A group of ponies walked through the ruined streets of Canterlot, at the head Princess Celestia and Luna walked using there magic to clear the streets. The group wore heavy armor and gas masks covered there faces. The princesses sighed as they thought back to there lost friend and student and what had lead to what wold be eventually called the Canterlot catastrophe.
It had started seven years ago, Canterlot had been the industrial capital of Equestria, ponies had discovered how to use a combination of steam, metal and gears to create what was called Magitech and at the center of this great technological revolution had been Twilight Sparkle. She had discovered and created the first pieces of Magitech and had been the brains behind not only its creation and implementation but also the development of new Magitech.
While Twilight had chosen to base her workshop as well as the development laboratories in Ponyville, she had also set up factories in Canterlot though it was more to satisfy the Nobles than any other reason. Twilight would often inspect the factories to make sure that they were properly staffed as well as to monitor there work quality. It had been during one of these inspections that the main C.O.R.E.S. for Canterlot had started to meltdown.
C.O.R.E.S. stood for Central Operations Reactor Energy Systems, and had been created by Twilight herself. There propose was to control the flow of the steam and power that the city both received and generated. The moment Twilight had revived the warning she had called for a full scale evacuation of the city as she went and tried to repair the damage before it was too late. She had failed.
No one knew what happened exactly but what as known was disturbing and had not been shared with the public for fear of what would happen. Celestia and Luna had been overseeing the evacuation when a priority transmission had come through from the C.O.R.E.S. Control room. Twilight said there had been sabotage and that it was too late. After that the sound of an explosion was heard and then nothing. Celestia and Luna awoke weeks later on Ponyville General Hospital. There guards had recovered there near dead bodies almost eighty miles from where Canterlot had been.
The remaining ponies that had been caught in the blast had either died or were mutated in to monstrous creations. It was unknown what had exactly been done but it was theorized that the blast had transformed those caught in the blasts direct range into a combination of flesh and Magitech. These creatures would attack anything that wasn't created from Magitech and had been named the Reanimated. They were mindless and operated solely on instinct. The odd thing about them was that they never left Canterlot. Twilight had been stated as dead thought the princesses knew that finding a body was not likely, she had been in the Ground Zero of the explosion after all.
"Princess, we found something." One of the ponies yelled knocking the two out of there thoughts.
"What is it Over Drive?" Celestia asked as she approached the stallion who had called out.
"A Reanimated but it's dead. There are small holes all over the corpse. and it looks like something blasted off its front arms." Over Drive said as he examined the corpse.
"That's impossible." One of the guards said as he walked over. "No one survived the blast."
"Well something did this Longshot." Over Drive shot back. "and we all know that Reanimated don't attack each other."
"Search for anything out of the ordinary, tracks leading away from the body, signs of a conflict, weapons, anything!" Celestia called out as the group began to look around.
"Sister, there is blood here!" Luna called out. "Follow me!" She yelled as she walked deeper into the destroyed city following the trail. The group walked in silence till they reached a large workshop.
The workshop was surrounded by several Clockwork Golems patrolling the area. Each golem held a strange looking object. They were as long as a sword but were round and slender like a pipe. They had several valves and they were connected to the Golems arm through some form of tubing that glowed a faint purple. They were heavily armored as well and also caried an odd looking sword. It had the same mechanisms as the odd weapon but it was on a much smaller scale and had no tubing, at the end of the pipe was a blade about two feet long.
"This is odd." Celestia said quietly as she examined the situation.
"Princess, what do we do?" One of the ponies asked.
Celestia turned to her sister and they had what appeared to be a silent conversation. Luna sighed and looked away. "You all return to the base there is nothing you can do here, we will handle the situation from here." She said.
The group froze. "Princess you can't be serous." One of the guards said.
"We aren't equipped for an attack, we came here to salvage what we could and investigate the situation. Both of these objectives have already been accomplished. You have no reason to get involved any further my little ponies." Celestia replied.
"My sister is right in some aspects, you have already completed your mission now we wish to investigate further." Luna said. "If it makes you feel safer then you may return here with a larger force if we do not return by tomorrow evening."
The group hesitated for a moment before turning and walking back the way they had come. Luna sighed as she turned to her sister. "So what's your plan."
"We talk. Someone must control those golems we need to find out who." Celestia said calmly.
Luna sighed. "If this ends up like Dodge Junction I will make the castle staff revoke thy cake privileges for a week!" Luna grumbled as she followed Celestia out from cover.
The moment that they were no longer behind cover the golems froze and turned to them. The two sisters slowly approached the golems watching them till they were speaking distance apart. "You are not Renegades, Identify yourself." One of the golems said in a monotone voice.
"I am Princes Celestia." Celestia said.
"I am Princess Luna, we wish to know who made thee." Luna said.
The golem paused and tilting its head. After a moment paused the golem looked directly at the princesses. "Identity confirmed. This way princesses, MOTHER wishes to speak to you." The golem turned and walked toward the workshop.
The sisters looked at each other before following the golem. As they reached the doors they saw the golem turning several valves on the door before placing its palm on an open steam pipe. A click was heard and the doors opened with the sound of grinding gears. The golem entered and the sisters followed.
The minute they were through the doors slammed shut but the two royals paid no attention to that. Before them walked thousands of golems, some talking, small ones playing, some stood over the work benches crafting something. It was as if they were alive each one doing not what they were programmed to do but what they wanted as if they were live.
"Welcome to Project Clockwork." The golem said calmly. "This way please." The golem walked strait into the to large group of others and the sisters quickly ran after it. They followed the golem till they reached the other side of the room and it pressed a button on the wall opening up an elevator. The golem entered and hit the floor labeled 'C.O.R.E.S. Control Room'. The doors shut and the elevator descended. The group was silent till the doors opened with a ding and they stepped forward onto a cat walk. "While I cannot control you I ask you to be respectful to MOTHER." The golem said as they began to walk down the stairs to the main floor. "I do not care who you are, she is our creator and guardian. When you entered the Ruins you enter her domain so be respectful." The golems voice was still monotone but it was different at the same time. It had an edge that of warning to it.
As they reached the bottom the two sisters gasped. Sitting before them with her eyes closed was a Purple Alicorn. One of her legs had wires visible and her back was covered with flexible plates of metal. Her left wing was artificial and there were several places on her head and face that showed metallic implants. Multiple cords, wires and cables came down from the ceiling and were jacked into her back. With a sigh the they disconnected and the alicorn opened her eyes revealing one of them to be violet while the other was an electric blue. "Hello Celestia, Luna, It's good to see you again. The Alicorn said. Her voice was slightly distorted and held a slight echo but it was kind and motherly. "Thank you for bringing them 43. I would have meet them in the atrium but I felt I should Prioritize repairs to greeting guests."
"It was no trouble MOTHER." The golem know identified as 43 said. "If that is all I feel I must return to my duty."
The Alicorn smiled. "You may go child." She said calmly. 43 nodded and left.
"One of the my first hundred children, I wouldn't change them but they are... less advanced than the rest. It's good to see you, I missed you so much." The Alicorn said with a smile.
Celestia slowly walked forward shakily. "Is that really you, Twilight?"
"Yes, it's me." Twilight said. Celestia ran forward and pulled her into a bone crushing hug as she sobbed into Twilight's shoulder.