Gears of Lifeby GalacticJamChaptersFearEscalationInvestigationFearThe moon shined like a beacon in the dark night, the few lanterns lit up the dark village as a chilling breeze blew throughout the empty path. The cottages towered over the path as a lone pony walked along the cobblestone path. He crept along the path looking behind him in a panic as he heard a noise. click "Who's there?" he stuttered. click His began to quicken his pace as the intervals between the clicking became shorter and shorter. click click click "Whoever you are, show yourself!" The pony feigned confidence. Suddenly a shadow crept slowly along the path as the pony began to backpedal. "No, so it's you! You'll never take me alive!" A large, thin blade launched from the shadows which lodged itself in the pony's throat. He tried to crawl away but it was in vain as a metal claw grabbed his head and dragged him in the shadows. Before the shadow could retreat, a witness began to throw rocks at the shadow. "Hey! I need help over here!" The witness shouted as they threw rocks into the darkness. More and more villagers began to wake up and walk outside of there cottages, tired and weary until they observed the outline of a figure holding a pony by the head with it's claw. A large rock was hurled at the figure which dislodged a piece of bronze coloured metal from it. Suddenly a pair of orange, rectangular eyes stared back at the mob from the shadows. click, thunk Suddenly an iron ball rolled from the darkness into the mob. "Run away!" One of them shouted as the ball detonated into a cloud of smoke. The mob tried to retreat but slashing and a single cry for help could be heard but it stopped as the smoke cleared. The mob gathered round to find out that another pony had been kidnapped. As the long night ended and the morning sun crept up the hills, the town hall's bell rung loudly throughout the small town. Several crowds of townsfolk walked up to the town hall where stood on the podium was a lavender coloured alicorn. Before she could even speak, townsfolk began hurling questions like at her like bricks. "What in the hay is that thing!" "How are we supposed to even sleep with that thing around!" "What about my foals!" "Should we all just move?" Twilight, on the verge of snapping, lifts her hoof in the air. Suddenly the crowd of townsfolk goes quiet, so quiet that even the smallest sound could be heard from miles away. "Thank you, know I understand that you're all scared. With the items retrieved from very helpful individuals, me and my friends are solving this problem as quick as we can. Nothing that has the capability to harm anypony will either be imprisoned or destroyed. Thank you for listening and I will be working tirelessly to fix this problem," Twilight informed as she walked off the podium and flew off back to her crystal castle. The crowd dispersed with the frightened townsfolk grumbling among themselves. After a few hours passed, only a few ponies holding some essential items in bags ran through the paths of the town. Twilight looked upon the town and sighed. She walked up to her desk and sat down on the accompanying chair, she observed the map of Ponyville where several pictures of different ponies were scattered across the map. She placed two more pictures on the map and rubbed her chin with her hoof as she looked across at the map and attempted to find a pattern. "This has been going on for far too long, the only evidence here is meaningless!" Twilight banged her hoof on the desk in anger. "It's constructed out of steel and seems to be painted bronze, the iron ball on the other hoof is just empty". She picked up the iron ball and studied it closer. She studied the small holes that were equally spread out on the surface of the ball. She sighed in defeat and grabbed a quill and dipped it in ink. Dear Princess Celestia I am writing to alert you of an urgent matter that I am unable to solve. I have some clues that are related to current disappearances in Ponyville. However these clues are showing up with no results, I require your assistance in solving this mystery so that no more of our fellow ponies disappear and to find the currently missing ponies. Regards, Twilight Sparkle "Spike!" Twilight called. A small, baby dragon walked into the room which was currently sweeping the floor. "Yes Twilight?" He answered. "I need you to send this to Princess Celestia," she held the scroll in front of him. "Of course," He grabbed the scroll and breathed in and released a gout of green flame which enveloped the scroll and sent it out of the window in a green, fiery, airborne form. "Still trying to figure out what these things are?" "Yeah, I know that this sheet of metal is armour. That's obvious, but this ball is troubling me," Twilight rubbed her chin with her hoof as she studied the ball once more. "If you ask me, it looks hoof made. It has some slight imperfections if you look at how the holes are staggered," the dragon stated as he pointed at the small holes. "Spike, you're a genius!" Twilight gleefully complimented spike as she took a book off the shelf. "Now, there are only a few-". Suddenly spike bellowed out another gout of flame which a scroll then materialized from the flames. "That was quick," Twilight said as she opened the scroll. Dear Twilight, I am aware of the situation for it is happening in Canterlot, although we do not have access to any clues so far. I have been told that a pony can help you in Ponyville however, her name is Bolted Gear. If you ask the town hall, you'll be able to get her address. Although I wish I could help myself, me and Luna are dealing with the city-folk in Canterlot and trying to maintain order as best as we can. Thank you for telling me this information, Princess Celestia "OK, this Bolted Gear is who we see next," Twilight stated as she began packing the two items inside her bag. "Lets just hope things go smoothly unlike how the rest of the week has been so far". "Be careful Twilight," Spike called as Twilight flew off out of the window. Twilight landed outside the town hall, she observed the area around her. A tumbleweed hopped across the path which she swore also was fearing for it's life. As Twilight entered the town hall, she bumped into a mare. "Sorry, I wasn't paying much attention," Twilight awkwardly laughed. "Next time look where you're going," the mare snapped. Twilight observed her cutie mark which was three metal gears. "By any chance are you Bolted Gear?" Twilight asked. "I am," the mare replied cautiously. "Who wants to know?" "I'm Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia said that you could help me figure out the mystery behind these disappearances". "Can't you see I'm on my break?" "It will only be a few minutes, all I ask is for you to at least look at these items," Twilight pleaded "Very well, we'll need to go back to my house to properly discuss what you need help with". Bolted informed. "But first, I need to get a few things". The few market stalls left were open as usual, but the merchants sat behind the stall with most of them nearly asleep. As Bolted walked around the stalls, trading for a variety of items such as food. Twilight walked with her, observing the state of the town. "What intrigues me more is the clicking sound people have said they hear in the night," Bolted suddenly said. "Clicking?" Twilight asked in confusion. "Yes, clicking. I've heard it to, sounds like something mechanical is terrorizing us". "But who would make such a thing". "Changelings, cultists, people who rebel against the royals; take your pick". "I see, I don't think anypony here can even make anything that complex though". "You think? I don't go off assumptions, only the truth". The two mares walked up to a normal Ponyville cottage, Bolted took out a key and opened the door to reveal the main room inside. Several workbenches stood up against the walls with many tools on racks. Lay on the workbenches were unfinished machinery parts and more tools. In the center of the room stood a table with four wooden chairs tucked underneath it. Bolted put her bag on the table and sat down. "So, what is the thing you want me to look at?" Bolted impatiently asked. "Oh, right. It's these two," Twilight pulled out the sheet of bronze metal and the iron ball and rested them on the wooden table. "Interesting, the sheet of metal isn't bronze I can say that. It's too strong for it to be bronze but it isn't painted so it's not steel or any other metal," Bolted stood up from her seat and picked up the sheet of metal and placed it under a large magnifying glass attached to a stand. "From how the surface looks, it's been cast and then hammered onto whatever it came from. Meaning that whoever this belongs is a craftspony". "Do you know what exactly the sheet of metal comes from?" Twilight asked. "Not exactly, but my guess is that whatever this belongs to. There's more of them," Bolted then took the metal ball off the table and placed it under the magnifying glass. "More?" Twilight exclaimed. "Well, the metal looks mass produced. The metals cast into this plate and is then hammered on, this ball however is interesting". Bolted brought the magnifying glass closer. "Apparently it blew up in a cloud of smoke". "It's a smoke bomb then, although it seems to use a much stronger chemical which is distributed evenly through the holes. The device was hoof made as you can see from the inconsistencies in the hole positions". "My assistant said that". "You've got a good assistant then. The holes look like they have been made by hoof but the husk itself has been cast, so yet again, the pony knows what they are doing". Bolted pulled out a piece of paper and a quill and began to write. "I'll need the two items for further examination, other than that anything else you need to report?" Bolted asked. "That's all". "OK then, if you could leave now," Bolted rudely ordered as she opened the door. Twilight walked out and Bolted slammed it shut. "Damn those magic using mules". EscalationAs night fell once more, several watchponies patrolling the town with their lanterns lighting up the night; almost making night into day. Several calls could be heard across the town as construction workers hauled wooden stakes and planted them in the ground next to each other to create a palisade. Guards patrolled outside of the town in pairs as they held farming equipment like spears, their lanterns lighting up the darkness on the plains just outside the town. Two watchponies patrolled through the dark alleyways, lighting up the path ahead of them. As they passed, three pairs of orange eyes lit up in the darkest corner of the alley. click click click The figures came out of the shadows and stealthily dashed through the street into another alleyway. Another pair of guards walked past the alleyway but suddenly stopped. "Hold on, I gotta take a leak," one of them informed. "Dude! That's gross," the other hissed in disgust. "Well, if you've been on patrol for as long as me non stop you'll realise that opportunities like this are rare," he spat back. The guard walked down the alleyway and concealed himself in the shadows. He began to whistle a tune as he did his business, he looked up and saw three tall figures looking down on him hanging from the roof. His eyes widened in surprise and he breathed in to shout but was interrupted by a blade stabbing him in the face. "Shield? You alright," the other pony called as he raised his pitchfork towards the alley. "Come on man, stop playing around". Suddenly he heard a noise of something landing behind him and sharply stopped. He turned around slowly to find a small cat staring up at him. "You scared me there for a second," the guard sighed in relief as he stroked the cat's head. Suddenly a pair of orange eyes appeared in the distance, the guard tried to dash out of the alleyway but was pulled back into the darkness by a large, metal claw. The three figures appeared from the darkness, their identities still concealed by the shadows. One of them pointed a long, thin finger at the palisades. The other two figures jumped up to the roofs while the last remaining figure picked up the two carcasses and dashed off back into the darkness. "Keep those stakes coming, we need this wall up by morning!" A gravely voiced pony shouted as carts hauling wooden stakes drove along the outskirts of the town. "Well, if you were helping us out then maybe we will finish by morning!" A cart driver yelled back. "Hey, I'm here to make sure this wall actually gets built!" "Well, I don't know about you but this is one job I don't want to rest until it's done. Celestia knows what may be waiting out there for us!" "Then get moving!" "I'm on it, keep your tail on!" The cart driver mumbled as he stopped and unloaded the wooden stakes onto a large pile. Several workponies began picking them up and then planting them into the ground one by one. The two remaining figures lay on the straw rooftops as they observed the steady construction of the palisades. As the sun began to climb over the hilltops, the two figures began to retreat into the darkness once more. The light pierced through the windows, lighting up the dark and dusty cottage. Walking around in a circle was Bolted Steel, mumbling to her self while looking frequently at the two unusual items that Twilight had brought in on the workbench. She sat on a wooden stool and looked over some blueprints. She shook her head and slammed her head on the desk. However her rest was short lived as she heard a banging on the door. "Who's there?" Bolted groaned. "It's me, Twilight Sparkle!" Twilight called through the door "Hold on," Bolted sighed as she stood up and opened the heavy wooden door. "So what do you want?" "We've made a bit of a breakthrough!" "Breakthrough?" "Yes, when the new walls were being built, a guard spotted an unusual figure on the roof". "Interesting, what did this figure look like?" "Well the finer details were hidden but we managed to get the overall shape. Here," Twilight gave Bolted a piece of paper which had a hastily drawn figure. The figure had two large legs with a small torso and two large arms connecting to it with long claws on the end of it. On top of the torso was a small spherical head with circular eyes. "Interesting, from the figure's physique it looks like it is used for infiltration. Quite obvious seeing how we barely know anything about it, what we need is one of these deactivated so we can see how it works". "Yes, it's weird how nopony has heard of technology this great in Equestria before. This is far more than just a rouge, we should not underestimate what will happen next". "Yes, and the sky is blue," Bolted mocked. "Excuse me?" "I'm saying that you are stating the obvious once more. Of course this pony is far more than a rouge, they've built what seems to be a fully autonomous mechanical being!" Bolted walked across the room and picked up a small mechanical device. "This is something I've been working on. If we want to defend ourselves we need to catch up with the enemy, meaning we create our own mechanioids". "Why would we need such a thing?" "These things are merciless, they lack empathy for all living things. Meaning they won't think twice before ending you, so we need a lot more firepower than just pitchforks and spears". "I see your point," Twilight sighed. "Anyway, I was wondering if you would like come down to the castle to see if anything like this has happened before?" "That's a good idea, it will allow us to figure out what our predecessors did if such an event occurred in the past," Bolted agreed. "Don't think of this as a social activity though, I have no time for such things". "You just say that," Twilight grinned as she opened the door. "Shall we?" "Lead the way". A short and silent walk later, Bolted and Twilight entered the large crystalline castle. They walked up the spiraling staircase that was housed within the trunk that lead to the hall containing six chairs in a circle facing inwards. "How grand," Bolted complimented. "Thank you, now this way to the library," Twilight smiled as she walked through a door. The library was a circular room with a large amount shelves of books embedded into the walls. In the center of the room were three circular tables with books piled on them. "Now then, let's get started," Twilight smiled as she grabbed several books from off the shelves. Bolted tutted as she browsed the shelves and found several dusty old books with different eras as their titles. "Instead of taking every book off the shelf, how about actually using your eyes," Bolted grumbled to herself. She began to thoroughly analyse the shelves, stopping to look up and down the shelves. She stopped suddenly and peered through the gaps in the books. Grabbing a ladder, she reached to the back of the shelves and pulled out an incredibly tattered and old book as well as a torrent of dust with it. "I think I got something," Bolted called as she coughed heavily. She threw the book onto the table which landed with a heavy thud. Twilight jumped in surprise but then eagerly walked towards the table. "Pre-Classical Golemancy?" Twilight read the title out loud in confusion. "Yeah, may give us some insights to what these things are," Bolted stated as she opened the book which contained a large amount of diagrams, blueprints and paragraphs of text. Flipping through, Bolted stopped on a page which shown a small, circular slab with several components inside of it which were labelled. "This is something I'm kind of used to, it's an older version of the animation cores used in simple machines that I was taught". "Animation cores?" Twilight asked in confusion. "Where on Equestria have you been studying? I've never heard of these". "Perhaps you should start studying at actual places of education like Canterlot University. Nearly everypony rejected using animation cores because unicorns can use magic, it's unable to do pegasus work and Earth Ponies are far too stubborn. Their main use was in defense," Bolted explained. "Animation cores were the basic components to control the husk that mechanics were in". "So whoever is responsible for these attacks, is creating these animation cores?" "More than likely, fortunately for us the most documented versions of animation cores are outdated". "You know of a way to disable the outdated cores?" "No, we can construct our own mechanoids to defend ourselves. If they use outdated cores than our mechanoids are quicker," Bolted said as she flipped over to a blueprint of a quadrupedal golem. "I can make the mechanoids using this as a reference". "We need all the help we can get. How long do you think it will take to create?" "A week, give or take a couple of days. Actual production time after drawing the blueprints and prototyping should be three days but if I can get more space than this cramped cottage then I can reduce production time to approximately an hour per unit". "How much space do you need?" "I need a building with enough space to house a lot of parts and machinery, that means the structure has to be tall but wide and long as well." "I think I can arrange that with the princess, however I think she will need you to demonstrate these mechanoids to her". "I don't care what you do, just keep in mind that I can't work as efficient here". "Very well, I'll talk to the princess and get everything sorted". "You do that, now if you will excuse me," Bolted quickly picked up the book and walked out of the room. "I got plans to draw, I will see myself out". Twilight sighed as she put away all of the books that were scattered across the library. Using her levitation spell, all of the books guided themselves to their appropriate areas. She walked out of the library, up the stairs and into her room. She sat down in a padded armchair and levitated a large piece of paper, an ink stained quill and a half full inkwell towards her. She rubbed her chin in thought as she dipped the quill in ink idly. Her face lit up as the quill began to scribble on the piece of paper erratically. Dear Princess Celestia, I have located Bolted Steel and have managed to enlist her to help us with this current crisis. However I am curious of her history, Bolted Steel is an engineer in a certain field of science that I myself didn't know existed. I can only assume she studied at Canterlot University as she mentioned it as a proper place of education. However, Canterlot University doesn't even teach mechanics. The course was disbanded decades ago as I am sure you are aware of. So I am curious to where she has gained this knowledge from, I request that we have somepony do a background check on her. On more current affairs, Bolted has said that she can draft plans for our own automated defenses. However, if we want a decently sized defensive force, Bolted requires a large property such as a warehouse. I hope that this will not be too much trouble for you to consider. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle As the quill stopped scribbling, it laid itself to rest on the side table. Twilight lit a small candle which then lit a small green flame. She rolled up the piece of paper into a scroll and lit it on fire with the candle, it turned into a green wisp and flew outside of the window. Twilight sighed as she stood back up and walked out of the room. The green wisp sailed across the skies but was suddenly halted as a blue mist reached out and grabbed it. The green wisp struggled but it was in vain as the blue mist carried it into a small cottage. The mist disappeared as the scroll dropped onto a wooden table. Bolted Gear walked into the room and looked at the wooden table with a smirk. "Just as I thought," she chuckled as she unraveled the scroll. She read the letter, giggling as she read it. "Wow, she even signed it as your faithful student." She looked at a blue crystal that was suspended by a copper frame, she smirked as she looked at the letter once more. She then rolled up the letter once more and lit a candle, she burnt the letter with the green flame which then flew out of the window and sailed across the skies once more. "Looks like I have to speed up, this is escalating quicker than I anticipated," Bolted thought as she looked at the plans of a circular slab that was suspended in a metal frame. "Luckily, I'm also growing in knowledge just as quick". InvestigationAs night fell on the quiet town of ponyville, the flames of watchponies' torches lit up the darkness. The wall shielded the tranquil town from the terrors of the night. In the darkness clad town, one light was still seeping through a small cottage window. A cyan coloured stallion was looked out of his window, scribbling down on a piece of paper quickly before looking out of the window once more. He walked up to a wall where there were several photos pinned to it. He took one photo off the wall, showing a pair of glowing orange eyes shrouded by shadows. "What on Equus are these things?" The stallion thought to himself out loud. "The murders aren't linked in any way, they're just attacks on random ponies!" Suddenly, a figure landed on a roof of a cottage. The stallion blinked in shock as he witnessed the tall figure scan the area. He stumbled towards a small table where he grabbed a camera, he shakily pointed it towards the figure and pressed the small button, causing a blinding flash which illuminated the roof and getting the figure's attention. The figure sharply turned towards the stallion, raising it's right appendage and dashing towards him. The figure smashed through the window and clawed through the stallion with ease, tearing him apart and leaving a fountain of blood. As the sun began to peek over the hills, the figure retired from the window and into the shadows once more. The entire royal guard was on high alert, several soldiers rushing from one place to another. One rookie guard was running towards a small office, with only one old guard hunched over paperwork inside. "Sir! News from Ponyville!" The young guard declared. "Let's see, hand it over!" The officer ordered. "Hmm, this is strange". "Sir?" "It appears the criminal or criminals responsible for the murders across Equestria have changed tactics," the officer pulled a whiteboard from the corner of the room. "The murderers usually took the bodies with them, this time they cut up the entire corpse and left it there". "Dear Celestia, that's horrible!" "Indeed. This means however that they are becoming more aggressive, which is a grave concern". "What are your orders then Sir?" "Double the shifts for all the guards and assign every current reserve guard. Now is not the time to slack!" "I will relay this to the quartermaster sir!" "Very good, now run along. Evil doesn't wait for you to catch up". As the sun rose over the hills, a large crowd accumulated in front of a single cottage. The guards stood resiliently in front of the building, blocking anyone attempting to enter. Two stallions slipped past the crowd and shown a badge at the guards, they stood aside and let the duo enter the house. As the door opened, camera flashes went wild the crowd began to become even louder. The lower floor of the house was like any other house: a cozy living room and a small kitchen. This was not the case for the second floor, as the pair entered a bedroom they observed chunks of flesh on the ground lying on a pool of blood. An old stallion looked up and acknowledged their arrival. "You the two I've been waiting for then?" The old stallion asked confidently. "Yes. I'm detective Looking Glass and this is detective Scroll Searcher we've been ordered to investigate this site," the taller stallion answered. "Finally, I'm going sick just even being in this room. What could even do this to a pony?" "That's what we're here to find out sir. If you could leave the room for a moment so we can investigate fully". "Of course, nothing has been removed as ordered," the stallion walked out of the room and turned facing the two. "I hope you find whoever did this, for all our sakes". The detectives observed the corpse first, looking at the claw marks given by the figure. They looked over different areas of the room next, looking at the broken window, the blood on the wall and on the floor. and the several pictures on the wall showing the same cottage several times but with different dates scribbled on them. Suddenly, Looking Glass found a camera with a picture still hanging from it. "Look at this," the he called. He picked up the camera and removed the picture from it. "What is it?" the Scroll asked as he walked behind. "What in the name of Equestria is that?" The picture shown a bronze, bipedal machine smashing through the window. The machine had two large limbs that were attached to its torso, both with large claws, similar to that of a dragons claw. Its head had two small eyes with a large, square jaw hanging from its head. "I think we found our murderer Scroll, what do you make of it?" "Not sure, definitely a construct of some sort. that's for sure," Scroll rubbed his chin as he inspected the picture further. Looking walked towards the wall and then looked out of the window. "This cottage, it must be connected to this somehow. I wouldn't bet on this guy being some crazy stalker". "So we got what we came for?" "Yes, tell the chief what we saw here. I'm going to investigate this cottage". "Ok, meet you back at the office. I'll get you a coffee on the way back". The two detectives walked out and split paths as they exited the building. The crowd attempting to question the two detectives but was ultimately held back by the guards posted there. Detective Looking Glass looked over his shoulder as he walked up to the door of what appeared to be a simple Ponyville cottage. He knocked on the heavy wooden door, a voice called out. "Who is it?" "I'm detective Looking Glass, I'm here to ask you a couple of questions regarding the recent disturbance around this neighborhood". A loud sigh came from the door as it opened with a creak, as the light entered the room, Bolted's face was lit up. Looking shown a piece of card that was held in a leather case. Bolted studied it and looked up at him with a frown. "Make it quick detective, I'm a busy mare," Bolted snapped as she wiped a black liquid off her hoof with a stained rag. "The victim was a Frigid Dew? Did you know him at all?" "Never heard of him". "OK then, are you noted for anything that stands out in Ponyville? Are you known by many ponies?" "I tend to keep to myself and crowds don't stop for my autograph is that's what you're asking". "Hmm, where were you at around one AM to six PM?" "Sleeping," Bolted grunted as she narrowed her eyes. "One last question, are you a magic us-" Looking asked until he looked up at Bolted's head and stopped. Bolted frowned and ground her teeth together. "A magic user? I am an enchanter, you unicorns think you own all the magic!" Bolted raised her voice. "Calm down miss, I wasn't aware of enchanting". "Oh, because it isn't 'real' magic? Well sorry I wasn't born with a fancy bit of bone attached to my head! We're done here," Bolted slammed the heavy door in Looking's face as she cursed under her breath. Looking walked away from the cottage as he scribbled notes down on a notepad. "Jeez, what a hot head". Bolted breathed in and out as she looked around her room. She inspected the equine shaped machine, the machine stood just over the size of an average stallion, it was armored with metal plates which protected the intricate innards. Bolted eventually made her way to an armchair and sat down on it. She closed her eyes and eventually began to fall asleep. Bolted woke up and looked around her, she was surrounded by buildings with the sun high in the sky. Bolted lifted herself up and walked around the jungle of buildings. She was suddenly stopped by a guard holding a spear. "Hey, no Earthies allowed here. You go back in the slums!" The guard shouted as he hit bolted with the back of the spear. As the guard dragged her, she looked around to discover that the city was only inhabited with unicorns. Large statues of unicorns towered above a small slum, which had houses made of wood and mud brick inside of them. Bolted was thrown to the ground and landed face first in a mound of mud. She looked up to find large crowds of Earth ponies cramped in small shacks. Pegasi lived on the clouds above, throwing their waste over the clouds and landing on the slum below. Bolted stood up and observed the engraving on one of the statues. This statue commemorates Princess Twilight Sparkle, the person who made Equestria great by destroying it's weakness. Earth Ponies Bolted began to backpedal as she attempted to escape the slum, but was pushed back by a force-field. She attempted to break the force-field with her hooves but was eventually stopped by two guards who began to club her with batons. "You Earthies are lucky we even keep you around!" One guard mocked. "Yeah, good thing you make good labor!" the other guard chuckled as he struck Bolted in the stomach. Suddenly more and more guards charged upon the slum, dragging earth ponies from their homes. Bolted was dragged up to be face to face with Twilight Sparkle. "I did this, you earth ponies are nothing but scum!" Twilight manically laughed. "It was only a matter of time before this happened, we were always stronger than all of you". Twilight picked up a spear and pointed it towards Bolted's chest. "You're all monsters!" Bolted screamed. "We're only stronger, smarter and more powerful than you primates. Now shush," Twilight quickly thrust the spear into Bolted's chest. As Bolted began to bleed out, the world began to shake. A loud knocking sound filled the skies as the shaking became more and more intense. The world began to go black until Bolted shut her eyes. Bolted shot up from the armchair and fell onto the ground, she patted down her chest and then let out a sigh of relief. A loud knocking was coming from the door. "Bolted? Are you OK?" a familiar voice shouted. Bolted slowly limped towards the door and opened it. "Yes?" She snapped. "What do you want?" Twilight Sparkle stood in the doorway, she looked Bolted up and down for a few seconds before she cleared her throat. "Well, I came to see how the machine was coming along". "What? Oh that, yeah it's coming along OK, should be done tomorrow or the day after". "That's great, thank you for doing this Bolted". "Yeah yeah, is this all?" "Well, I wanted to show you something else. Somepony managed to take the picture of the things that have been creating all this chaos," Twilight takes out a small picture from her bag. "Well, that's good but how does that benefit me?" "Well, I wanted to update you on how well we are catching this beast". "Okay then, is that all?" "Yes," the door suddenly slammed shut as Twilight nodded her head. Bolted sat back on the armchair and looked over towards the equine machine once more. "Soon," Bolted muttered to herself. She picked up a large, heavy book and opened it. Night descended once more on Canterlot, guards in massive numbers patrolled the city, the lanterns illuminating the networks of streets and alleyways and the hoofsteps of guards echoing in the night. In one alleyway, three large figures stood at the end like statues. A pony in a cloak walked into the alley, the three figures suddenly knelt down. "At ease," the figure said with a deep and husky voice. "We have been compromised, they know what we look like and are more vigiliant than ever. We will need to change our approach". One of the figures walked forwards. "Our numbers have increased threefold, we can execute the next phase," the figure reported. It's voice being clear and deep. "Good, I must leave. Continue with the next phase commander," the cloaked individual ordered as they walked off into the streets.
FearThe moon shined like a beacon in the dark night, the few lanterns lit up the dark village as a chilling breeze blew throughout the empty path. The cottages towered over the path as a lone pony walked along the cobblestone path. He crept along the path looking behind him in a panic as he heard a noise. click "Who's there?" he stuttered. click His began to quicken his pace as the intervals between the clicking became shorter and shorter. click click click "Whoever you are, show yourself!" The pony feigned confidence. Suddenly a shadow crept slowly along the path as the pony began to backpedal. "No, so it's you! You'll never take me alive!" A large, thin blade launched from the shadows which lodged itself in the pony's throat. He tried to crawl away but it was in vain as a metal claw grabbed his head and dragged him in the shadows. Before the shadow could retreat, a witness began to throw rocks at the shadow. "Hey! I need help over here!" The witness shouted as they threw rocks into the darkness. More and more villagers began to wake up and walk outside of there cottages, tired and weary until they observed the outline of a figure holding a pony by the head with it's claw. A large rock was hurled at the figure which dislodged a piece of bronze coloured metal from it. Suddenly a pair of orange, rectangular eyes stared back at the mob from the shadows. click, thunk Suddenly an iron ball rolled from the darkness into the mob. "Run away!" One of them shouted as the ball detonated into a cloud of smoke. The mob tried to retreat but slashing and a single cry for help could be heard but it stopped as the smoke cleared. The mob gathered round to find out that another pony had been kidnapped. As the long night ended and the morning sun crept up the hills, the town hall's bell rung loudly throughout the small town. Several crowds of townsfolk walked up to the town hall where stood on the podium was a lavender coloured alicorn. Before she could even speak, townsfolk began hurling questions like at her like bricks. "What in the hay is that thing!" "How are we supposed to even sleep with that thing around!" "What about my foals!" "Should we all just move?" Twilight, on the verge of snapping, lifts her hoof in the air. Suddenly the crowd of townsfolk goes quiet, so quiet that even the smallest sound could be heard from miles away. "Thank you, know I understand that you're all scared. With the items retrieved from very helpful individuals, me and my friends are solving this problem as quick as we can. Nothing that has the capability to harm anypony will either be imprisoned or destroyed. Thank you for listening and I will be working tirelessly to fix this problem," Twilight informed as she walked off the podium and flew off back to her crystal castle. The crowd dispersed with the frightened townsfolk grumbling among themselves. After a few hours passed, only a few ponies holding some essential items in bags ran through the paths of the town. Twilight looked upon the town and sighed. She walked up to her desk and sat down on the accompanying chair, she observed the map of Ponyville where several pictures of different ponies were scattered across the map. She placed two more pictures on the map and rubbed her chin with her hoof as she looked across at the map and attempted to find a pattern. "This has been going on for far too long, the only evidence here is meaningless!" Twilight banged her hoof on the desk in anger. "It's constructed out of steel and seems to be painted bronze, the iron ball on the other hoof is just empty". She picked up the iron ball and studied it closer. She studied the small holes that were equally spread out on the surface of the ball. She sighed in defeat and grabbed a quill and dipped it in ink. Dear Princess Celestia I am writing to alert you of an urgent matter that I am unable to solve. I have some clues that are related to current disappearances in Ponyville. However these clues are showing up with no results, I require your assistance in solving this mystery so that no more of our fellow ponies disappear and to find the currently missing ponies. Regards, Twilight Sparkle "Spike!" Twilight called. A small, baby dragon walked into the room which was currently sweeping the floor. "Yes Twilight?" He answered. "I need you to send this to Princess Celestia," she held the scroll in front of him. "Of course," He grabbed the scroll and breathed in and released a gout of green flame which enveloped the scroll and sent it out of the window in a green, fiery, airborne form. "Still trying to figure out what these things are?" "Yeah, I know that this sheet of metal is armour. That's obvious, but this ball is troubling me," Twilight rubbed her chin with her hoof as she studied the ball once more. "If you ask me, it looks hoof made. It has some slight imperfections if you look at how the holes are staggered," the dragon stated as he pointed at the small holes. "Spike, you're a genius!" Twilight gleefully complimented spike as she took a book off the shelf. "Now, there are only a few-". Suddenly spike bellowed out another gout of flame which a scroll then materialized from the flames. "That was quick," Twilight said as she opened the scroll. Dear Twilight, I am aware of the situation for it is happening in Canterlot, although we do not have access to any clues so far. I have been told that a pony can help you in Ponyville however, her name is Bolted Gear. If you ask the town hall, you'll be able to get her address. Although I wish I could help myself, me and Luna are dealing with the city-folk in Canterlot and trying to maintain order as best as we can. Thank you for telling me this information, Princess Celestia "OK, this Bolted Gear is who we see next," Twilight stated as she began packing the two items inside her bag. "Lets just hope things go smoothly unlike how the rest of the week has been so far". "Be careful Twilight," Spike called as Twilight flew off out of the window. Twilight landed outside the town hall, she observed the area around her. A tumbleweed hopped across the path which she swore also was fearing for it's life. As Twilight entered the town hall, she bumped into a mare. "Sorry, I wasn't paying much attention," Twilight awkwardly laughed. "Next time look where you're going," the mare snapped. Twilight observed her cutie mark which was three metal gears. "By any chance are you Bolted Gear?" Twilight asked. "I am," the mare replied cautiously. "Who wants to know?" "I'm Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia said that you could help me figure out the mystery behind these disappearances". "Can't you see I'm on my break?" "It will only be a few minutes, all I ask is for you to at least look at these items," Twilight pleaded "Very well, we'll need to go back to my house to properly discuss what you need help with". Bolted informed. "But first, I need to get a few things". The few market stalls left were open as usual, but the merchants sat behind the stall with most of them nearly asleep. As Bolted walked around the stalls, trading for a variety of items such as food. Twilight walked with her, observing the state of the town. "What intrigues me more is the clicking sound people have said they hear in the night," Bolted suddenly said. "Clicking?" Twilight asked in confusion. "Yes, clicking. I've heard it to, sounds like something mechanical is terrorizing us". "But who would make such a thing". "Changelings, cultists, people who rebel against the royals; take your pick". "I see, I don't think anypony here can even make anything that complex though". "You think? I don't go off assumptions, only the truth". The two mares walked up to a normal Ponyville cottage, Bolted took out a key and opened the door to reveal the main room inside. Several workbenches stood up against the walls with many tools on racks. Lay on the workbenches were unfinished machinery parts and more tools. In the center of the room stood a table with four wooden chairs tucked underneath it. Bolted put her bag on the table and sat down. "So, what is the thing you want me to look at?" Bolted impatiently asked. "Oh, right. It's these two," Twilight pulled out the sheet of bronze metal and the iron ball and rested them on the wooden table. "Interesting, the sheet of metal isn't bronze I can say that. It's too strong for it to be bronze but it isn't painted so it's not steel or any other metal," Bolted stood up from her seat and picked up the sheet of metal and placed it under a large magnifying glass attached to a stand. "From how the surface looks, it's been cast and then hammered onto whatever it came from. Meaning that whoever this belongs is a craftspony". "Do you know what exactly the sheet of metal comes from?" Twilight asked. "Not exactly, but my guess is that whatever this belongs to. There's more of them," Bolted then took the metal ball off the table and placed it under the magnifying glass. "More?" Twilight exclaimed. "Well, the metal looks mass produced. The metals cast into this plate and is then hammered on, this ball however is interesting". Bolted brought the magnifying glass closer. "Apparently it blew up in a cloud of smoke". "It's a smoke bomb then, although it seems to use a much stronger chemical which is distributed evenly through the holes. The device was hoof made as you can see from the inconsistencies in the hole positions". "My assistant said that". "You've got a good assistant then. The holes look like they have been made by hoof but the husk itself has been cast, so yet again, the pony knows what they are doing". Bolted pulled out a piece of paper and a quill and began to write. "I'll need the two items for further examination, other than that anything else you need to report?" Bolted asked. "That's all". "OK then, if you could leave now," Bolted rudely ordered as she opened the door. Twilight walked out and Bolted slammed it shut. "Damn those magic using mules".
EscalationAs night fell once more, several watchponies patrolling the town with their lanterns lighting up the night; almost making night into day. Several calls could be heard across the town as construction workers hauled wooden stakes and planted them in the ground next to each other to create a palisade. Guards patrolled outside of the town in pairs as they held farming equipment like spears, their lanterns lighting up the darkness on the plains just outside the town. Two watchponies patrolled through the dark alleyways, lighting up the path ahead of them. As they passed, three pairs of orange eyes lit up in the darkest corner of the alley. click click click The figures came out of the shadows and stealthily dashed through the street into another alleyway. Another pair of guards walked past the alleyway but suddenly stopped. "Hold on, I gotta take a leak," one of them informed. "Dude! That's gross," the other hissed in disgust. "Well, if you've been on patrol for as long as me non stop you'll realise that opportunities like this are rare," he spat back. The guard walked down the alleyway and concealed himself in the shadows. He began to whistle a tune as he did his business, he looked up and saw three tall figures looking down on him hanging from the roof. His eyes widened in surprise and he breathed in to shout but was interrupted by a blade stabbing him in the face. "Shield? You alright," the other pony called as he raised his pitchfork towards the alley. "Come on man, stop playing around". Suddenly he heard a noise of something landing behind him and sharply stopped. He turned around slowly to find a small cat staring up at him. "You scared me there for a second," the guard sighed in relief as he stroked the cat's head. Suddenly a pair of orange eyes appeared in the distance, the guard tried to dash out of the alleyway but was pulled back into the darkness by a large, metal claw. The three figures appeared from the darkness, their identities still concealed by the shadows. One of them pointed a long, thin finger at the palisades. The other two figures jumped up to the roofs while the last remaining figure picked up the two carcasses and dashed off back into the darkness. "Keep those stakes coming, we need this wall up by morning!" A gravely voiced pony shouted as carts hauling wooden stakes drove along the outskirts of the town. "Well, if you were helping us out then maybe we will finish by morning!" A cart driver yelled back. "Hey, I'm here to make sure this wall actually gets built!" "Well, I don't know about you but this is one job I don't want to rest until it's done. Celestia knows what may be waiting out there for us!" "Then get moving!" "I'm on it, keep your tail on!" The cart driver mumbled as he stopped and unloaded the wooden stakes onto a large pile. Several workponies began picking them up and then planting them into the ground one by one. The two remaining figures lay on the straw rooftops as they observed the steady construction of the palisades. As the sun began to climb over the hilltops, the two figures began to retreat into the darkness once more. The light pierced through the windows, lighting up the dark and dusty cottage. Walking around in a circle was Bolted Steel, mumbling to her self while looking frequently at the two unusual items that Twilight had brought in on the workbench. She sat on a wooden stool and looked over some blueprints. She shook her head and slammed her head on the desk. However her rest was short lived as she heard a banging on the door. "Who's there?" Bolted groaned. "It's me, Twilight Sparkle!" Twilight called through the door "Hold on," Bolted sighed as she stood up and opened the heavy wooden door. "So what do you want?" "We've made a bit of a breakthrough!" "Breakthrough?" "Yes, when the new walls were being built, a guard spotted an unusual figure on the roof". "Interesting, what did this figure look like?" "Well the finer details were hidden but we managed to get the overall shape. Here," Twilight gave Bolted a piece of paper which had a hastily drawn figure. The figure had two large legs with a small torso and two large arms connecting to it with long claws on the end of it. On top of the torso was a small spherical head with circular eyes. "Interesting, from the figure's physique it looks like it is used for infiltration. Quite obvious seeing how we barely know anything about it, what we need is one of these deactivated so we can see how it works". "Yes, it's weird how nopony has heard of technology this great in Equestria before. This is far more than just a rouge, we should not underestimate what will happen next". "Yes, and the sky is blue," Bolted mocked. "Excuse me?" "I'm saying that you are stating the obvious once more. Of course this pony is far more than a rouge, they've built what seems to be a fully autonomous mechanical being!" Bolted walked across the room and picked up a small mechanical device. "This is something I've been working on. If we want to defend ourselves we need to catch up with the enemy, meaning we create our own mechanioids". "Why would we need such a thing?" "These things are merciless, they lack empathy for all living things. Meaning they won't think twice before ending you, so we need a lot more firepower than just pitchforks and spears". "I see your point," Twilight sighed. "Anyway, I was wondering if you would like come down to the castle to see if anything like this has happened before?" "That's a good idea, it will allow us to figure out what our predecessors did if such an event occurred in the past," Bolted agreed. "Don't think of this as a social activity though, I have no time for such things". "You just say that," Twilight grinned as she opened the door. "Shall we?" "Lead the way". A short and silent walk later, Bolted and Twilight entered the large crystalline castle. They walked up the spiraling staircase that was housed within the trunk that lead to the hall containing six chairs in a circle facing inwards. "How grand," Bolted complimented. "Thank you, now this way to the library," Twilight smiled as she walked through a door. The library was a circular room with a large amount shelves of books embedded into the walls. In the center of the room were three circular tables with books piled on them. "Now then, let's get started," Twilight smiled as she grabbed several books from off the shelves. Bolted tutted as she browsed the shelves and found several dusty old books with different eras as their titles. "Instead of taking every book off the shelf, how about actually using your eyes," Bolted grumbled to herself. She began to thoroughly analyse the shelves, stopping to look up and down the shelves. She stopped suddenly and peered through the gaps in the books. Grabbing a ladder, she reached to the back of the shelves and pulled out an incredibly tattered and old book as well as a torrent of dust with it. "I think I got something," Bolted called as she coughed heavily. She threw the book onto the table which landed with a heavy thud. Twilight jumped in surprise but then eagerly walked towards the table. "Pre-Classical Golemancy?" Twilight read the title out loud in confusion. "Yeah, may give us some insights to what these things are," Bolted stated as she opened the book which contained a large amount of diagrams, blueprints and paragraphs of text. Flipping through, Bolted stopped on a page which shown a small, circular slab with several components inside of it which were labelled. "This is something I'm kind of used to, it's an older version of the animation cores used in simple machines that I was taught". "Animation cores?" Twilight asked in confusion. "Where on Equestria have you been studying? I've never heard of these". "Perhaps you should start studying at actual places of education like Canterlot University. Nearly everypony rejected using animation cores because unicorns can use magic, it's unable to do pegasus work and Earth Ponies are far too stubborn. Their main use was in defense," Bolted explained. "Animation cores were the basic components to control the husk that mechanics were in". "So whoever is responsible for these attacks, is creating these animation cores?" "More than likely, fortunately for us the most documented versions of animation cores are outdated". "You know of a way to disable the outdated cores?" "No, we can construct our own mechanoids to defend ourselves. If they use outdated cores than our mechanoids are quicker," Bolted said as she flipped over to a blueprint of a quadrupedal golem. "I can make the mechanoids using this as a reference". "We need all the help we can get. How long do you think it will take to create?" "A week, give or take a couple of days. Actual production time after drawing the blueprints and prototyping should be three days but if I can get more space than this cramped cottage then I can reduce production time to approximately an hour per unit". "How much space do you need?" "I need a building with enough space to house a lot of parts and machinery, that means the structure has to be tall but wide and long as well." "I think I can arrange that with the princess, however I think she will need you to demonstrate these mechanoids to her". "I don't care what you do, just keep in mind that I can't work as efficient here". "Very well, I'll talk to the princess and get everything sorted". "You do that, now if you will excuse me," Bolted quickly picked up the book and walked out of the room. "I got plans to draw, I will see myself out". Twilight sighed as she put away all of the books that were scattered across the library. Using her levitation spell, all of the books guided themselves to their appropriate areas. She walked out of the library, up the stairs and into her room. She sat down in a padded armchair and levitated a large piece of paper, an ink stained quill and a half full inkwell towards her. She rubbed her chin in thought as she dipped the quill in ink idly. Her face lit up as the quill began to scribble on the piece of paper erratically. Dear Princess Celestia, I have located Bolted Steel and have managed to enlist her to help us with this current crisis. However I am curious of her history, Bolted Steel is an engineer in a certain field of science that I myself didn't know existed. I can only assume she studied at Canterlot University as she mentioned it as a proper place of education. However, Canterlot University doesn't even teach mechanics. The course was disbanded decades ago as I am sure you are aware of. So I am curious to where she has gained this knowledge from, I request that we have somepony do a background check on her. On more current affairs, Bolted has said that she can draft plans for our own automated defenses. However, if we want a decently sized defensive force, Bolted requires a large property such as a warehouse. I hope that this will not be too much trouble for you to consider. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle As the quill stopped scribbling, it laid itself to rest on the side table. Twilight lit a small candle which then lit a small green flame. She rolled up the piece of paper into a scroll and lit it on fire with the candle, it turned into a green wisp and flew outside of the window. Twilight sighed as she stood back up and walked out of the room. The green wisp sailed across the skies but was suddenly halted as a blue mist reached out and grabbed it. The green wisp struggled but it was in vain as the blue mist carried it into a small cottage. The mist disappeared as the scroll dropped onto a wooden table. Bolted Gear walked into the room and looked at the wooden table with a smirk. "Just as I thought," she chuckled as she unraveled the scroll. She read the letter, giggling as she read it. "Wow, she even signed it as your faithful student." She looked at a blue crystal that was suspended by a copper frame, she smirked as she looked at the letter once more. She then rolled up the letter once more and lit a candle, she burnt the letter with the green flame which then flew out of the window and sailed across the skies once more. "Looks like I have to speed up, this is escalating quicker than I anticipated," Bolted thought as she looked at the plans of a circular slab that was suspended in a metal frame. "Luckily, I'm also growing in knowledge just as quick".
InvestigationAs night fell on the quiet town of ponyville, the flames of watchponies' torches lit up the darkness. The wall shielded the tranquil town from the terrors of the night. In the darkness clad town, one light was still seeping through a small cottage window. A cyan coloured stallion was looked out of his window, scribbling down on a piece of paper quickly before looking out of the window once more. He walked up to a wall where there were several photos pinned to it. He took one photo off the wall, showing a pair of glowing orange eyes shrouded by shadows. "What on Equus are these things?" The stallion thought to himself out loud. "The murders aren't linked in any way, they're just attacks on random ponies!" Suddenly, a figure landed on a roof of a cottage. The stallion blinked in shock as he witnessed the tall figure scan the area. He stumbled towards a small table where he grabbed a camera, he shakily pointed it towards the figure and pressed the small button, causing a blinding flash which illuminated the roof and getting the figure's attention. The figure sharply turned towards the stallion, raising it's right appendage and dashing towards him. The figure smashed through the window and clawed through the stallion with ease, tearing him apart and leaving a fountain of blood. As the sun began to peek over the hills, the figure retired from the window and into the shadows once more. The entire royal guard was on high alert, several soldiers rushing from one place to another. One rookie guard was running towards a small office, with only one old guard hunched over paperwork inside. "Sir! News from Ponyville!" The young guard declared. "Let's see, hand it over!" The officer ordered. "Hmm, this is strange". "Sir?" "It appears the criminal or criminals responsible for the murders across Equestria have changed tactics," the officer pulled a whiteboard from the corner of the room. "The murderers usually took the bodies with them, this time they cut up the entire corpse and left it there". "Dear Celestia, that's horrible!" "Indeed. This means however that they are becoming more aggressive, which is a grave concern". "What are your orders then Sir?" "Double the shifts for all the guards and assign every current reserve guard. Now is not the time to slack!" "I will relay this to the quartermaster sir!" "Very good, now run along. Evil doesn't wait for you to catch up". As the sun rose over the hills, a large crowd accumulated in front of a single cottage. The guards stood resiliently in front of the building, blocking anyone attempting to enter. Two stallions slipped past the crowd and shown a badge at the guards, they stood aside and let the duo enter the house. As the door opened, camera flashes went wild the crowd began to become even louder. The lower floor of the house was like any other house: a cozy living room and a small kitchen. This was not the case for the second floor, as the pair entered a bedroom they observed chunks of flesh on the ground lying on a pool of blood. An old stallion looked up and acknowledged their arrival. "You the two I've been waiting for then?" The old stallion asked confidently. "Yes. I'm detective Looking Glass and this is detective Scroll Searcher we've been ordered to investigate this site," the taller stallion answered. "Finally, I'm going sick just even being in this room. What could even do this to a pony?" "That's what we're here to find out sir. If you could leave the room for a moment so we can investigate fully". "Of course, nothing has been removed as ordered," the stallion walked out of the room and turned facing the two. "I hope you find whoever did this, for all our sakes". The detectives observed the corpse first, looking at the claw marks given by the figure. They looked over different areas of the room next, looking at the broken window, the blood on the wall and on the floor. and the several pictures on the wall showing the same cottage several times but with different dates scribbled on them. Suddenly, Looking Glass found a camera with a picture still hanging from it. "Look at this," the he called. He picked up the camera and removed the picture from it. "What is it?" the Scroll asked as he walked behind. "What in the name of Equestria is that?" The picture shown a bronze, bipedal machine smashing through the window. The machine had two large limbs that were attached to its torso, both with large claws, similar to that of a dragons claw. Its head had two small eyes with a large, square jaw hanging from its head. "I think we found our murderer Scroll, what do you make of it?" "Not sure, definitely a construct of some sort. that's for sure," Scroll rubbed his chin as he inspected the picture further. Looking walked towards the wall and then looked out of the window. "This cottage, it must be connected to this somehow. I wouldn't bet on this guy being some crazy stalker". "So we got what we came for?" "Yes, tell the chief what we saw here. I'm going to investigate this cottage". "Ok, meet you back at the office. I'll get you a coffee on the way back". The two detectives walked out and split paths as they exited the building. The crowd attempting to question the two detectives but was ultimately held back by the guards posted there. Detective Looking Glass looked over his shoulder as he walked up to the door of what appeared to be a simple Ponyville cottage. He knocked on the heavy wooden door, a voice called out. "Who is it?" "I'm detective Looking Glass, I'm here to ask you a couple of questions regarding the recent disturbance around this neighborhood". A loud sigh came from the door as it opened with a creak, as the light entered the room, Bolted's face was lit up. Looking shown a piece of card that was held in a leather case. Bolted studied it and looked up at him with a frown. "Make it quick detective, I'm a busy mare," Bolted snapped as she wiped a black liquid off her hoof with a stained rag. "The victim was a Frigid Dew? Did you know him at all?" "Never heard of him". "OK then, are you noted for anything that stands out in Ponyville? Are you known by many ponies?" "I tend to keep to myself and crowds don't stop for my autograph is that's what you're asking". "Hmm, where were you at around one AM to six PM?" "Sleeping," Bolted grunted as she narrowed her eyes. "One last question, are you a magic us-" Looking asked until he looked up at Bolted's head and stopped. Bolted frowned and ground her teeth together. "A magic user? I am an enchanter, you unicorns think you own all the magic!" Bolted raised her voice. "Calm down miss, I wasn't aware of enchanting". "Oh, because it isn't 'real' magic? Well sorry I wasn't born with a fancy bit of bone attached to my head! We're done here," Bolted slammed the heavy door in Looking's face as she cursed under her breath. Looking walked away from the cottage as he scribbled notes down on a notepad. "Jeez, what a hot head". Bolted breathed in and out as she looked around her room. She inspected the equine shaped machine, the machine stood just over the size of an average stallion, it was armored with metal plates which protected the intricate innards. Bolted eventually made her way to an armchair and sat down on it. She closed her eyes and eventually began to fall asleep. Bolted woke up and looked around her, she was surrounded by buildings with the sun high in the sky. Bolted lifted herself up and walked around the jungle of buildings. She was suddenly stopped by a guard holding a spear. "Hey, no Earthies allowed here. You go back in the slums!" The guard shouted as he hit bolted with the back of the spear. As the guard dragged her, she looked around to discover that the city was only inhabited with unicorns. Large statues of unicorns towered above a small slum, which had houses made of wood and mud brick inside of them. Bolted was thrown to the ground and landed face first in a mound of mud. She looked up to find large crowds of Earth ponies cramped in small shacks. Pegasi lived on the clouds above, throwing their waste over the clouds and landing on the slum below. Bolted stood up and observed the engraving on one of the statues. This statue commemorates Princess Twilight Sparkle, the person who made Equestria great by destroying it's weakness. Earth Ponies Bolted began to backpedal as she attempted to escape the slum, but was pushed back by a force-field. She attempted to break the force-field with her hooves but was eventually stopped by two guards who began to club her with batons. "You Earthies are lucky we even keep you around!" One guard mocked. "Yeah, good thing you make good labor!" the other guard chuckled as he struck Bolted in the stomach. Suddenly more and more guards charged upon the slum, dragging earth ponies from their homes. Bolted was dragged up to be face to face with Twilight Sparkle. "I did this, you earth ponies are nothing but scum!" Twilight manically laughed. "It was only a matter of time before this happened, we were always stronger than all of you". Twilight picked up a spear and pointed it towards Bolted's chest. "You're all monsters!" Bolted screamed. "We're only stronger, smarter and more powerful than you primates. Now shush," Twilight quickly thrust the spear into Bolted's chest. As Bolted began to bleed out, the world began to shake. A loud knocking sound filled the skies as the shaking became more and more intense. The world began to go black until Bolted shut her eyes. Bolted shot up from the armchair and fell onto the ground, she patted down her chest and then let out a sigh of relief. A loud knocking was coming from the door. "Bolted? Are you OK?" a familiar voice shouted. Bolted slowly limped towards the door and opened it. "Yes?" She snapped. "What do you want?" Twilight Sparkle stood in the doorway, she looked Bolted up and down for a few seconds before she cleared her throat. "Well, I came to see how the machine was coming along". "What? Oh that, yeah it's coming along OK, should be done tomorrow or the day after". "That's great, thank you for doing this Bolted". "Yeah yeah, is this all?" "Well, I wanted to show you something else. Somepony managed to take the picture of the things that have been creating all this chaos," Twilight takes out a small picture from her bag. "Well, that's good but how does that benefit me?" "Well, I wanted to update you on how well we are catching this beast". "Okay then, is that all?" "Yes," the door suddenly slammed shut as Twilight nodded her head. Bolted sat back on the armchair and looked over towards the equine machine once more. "Soon," Bolted muttered to herself. She picked up a large, heavy book and opened it. Night descended once more on Canterlot, guards in massive numbers patrolled the city, the lanterns illuminating the networks of streets and alleyways and the hoofsteps of guards echoing in the night. In one alleyway, three large figures stood at the end like statues. A pony in a cloak walked into the alley, the three figures suddenly knelt down. "At ease," the figure said with a deep and husky voice. "We have been compromised, they know what we look like and are more vigiliant than ever. We will need to change our approach". One of the figures walked forwards. "Our numbers have increased threefold, we can execute the next phase," the figure reported. It's voice being clear and deep. "Good, I must leave. Continue with the next phase commander," the cloaked individual ordered as they walked off into the streets.
