//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: A History Lesson // Story: An Equestria Covered in Ice // by Solaris Vult //------------------------------// A day had passed… The silence was growing almost painful. Basalt didn’t want to talk and Ethyl was fast asleep. Petrochem was alone with her thoughts, wondering how the village was doing, wondering what Basalt and Ethyl were thinking, but above all else, wondering about the world… She hadn’t given it much thought, between trying to get back home and the disaster with the Chief, but Ethylene, she was from before everything froze… She knew the world wasn’t always frozen, every pony knew that, someone had to build all the ruins around them after all, someone had to write the books that only she seemed to be able to read, but the Chief and villagers discouraged thinking about the past. But now, Petro couldn’t seem to get her mind off of it. It was midnight, the sky was pitch black, the moon was slightly visible through a break in the toxic clouds, and Petrochem, unable to sleep, got to her hooves and looked around the building. It was like the ruins she grew up in, old concrete and brick, cracked and caked in snow. She found an ancient drawer and, after scraping off the ice with her horn, she opened it. Inside was some old bits of tattered cloth, a box of some kind with golden thingies in it, and a picture, preserved in a metal frame between pieces of glass. The pony in the image was a young mare, standing in front of the big tower, looking proud, with two others… The thing that really attracted Petro’s attention was the pony’s wings! Sure, she had seen Ethyl fly, and she had seen weird looking bones before, buried in the ice, but she had never seen a winged pony before. The tower in the image looked… Skeletal, there were in the distance, little specks that had to have been ponies, putting the tower together. The other two ponies in the image, the clear ones, not distant and blurred, were a horned pony like herself and a normal pony like Basalt. The image was signed “Thanks for your help, girls.”     “Who were you?” She asked the image, knowing it would not respond, and simply put it into her saddlebags. Petro walked through the room, she found an old bed and made sure to remember to ask Bas or Ethyl to move that into their hut, would be nice to have something more comfortable than old rags to sleep on, but, right before she was about to move on, she noticed something hidden underneath some kind of fluffy bag that was frozen to the bed, a small sheet of paper with stuff written on it. Carefully, she pried it free, making sure not to rip it while she pulled it out of the ice.     “I know it’s weird to write you a normal paper letter, I would have simply sent you this through the arconet but I felt giving you a proper letter would be more sincere… I just wish I could give it to you in person. Flurry Heart is extremely angry about something or other, and is working us down to the bone up here, so I’m not going to be able to make it to Ponyville, or the Launch. But, I heard that you quit your job in the HLSEA, and I understand why… The HLSEA was Rainbow’s invention, the closest thing she had to a foal, but they just spat on her grave without a second glance… Anyway, I still hope the launch is a success. I also hope AB will be able to make it, I hear she works in MOX-11 now, site manager. That’s all I really wanted to say, but, have this, it was Rarity’s, she passed away earlier this week, although you probably already know that, big funeral was held up here in the Crystal Empire. CMC Forever - Sweetie Belle.” While she didn’t understand most of it, Petro could still feel the lingering emotion in the words… Frustration and exhaustion, but a strong friendship. Next to the letter, underneath the sack on the bed, was a small blue crystal cut into a perfect diamond shape… She couldn’t quite tell why, but Petrochem really didn’t want to just leave it here, so she put it into her saddlebag too, along with the letter. There was a beeping sound from the hut, the sound of a machine whirring to life, and Petro rushed down, finding Ethylene getting to her hooves, “Recharge was faster than anticipated, I estimate that the wind grew stronger and increased the turbine’s output.”     “Please, be quiet, Basalt has finally managed to sleep, I don’t want to wake him.” Suddenly quieter, Ethyl continued, “Forgive me, Petrochemical.”     “It’s ok, let’s go somewhere else, not disturb him.”     “Understood.” They walked upstairs, to the second floor of the ruin, Petro pulled out the letter, “I found this preserved in some frost, can you explain some of it to me?”     “Interesting,” Ethyl said, reading the letter. “I do not know the ponies mentioned in the letter, but I do recognize the names of some of the organizations and locations.”     “Really! Tell me all about them!”     “The Crystal Empire was ruled by Princess Flurry Heart, it was a large nation that encompassed most of the arctic circle… Imagine your village, but if your village was made up of billions of ponies, who didn’t have to live in metal shacks and crumbling ruins, but large buildings made of crystal. They were the first member of the Harmony League.”     “What happened to them?”     “I would assume the same thing that happened to Equestria, whatever that may be… I am unsure what would cause everything to become so cold and toxic, but whatever it was, it must have affected the entire world. My only guess would be a massed deployment of fission, fusion, and arcane weapons of mass destruction, but from what I have observed thus far, I doubt that to be the case, firstly because the league had banned the production and use of such things, and secondly because there does appear to be much radiation, nuclear or magical, in the atmosphere.”     “I don’t really follow that.”     “To simplify, it is likely that not just the Crystal Empire and Equestria, but the whole world is suffering from these cold temperatures and toxic air.”     “Huh… Well, what’s this HLSEA thing?”     “I do not know… I was not given that information… I don’t know what MOX-11 is either, I would guess it was a nuclear reactor power facility though, based on the title… Though I could be wrong, MOX could stand for many things.”     “Well… I really want to know more about Equestria, it seemed like, before everything froze, ponies lived absolutely amazing lives.”     “I… I am unsure what information I can provide… I can give you technical details on the machines they used, I can give you basic information on the law and politics of the society, I can give you details on the buildings they constructed, and some of the more well-known locations like Canterlot and Ponyville… But that is all… I did not really know much about the world before you woke me up, just what was given to me during my creation, which was the bare minimum I needed to live in pony society, but that society is gone.”     “I… I see,” With that, Petro wrapped the metal and plastic pony in a hug.     “Y-You are hugging me, why?”     “You must be really scared and confused, being told how to live, but then suddenly waking up in a place that you weren’t prepared for. I know I would be in your place.”     “I- I don’t know… If I am or not…”     “Well, don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe, me and Basalt.”     “I- You are my administrator, and I am simply a tool to be used, that is my purpose-”     “It doesn’t matter who made you or why, you’re a pony to me, and ponies have to stick together, otherwise we die, so, if you promise to protect me, I’ll do the same for you.”     “I- I am unsure if I am capable of understanding that.”     “You will, don’t worry… And I know one way you can help me.”     “How?” She replied, sounding hopeful.     “I want to know what happened, why everything suddenly became so cold and toxic, and you know some place where we can find answers… Twilight’s Tower.”     “You… You intend to enter the Tower?” She paused, walking over to a window, “It is sure to be dangerous, we have no way of gaining legal access with all the Tower’s administrators most likely dead, and that facility is filled with security systems, most are non lethal but given the current environment, unconsciousness would be merely a slow form of death for you organic ponies… Not to mention any decay or structural damage the tower has suffered, it is clearly still in good condition from the outside, but inside…”     “Well, we have you with us, and it’s really our only lead… I’m sure you’re curious too as to why everything froze like this, and you’re a machine who fixes stuff, fixing the world sounds right up your alley!”     “You… Are a very ambitious pony… I was not programmed to feel curiosity, but I admit, I do want information as to how the world ended up in this state…” She paused, “You are my administrator, I will follow your commands.”     “It’s up to you, I’m not going to command you to do anything.”     “I will aid you.”     “Thank you, Ethylene. I’m going to keep exploring this place until Bas wakes up, then let’s make our way to the tower.”     “You will want to bring provisions… Between the snow and the dilapidated conditions of the city, it will be a dangerous and long journey, the tower is in the middle of Ponyville, given our current estimated location, that is about twelve kilometers away. With the state of the terrain between us and our target, the trip may take several days, and many more if the roads are blocked and we need to navigate through collapsed buildings, which is highly likely.” Petro paused, “Well, in that case, let’s take a bit of time to prepare, gather up food, clean water, stuff like that.”     “Agreed, and weapons, I doubt there is anything alive and hostile, but you cannot be too careful… I will make some rudimentary ranged weapons while you gather provisions.”     “Will you be fine, we can’t exactly pack up the wind turbine?”     “As long as I do not do anything too energy-intensive, I will be fine. Once we are inside Twilight’s Tower, I am sure I will find a port to recharge, the facility has its own power source, one that I am positive is still functional.”     “Well, alright then,” Ethylene was about to walk away when Petrochem remembered, “Ethyl, wait!”     “Hmm?” Petro pulled out the image of the winged mare, “Who was she? And what was she?”     “I do not know this pony’s identity, but I know their subspecies… They are a pegasus.”     “Pegasus?”     “Yes, there are eight types of ponies. Unicorns, such as yourself, who have horns capable of magic. Pegasi, with wings. Earth Ponies like Basalt and your tribe, who are much stronger and more durable than others. Thestrals, who like the pegasi, have wings and can fly. Crystal Ponies, who are much like Earth Ponies, but are very different at the same time. Changelings, who have both a horn and wings. Kirin, who are like Unicorns, but also very different. And Alicorns, very rare ponies with both horns and wings and eternal youth.”     “When you say ‘very different’, in what way?”     “That I can’t say, I am not a medical machine, I was designed to work with other machines, not living things, so I don’t know too much regarding the specifics of each sub-species of pony.”     “Huh, I wonder if any other kinds of ponies are out there somewhere, the tribe always said that we were all that was left but, from everything you’ve told me, there must have been lots of ponies everywhere, they can’t have all died out everywhere except for us.”     “It is very likely that there are other groups of ponies out there, somewhere, but I cannot say with certainty.” Ethylene walked downstairs, but Petrochem continued to explore the crumbling remains of the room, something about it had made her curious. A pony like her had once lived in this room, before part of it collapsed in on itself, before everything froze, back when there were thousands of ponies just outside the door…Who was she, what was she like, would she have been a good friend… Where was she now, dead obviously, but where did she die? Petrochem walked up to the window, and looked out on all the ruined buildings, stretching as far as she could see, and the huge tower in the center of this city. And the mountains beyond, where there were more huge crumbling buildings dotting its hills and cliffs, and even further beyond that where she couldn’t see, where undoubtedly more and more cities existed… All those buildings, who knows how many ponies lived in the bigger ones, and even in the smaller ones like the one she was in, at least a dozen could have lived comfortably… All of them are now dead. She was about to follow Ethyl downstairs when she saw, on the broken remains of an old table, a small package of some kind, preserved by the frost. Opening it up she saw another small piece of paper with words on it, along with a small glass cylinder filled with a frozen liquid. “Some Manehattan-made wine, a small gift from me, to thank you for your help with Project Eternal, - Princess Twilight Sparkle” Another two days had passed. Petrochemical’s saddlebags were filled with dried grass and fresh water, not all of it she had actually asked for… Besides a few cases of minor theft, she had also managed to convince a guard to give her a spear, which she kept strapped across her back. She had her respirator dangling from her neck, easy to put on should a storm come, and finally, she had taken the gem she had found in the pegasus’ room and attached it to some strips of cloth, wearing it around her neck… She didn’t know why, but she felt the gem was important in some way. Basalt had stopped being mopey and was now anxious, especially after he had been told what the plan was, “That’s insane! It’s one thing to go out to some old factory out of town, but it’s a whole nother to go right into the middle of the city, you know the stories!”     “They’re just stories, the Chief probably made them up just to keep us in line, plus, we have Ethyl with us, she’ll be able to help us with anything that comes our way.”     “I still think this is a terrible idea.”     “Well, I’m going.” Basalt sighed, “Fuck you… You know I don’t have the heart to just leave you to rush off into danger.” Basalt was also prepared, this wasn’t the first time they had this conversation, and she already knew he was coming along. He already had his saddlebags packed with food and water, but when offered a spear or knife he refused, “I-I don’t want anything that could hurt someone,” He said, “If… If we run into trouble, let’s just, run, or hide, or something… I- I don’t want it,” He had said. Petro had eventually given up on trying to put a weapon in his hooves. At this point, all they were waiting for was for Ethyl to finish recharging. There was a beep, Ethylene’s eyes lit back up, she pulled the wires out of her back, “Alright, I am ready to depart.” And with that, they headed out into the snow.