"Alright everyone, come along now."
We all walked along into the meeting hall, following the orders those by the doors gave us. Each facility wasn't exclusively pony workers, many species actually worked with and lived among us around the kingdom. I'd say we all have pretty good harmony. It wasn't easy when it came to dragons, but they warmed up to us as the decades passed. Nowadays, there isn't a town or city in Equestria that doesn't include griffons, dragons, zebras, donkeys, or other species along with ponies.
I turned to face Solar. "Welp, time to find out what the grand reveal's gonna be!" She said, sticking out from the crowd.
I nodded, my mouth shut by nerves considering this seemed to be something paramount. I mean, the whole facility being taken into here isn't something to scoff at. I wondered if the other ones around the kingdom were doing the same.
"I'm stayin' strong hopin' that we're expanding to the other nations. I think it's about time we do." Solar affirmed. I agreed; and I'm sure the other creatures in here would as well if she publicly voiced her opinion, especially after over 40 years of being refugees in Equestria.
The main meeting room was huge, with several long, long rows of cushioned seats built around a stage with a podium. Behind it, a clean projector screen was draped, which I haven't seen used for a hot minute. Rainbow ribbons ran along the walls, fluorescent lights brightening everything. The walls shared the same smooth white the entrance hall had.
My focus on the room broke when Solar tapped me, signaling for me to move on. I did so, eventually being seated next to her in the middle of the third row. I observed the room - among those sitting were pegasi, griffon, dragon... all the creatures with wings. Makes sense with who I've seen during my time here. The light faded, now being centered on the stage. The chatter and side conversations died out, and all I could hear was silence. My heartbeat quickened a little.
The director of our facility swiftly flew into the stage, a rainbow-colored trail following behind her. Make no mistake, that was Rainbow Dash (from what I know, the Element of Loyalty), and we all clapped our hooves, claws, and hands, some cheering (Solar included). She was a middle-aged mare - not too old but not too young either.
Dash stood up happily at the podium, waving at us. "Good morning everycreature! Hope you're havin' an awesome morning," She took the microphone in her hoof. "I know you're probably wondering why you're here, right? Well, I just have some crazy news I gotta tell ya! Don't worry, I won't be long." She put emphasis on the adjectives, which I found pleasantly goofy.
Dash flew over to the side of the stage, hovering in mid-air. The slide projector overhead activated, a presentation coming on. The title slide read in big black words:
WHATS NEXT FOR OUR AWESOME SHIELD
Proudly made by Rainbow Dash!
I let a giggle out reading that, a small smile on my face. I haven't seen much of Dash, but her personality is flamboyantly likable, and it can show in her work.
She took on a more dramatic tone. "Now, for many decades, Equestria has been home to not only ponies, but many cool creatures from other cool countries too!"
The slides continued while she spoke, now changing to a map of the kingdom itself, with labels for surrounding nations as well.
"As we all know and some of us remember, Pegasus-04 slammed into Equus over 40 years ago, and brought with it immense destruction."
The map of Equestria now showed the shield, a sparkly barrier, covering the kingdom, the outside cloudy and barren.
"We created an artifical magical shield, generated by our facilities placed around the kingdom, allowing us to survive nature's fury. The problem, though, was that our technomagical limitations didn't let us extend our shield to other countries. We tried many times, but it just wouldn't work! NOT cool!"
She seemed genuinely disappointed that the shield wasn't able to go farther than Equestria. Of course, I am too, and I'm sure a lot of creatures were too at the time.
The presentation now showed illustrations of various critters in the kingdom. "We resolved by allowing their populations to come here, promising we'd rebuild their homes when our shields were able to expand. Harmony and friendship had done its thing again! Now that's awesome."
My heart calmed down a little, now that everything was moving along fine.
"And today, we are going to do what we failed to. We are..."
My eyes widened, and Solar had the same shock. There's no way she was right-
"...going to expand the shield in ALL directions! In the coming years, Equestria will no longer be the only habitable place left on Equus! Aw yeah!!"
An uproar of applause and cheering instantly erupted among all the workers, with me and Solar included. Solar was prideful of her correct predictions, and I let her have the moment.
"I WAS RIGHT! OH MY CELESTIA, WE'RE FINALLY DOING IT!!" She yelled gleefully, and I laughed in response.
As for me, I was really glad to be seeing the barrier get expanded. The level of joy around the meeting hall was a very rare sight, and I welcomed it. Not to say it's bleak and depressing in the facility, it's just that no-one's ever this happy.
"Well, damn. That's a best-case scenario." I replied, raising my voice some over the crowd.
"One more thing," We quieted down a tad in anticipation. "Princess Cadence and Shining Armor up in the Crystal Empire gave us the OK to reach up there too!"
And the crowd goes wild, again. Dear Luna, Solar was right on. Honestly, that type of accuracy is the type of stuff you see in movies and books. I clapped my hooves on the seat more, smiling.
"Holy Tartarus, it really is!" She yelled to me again, though a touch more relaxed. "That's what magical innovation does!"
"Guaranteed we're taking a vacation to Griffonstone when we're able to." I added, Solar 100% agreeing.
Dash continued her speech, the praise of everycreature cooling down. "So, how are we doin' somethin' like this? Well, take a look!"
The presentation switched to the next slide, a diagram of the generator's core. It was pretty complicated, but I understood it. All that studying many years ago in electronics working strong.
"We're gonna be replacing the old core with a brand new one! It's only got double all the fancy tech stuff the old ones have! We can go over to all the new places, and we won't be wont be overloading the generators!"
I figured. Seems pretty difficult to do... having to essentially disconnect it from everything, take it out, then vice versa as Dash described. If we fail to complete it, that'd be catastrophic... we have to really make sure we're doing it right, I don't want this to go awry.
"Once all that's said and done, we'll set up more generators in the newly rebuilt countries. For our farthest reaching goals, we'll go out even further! Who knows what, or even better, who, we could find?!"
At this point, everycreature was probably getting tired. I noticed the room gradually grow more tranquil as Dash kept speaking.
The possibility of discovering new races and species in the great beyond is quite the fascinating idea. I bet there's something, er, someone out there on Equus who survived the meteor, but I have no idea on the specifics. Maybe an undersea colony? Perhaps there was civilization atop the ash-ridden clouds? Boldly speaking, I don't completely doubt it.
The future was exciting to think about in the long-term, yet concerning in the short-term.
4 days from now - next Monday - we begin replacement.
Hey, Cloudsdale's in high spirits.
All around me, conversation regarding the new announcement filled the roads. It was particularly cheerful. The vibe in the city overall is something I haven't felt for a long while. In comparison, yesterday was blandly boring. Even the clouds below had gatherings of ponies and griffons. I liked it.
Solar flew next to me, this time being careful to not have a collision. "We're finally goin' to have a Monday we'll enjoy!" She exclaimed. "Wonder how the whole replacement thing'll go though. I know we got an explanation, but like, I still have some questions, yknow?"
"Yeah. Wonder where we'll be during it, too. Maybe..."
Solar replied while I was thinking. "How about the forefront of it?" I looked at her like she stated for a fact that 2+2 equaled 9. "I know, classic Solar and her crazy predictions, but still. You have the skill with electronics Flash, I feel you could grab a prominent position, huh? You're better with that stuff than you convince yourself."
Oh, come on. I'm good, but not on that level. "...If you say so." I didn't want to make eye contact.
"Hey, don't go lyin' to yourself. You're real smart."
"I know, just," I sighed. "Having such an important role in it would be stressful, to put it lightly. I haven't exactly tinkered with the core of the generator, and all I know for the internals is basic information."
"The whole thing sounds like it'll be takin' it out and puttin' the new one in. I don't think we'll be performing mechanical surgery on it."
She did have a point.
"I guess you're right. Maybe I'm overthinking it or something."
"You've seemed pretty nervous ever since the announcement, anyway. What's goin' on up there?"
I flew a little closer by her side. "This is just risky. We've never attempted to do this before, and I have no idea how well it'll go. I want it to succeed, but if it fails..."
"...the shield's gonna go?"
"Yep."
An uncomfortable pause followed. I knew this talk would come, but it wasn't fun to realize it. Again, if this operation fails on any of the generators, we risk the loss of our barrier. It's not a guarantee, but a very high probability of it. And, if that were to occur, we're fucked. Excuse my language, but that's the most fitting way to put it. It'd be total unadulterated calamity.
I chose to break the lack of speaking. "Being a pessimist is a bitch. Sometimes, it really grabs and tugs at you when things should have a positive outlook."
"It'll be fine, Flash. I promise."
I stared at the lines of flying critters below me, my eyes following one, snapping back, and repeating.
"I really do hope so."
"I mean, you'll have everyone there to work with. And I'm not the only buddy you got, you know Jargon's with us too. I'm sure we'll meet him again on Monday."
Jargon, the dragon I befriended a couple months back. I don't speak to him too often, nor do I see him everyday. He can seem mean, but when you get to know him, he's not so bad.
I tilted my head in consideration. "True. He is good with this kind of stuff, I'll give him that."
"Exactly, just try and keep a good mindset, alright? It'll help tons on the big day."
"I'll do my best, Solar."
We followed along the same path as yesterday, feeling the calm wind breezing onto us. We didn't really speak following Solar's positive affirmations, which I will add were nice to hear. I've never been a stranger to believing the worst possible outcomes. She's used to it, being my closest friend ever since my early school years. How she has the patience to still deal with it when it comes about is something I will never understand.
Been a few days. 3 to be exact.
Instead of working my usual, I'm taking on the task of replenishing the liquid nitrogen I mentioned a while back. This'll be the final time the current core will need this sort of treatment.
The weight was noticeable, the canister being around half my size if set down horizontally. It had a handle on the top for my right hoof to hold, so I wrapped my left around the underside. Both of my forehooves were protected in soft, thick, insulated garments that covered their entire lengths. Even then, I could feel a slight coolness while carrying the thing.
Upon reaching the first set of 3 coolant cylinders, I opened the top hatch, and poured a good third into them each. Their activation via a sequence of button pressing after caused them to glow a pretty white. The work of technomagic, I knew well.
Leaving the cylinders to themselves, I returned the empty canister to the refill conveyor in the other room. As there was no more wire-work to be accomplished today, I moved back to the unit I always stood at with a clipboard in my wing. Time for bores galore to commence.
Wait, hold on.
-194.6°.
That doesn't seem right. The boiling point of liquid nitrogen is -195°, does that mean... no, of course not. I blinked and observed the electronic display again.
-194.6° C.
I must be seeing things. I decided to keep a low profile, informing everycreature about this would probably cause chaos. At least, I thought so. Perhaps the heats increasing temporarily due to the replacement tomorrow? Makes enough sense in my mind.
Curious to how it's looking at the other units...
I was just able to see the readings on those beside me: -195.3° C, -195.7° C, -194.9° C. They were all at or just above the boiling point. I was the warmest, despite it still being unfathomably cold. Nocritter appeared to be concerned, either.
Let's hope tomorrow works out well enough... and that we can give everyone their homes back.