I don't own My Little Pony; that belongs to Hasbro.
I don't own Octavia, either; she belongs to Hasbro as well.
Step Lock and this story belongs to myself.
The Eden Machine. A magi-mechanical machine designed to cure illness, violence and hunger in the world...
Eight months ago, I had proposed the Eden Machine idea to the Princesses, who eagerly took my suggestion, turning it into a foreseeable reality.
Seven months ago, several mares and colts were tried for accidental ponyslaughter, leading them to be banished...Loop, a drug Princess Luna had invented to raise money for the machine's build, had spread like wildfire without a cure in sight, causing madness, death, disease and suffering. The banished ended up shipwrecked, but soon found their way back after many losses and many gains...
Six months ago, the Machine was completed, the addictions eradicated as a result...but at the cost of thousands of lives that will never be forgotten. The result of all my hard work and (better yet) all of the hard work of others had finally paid off, a beautiful gigantic cherry blossom tree as a mark of that peace and prosperity...right in between Ponyville and Canterlot.
My name is Step Lock. I'm "an 18 year old prodigy" orchestra and choir conductor from Manehattan, and I am currently residing in Canterlot. Octavia Philharmonica is my protege, marefriend, and first chair cellist. I oversaw the machine's build and completion as well as the Loop distribution, having been the head honcho behind the Eden Fiasco. I am as people call me: insane, unqualified, and a murderer of thousands.
And though no one will believe me, I have the terrible, terrible feeling that something is horribly, horribly wrong.