Well, This Can't get any Worse, Right?

Chapter One.

Two hundred fifty-six years before the return of Nightmare Moon, Canterlot.

Many an advancement in technology and magic had served to make life easy for the ponies of Equestria, as well as the other races. Simple changes and improvements in farming technology and medicine had improved the lifespan of the average citizen exponentially.

Something's don't change, however and many of these advancements had been turned into weapons, or were used to harm others, often stemming from anger and hate.

And some were used to change things for the better, regardless of how.

Walking through the empty streets of the new capital, Canterlot, a  Unicorn stallion, wearing bronze armor of simple, smooth plates with only his horn and hooves uncovered, looked up and smiled at the moon, the mark of the Nightmare visible on its surface. He sighed, looked around, noting the scaffolding and building supplies that lined the road with a cautious demeanor and let his head drop to look at the ground

After a moment, he lifted his right arm and brought the hoof down in a series of beats, drumming out a simple melody on the paving stones, the sound echoing in the empty street. As the tempo rose, the stone's began to shift, creating a opening large enough for a well built Earth-pony, the edge marked with etched gears, cogs and other mechanical components forming silhouettes along it's perimeter, each showing one of the many native life, from an archaic depiction of an Alicorn, to a Zebra, each more detailed than necessary, yet seemingly plain and simple.

Letting the melody fade, the stallion bobbed his head once in a nod, and then jumped into the opening, falling into the sewers of Canterlot. At the bottom, on the edge of a one inch-deep pond, standing guard over a simple door made of wooden slates were two oil-covered Earth-pony's, one mare, with a light orange coat, cobalt eyes and earthen brown mane and tail, and one stallion, colored in a solid forest-green save his yellow eyes , each carrying a short sword at their hips.

"Is Gold Plate gonna get here soon?" the stallion asked, irritation in his baritone voice, "Or is he going to wait till' the sun rises again?"

"I don't know, but tis' the third time you've asked me that, so if you would, Arc Weld, please, " she huffed and turned with a raised arm, ready to smack her companion, "SHUT UP!"

Just as her hoof connected with the back of his skull, the armored unicorn slammed into the pond hard enough to empty the tiny basin and shatter the stone at the bottom, drenching the pair.

Jumping out of the empty pond, the Unicorn's visor raised, coated by a light-gray aura, revealing emerald eyes.

"Whoop's..." he chuckled, cringing at the glare from the orange mare, "Sorry, Arc, Sharp Chisel."

"Just...Just go do your job, Plate." Sharp sighed and opened the door. "Please stop doing that."

"Sorry..."

After removing his helmet, revealing a golden blonde mane in a bowl cut, and an off-white coat, he walked through the door, his helm floating a few hoof-lengths away, and smiled at the sight in front of him. The room was massive, combining a forge, workshop, docking bays and assembly line with an eerie efficiency and filled with an army of smith's clock-makers' and mages, each area leaving enough space for seven ponies to walk side by side and still have a hoof-length on each side, and with good reason. Massive gears, pistons, springs and all kinds of machinery moved about, the sparks showing vaguely pony-ish shapes in varying states of construction, some missing legs, heads, jaws or some other appendage.

All save one, simple, thin Earth-pony made of bronze and lacking both a mane and a  tail and closed eyes, small gaps at the joints' and circular ports on its back. It stood in the only empty area, a square boxing ring with ample space, with a dirt floor, and multiple areas slagged into glass.

Walking up to the silent figure, Gold Plate's helmet once again covered his head, all the workers' falling silent as they stopped their work, watching the stallion with awe.

"Test of the PNY-RTH Class Combat Automaton, Model zero-point-five, designated Proto."

The machines eyes opened, glowing with gray light, Gold Plate's horn glowing as the low hum of electricity filled the air.

"Begin."

Present day, three years after the return of Princess Luna, Ponyville.

Rainbow Dash flipped through the last pages of the book, closing it with a dejected sigh before returning it to the shelf it had come from.

“Man, that sucks…”

She flapped her wings and landed at the library’s reading table, her arms crossed, scowling slightly, though a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Princess Twilight, however, simply sipped her tea, looking through one of the project’s she’d been entrusted with after her coronation, before posing a simple question.

“Why, wasn’t it good?”

Rainbow sighed, the smile overtaking any attempt to look dejected, and nodded.

“Yeah, it was good. That’s not the problem,” Rainbow said, waving her arms about, “it’s the fact that it was such a cliffhanger, and come on!” she huffed, “Robots? That can shoot lightning? Really?”

Rainbow continued to rant before Twilight cut her off, pulling another book, it’s title nearly faded, and passed it to her multi-colored friend with her magic.

“Oh, you mean the Automatons?” Twilight looked at Rainbow’s shocked expression, and then giggled a little. “Those were common about one hundred years ago.”

“Wait,” Rainbow stared at the book, titled The Art of Golems’, From Air to Zirconium, before putting her jaw back in place, “those things were real?!”

“Yes, they were commonly used as soldiers', though Daring Do portrays them as mindless drones. That’s actually wrong.” Rainbow remained silent, and Twilight took the hint, continuing her explanation. “The ones that were made of metal often had the souls of dead ponies, Griffons or another race bound to them, making them as intelligent as they were before they died or volunteered. Before the Princess outlawed the production of them.” Twilight looked at the small clock sitting on the table, and grimaced. “Rainbow, didn’t you say you had to go to Cloudsdale tomorrow?”

“Yeah, at six a.m,” Rainbow said, mildly confused, “why?”

“It’s one in the morning.”

Rainbow looked at Twilight, grabbed the clock, and groaned and galloped out the door, taking the clock with her. Twilight sighed in annoyance, losing yet another timepiece to her friends. Lighting her horn, the newest Alicorn put the old book back in its place, and teleported a new alarm clock onto the table before standing up, her joints popping in protest as she turned off the lights, heading up the stairs to the bedroom. Being careful not to wake her assistant, she moved past the door and walked into the bathroom, levitating a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste (Colgate’s recommended brand), and got ready for bed, having her own schedule to keep.

In the actual library, however, the book Rainbow Dash had been reading fell from the shelf, falling open to an illustration depicting a Pegasus, wearing a pith hat and vest, surrounded by bipedal ponies of all races, each having four fingered hands and gaps at the joints, with the background depicting walls of sheet metal and gears. A few of the bipeds where carrying swords, shields and strange tube-like weapons, eyes blank, while the Pegasus mare glared in defiance. Underneath was a slightly smudged title, bearing a simple yet profound meaning.

The Shadows of the Past March On.