only a few more ponies around than inside, yet it still seemed barren and forlorn. In the distance stood a menacing tower that seemed to pierce the skyline.
Yet something seemed completely off, missing in fact. I looked around and scanned beyond the tops of the building for it, but I could not even see a trace of it.
Where's the palace?
