Golden Age

Chapter 2:

The Tall Tale Tower

During the Monarch Period, the ponies of Equestria had rediscovered an ancient city of concrete sidewalks, complicated asphalt intersections, and the same tunnel systems found underneath remote areas of Equestria which had now been confirmed to be part of a sewage system; and, of course, skyscrapers. Towers built of such a height Equine kind had once thought to be nearly impossible. In the late Monarch and Triarch periods, it served as a model to modern Equestrian infrastructure: the blueprint for the modern city. Though even in the glory days of ManeHatten and Baltimare, no land-built structures could compare to the commanding awe of the Tall Tale Towers.

To this day two-thousand and fifty-three years after the defeat of Discord, few buildings could dare rival the super-towers of Tall Tale. Now, if you were to ask any learned pony in this day and age about Tall Tale, they would tell you it is the powerhouse of Equestria: the epicenter of the modern era, most well-known for the Olympus Tower, which powers the entirety of Equestria. However, it is better known to most as “The Tall Tale Tower”.

Ask somepony how this power is produced, they would fail to answer. It is a secret, and the ponies of Equestria are assured with honesty none of their tax money goes into the powering. Free electricity for all, so whose place is it to complain?

. . .

The distinct sound of china touching concrete settled into the air amongst the constant hum of machinery, waking the pony. She had stuck to this schedule for Celestia knows how long, engraining it into her mind. She watched as the worker who set the tray walked to her side, tugging at chains which held her wings and hoof in place.

“Still lookin’ good after all this time, eh?”

Her eyes glazed with exhaustion, she gazed over at the worker. Sometimes they complimented her, sometimes they’d offer encouraging statements reminding her it was for the "greater good", but most would insult or take advantage of her in her now helpless state. Some would beat her, even, as she was the fuel for their hate-filled lives.

“I don’t know how you do it, but keep up the good work.” The stallion said before finally trotting out of the room.

Sunrise. Light began to shine over the horizon, over the ocean of steel and skyscrapers, stretching as far as the eye could see, lights across Equestria slowly turning off, she could feel release as she looked at the wires fixed upon her horn. They did not need to steal as much of her arcana right now. But everypony needs electricity, and in the lower cities where the sun never reaches, ponies thrived off electrical light. In the distance, she could see a spike of sky-scrapers, and a castle. Once the castle of her Princesses.

She recalled once upon a time when the ponies of Equestria believed the Princesses rose the sun and moon. She'd learned they did not, rather, they made day and night even. Now Summer's night was quick, and Winter's days short.

And all the imprisoned Alicorn could feel was guilt. She was the harbinger of this era, history could’ve taken a number of turns after what happened to Celestia and Luna, but all because of her, this is what happened. She bent down, lapping up the grey paste they’d served her. It wasn’t food. Not really. It was a magical supplement, mostly designed to strengthen her arcana but also serve as nourishment, just enough to keep her alive.

Almost subconsciously at this point she repeated a mantra that Princess Luna had been given no nourishment during her banishment to the moon, and she should be thankful for what she was given.

Being an Alicorn, her senses were painfully heightened, and immortality served as an unbreakable mold on her. It had been long since she diagnosed herself as a madmare, yet her mind suffered as it could not be broken. It would be physically impossible to be rendered a simple husk of her former self, as most mortal creatures would have in her position. Yet with her arcana fueling the whole of Equestria she could feel her people: the ponies she failed. She could feel so much pain and suffering, so much heartache and misery, all the fear, death, and destruction that plagued once sacred lands.

But even in this dystopia, she could feel the one thing that kept her moving, the magic of love and friendship. And today, she could feel, somewhere, a friendship being rekindled. Stretching her wings, she focused on the castle. One day, she told herself, one day she’d be free and burst through that window all the way to that castle: setting things right.

One day.