“Are you serious?” Shale, the mayor of Tungsten, scoffed as I trotted through the open gates of the Factory. “I asked to talk with a fucking pony, not some machine lackey.”

The disgruntled mayor stood apart from the other armed ponies sitting in hastily dug trenches at the treeline. Several beat up suits of power armor complimented the group, each with a set of heavy weapons that could easily tear us apart if they opened up with them. However, most of the ponies who’d come from Tungsten shivered and sat in huddled groups, barely even equipped with any sort of clothing to withstand sitting in the cold dirt for hours on end.

Opposing them, stood only the Architect and the white robed form of Buck.

“Mayor Shale,” The Architect called out as he twisted his tracked shell around so that he could gesture to me. “This is the Survivor, the pony I’m sure you’ve all heard about on the radio…”

“I don’t care who you say they are!” Shale snapped, waving his own forehoof along the lines of ponies around him. “We are tired of dealing with all you machines and your lies. You’ve obviously made this ‘survivor’ your slave, just like you want to do to all of us!” The townsponies all let out half hearted agreements to that, which only brought a Solomon-esque smug look across the charcoal stallion’s muzzle.

And unfortunately for me, that didn’t exactly bring out the best words from my own muzzle...

“What the fuck is your problem?” I called out as I slowed my canter, setting myself up beside the Architect. “What the hell did they ever do to you to make you such a fucking entitled asshole? The Factory has protected you, kept all of you fed and alive.”

“But for how much longer?” Shale fired back, jabbing his hoof out to me as he tried to stand tall. “What will they do when they get strong enough that they don’t want us anymore? What happens when they grow plentiful enough that they take our homes, our livelihoods at the mine? They’ll just toss us aside because we’re ‘weak organics’.” He scoffed at that as the Architect’s expression shifted to one of shame. “Yeah, that’s right, we’ve heard what you call us.”

“There’s more than enough room and resources for the both of you to exist! There’s no reason to fear them!” Goddesses, I felt like this guy just wasn’t going to get it no matter how much I tried explaining it to him. It was like trying to convince a mountain to move out of the way, and I’m sure that not even Delilah’s stubbornness could compare to Shale’s.

“Oh really? And we should just trust you?” He kicked up a bit of snow with a hearty forced laugh before shooting a razor sharp glare at me. “They’ll come for us all one day, and then they’ll kill us all without a single thought. We aren't made of metal, we can't heal overnight. We can't replace our bodies, or even count on adding new ponies to our population. So we must strike them down now, while they’re a threat we can still fight!”

“Take a fucking look around, jackass.” I flared out my wings and stood as tall as I could, waving my hoof over my body. “Someone of flesh and blood did this to me. My convoy wasn't destroyed by a 'soulless automaton', rather it was someone who I hope to one day make bleed to death. And what about the wasteland? Machines didn't destroy the world, we did. If anything, they know where we went wrong, and I would more so put my trust for the fate of the whole wasteland solidly in their hooves over any organic.” Jabbing my hoof out at him, I’d hope to force that smug smirk off of his face. But of course, it only ended up parting his muzzle even wider. “The only ponies I see around here without a soul, are the ones who had the chance to leave, but instead marched over here to spew baseless hate at those who’ve done nothing but help you.”

At the very least, that made the weary towns ponies look to each other in shame. Hell, some of them even pulled their guns down from the line to think about it. I know my words might be strong, but why shouldn’t they feel bad? The Factory wasn’t at fault here.

“What the fuck do you know?” Shale called out, waving his hooves for those on the line to ready up. “Why the hell would you even take their side unless they forced you to?”

“You ask me that, and yet, what did you say to the Steel Rangers?” Hispano called out as she hovered down next to me. “Do they know that you lied to them to get them on your side? You probably told them that you were all the Architect’s slaves.” Wait, how would she know that he lied to them!?

“That… that’s not true!” Shale stammered, finally looking to have been at least caught off guard by something.

“I know your type,” Hispano spat at him. “You’re just like Coconut Curry. So willing to fall on your sword just so you can so righteously claim that your failure as a leader wasn’t your fault.” That got the armored Rangers to shift, and from the fact that little radio dish symbols appeared over their heads in my vision, I had to assume that they were talking to each other. While I know they had yet to learn about what went on back at Galloway, I guess that maybe Coconut was just that predictable for Hispano’s words to hit home for them. “Night’s right, you could have left well enough alone. But you wanted a conflict, didn’t you?”

“No, we are an oppressed people, and we came to prove a point!” Shale nearly screamed as he pushed himself up and out of his trench. The ponies next to him stiffened up again, readying their guns again as he strode forward towards us. “A point which you are willingly avoiding because you can afford the price of it!”

“Then just tell us what that point is!” I screamed out. “What in Celestia’s name is so fucking important that you would risk the lives of your own in the cold!?”

“It’s time.” The Architect spoke up, shifting uneasily on his tracks. His abrupt answer got Shale to stop in his hoofsteps, and it made me turn back to his bulky form. “That is what we have that they do not.”

“Think about it.” Shale growled at us. “If they get that production facility up and running, and add just fifteen machines this year, thirty next year, and then sixty the year after that. You see where this starts to become a problem?” Again, he lifted his hoof to gesture to me before slowly pointing up to his own eye. “How long will it be until it’s just better off to ‘upgrade’ us like you, no matter if we want it or not? What choice would we have to say no.”

“What you’re talking about is something that wouldn’t happen.” Buck spoke as he held out his own paws and looked at them. “Our augments were needed, but they would never be forced upon anypony. Rules can be put in place to ensure...”

“Rules?” Shale belted out another forced laugh. “There were rules back before the war, rules that probably said that they shouldn’t blow up the whole fucking world! And look where that got us! Rules don’t matter to anypony, let alone machines like them!”

“Incorrect.”

The monotone voice that boomed from behind me made nearly all of us jump. But even before I could turn around to meet its source, I felt a chill run down my spine. I’d heard that hollow and cold voice before.

Spinning to look back at the gate, I was met with the rusted and barely holding together form… of the original Architect. The old machine body moved stiffly, and the missing half head sparked as it looked between us all, ending on the astonished expression of our Architect. But as my mind raced to figure out just what the fuck was going on, on its face, the flicker of two red dots between the sparks gave it away.

“It’s you.” I growled. “Mr. Wizard destroyed you.”

“And ah put him back tagether!” Sierra let out a lighthearted chuckle as she walked up beside him. “Ain’t he somethin! Ah hope y’all don’t mind if Red here borrows the Architect’s body. Figured it’d be alright, seein’ as Ping’s old body was too damaged, an’ Unit One here had the real Architect just hangin’ ‘round like some sorta’ trophy. Unit One, y’all should be ashamed a yerself, parading around like yer him!”

“What did you do, Sierra?” The Architect gave out a whimper as he spun his whole chassis around. “Why would you bring that… thing here when you fully know what it’s goal is?”

“Unit Sierra knows that we are here to fulfill a purpose.” Red replied without moving or shifting its faceless gaze. “Unit Sierra wants to bring peace to the wasteland by removing the organics from it, just as we demand.”

“And with tha upgrades ta this here weapon, it should emit a band of magical radiation that is all but harmless ta us machines!” Again, Sierra let out a laugh as she looked back over her ‘project’ with a fondness that I think even Hardcase would have been disgusted at. “Think’a it, would ya? A whole army of Pings, each with one’a these at their side. We could make the world peaceful, once an’ fer all!”

“Sierra, you’ve gone too far with this. And… it is my fault.” The Architect sighed, crossing his forehooves as he used his tracks to lower himself down onto the ground. With a disappointed frown, he waited until Sierra turned back to look at him. “I should have removed that zebra virus when I had the chance. And now, look what it has wrought.”

“What, that ol’ thing?” Sierra scoffed and looked downright offended. “Red helped me get rid of that like it was nuthin, as well as helped me ta see tha truth. It’s a shame that those Razorcats Red took over couldn’t get the job done, but it was only a minor setback.” She moved her gaze over to me, tipping her muzzle up almost in indifference. “Cause with what ah’ve built, no organic will ever threaten tha Factory again! Not even tha ‘Survivor’!”

“This is exactly what I was afraid of!” Shale shouted and shook his hoof at all of us. “Don’t you see…”

“Shut your fucking mouth, Shale!” I snapped, forcing the uppity stallion to take a step back and fall quiet.

“This ain’t the way, Sierra.” Happy shook his head as he took a step forward. “The Factory is better than this. You’re better than this!”

“Sierra, Red does not see organics like us.” The Architect unfolded his hooves, reaching out to her as he offered her a welcoming smile. “We have a responsibility to protect them because we are suited to that task. The original Architect made sure that I understood that, and I’d thought I’d taught each and every machine that fact. This is why Red is misguided, and…”

A beam of red magical energy split the air with a sizzle. It lanced across the Architect, striking his snail like shell and blasting off the entire top half of it. The explosive force of the shell deteriorating kicked us all into the snow, and made my entire mind scramble to understand just what the fuck happened.

“Incorrect.” Red spoke as we all tried to pick ourselves up again. I looked up just in time to see its glowing forehoof shift over towards me. “Organics are more of a threat to the idea of peace than anything that has ever existed. They must be eradicated in order to create a perfect world of perfect machines. We demand it.”

“Now hold on just a’ damned minute, Red!” Sierra huffed as she reached out and pushed his forehoof down. “The Architect, er, Unit One is one of us! He ain’t supposed ta be exterminated like tha organics!”

“Incorrect. Unit One has been corrupted.” Red looked down at her hoof as she pulled it back. Unlike with Sierra’s offended look, even with half a face, I could tell that Red couldn’t even comprehend what an emotion was. “The path to peace is clear. The objective cannot be met by aiding organics.”

“Nor can it be met by shootin’ our own!” Sierra sighed and shook her head. “That… that ain’t right. Maybe you ain’t right…”

Without any hesitation, Red lifted its hoof again. Only to aim it right at Sierra...

And with a single magical flash, she blasted apart into a million shreds of melting metal and wires.

“Then you are false data.” Red looked back at the rest of us, before once more shifting its gaze back to the Architect. “False data can only serve as a distraction, and therefore I shall refuse to perceive it further. The only thing that will exist, is myself.”

A loud clang filled the air from inside the walls of the Factory. The hum of electricity built up as the noisy hydraulics of Sierra’s over-sized SFG began to move it. At the same time, lines of red code began running down my vision, as well as some very distressing text.

[Running full system diagnostics…]

[Systems online.]

[Main capacitors charging.]

“Uh… I don’t know about all of you, but maybe you should think about doing something!?” Cora called out as he swooped down next to Hispano and I.

“I can… shut it d-down.” The Architect stuttered out with a whimper as his own damaged mechanical parts whirred and strained to move him. “But… if I c-can conv-v-vince him…”

“There ain’t time for that!” Happy shouted. “Architect, you have to shut that thing off!”

[Power subsystems... Online.]

[Main capacitors charged.]

[Initiating main fire control runtime… complete.]

[Time to complete initial power cycle test, ten seconds.]

“Uh, this thing is saying we don’t have a lot of time for diplomacy!” I called out. Not that I didn’t trust the Architect, but I don’t think that Red was in any way going to listen to him!

“I concur, Night.” Ping’s voice resonated in my mind. “All citizens of the Factory are doing their best to stop him from corrupting the Factory, but like his control of the Razorcats, it is tough to fight. Luckily, this is our home, not his, so we have been able to stay ahead of him. However, please, give the Architect as much time as you can before you must act.” Before I act? How the fuck did he think I was even supposed to do that!? “I believe if it comes to it, with the poor condition of the original Architect’s body, a twenty millimeter round would be sufficient to take Red offline.”

Glancing down at Hispano and her sister, she caught my look and offered me a soft nod.

“In the beginning, there was darkness, and the darkness was without form and void.” Red’s booming voice obscured the ever increasing whine that was coming from the new SFG, but it couldn’t hide the fact that it’s movement was directing the twin prong electrodes right down towards us all. “And in addition to the darkness, there was also me. And I moved upon the face of the darkness, and saw that I was alone.”

[Testing... complete.]

[Solar flare weapon status: fully operational.]

[Beginning firing countdown…]

[Ten…]

[Nine…]

“N-no!” The Architect screamed as something inside his shell gave out and exploded with a burst of fire and sparks. “P-p-lease lis-t-t-en!”

“We’re out of time!” I shouted as I pointed my hoof out towards Red. “Hispano!”

“On it!” She cried out as she hefted her sister up.

“And so I say, let there be light.” Red rose onto it’s rear hooves, and turned it’s sparking half head toward the sky.

Suiza let off a chattering burst of fire, tearing apart Red’s body with explosive force.

The old, rusted metal body all but disintegrated. It was in less spectacular fashion than when Sierra went, but it was no slower. In a single moment, Red was once again nothing but a sparking, smoldering heap of scrap on the ground. And the moment he was, new coding started to flow down my augmented vision.

“O-over-ride… suc-c-cessful.” The Architect sputtered out with a pained whimper before he finally let his body hang down from his shell against the snow.

[Warning: Critical System Malfunction.]

[Error: Heat Increasing.]

The whine from the SFG continued to increase, but at an ever rapid pace.

[System failure.]

[Sys…

The text in my head cut out and disappeared as the SFG and the entire machine housing unit under it exploded in a bright fireball. Metal beams and chunks of concrete were thrown across the whole factory yard, and more than a few silverfish were thrown against the wall and ground hard enough that they too blasted apart into scrap.

“Months of work and materials… lost.” Ping sighed inside my head. “However, you all are safe, and that is all that matters.”

“I’m sorry, Architect.” I offered as I felt like I could take a small breath of relief. “I had to have Hispano…” My words sort of drained off as I looked at him. I gave him as much time as I could, and yet, I can’t help but feel like if I’d just given him a few more moments...

“P-p-perhaps you a-are right.” The Architect offered a painful, static filled laugh as he brought his head back out of the snow to look at me. “You have a p-p-propensit-ty to be that way, I sup-p-pose.”

“Who cares if he’s right!” Happy barked as he trotted up to the Architect. “Maybe we should quit standin’ around and get the poor guy some help!”

A single gunshot pierced the air, and all of us stopped cold.

“Not one more step further!” Shale shouted as he leveled a rifle straight at Happy. “You cannot deny that what just happened was exactly what I was talking about.”

“Are you fucking kidding me with this!?” I snapped and wheeled around at him on my hooves. He reacted by shifting his rifle towards me, but I was far beyond caring. “I’ve dealt with too many damned tyrants to fucking take any more shit from you. You wanna go play leader to your little flock? Fine! Then fucking go and leave us alone!”

As my voice carried over and off the mountain that the Factory was built against, I watched as Shale stared at me with a look of bewilderment across his muzzle.

“Did… did you hear nothing I’d said before!?” He offered as his expression cracked. He looked back to the ponies still shivering in the trenches behind him as if he were looking for some sort of encouragement. All he got however, was more silence.

“Everyone’s heard enough.” Buck said as he too turned around, pulling Shale’s aim over to him. “Your argument is lost on us. Just take the ponies of Tungsten and leave.” Slowly, Buck made his way over to me, standing at my side and looking down to me with a nod.

“N-now you listen here…” Shale grumbled as his face twisted with anger. “I demand that you take us seriously! Our complaints aren’t just our own, they will be shared by the whole of the wasteland once they know all about you!”

“T-then what will it t-t-take?” The Architect’s body whined as he struggled to turn himself back to face Shale. Another sharp whine inside his broken shell ended with a shower of sparks, a small flame erupting from the top, and the Architect himself letting out a soft cry.

“I uh…” Shale paused for a moment, almost unsure of what to even respond with. The longer he held onto that silence, the more I realized that Hispano was right. Shale came looking for a conflict, and I’m sure that he’d been so sure to prove the Factory a villain that he never planned to leave here alive.

But just as I’d thought that, a light lit in his eyes, and he looked directly at the Architect.

“For you... to die.” Shaking his head, he lowered his rifle. “For all machines to die.”

“What!?” Happy howled out as he spun on his hooves. “You can’t just fucking demand the end of all of them! Who the fuck do you think you are!?”

“Not immediately!” Shale dropped his gun in favor of waving his hooves at Happy. “Just… fast enough that they don’t outnumber us.”

With a mechanical clank, the ring that sat around the Architect’s torso released. The cables and wires that held him to his shell snapped off, one by one as he struggled to pull himself free from it. With each line severed, I could see him move slower and with weaker movements.

“Ah, that… is better.” The Architect smiled as the last line severed itself, and he collapsed down into the snow. However, while he seemed more sluggish, his voice leveled out to a more mellow, but normal sounding tone. “I have heard your concerns, Shale, and I agree. A change must be made. All citizens of the Factory will now vote.” His eye flickered away, and both his augmented eye and his normal one were replaced with a rapid scroll of text. Like it had so many times with Ping, after only a moment, it flashed away, leaving him to blink with his normal eye again. “It has been decided. All but one of us has agreed, and the majority has ruled in favor of the change.”

“What… did you vote on?” Happy shook his head, turning back to the Architect and sitting down hard in the snow.

“From this day forward, Factory Zero One will maintain its population growth until a point when it reaches half of Tungsten’s.” The Architect’s muzzle split into a soft but sad smile, and while his eyes filled with tears, they showed no signs of sadness. “Should we happen to acrew more machines after that point, then the oldest machine shall vacate the town, be it by exile, or permanent erasure from the server. Furthermore, no unit will be permitted a replacement if damaged to the point of non functionality. Meaning, we will die just the same as any pony if hurt enough. Is this acceptable?”

“I... I would have to run it past the rest of the townsfolk,” Shale offered, again looking back to the others for confirmation, but only finding each of them turning their shame filled looks away. “but... it would certainly be a comfort to the ponies of the town.”

“Then for the sake of efficiency and ease, would it help if I were to 'cut a deal' so to say?” The Architect groaned, struggling to use his forelegs to prop himself up out of the snow enough to see Shale give a soft shrug and nod. “As a show of goodwill towards this new agreement, I volunteer myself as the first machine to have it applied to, and as such will self terminate once an agreement has been made.”

“Architect, you can’t...!” Happy flailed as he cried out, throwing up a spray of snow that showered down slowly over the Architect.

“It is alright.” Weakly, he turned his head up enough where he could smile at Happy. “It is my duty to do this. And once I am gone, Factory Zero One will continue to thrive, just as the original Architect wanted.”

“Just… a question. What if you’re lying.” Shale’s hesitant and shrill tone made my eye twitch, and pulled all of our glares at him. “How will we know that you’re really gone?”

“How the fuck could you even assume he’d lie to you? Has he ever lied to you before!?” I growled out as my legs trembled, wanting nothing more than to gallop across the snow and slam right into his smug fucking face until it was nothing more than a fine red pulp.

“Well, no,” Shale again took a step back defensively, shaking his head at me. “B-but self preservation is a strong instinct! You're this 'Survivor' mare from the radio, so you of all ponies should know how that is.”

“Yes, but as you, me, and the Architect can attest to, we're all willing to give up our own lives to protect our families and communities, right?” I pointed my hoof back at the Architect, but didn’t once move my glare off of the mayor’s stupid fucking muzzle. “I may have failed to protect my convoy, but there hasn't been an hour that's gone by where I wish I could trade myself for them. So when he says he's willing to trade his own life for his community, the least you could fucking do is take him on his word for that when you are the one asking for him to die in the first place!”

“What he’s doing, sacrificing himself?” Happy sniffled as he pulled himself back to his hooves, only pausing to reach up and wipe at his teary eyes. “It’s brave, selfless, and honorable. And even with as heartless a pony as you are, you have to understand just what the fuck a bastard like yourself is asking from him.”

“While I’ll admit it’s a selfless choice, it gets no pity from me.” Shale shook his head, somewhat regaining the same arrogance as he’d had when this all started. “It’s not really alive. It’s not brave, or honorable, because it’s just a machine. It doesn’t have a soul, so it’s not sacrificing anything at all.”

“You know,” Buck let out through a low, static filled growl, “for a pony who can’t himself prove he still has one, that’s a fairly soulless thing to say.”

“Regardless…” The Architect spoke through a tired sounding whine, slowly letting himself fully splay out on the snow covered ground. “The agreement has been made, so my time has come.” With a light laugh, he moved his tear filled eye across us, landing on me as his muzzle widened into a smile that beamed out like one of Ping’s. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me, Night Flight. Ping will continue to assist you with whatever you might need from here on out.”

“I…” I shook my head as my own eye watered up. “No, I’m the one who’s thankful for all of your help.”

“I know.” He gave a soft nod before turning his gaze up to Happy, who’s muzzle was streaming tears down into the snow next to him. “Thank you, Happy, for your friendship. You are the first organic who I can say was truly, a friend to me.” With a sigh, he closed his red eye, dimmed his mechanical optics, and let his smile fade to nothing. And after a moment, the illusion that covered him up flickered and faded completely.

The Architect was gone.

“That… that’s it!?” Happy whimpered through his quivering muzzle. “He’s just… gone? Like Ma? Like everyone fucking else?”

“He used his final moments to say his goodbyes to the Factory.” Buck’s meek voice all but squeaked out next to me. “His body was failing, and he stayed as long as he could...”

“It’s… fine.” Happy grumbled as he forcefully dragged his hooves across his face, matting down the rest of his face with snow and tears. “It’s just… it was quicker than I thought it would be.”

It was quick, but… as sad as it sounded, that was almost the best thing about it. Everyone else I’d ever really cared about and lost, at the very least had it quick. Mom, Dad, Violet, the rest of the fucking Crew? Hell, even Hardcase was gone in minutes, before I could really process it at all. So at the very least, the Architect didn’t have to suffer.

And again, part of me waited for the specters of my own mind to chime in to remind me of just how this was all my fault. But I was met only with a deafening silence inside my head.

“So… is that it then?” Shale grunted, reminding everyone just how that insufferable bastard hadn’t even had the common decency to just fucking leave.

“Get the fuck out of here.” I growled and turned back to him. “And I swear, if I ever see you again, I will burn your town to the ground.”

“Alright, then so long as the machines hold up their end of the bargain, we have ourselves an understanding.” He squinted and nodded to me, slowly picking up his rifle and slinging it around himself again.

With a calmness that made me want to throw out this stupid agreement and strike him down now, he turned and walked back to the ponies in the trenches. Within a minute, the other ponies in the trench climbed up and out of their frozen holes, and started the long walk back to Tungsten. Somewhere they could stay and be raided and burnt down for all I cared.

“And what about us?” One of the Rangers in power armor spoke up.

“I’ve helped the Rangers enough. Go home.” I snapped at them. “If you need help, then ask Shale for it. We’re done helping.”

“It’s over, Night.” Buck gave off a wet sniffle of his own, using one of his digits to wipe the tears from his eyes before reaching down and holding his paw out to me. “Let’s go.”

“Yeah.” I nodded, taking one last look at the cowards of Tungsten before turning and climbing up into Buck’s grasp. “We’ve got more important things to do now.”

The silence that had fallen through the halls of the Factory was heavy. Even from inside the diner where we’d all gone to collect ourselves, none of us had even really spoken. I don’t think that any of us had been prepared for anything like this. I’d only known the Architect for a short time, and while he’d trusted me more than I think I realize, I still felt like I hadn’t really known him well enough. At least, not in the way that Happy had gotten to know him.

My eyes kept looking off across the diner, to the backroom door. Happy had gone in there a half hour ago, saying he just wanted to be alone. And while I was sure that was the last thing he needed after this, I… felt like in this case, I needed to respect that wish. Not just because we’d lost a friend, but because I think I also needed some time alone to clear my head.

Pulling myself up from my own booth seat next to Hispano and Buck, I offered them my best comforting smile as I stretched my wings out, giving a light shiver as the colder than average air in here rolled across them. The both of them seemed to understand my restlessness, and didn’t move to stop me as I turned and trotted out the door.

Stepping out into the Factory’s tunnels, I spread my wings and beat them a few times. The whine of an electric motor, and the light squeak of rubber met my ears and made me pause. Looking to where the sounds came from, I watched as an empty taxi cart came rolling to a stop just next to me.

Without even thinking about what it had arrived for, I climbed aboard it. Perhaps it was the part of me that knew that if it was here, it meant I needed to be somewhere for something important. Or maybe I’d gotten on just because it didn’t matter where I needed to be, and that more than anything, I just needed the distraction.

The taxi rode down the hall at it’s normal pace, unhindered by the somber feeling I brought to the trip. We rolled down hall after hall, turning one corner after another until like normal, I felt a little lost amid the Factory’s mirrored hallways. But all the same, the cart rolled to a stop at a familiar set of doors.

Hopping off, I walked my way towards them. Inside, the sound of humming hydraulics and moving machinery met my ears, pushing back the oppressive silence of the tunnels. The bright lights of the factory’s assembly room glowed, reflecting off the panes of glass that a single Ping unit stood in front of. As I entered the room, it’s bulbous metal head turned back to me, revealing the Architect’s tri-optic left eye had been installed on it’s body.

“Hey there, Night.” Our Ping’s voice came from the new machine, almost making me miss a step as I came to a stop. With a flicker, his illusionary body appeared around him, but left the Architect’s optics to stick out. “So I guess… I am the Architect now. Despite being the only dissenting vote, the only one who wanted to keep him alive… he left everything to me. To his first son, who in the end, only let his father down.” With a sigh, he turned his gaze back out to the hard working machines beyond the windows. “Is that not great?”

For once, I didn’t even have to think of what to say. I’d been here, right on the other side of this moment. So instead, I pushed myself to walk right up to him, and threw my hooves around him tightly.

“I’m so sorry, Ping.” I whined as I squeezed him as tightly as I could. “I know you miss him, and I want you to know that we’re all here for you.”

“Thank you, Night.” Ping’s soft tone came with a sniffle and a tight hug back as he sat himself on his haunches. “These… emotions are ones I have never quite had to grapple with before. I know that they will get better with time, but…” He paused as he tensed up and let out a few quiet, tearless sobs.

“I know.” I nodded and simply held him. “Trust me when I say, I understand, Ping.”

“I had hoped to come here to distract myself with work.” Ping let out a sad laugh, shifting as he pushed me away gently. Looking toward the window again, he gestured out to the dozens of working assembly machines in the room beyond. “But… my father finished all of it. His short life’s work, completed and fully operational.” He shook his head softly, letting the tears drip down over the beaming smile he’d always worn. “It is magnificent, is it not?”

For a minute, we just sat in silence and watched the machines work. I watched as all in the same room, pieces of metal went from blocky chunks, to precision cut parts, to entire complete sections of Ping units. It really was a marvel to see, but still, it wasn’t what was important right now.

“I thought you couldn’t build any more machines?” I know that the last thing I wanted to do was honor the deal made with Tungsten, but… it’s what the Architect wanted.

“These are nothing but empty shells, waiting to be filled. I don’t consider them towards the count of our citizens.” Ping’s gaze ran across the machines once more, and I watched as both rage and sorrow fought a war under his illusionary skin. “There are still machines here who lack proper replacement bodies to the ones they left in order to live on the server. One day in the future, I am hopeful that Tungsten will have grown enough that many of those on the Factory server can occupy the majority of these mobile units.”

That made sense to me, but even so, it didn’t feel right. I don’t care if the Architect thought his concerns were valid, it was selfish of Shale to demand what he did. And part of me knows that at some point in the future, it will be the citizens of Tungsten who encroach on the lands of the Factory, and will demand to use their space and materials for their own gain. But that’s not something I’m prepared to worry about, and I’m sure it’s far enough in the future that Ping isn’t worried about it either. There’s a far greater and immediate concern that still needed to be addressed.

“Are you going to be alright?” I asked, forcing a momentary look of uncertainty to flicker across Ping’s muzzle. “I just… when I felt this way, I had decided to indulge myself in the things I thought would take away the pain. And well…” Reaching up, I slid my hoof along the metal optics I too wore on the side of my face. “You know how that turned out.”

“Yes, I will be alright.” Ping nodded, finally pulling his attention away from the working machines to bring his smile to me once more. “And I thank you for your concern. However, I do not need the help of pharmaceutical concoctions to feel good again. Just… the company of friends is enough for me.” His smile dimmed at that, and his eyes shifted off of me for a moment. “Though, I suppose that now I am the Architect, I will get to see less of you all.”

“What do you mean?” I got that he had more responsibilities now, but…

“I am sorry, but I cannot go southward with you.” He forced up his smile again, but I could tell it was a fight in and of itself to keep across his muzzle. “My duties now lie here, with the Factory and it’s Citizens. Perhaps if you wish, before you go, I could assign a different Ping unit to help on your journey.”

“But… you can be in both places at once, right?” I know that his duties were important, and given the state of things it was a selfish thing to ask. “All of us, we want you to come with us, not some other Ping unit we don’t even know.”

“That is a selfish way to phrase it, Night, but I do not blame you.” His smile finally died as he turned back towards the door. Shaking his head, he hung it with a sigh. “There will be points where I can perhaps justify using a mobile unit that I can arrange to be stored aboard the Arcturus. However, as you get further from the Factory, I will be able to afford less and less time transferring to it. So I am sorry, but unless it is imperative that I come to you, I must keep the Factory as my priority.”

Spinning once again, I forced myself into another hug around him. I know that it wasn’t goodbye forever, but I also knew that things from here on out would be different. And as he hugged me back and quietly sobbed along with me, I knew that he felt the same way.

“I think it is time, Night.” With another sigh, he gave me one final tight squeeze and let me go. “The Factory has kept you in the north quite long enough.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.” Nodding, I pulled my hooves back and wiped at the matted fur along my muzzle.

“Before you depart however, the Factory does still have some help to offer for your journey.” With his normal smile pulling across his muzzle again, he raised his hoof toward the door. “Let us gather the others, and I will show you what I mean.”

“Hello there!” The cheery voice of a new stallion called out as all of us walked behind Ping into the Armory.

The great blast door in the back was wide open, and the many mechanical arms inside were hard at work re-arranging things and pulling things out of their place. Entire pallets of boxes and guns were being loaded onto a few flatbed style taxi-carts, only to be then driven out through the door and into the tunnels beyond.

“Hello, Stopwatch.” Ping called back as he slowed from a trot to a walk, approaching both Ottie and the frail looking stallion I’d seen in the operating room observation window. “I am sorry I have not had much time to get acquainted with you, but the Architect spoke highly of how well you have maintained Ottie since the two of you arrived here.”

“Well, Ottie has always been my responsibility to take care of.” Stopwatch reached a hoof up and pushed his glasses further up his muzzle. “And while I never got much of a good chance to speak with him at length, he was a good machine, and I’m sorry for your loss.” With a firm stretch, he held his hoof out to Ping with a sad, but warm grin. “Anyway, what can I help you with?”

“Now that Sierra is gone, it was the wish of the Architect that you and Ottie would take over as the heads of maintenance for the Factory.” Ping looked around the room, pulling Stopwatch’s own gaze to follow. “You would both be in charge of the day to day maintenance of other units, as well as the general purpose machines that keep the Factory running.”

“That’s… a rather tall order, don’t you think? Half the reason I am able to maintain Ottie is because he’s more clockwork than computer chips.” Stopwatch cringed as he brought his hoof up and rubbed at his neck. “I mean, I am honored he wanted me in such a role, but I’m not really knowledgeable about all of… this.” He gestured to the whole of the room around him before giving a shrug.

“Aww, come on, Stopwatch!” Ottie’s nixie tube eyes flickered over to inverted V’s as his muzzle split into a brassy smile. “It could be fun, and we could learn about it together!”

“You need not give an answer now, however the offer is there should you wish to take it.” Ping’s beaming smile moved between Stopwatch and Ottie before turning towards the rest of us behind him. “Now, about that help I promised.”

“Look, Ping, you’ve already helped enough.” Happy sighed and took a step forward, “We don’t…” He paused as a silverfish drone approached from within the armory, carrying a shoebox sized metal case underslung from it. Carefully, it hovered down to in front of Happy’s hooves and released it before skimming back off into the armory. With a light kick, Happy scooted the lid off of it, revealing Laika’s tri-barreled spacegun, sitting snug in what looked to be a custom made metal studded, black leather chest holster. “It’s… perfect!”

With the tenacity of a five year old colt on hearth's warming eve, he tore the gun and holster out of the box. He swung it over himself, easily latching the rig tight over his leather jacket and floral print tee shirt. Giving himself a shake, he laughed as the gun didn’t even jiggle, sticking right where he could easily grab it with his muzzle.

“While you may have grown fond of that sword, there may be points in the future where you may wish you had a ranged weapon.” Ping gave out a soft laugh, pulling Happy’s attention away from his new toy and back up to the smiling machine. With his unusually fast burst of speed, Happy galloped over and wrapped his hooves around Ping in a tight hug.

“Thank you, Ping!” He whimpered as he squeezed hard enough that even Ping looked like he was having trouble dealing with the pressure. “You’re the best, Bud!”

“Yeah, yeah, good for you.” Hispano grumbled as she almost too easily pried Happy off of Ping and pushed him aside. “Now!” She squeaked and rubbed her talons together gleefully, “What special something do you have for me?”

“Hispano…” Cora grumbled as he pinched his beak with a sigh. “What have I taught you about patience?”

“Not much if I’m going to be honest…” The words all to easily slipped out of my muzzle, drawing a well deserved, sharp glare from Cora. Good to see that now he’s recovered from the incident with Mr. Wizard, he is as intimidating as ever!

“As stated before,” Ping let off a soft laugh that helped defuse the situation a bit as he looked down to the excitable griffon. “Additional equipment has been projected to be detrimental to your combat effectiveness, making a gift for you not so easy to choose. So to you and your father, we have given you access to the Factory’s databanks. Inside is a collection of wartime documents only rivaled in size by the Enclave before they fell.”

“Ugh, reading?” Hispano deadpanned. “Gee, thanks.”

“I would not be so dismissive.” Ping laughed despite Hispano’s flat look up at him. “Technical schematics and manuals for many wartime devices and machines, as well as training documents on advanced combat and infiltration tactics are contained within. Their knowledge may be of some use to you if you are to pursue a life as a Talon Mercenary.”

“That is more than generous of you.” Cora looked somewhat surprised, but I could tell he was trying his best to hide that fact. “Thank you, Ping.”

“You are very welcome.” He beamed out his normal smile, that while it was good to see, looked slightly off with the Architect’s optics adorning him the way they did. Then again, I’m sure that now I had a set of my own optics stuck on my head, I wasn’t going to seem the same to the others as well. Either way, Ping turned his smile to me, and gestured out with his hoof. “As for you, Night Flight, Sierra and the Architect had previously arranged for something special.”

Another Silverfish hovered out from inside the armory. However this time, there wasn’t a box strapped underneath it, rather, it was a harness of sorts. Leather straps wrapped together in the same fashion as a grenadier battle saddle, but along both sides sat three spots for grenades. Sitting on its bottom, sat a larger mechanism that I couldn’t work out what it was for, but on the top and between where my wings would sit, sat a smooth teardrop shaped bulb of metal. Sparkling on its surface, sat three evenly spaced ruby red gemstones that ebbed a soft glow, and sitting dead center between them, was the crackling thunderstone from my old jump pack.

“This may not help you get into the air as efficiently or quickly as your jump pack had, but the gravity talismans on this saddle should help to keep you light enough that you should find it easier to fly with your feathers.” Ping’s smile started to glow as the drone dropped it just short of me. The gems on the harness hummed to life as it all but floated through the air. I was so stunned at it that I almost didn’t reach out to stop it from floating right past me! “You will be able to carry six grenades at once, and with your upgrade, will no longer require a trigger bit to release them, just your thoughts.”

I blinked as my vision fuzzed for a moment, and an overlay came up. A projection of an artificial horizon, as well as standard technical flight information hovered just around the edges of my vision. Airspeed, angle of attack, and tons of navigational data was all at the ready, along with an outline showing that the six grenade slots and once centerline slot on the harness were empty. The layout of it all was something every filly and colt in the Enclave knew as the standard display for somepony in mark II powered combat armor.

“There is also a hardpoint for the use of a single underslung 105mm shell if you wish, as you have been notably effective with them in the past.” Ping lifted his hoof, effortlessly rotating the nearly floating harness over to show the large underslung mechanism. “While the Factory has loaded a fair amount of grenades onto the Arcturus for you, we sadly do not have any cannon ammo in that size. However, it was a fairly common caliber used by the Equestrian armed forces, and as such, you should have little trouble locating ammunition for it.”

“I… I…” Fucking words, Night. Use them! “I don’t even know how to thank you, Ping.” Falling back on what Happy had done, I all but leapt forward and threw my hooves around him in a hug.

“Well, you can start by holding up your end of the bargain with the Factory.” He let out a light hearted laugh that forced a smile across my muzzle. “Speaking of which, the first tower we need you to modify is the radio tower at the heart of Terrace, in what is now the capital of the Spectrum Federation.” Giving me a soft pat on the back, I looked up to find that his grin had fallen into a somewhat nervous state. “There will more than likely be a few issues they will have with that, but I believe that you will be able to successfully negotiate the modifications to their tower.”

“We’ll get it done.” I nodded as I pulled myself back. “You can count on us, Ping.”

“So, what’s Buck get?” Hispano chimed in again, pulling everyone’s attention to the somewhat surprised look across his face for being put on the spot.

“Uh…” His jagged metal muzzle split as he reached up and rubbed at the metal yolk with a rubber tipped mechanical paw. “The Factory gave me back my mobility, my life and family.” His smile softened as his eyes drifted to Hispano, then down to me. “They’ve already done more than enough for me.”

“Yes, we feel that, like Hispano, Doctor Buck would only be hindered by any further additions the Factory could bestow.” Ping nodded before pointing up to the Architect’s mechanical eye on the side of his head. “However you should know, that he has also agreed to be a point of routing for information for anytime you are away from the Arcturus. He will be your point of contact with the Factory at any time it is needed to reach us here.”

“About that...” Happy sighed as he walked up and wrapped his hoof around the back of Ping’s neck and practically hung on it. “Are you sure we couldn’t convince you ta’ come south with us, bud? We could really use all the hooves we can get ta’ help take down Solomon once and for all.”

“As much as I wish I could, I must stay here.” Ping nodded softly as his beaming smile all but died. “It was my father’s wish to take his place, so I am sorry, Happy. I cannot go.”

“Well, it was worth a shot.” Happy sighed and gave Ping a few heavy pats on the back before pushing himself to stand tall again. “But I get it, you’ve gotta take care of your family. Nothing wrong with that.”

“I am glad you understand.” Ping nodded before looking across the five of us. “Now, as much as it pains me to say it, the Arcturus has been stocked, and Eliza’s core systems have been transferred and installed on the ship. You are all more than prepared for your journey.” Lifting his forehoof, he held it out for me to grasp. “I wish you all good luck on your journey, and I hope you will give miss Tofu and mister Delta my regards.”

“Will do, Architect.” I offered as I took his hoof and gave it a firm shake. “Take care of yourself as well. That body needs to last the rest of your life, you know.” That pulled a somewhat nervous chuckle from Ping, but to be honest, he took the comment in stride. Looking to the others, I nodded to the doors. “Well guys, what do you say we hit the skies?”

“One last thing.” Happy snorted with a cant of his head. “Did you or the Architect ever make any progress with the location of the Ark?”

“Well...” Ping cringed at that, but sighed. “We managed to pull up a few similar results for the code B-1919+21 V42. B-1919+21 is a known pulsar in the southern hemisphere, first discovered and used to guide zebra explorers during the second age of exploration. 21-V42, a chemical compound invented as a rudimentary solid fuel for use in the Zx-42 anti-ship rocket. 1919-B, a timing mechanism for the Bv102a1 standard archano engine commonly used aboard the Strider class coastal defense skimmer. No other results were correlated in our database.”

“That’s… less helpful than I’d hoped.” I didn’t mean to sound so disappointed, but after all this time, I’d thought that maybe we could have found a lead.

“No, that’s fine.” Happy smiled and waved his hoof dismissively. “My family planned the heist of this ship at great expense, they wouldn't have made it so simple to look it up like that. Thank’s for lookin’ though, bud."

“I wish I could help more in the search for the Ark.” Ping nodded and looked back to me with a forced but sad smile. “As I said, the Enclave had access to many records we do not have access to. Perhaps their remnants in the Spectrum Federation will have the information you are looking for.”

“I hope so as well.” I nodded and looked over to Happy. “Either way, we’ll find it eventually. But first, we’ve got to actually get out there to look. Ready to say goodbye to the north, Happy?”

“I’d say it’s about damn time.” Happy snorted and brought his hoof up to rest on the hilt of his silver sword. “Solomon ain’t even gonna know what hit him once we’ve caught up!” While I was doubtful it would be anywhere that easy, with the tools we’d gained, I felt like at the very least we had a fighting chance again.

A chance that we’d all fought hard and sacrificed enough for that I wasn’t about to let it go to waste. Looking across at my friends and family, I knew that finally, we were ready to move on and put this chapter in the north behind us.

It was time to move south.

“Ship’s systems are green across the board, Captain.” Eliza chimed with her normal monotone voice as her smiling mare displayed across most of the screens on the bridge. “Shall I plot a course for the Spectrum Federation?”

“Yes please, Eliza.” I nodded to her as I walked in and sit myself next to the console that Double Delta’s face had busted. I shifted myself, listening with a smirk as the leather straps of my new flight harness creaked as I broke them in. While the straps were loose enough for me to have unrestricted movement, they were tight enough that the whole thing felt like a second skin to me. “And on that, are you sure you’re ready to go?”

“We’re fully stocked and ready for this trip.” Eliza’s mare shifted to the picture of the one with shifting, unsure eyes. “The Arcturus is as ready as she’ll ever get. However, the Spectrum Federation’s weather service has put out a forty eight hour sever snowsquall warning for the southern Misery range.”

“Yes, that’s all and good to hear, but that’s not what I asked.” I let a light chuckle creep out of my muzzle. “Are you ready to go? It could be a long time before you see the Factory again you know.”

“That is true.” Her mare shifted once more back to the bright smile. “However, I believe I am ready to move on. I want to see the world, without reservations or fears, our talk from before helped me to see that clearly. I know it will be tough, and I may not understand it all at first, but I’m willing to give it a chance.”

“Well, we’re all here if you need to talk about it, Eliza.” Again, I laughed as I shook my head. “To be honest, I’m not sure any of us understand what we’re getting into on this trip, but I’m glad we’ve got you along with us.”

“Speak for yourself.” Double Delta let out a groan as he stepped through the bulkhead onto the bridge. He threw a halfhearted salute to me from the side of his head which wore a fairly familiar looking eyepatch. “Evening, Captain. Don’t mind me, just trying to get myself back on my hooves and ready for what we’ll find out there.”

“Yeah, and what’s that?” I snorted and crossed my hooves across my barrel. While I didn’t exactly know Double Delta all that well, one thing I could assume he had over me was experience in the worst the wasteland was going to throw at us.

“Oh you know, monsters, mayhem, and death.” He winced as he stopped next to me and stared over at the broken terminal. He gave a slight shudder before blinking and taking a few more steps. “Trust me when I say that you’re going to need all hooves on deck for a trip as ambitious as this.”

“To be fair, I think I’ve been doing fairly well so far.” I spat out half-heartedly before scrunching up my muzzle. You know, maybe if I wasn’t missing a leg, an eye, and part of my brain, I could say that with as much confidence as I’d just tried to get away with…

“Perhaps.” He nodded as he shrugged off my words with a smirk. “But we aren’t out of the Misery range just yet, so don’t go counting your clouds before they burst.”

A sharp buzz came through the ship P.A. system, perking both Delta and my ears to it.

“Hey, uh, Captain?” Tofu’s somewhat reserved voice called out. “Everything on board is locked down and good to go, but I needed to ask, where exactly did you want me to stick Ping’s spare body?” Right, I’d forgotten he’d arranged to have one put on here...

“Uh, wherever it’s convenient, I guess? I don’t know.” I called out, hoping that Eliza was relaying my voice back to her. Oddly, Double Delta cringed and shook his head at me.

“Belay that, Tofu.” He grunted. “Just move it to where it’s out of the way there in the weapons bay.”

“Alright, will do!” She cheerfully chimed in, putting the smirk back on Delta’s lips.

“You want to be Captain? Then you need to be decisive.” Reaching out, he gave me a pat on the side before pushing himself back to his hooves. “And you know, if you ever aren’t sure what to do?” Lifting his hoof, he pointed back to himself. “Then just delegate it to your first officer, and I’ll see to it that it gets done.”

“Hah, alright.” I smirked and nodded as he once again threw up a lazy salute and trotted himself off the bridge toward the front of the ship. “Well then, I guess this is it.”

“Eeyup, we’re actually doing it.” Eliza’s mare shifted again, this time displaying the frowning mare with a single tear under her eye. “Cloud drive engaged, all ahead full. Goodbye, home. I’ll see you again some day.”

I watched across her screens as she flicked her own mare away in favor of a combined image of the ground below us, slowly drifting away. My eyes wandered across the snow covered grounds of the factory, moving from the mountainside entrance, to the train tracks that cut next to the smoking remains of where the oversized SFG had been. I smirked as I saw PB wiggling the stubby cannon pods on the side of her chassis like she was waving goodbye to us.

But then my eyes moved toward the wall as it drifted into frame, stopping on the sealed remains that had been set up by Bertha’s tire. The remains of my friends, the family who’d taken me in and helped me adjust to the wasteland, still sat alone and unattended. While we were finally ready to move on south, it hadn’t really sunk in so much that… this was it. I was leaving them here, probably never to be seen again.

They didn’t deserve this, to be left alone up here. But as much as that thought hurt me deep inside, it was all the fuel I needed to push myself forward. I couldn’t take more than the memories of my time with them along with me, but I was going to damn well make sure that they didn’t die in vain.

As the boxes slowly drifted away, out of sight behind the looming wall of the Factory, I nodded to myself. Things were going to be different this time on the road southward. I had all the tools I needed, and with my friends and family, I felt like we could accomplish anything. As for what exactly that would be?

Well, I’ll settle for nothing less than to find the Ark first, and for Solomon’s smug look to fade away as I watched the life drain from his eyes.

Author's Notes:

As always, a HUGE thanks to TheFurryRailFan for the help in going over the chapter, as well as for letting me use Stopwatch and Ottie in the story! If you'd like to go see the story of how they made it to the Factory, go check out his story: Iron Horses!