My Little Cyborg

by Ignimbrite

Everglow

Shadowpiercer woke up chained to a column and heavily bandaged.

"What happened?"

He rubbed his head and looked around.

"Oh..."

---

It was a few days before the trials began. During this time, he had been shifted over to the dungeons. While it was at least more comfortable, he really wished he could help fix up the place.

Much like Ponyville, the city had taken surprisingly little damage, with most of it caused by crashing aircraft rather than deliberate shots. Of course, the palace was quite thoroughly shot up. It would take forever to fix.

Evidently whoever did this had not put all their forces into breaching the castle itself. A number of burn marks and destroyed machines on the ground indicated that the castle had been surrounded as well to prevent escapes. Reports even came in of machine stragglers being found a few days later, still patrolling on badly drained power cells.

Casualties were thankfully few, with only one known civilian casualty, a red unicorn. Evidently, miss Shirt had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was found in the street near the castle, buried under rubble where a wall was hit by one of the flyers.

Even now, nopony knew who the attacker really was. The officers did find numerous tracks leading through the forest, only to reach dead ends where the attackers had deliberately wandered across stony ground.

When the mess had finally settled down somewhat, the trial resumed.

---

"Since it is clear that thou didst not intend treachery by your actions. We have determined that thou are not guilty of treason."

As Shadowpiercer sighed in relief, the princess continued her statement.

"However, thou hast been found guilty of unlicensed possession of magical explosives, reckless endangerment, and willing possession host for a malevolent entity."

Shadowpiercer winced at that last one. The malevolent entity was, after all, himself.

"The full sentence shall be applied for endangerment, and partial sentences shall be applied for what remains. Thy recklessness is a bane that must be tempered before it dooms thee and those around thee. Therefore, after the completion of thy sentence, thou shalt be assigned observers to ensure that thou dost not become a threat again."

The gavel struck. All that remained was the fulfillment of the sentence itself.

---

TERRORIST ALLOWED TO LIVE

In a stunning decision, Princess Luna declares Shadowpiercer, the stallion who tried to kill Princess Celestia, not guilty of treason. In so doing, she has ensured that this madpony remain alive, free to pose a danger to the colts and fillies of your communities...

Shadowpiercer crumpled up the newspaper and stepped into the iron wagon. As he looked out through the bars, he hoped that the other papers might have been a bit more accurate.

Free? Danger? Terrorist? Didn't they hear anything at that trial?

The wagon soon arrived at a concrete and stone facility outside the city.

---

"You wanted to see me sir?"

"Yes, please sit down."

Shadowpiercer sat down opposite the warden's desk.

"I've been going over your records. It looks like you've been making effort to qualify for time off due to good behavior."

Well, this is a good start. They're noticing.

"Don't get too excited, there is still the other side of the sentence, not to mention that incident a couple months ago with the noodles."

"Hey, I was framed for that one..." Shadowpiercer began to protest, but he stopped when the warden lifted up his hoof.

"I just wanted you to know, I'm considering approval."

"Oh... " he nodded slowly, "thank you sir."

---

It was another month later, but it was worth it. Well, mostly anyway. The ankle monitor was a bit uncomfortable, and Shadowpiercer was not a fan of being followed everywhere by plainclothes officers.

That said, the fresh air and sunlight were things he had sorely missed.

He couldn't go back to his old job or apartment anymore on the grounds that he was not yet allowed to leave Canterlot, so he got an apartment on the outskirts instead.

He went back to cart pulling, albeit this time with passengers instead of cargo. Seemed a shame that all the cargo jobs were taken by pegasi.

Passengers who saw the mark on his flank would suddenly become excessively polite and ask to be let off early. He'd oblige them, of course. No point in worrying them over nothing.

He did find that as long as no one saw the crosshairs that had regrown, they were at least a little more comfortable. He ended up adding a cloth to his saddle bags to cover the rest of his flank. It worked well enough.

Overall, things weren't so bad.

---

On a Monday, a few weeks into his new life, Shadowpiercer received a letter in the mail. There were no markings on it at all. Strangely enough, there was not even a stamp. Somepony had apparently slipped the letter into the box in person after the mail carrier had left. He took the letter inside and dusted it, finding no hoofprints.

He did, however, find traces of motor oil on the edges of the envelope.

Using the knife on his bracelet (how glad he was to get those back!) he sliced open the envelope. The letter inside was typed, not written.

I feel I must apologize for what had happened to you. I have reason to believe my experiments are what linked our worlds, and thus what brought you here. I found you outside my laboratory while my associate was away. You were alive, but unconscious, so I took you to the nearest town.

Unfortunately, I must confess that I am also behind the machine attacks on this country. I assure you, there will be no more. Do not try to find me, as my associate and I have taken measures to ensure that we can not be followed.

Perhaps I can do one last good before, I leave. I know you wanted to know how you got here. Enclosed is the location where you were first found.

Shadowpiercer pulled another piece of paper from the envelope. In it was a map of Ponyville, with various locations outside the village highlighted and labeled. One circle, about a half mile from Fluttershy's cottage, was simply labeled "You were found behind a tree here."

The last circle, on the farthest edge of the map and in the middle of the forest, was circled in a different color from the others. It was simply labeled "The Ring."

Comments

[Haver]

More good

[DingoAte]

11634060
Yes

[tsaukpaetra]

....the hell? Half a week after opening the ring and we're at full scale invasion, and then suddenly nothing for months? This story is taking really weird beats in the plot...