Luna stepped out of the transport vessel, allowing her lungs to fill with the constantly moving yet terribly stale air that fluctuated above Canterlot. Her ears perked and her body tingled, listening to a voice unheard above the cacophony of sound emanating from all around her.
Above, Republic ships were wheeling about in great circles while civilian planes were beginning to buzz and twitter like nervous birds between the towers below.
They had arrived the previous morning and, thanks to the advanced warning sent to them by Arnaquer and his group, had immediately begun to quarantine and cure the ponies of the metropolis. There was still plenty of work to be done and many ponies to care for.
“He dealt us quite the blow,” she announced to nopony in particular.
“Pardon me, Ma’am, but could you repeat that?” one of the ponies that had followed her up the top of the mountain asked.
She dismissed him with a slight wave of her forehoof. “It’s fine. I was just thinking about the pony we are fighting. This so-called Bunnyhelm. He’s rather shrewd, but, perhaps he is too quick to act. There were secrets left in this city that he abandoned in his haste.” The Princess smiled, a cold wind surfing around her as the sun finally hit the horizon and fought against the moon’s glare.
The city was bathed in warm light, the towers becoming pillars of gold and flame while the sky shone a deep, royal red. Yes, it was time for the sun to return.
“Leave me,” Luna ordered, turning and giving her back to the assistants and guards that had followed her onboard the tiny diplomatic vessel. “I wish for solitude.”
“But, Your Highness, it could be dangerou—” the stallion began. His throat caught and his words became silent as the Princess stretched to her full height and looked down at him.
The moon was still high, glowing in the sky as it became a spectre of its glorious form. Still, its image reflected in the Princess’s eyes as she looked at her soldiers. “I can take care of myself. There’s a pony I wish to meet; it has been a long, long time.”
She began to walk away, long, indigo legs daintily touching the metallic grating of the platform they found themselves on. Beyond her, and jutting out of Canterlot mountain’s side like a tumour of steel, was the Sol Factory.
As she approached the structure, unwary of any traps it might hold, it grew larger and more ominous.
Smoke stacks still fumed with toxic gasses and the massive pipes that ran though the building jutted out of the walls, only hinting at the complex maze of machinery held within. It was a marvel: a machine able to power all of Canterlot and then some; a machine so complex that even those working on it had only vague notions of how it worked.
Luna grinned.
The doors blocking her access gave way with a single blow of magical power, their steel frame rending into a little sphere before being catapulted out of the path. Daylight flooded into the rooms therein, illuminating the dust that floated in the air with a surreal glow.
Luna pushed ever onwards, instinct guiding her though the office spaces and factory floors. Past loading docks and assembly rooms. Finally, she found her heart.
The core sat in the centre of the room.
Brass walls, hooflengths thick, formed a rough sphere that the room itself seemed to have been built around, instead of for. Along the bulging surface of live wires, tubes and pumping pipes that huffed with pressurized steam was a pattern of rivets.
The Princess looked at the device, moving around it in a teasingly slow circle while each and every one of her muscles tensed. In the quasi-quiet of the factory, she could hear the voice.
Screaming and anguish and fear and despair and hope.
She found the door.
Encased on the orb’s side was a rounded archway, a sealed entrance, or, perhaps, an exit. Warning labels and dire images gave away hints of the despair that one might suffer if they dared to tamper with the machine.
“Ah, Bunnyhelm. So foolish to leave. You forgot, Blueblood could always keep a secret. He always had a trump card.” Luna touched the wall.
Her magic and power flowed forth, imbuing the brass structure and making it glow in the familiar colour of her power.
She waited. Waited for the call to come. And when it did, she gasped, tears springing to her eyes and flowing down the sharp angles of her cheeks. Her legs became loose, losing their ability to hold her up as she crumpled and fell to a sitting position.
Her laughter and crying filled the cavernous room and Princess Luna reached out, the very tip of her hoof touching the door.
It opened.
Hissing steam and the white-hot glow of tremendous power sliced out, burning and cutting a path through the room all along the rim of the doorway, a path that encircled Luna without harming her. As the afterglow of magic touched her, she shivered.
The door pulled up, machinery that had rested for a decade being put to work with nary a whisper.
Out from within the machine stepped a single white leg.
Awesome. Finally we are going to see them both in action. Screw magitech. Raw alicorn power is going to be shown.
Start this at...ooh...about here:
Thank me later
On another note, despite how short it is, this chapter is awesome. Thank you.
Guess she wasn't dead afterall
Celly!!
I was guessing that Celly was being used for power. Rejoice, for very bad things are about to happen. This is gonna be good.
Trump card? Bah! That's like keeping a whole pack of ace's tucked up your sleeve.
Aww shoot. Sunbut is back?
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Hey! Sunbutt is best butt.
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Sure, if you like pale white flabby flanks.
ooooooooh, Bunnyhelm and the late Blueblood are in some EXTREMELY DEEP Caca NOW! because I bet 'ol Celly is gonna be EXTREMELY PISSED due to her Long Imprisonment in the Sol Factory Core! and Rarity's Reaction to the Pillow Fight in "Look Before You Sleep" Provides the Best Reaction to Celestia's Return:
Somebody Pass The Popcorn, because This Little War is about to get VERY INTERESTING!
Something tells me that Celestia "died" in battle only for Blueblood's soldiers to find her. Blueblood senses a chance to gain great power and imprisons Celestia inside the factory. At some point later Bunnyhelm started his quest to the top however he never actually knew that Celestia was actually right under his nose the whole time.
PRAISE OUR GOD EMPRESS OF THE SUN, YOU HATH BROUGHT UPON YOURSELF THE WRATH OF OUR GODDESS! BRING YOUR VIRGINS, SLAY YOUR CHILDREN AND OFFER THEIR BLOOD UNTO HER, BRING THEIR SKULLS TO HER THRONE AND BE AWED BY HER SPLENDOR! blueshift2k5.deviantart.com/art/God-Empress-Celestia-Coloured-266447955
So totaly called this like the first time I saw the sol factory in this fic
Celly is about to unleash a world of hurt on the imps
Huh, I actually figured that sunbutt was powering the 'Sol Scorcher' but this works too.
Kill em all, Celestia. KILL EM ALL!!
It's good to see her back, but after a decade of being used as a power source I doubt that she'll be doing more than recovering for a long while.
this is probably over used but...
celestia vs empire
*sees cover art* dis gun be guud
Of Steam Gears and Wings by RavensDagger
Score: 8.2 out of 10 - Excellent
- Imaginative World Building
- Excellent Characterization
- Great Scene Visuals and Mood Setting
- Solid Dialogue
Reviewed by Admujica. Read the full review here.
Well, I believe that shit is going to go down now.
I absolutely love this story (even though I waited till the end to comment) and sincerely hope that you will continue to write and add more to this story and soon.
P.s. You are best writer simply for having Airships..
Looks like it's finally time to read this mother.
Huh. I don't think I've ever seen a deus ex machina that was literal instead of in the common sense.
Disgunbgud.gif
Please more. I beg.
Curse my fingers!
Silly Edit button's beside the publish button. I'm sorry. We're hauling here to make it ready!
Well now, a single white leg. That sure could be anypony.... yeahhhh