July 18th, 1023 ANNM
The dim light of Celestia's early morning sun gently filtered into a bedroom, falling upon its lone sleeping occupant. As the dawn slowly heralded a new day, a drowsy pony began to stir from beneath her thin, silk-woven sheet. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, the pony was greeted by walls and ceiling of solid off-white. It was an exceptionally bare room.
With a stretch and a raspy yawn, she turned her attention to the only other piece of furniture, a perfectly spotless plastic nightstand. The digital clock sitting atop it read 5:45 a.m. in big, easy numbers. She was precisely on time, as expected.
The mare carefully stretched her aging joints as her light purple hooves landed on the floor below. Legs on solid ground, she spread her wings and shivered away the lingering sleep. Hooves and wings worked in tandem to remake the bed exactly as it should be. Not a single wrinkle visible on the lone sheet, she wheezed a pleased sigh, trotting off to begin her routine.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
An alarm clock shouted into the abyss of a pitch-black room, failing to awaken its owner. The sleeping pony lay motionless and ignorant to the urgent calls of their dutiful device.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
Another attempt, this time met with annoyed grunts and mumbled sleeptalk. A breakthrough?
BEEP BEEP BEEP
A single, pink hoof breached the cocoon of blankets, and lazily swatted at the general area beside the bed.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
"Mrgrph..." a mare groaned, swatting away with more vigor. So much vigor, that she had knocked down the cheap stool currently being used as a makeshift nightstand. The clock, her glasses, and an empty can of "Partybolt" branded energy drink clattered to the floor.
BEEP BEEP BEEP
The alarm clock screamed in protest. It was not in vain, however, as it had finally found success in its purpose. The pony swaddled in several thick blankets angrily tossed them away, fumbling to the edge of her bed.
"UGH. It's Saturday!" she shouted in frustration, "I don't have work today, you idiot clock!"
BEEP BEEP BEEP
The clock countered. Having had enough, the mare finally dropped onto her hooves out of bed. With a quick smack, she silenced the alarm. She wordlessly righted the stool.. erm, the nightstand, and slid it back into place. Setting her glasses on her muzzle, she paused a moment before collecting the clock.
Wait.. why did I set an alarm for a Saturday, again?
As she stood still in the dark bedroom, she looked back and forth between the clock and her window, currently draped with a blackout curtain. The time on its face read 5:58 a.m.
Her mouth was dry. Staring at the display, she could physically feel her blood turn to ice as the memory clicked.
"I'M LATE!" she screeched, scrambling over her bed to open the blinds and start her day.
Gentle steam rose up from the shower's tiles, as hot water pittered onto the winged mare from the shower head above. She took slow deep breaths as the heat relaxed her muscles. Eyes closed, she sat on her haunches and began to lather away the last bits of shampoo. The water itself would be enough to clear away the residual wing-wash.
She gave herself a thorough once-over, making sure no spot was missed. Satisfied, she turned off the shower. With a shudder and a flutter, she shook away most of the excess water that had soaked in.
Turning a different knob along the wall, the steam was quickly replaced by lukewarm air blown in through several vents. The air-dry system wicked away the moisture much faster than anypony could by hoof; so long as one knew the proper angles.
The mare turned this way and that with a practiced grace, and within a minute her body was dry and clean. Making her way to the bathroom's full-body mirror, she grabbed an assortment of brushes and set to work on her coat, tail, and mane.
A light blue stallion brushed his teeth in front of a slightly cracked mirror. The tell-tale turquoise glow of his magic enveloped the rusty shower handle nearby, setting the perfect temperature. He spat and rinsed, wiping his mouth. He took a moment to admire his silver-streaked mane, smiling to himself.
"No bedhead this morning, first to shower, hot date?" he chuckled, "It's gonna be a good day for-"
"STEEEEEEEL!" a mare screamed down the (admittedly very short) hall, loud and panicked hoofsteps rapidly approaching.
"Fffffffuck," he sighed, hanging his head.
"STEELGETOUTOFTHEBATHROOMYOUSINGLECELLEDMOOKI'MLATE" the mare yelled, knocking fervently at the thin plywood.
"I got dibs fair and square this morning, the shower is MINE!" he replied, getting closer to the door for emphasis.
"STEEL YOU- UH, SHOWER-STEALING.... NONCE!"
Silence from the other side, before the lock clicked and the door creaked open just enough for Steel's muzzle to poke out. "What in Equestria is a 'nonce'?"
"I dunno! I just heard some old-timey pony on TV use it as an insult! Anyway-" She lurched forward, slamming her entire body into the door, knocking Steel away and opening it wide.
"AGH"
"OUT OUT OUT! I AM LATE!" she shouted, pushing Steel through the frame. "Oh hey, the water's already running! Thaaaanks!~"
"RUDE! You can't just push me out, I had first dibs! It's in the roommate agreement!"
"Dire situations overwrite that! Says that on the agreement, too!" She slammed the door in his face. A soft 'click' announced that she had locked it.
Pulling himself up off the floor, Steel scoffed. "Right, and what's soooo dire for you to chance that clause?!"
"I'm late to meet with her!" she shot back. "Now shoo, I'm wasting time!" She opened the cabinet under the sink, and hastily grabbed her set of towels.
"Ah, that's fair." He smirked to himself as the sounds of his roommate clambering into the tub echoed into the hall. "Hey, watch the water, I like my showers-"
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!"
"-cold! PFFAHAHAHA!"
"I wager she'll be tardy today.." the mare whispered to herself. Her silvery white mane was pristine, tied at its two ends with dark blue bands.
She tightened a set of straps around her barrel, and wiggled to ensure the complex device attached to them didn't shimmy or sway. The purple mare rotated her wings and forelegs around, seeing if they bumped into it at any point. Now fastened properly, she walked to her bedroom door, and gave the panel beside it a tap.
It lit up a dim blue, and some machinery could be heard whirring through the adjacent walls. Finally, it flashed to green, and the mechanism unlocked with a 'hiss' and a 'thunk'. She smiled, opening the heavy door with only the littlest trouble; she left her sparsely furnished room cleaner than when she had awoken.
After shutting the weighty thing behind her, it 'thunked' back into place. She stood still, soaking in the quiet hum of her unique home. Contrary to her sealed away bedroom and guest hall, most of the remainder of the apartment had an open floor-plan; the hallway led into a wide living space, furnished with several hypoallergenic faux leather chairs surrounding a mostly-glass coffee table; it was framed of identical custom plastic as her nightstand, imitating mahogany with silver inlay. The rest was more of the same. She thrived on consistency, and as such, what little other furniture she had followed a theme.
Barely separated by short half-walls, the dining area was opposite the living room, and the kitchen was to her immediate right. Both were plainly visible. Another room, however, sat locked away in the final corner, as far from any food source as possible; but still within reach.
Entering the kitchen, she slid out a bench-like stool from its island, and warily clambered atop it. The large digital timepiece sitting above the electric stove read a clear 6:15 a.m. Once again, she was precisely on time. Gambling on having to wait a tad for her companion today, she smiled with delight as she removed her breakfast from the fruit basket. She licked her lips as she stared hungrily at the large, perfectly ripe mango in her hooves.
Mane damp and horrendously unkempt, the pink mare struggled valiantly to smooth out the tangles. Despite her immense displeasure (and her roommate Steel's schadenfreude), the cold water had guaranteed that she was wide awake. Already late enough, she simply tied her mane up into a crude ponytail. The truly antique scrunchy barely held it together.
With little time to waste, she hastily scoured her closet for a clean uniform. "Come on come on come ooonnnn..." she grumbled, "I've gotta have one in here!"
Frustrated, she decided it best to dig out yesterday's uniform from the laundry pile. Uncrumpling it, she attempted to smooth out a few of its wrinkles with her hoof.
Stainless, mostly wrinkle free... She gave it a cursory sniff. Meh. Good enough for laundry day.
The mare quickly slipped her hooves through the uniform's long sleeves, barely taking the time to correctly button it. Gathering her saddlebag, I.D. badge, and bitpouch, she scampered out of her room and into the incredibly cramped kitchenette.
Steel entered right after, towel wrapped tightly around his mane. He pulled out a rickety chair, hopping up into it. "So," he began, "what's for breakfast?"
"HAH!" she laughed involuntarily. Saying nothing more, she gave him a halfhearted wave and sped out the front door, slamming it behind her.
"Yeesh, and the mares say stallions get ornery in the mornings?" He dropped out of his chair and opened the refrigerator. Its meager offerings soured his mood a little more. "Grocery run for Steel, yaaaay.."
The older mare waited patiently by her apartment's front entryway. Having eaten, washed up, and even had time to check over her checklist multiple times, she started to become concerned at exactly how late her companion was.
For the mean time at least, she savored every unlabored breath that she could take while home. She stretched her wings to their full span, and rechecked the straps of the small satchels wrapped at their base. Pleased, she folded them back and settled down again.
She took a glance at the kitchen's clock. 6:42 a.m., far later than the 'usual late'. Which was unusual, given that they lived in the same building.
"Maybe I should check up on her..?"
Almost on cue, the 'buzz' of her doorbell snapped her out of her thoughts. She chuckled to herself at the timing.
Taking one final deep breath, she unclipped a full-muzzle mask from the device upon her chest. She brushed her mane aside carefully to make way for the mask's straps, tightening them firmly as it closed around her snout. Breath still held, she removed a small wired status readout also attached to the device; holding a button to activate it, it briefly pulsed blue as it calibrated to its desired settings.
The screen then flashed to a solid green, and it let out a positive chirp. Reattaching it to the base, the mare opened a safety cover, and flipped a switch to activate the main functions of the device. With several hums, whirs, and hisses, she was finally free to release the air she'd been holding.
She took another deep breath, this time of the extremely filtered air the machine produced. It simply wasn't the same. Now ready for the world beyond, she trotted up to her front door. Setting her hoof on a scanner, she waited for the complicated equipment to work through its process.
After about a minute, the seal broke on the airlock with a drawn-out 'hiss', allowing her to gingerly step in. She closed it behind herself, and pressed a large floor button by the door that led outside. She casually removed her status block again, awaiting its results. It took very little time for it to change from comforting green, to a much more common deep red. It made several low-toned warning beeps to alert her of the unsafe atmosphere.
Wracked with anxiety and guilt for being so late, the pink mare was practically rattling. She decided it best to take deep slow breaths to try and prevent herself from hyperventilating, knowing the complex-as-Tartarus door would give her a moment of respite. She tried in vain to straighten out her day-old uniform, opting instead to adjust her purple mane.
Now in a much more respectable state (the electric-blue streaks in her mane were now proper streaks, rather than vague splatters), she finally calmed down enough to notice that the door was in its final stage. She could hear the tell-tale alert tones of her charge's breathing device, meaning she would emerge very soon.
Readying a (hopefully) disarming smile, she straightened her posture.
EERRR
click click click clickclickclick THUNK
FTSSSSS
The light purple pony slowly pushed the door out of her way, as the beams of incandescent light poured in from her floor's hall through the outer frame. After a little strain, her slitted eyes adjusted to the brightness considered by most of Equestria to be 'normal'.
She smiled again as her seafoam green eyes locked on to her exceptionally late escort, a pink unicorn who, upon closer inspection, seemed like she was about to explode.
"Good morning, Ovocon Logistics Officer Pixelle," she greeted with a smirk. She turned back towards her apartment to close and re-seal the hulking airlock door; the exterior of which, was fashioned out of real mahogany, with real silver inlay.
OH SWEET MERCIFUL CELESTIA SHE USED MY FULL NAME AND TITLE.
Rather than immediately break into a fit of hyperventilation, Pixelle instead decided to simply... not breathe. She tried to hold concentration onto a single object, and the first things to catch her eye were her charge's leathery wings.
She's not even facing me! She hates my guts for being late AGAIN, I am SO fired...
Unfortunately, as many doctors would tell you, not getting oxygen is a surefire way to become lightheaded and delirious.
I'mdeadI'mdeadI'mdeadI'mdeadI'mdea-
Concerned at not hearing a reply, the batpony turned back around to see what was up. As it turns out, Pixelle's face was very quickly changing color to match the dark purple of her mane. Eyes fixed to a point in space, it was clear she was not having a good time, and that her own inner monologue was probably not helping.
Trotting to her side, she gave the unicorn a heavy slap on her back, hoping it would help release the breath she was holding. "Oh calm your fat teats, sugarcone!" she chuckled with a wheeze. "I was just foolin' with you!"
With a heaving gasp, Pixelle's face returned to almost normal - instead changing to form a light blush. After taking a moment to gather her bearings, she gasped again, this time in shock. "Miss Airflow! Language!" she chided.
"Bah, so colty about colorful language and so mareish about waking up on time," Airflow replied. "Come on now, dear! We have a lot of goodies to collect today, and you've got the saddlebags!" She started trotting down the hall, making her way towards the building's elevator. She giggled internally when she heard a distant sigh of exasperation.
"Right away, Miss Airflow!" Pixelle called, galloping to catch up.