It was another peaceful day in Ponyville, Rainbow Dash keeping the skies clear as always. Bursting Atom, a yellow unicorn with a red mane and tail, trotted into Sugarcube Corner, Fluttershy at his side. Fluttershy is a yellow Pegasus with a pink mane and tail. They both sat down and ordered milkshakes.
"How are ya today?," Bursting said with a smile.
"Great, thanks," Fluttershy replied, in her normal, calm voice.
As Mrs. Cupcake sets down the drinks, Bursting retorted, "Sorry I couldn't visit that much often, the Royal Guard is getting more and more busy, especially as a scientist." He rubbed his eyes, justifying his lack of sleep.
"You should sleep then!," Fluttershy gasped, looking concerned.
"I will, but I also have my job to do," He said to her. They both finished their drinks.
"Maybe you should take a day or two off, and catch up on your rest..." Fluttershy said, still concerned.
"I will, I promise. As soon as this important project is done," He sighed, trotting towards Fluttershy, and he whispered in her ear "Love you." And he walked out of Sugarcube Corner with Fluttershy.
Bursting escorted her back to her cottage and started making his way to the train station to catch his train back to Canterlot. He got stopped by Acoustic Pulse, his long time friend since he was a filly.
"Hey!", he said.
"Hay is for horses," Bursting replied jokingly.
"True," Acoustic laughed. Acoustic is a light brown earth pony and pale blue mane and tail. Bursting still talked with Acoustic as he walked.
"So how is your guitar career going?," Bursting asked Acoustic.
"Great, I've already made some bits off some songs I made with other ponies.", Acoustic answered, obvious pride bubbling in him.
"That's great, mate!" He said, happy for his friend.
"How's your science going over in Canterlot?" Acoustic asked.
"Good, still can't tell you anything because of the classification, though. Hopefully, the project will succeed." Bursting sighed, deep in thought about the project he has been working on. Bursting reached the train station and bid farewell to Acoustic. He boarded his train and sat down in a sleep and dosed off on the train.
Bursting woke with a start, as a conductor of the train woke him.
"We've arrived in Canterlot, sir." The stallion said to him. He was an older gentleman, dressed nicely with a pocket watch in his hoof.
"Thanks, mate." Bursting said and giving him a couple bits for his services.
Bursting climbed off the train and started walking, obviously still tired. He had a scheduled meeting with other scientists in the opera house. A orchestra was playing today, and was suppose to be really good, so the ads claim. He reached the castle, flashing his I.D. to the guards, to prove it was him. The guards opened the gate for him and Bursting walked to his house on the castle grounds. He checked his watch and it said five o'clock, an hour before the meeting took place. Bursting house wasn't anything special, furnished like any other home, pictures of him with friends and family hanging on the walls. His favorite being him and Fluttershy on their first date. Oh, what a shy one she was. He took out a book, sat on his couch, and read some books Celestia suggested he read for the whole hour of free time he had in his busy schedule.
The alarm Bursting set for 5:50, so he will have time to reach the opera house. Bursting reluctantly got up from the comfort of his couch, and set off for the opera house. The streets were crowded as other ponies got off work, and it was near dinner. Seeing restaurants he passed, his stomach reminded him of his forgetfulness to eat something before the meeting. He found the opera house that was described in the briefing, and went inside. There was a pony in the booth, telling passing ponies to watch the famous Octavia and Christopher play in the orchestra. He walked up, payed the ten bits for the ticket, and walked in. He recognized some fellow scientists and sat down with them near the top rows of the orchestra's stage.
"Hello, there!," he greeted. They all murmured a greeting as Bursting sat down.
"So, what's up?," He said. They all looked up and finally one spoke up.
"The project has been progressing nicely, sir," The scientist said, smiling. As he said that, the curtains to the stage unraveled, revealing the orchestra. Octavia, and a stallion, that
he guessed what Christopher, and they started playing. They played classical music that Bursting couldn't name, as he didn't keep up with it.
"The Artificially Intelligent ponies are going well. They obey without question, and are very accurate shots. I think they will be ready soon for mass production, and to defend Equestria." Another scientist briefed Bursting, smiling.
"That's...amazing! I'm at a loss for words. Things don't usually go this well. Yet with all that is going well, I have a bad feeling about this." Bursting said to the other scientists.
"Well you are the head scientist, so we all trust you." Another said. "We will keep a close watch on them." The song ended and everypony started to clap. Christopher and Octavia hugged and kissed each other, which came as a surprise to Bursting, as Octavia was single last time he had spoken to her. Bursting, still tired, walked towards the lab.
Reaching the lab, he entered the code on the wall panel to enter the room. Upon entering, he was greeted by Celestia. She was inspecting the AI's they had built for the defense of Equestria.
"Hello, Bursting. I've heard good things about these. I hope they live up to their reputation." Celestia said, an unsettling calmness about her.
"I hope they do as well, Princess. We have been working on them for too long, and had too many failures for this not to work." Bursting said, matter-of-factly. He walked over to one of the prototype AI's and turned it on.
"Shoot" Bursting commanded it, and it fired 3 shots at a target on the wall, and hit the bulls-eye all three times.
"Impressive." Celestia said, but before Bursting could order another command, a giant crash happened, and dust flew everywhere. Bursting looked around frantically for the
Princess, the dust overtaking his vision. The dust settled and saw Discord standing the middle of the room, looking for the Princess as well.
"Where did you come from?" Bursting asked, disoriented by his sudden appearance in the room.
"I felt a disturbance in the force." He said, jokingly. He walked over to Bursting as he searched the room for Celestia. Discord, reaching Bursting, used magic to slam him up against the wall. Taken off-guard by this sudden blow, all the breathe he had got blown out of him and he fell to the ground. Discord, once again snapping his fingers to summon magic, conjured a magical blast and fired it a Bursting. Still recovering from hitting the wall, got hit, and got knocked out of consciousness. Discord, satisfied with his work, snapped his fingers at the AI's and turned then on.
"Attention!" He ordered, and they followed his commands blindly. He snapped his fingers and their eyes turned red. Discord, with a army of highly skills AI's at his side went the the whole building and killed every scientist in there, but forgetting all about Atom unconscious on the floor.
