//------------------------------// // The Machine: Positum Ut Requiem // Story: Amnesia: The Pony Machine // by Darkryt Orbinautz //------------------------------// Sweet Heart kept her hooves up as long as she could from the beatings, but eventually they gave way to the pounding of the pig's hooves. She looked up, groaning from the pain. She let out a gasp, as even though they all looked more or less the same, she recognized the muzzle of the pig beating her, “I know you!” Sweet Heart blurted out. The pig stopped, curious as to what Sweet Heart had noticed. “You're the pig who helped us get out of The Facility the first time!” Sweet Heart said. “Y'all did wut?” Applejack asked. “He helped Teddy, Ace, and I escape from here!” Sweet Heart said. She got a sense of satisfaction of rubbing Applejack's nose in it. “Now, Mister Pig, I know you're not a bad pig, because then you wouldn't have helped us. So, please … can I ask you to help us again?” Sweet Heart gave him the biggest, teary-eyed stare she could muster. The pig looked at her and snorted. The snort came out … wrong, like it had been trying to sigh instead. “Ignore her. Finish beating her.” Applejack told him. “Then come up here for yer punishment.” The pig's ears went flat against its back. It looked to Sweet Heart. Which one it was going to serve? The young little girl making a heartfelt request, or the monstrous zombie pony who was going to it a beating for helping the little girl once already? The pig made its choice. It reached out its hooves, stopping its companions from beating Teddy and Ace any more than they already had. It oinked at them, communicating, reasoning with them. “Hey.” Applejack said. “Wut are y'all doing? Do your jobs!” The pigs looked to each other. They snorted and guffawed, as if agreeing with each other on ideas. They left Ace and Teddy alone and broke off. They began advancing up the stairs, towards Applejack and Pinkie Pie. “Hey.” Applejack backed away. “Wut are y'all doing?” The pigs continued advancing. They were snorting with glee at the idea of finally turning on their captors. Applejack pulled out her hatchet and slashed a pig in its face, cutting its nose. Another pig was there to take its place, rushing her and knocking the hatchet out of her hoof. It swatted her and fell her. Pinkie Pie pulled out a knife and aimed it at the pigs. The pig rose up and knocked it out of her grasp. It picked her up and slammed her against the wall. “Awesome.” Sweet Heart almost couldn't stand, but she managed. She waved Teddy and Ace over. “Come on, guys. Let's go get Twilight.” The Shadow's reside continued to climb over Mandus and Celestia's bodies. On Mandus, it had reached his ribs, while on Celestia, it was just beginning to touch the base of her neck. Above their fallen frames, Scootaloo snickered. “That's what you get for messing with Mistress Twilight's plans.” Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom joined her in laughing. Mandus heaved a deep sigh. “Princess, I … I feel I must apologize for not being of much assistance. I could – should have done better ...” “Do not blame yourself, Mandus.” Celestia winced as she felt the reside stretch further, intent on engulfing her. “There was nothing you could have done.” Celestia looked around, trying to find her control for the Tuurngait. If she could just reach it somehow, she could summon its power again and use it to break free of her restraints. But it was nowhere to be found between the reside or the snickering. “Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo.” Celestia said, which caused them to stop laughing. “In my last moments, might I ask you a question?” Scootaloo looked at Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. The three of them looked to Twilight. “Mistress? Would it be okay?” “Eh.” Twilight bounced her Orb. “Couldn't hurt. She's as good as dead anyway.” “Why do you serve Twilight Sparkle so?” Celestia asked. “What has she done for you?” “Well ...” Scootaloo said. “She brought us to back to life. We had an accident. She took us from the hospital and used her new science to resurrect us.” “It let us see our family again.” Apple Bloom said. “Kept me and mah big sis together ...” “Yes, but is that enough?” Celestia said. “Is simply being brought back to life enough to justify serving a crazed pony? All things must die eventually, even myself.” The three of them thought about what Celestia was saying. Scootaloo frowned and shook her head. “No. No, I see what you're doing. You're trying to get us to reevaluate our morality and our choices. But it won't work! We're loyal to Twilight and our family through and through.” Celestia closed her eyes. “Admirable, but regrettable.” “Hmph.” Scootaloo huffed. She gave a mocking salute. “Well, goodbye, Princess Celestia. It was nice knowing you.” Sweetie Belle had her attention elsewhere, which was odd, as triumphing over the all-powerful Princess Celestia wasn't something ponies did every day. “Uh, Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo bumped Sweetie Belle's shoulder. “What are you looking at?” “Oh, nothing.” Sweetie Belle said. “It's just … did we call the pigs in here?” “No.” Scootaloo grew concerned. “Why?” Sweetie Belle didn't give any more of an answer than just pointing at the door. And it was all the answer she needed to give. The pigs were amassing in the doorway, even though they hadn't been summoned. Sweet Heart, Ace, and Teddy were riding on top of one. Sweet Heart smirked as a terrified understanding of the situation dawned on Sweetie Belle's face. “Okay, boys ...” Sweet Heart said to her pig mount, rubbing its ears. “Get them!” The pigs reared up and roared. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had almost no time to react before the pigs charged down the railway, running them over and trampling over them. Twilight Sparkle grimaced at the turn of events. She looked around for a possible escape route before she glanced at her Orb and realized she still had the upper hand. “Ha! You may have the pigs, but it is I who has the Orb! You're still too late to save Celestia!” Twilight's jaw dropped. In the time it took her to speak, Teddy had dismounted the pig and located the Tuurngait artifact. “Have been you looking for this?” Teddy asked. Celestia said no words. She saw the artifact in Teddy's hooves and did what she needed to do. Taking command of it with her magic once more, The Shadow let out an unholy shriek throughout the building as the Tuurngait scratched it in their dimension. The reside on Celestia and Mandus, as always, began to recede and disappear. “Urrgh! No!” Twilight put her hooves on her head as she lost control of the situation. “Now what?” “Now ...” Celestia got to her hooves and steadied herself. “Now we end this.” Not wasting any more time, Celestia charged her horn and fired off a blast of magic at Twilight. The spell hit its target and an explosion ensued, blowing off pieces of railing. From the smoke, a collection of loose gears fell out and rolled onto the floor, clattering until they fell and stopped. The smoke cleared. A gasp came from Celestia's party. Twilight Sparkle was still standing. She was in one piece, more or less. Except for the now-exposed mechanisms in her body. A gear ticked away inside her torso. Her eye was removed and revealed to be a glass lens. Her frozen heart was in a glass casing which showed the needles and points used to force it to keep beating, even though it was as good as dead. “Surprised?” Twilight asked. “You didn't the way I kept myself and my friends alive was just pure necromancy, did you? No! It's science!” “It's an abomination.” Celestia said. “So ...” Mandus said. “This was how you survived … when I tried to shoot you. Dear Celestia, it seems like so long ago now.” “You tried to shoot her?” Teddy asked. “Wouldn't you?” Mandus shot back. Teddy shrugged. “Good point." Celestia began firing more spells at Twilight, who spread her wings and flew to a lower level of The Machine's workings. Celestia followed her, flying off the bridge and continuing to shoot explosive spells, even if she risked damaging the structural supports and causing something to collapse underneath Mandus and the children. “Careful, Princess! Keep firing like that and you might hurt your friends.” Twilight taunted her, needled her. “Just like you hurt me!” “Any hurt you may have felt is insignificant compared to the hurt you have caused.” “Oh.” Twilight scoffed, blowing air at Celestia. “There were all – they were mostly criminals and crooks. Is it wrong of me to clean the world of filth like them?” “Yes. They may have been criminals, but they were still ponies. They were still living, feeling, thinking beings. And you took that from them without due process or a fair trial!” Celestia's horn glowed like the sun before it launched another blast, destroying the platform Twilight was standing on. Twilight dived around and went onto another platform. “They didn't deserve one!” “Every creature deserves a fair trial.” “Hmph.” Twilight quivered her lip and pouted. “What about me?” “Except for you.” Twilight flew away, deeper and further into The Machine's inner working as Celestia destroyed sent her destructive spells at another unlucky platform. The noise seemed to rouse Scootaloo, who rubbed her head. She saw the children ahead of her and snarled. She charged at them. A pig came up behind and pinned her tail under its hoof. It grabbed her head and slammed her head against the railing. “Oh my!” Twilight complained, slipping into the personality of Rarity. “All this running and sweating is doing terrible things to my skin!” Celestia's eye twitched. “Enough of your fake imitations of your friends! They died long ago and you were the one who killed them! I will not tolerate your attempts to console yourself by pretending you are them!” Celestia fired a laser beam. Twilight raised her Orb and had The Shadow roar. Its fleshy reside masked over the surfaces of The Machine, crawling, squiggling and squirming as it attempted to reach Celestia. Celestia didn't bother activating the Tuurngait, only focusing on blasting Twilight. She scored a lucky hit this time, as her blast caused the platform Twilight was on to cave. Twilight was caught off guard and lost both her grip on the Orb and her balance. The Orb rolled across the floor until it bumped into a power generator, while Twilight herself tumbled and slid until she was almost lost to The Machine's grinder. Celestia levitated the Orb up to her, next to her artifact. She looked at Twilight and descended gracefully, landing in front of her. She glared down at the monster which used to be her student. “Twilight Sparkle ...” Celestia raised the two artifacts up. Her horn shimmered as she prepared to deliver the killing blow. “Do you have any last words?” Twilight looked up to the Princess with a weak smile. She spoke, in a tone of voice resembling Fluttershy's- “I forgive you, Princess.” This caught Celestia off-guard. She knew it was too late for it to hold any meaning, but … on some level, she did still desire Twilight's forgiveness. She was distracted just long enough for Twilight to roll away, dropping herself into The Machine's gnashing pit. The sound of The Machine's blades grinding against Twilight's mechanized body was enough to snap Celestia out of it. She ran away from the pit, knowing she risked being hit by shrapnel if she stood too close. The blades of the grinder cut up Twilight's body. The blades were strong enough to push through her brass and copper and smash her to bits. Her fake wings went poof into a mess of feathers on contact. Her dismembered and disconnected hooves fell deeper into the pit, where they could presumably be recycled to make a pig. In an impeccable display of timing, Rainbow Dash appeared with all her other companions. The acid had done terrible things to her face. The metal plate over her was twisted and warped, and the right side of her mouth was burned off, exposing her gums and teeth. “NO!” Rainbow Dash flew into the air and surveyed The Machine's pit. Twilight was gone. Her body – or least what was left of it after she had tinkered with it - lay in tatters at the bottom of the pit. “Twilight ...” Rainbow Dash floated down, sitting next to The Machine's grinder and collapsing. “No ...” “Hmph.” Mandus turned his head. “Good riddance, I say. Princess? Shall we deal with the rest of them?” “Yes.” Celestia tensed up, ready to pounce the air and fly upwards. But something strange happened. The grinder's blades stopped … but no one was at their controls. Then there was laughter – terrifying, deranged, familiar laughter. “Well!” A voice that sounded like Twilight's mixed in with a man's and a robot's spoke. “This is unexpected! It appears … I have merged with The Machine!” “W-what?” Celestia's eyes widened. In all her long years of living, she had never seen anything like this. “Our souls are become one. It is me and I am it.” Twilight said, which didn't explain anything. “But now … now, the way I am, I can continue my work. I can keep doing what I've been doing. I can live forever!” The more Twilight's voice spoke, the more it became clear it wasn't Twilight speaking – at least, not alone. “Do you hear me, Celestia? I have achieved mastery over life after death! Look upon me, and see a GOD! A God of Death! You will never destroy me. You will never kill me! I will live forever!” “The Machine ...” Celestia said. “Machine … Twilight … whatever abomination you are. Know this. Know that, for your all horror, your claimed godhood, you are still a Machine. And a machine can be broken!” Celestia raised up both the Orb and the Tuurngait's control and applied her magic to both. Her eyes turned into a white light, devoid of features, as she exercised an unprecedented level of power. Despite being opposites and despite trying to kill each other for most of the day, The Shadow and The Tuurngait seemed to have no trouble working together once both of their artifacts were being controlled by the same pony. The Shadow's reside and the Tuurngait's ice appeared in tandem on The Machine's various parts. The reside curled around it like a boa constrictor. The ice appeared around the reside and froze the parts, causing them to shatter into ice shards. This twisted combination spread throughout The Machine and even through the walls. “W-what are you doing?” The Machine's voice asked. Twilight's voice was only a soft echo. “Stop! I command it! I AM THE GOD OF DEATH! OBEY ME!” “You are nothing but a living tribute to my mistakes and my inability to save my student.” Celestia said. The entire Facility began rattling and shaking, as if The Machine was protesting by attempting to bring the whole building down on them. “If I'm going ... I am taking you with me!” The Machine's thunderous roar echoed through the Facility as the foundations rumbled. Windows cracked and shattered. Rafters in the roof bent and creaked and plaster fell down from the roof. “Rainbow Dash?” Celestia said. She held no illusions of taking Rainbow Dash anywhere but either jail or the grave, but it was odd to see a pony watch a building collapse around them and do nothing about it. “I ...” Rainbow Dash said, looking up at Twilight. “I don't think I want to keep living anymore without Twilight. She … she kept us going. She gave us purpose. And now, without her, there's no purpose for us anymore.” “Twilight Sparkle … wasn't Twilight Sparkle anymore.” Celestia said. She shook her head. “What am I saying? You're not you. Continue.” Celestia turned away and flew to the children and Mandus. “If y'all don't mind ...” Applejack said, lifting her hat. “I think we'd like to go join Rainbow Dash.” The children and Mandus weren't willing to oblige Applejack after all the trouble she gave them. But Celestia held them back with her hoof to let Applejack and the others go down the ruined stairs. “The only reason we were living … was for them.” Scootaloo said, gesturing to their elders. “So we'll join them as well.” “Where are they going?” Teddy asked. He watched them go down the stairs and gathered around The Machine's grinder. “They're not … they're not going to throw themselves in there, are they?” Celestia nodded. “They are. Come, children. There's nothing to be done about it, and we must leave this place.” “Ha ha ha! Yes.” The Machine rasped. “Join me, ponies. Keep me – keep Twilight company.” Teddy kept looking. He watched with awe, horror, and even a misplaced sense of pity as Rainbow Dash jumped into the grinder and let herself be cut up. The same thing happened with Applejack, and Pinkie Pie, and all of Twilight's minions and friends until they were all nothing but piles of limbs at the grinder's bottom. Celestia and Mandus continued on their way while pieces of plaster and roof fell around them. Teddy and Ace followed them before realizing Sweet Heart wasn't with them. “Aren't you coming, Sweet Heart?” “But ...” Sweet Heart looked at the pig which had been so kind to Teddy and Ace and her. She put her hoof on its chin and rested her head on its neck. “What about the pigs?” The pig looked at her. It snorted and pulled her into a hug. It pushed her with its snout towards the rest of her friends and waved at her. “W-what?” “I think it's trying to tell you it doesn’t want to leave.” Mandus said. “Why would it? Even it did leave, it's still a zombie. A shallow, empty existence and no longer a pony. Who would accept it?” “But … he helped us.” Sweet Heart said. She quivered her lip at the pig to convince it to leave it with them. The pig instead showed its commitment to staying and sat on its haunches. “Sweet Heart, I understand it's difficult.” Mandus said, grabbing Sweet Heart and pulling her away. “But if we stay here too much longer, we won't be able to leave, either. We don't have time to change his mind.” “But ...” Mandus ignored her, doing what he thought best for her and dragging her away. Celestia led them out of the building, using her magic to shield them from falling debris. The parents of the children and Miss Hackney, upon being told by Officer Flathoof their children were wanted criminals for breaking and entering, organized into a search party which hunted all through Hoofington to find them. Of course, they had little luck, as soon after Flathoof told them, Celestia had taken them to the Tuurngait Complex. However, they all felt the rumble given by Twilight's Facility as is disintegrated and fell apart. They gathered around outside the building, a safe distance away, and watched as it collasped in on itself in a glorious shower of dust and rubble. There was concern all around for their dear Twilight and her well-being. “Oh no!” “I hope Miss Sparkle is all right!” “Oooh, pray the children weren't in there. Pray, pray, pray ...” “Everypony, look!” One pony pointed to the small group walking away from the building's ruins. They all went into shock seeing who was it. There was their missing children and Princess Celestia herself. “Oh, Teddy!” Teddy's parents rushed to greet him. Sweet Heart and Ace's parents did the same, running up to their children and hugging them. “We were so worried about you.” Teddy's mother said. “Do you have any idea how long you've been gone?” “Too long.” Teddy said. It didn't occur to him til this moment, but he had been living in doubt of whether he would see his mother's face again. “I promise, we won't run off like that again.” “Until the next time.” Ace said, earning him a rebuke from his father. “What? It was a joke.” “But that cleared up ...” Teddy's father said. “What happened here? What, did you foals just decide since we weren't listening to you to blow up Twilight's Facility yourself?” “No, Dad.” Teddy said. “Twilight was evil! She was doing terrible things and we got Princess Celestia – oh and Mandus too I guess – and we stopped it.” Teddy's father tsked. “Again with this story, Teddy?” “I assure you, it is no story.” Celestia stepped forward. “Twilight Sparkle was conducing unethical, brutal experiments which served no scientific purpose but to serve her violent impulses. She butchered ponies and tempted demons, using this.” Celestia levitated the Orb and laid it on the ground. The parents and Flathoof didn't recognize the Orb, but it still left them uneasy and they backed away from it. With Princess Celestia herself endorsing the story, the parents had no choice but to believe it. Would Celestia lie to them? “But … all those inventions she gave us.” Miss Hackney stammered. “All the things she did – tutoring services, donations! Tax reform!” “All an act, I'm afraid.” Celestia said. “To keep her in your good graces so you wouldn't investigate her activities.” Celestia cast her gaze upon the ruined remains of the Facility. She let out a sigh. “What's wrong?” Sweet Heart asked. “Twilight said she forgave you, didn't she?” “She did.” Celestia said. “But that, whatever it was, was not Twilight. Twilight died the minute I first put my hoof on the Orb.” “Hmm.” Mandus took to gazing at the ruins with her. “So what happens now?” “Now? Now the children go back to their parents and … do their best to live with what they've seen and try to go back to their normal lives. I will have a team sweep through the ruins of the building.” She looked at Sweet Heart. “If any pigs somehow survived, I will take them to an untouched land where they can live in peace by themselves. And I have quite a few questions to ask Officer Flathoof.” She cast a sideways glare at him. Flathoof blushed and held his copper hat against his chest. Celestia looked at the Orb and the Tuurngait's control. “In my research, I've come to learn there are three Orbs. Here are two. I intend to find the third one and find a spell to send them back to the whatever dimension they came from. Something I believe Mandus can help me with. Something to do with an ill-fated expedition. Mandus?” “I can.” Mandus said. He looked up wistfully. “But what shall I do after that? I have been living in hiding for so long, ashamed of my role in Twilight's plans. Now she's gone. And I … I feel guiltless. Blameless. Oh sure, I can help you with the Orb, Princess, but then what shall I do?” Celestia looked at the ground. “You could come back to Canterlot. Start your business back up again.” “Yes.” Mandus said. He smiled at the idea. “I could start anew. I could have ponies across Equestria know the name Oswald Mandus again. Even if it is a very un-Equestrian name.” He and Celestia giggled. “Yes, I think I shall do that.” Celestia waved the children as they went home with their parents. “Farewell, Teddy, Ace, and Sweet Heart. I will make sure future generations know of your bravery.” “Bye, Princess!” “Goodbye!” “Bye.” Within the ruins of the Facility, a disembodied horn glowed. A disembodied, lavender horn, belonging to none other than Twilight Sparkle. It glowed and pulsated with multiple colors, rotating through yellow, white, orange, pink, and blue. It had survived, and it taken the souls of Twilight's friends inside it. A hoof came upon the rubble and knocked the rubble loose, revealing the horn. Celestia reached in and picked the glowing horn up with her magic. “Hmm.” Celestia said. “Clever, Monster-Which-Used-To-Be-Twilight. Using your horn to hold you and your friends' captured souls … perhaps you could regenerate yourself. Perhaps some unfortunate, unknowing pony could stumble upon you and you could whisper into their ears a plan for your revival. Unfortunately, I found you first. And you are going to be sealed away. Lock under a prison of my own design where nopony and nothing will ever find you.” Celestia walked away with the horn in her grasp. Her first priority was to lock it up as she said and make sure it's evil - The Shadow's evil, the Orb's evil, The Machine's evil – would never be able to plague Equestria again. And later with Oswald Mandus' help in locating the third Orb, Celestia banished both Orbs and the Tuurngait's control to another dimension, to be sure Equestria was free of their terrible influence – forever. And thank to Mandus and her, it was.