Phase 10

Advisory: Portions of this chapter may be disturbing to some readers. Viewer discretion is advised. If you are squeamish, you may consider skipping the text located between the >>> and <<< marks.

Celestia held a hoof to her chest, catching her breath and staring up at her displeased sister. Luna was gazing down at her, not with malice or rage, but merely discontent. She somehow looked frustrated.

"Celestia, what are you doing out here?" Luna asked, her voice not raising much above her normal pitch, "I told you that I could only track your scouter while you're within the city boundaries."

"It's just lucky that I found you so quickly," Luna continued, "Or we could've been out here looking for hours."

Celestia was silent for a moment. "I don't think you needed to worry about…" Suddenly, her brain clicked. "Wait! Never mind that! What is this??" She gazed up at her sister with a mixed bag of emotions flowing through her. She was confused and desired answers from Luna, but was also growing more and more frightened and even distrustful.

Luna closed her eyes for a moment, then gazed up at the building and extended her hoof. "This," she declared, "is the New Canterlot Nutritional Facility."

Celestia followed her sister's hoof, which gestured to the writing on the wall that she wasn't able to read. She took notice of a small symbol of a star inside of a circle near the center.

"This standardized, centralized facility covers the entire city's nutritional needs in one efficient, compact structure," Luna continued. She trotted towards the first window Celestia had peeked through and gazed inside, gesturing for her sister to do so as well. "In here, the finest technological advancements and genetic engineering have allowed us to grow food enough for an entire population, confined to this small room. Note the short, tiny apple trees. They produce as much fruit as a full-grown one would in an orchard."

Luna trotted to the next window to the right, away from the egg-harvesting room. Wanting to give her sister the benefit of the doubt, Celestia held her tongue for the moment and followed her, gazing inside this window. Within, she saw something surprising. There was wheat everywhere. It was growing on every patch of available floor space, but was also growing from the walls, from between the aisles, and even from the ceiling.

"And here you can see one of our wheat rooms. All available space is put to use, growing the finest wheat without taking up so much space in fields."

Celestia paused as she continued to gaze at the 'wheat room'. Not only was wheat growing sideways and upside-down, but it was also growing more clustered and close together without any noticeable ill effects. "It's…" Celestia spoke slowly, "It's impressive, sister." She wasn't lying. What she saw in this room and also in the 'fruit room' had definitely impressed her.

"But what's going on in here?" she said, quickly trotting back to the window of the egg-harvesting room. "What are you doing to these poor chickens?!"

Luna followed her calmly. "That room is for harvesting eggs," she said, as if Celestia hadn't picked up on that already, "Protein is extremely important for pony nutrition, sister, and so eggs are a valuable commodity."

"Just like any other food," Luna continued, "we have developed a streamlined and efficient way to produce and harvest it so that we can feed the entire populace, while also keeping space usage to a minimum."

Celestia turned back to the window, gazing in at all the scruffy chickens stuffed into their tiny cages. "But, Luna…! These…These are battery cages!"

"Luna!" Celestia cried, indignant, "I outlawed battery cages centuri-" She stopped herself. "I outlawed battery cages when you were still tiny!!"

Luna nodded slowly. "Times have changed, Celestia. A larger population requires new practices and different ways of thinking."

"But those chickens! They're all stuffed into tiny cages! There's not enough room…! They're…"

"Celestia," Luna said a little more loudly, recapturing her sister's attention, "I'm sure you have many questions about what you've seen and experienced today, and I will be happy to answer any of them for you. However, this is not a suitable place for a conversation. Dinner has been prepared back at the royal residence, and I will answer your questions there."

Celestia stared at her sister for a moment. "But…" she said, turning away and beginning to trot towards the next window to the left. "Luna! You can't be-"

"Please, Celestia," Luna said, stepping before her, "It's going to get dark soon and I'm sure you don't want to have a long conversation in the cold and the dark."

Celestia gazed up at her taller sister. Luna was gazing down at her with an imploring, yet caring and genuine expression. Despite the growing distrust she was beginning to feel, there was still that undeniable sense of comfort she got whenever she gazed into her sister's eyes.

"I can promise you this, Celestia," Luna spoke, "We never harm the hens. We never kill them. We're not monsters, sister."

"I…I know you're not…" Celestia murmured. She glanced around for a moment before finally saying, "All right, Luna. Let's go eat dinner."

Luna smiled. "Thank you, sister. I know this is all strange and frightening to you, but I hope I can ease some of your confusion. Come stand next to me."

Celestia complied, and gazed up as Luna lit up her horn. She waited for a moment while a brilliant blue glow began to surround the two of them. She felt the magical energy around them growing and growing until finally there was a bright flash. When she opened her eyes, she found that they were standing outside of Luna's residence.

Celestia silently followed as Luna opened the large, main doors of the building and led her down a couple of hallways. A few minutes later, they found themselves in a moderately-sized room with a small, chrome table in the center. It was large enough to fit four ponies at maximum. Luna sat herself down at one end of the table and Celestia sat down opposite her.

She waited for a moment, expecting servants or waiters to come and deliver them some food. Then, she noticed Luna was once again utilizing her scouter. A few moments later, part of the top of the table shimmered away and a new section rose up. Spread out on it was a modest arrangement of foods including fruits, vegetables and breads.

"Wow…" Celestia murmured, impressed, "These chrome things…The walls, the doors, this table…Do they run on magic or some other form of power?"

Luna flashed her a proud grin. "Everything in this city, and almost every city in Equestria, is powered by the same, renewable energy source. They are all powered by silvite."

"It's fairly complicated to explain," Luna replied, "I won't bore you with the details. The most basic explanation is that it mimics magic, but acts like electricity. It can be used to power almost anything, and it can be produced in mass quantity."

Luna gazed down at the food with an appetizing grin on her face. "Ah, the cooks never fail to deliver an excellent meal. Well, feel free to dig in, sister."

"Thank you," Celestia replied flatly, reaching down with her magic to pick up a fork and use it to skewer some lettuce leaves. A few moments of awkward silence passed as each ate a few bites of food. Celestia gazed at her sister, a mix of emotions flowing through her mind.

"Luna," she said, finally, "The factory. You're going to have to give me some explanations."

Luna, food halfway to her mouth, set her fork down and sighed. "It is necessary, Celestia."

"What is?" Celestia shot back, suddenly feeling indignant, "The torture of those poor animals?"

Luna turned her glance away, "We keep them in cages, yes, but we feed them and we keep them warm. When they get sick, we treat them. When they get old and no longer produce eggs, we set them free instead of euthanizing them."

"Luna," Celestia said in a low tone, "If you had done this during my reign, then you would have broken countless animal rights laws and sent many activists into a frenzied rage."

Her sister turned back and stared at her. "During your reign, sister, you did not have to care for a population of 25 million." She paused, and then continued, "And that is not something atypical, sister. Most, if not all, cities in Equestria today have a population of at least five million."

"Our population has grown far beyond what it once was and, as such, our needs and practices have adapted."

Celestia was silent as she stared at her sister. Her temper was still boiling within her, but she found herself unsure of what to say next. "Luna…" she spoke slowly, "What I saw through that window was horrid. Those chickens all looked so sad and miserable. They deserve better than to be treated as egg-making machines."

A moment of poignant silence passed. Celestia was floored. "Wh…'Only chickens'?? What's that supposed to mean?"

Luna sighed again. "They're chickens, Celestia. They're not highly-intelligent beings. They're not cognisant like we are. The nutritional needs of the residents of our cities are more important than the luxurious life of a mere chicken."

"We give the chickens everything they need in life. They eat, they mate, and they die. We don't hurt them, we don't kill them, in fact we care for them. So, I'm afraid I don't see what the problem is."

"You can't…" She trailed off, unsure of what to say. Already, she could see that her argument was getting her nowhere. Luna's claims sounded justified enough, and it seemed true that these ponies weren't doing anything terrible. "It's just…It feels wrong."

Celestia frowned. "But surely, Luna…" she continued, still a little steamed, "There must be a better way to get eggs for the populace."

Luna glanced at her. "And what better way would that be? I repeat myself, Celestia, that we must feed 25 million ponies. In the same way we grow enough fruits, vegetables and grains, we must also supply ourselves with enough eggs." She then used her magic to pick up some sort of box from the table and held it up. Celestia saw that it was marked with the same star symbol that had been on the side of the factory. From inside it, she levitated out a hard-boiled egg.

"Though we strive for perfection, dear sister," Luna continued, "The best of us realize that not everything can be perfect. An entirely flawless world is something that exists only in fantasy."

Celestia stared at her calm, collected sister, trying to control the indignation she felt inside of her. "How can you be sure," she spoke, "that your practises are clean? Can you be entirely sure that no chickens are ever harmed or killed?"

"Of course," Luna spoke idly while peeling the shell off of her egg, "Ponies assigned to the egg harvesting room are well versed in animal care, and all areas of the factory are recorded and monitored. Those assigned to surveillance immediately alert the proper authorities if any mistreatment is being performed."

A light bulb suddenly illuminated in Celestia's mind. "And what's this I hear about ponies being assigned jobs because of their cutie marks??" she asked, direct and to the point, "Some locals told me that a pony gets a job for life as soon as their get their cutie mark!"

Luna nodded. "Indeed, Celestia. This practice has been in place for almost a millennium."

Luna gave her a confused look. "I am quite serious, Celestia. It only makes sense. A pony's cutie mark determines what they're best at, so it only makes sense that they utilize these skills to aid the rest of society."

"A pony should not be controlled by their cutie mark!!" Celestia hotly retorted, "They should be free to pursue whatever interests make them happiest! What happened to freedom of choice? What about individuality?" Something else clicked for her. "What happened to names?!"

In response to this, Luna gazed upwards in reflection. "Ah, yes…I remember when everypony had a name. To be honest, it got pretty confusing with the growing population, and especially when we were trying to program the first scouters. We gave everypony their own, unique ID and, soon, names just sort of died away."

There was silence for a moment. "It's really not a big deal," Luna spoke. When she heard no response, she gazed back down at her sister. "Celestia?"

The alicorn at the other end of the table was shivering. Celestia had a look upon her face that was a strange mix of anger and intense sadness. She was gazing imploringly at Luna, a slowly diminishing fire dancing behind her eyes. "What…What happened to this place…?"

"How did it all come to this, Luna?" Celestia spoke with a quivering voice, "What happened?"

Luna closed her eyes and heaved a sigh. "Time. Time happened, Celestia. Years and years and years passed by. Some things were simply…left behind."

"Are you…really this upset by what you've seen?" Luna asked in a tender, caring voice.

"I thought you'd be proud, sister!" Luna said, "I thought you'd find all of our successes and major advancements wonderful and amazing!"

"I…" Celestia resumed staring down at her food, "I just don't know any more, Luna…"

Celestia didn't know what to think. She didn't know how to feel. She couldn't deny the amazing things she'd seen, and spectacular leaps forward in technology that were out on display, nor could she not see the proud way Luna spoke of her accomplishments. Still, though, she could only find what she'd seen unnerving and wrong.

Celestia gazed up at her sister, the sadness gone from her eyes for the moment. "Why can't you build big chicken farms? I looked around the city. There seems to be plenty of unused land for miles in most directions. Why not clear away an area for a chicken farm?"

She frowned at Luna. The destruction of forests was not something she particularly enjoyed, but she was not so blind as to see that it was necessary in some cases. So long as it was done in a smart, controlled way, there was no real harm to be done.

"There's a few collections of real trees out there, blended in with the rest, but most of them merely look like trees."

The shorter alicorn gazed across the table with an infinitely perplexed look. "Those aren't trees?? I ran through those woods. They looked like trees to me. What are they then?"

Luna gazed at her, and an expression of sadness slowly found its way to her face. She gave a painful sigh. "Sister," she spoke forlornly, "You have not tried to move the sun since before the war with the griffons, correct?"

Celestia's eyes widened. The sun!! It had completely slipped her mind. After spending so much time during the reign of the griffons without the use of her magic, she had somehow forgotten that she could once again move the sun.

Then, she stared at Luna. The way she had suddenly brought this up was setting off alarm bells in her mind. "Wh…Why?" she asked slowly, her heart beginning to beat fast.

Celestia's heart sank, simply from those words alone. Find out what?? Was something wrong?! Her pulse was racing fast. Apprehension of the unknown was quickly overcoming her as she tried desperately to figure out what Luna wasn't telling her.

Her gaze drifted to the left, out an open window and to the starry sky outside. She gulped, knowing there was only one way to find out. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and channelled powerful, familiar arcane magic through her horn and out into the heavens. After a short moment of searching, she found her sun.

A moment later, Celestia lay screaming on the floor. She had her forehooves clamped to the sides of her head and her eyes clenched shut. Luna had quickly gotten up and was now at her side, but she couldn't hear her sister's words. She simply screamed, a horrible sound like a banshee's cry filling the room.

She had hardly even recognized her sun. It was so angry and in so much pain. Its fires raged and burned like the flames of tartarus, wild and uncontrolled. The incredible heat it gave off actually began eking into her horn, giving her a searing pain in her forehead. Her sun had aged so rapidly that it was now something incredibly unfamiliar to her. No longer was it her baby; no longer was it her cherished star that gave gentle light and warmth. Now, it resembled a ball of fiery chaos.

Worse so, the sun didn't seem to recognize her. She had nearly been blown away after her initial magical contact, and it was a struggle to remain connected even for a few seconds. She could feel it violently pushing her away and struggling against her. Only a moment had passed before she could hold on no longer.

Now Celestia lay, shivering and writhing on the floor. Luna was shouting at her and shaking her with her hooves, but she could only hear her own screams. That was not her sun. That was not her sun! That was an abomination. That was a wretched, dangerous body of destruction.

"Celestia! Please, stop!" she finally heard Luna's say, "Please! It's okay, sister! It's all right."

Her screams began to die down until eventually she was just moaning. She stared up, shivering, and gazed into her sister's concerned eyes.

For a moment, Celestia could do no more than moan. She weakly reached up one of her hooves towards her sister, and Luna took it in her own. The taller alicorn continued to gaze down at her with concern in her eyes. No, Celestia realized, That isn't concern. It's fear.

"The same thing that's been happening since we lost you, sister," Luna spoke, "The sun won't accept a new master. It's being forced through the sky…and it's dying."

Celestia's shivers intensified and she felt the urge to scream again, but she fought it off.

"I've gained much better control over it," Luna continued, "It's no longer a struggle to get it to rise and set…" She paused. "But I can still feel its resistance. The sun needs you, and it won't accept me. It's been getting worse and worse over the many, many years…"

Tears were now rolling down Celestia's cheeks. She was shivering as Luna took her hooves and helped her up into a sitting position. "My…My sun…" she murmured, "My baby…"

"I…I…" She couldn't stop shivering. She couldn't stop her tears. In the back of her mind, there was a small voice trying to remind her that it wasn't her fault and that there was nothing she could've done. However, the memory of what her sun had become was overpowering it. She felt that she couldn't handle it.

"As the sun continued to deteriorate," Luna spoke in a simple, professional tone, "it became more volatile and global temperatures continued to rise dramatically. It was recognized early on that many life forms, including ponies', would be severely threatened if the temperature got any worse. And so, temperature control units were designed and placed around Equestria in key places. As time went on, though, more and more were needed. Thus, we not have the 'forest' that you see surrounding our city. The devices not only regulate temperature to a liveable degree, but they also produce oxygen."

Celestia took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. It barely helped. "The…The trees…are keeping you…alive?"

"Wow…" Her heart was beginning to slow down, but tears were still flowing from her eyes. A heavy, gloomy cloud still hung over her.

"You can see now, surely, why space efficiency is so important to us," Luna continued, "If we don't use our land properly, we won't have enough room for all the necessary temperature control units."

"I…I see…" She tried to push the thought of her dying sun out of her mind, but all she could think about instead was the chickens in the factory. She now understood the reasoning behind such a cruel practice, but she still found herself unable to condone it.

A moment of silence passed as the two ponies gazed at one another. Finally, Celestia gave a small nod of her head.

"I'm sorry about your sun, Celestia," Luna said in a caring voice, "I…did my best."

"N-no…It's…As long as you did your best, Luna, I-" Celestia choked up, unable to speak further.

The room was filled with a shrill beep, causing both ponies' ears to spring up. Luna quickly gazed at her scouter, moving through a few menus and interfaces. After a moment, she sighed. "I'm needed," she said once again, "It looks like you could use some time alone, anyway."

"Good," Luna said, offering a small smile as she stood up, "I'll try not to be long. We'll talk again later, okay?"

"O-okay…" As she sat crying, staring up at the taller alicorn, who was giving her a kind, caring smile, she was overcome with an incredibly strange feeling. She felt like she was the younger one, looking up at her big sister. Throughout nearly her entire life, Celestia had not known anypony older than her. Sitting here now, gazing up meekly with tears in her eyes, she wondered if this was how Luna used to feel sometimes.

"I'll see you later, Celestia," Luna said before quickly turning around and trotting off.

"G'bye…" Celestia murmured as her sister disappeared through the door. When it closed, she found herself completely alone in the silent room. She sniffled and gazed at her surroundings. Luna was gone now; she'd need to deal with her problems on her own.

She gave a painful sigh that ached in her heart and got to her hooves. She trotted back to the table, where the food still remained. Using her magic, she picked up a few apple slices and began to eat them. The apples tasted absolutely wonderful. They were so sweet and juicy, she immediately craved more.

As she ate, a torrent of thoughts were moving through her mind. She tried to ignore any thoughts about her sun. She knew that they would just make her incredibly upset, and tried to tell herself that she simply had to accept what had happened. There was nothing she could've done, and there was nothing she could do now.

Picking up some chocolate-chip cookies with her magic, she again began to think of the food factory. With large, free-range farms out of the question, she began to realize that there really weren't a lot of other options. Making any more room for the chickens would require the factory to have more space available, and that meant the loss of the surrounding 'trees'.

She sighed, gazing at the cookie she ate. Food seemed plentiful and it all tasted spectacular, but was it really worth it? Eggs are an incredibly important part of a pony's diet and cannot be given up. However, she couldn't help but feel for the poor chickens. Nopony could deny that they looked incredibly miserable in their tiny cages.

Pouring herself a glass of milk, she sighed again. Maybe Luna was right. At this point, it may be more important to serve the needs of the ponies first. They were chickens after all. They couldn't talk and they couldn't think very well. They had much smaller brains when compared to ponies. Thinking this way made her feel like an incredibly cruel individual, but perhaps she had to adjust her way of thinking.

Her train of thought was momentarily sidetracked as she put down her now-empty glass. The milk here was incredibly delicious! She couldn't recall ever having milk that tasted this fresh. Curious, she picked up the carton and looked at it.

The carton fell to the floor, spilling its contents everywhere. A shivering, frightened Celestia was slowly backing away from it. All of the colour had drained from her face. Eyes wide and filled with terror, she was subtly shaking her head.

She kept her eyes fixated on the milk carton as she continued to back away, as if it were a wild animal that would attack her. Her breathing became quicker and more frenzied and her panic level slowly rose. She scrambled her hooves, nearly tripping over her metallic one. "No…"

Celestia turned and ran, only barely managing to use her scouter to open the door in time. It closed behind her, leaving behind the carton laying in a pool of spilled milk. Pictured on the side of the carton was a symbol of a star inside of a circle.

Celestia didn't know where she was. She didn't know what she was doing or where she was going. All she knew was that there were big silver blocks on every side. She was putting all of her efforts into trying to remain calm, and wasn't having much luck.

She had been wandering aimlessly like this for a couple of hours, horrible images assaulting her mind. The sun had long since disappeared and the sparkling night sky was overhead. The city streets were lit up, though Celestia couldn't see any source of light. It made her shiver.

The city had been empty for the most part, though she had seen the occasional pony walking about. They all waved to her enthusiastically, but she pretty much completely ignored them. At least this city doesn't have a curfew!!

Presently, she found herself in an area that was no more distinguishable than any other area. She sat down off to the side of the road, staring off at nothing. Despite the relatively warm temperature, she could not stop shivering.

What happened…? What's going on with this place? Why…is everything like this…?

She couldn't handle it. She honestly could not handle it. The terrifying thoughts and memories that consumed her mind would not allow her to relax. Though she tried to focus on the positives, she couldn't stop thinking about how horrible this city was.

And her sister was running it. Luna was behind this city, pushing it forward and making every decision. She had tried to justify her actions, and Celestia couldn't help but see the sound logic behind them. Still, however, she just couldn't handle it.

A breeze drifted by, causing her to shiver further. She heard a low hum surrounding her, and she heard some ponies talking not too far away. The city was dormant, yet it was still very much alive. It was alive, but what kind of life was this? It was a terrible, forceful life that fed off the misery of animals.

It didn't seem all that terrible, at least not at first glance, but Celestia had caught a glimpse of what lie within.

She heard ponies' voices again, drawing nearer to her. Her ears perked up as they became louder and more comprehensible.

"Do I…really have to?" a young-sounding voice spoke. It was quivering and feeble, as if the pony speaking were crying.

"Move faster," an older voice spoke. It was not a harsh, commanding tone. Rather, it sounded calm and almost bored.

"B-but there must be something else I can do!" the first voice was pleading, "Anything!! Anything else!"

The voices had drifted past Celestia, and were now moving away. Already on her hooves, she strained to hear more but could not. Confusion, curiosity, and panic were all battling each other inside of her head for dominance. She took a few steps towards where the voices had gone. Just what was that?!

It sounded like somepony was in trouble and needed help! That young voice was crying and scared. Was somepony being kidnapped? Were they being forced to do something horrible? Having already seen frightening things in this city, her mind didn't hesitate to jump to the worst possible scenarios.

On the other hoof, however, one of the other voices had said 'You are fully aware of our laws'. Were they perhaps policeponies? Was this some criminal they were escorting away?

Quickly, she began to trot in the direction the voices had gone. She had absolutely no idea of what was going on, and knew that it could very possibly be something completely benign. However, she couldn't shake an eerie feeling that something bad was happening and was determined to do whatever she could to help if such were the case. After everything else she had seen in this city, she had absolutely no idea what to expect.

She tried to listen for more voices, but they had stopped talking. Quickly, she found herself turned around amongst the identical-looking houses. Cursing under her breath, she came to a stop and closed her eyes, slowly swivelling her ears. She heard hoofsteps, but they were coming from multiple directions from different ponies. She tried to remain calm and continued to listen.

Her ears perked up as she picked up the faint sound of the young pony sniffling. Without missing a beat, she was off cantering in the direction it had come from. Lawful or not, somepony was crying. She knew, somehow, that she had to help.

She followed a couple of streets, traveling in the same general direction. She focused her ears and followed a set of clopping hooves that she was sure belonged to her targets. Still, however, she could not catch sight of them. For a long while, they remained elusive from her vision.

After passing a few more houses, she found herself at the edge of the city. Not far from the street she was standing on, a huge vista of trees spread out before her. To her left slightly, there was a small, grassy hill. Her eyes were drawn to it because there was a noticeably large silver pipe leading away from the city and up it. It was nearly twice the size of the one she had tripped over earlier.

At the top of the hill, and at the terminus of the pipe, was a large, cubic building. Visually, it was identical to any other of the cubic houses. What set it apart the most was its size. It was perhaps only slightly smaller than Luna's residence. The large pipe fed into the side of it, leading directly into the wall facing the city.

At the front of this large building that was separated from the rest, she saw three ponies. Two she didn't know, but the third pony, who was being restrained by both of them, she recognized immediately. The sight made her gasp. It was the young colt she had given a ride to only a few hours ago.

The ponies escorting him were standing before the building, as if waiting for a door to open. They were unicorns, and they were using their magic to carry the colt along through the air, rendering him completely helpless. They also had a large mark of some sort printed on the side of their jumpsuits.

Celestia focused her vision. She saw that the colt was crying hysterically and was struggling against his magical bonds. Her eyes widened when she noticed that the colt now had a cutie mark. Adorning his flank was an image of a bushel of carrots.

While she was studying them with a look of utter confusion on her face, the door opened before them. It took a moment for her brain to click and she raised a hoof and called out to them, but by that time they had already disappeared inside of the building.

"Damnit…" Celestia quickly cantered across the street and made her way up the hill. Once she was at the building's entrance, she activated her scouter and focused her vision on the door area. For some reason, she expected that she would be denied entry. However, she was pleasantly surprised when the doorway shimmered into appearance and granted her access.

She stepped through the doorway and glanced around. She found herself in an incredibly simplistic room with not much more than a desk and a doorway to the side. She blinked as she noticed that it was an actual, physical doorway, though it lacked handles of any sort. Also occupying this room was the large silver pipe, which entered through one wall and disappeared through another. Seeing nothing more of interest, and certainly not seeing her young colt friend, she used her scouter to open the door on the opposite side and stepped through it.

Now, she found herself in what appeared to be a thin hallway. The only thing inside of this room, besides a door at each end, was an expansive window occupying the wall to her left. As she trotted through the room, she turned and gazed through the huge window, looking at the large room that lay beyond. In it, the large silver pipe fit into a few mechanical devices, mechanisms and gauges. The room seemed to be designed to monitor whatever was inside of it.

Inside the next room, she found an exact duplicate of the previous room. Through this large window, however, she saw something different. Her eyes grew wide and she slowed down for a moment to gaze at it. What she saw was a huge vat filled with a silvery liquid of some sort. It was approximately three quarters full, and nearly reached the roof. A silver pipe led from it into the room she had just previously seen. At the top, there was another pipe feeding silver liquid into the vat.

For a moment, she found herself pondering just what was going on here. The only thing she could discern was that this room was used to store a large quantity of…whatever this stuff was. Then, however, she remembered what she was doing here in the first place and stepped through the next doorway.

Again, she found herself in an identical room. She was beginning to realize that what she was walking through was probably some sort of viewing tour for the building. Each room showed off a different part of the facility's mechanics, and she was seeing the process in reverse. This window, however, made her stop completely. She stared through the large window with wonder in her eyes.

Before being stored in the vat in the next room, the silver liquid was being fed through some sort of translucent sphere. It was growing quite brightly, and the liquid seemed to sparkle and shimmer while inside of it. Squinting her eyes and looking closer, she saw that it appeared to be floating too. Her eyes trailed to the right and she noticed that the liquid wasn't silver before it entered the sphere. It was dull, gray and impure.

A bright orange flash caught her eyes, and she turned her gaze to what was behind the glowing sphere. She gasped as she saw that there was a huge, roaring fire burning back there. Above the flames, a conveyor belt was dumping something into it. She couldn't quite see what was on it, but it looked reddish-brown and gross. Putting the pieces together, she realized that it was an incinerator. "Wow…" she murmured, wondering if this was another factory of some kind.

Shaking her head, she refocused her mind on her mission. She had to help the little colt! That is, assuming he was in danger in the first place. Still, she was filled with incredible curiosity. Even if there was no danger, she very much wanted to know what was going on in this building. Moving quickly, she made her way through the next door.

Yet again, she was in an identical viewing room. As she moved through it, she gazed through the large window. She found herself slowing down once again, but for entirely different reasons.

The room was filled with pipes and conveyor belts, all carrying a multitude of materials. What was being fed in from the opposite side of the room was a single inflow on a conveyor belt. The lighting in the room was low, so it was difficult to see, but it definitely looked like something disgusting. It was mostly red, with hints of brown and yellow, but also contained specks and spots of gray here and there. Celestia was immediately repulsed by it, despite not having a clue what it was.

The conveyor belt led into pipes and shaking pans, which separated the material onto numerous other different conveyor belts. She had to admit that she was impressed by the procedure. By the end of the room, all of the grey material was inside of one translucent pipe, while everything else was on one of two conveyor belts leading elsewhere. What began as a huge, disgusting, slimy lump ended up flawlessly separated. Though still disgusted, she was fascinated.

She began to trot towards the doorway, having seen all that this separation room had to offer, but found herself slowing down and staring out the window again. Her gaze drifted to the gunk coming into the room. Just what was that stuff? It made her sick to her stomach simply from the sight of it, so she asked herself why she was still looking at it. It reminded her of dog food. It had a meaty appearance to it.

"This…slop comes in…" she murmured, "and by the end of the process, it's a bright, silver liquid?" She found herself amazed that something so beautiful could come out of something so crude, but couldn't stop wondering just what this stuff was that was coming in. She could feel a churning discomfort in the pit of her stomach, and wasn't quite sure why. She felt incredibly unnerved when she looked at this disgusting stuff, and again asked herself why she was still looking at it.

Then she remembered that the colt had been dragged in here against his will. Just what was that all about? Why did they want him here?

Her ears perked up as a very muffled cry drifted through the doorway. Scrambling on her hooves, she quickly threw open the door and dashed through. One more long room met her, though this one lacked a window. It was empty, so she paid it no mind and quickly ran towards the next door. As she crossed the room, her ears picked up another noise. It sounded like whirring machinery. She threw open the next door and stepped through, finding herself at the top of a metallic staircase, similar in appearance to a fire escape.

She had entered the room from a high vantage point, and so she quickly scanned her surroundings. Below her, and at the bottom of the staircase, a moderately-sized group of ponies wearing white lab coats over their jumpsuits were stationed around buttons, levers and other such interfaces. They had just noticed her entry and were gazing up at her in confusion. She quickly picked out the two ponies that she had followed to get here.

Celestia followed the direction of the frightened cry and whipped her head to the left. Her eyes shot open wide and she gasped in shock at what she saw.

The young colt was suspended in the air, all four of his hooves shackled by study metal clasps. He was being held above a large, open tube that seemed to feed into the floor. There was a conveyor belt to his right and a strange, long metal thing to his left with a blunt claw at the end.

He was staring at her with a terrified expression, tears running down his cheeks. "Please…!" he called out in a desperate, pleading voice. Something moved behind him. Celestia raised her hooves up, over the railing, ready to dash to his aid. However, before she could even take off, a long metal prod-shaped thing moved up behind him and pushed itself into the back of his neck.

For a brief second, his face showed shock. Then, his head fell forward and his body fell limp. He hung there, lifelessly, as Celestia cried out in horror. She quickly vaulted herself over the railing and spread her wings. But even as she flew towards him, the metal claw also began to move.

Celestia propelled herself as fast as she could across the length of the room, but she wasn't fast enough. Before her eyes, the metal claw-like device moved to the front of the colt, whirred as something thin protruded out from it, and jammed straight into the torso of his lifeless body.

It took all of her focus to simply remain airborne while she stared in utter shock at the scene before her. The thin needle-like object began to draw out a thick, red substance, which was collected in the claw. After a few moments, a portion of the claw detached and dumped what it had collected onto the conveyor belt.

Celestia began to tremble. Her jaw hung open uselessly as she stared in horror at what this machine was doing to this poor young pony, who was now clearly dead. For a while, all she could see was murder and evisceration. Though she so desperately wanted to, she couldn't tear her eyes away.

Finally, she made the connection in her mind. This pony's…insides were being put onto the conveyor belt; the same conveyor belt, she realized, that delivered the 'slop' to the rest of the factory and was eventually turned into the silver liquid. Her stomach churned. The silver liquid…was ponies.

Finally, she had to tear her eyes away. She forced herself to look at something else, and ended up looking at the ponies in white lab coats below her. They were all looking up at her in confusion, and some of them were still working the controls as if she weren't there. None of them looked shocked, apologetic, or even malicious. They all looked…so normal.

She heard a clicking sound and gazed back at the colt without thinking. She regretted it immediately. The claw had been retracted, leaving behind the sickening, raw image of what was left of the colt. Then, only a few seconds later, the clasps undid themselves, dropping the lifeless husk of the pony into the open tube below.

Celestia stared, horrified. Her blood ran cold and her stomach retched violently. She had just watched a young colt get murdered before her eyes…and then have his…his…

She couldn't even finish the thought. She began to tremble violently, and nearly plummeted to the ground. As she had entered the factory, she had seen so much silver liquid. That gigantic vat had almost been filled. All of that…was ponies!!

Her heart began to race. Her stomach turned on its head. She was going to be sick. Sweat poured all over her body and she found it hard to breathe. Her mind was rushing, with so many images flying at her and assaulting her. She was quickly overloaded. She began to hyperventilate.

Celestia made an about-face and simply bolted towards the door. She was barely able to summon the mental capacity to use her scouter to open the doors that were in her way. She refused to look out the windows as she fled from this nightmarish building, hooves flying as she struggled to leave it all behind her.

Finally, she burst through the front door and into the cool air of the night. She panted raggedly, struggling to get precious air into her lungs. She nearly toppled over as she swayed on the grass, heaving painful breaths and moaning. Her vision was blurred as she made a few steps to the side before leaning down and depositing her dinner onto the lawn.

Groaning in pain, she took a few staggering steps down the hill. She felt dizzy and her stomach hurt. She could not get those horrifying images out of her head. Why? What had she just witnessed and why had it happened? What was going on?!

As she stumbled her way to the bottom of the hill, trying desperately to block out the horrifying memory, she nearly tripped over the large silver pipe. Panicking at the sight now that she knew just what was inside of it, she backpedalled furiously, ending up seated on her rump and panting.

Her eyes followed the pipe as it led away from the factory and into the city. As it reached the houses, it began to diverge. A lot. Slowly getting to her hooves and gingerly approaching the city proper, she followed the many silver pipes as they spread out from this starting point and snaked their way across the city. A horrified look came to her when she began to notice that every single cubic house had a single, small silver pipe leading into it.

Recalling the pipe she had earlier tripped over, she trembled as she stared out across the strange city. The whole town seemed to be connected to a single source of this vile liquid. Her eyes widened as memories of something Luna had said resurfaced.

"Everything in this city, and almost every city in Equestria, is powered by the same, renewable energy source. They are all powered by silvite."

Her heart leapt into her throat and her blood ran cold. She felt like throwing up again, even though her stomach was now empty. An icy expression of pure horror filled her face as she stared out at the enormous network of silver pipes spreading out to the city's houses.

The horrified princess whipped her head to the right, seeing her concerned sister galloping towards her. "Celestia, are you all right?" she was calling out, "You weren't at the-"

Luna came to a halt, a shocked and perplexed expression on her face, as Celestia quickly got to her hooves and backed a few steps away.

Her heart was pounding rapidly in her chest, and she was backing down from Luna like a frightened animal. "Luna?!" she exclaimed, "What in the fiery depths of Tatarus is going on here?!"

"They…They…" Celestia was panting so hard that is was difficult to form words, "They…killed him!! And…And there was so much…In the big tank…And…" A violent tremble overcame her before she shouted, "What are you doing in there?!" and pointed her hoof at the accursed factory.

Luna followed her hoof and then grimaced. "Oh…" she muttered, "You weren't supposed to see that… That scouter isn't supposed to let you-"

"You're killing ponies!!" Celestia took two hasty steps back, "They took in that little colt and murdered him!! And…And then…" Celestia held a hoof to her mouth. She felt violently ill.

She shot Luna an incredulous look. "NO! I am not all right, I just saw a young pony who had just gotten his cutie mark get eviscerated before my eyes!!"

For what seemed like the millionth time that day, a gear slipped in Celestia's mind. "Er…" she fumbled, "It was…a bushel of carrots."

The white alicorn was still trembling and shaking on her hooves, and felt so terrified that she was ready to simply bolt at a moment's notice. However, she tried to muster up enough bravery to at least hear her sister out.

Luna closed her eyes and spoke calmly. "Celestia, you're aware that when a pony gets their cutie mark, they are assigned a job." She paused and then said, "However, as you might imagine, such technological advancements as the ones we have achieved today have rendered many jobs, well…obsolete.

"As an example: carrot farming. All farming in general, really. As you've seen, all of our food is grown in automated, controlled environments. We no longer have a need for farmer ponies."

Celestia took another step back, horrified and sickened. "So…you just decide a pony is worthless and then mash them up into some gunky paste to power your…your…stuff?!"

"Celestia, as I'm sure you're well aware," Luna continued, "each and every pony on this planet has magical energy inside of them. Well, it was recently discovered that this magical force could be utilized as a form of energy. At first, we only obtained it from deceased ponies who had previously volunteered." Again, she paused. "However, our population grew, and so did our demands.

"But a single pony's magic can sustain a city for months, so luckily the need is not that large. We simply utilize a small portion of the population for the greater good, sister. It's-"

"That's sick!!" Celestia exclaimed. Luna started and gazed at her in concern. "You…You can't…" Celestia rambled, "You can't just decide that a pony is of no use to you and then murder them!!"

"That…that vat was so full! How many ponies have you killed?! How many in this year alone?! All those ponies…They had lives, Luna! They could've become something amazing, and instead you use them!!" She was trembling so viciously, her breath coming to her in short gasps. She stared at the other pony through tear-filled eyes, unable to see her sister and instead seeing a horrible monster.

"Celestia, you haven't been around. We used to use different sources of energy that weren't renewable. They were hurting our planet and polluting the air. Silvite is perfect, you see. It doesn't pollute, it doesn't cause any harm, even if there's a spill, and it's incredibly efficient. We can get so much of it for such a small price."

The trembling princess couldn't believe what she was hearing. All she could force herself to do was to continue backing away slowly.

"And Celestia, you shouldn't concern yourself. The parents of the pony that's converted received a substantial sum of money as compensation, and they're permitted to have another child."

Celestia couldn't breathe. She was losing control of herself. She couldn't take it. She couldn't handle this. She couldn't handle the words this pony was speaking. She came dangerously close to just shutting down.

"Celestia…?" Luna spoke in a slow, soothing voice, "Please, come with me. You don't look well."

"Luna…" Her voice was trembling. "I am truly…horrified at what I have seen today. Everything here is just…awful."

The tall, blue alicorn had a hurt look upon her face. She wore a heavy frown and had her ears splayed.

"It's awful!!" Celestia began to shout, "It's horrible!! Everything is so wrong, Luna! You must see it! What in the world has happened to our beautiful, happy country? I…" She paused and took a few shuddering breaths. "I almost think it would be better if the Griffons took over again!"

Though she had been frowning before, Luna did not seem very affected by this last bold claim. "Oh," she said calmly, "Well, there's no chance of that…" She gave her a small, half-smile.

"The griffons are extinct, Celestia. As I told you; we rose up against them and defeated them. Now, there are none left, so you don't need to worry."

Silence filled the air. A frozen look of horror occupied Celestia's face as she stared at this pony. She shuddered. She trembled. For a few moments, she didn't even breathe.

Genocide…Her sister had committed genocide. And, what's worse was how she had spoke of it so calmly.

It was wrong. It was all so wrong!! Everything was backwards! This was a living nightmare! As her breath returned to her, it quickly rose to a fevered pitch. Her mind ran rampant, and soon it was moving too fast for her to even comprehend it. She was going to be sick again. Everything hurt. Everything was wrong!

"Celestia??" Luna spoke, sounding very worried. She began to approach her distraught sister.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!!" Celestia exclaimed, catching Luna off guard. She quickly scrambled back, breathing harsh, ragged breaths and staring at this pony. Staring at this monster.

Tears were flying from Celestia's eyes, but she barely noticed them. "You stay away from me!!" she continued to shout in a crazed voice, "You monster! You filthy monster!!"

"You- You abuse animals and you take away ponies' individuality! You take away what makes them them! And…And then you kill them!!"

She was quickly beginning to hyperventilate. Her vision began to blur and mix together into a devilish inferno of the nightmare that was surrounding her. It was closing in on her, consuming her. Everywhere she looked, she saw blank faces, heartless robots, and dead colts. The silvite was everywhere. She was walking amidst a cesspool of death.

In the midst of her panic, she hadn't noticed Luna walk up and stand directly in front of her. Blinking her eyes and clearing her vision, she saw the blue pony standing over her. She screamed in panic and lashed out with her hooves, connecting her metallic one against Luna's chest. She scrambled at the ground, trying to put distance between her and the monster.

Luna was holding a hoof to where she had been struck, staring at her sister in disbelief.

"You're not my sister!!" Celestia exclaimed. "You're not my sister! You're not my sister! You're not Luna!!"

The nightmarish images were already crowding in around her again. The buildings were moving. They were turning into silvite and cascading over her. Drowning her. Dragging her down in to the depths of death. She screamed. She screamed many times. Somepony was calling her name, but they couldn't save her.

Her hooves connected with the ground and she took off running as fast as she could, trying to leave Tartarus behind her. She didn't dare look back. She might've heard somepony calling after her, but she didn't pay them any heed. She just had to run.

She left the streets of that vile city behind her and ran as fast as her hooves could carry her. She ran and ran and ran, only barely focusing on what was in front of her. Things whipped past and her hooves began to ache. The night wore on, darkening the landscape and making everything appear even more sinister. Her legs were dying. They were in incredible pain. She had no idea how long she'd been running. Hours?

She'd tripped and fallen four times now, but each time she simply got back on her hooves as fast as possible and continued fleeing. Bloodshot terror was in her eyes as she gasped desperately for air. Her stamina was quickly being depleted but she continued to push herself. There were no words. Her mind was overrun with horrifying images of everything she'd seen, and she wanted to get as far away from those monsters as possible.

Finally, miles and miles into the middle of nowhere, her strength finally gave out and she could run no more. Her vision swam as she frantically tried to catch her breath. Her heart was hammering painfully in her chest as she struggled simply to stand up. As she took deep, agonizing breaths, she swept her eyes across her nearby surroundings.

She was mostly surrounded by trees. Yet another spike hammered itself into her brain as she reminded herself that these were not trees. Her shivering intensified and her panic grew even more. She was losing the ability to breathe and stand.

She caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a small rocky overhang to her right. It was like a small, shallow cave with a sturdy rock roof. She dove for it, frantically squeezing herself inside.

Finally, surrounded by earth and cut off from the outside world as much as possible, she lay down and tried to relax. She kept her eyes away from the opening of her shelter.

Her breath came sporadically. Her trembling was worse than before. Every part of her body hurt and her mind was going wild and frantic. Her eyes darted around rapidly at the stone walls. She tried to calm herself by focusing on the composure of the dirt and the interesting shapes and lines it made. Instead, she caught a glimpse of her metallic hoof, drawing out a painful moan and sending her even further in the wrong direction.

This wasn't working!! She couldn't escape it! Everything was closing in on her!! Those horrible, horrible ponies were coming for her! They were going to take her back and kill her! They were going to use her body to power their electronics!!

Celestia let out a desperate, choking cry. She was fighting a losing battle. Her panic was growing, her shivers were intensifying, and breathing was becoming more and more difficult. Her sanity was slipping away. She was quickly losing her mind.

"No!!!" she exclaimed, "No no no no no!!! NO MORE!!!" She dug at the ground and thrashed around violently. "No more!" she shouted to the heavens, "I don't want to see any more!!" More memories of New Canterlot assaulted her, driving her to shout, "LEAVE ME ALONE!!"

She shut her eyes and held her hooves over her head. Princess Celestia knew what she wanted. She wanted sleep. The tired pony desired only to fall asleep once again, and this time she didn't want to wake up.

If this was the direction that Equestria was headed in, then she no longer wanted to see what the future held. She didn't want to see any more ponies, she didn't want to see any more of the land…

The sun rose, and she lay there waiting. The sun set, and still she waited. She continued to shiver in her tiny safe haven.

The sun began to rise on her unmoving form. Her chest rose and fell rhythmically, and her eyes were shut. No tremors, no heavy breathing, no panic.

Celestia's eyes blearily fluttered open. She gave a quiet, emotional moan, her turmoil still fresh in her mind. She was waking up from a sleep she couldn't even recall having fallen into.

Where was she? When was she? Had she left the terrifying world of 8998 behind? Was she somewhere even worse now? She had wanted to sleep forever, though it appeared that the universe had other plans laid out for her.

She didn't want to get up. She just wanted to lay there until she fell asleep again and continue to stay that way forever. However, unusual sounds were reading her ears and odd colours appeared before her blurred vision.

Groaning and resigning to her own damned curiosity, she slowly began to pick herself up into a sitting position. Her head was spinning and she was having difficulty focusing her vision. Once she was sitting up, she rubbed her eyes with her good forehoof and blinked them multiple times to clear away the fogginess.

When her fatigued mind finally allowed her to see what lay beyond, she fell completely silent. She couldn't say anything, she couldn't gasp, and she couldn't cry. She could barely move a muscle in her body. It felt like her entire being had been frozen in ice, despite the intense heat.

Spread out before her was a flat, endless expanse composed entirely of dry, cracked earth. There wasn't a single thing in sight. Her entire field of vision, from where she sat until the horizon, was empty and void. There were no hills or valleys, there was no water, and not a single sign of plant life or civilization. There was just…nothing.

Above the horizon, the sky burned a brilliant orange colour. The reason for this was not difficult to see. Hanging in the sky just off to her left was the sun. It burned like a fiery inferno in the sky, ten times as large as it had been before in an angry reddish-orange.

Celestia turned her head to the left, following the horizon. Still there was nothing here. As far as she could see, there was nothing left.

There was a heavy lump in the pit of her stomach and she was, again, finding it hard to breathe, which had nothing to do with the heat. A tremble overcame her as she tried to accept what she was seeing. Tears came to her eyes, and they flowed silently down her face.

Lost to the Sands

by GigaBowser

Phase 10