"Oh, he seems to be coming around now."

Speedy slowly blinked the vapors from his head. He hadn't experienced a headache like this one since his last all-night whiskey party years before. He soon found himself staring at a mare in a labcoat.

"Good morning, sir," she said with a smile. "I bet you're wondering what happened."

He nodded slowly.

"Well, Celestia knew you you'd come and rescue your friend," she started as she began poking him in random places before writing something on a clipboard. "So, you know, a public castration thingy to draw you out, and then plant undercover agents in the crowd so you couldn't identify them... well, it was a trap, okay. And you fell for it."

He tried to say something back, but found his mouth gagged.

"Trying to speak are we?" she asked, amused. "Well. That's just nonsense. A stallion has nothing intelligent to say, you know. Just big testosterone-fueled foal-makers is what you are. Whether or not you accept it. It's always so nice when we get you to remain still."

Speedy didn't react. He wasn't really listening to her. His eyes were fixed on what was behind her.

Vats. Hundreds of them.

Inside each floated a foal, connected to hundreds of wires and tubes. They seemed almost dead, save for a twitch every now and again. A screen displayed the vitals and functions of each child. Other mares were wandering about, pausing to inspect vats here and there and then carry on their way.

Then he turned his attention to himself. He was strapped tightly into a straight-jacket, while held down with Kevlar cables. He attempted to test his confines, but found his body unresponsive.

"A harmless paralyzing agent we've been applying every three hours came an all too familiar voice. Striding around to the front of his vision and shooing away the other mare, was the white princess. She smiled broadly at him with victory etched upon her face. "I been waiting to bring you here. It's only so much more meaningful since you are apparently aware Cadance's 'birth'..."

She spread her wings and twirled in a circle. "Welcome to her birthplace. The Gardens of Gemini. Known only to me."

Speedy stole a quick glance at one of the other mares.

Celestia chuckled. "Them? Oh, Speedy. You disappoint me. They were all 'born' here. I needed assistants after all. Can't have a super-secret place of research without some form of indoctrinated help. I would never get things done."

Speedy's eyes went wide in realization as he looked again at all the children.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" Celestia smiled as she stepped over to lay a hoof on one of the vats as gently as lamb. "Did you know, that, if you were to cut of the leg of a starfish, not only would the starfish regrow the leg, but the leg would regrow another starfish? Same principle here... it started as few cells that I managed to create an entirely new pony."

She gave the glass a tap, and the foal's eyes fluttered open. Upon seeing Celestia, she, for it was a filly, reached out a hoof and laid it opposite of the mare's own hoof.

"This one's almost ready to come out," she smiled. "Isn't she beautiful? Children... so easy to raise into whatever you want. Especially without any corrupted outside influences."

She removed her hoof, and the filly did the same, falling back asleep. "Not even the changelings have a method as pristine and perfect as mine. Thorax being an example. Another king? Honestly."

She slid over and sat down beside the table, laying her head on Speedy's chest. "You should be honored. You are the first male to ever enter this place. I think it's about time my daughters interacted with a stallion. You're going to play a very important part in their future. Maybe."

"You see...," she began starting to get more comfortable atop of him, "from this small sanctuary... I could simply restart all of civilization."

The stallion felt cold at how casually she spoke of the end of the world.

"Unfortunately, Ascendance is only theory at the moment, but Transcendence is becoming the most promising project, we're so close." She shrugged as she snuggled down. She seemed very tired. "Oh well. Penises are very useful, and fun. I try my best to protect my ponies. I really do believe this world is worth redeeming. But, if pushed too far... all I need do is pull the sun a little bit closer to our world."

She yawned and closed her eyes. "Don't worry about your friends trying to find you. We extracted every tracking device, spell, enchantment, and or rune from your body. Those are probably going to leave some minor scars. Once the fur grows back, you won't even notice." She smacked her lips drowsily. "As a bonus, that gave us the necessary tissue samples to start growing Gemini's first males. Hopefully..."

Her head lulled to the side. How long had she been up. "Did you know it's next to impossible to clone a male specimen? Everything has to be perfect for the Y chromosome. Temperature... chemical... balance... oxygen levels... left hand amino acid..."

Then she started snoring.

Speedy didn't know what to do. For once in his life he felt absolutely helpless. Not only could he not move, but his friends couldn't find him, and Celestia's big head weighed a ton. Goodness how many did she eat on a daily basis?

...

...

...

"Mother..."

His attention turned back to Celestia. Now she was mumbling in her sleep.

"Please...," now it seemed like she was begging. "Why do the gods demand blood? Why must we sacrifice him... could we not give them something else instead?"

He remained still for a second. What was she saying?

"His future then. Let him live... but have no children to follow. Would they accept this in exchange for his life?"

Then she started snoring again.