It has been eight decades since the great cataclysm swept over Equestria, when the Vermillion Hourglass returned and with it other monstrosities from the shadows, wrecking havoc upon the world.
In order to survive, Ponykind created underground shelters called PACS or Pony Accommodation Containment Shelters to keep ponies safe as the military forces above fought for Equestria’s survival. Here the smartest and the brightest Equestria had to offer were taken and preserved for Equestria’s survival.
After all the PACS were sealed, the ponies within listened to the radio broadcasts of the world outside. Bombs were dropped at strategic points to hold off the monsters and yet they only seemed to continue to spread. Then the vibration sensors went off, indicating that a massive explosion had gone off. Three days later the radio went silent.
“And that is all we know about the outside world,” Blue Cheese said, as she taught her students.
You watched from the doorway as you waited for your friend to finish teaching. The class consisted of young foals of various shapes and sizes. The room's blue walls were decorated with white clouds and flowers in order to liven up the atmosphere.
"While we know little about the surface," Blue continued, "it is speculated to be a deadly wasteland filled with monsters that move through the ash seeking out anything they can eat."
Hearing this the foals shivered nervously, eliciting a slight chuckle from Blue Cheese.
"But don't worry, so long as our home, PACS-039, continues to function and certain ponies, like our friend over there, continue performing maintenance, we have nothing to fear."
With a bit of a mischievous smile, Blue Cheese pointed to you and the foal's heads followed. Instantly you could feel your cheeks warm up and you turned away, eliciting another giggle from Blue. Your feathers itched a little in response to your nervousness.
The fact was you had trained from a young age to be part of PACS-039's maintenance crew. Something that was kind of surprising for a pegasus stallion like you.
"Well, that will be all for now class," Blue Cheese said, "have a great day children."
Happily the foals began to pick up their small saddlebags with school supplies and rushed out the door past you. You stood completely still, not wanting to accidentally cause any of the children to fall over. Once they were all gone, you turned and smiled at Blue.
Blue Cheese was an earth pony mare with a white coat with a few patches of pale blue dots around her legs and flank. Her mane and tail were a deep sea blue and her eyes were a bright yellow. The mare stood next to her desk, giving you a lovely smile.
"Hello, Blue Cheese," you greeted.
"Hello," Blue replied, "are you keeping my brother on track?"
Blue Cheese's brother was a young stallion by the name of White Cheddar, who was also a part of the maintenance crew and had been assigned to train under your wing, figuratively of course. Recently his wife, Ginger, had given birth to twins.
You nodded. "He's been doing a very good job."
"I'm glad to hear it."
Ever since you were a foal, you had been friends of Blue Cheese and White Cheddar. When your family had grown ill and your parents had died, it was their family that had nursed you back to health.
"So is there anything I can do for you?" you asked, recalling that it had been the message Blue Cheese had sent you on the Hoof-pilot that had summoned you here.
Hoof-pilots were devices that had been created before the cataclysm had occurred. Mechanical tablets that once carried digital information over the Internab, however, now they just connected to the PACS 039’s systems and archives.
"Oh, yes." With a slight blush, Blue reached behind her desk and pulled out an old machinery manual. "I saw that my brother had forgotten to grab the book he borrowed from you, so I brought it so you could have it back."
Of course, you didn’t mind that White had forgotten. In fact, you knew that book so well, that it was probably of better use in his hooves than in your’s.
"Oh, it’s fine, but thank you."
Graciously you took the book from Blue. If you didn’t know any better, you would've thought that Blue Cheese had invited you here for ulterior motives.
“Well, do you want to grab a bite to eat?” Blue asked.
“Uh, sure.”
With a smile, Blue Cheese left her classroom and you followed.
Outside of the personal quarters and a few select rooms, most of the walls in PACS-039 were made of gray metal. The slight echo of hoofsteps could be heard as both of you walked down the hall.
The food in the shelter was created from a garden section where some ponies cultivated fruits and vegetables. As the one and only means of acquiring food in PACS-039, the gardening floor was necessary for the shelter’s survival. If something went wrong with the food ponies could become sick and possibly die.
Just like you and your parents.
Entering the cafeteria, you looked around to see a few of the other ponies sitting around the tables eating their food. In the center of the room was a massive clock and on the far side of the room was a line with a few ponies serving food from behind a metal table.
As Blue Cheese and you stepped in line and grabbed your trays, you looked around the room as you waited your turn. In front of the two of you was a lanky pegasus with a teal coat and a brown mane that almost looked like chocolate. He shuffled nervously in his green suit.
Peacock Melody was well… an odd pony. He was very self conscious about his name and because of this many of the children and even some of the more childish adults made fun of him for it. It was quite a shame too as you were certain that if Peacock hadn’t given credence to their words, they would probably just leave him be.
Blue pointed toward the clock in the center of the room. “Do you know the story behind that clock?”
You had some knowledge about it. Everypony in PACS-039 knew what it was originally intended for.
“Wasn’t it supposed to function kind of like a timer?”
Unlike most clocks, which counted in hours, minutes and seconds, this clock counted in years, months and days. With twelve o'clock serving as the two hundred year mark. The estimated time that it would be safe for the inhabitants to leave PACS-039, assuming that the Equestrian government didn’t arrive here first. You also knew that out of all the maintenance crew staff, Flint was currently the only pony allowed to work on the clock.
Blue Cheese nodded. “Yes, however there is more than that. Apparently it was designed by a pony named Time Turner. While it is believed that he was taken by the Vermillion Hourglass, one of his associates retrieved the blueprints for its design to be used in the PACSs.”
After fetching your food, a bowl of broccoli soup, the two of you walked over to a table and sat down. For a brief moment the lights flickered, making you feel uneasy, before they returned to normal. For the past few weeks the lights had been acting up and it had been occurring more and more recently.
“What is up with these lights?” Blue asked.
“I’m not sure,” you answered, “however I know that the Watchmare has assigned Flint to look into it.”
Blue Cheese nodded. “That’s good.”
While you might have known a toolbox from front to back, Flint literally lived and breathed everything having to do with the shelter. Which was one of the many reasons why he had been put in charge of the central clock.
“So how does it feel like being an aunt?” you asked, as you took a spoonful of your soup.
Blue shrugged. “It’s kind of nice. The twins are pretty cute, though until they’re older, there isn’t much I can do with them.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you’ll have fun spoiling them.”
“Oh, maybe a little.” Blue giggled.
Once more the lights began to flicker. Blue Cheese’s eyes furrowed in response.
“What do you suppose is going on?” Blue asked.
“I don’t kno-” You were cut off mid sentence as suddenly the lights went completely off.
For what might have been a few minutes, Blue Cheese and you sitting in complete darkness, until the emergency backup power came on, filling the cafeteria with red lights. The silence was broken as your Hoof-pilot started beeping, signaling that you had received a message. Holding up the device, you saw that it was an emergency message from the PACS's Watchmare.
"What is it?" Blue asked.
Quickly you read over the message.
Emergency! All maintenance staff come to Watchmare Bubblegum's office, immediately!
"It seems that the Watchmare wants to speak with the maintenance crew," you answered. Standing up from your seat, you prepared to meet your superior.
"Oh, okay," Blue said in a slightly sullen manner. "Take care."
You chuckled. "I will. Take care."
After wishing Blue Cheese farewell, you proceeded to the Watchmare's office.
There were six ponies in the Watchmare's office. There was the Watchmare herself, Bubblegum, two security officers, and then three members of the security crew, Flint, White Cheddar and yourself.
It was a circular room with white walls and a round table, all of which were a deep shade of red due to the red, emergency lights being on.
Bubblegum was a unicorn mare with a blue coat and pink mane. Her pale green eyes resting behind her glasses. The blue jacket she wore possessed markings, indicating her rank as the Watchmare of this shelter.
All the other ponies were waiting when you arrived, a downcast look on Bubblegum and Flint's face. You tried to smile as you took your seat, but this didn't seem to improve their mood.
"My friends," Bubblegum spoke, "I'm afraid, I have grave news. As many of you know we have been having a series of outages recently."
Both White Cheddar and you nodded.
White Cheddar was a white earth pony with a yellow mane and tail along with blue eyes.
"Well, with Flint's help we believe we now know the reason for these outages."
Flint was an earth pony stallion with a charcoal gray coat and brown mane. His chin was covered in scruff. After his wife died, the older stallion had to not only help maintain the PACS, but he also had to take care of his two daughters by himself.
Reaching into his saddlebags, Flint pulled forth a map of the whole facility, including the upper sections, hidden on the surface.
"As I'm sure you all know, there are a set of power stations located on the surface that are used to create power that can fuel the rest of the facility," Flint said. "We have reason to believe that one of the fuses up there has been damaged and has now completely gone out."
"Unless somepony goes up there to fix it, we will be relying on the backup power until it runs out in five days," Bubblegum continued.
"So why don't we just go repair it?" White Cheddar asked.
Both Flint and Bubblegum looked at each other. Seeing them do this made your feathers itch.
"The fuse is located outside the gate," Flint explained, "which means that whoever goes up there to fix it won't be coming back."
The room was silent as the older maintenance crew officer let that sink in. Due to what little knowledge there was pertaining to the surface, it had been a long standing rule that anypony who left its safety couldn't return in case of disease or potential monstrous threats. If somepony went up to fix this fuse they would be stuck outside, at the mercy of whatever was beyond the gate.
As grim as it was, it was necessary to ensure the survival of everypony in PACS-039.
"So how will we be determining who goes up?" you asked.
"I'm not fond of commanding others to go to their death," Bubblegum said, "so thankfully one of our technicians was able to come up with this."
The Watchmare lifted up her Hoof-pilot and set it on the table.
"I have a digital randomizer that will decide among the three of you, who will be going on this mission."
After tapping the screen, Bubblegum placed the Hoof-pilot in the center of the table, the device making a beeping sound as it flashed through the names. You could feel you heart racing as the device went through the names, until it finally stopped.
It was White Cheddar.
Seeing this, the young stallion’s face and ears drooped. Flint subconsciously let out a breath of relief, however you were certain that he wasn't pleased to see this sentence on White Cheddar's shoulders.
A deep, sad sigh escaped Bubblegum's lips. "I'm sorry, White Cheddar, but it would seem that you have been chosen for this assignment."
White nodded, gulping down what saliva remained in his mouth.
“But that’s not fair!” you protested. “He has a wife and two foals.”
“I know this is hard,” Bubblegum reasoned, “but we have no other choice. Somepony needs to go up there and we’re running out of options.”
She was right, but still…
“Then send me,” you said.
The rest of the ponies looked at you with shock with the exception of the Watchmare's guards who remained at attention.
"Wait, you're willing to go to the surface?" Bubblegum asked, as if trying to make sure you knew what you had just offered.
You nodded. "Both Flint and White have families they need to take care of. I, on the other hoof, don't. If the way I give back to this shelter is by making sure those families stay intact, I will do it."
"I see," Bubblegum said, "if this is what you wish, then you will be the pony assigned to this mission. Meeting adjourned."
Flint and White Cheddar rose from their seats and began walking to the door.
"Before you go, may I have a word with you?" Bubblegum asked.
You stopped and turned to the Watchmare who stood there with a soft smile on her face.
"Thank you," Bubblegum said. “This decision… wasn't something I had ever hoped to do when I gained this position. The fact that White Cheddar's family won't go without a father is reassuring."
When you were younger you remembered how Bubblegum's mother Mintberry, had been the Watchmare of PACS-039. Back then Bubblegum was just a few years older than you, however, despite that she would still play hide and seek with you and your other friends. Even after she took her mother's place, Bubblegum knew how to remain personable while also being professional.
"His family has done a lot for me," you answered, "it is only fair that I pay them back somehow."
The Watchmare let out a deep sigh. "Still I am sure that there will be more than a few that will mourn your loss. I will do whatever I can to ensure that your sacrifice isn't in vain."
"Thank you."
"Are you mad?" White Cheddar exclaimed, as you surveyed your room for anything you would want to bring with you on this mission.
Your room's walls were covered with blue wallpaper, a design your parents had chosen when they were still alive. Of course, you took your tools and placed them in your bag.
“Maybe.” You shrugged.
"You could have stayed here," White protested, "why did you take my place?"
You looked at White Cheddar, a little puzzled. “I took it because you have a family now. Don’t you want to spend time with Ginger and watch your children grow up?”
Hearing this, White’s face became sullen, his lips quivering. “Yes, but… you’re a part of the shelter too. We’re all family.”
Smiling you placed a comforting hoof on White’s shoulder. “I know, but you and Blue Cheese have done so much for me. Please, let me return the favor.”
White Cheddar let out a deep sigh. You could tell that it was taking him all his willpower not to start crying. “Thank you.”
It was clear that he didn’t like this. Even if White was being given the chance to stay with his family, he didn’t like the idea of losing his friend either.
“Blue Cheese is going to miss you,” White said.
“I know.”
Indeed, you had more than a few friends here in PACS-039, who would miss you when you were gone. Still if nopony fixed the power all of them would die of suffocation. In the end, somepony had to die to save them all.
Reaching into your saddlebags you pulled out the manual that Blue Cheese had returned to you.
"Here, have this."
White Cheddar looked with disbelief at the book.
“But… but this is your’s.”
You gave your friend a smile. “It’s okay, you’ll be able to make more use of it than I will.”
After looking at the manual, White reluctantly took it. “Thank you.”
You stood in the middle of the entrance room, a section of the shelter that connected to the elevator that led to the surface. On one side of the room stood Watchmare Bubblegum, two of her guards, Blue Cheese, Flint’s two daughters, Axel and Defrost, and a few other ponies. Bubblegum stood behind a pedestal, with a single red button. On your side, near the door you stood along with Flint and White Cheddar.
Both Flint and White were next to you, as they adjusted the environmental suit you had donned. Carefully they examined the tubing and wires to make sure that your harness was secure. There was also a magical compartment that held the items in your saddlebag, which could materialize them in your hooves if needed.
The environmental suit was made with orange fabric and some steel protective plating. Your helmet, while resembling a metal box with a few blue lights, wires and vents, actually possesses a magic display system that allowed you to see and hear everything around you, as well as magically disassemble itself in case you needed to take it off. There was also a magical hud display that was synced up with your Hoof-pilot, which showed your heart rate and oxygen levels.
There were also special coverings for your wings that could be magically removed if necessary.
“Alright, all systems appear to be fully operational,” Flint said, “everything is set.”
As White Cheddar began to walk away, Flint reached into his saddlebags.
“Here, take this.”
The item in Flint’s hooves was a wrench with the symbol of an hourglass surrounded by some bubbles carved into the handle. You remembered seeing Flint working with this instrument in your youth and not once has you ever seen him without it.
“This is my lucky wrench,” Flint explained, “I was going to give it to one of my children when they were older, but I feel that if you’re going to survive up there, that you’ll need it more.”
“Thank you,” you said, as you took the wrench and placed it into your saddlebags.
Having given you his gift, Flint stepped away from the platform. It was time to leave.
The rest of the ponies stood across from you. You could see both White Cheddar and Blue Cheese standing next to each other, tears streaming down Blue's cheeks.
Bubblegum stood, patiently waiting for your word.
“Alright, I’m ready.”
Hearing this the Watchmare pushed the button on the pedestal. As she did you could hear gears moving as the metal door behind you began to open.
Turning around, you found yourself facing the interior of the elevator. You walked into the elevator and turned around to face those who were wishing you off. As you looked on, you saw your friends, Blue Cheese, White Cheddar, Flint’s family and the others waved farewell.
After giving a quick wave, you gave Bubblegum a nod, and the mare pushed the button once more. The gears started to move once more and the doors slowly began to close. Once the doors were completely sealed, there was a lurching motion as the elevator began to ascend. Patiently you stood there, waiting as you moved upward.
Finally the metal doors slid open and you found yourself looking into another room. While this room was almost a mirror image of the one that you had seen below, this one lacked the pedestal and was much dustier. Layers of dirt from years of neglect lay on the surfaces of everything in the room.
Once you stepped outside the elevator, you could hear the machines rumble as the doors closed, locking you outside. There was no turning back now, you were stuck out here from now on.
Examining your hud display, you could confirm that oxygen was present in the facility. There was also a small minimap that showed digital schematics of the surrounding area.
Following the path on your map, you walked into the room where the fuse box was located. Walking up to the box, you activated your suit, spawning a screwdriver in your hoof. After removing the anchoring screws, the panel came free revealing the box's interior with the fuses within. Each fuse was the size of a foal, with one being white and the other black, clearly burnt out and defective.
"Now there's the culprit," you said, "now I just need to find a replacement."
Looking at the map again, it showed a room off to your left that should have the supplies you needed. Walking over to the room, you pulled the metal door aside to find a room filled with various mechanisms for the shelter. Walking down one of the rows you spotted a fuse that could serve as a replacement.
"Here we go."
Pulling the fuse onto your back, you returned to the main room. With some difficulty you were able to pull out the bad fuse out of its slot. The stench of burnt plastic and metal was smellable even through your helmet. Setting the damaged fuse to the side, you took the new… ish fuse you had in your possession and pushed it into place. The sound of electricity flowing through the system could be heard.
After putting the panel back in place, you were faced with a conundrum. What were you supposed to do now?
“Well, I guess I could just go outside,” you said, “see what the world is like now.”
You had heard stories of what the world had been like before the cataclysm as well as theories as to what it looked like now. Plus you were stuck up here, so you might as well make the most out of this situation.
Now that the power problem had been resolved you followed the path on your minimap to the entrance to PACS-039. Leaving the mechanical room, you went into the main elevator room before walking through a doorway to another room with a large metal gate. In front of the gate was a pedestal with a section that appeared to not only be able to hold a Hoof-pilot but with an imprinted section for a hoof. Instantly you knew that this was so that a suit like yours with the Hoof-pilot synced up could also activate the pedestal.
Walking up to the pedestal, you took your hoof and placed it into the slot. For a moment nothing seemed to happen.
“Hmmm… is the door rusted shut?”
It was then that the gate began to move, a slight grinding sound resonating through the room as the door slowly pulled itself open. You cringed as the sound of scrapping metal filled your ears.
Once the gate was completely open, you saw that beyond the entrance was what appeared to be some sort of cave. No doubt, PACS-039 had been built this way to ensure that no creatures could find the shelter's entrance and thus increasing the chances of the inhabitants’ survival.
With nowhere else to go, you stepped away from the pedestal and out of the facilities entrance into the cave system. Unfortunately it seemed that the gate was so old and in disrepair that it wouldn't be able to close behind you. Hopefully the cave was concealed in such a way that nopony would attempt to intrude. Even if they did it wasn't like they would be able to call the elevator.
Carefully you moved through the tunnel, the lights on your helmet illuminating the way. After walking for a few minutes the tunnel opened up to a concrete room. Judging from the machinery around the room, it was possible that the company responsible for creating the PACS might have still been trying to set things up when the original evacuation had occurred.
Walking over to one of the machines you saw a logo for a company called, Rich Industries, which you had recalled also being the same company that had in fact created the PACS. After further inspection you discovered that the machines, while old and no longer functional, didn't seem to have been salvaged for parts.
"Well, let's hope that means nopony knows how to access this area."
Looking around the room, you discovered a concrete staircase. Walking to the staircase, you discovered that you were currently on the basement level of whatever building you were in. Ascending the steps you made your way up to the first floor, as you did you noticed a strange gray dust like substance on the stairs.
When you reached the first floor, you stepped out of the stairway and discovered that you were in an old decrepit building, the glass windows mostly broken. Outside you could see that the landscape consisted of broken concrete buildings and more of that strange gray substance.
“What happened here?”
Everywhere you looked there were ruined buildings and gray sand for miles around, as far as the eye could see.
As you pondered this, you hud started to beep, signifying that your Hoof-pilot had picked up some sort of signal. A dot appeared on your digital compass, showing where the signal was coming from.
“Well, if there is somepony still alive out here, it might be nice to find them.”
Carefully you walked out of the building and into the gray desert landscape. The strange powder seemed to crunch beneath your hooves. Wandering through the wasteland, the eerie sense of loneliness flowed over you as you surveyed the broken buildings buried in gray.
As you wandered through the wasteland, you thought you saw something off to your left, turning you saw something moving through the gray sand before disappearing.
You continued walking and as you did you saw it a second time. It was like a jagged, gray stone that appeared to move in and out of the ground. This made you feel uneasy as if something were stalking you. In response, you deactivated the parts of the suit that covered your wings.
“Grrr! This is so frustrating!” An angry voice barked off to your right. Turning, you saw next to a buried building what appeared to be some sort of vessel with three ponies moving around it.
Seeing this a sense of security came over you. There were survivors out here and perhaps they could help you with whatever was stalking you.
“Hello!” You called out, waving your hoof as you approached the vessel. Suddenly the ponies around the vehicle stopped.
The strange vehicle looked almost like one of the boats you had read about in books with various mechanisms attached to the side. There were also a few decorations on the side that were hard to identify from a distance.
"Well, what do we have here?" One of the ponies on the vessel asked, an earth pony stallion with a large toothy grin making you feel uneasy. He wore some sort of leather jacket with some metal spikes around the shoulders.
"Shiny sock for Roph!" Another pony said, in a gruff voice. This one being much larger and wearing some sort of mask. It looked almost like the head of a boar with two cylinders attached on both sides.
"Uh, hello," You said, trying to remain calm as you introduced yourself. "I was just wondering if you might know where the nearest city or settlement might be."
"Do you hear that?" The smiling pony called. "The shiny wants ta know where the city is."
The two of them chuckled as the third pony joined them. Upon seeing the new arrival your heart skipped a beat.
It was a tall earth pony mare whose body was covered in scars, however what unsettled you the most was the pony skull that she wore upon her head. Seeing you, the mare’s eyes lit up with cruel intent, her scarred lips pulling wide to reveal sharp teeth.
“Gut ‘em!” The mare commanded, stretching a hoof toward you.
With a chuckle, the other two ponies jumped off the vehicle and landed on the ground, each carrying fearsome weapons.
“Shiny sock for Roph’s dingaling!” The pony you believed was Roph said as he charged at you with a big, heavy cleaver. It soon became very clear that the last thing you wanted to be was a sock for Roph's… dingaling.
Immediately you turned around and began to flee, the hoofsteps of the mad ponies behind you. Instinctively you tried to fly, however, due to your panicking you overstrained your wings and fell to the ground.
While there were a few areas back in PACS-039 where you could fly, they were a bit cramped. Furthermore it seemed like the air pressure out here was different, thinner somehow. This was something you hadn’t considered and now it might cost you your life.
“Oh, so lame,” one of the crazy ponies said, “they can’t even fly! Let’s eat his wings first!”
"Fine, but I want his skull!" The mad mare barked.
After taking a few steps there was a loud bang as suddenly something ripped through your left shoulder, a sharp pain tearing through your body. You stumbled forward as your left foreleg gave out from under you.
“We got em now!” the fearsome mare called out.
As you lay there, your blood dripping onto the ground, seeping into the gray powder. Even as you lay there dying, you thought you heard the sound of something moving through the sand. Suddenly there was a loud cry from one of the ponies that was cut short.
“Ash lurker!” You heard the fearsome mare call out as another gunshot rang through the air.
Screams filled the air, but you were barely able to make them out as the world around you began to turn dark, your vision turning black until you saw no more.