The Smash Parable

This is the story of a stallion named Smash. Smash worked for a company in a big building, where he was employee number 426. Employee number 426's job was simple. He sat at his desk in room 426 and he wrote letters on a piece of paper. Orders came to him through a messenger right next door, telling him what to write down. How long to write them, and it what order. This what employee 246 did everyday of every month of every year. And though others would of called it soul rending, Smash relished every moment that orders came in. As though he had been made exactly for the job, and Smash was happy.

And then one day something very peculiar happened. Something that would forever change Smash. Something he would never quite forget.

He had been at his desk for nearly an hour, when he realized that not one single order had arrived from the messenger for him to follow. No one had showed up to give him instructions, call a meeting, or even say hi. Never in all these years, the company had this happened. This...complete isolation. Something was very clearly wrong - shocked, frozen solid, Smash found himself unable to move for the longest time. But as he came to his wits and regained his senses, he got up from his desk and walked out into the hallway. Smash decided to go to the staff lounge, to check on his co-workers. He never functioned well by himself, and constantly needed support and guidance from others. So the thought of total solitude terrified him. When Smash came to a set of two open doors, he entered the door on his left. Instead he took the door on his right. Now Smash knew this was the incorrect door so he took the upcoming door back to the correct path. With his hoofs making soft pit pat noises he arrived at the lounge. As Smash entered the lounge, he was horrified to see not a single pony here. He decided he would walk out to seek his boss. Hoping to find an answer there. Coming to a staircase, Smash walked upstairs to his bosses office. As he walked up the stairs he began to feel better, seeing as how his boss is so nice to him. Entering his manager's office, Smash was once again stunned, to discover not an indication of pony life.It was then at this, that he began to feel dizzy, and a little sick. And even thought he might pass out... when suddenly he noticed a keypad, next to a filing cabinet, in the corner, of his bosses office.

Smash had never seen this panel before, and had no idea what the combination of numbers would produce any result. In fact, only Smash's boss knew this. Since the panel held access to his bosses' greatest darkest secret. And so, he had assigned the keypad a combination only he could possibly know. The number of his freshman dorm number in college. 1986. But of course Sm- Yet incredibly, by simply pushing random buttons on the keypad, Smash happened to input the correct code by sheer luck. Amazing.

Smash then ventured forth into the newly opened pathway. As he walked down the large metal hallway, something felt very wrong about the place. As he drew deeper into the bowels of the building, Smash had no idea where he was or what this place held. And just as he thought he wouldn't discover a thing, he emerged into a large room, to find... rows and rows... of monitors. Screens with a number above it. Smash noticed, however, that these were not just random numbers, but the number of employees working in the building. His co-workers even his own number, 426, had a place on the wall.

"But why a setup so elaborate?" He asked.Was this simple surveillance? Or something even more? And as if an answer to his question, the wall slid open before him, revealing the ultimate truth of the situation. An enormous machine!, Smash discovered. But not one that controlled simple machinery. Button were labeled with emoticons: Happy, Sad. Levers and knobs that controlled actions. Walking,eating, doing work, or sleeping. Every input on this device monitored not the functions of a machine, but of a pony being! And the reality began to sink in. Smash, like so many others, reduced to images on monitors. Had been under someponies control, always at the mercy of this machine. Could this have been the reason why 426 was content with his boring job? Through the machine had altered his emotions to accept it blindly? He began to feel a boiled to the touch rage, and at the peak of his anger something happened. A spark.

Smash looked up and saw the generator overhead, still providing some small amount of energy to the machine. Keeping it alive. Unknowing that this generator was all it kept the controls running. Smash moved to the ladder in the ladder and began to quickly climb towards the rafters. The higher it was, the more Smash could taste freedom. The further from enslavement. He then saw two labels Engage generator and Disable generator, and of course he picked to disable it. All of a sudden the light began to turn off. Blackness. Power gone. All alone. And then, a door opened up revealing the outside world. He then ran towards it.

As he stepped through the door, into the fresh, outside air, a feeling of liberation rushed through Smash's body. He had seen power. He had seen enslavement And he had destroyed it. The underling was in control now. He had found his leading role. Smash never discovered why everyone had gone missing, nor how and when he became under control of the machine's control. But surprisingly it didn't upset him terribly, because he knew this was how things were meant to happen. All he found, was delight and happiness unlike any he had known before. Never again would he follow anyone's orders without question. Never again would anyone tell Smash where to go, what to do, or how to feel. No more bosses, no more messengers telling him what to write. Smash decides for himself now. And he stepped out into the world, and he felt the cool breeze upon his red coat, and Smash... was happy.

The End