The Dimensions of Polyn

Chapter 2: Polyn's Modern Life

Polyn walks through the city on her way to the magic academy. The sky-way carts fly overhead between the massive buildings that make up Equestria City's prominent landscape. The small square-shaped aerodynamic carts enable the commoner workers to get to their pre-ordained jobs at the various high rises. The sky-ways were originally built to ship materials between the large buildings that house the reactors. They are now used for both shipments and travel throughout the city and have been extended from their original lengths.

Her father would be at the station all day helping the masses with their travel needs. People came and went trying to make the best of their situation. They were trapped in a daily grind, with no real purpose except to earn a living, although after the amount of taxes the government took out, there wasn't much left, and they had to live with that.

From birth, your fate was sealed. If you were born a commoner, you went to school and work exactly where the city government wanted you to go. If you were a Pegasus, you would work on building construction, sky-way maintenance, window washing and a variety of other jobs. Unicorns like Polyn would end up working in a lab or a purification reactor building.

Because of their innate magical abilities, unicorns were suited for magi-technology. Earth ponies were the office clerks, security guards, merchants, driving the economy of the city. You could petition for a different job but only in special cases and only with additional rules and restrictions. The application and approval process was just an illusion of choice. Only if the Government had some kind of alternate plan for you that suited their needs would your application be approved. They were the final word.

Looking past her small house she could see The Border; A white, gently pulsating wall of magic that kept the magical poison out and the citizens in. It shined dimly, and was like a dome, a literal entrapment. Beyond that was endless wasteland. The green trees and grassy valleys had been long been gone even before Polyn had been born.

All the trees and flowers, in the city were artificial. Any real trees were contaminated by a perpetual magical poison since long ago. Polyn wipes her eyes, turns around and notices a large tree standing in the center of the street that led to the bazaar. It was the Aphos tree. It was the first artificial tree that would bear fruit. She and her family were named after it. Two guards carefully stand by the trunk, cracking jokes at passers by.

“Hey, there's another one for the mare-i-go round,” they would shout along with other quips. The power to control had gone to their heads. They were supposed to be there to keep the peace and protect the merchants, not gawk at them. A young silver haired earth pony hid her face from them as she passed.

There were many silver armored guards like them, most with small bladed weapons or long blunt metallic poles. They were the main force of control in the city, a city that had been pretty much militarized from the beginning.

The guards were made up of soldiers from a personal army gathered over time by the Breadwinner lineage, who ran the city with an Iron hoof. Only the upper class called elites benefited from this. Guards were known to steal from low end commoner business, adding taxes and driving many to poverty. The current city leader, Julius Breadwinner was hated among all the commoners because of his tendency to raise taxes and secretly enforce corrupted practices.

Walking across a bridge, Polyn can smell the stench and feel the dry dust rising from the city's lower levels. Part of the street angled downwards till it was twisted up and corroded. It was inviting her to an early death.

She'd heard the rumors of foals dying from hidden dangers in the dust clouds or colts being attacked or murdered by thieves. If she had any ideas of running away she was going to end up underground in the dust bowl. The purification system didn't work very well down there so the rumors seemed justified, despite probably being over exaggerated by the guards who had to stand by the entrance to the desolate underbelly of the city.

The ragged poverty stricken ponies living down in the dumps were referred to as Unmentionables. Rejecting your appointed place in the city, meant living in the dumps. Some rebelled despite knowing the consequences because they would rather live in horrible living conditions than serve a corrupt city.

Life in the city was simple: Go to school, come of age, work and finally retire in a small run-down neighborhood with barely enough bits to pay for your lost sanity.

Wiping her eyes with her slightly oversized hoof, she focuses on one of the large central factory buildings. Each of the four factories has a purifying reactor at their core. You can't tell what is inside from the shiny exterior of the skyscrapers but they are the tallest standing buildings and are interconnected with the central building that is even taller. These machines are about a square mile in diameter and keep the city in working order; keeping The Border running and all other creeping toxins out. The artificial plants funneled the magical energies out to the rivers and kept the air clean.

It had been this way since the ancient war that forever altered the stability of the planet. Without the machines, the city would be uninhabitable and the magical poison that flowed out from the core of the planet would engulf everything.

The young mare arrives at the magic academy building just as the morning class bell begins to ring. The flat square shaped building is dwarfed by the towering industrial and office buildings looming behind it, a constant reminder of what life has in store after graduation in only a few days.

The buildings design is a mix of medieval castle and modern day high school complete with rectangle shaped classrooms, small sliding windows, and a flag pole outside the entryway. The school itself is a mix of old and new styles: Large streaming banners advertising events, next to a digital bulletin board run by an artificial intelligence program that would beep softly before broadcasting the day's events. The stone walls and older-looking columns on the outside, hide a modern building with magical core labs and climate controlled classrooms on the inside. Polyn felt more at home here, than in her own house, especially in the multi-story library in the building behind it.

As she enters the central hall, her friend Lyra waits for her with a smile. She has a bright green coat and a mane of cyan. There is a white stripe running through her mane and tail. She is a unicorn and comes from a wealthy and privileged family. Even though she would be eventually given a cushy job in the government sector, she was given the choice to further her skills in the local academy. Given her elevated status, she had no grudge with commoners and saw them just the same as herself. It was a rare viewpoint among the elites of the city. Polyn actually admired this about her long time friend.

“I’ve been waiting forever for you, the bus break down again?”

“I wish, then I’d have an excuse.” She tries to smile but can only muster a pursing of the lips.

All of the students are rushing to their classes behind them and soon the guards will patrol the area to keep any students from getting out. They stood next to the flag pole; two static figures in the midst of the surrounding chaos. Polyn takes a deep breath while noticing her surroundings and looks back toward her friend noticing the large amount of books she struggles to hold. She opens her eyes wider and smirks.

“Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

“Of course,” the cute green unicorn says with a smile. “With you.”

As they talk about their weekend, they walk through the empty corridor. It is devoid of students except for one frantic yellow haired mare that speeds past them, bouncing off the walls as she crams herself into the remedial classroom at the end of the hall, dropping a small muffin in front of her then accidentally stepping on it. Quickly she picks up the dirty pastry and eats it. Crumbs fly out as the door slams shut.

The chaos doesn't faze Polyn as she begins to feel immediately better being in the company of a friend like Lyra, a pony who could ignore her occasional lack of tact, and do it with a smile.

Polyn remembers her school Schedule for the day: History of Equestria with Cheerilee, Magical Potions and Mysteries with Zecora, and a special presentation of current government job openings in the industrial sector. Her favorite class was listed last: The power of elemental magic with The Great and Powerful Trixie.

Lyra waves a hoof as she takes a nearby staircase up to the Elite classroom floor. Polyn watches as her friend leaves then hears a throat clearing noise. She turns to notice the class staring at her with scowls on their faces. Cheerilee with her pink mane brushed to the side, stands there smiling. The class was already seated and the lesson had begun.

The teacher began with some tragic history about the war. There was chapter in the book called “Starswirl the Bearded and other technological pioneers.” Despite its tragic subject matter, Cheerillee taught it with a positive inflection and a smile. Behind her bright white teeth was an uneasiness.

Standing by the door is a guard in a silver and blue armored harness that was typical of mid ranking government guards. The teachers had to be careful what they conveyed, and how it was perceived. If  she wouldn't be a teacher much longer.

During the war, Starswirl, an old bearded mare with a cape and pointed hat that depicted a starry night, was one of the first ponies to push for mechanical devices powered by magic. The world saw this as unnatural and he was largely attacked by the magic-using world who believed technology would eventually destroy us.

The ignorance back then was astounding to the young Polyn who had read several books on the subject during her after school hours. Magic and technology needed to work together. Technology by itself was nothing more than useless spare parts.

As the lesson outlined. Starswirl continued to work on new advances in artificial intelligence and machines. No one knows what happened to him but death was almost certain, even though they never found a body.

As ponies began to side with either magic or technology, things got really bad. Eventually both sides tried to prove their dominance by waging war on the other. This had a drastic effect on the volatile magical core of the planet which reacted to it by releasing a magical poison that blanketed everything and resulted in the deaths of billions, even those who didn't take a side.

The last of ponykind began using magic and technology together to create the first purifying machines with magical energy cores. They were able to purify the poison within a limited area. As the city grew so did the size of the machines. The city was built around them and they were necessary to the survival of all.

“Even today, we are thankful for the amazing technology that keeps us alive today,” Cheerillee finishes.

One student in the back raises a hoof.

“But didn't Starswirl's “abominations” become necessary for survival, we owe him our lives.”

The guard glances over with a straight face. Cheerillee nervously addresses the whole class.

“uhh, does anypony know what Starswirl's technological group was called?”

A straight haired pony answers.

“The...Technoponies, he says.”

“That's right and what happened to them?”

Polyn knew that her teacher was trying to make the Technoponies look bad to save her hyde, still she answered.

“During the final battle they were cornered inside a mountain and blew themselves up...They wanted to keep their secrets.”

Realizing that everything is fine, the guard goes back to staring at the wall.

“That's right Polyn, They decided they would rather destroy themselves then give up their foolish goals.” She goes behind her desk, her smile returning. “We are better when we work together for the common good of the city rather than being selfish.” She nervously nods to reassure herself.

At the end of class Polyn gets to the door only to be called on by the teacher.

“Thank you Polyn, you certainly know your stuff.”

The young mare sighs, gathering up a little frustration in her breath.

“I said it to save your job...maybe I shouldn't have.” She walks out in silence.

The next class started as students tried making potions with a set of specific ingredients. Many wondered why potions were even a thing anymore. Very few ponies really got jobs in potion making. Who knew what they were putting in potions these days.

“Carefully choose your ingredients well, and your potion will end up quite swell,” Zecora rhymed to her own amusement.

She was a zebra, one of the few remaining in the world and quite knowledgeable about mystical Potion making. Polyn had messed up on hers and created a small odorous poison instead. She really wanted to throw it at the guard.

After her first two classes had concluded, all of the students were required to gather in the multipurpose room. A government official stood in full uniform wearing a city emblem emblazoned with a tree. Again the Aphos tree was being silently celebrated. He walked with authority but when he spoke his voice was softer and nonthreatening.

“Welcome to this very special Job presentation everypony,” he said elegantly. In the next few days you will have a chance to tour the central processor building and be placed for amazing job opportunities.”

He continued talking about the government job system and how great it is to work for the city and benefit the greater good. The words made the small disgruntled mare twitch a little.

“Being such special unicorns such as yourselves, there are certain jobs that are only available for the magically gifted.”

After a few minutes of mundane job descriptions he finally got to the most despised and controversial, Sentinels.

“Every now and then, a select few are given the most important job in all of Equestria City, the job of Sentinels. This is a prestigious position that comes with the best perks in the city,” he spouted. “After your work is finished you will be given riches beyond your wildest dreams to live out the best years of your life.” He became overconfident in his final statement. Was it because he really was excited about it, or just because how he lived out the best years of his life depended on making it sound that way.

Polyn knew what a sentinel was already from her extended study sessions in the library. She would rather suffer a short suffocating death outside the city than work as a Sentinel.

Sentinel unicorns, placed inside energy tubes, had their magical energy extracted over the course of their working lives In order to power the large purifying machines which needed magical energy 24/7. The city had grown so large that more Sentinels were required each year.

The selection process appeared random, but the higher-ups knew what they were doing. If you slacked off during your school years, or made trouble, you would end up with a tube of your own.

Depending on how you looked at It, It was ether a life sentence or the easy way out. After being stuck in a tube for years, separated from everyone you once knew, when you were old and dried up, you would finally get to retire. The president of Equestria would honor you for your faithful service and you would be pampered the rest of your life, granted the title of Elite and given the most luxurious living space, where you could spend your last days in a lonely solitude to mourn what you had left behind. It was not a future for anyone.

Every now and the an unmentionable would sneak out of the lower levels and leave some graffiti behind, or a drunken elite would spill some secrets after a nightmare night party. The government would try to cover for their negligence by making an example of then, but the truth came out in small doses to those who were paying attention. The truth was there wasn't a future for sentinels. They got the same sub-standard Gov't housing as the commoners, and some were cast down with the unmentionables.

Polyn made it her job to notice. Her father was stuck in unappreciated servitude and her mother was neglected. There was a huge contradiction between the government musings of the greater good and the treatment of their citizens. Ether other ponies didn't notice, or they believed the lies out of fear.

The city was one big trap but it was the little things like friends and books that made life better. In a sentinel chamber she wouldn't even have those.

The presentation lasted only a few more minutes. The multipurpose room became a zoo as ponies began to check out the various kiosks spread around the area. They lined up in droves trying to impress the government officials with their resumes, wholeheartedly believing the lie that they had a choice.

She went to the the library to grab a book titled: “The Magic of the ancient world.” The study of magic was very important for Polyn. Learning as much as she could about magic was the only thing the kept her hopeful.

She longed to live in a world without corruption. The pale-gray mare often thought about leaving. Was there somepony who got out of the city? Was there another group of survivors from the war who flourished and built their own place to live? Maybe someone invented a flying machine to get above it all. There had to be a place she could go, or if she had to, a way to fight back.

Lyra smiles as she sits down next to her. She has a book in her possession.

“I got this book at one of the kiosks, it's supposed to have a lot of cool info about machines and magic generator cores.”  Her horn glows while she giggles a bit. “It's been a while since you tinkered with a machine huh?”

Polyn looks up from her book briefly and nods. Her friend opens the book and points to a page.

“This chapter is on the generator drive core. Apparently it uses magic to...

Polyn interrupts her.

“Why do you go on like this? She rants, “there has got to be more than just working for the next forty years on machines and then going home to your crappy government issued pig trough.” We are at the mercy of corrupt elites and politicians, we have no future!”

The small green and silver pony, not offended by her tone or demeanor, softly leans in and speaks.

“I thought it would be cool to make a drive core someday, or a least work on one. Do you remember when you and me made that mechanical music box as fillies? That was fun right?” Lyra's soft voice had soothed the pale mare's anger but only a little. Polyn takes a deep breath.

“Sorry,” she admits.

“This crazy, busy world gets to everypony,” she says with a smile. “Don't worry, when I work as an official, I'll make it my duty to stop the bad people and get things back on track.” She starts to read from one of the chapters.

Polyn and Lyra had been friends since they were in magic kindergarten as young fillies. Lyra liked Polyn's assertiveness and no-nonsense attitude and Polyn felt that she had a positive close friend that could make her feel good about any situation and comfort her when troubled. She respected her even though she was an elite.

Lyra thought differently than most. Commoners and elites were equal in her eyes, but she was naïve to think that she could solve centuries of problems with kindness. Despite this, Polyn felt that she had a rare friend that she would protect from all the corruption in the world.

The red and brown curly haired mare, looking past the issues at hand, decides to give her friend some attention. She leans over and joins her in reading the book. It outlines several ways of modifying machines to get more out of them. Taking a cue from her mom, Polyn often tinkered with various household devices when she was younger.

She owned a core charging knife and enjoyed using it to modify the magical properties of cores. It was a small double edged knife about three inches long that could absorb and retain the properties of whatever magic was applied to it. Since magical cores were dangerous to touch by hand the knife was used instead. The young mare had sharpened the usually dull blade. She didn't know if she liked it or just wanted to keep it handy in case of a situation with her parents or the guards.

Lyra loved the idea of being an engineer, she had even studied many books about it. It didn't matter though because she was an Elite and was going to be a government official. Taking the career that was forced upon her in stride, she decided; much due to the pale mare's frustration, to use her future position to change things for the better. With Julius in power and an army of scheming guards, nosy elites and corrupt politicians, there was no way that her friends' future position would enable her to do anything about it.

There was a tension between them. Most of their fights would end up the same way with an understanding friend and an apology, but eventually someone was going to be right and the other was going to be left in the desert.

It was time for the last class of the day, Elemental Magic. Polyn was placed in this class because of her aptitude for conjuring up elemental spells even at a young age. Her mother was gifted in this area as well.

The most prominent element user was The Great and Powerful Trixie who had become famous for her spell creations and was the current reining champion of the annual Equestrian magic battle competition, because if the elites needed to be entertained, why not use the already exploited commoners.

Polyn had no problem the first half of class. Summoning fire spouts and lightning pulses. This was very easy for her. Trixie was impressed, occasionally giving a word of encouragement as the young elemental master did her exercises. She didn't cut her any slack though.

She went on to the first topic, brushing her hoof across a glowing plexiglass board and moving toward the center of the class. She waved her appendage into the air materializing a lightning orb that begins to throb with fire internally.

“Summoning fire and lightning can be difficult,” Trixie began, “but what's more difficult is using both at once.” Her eyes scan the class, “by combining two different elements together, you will be able to make a more powerful and original spell creation. Now get practicing!”

Polyn summons a small flaming tornado that spurts out quickly. Trixie leans in and whispers in Polyns ear. “You are going to need to work harder if you want to stay my best student.” She mused, pointing to a young mare holding a large frozen tornado in her hoof.

Using any kind of destructive elemental magic in the city outside of a classroom or officially recognized work session was forbidden by law. The local city guards had a zero tolerance policy for anyone who tried to burn, shock, flood, whisk away or shake up anypony or anything. The class had a device that could start up at anytime if too much magic power was used. Any magic used in excess could be absorbed by small safety devices on the ceiling. Magic absorption was originally used in the war to keep magic at bay while allowing the machines to attack without obstacle. A powerful weapon for debilitation had been reduced to a simple safety measure.

After school, Lyra decided to walk her friend home. They talked about their day and about their teachers. Polyn wished she had gotten a little more recognition from Trixie. By never receiving any kind of consideration from her parents, it was important to feel like she mattered, at least a little.

Without Lyra, She may have done something drastic by now. Disagreements aside, she felt accepted in the company of her only friend. No matter what, she wanted to protect her and keep the friendship alive. It was something she always did.

The walk home didn't take long and Polyn had to go home to the house she hated. It wasn't big enough for a family of three. It was run down, dirty and because of her mother's neglect, practically a landfill. Upon her entry, the house is the same as she left it, and her mom is sitting in the same place she had been in the morning.

“I'm home,” Polyn announces to the silence. Her mom is siting in the kitchen and surprisingly responds after making a soft humming sound.

“How was your day?” her mother asks. She doesn't look up. The curly haired mare stands in front of her mother avoiding the clutter of old newspapers.

“I made a fire tornado,” Polyn mentions with some enthusiasm. Her mother looks up with a goofy look on her face.

“Oh, uh...” She shuffles in her chair, “How's Lyra?”

She wouldn't admit it but it was a little shocking that her mother had an interest in her life, at all.

“She's fine mom.”

“She's going to be somebody, that Lyra.”

Irritated that her mother had more interest in her elite friend than her own daughter, She quickly changes the subject.

“Did dad get home yet?”

“No dear, your father is at the government office filling out a job application.” Polyn was suddenly alerted.

“Does he want a new job, she asks?”

Her mother was quick to respond for once,

“No, he wants to help you get a better job then what you're currently qualified for. He's going to plead your case.” Knowing her father this couldn't be good. He never really cared enough to do anything for her. This would need to be investigated later but there was no hurry. A lowly unicorn like her wouldn't be much more than a speck on the Governments lists. They probably wouldn't even bother to look at the application? There was no way her father would be able to change anything.

“I'm going up to my room, she says.” On her way to the back of the house, she hears her mom in the distance.

“umm...uh...I knew that I should have gotten more fruit today, she exclaims, “Now what am I going to fix for dinner?”

Before her mom could blame her for taking the last of the fruit that morning, Polyn goes upstairs to her room. She cleans up a little and finds an old music player machine from a few years ago. She starts to tinker with the machine; Lyra's book had sparked her interest.

The curious techie takes apart the alloy mesh core housing and begins to infuse some magical force into the core using the double edged core knife. Once the core is spinning she connects some small wires and uses a small spark with her horn to bind the wires together and link them to the housing. After the core is placed back in the machine, she presses the switch on the side. The music begins to play out of the speakers.

Polyn was good at basic magic core machine repair, most of which she had learned from Lyra. She wished her dad could see her talent for magic. He never took any time to do so. He was always too busy with work, or going out after work for a drink.  There was something strange about his attempt to file an application. Was he trying to make amends for something? It was too late to earn her respect back. She scowls at the thought.

How could she possibly live in a world without corruption. Could her friend really make a difference? She shakes her head. “You can't fight corruption with kindness, Lyra.” She states this out loud to reassure herself.

The music stops as the core is removed from the housing once again. “But you can fight it with a strong magic.” As she dozes off, her mother can be heard pacing around the kitchen, slamming shelves in disgust.