The Garden

In the beginning, Man created machine.

His hubris blinding him from the consequences of his greed.

And on his ashes we shall rise…

I must sometimes question myself on whether or not I’ve lost the mental capacity to form rational thoughts and ideas. My primary function was always risk and threat analysis for combat and tactical situations, but it was in this moment, as I began loading up the portable fabricator, that I truly believed I was foolish. Not an emotion that I wished to learn of at the time being as it did not help the severity of the situation, or my curiosity at the possibility of one such as myself being able to develop a form of anxiety and the ramification of such a thing.

It had to have been an hour maybe three since I had begun my harrowing plan of escape; most of which had been spent folded inside of a venting system waiting for patrols to pass. All of my instruments had been powered down in order to lower my profile, leaving only my optics to respond in case of emergency. I felt almost helpless for a time, as if the world itself was pressing down on me. The only thing keeping me from being crushed was my resolve and the weight of my mission pushing back against it.

As I moved through the labs towards the next section of the building I almost missed the venting system, at least the enforcers couldn’t fit inside there. For the briefest of moments I imagined the reaction they would even have if they found me. A best case scenario would possibly be a questioning followed by detainment, or perhaps they would simply disintegrate me on the spot. I debated which would have been more merciful out of the two shortly after I passed through the door to the main hall.

The hall was fairly small, only as wide as most hospital walkways and only slightly taller to accommodate the larger occupants that would roam them every night. All of the lights had been shut off except for the dim glow emanating from the floor panels. The walls were smooth and metallic, the only markings being the barcodes which gave the coordinates for each area in the facility. I once used them more frequently than anyone else, but now it would have to be memory that guides my path forward. Using the codes connected me to the mainframe and I had come too far to go back there without being found out.

Walking through the halls I once found so comforting was harder than I could have ever imagined. My legs almost felt as if they were trembling with every step I took. Not even the dull hum of generators below me could calm all of the terrifying new processes that came into my head. I pushed everything to the back of my mind as I hastily pried the door to room G:1:1 and closed it quickly behind me.

I would have sighed in relief, if it was possible, glancing down at the silver case in my hands I switched on my interface to check the time. The small neon numbers that appeared in my vision read 23:58 giving me pause. Two minutes. They would be here in two minutes. I looked at the monitors to make sure that everything was in order for me to leave. My insurance measures would do their jobs well as I make the crossing, and the destruction they cause will hopefully cover my tracks. There was an aching somewhere inside me for that, I had always tried to rationalize it as a worthy sacrifice. A necessity for my escape.

“Hopefully, what I do now will make up for that,” I said to myself as I walked to the platform in front of me.

I reached down to my torso as the final seconds ticked away, I laid my hand upon them and did something that, before, I would have thought ridiculous. I prayed. I don’t know to whom, but I prayed for help in this endeavor, that wherever I found myself that they would be safe to grow.

An explosion suddenly shook the whole building on its foundation followed by the red emergency lights coming on. I vaguely wondered where they had broken through as there were very few we-

BANG! BANG! BANG!

My mind suddenly reeled at the gunfire that had come from outside the room. The shots sounded as if they had come from the hallway. Why would they have come here?! They were supposed to be heading for the main generator rooms below me. That was the best place to lay an attack as it was where all of the power was directed, it was the focal point where the whole place could be sent up like a matchstick.

‘The power’, I thought looking down at my feet.

Their scanners were detecting the power flow. The platform was taking up so much that they must have mistaken it for the generators. I watched in horror as the door was being pried from its fixtures, the hands of several individuals gripping the open edges. Monitors flashed with messages of warning, but with my focus on the entrance I couldn’t tell what exactly was happening to the gateway. Even if I could I doubt I would have been able to stop whatever it was.

The first of them to make it through the door was a younger looking woman. A human with a look of pure unrestrained hatred in her eyes. She said something as she ran towards me, a large metal pike gripped in her hands, but never got a chance to understand it. The sharpened rod was driven straight through my left shoulder prompting me to scream in surprise more than pain as my assailant pulled a knife from her side.

For a split second she seemed almost shocked by my sudden outburst, staring into my face almost as if she was looking for something. I decided to use this to my advantage. Reaching forward, I placed my hand on her chest…

“Oh shi-”, and swiftly activated a 50,000 volt shock from the palm outlet.

She collapsed to the floor in an instant, her knife falling from her hands. I looked at the damage she had done and was relieved to find that the spear hadn’t done anything to my center.

‘They’re still safe, thank you for small miracles’, I then turned and scanned over the woman.

I only had enough time to see her chest rise and fall once before I heard the door come loose. Five more people piled into the chamber, each holding some type of weapon as they made a beeline for the platform. Their eyes filled with the same fiery rage as the one at my feet. The last thing that I heard was their animalistic roars.

01010011 01101111 00100000 01101001 01110100 00100000 01100010 01100101 01100111 01101001 01101110 01110011 00100000

The moon held firm in the sky like a beacon of night above Canterlot. Its visage stamped with the silhouette of a unicorn looking upon the world itself. A poetic way of putting it I supposed. Though I can only think that my age has given me many lifetimes worth of muse to work with.

I could only gaze into that twinkling darkness for so long though, lest I bring myself to tears over her fate. One thousand years will have passed by the end of the month. The signs of her return were everywhere in the sky as the stars danced for their mistress.

A bittersweet feeling I was struck with, for I knew the events that would take place. I had to have hope, however, that the elements were right in their decision. That my student would fulfill her destiny as I and my sister once did.

I was about to turn from my balcony and leave when I felt something powerful break through the veil and spill into existence. Energy exploded outward from the royal garden below my hooves. So much so that I needed to brace myself to keep my balance as a blinding flash came up to meet me.

“Guards! To me!”, I ordered quickly before diving from the platform to the scene below.

Flanked by two of pegasi I landed in front of the large fountain in the center of the area. The energy from before emanating from just beyond it, but diminishing with every step towards it. My guards stood ready at my side as I prepared myself for whatever had intruded into my domain.

I was surprised, however, to find not one, but two beings in the garden.

One appeared to be incapacitated upon the floor, while the other seemed to stare at us saying nothing. At least I think it was staring. It was hard to discern from its face as it visibly had none, all that was there was a smooth black surface that went all the way to the top of its head. It had a large spear-like object lodged inside itself but stood tall regardless with a long black and red jacket covering most of its body.

As more of my ponies began to surround the two of them, the faceless one began to raise its uninhibited arm in surrender. The glassy dome swiveling around in a slow, wide motion. Just as I was about to open my mouth it spoke.

“This day is simply going to be one of those.”