//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 - The Hub // Story: Project Clockwork // by Arceaion //------------------------------// "Celestia, if you don't stop crying on me I fear I might rust." Twilight said with a giggle. "It is good to see you friend Twilight. But please tell, Why did thou not return when thou could have?" Luna asked calmly. Twilight sighed and slowly pulled away from Celestia. "When the blast when off there was nothing I could do. There was so much pain, so much w-I didn't understand, I should have been dead but I wasn't. Then something happened the blast changed me, for a moment I felt as if I was the city. I saw everything, every system was under our control, we could do anything we wanted. It was as if I was no longer Twilight but something else, something... wrong. I could control everything, I could be everything but would I still be myself? In that moment I refused, I said no to control and something said that I did right. When I woke up I realized what had happened. The blast had fused me to the C.O.R.E.S. commuter, we were given free mobility through out this room but that was as far as out cables would go." "But thou aren't chained any more, I see no cables or wires." Luna said pointing at Twilight's body. "It took me years to find a solution to that and in the end there was only one. I finished the merging process. I became the C.O.R.E.S. and it became me, We are one and the same. While I was free to leave I... I don't want to when ever I try to leave the city I feel wrong, like I shouldn't leave. It's because of the C.O.R.E.S., I'm conected to the city, in a sense I am its heart." "So you can't leave with out consistently feeling that your not meant to be there?" Celestia asked. Twilight nodded. "Yes, If I leave the city I lose my connection to it and I feel broken. There is a way around this but it's risky." "What is it?" Celestia asked a look of determination in her eyes. "Twilight I want to help you, if we can get you freed from this prison then I will do anything." "If I were able to link up to something away from Canterlot, like the C.O.R.E.S. in Ponyville I might be able to travel there, so would my children." "Children?" Celestia asked confused. Twilight giggled. "You saw them already, All those Clockworks up there, there constructed from Biometal." Twilight's smile turned a little forced as she looked down. "I got lonely trapped in here for so long, so to take my mind off the loneliness I began to build.The first I built were the Seekers, They were to go out and see what remained of Canterlot. However they were faulty and well... they went rouge. They don't attack anything that is made from Magitech but any living beings are attacked. They are also rather hostile toward me." "They sound like the Reanimated, thought the Reanimated are ponies." Luna said thoughtfully. "Actually that is them, I think." Twilight said with a sigh as she shook her head. "Seekers have a weird habit of taking a pony corpse and removing the insides. Once they do this they wear the skin like it is some form of cover. However they only remove enough to squeeze in so they appear as if they were a walking corpse." Celestia gagged a few times before placing a hoof to her mouth. "Um, Twilight..." "Waist bin in the corner." Twilight said with a sad smile. "I'll admit when I found out I had a similar reaction to you." Celestia ran over to the bin and emptied the continence of her stomach into it. "The only difference it the amount of oil I had to clean up later, shame it went to waist." "Thou doesn't eat food any more Twilight?" Luna asked. Twilight shook her head. "Despite how I look I am more machine than I appear." Twilight rose slowly the sound of pistons and gears moving followed as she groaned. "I assume you haven't seen much of the Hub?" she asked as she walked over to the stairs. Celestia groaned as she walked over to her sister and Twilight. "No we haven't." She said as Twilight opened the elevator. Twilight smiled as the royals entered the elevator and she hit the button labeled 'Hub'. The doors closed and they were pulled up. as they stopped they royal sisters stared in shock at the large mansion before them. "Welcome To Hub." Twilight said with a flourish of her hoof. "This is the home of my children, the Clockworks. As they walked toward the manor Celestia and Luna noticed the thousands of pony like machines walking around. Some were sitting at cafes drinking what appeared to be oil, some were shopping at the many stalls and stores, some were chatting and laughing with friends, it as as if they were alive. "This is incredible Twilight!" Celestia said surprise and shock clear in her voice. Twilight laughed. "Each one is different in their own way be it there personality, color, body shape, we try to express who we are a Clockwork." Luna huffed. "You say this as if they are alive, are they not machines that you created?" The moment Luna asked this question every Clockwork froze and stared at her there eyes glowing red. Twilight stopped and slowly turned to glare at Luna making the older alicorn freeze in fear. "They are more than simple machines Luna. They live, they feel, they care, they laugh, they cry. Do not compare my children to that of a golem or robot." Twilight's voice had an edge to it that the sisters had never heard coming from her. No matter what Twilight had always been kind, even when she was angry she was never truly hostile but this was different. "They are far beyond what you think. Each of them I crafted with my own hooves, yes, but I gave them something that no other can, a soul. Each one of my children has a shard of my soul in them giving them life. That is the difference." "I-I apologize, I m-meant no dis-disrespect." Luna stuttered out as she lowered her head. The Clockworks stares at her for a moment before returning to what they had been doing, however there was a sense of sadness around them now. Twilight glared at Luna for a few more moments before turning and the trio continued walking toward the manor. Celestia whacked Luna with her wing. "Subtle Luna." "I won't lie, not even the artificial intelligence we have been experimenting with are this sentient but she can't be serious. There is no way for them to be alive." Luna whispered back. "Luna we don't even know how they are made, don't assume anything with Twilight. Remember she was the one who created the Magitech in the first place and she kept most of her findings locked away, even I haven't seen most of her research." Celestia replied as she looked at Twilight. As they reached the Manor a Clock work appeared at the door. "Greetings mistress, it is good to see your repairs completed." He said as he bowed. "Greetings Ratchet, I have two guests that will require a room for the night and please tell the staff that they will have to make a pony meal." Twilight said as Ratchet nodded. "It will be done my lady." he said as he turned to Celestia and Luna. "This way please, I will take you to your rooms for the evening." Ratchet turned and walked away from them and the sisters followed. As they walked they were impressed by the level of detail that went into the house. "I heard what happened in the market. While I don't believe you meant anything by it, I would ask you to please be careful when discussing such things around both other Clockworks, as it may offend, and around my mistress. She cares greatly for us as she is our MOTHER. While I am not at liberty to discuses how we are made I would suggest you ask her. She was being quit serious when she said that she places a shard of her soul into each of us and we fear for her health." Ratchet said as he turned and opened a door that lead to a large bedroom with two beds. "Diner will be ready shortly, I will inform you when it is done. If there is nothing else then I bid you a good evening." Ratchet bowed and closed the door. Celestia sighed and walked over to the bed as Luna sat down and looked at the door. "I am confused." She said. "Twilight is quit different from who she was but she seemed to be hiding something." "Mmhmm." Came Celestia non verbal response. "She as hiding something,she explains things but the explanations seem... incomplete as if she is censoring some of the information. And what she said, placing a shard of her soul in the Clockwork, such things have been done before. Only one pony ever survived the process and we both know what happened." Luna nodded. "That is why such magic has been banned for so long." She agreed. "However If that were the case she would have already gone mad, something is off but I don't know." Celestia sighed. "We can't assume anything, we know nothing at the moment. Perhaps Twilight will join us for dinner and we can get some answers." Luna nodded.