Ad Finem

That particular morning a week prior was calculated to be a good one. Favourable weather conditions. Fairly low humidity. Merchant caravans and civilian vehicles had been diverted to use an alternate route as per his request a week earlier. The available resources to maintain his forces was far above his initial calculations. His sizeable and well equipped machine army was finally ready for war.

Satisfied with how every last piece came together with clockwork precision, he deactivated the data slate he held in one of his many snaking tendrils and slipped it into his saddlebag. Only one more last detail to take care of, and usually that being the most painful one for him. And her.

She was standing on a the suspended gangway high above the complex, forehooves draped over the protective rails. Her sharp eyes wandered between the myriad scenes of machinery and industry below her. She could never understand his zeal. No, zealous was too weak a word to describe him. More appropriately a near fanatical devotion to the causes and beliefs he chose to undertake. It had always seemed so absurd to her ears and mind, no matter how many times he had argued his points. Believing in the will of some "omnipresent" machine god that suffused all technology, it was just not something she would ever bring herself to doing. Or that every single alicorn princess in existence was actually a goddess in mortal form. She shook her head sadly, as small tears welled up at the corner of her azure eyes.

Stealth was never really his forte. But wearing a heavy, noisy, and LARGE suit of power armour tended to make one practically inept at the twin arts of staying unseen and unheard. His plodding hoofsteps were easily recognisable by the Carolina blue pegasus mare on the gangway. It was not the sound, but the vibrations caused by each step that made him so distinguishable from his automata to her keen senses. He did not suspect anything out of the ordinary.

"Sapphire dearest... I can assure you with a 84.7% certainty I will be back here by your side, relatively uninjured, in no more than approximately three weeks time."

"Clocks..."

"Not to worry, I took every aspect into consideration and factored in a fair amount of contingencies as well in the event of a miscalculation."

"Clocks..."

"I even took the time to create algorithms that would project far in advance the probability of any number of unforeseen circumstances. Although I must admit, the likelihood of any such occurrences happening would be 0.00-"

"Clockwyrkke!" She screamed shrilly in response to him paying hardly a mote of attention to her at that moment. Given the chance, he would simply rattle on continuously.

It's not the first time, either.

Stunned at her sudden outburst, the cerise stallion ceased with his placative meanderings and instead waited for his wife to make her matter known. She took a few more precious seconds to think, to steady her nerves, to bucking calm down. But no matter how painless she tried to make herself believe the issue was, no matter how many times she had revised that line, ultimately it was an unpleasant one to both ponies either way it came out.

"Clockwyrkke, I-I'm sorry. But... I... We..."

"Go on." He encouraged with a gentle, caring voice. Taking one final breath to keep her emotions in check, she uttered the words she had hoped she would not regret till the end of her days.

"I want a divorce."