4: Release
Among the Ruins
Chapter 4: Release
((Thanks again to all those who are reading this and to Doom for editing. Sorry about the wait folks, but the good news is I got another job now.))
“Zat... does not sound good.” Dr. Vow muttered as we trotted over to the holographic display.
The semi-transparent hologram came into view, earning a gasp from Redheart and myself and a muttered “Fascinating...” from the doctor.
The display showed my skeleton, which was now the brightest thing there aside from my blood vessels. Of my internal organs, only my stomach, lungs, heart, brain, and a few other organs remained. Where my intestines should have been there was an oddly shaped organ that was a bit brighter and more angular than the rest.
“Is that... a crystal?” One of the hazmat ponies muttered as they looked at the scan.
“It vould appear so...” Dr. Vow muttered. “But vhy is it zere... vhat does it do?”
“The acid's source was the crystals beneath Canterlot,” I offered. “Perhaps those are the same material?”
“It could be...” Dr. Vow replied, “However zat still does not explain vhere the nanomachines are coming from.”
“Perhaps that... crystal... produces both?” Redheart said, zooming in on it with the controls. There were pockets of less dense crystal near the center.
“Zat... should be impossible... Vhere does it get the material to produce zee nanomachines zhen?”
“I... think I know.” I said after a moment of thought. “Back in Canterlot, I'd occasionally come across small piles of metal or crystal that were surrounded by nanomachine swarms. They were like hives for them and the machines would use whatever materials they could find to construct them.”
“That... is a very interesting bit of news.” The Hazmat stallion said.
“It does make sense though.” Tenderheart said. “If there was a small nanomachine plant there then you wouldn't run out of them, and if it was made out of the acid crystal than you have a source for your blood. My question now is why your bones are so bright on the scan. They would have to be made of something denser than calcium to show up that brightly.”
“Zat is correct Tenderheart...” Dr. Vow said. “I vonder... Twilight, would you be willing to try something that could hurt quite a bit?”
“And what would that be?”
“Vell, ze only vay we could get to your bones is with a quick extraction, however it vould be painful due to the tools needed.”
“I'm fine not knowing what they are made of.” I said after a moment's thought. If I had to choose between having a part of my skeleton rather forcibly removed and not knowing, I could deal with ignorance, some prices are too high. “Still, what do we do about the nanoswarm that's apparently inside me?”
“Vell... ze rats are still alive so I think we're okay. All of the Canterlot nanoswarms killed within minutes, it's been over a fifteen minutes since exposure so I think ve vill be okay... Still only von vay to be sure...” Dr. Vow grabbed the head of his suit with his magic and removed it before any of us could react.
“Doctor!” Redheart yelped as he took a deep breath, although a nervous one.
“Stay back.” He said. “I have to be sure before I can release her from ze quarantine. Zis solves zhat question zee fastest, if she's dangerous to be around, I think I'll be able to tell.” He chucked a little, but the attempt at humor fell rather flat.
We stood there in tense silence for a few minutes before I spoke. “Well? Anything?”
“I do not feel any different...” He said with a shrug.
“So it's safe?” Tenderheart asked.
“Apparently so.” He said. “Although, I vould like to check if the nanomachines have entered my bloodstream.” He said trotting over to a machine that had a few syringes on the side of it. He quickly took a blood sample and put it in the machine, the results showing on a screen beside it. “It can't be...” He muttered, reading the results. “It is... Zis could be... I can't believe it...”
“What is it?” I asked, trotting over.
“I tested positive for EIV two years ago, I got it from a patient of mine who coughed up some blood during an examination. Zhis machine is programed to pick up on it, but it's showing that aside from zee nanomachines, there is nothing else that shouldn't be there...”
“So you're saying it...” Redheart trailed off ask Dr. Vow nodded.
“It somehow... killed off zee virus.” He said as he sat down. “I vill have to run some more tests but zhis... ve may have found a working nanoswarm.”
Everypony just stared at each other for a few moments before I spoke up. “That... would actually explain quite a bit.”
“It vould, if the Nanomachines vere constantly repairing any damage done to you and altering your body to keep you alive and carry zee... let's just call it a hive... Were the first few hours to days after you were hit by the swarm and acid cloud painful?”
“I... was unconscious for a while... I don't know how long. When I awoke there were still ponies dying though.”
“Was the wall complete when you woke up? If we can use a few timeline marks that we know from outside...” The Hazmat mare asked.
“Yes, it was... a week after that I spotted the princesses on top of the roof over the city.”
“I remember that... that would put you waking up some point... about... four to six days after the gas release...” She said.
“Zat vould be enough time for a properly working, albeit overzealous, nanoswarm to do its job correctly.” Dr Vow said, thinking for a moment before his expression hardened. “Zis news does not leave zis room.”
“What?” Tenderheart nearly yelled. “We have a working nanoswarm, one that helps ponies, why would you want to h-”
“Because it vould be Canterlot all over again!” Dr. Vow yelled. “I had a friend on von of the nanomachine research teams,” his voice dropped down to barely a whisper. “He was killed by his research when it founds a microscopic crack in its containment unit, zat vos the start of the Nanoplauges. The nachtmahr zat vas caused by that first swarm led to chaos in ze labs and the release of ze rest of ze incomplete nanoswarms. One mistake killed thousands before the EMP vas discovered. One crack, so small zat it vas invisible to ze naked eye, and it vould be ze nanoplauges all over again... I am not about to let zat happen.”
Tenderheart just stared at the doctor for a few moments. “I still think someone should look into a way to reproduce Twilight's nanomachines.” She muttered.
“I vould agree, if not for the fact that ze swarm within her is the von out of hundreds of nanoswarms developed. Trying to reproduce it vithout ze equipment in ze Canterlot labs, it vould be nearly impossible.”
“I have to agree with the doctor on this one.” I said with a frown. “The lab equipment in the labs where the nanoswarms were created was one of a kind. I've been through them, and they’re mostly rubble. It would be nearly impossible to reproduce the equipment unless you had the engineer and the manufacturing drawings.”
“I... well then would you at least be willing to help every now and then in the hospitals Twilight?” Tenderheart asked. “We have a few cases of acid victims from the release before the wall went up, if you could help them...”
“I would love to, but I think we should run it past the princesses first.”
“Finally, hope to heal him...” She muttered, I almost didn't hear it.
“Heal who?”
“Oh... well my brother had acid burns on a good deal of his body from the gas release.” Her voice was pained, and it looked like she was struggling not to cry. “We managed to heal most of the external damage, but the damage to his lungs... he needs 24 hour care and can't leave the hospital. He was just leaving the city when it happened.”
“I... I'll see what I can do. Are there many cases like him?” I asked.
“Thirty in Ponyville Royal, ten in Cloudsdale General, and a few in Manehattan and Fillydelphia.” Redheart listed. “Most of those are wealthier ponies who could afford the cost to move themselves. It's not easy to transport someone like that.”
“I don't doubt that. Anyhow doctor, am I clear to leave?”
“Ja, you may go, but do not tell anypony aside from ze princesses about ze nanoswarm. You of all ponies should understand why.” Dr. Vow said. “Actually, let me exit first, zat vay they vill know you're safe without all the damn tedious papervork...” He chuckled as he headed for the door. I glanced over to the Hazmat ponies to see if it was okay and, at a shrug from them, followed him out.
As soon as I stepped out I heard someone nearly yelling “Twilight!” only moments before I was tackle-hugged by a flying pink blur.
“Hi Pinkie.” I said chuckling.
“Ohmygosh! I almost can't believe it's actually you Twilight, when we heard that you were in the city, I couldn't stop crying for almost a year and then I was all Saddie-Pie, but now that you're back I don't have to be sad anymore, I-”
A blue hoof came into vision as it was stuffed into Pinkie's mouth. “Geze Pinks, don't talk her ear off, let us have a chance to speak as well.” Rainbow Dash helped me back to my hooves before hugging me as well. “We thought you were dead...” She said, as she hugged me, her head on my shoulder. “I... well I suppose we should take you to the others, when Pinkie ran out of the room I was the only one who followed her, the rest are just down the hall.” I held back a few tears.
“Thanks.” I said and followed my friends as Pinkie attempted to bring me up to date. I say attempted because she was speaking so fast I couldn't understand her. This is actually happening... I'm finally free of that place. A memory from one of the first few days after I awoke surfacing.
I trotted through one of the residential districts of Canterlot, the thick green mist obscuring my vision past about three blocks. Every now and then a droplet of acid would land on me. They never burned me, and just felt cold.
A cough echoed through the streets, slightly louder than my hoofsteps.
“Hello?” I called.
“In here.” I heard a mare's voice say as the porch lights flickered on one of the houses. I quickly trotted over to it.
As I trotted up to the door I found myself staring down the business end of a crossbow. “You better not be after any of my fil- oh... How in Celestia's name are you still alive?” She said as she lowered the crossbow. I could see her face was obscured by a gasmask and the rest of her body was covered in an acid-proof suit from one of the factories. The back of her head was covered with the hood as well.
“I wish I could tell you.” I said after the shock of having a crossbow pointed at my face wore off. “I'm Twilight Sparkle.”
“Morning Dew,” she said smiling. “Come on in, I’ve got a safe room with some supplies in the basement, if you don't mind going through decontamination.”
“Yeah I'm fine with that. Wait, if you have a safe room why are you up here?”
“Simple, I want to scavenge as much food as I can, I have the supplies and equipment to survive for five years in my bunker, but I don't want to use any of that if I can help it. Sealed tin cans are still good, and you can tell which ones are bad the moment you open them.” She said nodding to a bag by the door.
“Good thinking. What was that about filters then?”
“Oh, Well when the gas started shooting out of the sewers I was working in the chemical plant just north of here, those of us who were working the floor had full hazard gear on, and access to the plant's stock of mask filters, we split them up evenly, but somepony got the idea in his head that he could nick a few from the others, I thought you might have been him.” She explained as she led me through the house into the basement. “Sorry about the crossbow by the way.”
“You didn't fire so I'll forgive you.” I replied with a smile. “So you have some kind of bunker then?” I ask as we weaved through her basement.
“Yeah, I had it built when I moved here after hearing about how close I'd be living to the largest chemical plant in Equestria. You have no idea how glad I am that I put a few hundred thousand bits into building that thing right now.”
“I can only imagine.” I said with a shudder. “Take my advice, don't go through the market district anytime soon... I don't think I found all of the survivors, but the streets were full.”
“I... geeze...” She said as we reached a large concrete door. She tapped a code into a keypad beside it and the door slid off to one side into the wall. As we stepped in the door slid shut behind us. Sprinklers in the roof doused us with water for about a minute after she put her saddlebags in a slot on the wall. “I don't even want to imagine how horrible that must have been.”
“Yeah... I helped whoever I could, but all I could do is an anesthetic spell.”
“At least you could do something...” She said as the sprinklers cut out. “Between the Nanoplauges and that acid gas... It just makes you feel helpless at times.”
“I know the feeling.” I said as the other door slid open. She trotted into the next room and began removing her hazmat suit. “Still, it's nice to see another pony that made it.”
“Mom!” I heard a voice from the other side of the room. I looked over to see a grass green earth pony filly run towards Morning Dew.
“Give me a hand with this will you Summer?” She asked and the filly nodded, undoing a zipper on the back of the one piece orange rubber bodysuit. After a moment she was free and had removed her mask. She was a cream colored earth pony with a blue and cream striped mane. Her cutie mark was a set of industrial valves. “Twilight, this is Summer Fields, my daughter.”
“Hi Miss Twilight.” The filly said cheerfully. “You have odd eyes.”
“Summer!”
“It's alright.” I said with a chuckle. “I guess I do, I don't know why they're like that, I woke up a few days ago and they just were.”
“Ah, probably has something to do with that green stuff from the sewers then.” Summer said.
“Probably.”
“I don't want to breathe that stuff, it made those ponies on the street act weird; I just ran down here like mom said to.”
“Anyhow, do you need a place to stay?” Morning Dew asked me.
“I found a small clothing shop near where I woke up and have a place set up there. It's not the best, but I don't want to impose on you two.” I said before dropping my voice so that Summer couldn't hear me. “Besides, I want to see if I can find any other survivors.”
“I won't keep you here then, but at least stay for a while and talk.”
“I'd like that.” I said with a smile.
They gave me a communication gem when I left. We stayed in touch for a few weeks, but I couldn't return to the bunker. The house was weakened by the acid and collapsed. The bunker survived, but they stopped responding on the communication gem.
Pinkie stopped her rambling as we stepped into the room where everyone had been waiting. “Twi'!” I heard from my right as I was tackle-hugged off my hooves again, this time by Applejack.
“H-hi everypony.” I said. “Um, Applejack, kind of hard to breath down here.”
“Oops, sorry sugarcube.” She said sheepishly causing everypony to chuckle. She helped me up after a moment.
“It's alright Applejack.” I said with a smile. “It's great to see all of you again.”
“I don't think anyone here doubts that Twilight Sparkle.” Luna said. “Least of all me...” She added in quietly. I think Celestia was the only other one in the room to hear it though.
My parents had trotted up in the meantime. “We thought we had lost you...” Mom said before hugging me. “Don't ever leave again.”
I hugged her back as Dad joined in the hug.
“Group hug!” I heard Pinkie shout from my right and soon felt everypony joining in.
Stats
Page generated in 0.026 seconds
Total duration
1,017 users online
259,880 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Angels singing Haleluja
oh, and first
YES!
SECOND! UPDATE!
WOO!
GAAAAAAHHHHHH MUST READ MUST READ
encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcToZayj4hpb5TRfvuPMuvz2VFVE__rH8Py-U9NWoZUcHla7bk8P2Q
It's about time this updated! :D
Nice chapter. NEED MOAR
Warm and fuzzy
fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/346/2/c/crying_derpy_by_keanno-d4ixrdo.gif
I haz feelz noa.
PLOTHOLE!!! She doesn't need to breath anymore remember?
God I love this story.
1308579
Just because she does not have to breathe does not mean she does not do so anyways. She needs air to speak after all.
Working on an important paper.
Wait, this updated? DROP EVERYTHING.
Here's hoping (and I hate to sound like a terrible Trixie here) that there's some present-tense tension soon. We get it, they're reunited, it's emotional. What's going to drive the story going forward? Twilight's reintegration and difficulty adjusting? Someone trying to steal her working nanoplague (which was well set up, if it goes that route)? I eagerly await the answers.
Really enjoying this story - keep up the good work.
cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/21409101.jpg
So that cyrstal and nanoswarm thingie replaced like around half of her organs and made most of the rest kinda useless? o.o
That´s so badass!
But you know if i remember correctly Twi had besides changed eye color and now crying acid tears/super healing also a changed voice. You don´t have to, but just like you did with Summer fields, it´d be nice when somepony does mention it like asking if she´ll regain her old voice/eye coor sometime or missing her old tone, etc.
What else to say than that i loved it? <3
Group hug, everypony!
Don´t cry now, Twi. I´ll cry for both of us lots of happy tears. ;A;
Also congrats to your new job! :3
1308518
Eat salt. This is updating a hay of a lot faster than some of the stories I follow.
...and now I'm stuck wondering if Morning Dew and Summer Fields are still alive. At least they have enough supplies to hold out for another four years...dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/eenope.png
1308756
well at least one of you caught that.
1308768 Alot of people catch even the tiniest things you hint at in your story ;) It is unfair to assume alot didn't
1308768>>1308778
Speaking of small details, are you also saying that her bladder and womb have gone bye-bye as well?
1308816 Seeing how it nullified most of her bodily functions, i would assume yes. Poor twilight
WHOO! AN UPDATE! this is my most anticipated fanfic for updates
p.s. HUGS!
[img] http://chzbronies.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-brony-hugs-for-everypony.gif [/img]
[img] http://ponysquare.com/file/pic/event/2012/02/c1c4a53d4b6a22f9a7bd188bb4583972.jpg [/img]
1308778
ALOTfc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/210/1/9/Alot_by_chrispygraphics.jpg
I personally think they should go back and check to see if Morning Dew and her daughter are still alive...
This is gonna' turn real bitter, real fast - and I don't foresee much in the way of sweetness...
yea i caught the air thing but then again best just keep those things to yourself enhances the story least i think it does static.fimfiction.net/images/emoticons/derpytongue2.png
So... Rescue mission to Canterlot in the future... Great chapter! Can't wait to see more interaction between the Mane 6, as well as Twilight and the Princesses.
1308837 to bad she will never have any foals
not like people will actually want to try it with her having....nano monster things inside her to make her a living virus
I have a bad feeling about this...
1308844
This. Though by this point, this cannot end well.
1308816
you guys really overthink things sometimes, although i suppose that's partially my fault for missing doom editing out a bit of that line XD i shall fix.
I wanna join that group hug!
wonder if someone gts the idea to attack her then would the nanoswarm react violently to the threat, atleast besides the obivious, now that i think of it the incident in canterlot with nanomachines is really similar to a movie i've seen but can't remember the name....
perhaps the communication gem broke when the house collapsed.
or perhaps summer doesn't know how to use it and dew died when it collapsed.
or they may have even escaped.
i've got a million of these
*Checks faves
*Sees this story updated
*Flails wildly in glee
True story.
Also, congrats on the job thing!
Oh god...my feelings hurt. I'm not sure what to do...
Eh, I'll just proceed with my normal response to unwanted feelings.
files.sharenator.com/KILL_IT_WITH_FIRE_FUNNY_FORUM_PICS-s500x350-132460.jpg
ME GUSTA
1309437 WE ALL FREAKIN' GUSTA, MAN! WE ALL GUSTA.
she thinks too much of herself as a normal pony, even after finding out she had acidic blood, dragon eyes, and advanced healing abilities. She is Twilight god damn Sparkle, the pony which could level Equestria itself if she wanted to, and she leaves several ponies in Canterlot for dead.
Seems like somepony is playing favorites.
W-what about Morning Dew and Summer Fields? They just... stopped responding?
I claim the 666th comment
*sinister laugh*
ya another great chapter keep going.
1308719
If I remember well. in first chapter, was written, that her voice was unchanged, and it was some miracle
1308719
Her voice didn't change. This is said in the first chapter, near the start.
1309819
1309820
Hm, then i got it wrong. I thought with that much acid in the air and such that it would have attacked her throat/vocal chords too heavily during the time the cyrstal/nano swarm etablished in her body to be fully repaired. Similar to her eye color. Kinda like that it was too busy keeping her alive as that it could managed to save everything of her old body just like it happend to most of her organs.
I had liked such a raspy sounding Twi, maybe similar effect of voice like Chrysalis, as it would be a constant reminder for Twi what she lost/had become whenever she opens her mouth to say something. With her eyes she mostly gets only reminded whenever she sees a mirror, somepony looks weirded out or when she cries, in other words mostly out of her range stuff.
Her own voice is something she controls however, so she herself is her own judge when to say something and how much and how she´ll let affect herself hearing such a changed voice.
Well, just my own preference.
YEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS
Yay update!
This is getting good. Keep it up
dami hate it when good people die in these kind of stories
, but i know thats it'sfor dramatic effect, i still say they go looking for Morning Dew and Summer she could be useful for repairing the chemical plant. keep up the good work this was worth the wait 
Oh sweet Celestia, an update!
This is awesome!
But wait! 
There's the possibility that Morning Dew and Summer Fields are still alive! Maybe we will get to go back!" 
Still loving the flashbacks. When they said the only equipment they could use for the Nanoswarms was the lab back in Canterlot I thought,
"Sweet. Does that mean we get to go back to Post-Apocalyptic Canterlot? Oh. The labs are destroyed. Guess not.
And I remember Twilight taking a guard's sword with her when she began her escape from Canterlot. Here's hoping for a fight scene or two against mutated ponies or something.
1309000, I have a solution. Proper intangibility could remove the crystal, then a gene-based healing spell could undo any physical changes.
sig>I made a statement, so I have to do this. BABALITY
And if you want a link to brony music, click this<sig
1310377
... your picture scares me...
-----
On topic now:
Just rushed to my work office to finish a slide-show report due this afternoon, opened the pc, checking mails for important mails and all that, saw 'Among the Ruins' updates, spends the entire 10 minutes reading it. Love it!
... I seem to be forgetting something...