You say you wanted to find the last humans? I'm the last one here but I'm not human... not anymore
Luna does her best to catch up on the events of the past thousand years and ends up reading even more than Twilight.
One day, an ancient tome slips into her pile of reading material and she reads it eagerly. What she finds there may very well be the discovery of the millennium: The location of the last refuge of the humans.
With the help of Twilight and her friends, the Lunar Princess sets out on an archaeological expedition to find the very last human on the planet of Equus.
And they found one, but why is he forged in a full body armor and claims to not being a human... Well he's not one anymore.
One thousand years. Not one year more not one year less. It was one thousand years ago that Luna was banished to the moon in the form of the evil Nightmare Moon.
One thousand years of history, reforms, changes in the law and even a couple of wars here and there. The last armed conflict was over three hundred years ago, but still...
It would take an entire pony lifetime to catch up with all the changes that had taken place in the past thousand years, if not longer. But luckily, Luna was a fast reader and she had more than enough time during her night court. At first, it had hurt that nearly nopony would attend her court, but then again she couldn’t blame her little ponies for sleeping through the night.
After all, it was only during her beautiful, tranquil night that her little ponies get their sleep. She understood this now.
At least there were still some ponies that played and danced during the night. Her night.
One thousand years. It seemed that the world had indeed changed for the better. Luna smiled at the thought of nightclubs, which were one of the things that she was particularly happy about in the reformed Equestria. It was bittersweet, really. She remembered her numerous attempts to attend said nightclubs, which didn’t turn out to be very successful, due to her major lack of modern social knowledge. As if last Nightmare Night wasn’t enough.
That was one of many the reasons why Luna was determined to demolish Mount Books, which was conveniently placed near her throne.
It was nearly two hours ago that she had started reading her latest book. She didn’t care about the fact that it looked much older than the rest; she would read it as if it were any other book. Her sparkling eyes grew larger and wider with every page she read.
“EUREKA!!”, Luna suddenly yelled. The force of the shout was enough to cause every guard in the palace to snap to attention. “This cannot possibly be true!”
She fervently read on, but was interrupted shortly after. Her sister and co-ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia, walked into the throne room. She was garbed in a bedroom robe, accompanied by a massive bed mane, instead of her usual regal insignia. “Luna, it’s two in the morning! Did you have to wake everypony in Canterlot? Didn’t we talk about controlling your volume?”
“I am sorry, dear sister, but look at what I have found!” Luna galloped to Celestia with the open tome grasped in her telekinetic grip. She shoved the heavy book in front of Celestia’s snout before letting the Princess of the Sun catch it in her own magic.
“What am I looking at?” Celestia asked tiredly, weary eyes scanning the moldy, worn-out page. Luna bounced in a circle around her sister, giggling like a madmare all the while.
“Oh, nothing too important. Maybe only the location of the last refuge of the humans,” she chirped. Celestia blinked several times, processing the information. Her eyes widened as the implications of Luna’s statement sank in.
“What?!” she screamed. Luna winced. It had been quite a while since she’d heard her sister use the Royal Canterlot Voice. Celestia mumbled something under her breath, and flipped through the last few pages. This couldn’t possibly be true. The civilization of humans had ended millennia before the Royal Pony Sisters’ birth. By then, the human population had been scant, growing lesser and lesser in numbers until the last human passed away shortly afterwards. Nowadays, nopony really knew about the humans anymore. What little knowledge that was preserved had transcended through time in the form of myths and legends, but even those were largely exaggerated. Even the parents of Celestia and Luna knew little about them.
“Luna, if this tome is right then there should be some kind of vault situated in the Macintosh Hills. This is a very serious discovery,” Celestia stated with a frown. Luna stopped in mid-bounce and looked up at her sister with concern.
“Why are you so serious? I thought you would be happy about my find.”
“You only read stories about the humans. I at least have heard tales about them. They were violent, greedy and destructive beings. Nothing like the romantic and adventurous idea you have of them thanks to this novels.”
“You could be wrong, it is possible that not every human is violent, greedy and destructive. Have you ever met a human yourself?” Luna asked and Celestia remain silent, “I tought as much. Wheter you like it or not, I want to find this refuge.”
Celestia was slightly shocked by Luna’s outburst. Thinking hard about what had been said, Celestia paced around the throne room. She knew only too well that when Luna had an idea in her head, she would never let it go.
Celestia stopped. She was reluctant to give in, but still said: “Fine. But only if you take some guards and my student, Twilight Sparkle, with you.”
“Why Twilight Sparkle? I don’t think that she would wan-”
“Oh, she would. Her friends, too. Keep in mind that I will have ordered the guards to destroy the vault should the humans react violently,” Celestia stated.
“Hold on! Who here is violent now? Destroying them if they do not obey? I did not know that you have become such a tyrant, dear sister,” said Luna mockingly.
Celestia sighed. “Very well then, they will yours to command as you see fit. However, if the humans mean any harm to you, Twilight, her friends or anypony at all, then...”
Luna nodded. She understood the reasons why her sister was doing this. After all, even in the most peaceful story about the humans they fought an enemy with a blood thirst no pony could develop. Not even her as Nightmare Moon.
“I will start the preparations immediately. Wish me luck and... good night” Luna snickered as she probed Celestias bed mane with one hoof.
<< Two Days Later, Ponyville, Ponyville Library >>
“Spiiiike!” called Twilight Sparkle through the entire Library, “No come on! We will be late! Luna is coming today. Have you forgotten?”
The not so chubby anymore teenage dragon came down from upstairs, a case in each hand. A sudden and slightly painful growth spurt had earned him a thinner, larger figure. He stood a head taller than Twilight and was very proud to even be a little bit athletic.
“How could I have forgotten if I had to 'deliver' a letter from the Princess at three in the morning the day before yesterday. Then you on edge for two days for a reason you wouldn't say.. Must be something really important. Rarity is still unnerved to have been forced to cancel her spa days for the next few weeks. Why weeks? What is this all about?”, he asked in a his deeper, but still young voice.
“Oh, you know it's a surprise!”, Twilight chimed from the front door with six more cases enveloped in her magic.
“Ugh, why do I have to carry these heavy cases if you could drag half of the library with your magic?” he asked a little annoyed. Twilight giggled at her assistant’s laziness.
“First, because these are your cases and these are mine. Secondly, didn't you say you wanted to train? Don't you work on Sweet Apple Acres in your free time because you want to impress a particular white unicorn we all know so well?” Twilight winked at him and Spike blushed as red as the Apples he carried around for Applejack and Big Mac.
“Not so loud, the other must be outside by now! And you know only to well that I don't do this only because of that” he whispered as he came closer.
“Yeah the money. Sorry that I can only give you so much, but the stipend pays our food and I HAVE to use at least half of it for my studies.” she looked away.
She felt guilty that she couldn't give him more for what all he did for her. She too works as librarian so she can buy herself some extra private stuff like an aroma bath set last week. In fact Spike got more from his extra job at Sweet Apple Acres then Twilight from her librarian job.
But it was hard work and Spike was tired every time he came home late in the evening. He was a really hard working dragon and Twilight had acknowledged that his crush on Rarity was far more serious then puppy love.
“I know Twilight. I appreciate that you're giving me a little, but you don't have to after all,” he said with a smile, but it vanished as he continued, “However, you know one day I will not be able to wor--”
“Don't...”, Twilight choked and with teary eyes she looked back at him, “We... we’ll talk about that when it comes.”
She did know that at some point in the not so far future her number one assistant... and almost son, would ask her to let him go his way. Either because he grew to be to big or the possible relationship with Rarity got more serious. She wiped away a forming tear and forced a smile.
“Now let's go, the others are probably waiting for us.”, she said as she opened the door.
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“Finally!”, called Rainbow Dash, hovering over the group of ponies including Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, “I thought you had forgotten! I was SO close to dragging you out. Now spill the beans! What is this all about? What does the Princess want from us that is so important that we have to leave Ponyville for several WEEKS?”
“Now slow down, sugar cube. Go easy on her, an she will tell us” calmed Applejack, “Ya will tell us, won't ya, Twilight?”
“Of course girls, but why don't you ask the Princess herself?”, she grinned and nod behind the group.
The heads of the five ponies snapped around and saw a royal carriages soaring through the sky. Not ten meters away from the group the carriage landed and Princess Luna walked over to the small group.
“Hello, my little ponies”, she greeted them. The group bowed in unison expect for Twilight.
“Princess Luna” she smiled happily as she trotted over to the Moon Princess, “It’s so good to see you again.”
“Twilight Sparkle”, Luna embraced her first friend after a thousand years in a light hug, “I have looked forward to seeing you again.” Twilight played a little bit shocked as she took a step back and "studied" the Princess.
“You have lost your royal 'We'?”, she asked in shock. Luna looked very nervous.
“I... erm, We thought the royal 'We' was outdated. If We had know that We should still use it,”, Luna tried to regain her former self.
“Awww, Princess. I was just messing with you. The royal 'We' was cute but irritating. It is outdated and I was just surprised to hear you speak like everypony else”, sniggered Twilight.
“So it is okay if I speak like this?” asked Luna a little sheepish.
“Of course! But don't forget the royal 'We'. It will always be a Must for Nightmare Night”, reminded the purple Unicorn and gave an eager look before as she continued, “But now, tell them already what's going on. I could barley hold myself back from telling them.”
Luna smiled at the eager excitement for the upcoming adventure. She was glad that Twilight had done as the Princess had requested and hadn't told her friends anything about it.
“Come near my little ponies”, addressed Luna the rest of the group, “What I have to say is important and not for everypony’s ears.”
The group came closer and the tension could almost be felt by Luna. She liked the attention. Not that she was lonely, she did have her sister, and the servants and guards of the castle. As well as the letters from her friend Twilight Sparkle and... “And what else?”, came a thought from deep down of her hearth.
“Princess?”, asked Twilight, tearing Luna out of her thoughts.
“Oh, of course! The reason why all of this secrecy," the moon Princess exclaimed, “We are going on an archeological excavation.”
“A' archer logical exca-what now?” asked a confused Applejack.
“An archeological excavation. We are searching in the ground for the past” squealed Twilight excitedly.
“So...”, began Rainbow Dash, “We're digging up rocks?”
“Ooo Ooo, I know everything about rocks. There are pointy ones, sharp ones, smooth ones. Oh I love the smooth ones! They are so smoo~ooth!” bubbled Pinkie as she bounced excitedly in place.
“We aren't going to just be simply digging up rocks, Rainbow, we are going to be searching for something that was thought to have been extinct for hundreds of thousands of years.”, piped Twilight in before Pinkie could start with a cascade of explanations for rock formations.
“Exactly, Twilight Sparkle. We are indeed searching for something that existed long before ponykind”, said Luna and leaned forward, “We are searching for humans!”
The group gasped and a dense silence came over the area in front of the library. It didn't take long for Rainbow Dash to ask the one question everypony wanted to know expect for Luna and Twilight.
“Soo~... what is a human?”
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The train was bigger then every other train that had visited the little train station at Ponyville. This locamotive was twice as big as the usual, everyday ones.
It pulled twenty-four cars in total. It pulled Luna's private car, a first class car for Twilight and her friends, and ten cars just for guards, workers, as well as a few servants and cooks.
There were three dining cars in total with each being located between the groups.One was a first class dining car for Luna and the Elements and the others were second class for the others. The end of the train cars were six containing equipment and weapons, if necessary, for the guards.
The group stood around Luna with mouths agape as the behemoth of metal and steam came to a stop at the station. The Ponyville station could only support three of the train cars at a time. Twilight and Spike had caught glimpses of the train twice in Canterlot, but never had they seen it in operation.
Twilight asked Luna how it could function without any visible fuel source such as coal.
Luna explained that this locomotive was built to be a perfect example of what could be achieved with the combining of magic and technology. It worked like any other steam train, but the source of its power came from spells. One was a never ending flame and the other was a sphere of water.
The train ride to the Macintosh Hills was a long one. Made longer by the three day in Appleoosa where the supplies were restocked.
Braeburn was a little disappointed that his cousin couldn't stay longer, but the Hills were still a five days ride away and they had to be on their way.
Everypony dealt with being confined in the same space for long periods of time in different ways.
Twilight and Luna read, Rarity had her personal servant, Spike, at her call and everypony could see that she was thankful to have him. Pinkie threw a party for the guards and workers. Fluttershy and Applejack didn't take it well being away from their animals or orchard. Rainbow had the most fun. She raced the train at least five times a day.
The trip finally came near to its end as the train took a side track that led deeper into the hills. Records Luna had found reported that this section of track lead to an ancient mine.
This was strange, as there were no valuable materials in these hills. Why was there a mine here?
The massive marvel of steam and steel came to a stop about two hundred meters away from the mine. It was a miracle that this old track could support the massive train this long.
The Workers quickly set up the base camp, built around the train. Pipes were attached to the Locomotive to provide water and heat via the steam. Even a steam powered generator for Electricity was among the things the Princess had brought.
“Mighty fancy things the Princess brought here”, called Applejack as she entered the tent she shared with her friends.
“Yeah, what’s with all this techno mambo jambo?”, asked Rainbow not looking up from her newest Daring Do book.
“Girls, all these things have been around for 50 years. In big cities like Manehattan and Fillydelphia they are more common. In Ponyville, the Hospital, the Cake's Bakery, and even the Library have some technology that is based of that which you see here." explained Twilight.
“A’ know, A’ know. But everything is fine without it too”, stated Applejack, a little bit uneasy with this sudden technology shock.
“Oh Applejack, don’t be afraid of a little bit of comfort. Even I know that without the electricity from the generator we wouldn’t have light, warmth and flowing water”, cooed Rarity while she got a massage from Spike, “Oh, Spike. A little to the right… yeesss, right there!”
Twilight looked at Spike and had the urge to slap him. She could tell from his stupid happy grin that he had some dirty thoughts.
“Okay, I think we should rest”, said Twilight, “Tomorrow will be a long day.”
With that, each one of the seven friends got to there sleeping place. Of course, Spike didn’t sleep in a basket anymore. He had chosen a bed extra near to Rarity, and Twilight had the feeling that these two had came together behind her back.
After breakfast, the group, made up of Luna, the Elements, and Spike, got to the mine entrance for a first inspection. It was not long before Rainbow called out:
“Found it!”
“What did you find?” asked Twilight as she came galloping to where Rainbow was. Her eyes went big as she could see what was behind her loyal friend.
“Princess Luna! I think we have the entrance!” she called, “That amazing! After all this?”
The rest of the group came fast and before them towered a giant gate. Made of metal was a big doorway that was at least 5m high and 10m wide. The door seemed to open inwards.
The normal cave walls ended 15m before the gate and metal made up the area around the doorway. But that wasn’t all. One the left side, at the beginning of the metal walls, was a… thing.
With caution the Princess got near this thing. It looked like a black window, perfectly embedded in the metal wall. When she was just a few meters away from it, a light flashed from the window.
Luna quickly backpedaled and the light went off after a few seconds. On a second try the light went on again and Luna took a closer look.
The window was no window. It showed strange symbols and numbers like a projector on a screen. But she couldn’t see a projector. The window produced the symbols on its own.
“That’s amazing!” squealed Twilight, which startled the Princess. But only a little.
“That’s right, Twilight. It looks like the humans were technology more advanced than we are”, affirmed Luna. The two of them studied the screen.
Hours began to tick away, for the others it was boring, until Rainbow couldn't take it any longer.
“Oh come on!” she exclaimed “You've both been looking at this window thing for the last four hours! At least tell us something.”
Luna and Twilight looked at each other. Then to the rest.
“It is clear that this must be some sort of mechanism to open the gate. This circles here on the window react to touches, but they don’t do anything other then flash red and sound some strange noises”, explained the Princess. Twilight added:
“This is some sort of language, but nothing I have ever see before. Its really complex. But these numbers here could be a date.” She pointed at a group of numbers:
22.04.1421002013
“I think the first set are days, the second month.”
“And what are the last ones?” snickered Rainbow “Years?” Her laughter was cut short as Twilight simply stated:
“Yes.”
“Sugercube, are ya trying to say that this thin’ here is almost one and a half billion years old??” asked Applejack .“That can't be true. How can something that old, look so new?”
“Only if it’s maintained or…” Twilight swallowed “Human technology is so advanced that it doesn't need maintenance. Something we can’t even do with magic.”
Everypony fell silent for several minutes. Everypony tried to wrap their mind around this new information. The humans had built something that could last unmaintained for billions of years. They were so superior that they could do this without magic, if the legends are correct. And with this a cold fear crept up everypony’s neck.
What could have happened to the humans, that even their mighty technology could not prevent their extinction.
“We… we won’t get anymore answers if we don’t go any further” stated Luna, “I’ll try to open the gate with magic.”
Everyone else put some distance between them and the gate. Princess Luna stood before them, she charged her horn, concentrated on the gate, and released her energy. Her magic slammed into the gate and wrapped it in an blue aura.
Three minutes passed with nothing happening to the massive door. The Princess grunted and her coat was covered in sweat. This gate was… tough and heavy. But why couldn’t she do it? She could move the moon and even had once, while Celestia was sick, moved the much heavier sun. Why was this gate such a task!
She ground her teeth and her horn glowed so bright that one would fear it would melt any second. Then, the gate moved. With an ear splitting screech of ripping metal and an otherworldly screech the gate swung slowly open.
The gate finally out of the way, Luna collapsed. Twilight instantly rushed to her side.
“Princess!” called Twilight. Offering her water and help, the Princess was fast back on her hooves.
“Thank you. I don’t know why this was so hard but it’s done. We shou--”
“Spike? Spike, where are you”, called Rarity suddenly, “Has anypony seen my Spike-Wikey?”
Everypony looked around but Spike was gone and no trace of him was left. But not for long.
“Guys! You have to see this!” shouted Spike from the inside of the gate.
Everypony rushed to the inside, Princess Luna and Twilight a little slower then the rest. But what everypony saw there was beyond their imagination.
A cave. An artificial cave from what it looked like. Metal, containers, pipes, cables, railroads, buildings and six massive cylinders with cyan glowing tops at the far side of the cave. An entire city lay before them. Ten times bigger then Canterlot.
The ceiling showed a the sky with a sun and clouds. Even a light, fresh breeze greeted the new arrivals. Only a stairway separated the search party from the most frightening and exciting discovery since… since the foundation of Equestria.
They took in the scenery, then suddenly an emotionless voice suddenly came from everywhere:
“Achtung! Eindringlingsalarm! Eindringlingsalarm! Verteidigungssysteme werden aktiviert. Kommandant wird benachrichtigt.“
“Can anypony understand this?” called Applejack above the noise.
“Eindringlinge, bleibt wo ihr seid. Weiteres vordringen wird als Angriff gewertet und entsprechend geahndet“, called the voice.
“Maybe they greeting us?“ asked Spike and took a step forward, “I mean what could possible go wron--.”
Everything happened so fast. A discus like object, not bigger than a pony, came fast from above. The outer rim of the discus glowed in a bright orange. An orange-yellow beam flashed straight for Spike.
And in the next second Spikes body was thrown back. His chest scorched. Luna and Twilight simultaneously attacked the device with their magic.
“SPIKE!!!” screamed Rarity as she rushed to him. The discus reeled from the magic assault, but steadied itself and began to charge its weapon for another attack.
Twilight shielded them with her magic. And Luna hit the discus with another wave of magic, but with the same result.
“Spike, please. Answer me!” pleaded Rarity, but Spike laid lifeless before her. More devices descended from above, each attacking Twilight’s shield with countless beams.
“Take him!” commanded the Princess, “We must retreat!”
Swiftly they placed Spike on Applejack and retreated from the cavern and out the doorway.
“Princess I don’t know how much longer I can hold this shield under these attacks!” huffed Twilight her horn aglow like the Princess's had before.
“The others should be out of harms way. I’ll teleport us!” Luna said in a rush and in a bright flash they appeared back in the camp.
The others had just arrived on the outside and the guards were at high alert.
“Guards at arms! Defense positions at the perimeter of the mine entrance. Healer! To my tent!” called the Princess and guided her friends with the wounded dragon to said tent.
Two silent hours passed by, after the minutes of chaos. And no discus or other kind of attacker was seen from the mine.
The elements and the Princess were waiting for the tent, as the royal doctor finally came out. His working clothes were covered in blood and the ponies gasped at the sight.
“Doctor… how is he? How is my Spike!?” pleaded Rarity. The medic lowered his head as he spoke:
“Dragon scales are fire proof. But whatever attacked him melted straight through them. His internal organs have taken incurable damage. He is alive, but…”
The group was shocked, and tears flowed freely now. Even Rainbow and Applejack broke down.
“How long?” asked Twilight sobbing.
“One hour… more likely less” the doctor said, “I’m sorry.”
“Can we see him?” asked Luna silent.
“Yes. He is surprisingly awake. Don’t worry. We made sure he feels no pain”, the doctor stated in cold professionalism.
The group entered the tent. Spike was hooked to countless machines. Heart monitor and a stand holding only two blood packs occupied the space next to him.
They stood around his bed. Slowly and weak he opened his eyes.
“Hey, guys,” he coughed, “looks like I messed up big time.”
They assured him that everything was okay, that he would be okay. That he hadn’t done anything wrong. Spike held up a claw to stop them. He could feel his strength ebbing away and wanted to say something before he died.
“Twilight, thank you” he said simply.
“For what” she sobbed.
“For hatching me. You were always there for me. Like… a mother,” he breathed slowly and with tears in his eyes. Then he waved Rarity to his side.
“Rarity. I’m sorry I couldn't take you to the new restaurant,” he said with an apologetic smile.
“O nonsense. I’m always happy if you around me,” she smiled back with concern in her teary eyes.
Spike tried to reach for her cheek but was too weak. She helped him. Then he said the words he was sparing for a romantic picnic he had planned for when they were back in Ponyville. With his last breath:
“Rarity. I love yo--.”
His eyes slowly closed and his arm got heavy and lifeless. The heart monitor sounded only a monotonous tone.
“Spike? Spike?! SPIKE!” screamed a white unicorn mare and everypony in the camp knew that a friend was gone.
The body of the formerly happy and eagerly helpful dragon laid in a separate tent, cooled by spells. The refrigeration spells were in place to prevent his body from decaying until he was given a proper burial in Canterlot or Ponyville. Twilight had not decided which place he would be buried in, as the realization hadn't completely sunk in that her...son...was gone.
The camp was silent expect for the few sobs of the dragon's closest friends. Twilight and Rarity were affected by his death the hardest. Fluttershy, meanwhile, did her best to comfort them. Pinkie tried as well to cheer them up, but even she wasn't in the mood.
Their mourning was rudely interrupted by a heated argument between Luna and the sergeant, who was the highest ranking guard in the camp.
"ENOUGH! Can't you see that we have already lost somepony to this place?" said Luna angrily.
"All the more reason to watch what happens inside of the mine. The gate is still open and these...discuses..could still pose a threat to the camp. Perhaps this place is not a refuge. It could very well be a prison! The least we could do would be to close the gate," the guard argued.
Luna thought about the ramifications of the discuses getting loose and free to roam Equestria. Nopony would be safe if that occurred. Could she risk more lives in order to discover the truths of a long lost thought-to-be-myth? Regretfully she had to run the risk that more lives would be lost. The myth of the humans had been buried for too long and it was time the truth came out. The guards were trained to deal with any sort of threat and they all knew that this mission had risk, that was the whole point of their job.
"Princess?" Rarity asked weakly. She, along with the others, entered the tent and slumped to her haunches. She continued, "We want to go back inside. I-I want to know who is responsible for this." Determination lacing the words and putting a fire into her eyes.
Anger, in it's purest form. Luna knew it only too well, but this mare could still be saved from the same corruption she had fallen for.
"And do what?" asked Luna calmly. She knew that Rarity's statement was one of revenge and not what Rarity really wanted.
"I...I...." Rarity ground her teeth. She tried to respond to Luna's simple question, but no answer came. She slumped in surrender. "I don't know." she replied
There it was, the truth. The truth that Rarity really did not know why she wanted to go back in. Luna smiled a little. Perhaps there is still hope.
"Sergeant! Prepare ten of your strongest unicorns. Five for defense and five for offense. We are going back in!" Luna announced.
<<Unidentifiable Mountainous Region, Industrial Bunker IB-02, Central Commando Room>>
These… intruders were strange. He had never expected something like this. These multicolored ponies and a bipedal reptile were capable of some sort of language. Unfortunatel, these beings did not seem to understand the warnings. The few sentences that were recorded since they opened the gate were running through the translation matrix at the moment.
The commander of the bunker was being woken, but the process took time. The reptilian creature was probably dead by now. Security protocols were strict and had to be followed to the letter. After all, the bunkers were built during harsh times.
The records showed everything from the first breach till now. The death of the reptilian creature was regrettable, but not important. The counterattacks, shields, and teleportation, on the other hand, were very interesting.
He did not see any technology of any sort on them the attacks came from their...horns. These appeared to be the mystical unicorns of the stories from old. Two others had wings. Unicorns and Pegasai?
These beings apparently had intelligence, but from what or where he did not know. He shrugged, the answer to that was unimportant for the time being as the security of the Bunker was more important.
“Kommandant. Das Tor ist beschädigt. Sicherheit der Anlage kann nicht wieder hergestellt werden (Commander. The door is damaged. Safety of the system can not be restored)” spoke an emotionless voice. The Virtual Intelligence, or short VI, was still active, after all these years.
Years. This information had hit the commander quite hard. He had expected that it would have taken some intelligent lifeform much longer to find this bunker, but almost one and a half billion years? It was a wonder that the generators still worked. Even after all this time the maintenance robots were still functioning and doing their work as intended.
„Ich denke nicht, dass es auch weiter notwendig ist. Ich werde mich persönlich um die Angelegenheit kümmern (I do not think it is necessary any longer. I will personally handle this matter.)“, he said.
“Kommandant, fremde Sprache erfolgreich analysiert und entschlüsselt (Commander, foreign language analyzed and decrypted successfully)“ came a second announcement.
“Exzellentm lade die Daten in mein system und modifiziere alle nicht kritischen Bunkersysteme für die Benutzung der neuen Sprache (Excellent, load the data into my system and modify all non-critical bunker systems to use the new language)” he commanded. Commander, yes, he was the commander of this facility. Perhaps even the last commander on this planet, whatever it is called.
“System language successful changed.”
“Strange to use a completey foreign language without a learning phase,” whispered the Commander and he moved from his position since… many years. Good thing that the robots had maintained him too.
<< Macintosh Hills, entrance of the mine >>
"Princess, I really must recommend that my unit proceed first." the sergeant said uneasily.
“No, I will provide a constant shield and go first. You protect the Elements and that is a direct order.” Luna responded, thus ending any further discussion on the matter. She didn’t know if she should punish the sergeant for his constant insubordination or praise him while he did his job and brought forward his concerns. She decided to postpone this matter until later, preferring to cast her shield.
The small party of ponies moved forward cautiously. The guards were prepared to attack anything that looked hostile. The five-minute path to the corner that lead to the gate and the artificial cave, took them twenty minutes. The guards were constantly scanning the surroundings, Fluttershy froze every now and then, and especially a rather depressed Rarity slowed them.
As they come closer to the corner, the wall opposite of the gate was illuminated with a flickering white-light-blue light. The guards got ready, Princess Luna increased her shield and everypony else just prepared in their own way. When they rounded the corner they all froze at what they saw.
In front of them was a bipedal giant of metal, reaching up to the upper end of the gate. Some sort of tool fabricated a great amount of sparks as it worked. The bright light reflected off his massive, blue and metal-grey armor. The only other color on it was it's glowing dark-red eyes.
But the giant was not the only thing that was unexpected. It was staying on a platform that seemed to be hovering in midair. No noise, no wings, no glowing from magic. The ponies were stunned.
The metal giant ended his work and lowered his massive arms. It inspected his work for a few more seconds before it turned its head and its red eyes gazed directly to the group. It stared several seconds before it reached in front of itself.
Out of nowhere came a glowing panel. After some faint beep noises the platform lowered itself to the ground and the giant dismounted it. But then as if it had its own mind, the platform shot away inside the cave. Only the sound of the platform rushing through the air could be heard.
The metal giant looked after the platform, before it turned around and refocused his gaze on the group of ponies. It held the gaze a few more seconds before it walked slowly with heavy, metallic steps to the group.
“Guards, attack!” called the sergeant and ten magic bolts shot to the giant before Luna could react.
The bolts hit the hulk and in the resulting explosion nopony could see the effect.
After half a minute, the dust faded away and revealed the metal giant with no more scratches than it had before.
“What the…” said one guard and out of panic he attacked again. This time he used a concentrated beam.
The beam showed no effect on the energy shield, that was covering the entire body of the giant. The shield followed the outlines of its body only a few millimeters in distance.
The beam died down, as the guard was exhausted. Then a rough, deep, metallic voice spoke almost bored:
“Are you done now? I don’t know what kind of energy attack that was, but it is clearly to weak to even scratch my shielding.”
In the silence that followed you could have heard a needle drop. And the commander have smirked at the collective jaw drop, if he still could. Nopony had expected that the giant could speak, let alone perfect equestrian.
The giant, judging by his voice, a male, went further with slow, heavy steps. He was trying hard not to scare them. When he was standing in front of Luna's shield, he sat down.
“I think we have gotten off on the wrong foot.. First of all, I want to apologize for the attack on your reptile companion” the commander offered, “The defense systems of the facility are strict and are guided by a simple VI, that can not act outside it's prescribed guidelines.”
The group still stood stunned. Luna was the first to regain enough self-control to close her jaw. However, she still had to process this new information.
This giant before her had somehow managed to learn their language to the point where he was able to easily communicate with them and had been able to do so within only a few hours. Then there was the fact that he tried to apologize for Spikes death. Then there was something called VI. Was it a friend to the giant? But he spoke as if it were a thing.
“It looks like you have many questions”, said the giant as his gaze shifted to look directly at Luna, “Please. Ask. I will answer the questions as best I can.”
“Are you responsible for the death of Spike?!” Rarity quickly asked. The giant's gaze shifted to Rarity and even though Luna could see no facial expression, she could see that he was thinking about a proper response to the question.
"If you are referring to the reptile, then the answer is no. This facility was acting on its own. I was asleep and since the process to wake takes some time, I was unable to intervene. You were given a warning, but I see that you were unable to understand them, given that your language was different." he answered.
"Then who is responsible? Who killed my Spike?!" Rarity sobbed. The commander was surprised that a mammal could be emotionally attached to a reptile. Could it be that she was even romantically attached?
“As I said, the facility,” he answered truthfully.
“But how can buildings be responsible for this? They don’t have a mind.” interrupted Twilight. She shook her head as she couldn’t wrap her mind around it.
"That requires further explanation. This facility has a quantumbrain that hosts a Virtual Intelligence. It can.." his voice trailed off. He could see, judging by the glazed look on every eye, that he had lost them at "quantumbrain".
“The quantumbrain is a very complex network of nervcoms.”
He got blank stares.
“Computers?”
Still there was nothing. Suddenly the eyes of the giant flickered around, almost as if he was following a superfast air show from Rainbow Dash but without moving his head. Then he stopped, bowing his head.
“A very, very, very complex abacus?” he asked and earned aaah’s from the ponies, especially from Luna, who wore a bright smile.
“The quantumbrain is like a biological brain, capable of receiving and handling information. The Virtual Intelligence, or short VI, is a complex program that has billions of predicted scenario and how to react to them” the giant explained “Intelligent, speaking ponies were not in these scenarios, but apparently you were recognized by the facility as unknown intruders.”
“So nopony is to blame?” asked a crestfallen Rarity. The thought that Spike had died because of a misunderstanding, saddened her.
"The blame could be on the writer of the scenarios since he couldn't predict this, but he has been dead for along time." the commander said. Then he looked sideways and added, "Like everyone else."
Twilight looked up and trotted over to the edge of the shield. “Do you mean that you are all alone in there?” she asked motioning with a hoof to the gate. The giant only nodded.
“Then you are the last human? Is that the reason way you are wearing that heavy looking armor to protect yourself? In the legends, humans are described to be as big as Princess Luna is. But you are at least two heads bigger then her.” Twilight pondered, now caught up in the excitement that she could finally get answers to her many questions.
The giant looked at her and said: “I’m not a human.”
“What do you mean?” asked Luna.
"Once, long ago, I was human. What you call armor is now my body." he said. The ponies all gasped at this new revelation.
“How? That‘s only metal!” exclaimed Rainbow.
"I died." he bluntly responded. This earned him another round of blank, shocked stares from the contingent of ponies. “But thanks to our technology I was recovered one week after I died and my consciousness was transferred into this robotic body.”
“One week later?” the ponies asked shocked in chore.
“Could… could we save Spike with this technology of yours?” asked a hopeful Rarity.
“No. Because it’s an implant. A piece of technology inside of the body. But it had to be implanted before he died” the commander answered, remembering his own surgery only to well. He had to stay awake during the process. He noticed that the ponies were crestfallen, especially Rarity and the other females.
“But,” he started , which snapped them out of it and drew their attention to him, "perhaps there is a way to reanimate him. I will have to examine him first.”
Almost instantly Luna dropped the shield, which startled the guards. “Follow us.”
<< Macintosh Hills, base camp >>
The rest of the guards in the camp were extremely nervous when the metallic giant slowly stomped through their lines. Luna was not worried about him killing everyone. She figured that if this metallic giant had wanted to do so, that he had already done so.
The giant almost had to crawl just to get into the tent, but once he was inside he was able to stand comfortably. As it is with all pony-made dwellings, the tent ceiling was twice the height of the average pony stallion. The reason for this was simple. Said stallion might, for some reason, rear up and risk bumping his head, and Pegasai were known to fly even while inside buildings.
Immediately after he entered the tent he stopped in his tracks. He looked around and was holding his right hand slightly in front of him.
“It is only two hundred seventy six point thirteen Kelvin in this tent. How are you achieving such low temperature in here without technical equipment?” he asked , with surprise evident in his metallic voice.
“I don’t know what unit of measurement this is, but I cast a spell to cool this tent” Luna answered as she looked over to the covered body of Spike, “so his body wouldn’t decompose.”
“This was very thoughtful of you. It makes this a lot easier.” the giant said but looked then over to Luna “A spell? Like a spell made with magic?”
Luna nodded, but before she could explain, Rarity cut in:
“What can you do for Spike?”
He glanced at her, but turned his attention back to the body. With two small steps he got closer, uncovered the body, and raised his right hand over the body. An alternating green blue light cone emitted from his wrist, which illuminated Spikes lifeless frame. He started from Spikes head and moved slowly to his feet and tail.
“His organs are heavily damaged. But I must say that I’m impressed. Normally a particle beam from one of our military security drones should have burned right through him.” the giant said absentmindedly.
“Dragons are naturally fireproof.” chimed Pinkie Pie. With the hope that Spike could be brought back to life, her natural bubbly personality had come back somewhat.
“Dragons?” the commander asked in disbelief, “Dragons, as in fire breathing winged reptiles as big as a house?”
“Yes!” answered Pinkie, hopping around with a smile. The commander shook his head in wonder, but continued with what he was doing.
“What exactly are ya doing anyway? Are ya re-… reani-… reanimalin’ him like ya said?” asked Applejack.
“Reanimate, Bring back to life,” corrected the commander “and no. This is only a scan. I have to know exactly what he is.”
“He is Spike, a dragon, isn’t that enough?” asked Rainbow as if he were stupid.
“No," he calmly responded, "I have to know how his body works… would work. I have to know how is body is built. His scales, bones, muscles, organs, veins, his very own DNA.”
The ponies understood what everything he said except DNA, but before he could start an explanation, Fluttershy meekly said:
"If its okay with you, I'm going to go get my scarf. Its much too cold in here."
“You can wait outside if you want, all of you. The deep scan will take much longer to complete. In the meantime...” the commander kindly responded. To his left a transparent panel appeared in the air. This panel was big and showed many symbols and letters. The guards almost attacked him out of surprise, but Luna held up a hoof to stop them before things could escalate.
Luna had the best view of the holograph and could actually read some of the material that was presented on it. Robotic Control was at the top portion and was followed by what appeared to be a list of names. What shocked her most was that beside each name was a number and there were too many of them to count.
The commander let his left hand run over the panel and after some quiet beeping noises the panel vanished again.
“There will be two Work Robots coming with a device. They mean no harm and the device they carry is vital for the reanimation process later” the commander explained. Luna sent one of the guards to let the perimeter know about the incoming arrival from the mine.
------------------------------
The scan took really long and so the ponies took that time to warm themselves in the late rays of Celestia’s sun. Not long after the sun went down and Luna raised the moon, the giant came out of the tent. The robots had brought a coffin-like object with a small window through the camp earlier that afternoon and had entered the tent.
“Spike… is now in cryostasis. He willbe preserved and will be in this state until we can reanimate him” the commander announced.
“Why not now? You said you can bring him back to life," Rarity complained, on the verge of breaking down into tears.
"I can, but I will need something from another facility. This one is an industrial facility and does not have much in the way of medical supplies and tools. I need to get to Medical Bunker MB-03, but I have to find it first. This planet has changed so dramatically, that I can't find it with my now outdated maps," he explained, "and to find it I'll have to contact the old satellite network orbiting the planet."
“Satellite network?” asked Luna in disbelief, “In the orbit of this planet? Like my moon?”
“Your moon?” asked the commander with equal disbelief.
What followed was the most confusing dialog so far, but after much explanation, both had a more or less good understanding of what the other meant. Luna was quite impressed that somepony had control over not one, but dozens of small objects in orbit.
“So, you raise the moon with this mystical power known as magic, while your sister raises the sun?” asked the commander, to confirm what the lunar princess was suggesting. Luna nodded, and then asked a question of her own:
"And you can map, with purely metallic object, the entire planet from it's core to the edge of its atmosphere in just a matter of days?"
"The process is a bit more complicated, but I assume raising the moon isn't as simple as it seems either." he answered. "It may take me most of the night to resync with the satellite network. Feel free to go get some refreshment or rest if you wish. I assume I'll be under guard?"
“You don’t need to sleep?” Rainbow asked, as if that was the worst possible thing she could imagine.
"I don't need air, food, or sleep. I only need a small amount of water every year," he replied.
The commander decided to join them while they ate and answer any further questions they had. They mostly asked questions about the Bunkers and why they were built. Throughout the entire conversation he had only managed to scratch the surface. He promised he would tell them more later.
When he told them that the bunkers had been built in response to a great disease, Twilight freaked out. She feared that everypony could be infected. The commander quickly explained that the disease was the result of some form of radiation throughout the galaxy and was not a contagion and thus didn't pose a threat to her or her companions. He continued and told them that the radiation had been so strong and so pervasive that every living being was affected. Intelligent beings such as humans were unable to handle the radiation. The radiation slowly destroyed their brain's higher functions.
Luna mentioned to the commander that the humans that had been encountered by pony-kind had been highly aggressive. The commander told her that he suspected that those humans had degraded to a primitive animal-like stage. Technology was unaffected by the radiation and by extension so was the commander.
The plan of the bunkers was that hundreds like him would wait in the bunkers for the radiation to go away. He had been the first to go into storage, but apparently something had gone wrong and when he was awoken, he found himself alone.
The story was long and the ponies yawned quite often. Even Luna had to stifle a yawn since her sleeping schedule had changed.
"It appears that we should all retire for the night. Good night everypony." Luna said. She blinked once or twice and then gasped as a realization hit her. "Oh, by the stars! I can not believe that we have been here all this time and have forgotten to introduce ourselves or even get your name!"
“My name is Princess Luna, I rule over Equestria with my sister, Princess Celestia." said Luna, beginning the introductions.
“My name is Twilight Sparkle. I’m the personal student of Princess Celestia and I manage the library back in Ponyville.”
“I’m Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in all of Equestria!”
“Howdy. Ah’m Applejack. Me an’ mah family owns Sweet Apple Acers, where you can find the best apples in Equestria.”
“I’m Pinkie Pie. I live and work at Sugercube Corner and I throw the best parties. Oh, we should have a party if we’re back in Ponyville. A new friend and a Spike-comes-back-to-life party!”
“My name is Rarity. I’m a fashion designer and the of Carousel Boutique.”
“And I’m Fluttershy. I take care of animals near the Everfree Forest," Fluttershy said. As always, almost to quiet to hear, but thanks to the auditory systems in his robotic body, the commander was able to hear her clearly.
"So...what's your name?" Rainbow asked eagerly. The commander looked at each of them and then his gaze dropped to the ground.
"I have no name," he answered quietly. The ponies around him gasped in shock at this newest revelation.
“How can you not have a name? It’s like a cupcake without frosting,” babbled Pinkie.
"I was the first to undergo the procedure that made me what you see before you. There was a restriction put in place that did not allow me to keep my name. Before you ask, no, I do not know what my name was. Because of that restriction, all my memories of the past, such as my name, friends, family, and places have all been erased. I can remember everything that happened to make who and what I am, but faces are empty and places all look the same," he explained.
The ponies were more than shocked, now they were angry as well. Angry at what the other humans had done to him. Angry that the humans had removed from him, his very identity, his history, his friends and family, that the humans had made him nothing more than a machine. They of course didn't see him as just a machine, and now they were saddened that there was nothing they could do nothing to restore his identity to him.
"We do need something to call you. We can't just say 'hey you'. That would just be rude," Rarity said. "Any ideas, girls?"
“Hmmm, he is made out of metal, so maybe something having to do with metal." Twilight suggested.
"I think that even though his body is machine, he has been kind and has been willing to help us, so he still must have heart. Don't you think?" Fluttershy said quietly.
"That's it!" Pinkie exclaimed. "How about we call him Metal Heart?"
The ponies all looked at the commander. He thought about the name. He was no longer human and to use a name like 'John' wouldn't fit any longer. Also it seemed that, in the pony society, that names have two syllables and are based on either the marks on their sides or have something to do with what they are good at.
"Unusual, but I like it," he said after a few seconds.
The Elements cheered and Luna called for the royal clerk. When the royal clerk arrived, Luna smiled and announced:
"Then your name, from this day forth, shall be, Metal Heart!"
-----------------------
AN: I would like to thank Demichev here from Fimfiction for his great help as corrector. It would be unreadable. Also I thank everyone how liked this story, even with all this grammatic errors, fast pacing and other things. You are great. Within a day this story was top one and I hope that I achive this again, with your help.
The night was calm. The dark blue sky was covered with twinkling stars and a full moon. The night's calm was only disturbed by the quiet snoring from the guards tents and the occasional cough from the three guards standing around a metallic object. The guards consisted of one pegasus, one unicorn, and one earth pony. To Metal Heart they represented an excellent opportunity to study these creatures.
And so Metal Heart scanned them from his position at the camp fire, without their knowledge. The guards were nervous at first. They were the first shift and didn’t exactly know what he was. His statue-like appearance was unnerving, but they relaxed after half an hour and became drowsy.
Those were some good cardio readings for Metal Heart. It was nice to know he could determine if a pony was nervous even if the pony thought they were hiding it well. Of course, in order to determine that he would have to keep the scanner activated. It wasn’t like he was flooded with this much information all the time.
Even though his brain was now circuits and wires, there were still limits to how much information he could handle. He could take massive amounts of data for ten minutes, but any longer and he would suffer damage and if he continued to let massive amounts of data stream for too long, he would suffer complete system loss and his mind would be gone. Only a command executing shell would remain.
But his actual tasks were far from being harmful to his mind. The synchronization with the SatNet, the orbital satellite network, was automated, and that meant he could concentrate his primary systems on scanning the ponies in his immediate vicinity.
A deep scan, however, would not go unnoticed. Maybe one day, when he'd earned their trust, he'd ask them if they would allow him to do a deep scan.
There it was. The third satellite right above this area was synchronized with him. Metal Heart looked up and concentrated on the three objects in geostationary orbit. The sudden movement after almost two hours of rigidity, startled the guards and even without active monitoring, Metal Heart could tell that the guards now had adrenalin being secreted into their systems, resulting in higher heart rate and increased breathing.
On his inner eyes he could actually see the satellites above him and he was receiving their data immediately. Normally he would prefer the retro-style holopanels to manipulate data. The scientist never understood his fascination of this outdated user interface.
His mind was enough to control whole facilities, but he liked holopanels and voice commands, it brought a feeling of nostalgia. However, right now it was too flashy and would probably wake the sleeping ponies.
With a though he started the scan for this area, beginning with the camp and then outwards. Within forty-five minutes the SatNet had already scanned the surface in a radius of 150km. That was his first priority. He wanted to know how the planet looked like after all this time. The deeper scans had to wait until he had connected all satellites.
In the corner of his eye he caught a movement and he looked down to his side. Princess Luna, the Pegasus-Unicorn Mix, walked over to him. The guards were nervous again as Luna sat next to Metal Heart.
“Trouble sleeping?” he asked with a silent, but rough and metallic voice.
“Yes,” she answered and brought a wing forward to cover a yawn, “My sleeping schedule is completely off balance. I’m normally awake during the night.”
“How come?” asked Metal Heart. To any outside observer it would appear that he was looking at the stars, but his focus was on the much closer SatNet.
“I rule the night and have to hold the night court,” Luna sighed and propped her head on her front hooves, “I also have to sign laws and regulations that fall under my responsibility.”
“I can imagine that the night court is not visited as much as you would like. That must be boring and frustrating.” Metal Heart stated without looking down. Luna eyed the metallic survivor from another era.
His emotionless, never moving face and his hard voice make it hard to believe that he was more then a moving statue. But there was still some part of him that had emotions, but he couldn’t bring them to the metallic surface.
“Oh it isn’t that bad. I have plenty to read.” Luna said as she raised her head and covered her mouth with her right fronthoof as she gave a hollowed laugh.
Metal Heart looked down to her and said bluntly: “But still frustrating.”
Luna stopped midlaugh and let her head fall onto her hooves. With closed eyes she groaned: “Yes.”
Metal Heart didn’t pursue further. It was clearly a sensitive topic and he didn’t want to upset the Princess, but he could sympathize with her. He had built Bunker IB-02 on his own. The scientist had wanted to test his ability to command huge groups of robots without help from other living beings. It was boring and frustrating.
“Say, Metal Heart, how did this world begin?” Luna suddenly asked.
“What do you mean?” he asked in return, not knowing exactly what she wanted to hear.
“I’m mean; everything has a beginning and an end. This world had to have started somewhere and your race lived here long before we did. Tell me the story of this world” Luna asked with big eyes.
Metal Heart looked back up to the stars and started: “I actually don’t know. We just found this planet.”
“You found this planet?? But…” questioned Luna unbelieving.
“Let me explain," he said and looked back to her, “Humans come from another planet, called Earth or Terra, like most preferred. Then the human race built massive, powerful vessels that could travel between the stars.
“We colonized many other worlds, but we never found other intelligent lifeforms. Then, we encountered this planet. This planet was different from the others. It was decided that we would label it a 'rogue planet'.” Metal Heart explained. Luna and even the guards were stunned from the sheer idea to travel to other planets.
“What do you mean by rogue planet?” asked Luna not quit understanding.
“Normally a solar system is built with at least one sun in the middle with planets orbiting it. Sometimes a planet falls out of orbit of it's sun and ends up adrift or it crashes into some other celestial body and is destroyed or, like this planet, it gets stuck in the middle of nowhere.” Metal Heart explained.
“But we have a sun. Celestia raises and lowers it every morning and evening.” reasoned Luna.
“Yes, you have a sun,” said Metal Heart and looked back up, “because we created it.”
Luna sat there in silent shock and before she could scream “WHAT?!” at the top of her lungs, Metal Heart continued: “It was an immense resource hungry project, but we were capable of it. Why, one would ask, why would we spend so many years and resources to create a sun for a rogue planet?
“Well, this planet is four times bigger than Earth and normally that should mean four times the amount of gravity, at least, but still this planet has standard gravitation, just like earth. This planet was a scientific anomaly we had to study.
“When we examined the planet, we discovered that the planet was and still is incredibly rich with resources. Million times more than what was needed for the sun project. And there was a mineral we didn’t recognize but we soon realized that it caused natural anti-gravitation, the reason why this planet has standard gravitation. It was too deep in the planet to be extracted, so it’s still there.
“Still, the other resources were more then enough reason to colonizing this planet. At first we tried to terraform certain parts of the planet to provide the colonist with food, water and especially air, but it didn’t work. Life can’t exist without natural light, at least, not for long. So over one hundred years we gathered many resources from all the colonies to ignite a sun here. Has your sister told you how big the sun is compared to the moon?”
Luna nod: “Yes. It is slightly bigger than my moon. Oh please don’t tell me you created the moon too.”
Metal Heart had to chuckle. It was metallic, but sincere: “Oh no. The moon was already here with the planet. But what would you say if I told you the sun of Earth is hundreds of times bigger than the one here.”
Luna’s jaw dropped. She just stared at him for several seconds, before she regained her ability to speak: “But this… this is impossible the sheer heat would melt your world.”
“The distance between Earth and the sun is much greater that it is here.” Metal Heart stated, “There are far bigger suns in the universe, some one thousand times bigger then Sol, the sun of Earth. Sol is indeed one of the smallest suns we have encountered.”
“The smallest?” Luna asked and shook her head in disbelief, “Okay, I… I'll go along with it. What came next?”
“Terraforming. The planet was a frozen rock. No plants, no animals, no life at all. We started the process like we did for countless other planets. Thousands of ice asteroids were brought here and melted to form oceans. Within another one hundred years the planet had enough water to supply life. In controlled sections we planted plants and brought animals, even horses and ponies, after the ecosystem was stabilized. This took only fifty years.
“So after two hundred fifty years the planet was finally finished. Colonists settled down and the planet became the central trading point of our kind. Daily, hundreds of ships reached the planet with goods, tourists and new settlers.”
Luna gulped audibly and just took everything in. She could hardly believe it. How could she explain her sister that she was controlling a tiny, artificial sun; which in comparison to the one it was based on was a tiny dwarf? That this planet was more or less built by the humans and that even ponykind wouldn’t exist if the humans hadn’t brought their ancestors here.
As she finally regained her thoughts she noticed that Metal Heart was looking at her slender body. She blushed a bit, but didn’t say a word. His eyes wandered all over her body, from her horn, over her face, neck and shoulder to her wings. From there to her legs and further to her rump and tail.
“Say, Luna," Metal Heart began. Luna couldn't stand his looks much longer without questioning him, “These marks I have noticed on everyone’s rump, what are they?”
“Oh, these are cutie marks. They appear when a pony realizes what their good in or what special talent they have. Mine is raising the moon” Luna answered looking back at her cutie mark.
“Interesting. And why are there different pony types?” asked Metal Heart further.
“I do not know, but I do know that each pony is special in their own way. Each has their own special internal magic. You have may have noticed that only ponies with a horns can actively use magic, Pegasai and Earth Ponies use magic too, but in a passive way. Pegasai using it for flying and manipulating the weather. Earth Ponies are stronger and have more stamina than the others.” explained Luna.
“Magic,” said Metal Heart thoughtfully, “It’s still alien to me.”
“So is your technology, to us.” Luna laughed.
“Another thing,” he asked her further, “Unicorns and Pegasi are mythical creatures from our past and I think they evolved through the radiation from the ponies we brought here. But what are you? Some kind of hybrid? A Unicorn Pegasus mix?”
Luna chuckled a bit and answered: “No, not exactly. My sister and I are called Alicorns. There are not many of us. That is because we’re immortal and our estrus cycle is stretched. We go into heat every 25 years or so and not twice a year like every other mare. Also not every foal we have is an Alicorn. Most of the time we bear a foal of any of the three races and it is typically a filly.”
“You are immortal?” Metal Heart asked looked directly in her eyes. His eyes glowed slightly brighter then usual, “Like can’t-be-killed-immortal or don’t-age-immortal?”
“Don’t age, but it still takes more to kill us than normal ponies. We also don’t get sick as easily.” she smiled sadly and thought to herself, “It’s a blessing and a curse at once, to see all those that we kn--“
“This must be a blessing and a curse at the same time. I don’t want to imagine how many good friends, lovers and family you have seen pass away.” Metal Heart cut in her thought as if he read her mind, “I’m practically immortal myself. You have to eat and to sleep, but regenerate wounds on your own. I need neither sleep nor food, but have to maintain myself by robots and have to replace damaged parts manually. It’s ironic.”
Luna looked at him in awe as he looked up at the stars. This time he was actually admiring them. She could tell by his eye and head movements. She leaned against him and instead of him being ice cold, like metal should be, he was surprisingly warm and even though he was still hard, she found him strangely comfortable.
“You’re so warm.” mumbled Luna as she closed her eyes. Metal Heart looked over to her and before he could start with his explanation as to why, she had already fallen asleep.
Metal Heart figured that sleeping in such position wouldn’t do well on her neck, so he stood slowly and gently scooped her up in his arms. The guards followed warily as he brought her back to her tent. They were surprised how careful and with ease he handled their princess.
The guards supervised him, as he held her still sleeping form in one arm and laid the other hand on her bed. He looked like he was concentrating on his hand and after a few minutes the air glimmered over his hand. He nodded slightly and tucked Luna into her bed. She gave a contented sigh as the warmth of her now heated bed lulled her into deep, peaceful sleep.
It surprised the guards how quietly he could walk as he got out of the tent and sat down back at the camp fire. He looked over to them and said friendly: “Guys, it’s time for the second shift. Good night.”
Luna yawned. She had never slept that well before and as she stretched herself, several of her joints popped. Her blurry view got into focus and the memories from the night came back to her.
Metal Heart had revealed some facts, which could shake Equestria to its very core. She should advise him not to discuss this with anypony else. The guards were ordered to never discuss anything they heard. What would happen if others got their hooves on that information?
Most ponies believe that the Alicorns were the first and that every other race descended from them. Some Unicorn aristocrats were proud that they could trace their ancestry back to an Alicorn. What would happen if they found out that ponies only exist because humans brought them here and that life is possible here because humans pretty much built this world.
As Luna got out of her bed and made herself presentable, her mind wandered to Metal Heart. Somehow she felt a connection to him. Was it because he was also ‘banished’ for so long? Or was it because he was immortal like her?
It had been a long time since she had a friend that could be with her for centuries. The longest living ponies had only lived for a few decades and then she had to say goodbye when the passed away.
Her sister and Cadence are the only other immortals she knew of that were still alive or uncorrupted. There were other Alicorns, but they were scattered around the world and there were less now than there was five thousand years ago. Her own parents were the last Alicorn-Alicorn couple. Her parents had told her and Celestia that there was once a time when Alicorns were as common as the other pony races.
War, magical plagues, and infighting driven by envy and greed had reduced the Alicorn population to its current numbers. Only a few dozen remained and among that number only one or two were Alicorn stallions. Luna and Celestia were possibly the last full-blooded Alicorns.
Luna sighed, she and Celestia had been with many stallions in their lifetime and they had also given birth to a few foals. In fact, Cadence was related to her, albeit a distant one. It was a pure miracle that a Unicorn pairing would result in an alicorn. Only Celestia and herself had knowledge of the full family tree.
Luna finally looked like a princess again. Now she was ready to lower the moon so everypony could witness the beginning of a new day. With a smile on her face she exited her tent and was greeted with bright sunlight and a guard.
“Good afternoon, Princess. Lunch is almost ready.” the guard at her tent welcomed her.
Luna's smile turned into a frown.She looked up, shielding her eyes from the sun. It was noon! How could she have overslept?
She began to panic, forgetting the guard completely, she ran to the campfire were Metal Heart should be, but he was not there when she arrived and he was nowhere to be seen. Around the remains of the campfire were Twilight and the others as well as a few guards. They were all chatting with each other and it was Twilight who spotted Luna first.
“Princess Luna, you’re finally awake. You were sleeping so peacefully that we didn’t want to wake you.” Twilight greeted her.
“You should have awoken me! I haven’t lowered the moon and Celestia might assume something is wrong. Then she'll try to send a letter through Spike and when it doesn't work, she'll come here in person!” Luna Panicked as she paced, “She will find out about Spikes death, about Metal Heart and she will judge him and then she will bani--”
“Princess Luna!” Twilight shouted, snapping Luna out of her panic fit, “Your sister is already here and she knows everything already. She is up on that hill with Metal Heart asking him some questions.”
Luna broke into a gallop without looking back. What will she do to him? Banish him? Destroy… Kill him? No she wouldn’t do such a thing. Maybe she 'd just turn him into stone?
She finally arrived at the foot of the hill and she could see both of them at the top. Metal Heart was standing with his back to her and she only saw the flared wings of her elder sister. Something was glowing bright between them and Luna feared the worse.
“Sister, don’t!” Luna shouted. Metal Heart turned slightly too look over his shoulder. Celestia stepped to the side of Metal Heart and Luna saw the scowl on her sister's face.
“Oh Luna, you finally decided to join us?” Celestia scolded. Luna shrank back at the harsh tone. Luna could tell that her sister was not only angry, but also disappointed. “Not only did you not lower the moon, you overslept for 6 hours. 6 Hours!”
“Princess Celestia," Metal Heart started, His broad torso still toward Luna. He brought up an arm between the two sisters and continued, “I’m to blame for this. I warmed Luna’s bed so it would be more comfortable for her and perhaps I made it a little too comfortable.”
Celestia looked at him. He was a head bigger then her but still somehow she looked equal. He was physically big, but the solar princess radiated such authority and power that she easily came close to the intimidating power of his size.
Celestia closed her eyes and simply nodded. “Well, if that is indeed the case, then I will overlook it, but I hope you will be able to perform your duties this evening.” Celestia opened her eyes, then continued with a smile, “I was worried little sister. I was worried when the moon wasn't lowered and when I tried to send a letter and it wouldn't go through, but now I know why.”
“It’s not Metal Hearts fault. He was asleep while the attack on Spike happened.” Luna said, hoping that her sister wouldn't harm Metal Heart.
“He has already told me everything and Twilight confirmed it.” Celestia stated softly
"If you weren't banishing him, then what was the bright light between you two?" Luna asked.
“This” said Metal Heart, turned so her and Celestia could see his right hand as he opened it. A ball of light shot one meter above his palm and expanded to a small world of one meter radius. Oceans, land, forests, rivers, mountains, deserts, everything looked so real that it looked as if he actually held a world in his hand, “This is the actual map of this planet. We called it Idas. You know it better under its current name Equus.”
“You… you have finished the scans?” asked Luna in awe.
“Yes” came a short answer. Then he pressed on a section of the small world with his other hand and a flat three dimensional map showed their current position, “We are here and bunker MB-03 is…”
The map scrolled fast north-northwest, till it found the position and come to a halt over an all too familiar small village. “…here. Its several kilometers north-northwest and I think this village is populated by ponies. Do you know it by chance?”
“That Ponyville!” exclaimed Luna shocked, “Are you saying there was one of these bunkers right below our noses?”
“The entrance is actually buried under this hill over here, several hundred meters from the town’s border.” he pointed out, “But yes the complex is entirely under the village.”
“This will be good news for Twilight and the rest. They won't have a long trip between where you will be treating Spike and where they live.” smiled Celestia.
“Is Ponyville the hometown for Twilight’s group?” asked Metal Heart as he looked at the map's representation of the village.
“Yes, Twilight and Spike live in the Library here. Rarity in Carousel Boutique over there. Rainbow in her cloudhouse somewhere above the village. Applejack actually owns Sweet Apple Acres over here, not to far from the entrance to the bunker. Fluttershy lives near Everfree Forest and Pinkie lives with the Cakes in Sugarcube Corner right here.” explained Luna as she pointed every location out for Metal Heart. She looked to him and couldn’t shake the feeling that he was thinking about something, “Is something wrong?”
“Oh no,” said Metal Heart in thought, “I have only a question.”
“And that would be?” asked Celestia.
“I would like to break down the complex here and integrate everything into the complex at Ponyville. But that would mean I will have to enlarge the complex and some parts will be visible on the surface.” explained Metal Heart, “The work is easily done by my robots and will be completed within a few weeks, but I thought I'd ask you two first.”
Celestia and Luna looked at each other. It was a request what would bring great changes to not only Ponyville but for all of Equestria if not even for all of Equus. The advanced technology from the humans would change life for ever.
“Would you provide us your technology for review?” asked Celestia and looked back to Metal Heart.
He answered with a short: “No.” Celestia looked surprised.
“Why wouldn’t you?” she asked.
Metal Heart looked between the two princesses and then down to the campsite. It appeared as though he was thinking carefully about his answer. As he looked back, Luna somehow noticed a sad look on Metal Hearts unmoving metallic face.
“The technology is too advanced for you. It would be like giving your primitive ancestors this train. They wouldn’t know what to do with it and would most likely kill themselves. An antimatter reactor is far more dangerous than this train. I can teach you step by step to use the technology, but you have to learn the basics first. Furthermore, I can provide you help with my technology, but only under my supervision.”
“How long will this teaching take?” asked Luna, she could only guess why he was sad and looked over to the campfire where Twilight and the rest were.
“Decades, centuries, maybe even millennia? Our technology evolved over thousands of years and at some points nearly wiped out humanity. Because I know where the bumps on the road are, I can help you avoid them and the learning process will be faster. However, there is still so much to understand. Only you alicorns and I will see the fruits of learning and using the technology, but as for the others...”
Luna had guessed right. He was sad because he realized that he would outlive everypony he knew or will know. It was the toll of every long living being.
“I understand,” said Celestia with a little sadness in her voice, “How long will it take to build the extensions to the Ponyville complex.”
“First, I have to see in what condition bunker MB-03 is,” he explained, “but after that, around eight to ten weeks.”
“That fast??” Luna asked and then continued, “But the complex here is huge! To deconstruct everything, transport it to ponyville, expand the facility, reconstruct and integrate everything? That would take years.” Metal Heart only chuckled, a sound Luna knows by now, but Celestia was a bit surprised by the sound.
“My robots are well organized and are far more efficient then normal workers. One standard worker robot can do the same work ten humans could do if those humans were equipped with the best gear.” he said with a little pride.
Celestia studied the metal giant for a few seconds before she said: “I will discuss your request with my sister. Can you wait in the camp for our decision?”
“By the way, Metal Heart, did you tell anypony else about what we talked last night?” asked Luna quickly.
“Only your Sister” he answered, “I thought that something like this would probably bring chaos to ponykind, so I’ll let you handle the pronouncement.”
"Thank you." Luna said, relieved that Metal Heart was as careful as he was kind.
With nothing more to say he just nodded and stomped down to the campsite. The sisters waited extra long so they would be sure that he couldn’t hear them.
“So my dear little sister,” said Celestia barley above a whisper. Luna faced her and readied herself for the scolding of her life.
“Last night? He warmed your bed? What exactly did you two do last night, hmmm?” Celestia asked, a mischievous grin on her face.
-------------------------------------------
As Metal Heart came back to the campfire, Twilight was the first to approach and asked him: “What did the Princess say?”
“I think she believes me and even if she’s not completely convinced of my intentions, she does trust me enough to not put me in chains.” answered Metal Heart and then he turned to address the rest of the crowd, especially Rarity, “I think you will be happy to know, that I have found the bunker.”
The group and even the workers and guards cheered by this news. Rarity was more relieved than the others and Pinkie was on the edge to throw a party.
“Where is it?” asked Twilight with concern. She feared that the bunker would be somewhere deep below or far away or both.
“In Ponyville.” the giant answered simply. The entire group was dumbfounded and it took mere seconds before a collective “Where?!” was pronounced.
“In Ponyville. That is your hometown if I’m not mistaken.” repeated Metal Heart and stretched out his hand with the palm up. The map was shown again with the location of the bunker and it’s entrance. The ponies around him were more than impressed.
“I didn’t know you could use magic,” said Rainbow Dash surprised, “I mean I have seen these… these panels around you from time to time, but this…”
“That’s not magic” Metal Heart and Twilight answered simultaneously, “It’s…” They looked at each other.
“I’m sorry, I don’t want to interrupt your explanation” said Twilight sheepishly. Metal Heart just waved her to continue and said,
“No please, I’m interested to hear your theory.”
Twilight looked around her in the waiting faces of so many ponies. It wasn’t easy for her to hold a speech in front of so many about a theory. The speech wasn’t the problem. She had done this multiple times, but about facts. Solid hard facts she knows about, but a theory was always something that could be proven wrong. If it was her theory and that theory were to be proven wrong... Twilight didn't want to be wrong, it would make her feel dumb and she didn't want to be laughed at. However, there was no way out and the proverbial spotlight was on her, so she would just have to take a chance and hope she was right.
Twilight gulped audibly and closed her eyes before she started:
“It’s his technology. In his wrist is some sort of emitter that emits light. If this light is crossed multiple times then a ghostlike object is projected... I think.”
She opened her eyes, looked to Metal Heart and feared the worst: disapproval. The same fear she always has when she met with the princes. Scolding, dismissal as a student, even banishment. Okay maybe Metal Heart couldn’t send her to the moon, but she didn’t know for sure what human technology was capable of.
But instead of an angry face and harsh words she got… nothing. Metal Hearts face was unmoving like always, incapable of showing any emotion. Somehow she found it sad that he couldn’t smile when he was happy or cry when he was sad. He was a statue, moved by technology unknown to her and controlled by a mind that was once embedded in a living, breathing being, but then he surprised her.
He chuckled. Deep and metallic, but still he chuckled. A smile crept slowly on her face and Metal Heart gave her a thumbs up, a gesture unknown to her but the following words of approval to her were more than enough to understand:
“Very good, Twilight. Light is essential for this and the technique behind it has been used for a long time. But something is missing.”
Twilight almost gasped. She was correct so far, but something was missing. The only question was: what? She thought hard about it. She almost got a headache but she got it.
“A medium! Light alone can’t create a image in midair, there must be something it can reflect of.” she smiled widely.
“That is also correct” nod Metal Heart, “In the beginning humans used glass. In the right angle it looked like an image in the air. Later transparent sheets were used in more then one angle. One of the longest used mediums was actual a fine mist. But these emitters emit not only the light but also a weak invisible particle beam.
“Just like the light used in previous techniques the particle beams are crossed multiple times. Then a single light beam illuminates the concentrated particles. A single light beam would just illuminate an object from one side, which would result in a flat image, but the particles reflect the light between themselves and have a short afterglow.
“This is why the image glows and is always a little bit blurry, but it is better than any other technique for a hologram, the name for such three dimensional images.”
Metal Heart looked over to Fluttershy and raised his other hand in front of him. With a short glow an exact image of Fluttershy stand in front of him, facing the group. They were surprised and some had to look twice to realize what just happened.
Holoshy was blinking, breathing and smiled at the group, even reacted to a hoof wave from Pinkie Pie. But despite all the realism, Holoshy had a weak, unnatural glow and she looked fuzzy. As if her entire coat was electrostatic.
Before anypony could say something a voice came from behind Metal Heart: “I see your demonstrating some of your more interesting talents, Metal Heart.”
Everyone looked for the source of the voice, Metal Heart moved aside and Princesses came into view. The voice had been Princess Celestia's and Luna was to busy hiding behind her mane to say anything.
“Princes Celestia, I was showing these ponies how a hologram and the associated emitter works,” explained Metal Heart and Holoshy followed her living counterpart in a deep bow.
Celestia was amused by this had to hide a giggle: “This is really impressive. I hope you can teach my little ponies how they can use these things from your new home.”
“I assume my request of transferring this complex to Ponyville is granted?” Metal Heart asked and the surrounding ponies smiled hopefully.
“Yes, you assume right.” said Celestia and the ponies that Metal Heart counted as friends by now cheered.
“And Luna is responsible for you.” The group cheering stopped as they waited for more. “You two will work close together, infact…” Celestia looked over her shoulder and a sly smile appeared, “Very close. Once your complex is finished she will move in with you to directly oversee all the work and teaching that will be done.”
Luna peeked from behind her mane directly to Metal Heart and even if noponyelse registered it before she hide again, Metal Heart noticed the huge blush across her face. He could tell that she was embarrassed, but by what was not clear to him. Perhaps something the elder sister said made Luna embarrassed; he would have to ask her at some point.
The wild cheering around him didn’t help to clarify that. The only thing that he did know was, that the upcoming years would be interesting.
For all of them.
EN: Whee Editors Note! Where I write stuff that makes the author cringe. Nope. Just kidding. Taloon85 has been gracious to me by letting me help him out with his work. I do my best and as always try to make sure that things make sense in English so all you wonderful peoples can read and enjoy a story. I can’t wait to see where it goes from here as it is starting to get real interesting and I just know that all you wonderful folks share the same sentiment. By the way, if you haven’t already, if you like the story then click that lovely little green thumbs-up do-hicky up there somewheres. Perhaps it will bring in those people who read stories that have a high amount of likes. Oh and, shameless self-promotion incoming, feel free to hop on over to my story “Finding Solace” and give it read. Be warned that it is full of mushy gushy lovey dovyness and is not approved for people with weak stomachs, end of shameless self-promotion. Anywho I’ll be watching as much as you will and together we will follow the journey of Metal Heart as his story unfolds. Until next time this is Demichev signing out.
