A/N: This story is largely inspired by the movies I Am Legend, Silent Hill, and the Vincent Price classic, The Last Man on Earth. There are also several other influences on the story as well.
Prometheus
Prologue: The Prometheus Project
Thunder roared, while lightning illuminated the large, dim room as me and my colleagues began the final preparations for our...grand experiment that one fateful night.
With a contented sigh, I took a moment to put our latest creation under my academic scrutiny. Standing before me now, was undoubtedly the pinnacle of Equestrian arcane technology.
Built with the miracle combination of earth pony engineering and unicorn magic, the lighting from the raging storm served to bring out the machine's robust, delicate components. Electrified blue light bounced off of the gleaming metal forms of pipes, plating, duct work, and the mesh work of gears and cogs.
The machine–a generator, was shaped like a cylinder. Situated in the center of the gathering hall of Ponyville Town Hall, we could observe each and every corner of its marvelous construction simply by pacing the entirety of the room.
Arrayed around the main construct, was a series of electric coils graciously provided by the scientific genius Neighkola Tesla. Connected to the generator by thick bundles of black electrical cable, his revolutionary coils allowed for our creation to send out power to anywhere via the very air itself, without the need for long distance wiring of any kind.
I once stuck a hoof into a coil's electrical field out of curiosity when I first observed them, and had instantly regretted it. The coil had been actively connected to a coal-burning steam generator.
It had taken us days to work the hairs of my mane and coat back into their proper places after that. And that wasn't even considering the work required getting the ashes of my previous lab coat out of the fur as well. Octavia had been furious as she had seen my appearance upon returning home, fussing over me like there was no tomorrow.
Regardless of all the trouble from my little...mishap, my admiration of Tesla's creations only grew.
With that admiration in mind, I managed to convince my fellow project lead, Twilight Sparkle, to install them instead of the unwieldy, brutish Edison electric poles initially planned to provide wiring for our machine.
"Hey, sleeping beauty! Wake up!" I heard a voice rudely command. I look away from the machine, to the area behind me. Speaking of brutish... Right in front of me, was Rainbow Dash.
The pegasus was hovering in the air glaring down at me, her wings furiously undulating. We were almost muzzle to muzzle as she angrily poked at my chest with her foreleg.
"We have a very, very tight schedule to keep, Hooves! Equestria can't afford to have her top brains idly daydreaming while there's an energy crisis afoot! Time's a wasting egghead, and you not realizing that, is just uncool."
She courteously withdrew her hoof from my chest, and folded her forelegs across her own chest, still hovering in the air.
"Get the Prometheus Engine thingamajig running and prove to me that it works, or I'm gonna submit a very nasty report to the Princess!" She warned.
Why Celestia ever appointed a hot head like Rainbow as the Overseer of this grand project when we already had Twilight Sparkle here still, to this very aching day, confounds me.
"Ugh..right, I'm on it." I hastily replied back.
As the rain pelted against the thick glass panes like hordes of angered beetles, while Rainbow Dash's voice rung in my ears, I broke out of my musing, and set about turning the technological marvel online. Manipulating a series of levers and buttons with my hooves, our creation thundered to life.
Cogs meshed together and turned gears, lights blinked on and off on the various panels and display screens, and steam hissed and spat from the pipes, venting the generator's excess heat safely outside into the storm-dominated sky.
"All systems appear to be functioning as normal." I shouted over the loud din of the machinery.
I trotted away from the controls, and took my place beside my fellow scientists. Watching the machine shake and roar left me with such an odd mixture of anticipation, excitement, and perhaps even a little...dread.
Oh pardon me! You must be wondering what the generator machine is for, aren't you? Well, I can only describe it briefly right now, given my present-day circumstances. Suffice to say, Equestria was suffering from some very, very serious issues, and our creation, the Prometheus Engine–was intended to solve them permanently.
It was our hope that we could be make things better for all ponykind with our work... but we were so, so very naïve.
Forgive me, I'm going on a tangent again, my...my mind tends to do that from time to time. Anyways, my emotions were indeed mixed as I observed Prometheus roaring to life in the middle of Town Hall that night.
Twilight Sparkle, standing next to me, took a moment to glance away from her clipboard and the machine itself to stare at me with her head tilted in curiosity.
"Are you alright Doctor Hooves" Twilight asked me, leaning in closer so I could hear her. Nodding my head, I chuckled. "You bet! We're making history today, Doctor Sparkle."
Twilight grinned at me. The Prometheus Engine, now building up current within the guts of its large generator, began creating a vortex-like current of air towards the ceiling. All our manes billowed in the wind, and even Rainbow Dash was forced to land from the force of the gales.
In spite of the wind gust issuing from the machine, Twilight's grin did not falter. Looking around, I saw the others were the same, a few evening cheering and stamping their hooves into the ground in applause.
I remember how comical they looked, their lab jackets and neck ties billowing around like drunken parasprites in a hurricane. Come to think of it, the vortex was a bit like a miniature hurricane. A massive chorus of thunder boomed outside. We had mounted additional coils and a massive lightning rod to the roof of the Town Hall, to draw secondary energy necessary to kick start the Engine's internal processes. The lightning struck home, and the vortex reached its peak power.
With a loud electrical buzzing noise, the lights of Town Hall lit up like Celestia's sun itself, causing us to be temporarily blinded by the brightness. All around Ponyville, the rest of the structures and streetlights followed suit.
In spite of our temporary blindness, and the recurring wind vortex, we all cheered and stamped in unison. The Prometheus Engine Project was a success!
"Holy smokes! That is the most awesome thing, I've yet seen in all my career, and that's something!" Rainbow Dash declared. Forced to stand on the ground like the rest of us, she trotted over to where we were all clustered, and shared a triumphant smirk with Twilight and myself.
"Congratulations egg heads, I see it works! Looks like Princess Celestia will be getting a good report after all. Maybe I've been too harsh on you brainy types." Rainbow Dash followed up her assessment with a playful punch of my shoulder. Playful or not, I did have to rub the soreness away as she trotted off to a nearby table full of refreshments.
While the storm continued to rage outside, the artificial mini-typhoon our Engine had created quickly dissipated. The machine itself had now gone from its initial loud operation, to a more friendly purring noise.
Electricity arced and crackled from both the Tesla coils as well as the innards of the Prometheus Engine. With our initial amazement at our creation functioning as intended fading, we all decided to celebrate, lounging about. Many of my fellow intellectuals were chatting about all the new scientific and economic opportunities we had just opened up with our success.
Others whispered about the military and political benefits the technology might provide for the throne.
In the air above me, I saw Rainbow Dash pop open a bottle of fine Canterlot champagne, and watched as the foam and cork lazily spilled over on the manes of the scientists below her, including myself.
So caught up in the moment were we all, that none of us really cared all that much.
Another scientist, a pegasus, even flew up and joined her, popping the cork off a bottle of vintage hard apple cider. Grinning, I and a few others caught the falling liquid with our glasses and goblets. Rainbow and the other pegasus clinked their bottles together, and simultaneously downed the contents of both, whilst still hovering in the air.
Finishing my drink, I started digging into one of my saddlebags. I managed to fish out a copy of Octavia's latest symphony on a data disc, and inserted it into the first computer I could find. Being a scientist, I'm quite good with computers as you would imagine, and in no time at all I'd managed to not only get the music running on the media player, but also programmed it to play from the Town Hall PA system.
With another cheer at the sudden appearance of exquisite music to highlight our festivities, my fellow researchers broke into dance. Some of them did the tango, others the waltz, and, for a few of the more inebriated ones... sloppy break dancing.
Twilight stared at her intoxicated compatriots, as well as her airborne friend, with her brow raised inquisitively. While the other pegasus harmlessly crashed into a lounge chair, Rainbow Dash drunkenly flew towards her.
"C'mon Twi... Live a little! You all just shaved the world, after all!" I heard her slur. She ended her statement with a loud hiccup. Twilight stared up at her friend with skepticism, not at the worthiness of her declaration, but rather at the pegasus' conduct I guessed.
"I know, Rainbow. But there is a limit to how much a professional should... Let loose like this."
"Soott your shelf then." With a lazy shrug, Rainbow Dash rejoined the festivities, practically flying backwards at this point. Twilight looked at me helplessly, and I merely shrugged at her, grinning back sheepishly.
As the science mare went to another, quiet corner of the room to peer over some data, I heard Octavia's masterpiece continue to play in the background around me.
By Celestia, could that mare write some masterful music, and play a mean cello as well! Never had any night been so alive for me as this had been, nor had any other night been so tragic either. I only wished Octavia could have been there with me to see the looks of joy on our faces, how we had thought we had just saved our country and became heroes.
As I started 'living a little,' as RD had put it, my faculties began to leave me. Sure... Professionals we are. But what was to be expected of us? We're still just ordinary ponies when you come down to it.
Besides, we were all waiting out the storm, before heading home. I had plenty of time to kill, so a few more drinks didn't seem like a bad idea, at the time. I'm sure Octavia would have understood, given how we scientists could often be stuck at work for days at a time...
Eventually, I passed out for an indeterminate amount of time. I was jolted awake however, to a rather frightening occurrence. A powerful boom of thunder, rumbled in the air above the Town Hall, lightning evidently striking the roof rod. Going straight to the Prometheus Engine, the great machine began arcing electricity between itself and the coils violently, providing scant, but unusable illumination.
Without warning, the music died, and all the lights went out at once. Somepony screamed in shock, and I flailed about in the darkness, trying to find Twilight so we could determine the situation.
All around me everypony murmured in confusion and unease. I accidentally step on some of the other scientists' hooves, and I murmured my apologies as I nearly stumbled several times, making my way ever so slowly towards where I had last seen Twilight.
Poking a hoof around to guide my way as my eyes adjusted, the lightning flash outside revealed to me Twilight's form.
She was frantically moving from console to console muttering to herself, trying to get the status monitors and other technology responsive again. "Doctor Sparkle...?" I called out worryingly.
"Twilight, is something going wrong with one of the ArcTech systems?" At first, she didn't say anything back, simply continuing to pace around the banks of computers, mumbling, with the occasional curse word that could make even Celestia, Luna, or even Discord blush.
I could feel a spike of fear beginning to form in my gut. "Twi... Can any of us help?
What's going on?" My voice began to falter as the fear turned to anxiety. With a sudden surprise turn towards me that almost made me jump out of my lab coat and fur, she finally responded.
"Celestia damn it! Neighkola said it would continue to work! This wasn't supposed to happen..." The desperation in her voice was definitely not helping my unease.
"Time Turner... I'm sorry. Apparently the Prometheus Engine isn't what we thought it truly was, its going to...its gonna..." Her voice cracked, and I thought I could hear sobbing begin to start.
Another lighting strike nearby flashed and lit up Ponyville, now electrically dark, and for just a split second, I could make out my colleagues' facial expression amidst the chaos and blackness of the room.
The lavender unicorn's mane was in absolute disarray, her eyelids were ragged, her lab coat completely ruffled... But it was mainly her eyes, her desperate, pleading eyes, that I'll never forget. Every cell in my body screamed at me that something was going horribly...horribly wrong.
My main instinct was to rush up to the unicorn and tell her it was okay... that, oh Celestia help me! That it was okay, and whatever calamity we may have just caused could be... fixed. Acting on my instincts, I flung my forelegs around my colleagues neck, and we just stood there.
She continued to sob into my shoulder as the other scientists continued to stumble around trying to find each other in the confusion. This continued on for several more seconds, as she look back up at me. I could tell, because my eyes had finally adjusted.
Slowly, ever so slowly, she whispered her reply between sobs. "I am so...so very sorry."
Before I could respond, another thunderclap, the loudest any of us had heard yet that night, practically shook the Town Hall to its foundations. The energy channeled to Prometheus, and its electrical currents began to flash blood-red. It would seem as if a spell were about to cast.
"I'm sorry..." Twilight murmured again, just before the machine released its pent-up magical energy.
The event that followed, is what made the night so unbearably tragic, and is responsible for my current situation, here today.
Still holding onto Twilight, I felt the energy sweep through the room. The hairs of my mane stood up on end, the air... the air smelled of copper and ozone, and seemed to swirl as if a colorful gas leak had occurred.
Suddenly, I felt the weight of Twilight's body simply... vanish.
She, she hadn't moved though.
Another second later, the lights came on, the power restored. And I, well I was completely dumbfounded. None of the objects were missing. Bottles lay empty on the floor, Octavia's music started playing again, and the Engine calmed down, resuming its normal mechanical purring noise. But as for my colleagues...
Everypony was just...
They were just, all gone. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, not a single pony was present in the room still but me. There is no way in Celestia's name that they all could have left the room so quickly, and Twilight... She, she never teleported out. I would know, there was no wink of light.
Outside, the thunderstorm continued to rage. And meanwhile, another raged within my mind. All of my objectivity, all my reason and logic, my education, it all screamed at me one solid, tangible fact despite my profound, dreadful confusion.
I was completely, inescapably, alone.
A/N: The setting of this prologue is roughly sometime after the end of Season 3, where instead of becoming an alicorn, Twilight becomes a full-blown scientist intellectual, and Equestria begins to face a certain group of issues and a crisis that I am leaving largely vague for the moment, but I might explain it later on in flashbacks and other plot elements.