//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Angelswift II: The Awakening // by Nevel //------------------------------// The room behind the door was massive. The glow from Moonlight’s horn couldn't reach the other side of the room, only what was within a few feet of her. The door had led them onto a catwalk that went across the middle of the room to the other side. Nothing could be seen below because the light couldn't go down far enough. Above them they could see the ceiling, at least a few feet above, so they knew at least that they were on the top floor of this place. Moonlight signalled for the others to wait as she slowly moved across the catwalk. Fire Wire kept her horn glowing as she stayed back with the others. Lance looked over the edge of the catwalk, a sense of vertigo washed over him as he noticed that the drop seemingly went on forever into darkness. On the other side of the catwalk, Moonlight had come across another door, but this one was larger and seemed to be stuck. There was no handle and no way past. After a few seconds, she gave up and headed back to the others. “There’s no way past that door.” Moonlight said quietly. “There’s no handle to open the door with or anything.” “Lemme see.” Fire Wire said walking past Moonlight. Skylar pushed his way past Moonlight too, walking behind Fire Wire. They all then trotted slowly over the catwalk and Lance noticed that the walkway was being held up by large cables hanging from the ceiling. Fire Wire was looking the door over and then she spotted something, mumbling about it being “advanced”. A second later a spark leapt from her horn and it danced around a small box next to the door. Lance could see a little down arrow lighting up on the box, and then the door squeaked open. The sound echoed around the room, causing everypony to cover their ears for a second before it stopped. The door split open from the middle and slid into the walls. “Well would you look at that.” Fire Wire said as she stepped into the room, but it wasn’t a room, more like a large box with nothing in it. The orange manned pony was already looking at something the others couldn’t see and was again using her magic. “Come on everypony. This lift will take us down below.” “What are you talking about?” Skylar asked. Fire Wire rolled her eyes. “This is a lift. It’s like a large crane then lowers or raises you to the floor you want to go.” “Is it safe?” Lance asked, giving the edge of the catwalk another quick look. “Everything seems to be working just fine, except there’s no power. But I’ve read up about these things and I know a lot about technology.” Lance wondered if that’s why she was reading all the time. The others stepped into the lift and it groaned a little. “Maybe we shouldn’t overload it?” Lance said taking a step back. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Fire Wire said, looking up. “Moonlight, wanna stay with them? I’ll take these two down and then be right back up.” “Sure, no problem.” Moonlight said as she stepped back off the lift. The doors came out of the walls again, this time a lot quieter, and closed together. Fire Wire’s light was still visible through the crack of the door and they watched it as it went down below, leaving with a loud hum against the utter silence. Lance looked over the side and couldn’t see the lift, or Fire Wire’s light. “What do you think this place is?” Cherry asked her brother. “I dunno. I’ve never seen anything like it.” “It’s some kind of factory.” Moonlight said from behind them. She was looking over the other side but couldn’t make out anything in the dark. “I can’t understand though, why something like this would be all the way out here in the woods.” Lance thought that was a good point. There weren’t exactly any roads leading to this place, nor did trains ever stop in Whitetail Woods. They were lost in the middle of nowhere, so whoever was running this place didn’t want to be discovered. Yet the place seemed like it had been abandoned for Celestia knows how long. The hum of the lift could be heard coming to a stop far below. It was the only sound other than them, and when it came to a stop, everything was silent again. The three ponies didn’t say a word. They remained quiet, listening out for anything that could be happening below them. After what felt like forever, the hum of the lift returned and they could breathe easy again. The door to the lift slid open and again squeaked loudly. Fire Wire was inside alone. “I just thought,” Moonlight said. “Is it a good idea to leave those two alone?” Fire Wire smiled and then they all went inside the lift. It was a tight fit and when the door closed, Lance felt like he was trapped. Fire Wire touched the tip of her horn to a button marked with a down arrow. It glowed green and then the lift descended. Lance felt his stomach drop and he had to brace himself. “What’s the matter, Big Brother?” Cherry asked Lance. “Nothing,” He told Cherry. “I just wasn’t ready for that.” The lift continued to hum as it went down, a few seconds later the doors opened and they were greeted by Rift. Skylar was a little further along the catwalk, lying down and looking impatient. The lift had brought them to another catwalk, exactly the same as the one above only one floor lower. Cherry gave out a little yawn from Lance’s back. He turned to face her and she was slowly starting to fall asleep. It was pretty late at night now and they had skipped a few meals today. Lance felt a little tired himself. “Hey everypony,” Lance called to the others. “What you say we take a break for a few minutes?” “Are you serious?” “Are you joking?” Fire Wire and Skylar Black spoke simultaneously, they both looked at Lance, Fire Wire looking like Somepony told her that her birthday party had been delayed and Skylar just looked angry. “But there’s so much here to explore.” Fire Wire said. “And I’m getting bored of waiting around. I wanna get something done!” Skylar said as he stood up. “I personally think a break isn't a bad idea.” Moonlight said, adding her thoughts to the discussion. Rift then stood between them all. “How about this then? You three take a break, and we’ll keep on going and come back for you later. Sound good?” Lance didn’t like the idea of splitting up, but Cherry was beginning to fall asleep on his back. Usually that wouldn’t be a problem for him, but if she fell of his back, she could really get hurt. “That founds fair enough,” Moonlight said. “We’ll be right here by the lift, if anything happens, hurry back.” Fire Wire nodded and then with a smile she turned on the stop and walked off, Skylar following her. Rift waved a hoof and then trotted after them. - - - The catwalk was just as long as the one above. This one must be directly below the other one Fire Wire assumed. They reached a door, but it had a different kind of lock that required something flat to be inserted into it. Like the elevator door, this one quickly opened after a spark from Fire Wire’s horn and granted them access. Beyond the door, to the left, were a set of stairs descending further down into the factory, spiralling to the floor below. To the right there was a small room filled with all kinds of large machines. Fire Wire’s eyes went wide as she jumped into the room looking around. “Look at all this!” She said, alive with energy. “This technology is years ahead of our own.” “What is it?” Rift asked. Fire Wire turned to Rift, giving him an unimpressed look as if he just asked her what was the name of the kind of tree that apples come from. “These are computers.” She said. ”But not just any computers, no. These are like, super computers. Many computers that I’ve seen barely give you any information at all. These look like they were made to hold all kinds of information!” “Information on what?” Skylar asked. “Well, I don’t quite know that yet. Let’s see, OH!” Fire Wire let out a louder than intended gasp, which caused Rift and Skylar to leap by her side. “There’s no power!” They both sighed and then looked at the thing she was looking at. It looked like a typewriter except this one had tiny buttons that no hoof could press without pressing a whole bunch at the same time. “We’ll have to find a generator and switch this all on.” Fire Wire said, turning to leave the room. “What? Why?” Rift asked. “Because then we can find out what this place is, where this place is, and with luck, find out where the next nearest place is where we can get help.” Fire Wire headed down the steps. Rift and Skylar looked at each other and then followed after her. - - - Lance was lying on the catwalk with his little sister, who was resting her head against his foreleg. She had fallen asleep almost immediately after the others had left. They’d been out in the woods so long and it was so late at night. Moonlight kept her horn glowing softly and was sat just in front of Lance, talking softly. “-and to think, we set out to get help for the ponies who were hurt in the train crash and all we do is get ourselves lost and now we’re in need of the help.” “It was a stupid idea.” Lance said. “I should have just kept my mouth shut.” “Hey, you wanted to help ponies who were far worse off than yourself. How if your back by the way?” “It’s fine, I barely notice it, thanks to your medicine.” Moonlight nodded, smiling. “Lance, it wasn’t your fault what happened. We all made the mistake of running into the woods blindly. Your heart was in the right place when you came up with this idea. You wanted to help those ponies back at the train and were even willing to go alone to save them. Isn’t that what your cutiemark represents?” Lance looked back to his cutiemark, a dark brown shield with a small diamond in the middle. His cutiemark represented protecting others when they needed help. He’d always thought his dream was to be a Royal Guard in Canterlot, but when the opportunity arose he turned it down, instead choosing to give his sister what she wanted. A good home, great friends, and the freedom to live her life as she wanted. He’d always sacrifice himself to protect others, and right now others were in trouble and they needed his help. Lance looked at Moonlight. “We should catch up with the others.” “Are you sure? We’ve only rested for like five minutes.” Lance gave his sister a gentle nuzzle. “Cherry, we’re going.” She opened her eyes slightly, looking half asleep as she looked up at her brother. “Come on, climb onto my back again. You can sleep-“ Suddenly a loud thump followed by a humming noise came up from below them. Lance jumped to his hooves and looked over the edge. Something down there had come to life. There were a few more clanks and then shortly afterwards light began to fill up the entire factory. They could see everything now. Down below was another catwalk and it looked like another catwalk was below that. The walls themselves were completely rounded like the entire room was a big circle. Down the very bottom was a large pile of scrap metal and next to it embedded into the floor was a large rectangle plate that was covering something up. “Did Fire Wire do this?” Lance said, looking at the lights in the walls. “Probably. Come on, let’s hurry.” Moonlight ran ahead as Lance ducked down and Cherry jumped onto his back. They rushed to the door leading to the others. - - - Fire Wire pulled the last switch, using her magic. The generator was running, all the lights had come on and finally she could stop using her light spell. Great in an emergency, but everything was glowing orange and that tends to get annoying when looking for specific coloured button. The room they were in was a faded blue, like all the others. Each room seemed to be filled with technological items such as steel presses, forges, a few assembly benches, and many larger machines she’d never seen before. What was being made down here, she didn’t have a clue. Fire Wire left the power room in high spirits. She was finally going to see what was on that computer. She’d always be fascinated by technology, it was such a learning experience and there seemed to be almost no limit to what a pony could create using machines. Whoever made all this was very intelligent, possibly one of the greatest minds in all of Equestria. Fire Wire walked over to the door and instead of using her magic, it opened on its own as she approached. “Hey, F.W,” Rift called out to her. Fire Wire turned to face him. “What is it?” “Have you seen Skylar? He’s gone missing.” Rift said, looking about. “What? Gone where?” “I dunno. We went into the power room, I noticed he stayed by the door, but then the lights came on and I never saw him after that.” Fire Wire looked back down the hall. Four rooms, two on the left, two on the right. There was another stairway spiralling down to the floor below. “Maybe he went to explore more? But let’s head back up, he’ll find us later.” Fire Wire walked out the door and Rift hesitated before following her, above them they caught a glimpse of Lance and Cherry through the bottom of the catwalk before they ran into the computer room. Fire Wire and Rift rushed forward to meet them there. - - - “What is all this stuff?” Lance asked as Moonlight looked around at everything. Before she could answer they heard the clopping of hooves coming up the stairway behind them. Fire Wire and Rift appeared and walked into the room. Fire Wire was smiling brightly. “So, get enough rest you three?” She teased as she made her way passed them. “We’re alright. Where’s Skylar?” “He’s downstairs exploring.” Fire Wire said dismissively as she walked over to the only computer with a screen. She pressed a hoof one of the buttons, but nothing happened. She then looked under the table and pressed another button. A hiss filled the room and made them all jump. The wall was sliding open, much like the lift doors and it was revealing the entire circular room with all the catwalks before them. There was a piece of glass between where the walls now separated. “What is all this stuff?” Moonlight asked, mimicking Lance’s earlier question to her. Fire Wire turned with a huge smile on her face. “It’s an observation room!” “A What?” Lance asked. Fire Wire went back under the table and pressed another button. A quiet hum, like a fan, started up and then the small screen bleeped. Suddenly there was writing on it. “What in Equestria…?” Lance walked up to the screen, looking at it in wonder. He’d never seen anything like this. Twilight had an old projector in her library that played movie reels in black and white, but this was crystal clear and there didn’t seem to be anything in the room casting the image onto it. “That’s a monitor, Lance. It’s used to display images and messages being sent by these computers. Very advanced. Look! It’s even in colour.” Images of blue and red spun in circles before disappearing and leaving a green image with several icons all of which looked like tiny office folders. “What’s it all mean?” Lance asked. “Well, I’ve never personally seen technology like this before, but I’ve read loads about it. It’s so exciting!” She wrapped a board covered in letters and another small object in her magic and started using them simultaneously to make the computer do things. Soon images were appearing on the screen showing diagrams of things Lance couldn’t understand. “Listen, umm…” Lance said as he backed away from the monitor. “I’m going to find Skylar, okay? So I’ll be back soon.” Lance turned to leave down the stairs but Moonlight held a hoof in front of him. “Are you okay to go alone?” “He won’t be alone, I’ll be with him!” Cherry said from Lance’s back. Moonlight smiled then gave her full attention to Cherry. “Alright then sweetie, but you have to look after him. Promise?” “I promise.” She said with a nod. Lance smiled widely then turned to his sister. “Hey, I thought it was my job to look after you?” “I think you need more looking after then I do, you’re hopeless without me.” Cherry said, taunting her brother. Lance sighed. “Ahh, I guess I lose this round.” He said, feigning defeat. They then slowly descended the stairway and Lance could hear Fire Wire squeeing about something she had just found. She sounded like she was having the time of her life. - - - Skylar had found another lift. After going down the stairs he’d come onto another catwalk. He hated the design of this place. The catwalk had led him to another elevator. The door was closed but he had watched Fire Wire carefully and saw how she had opened it. With the factory power restored, it should only be a simple matter of pressing a button and it would open. Skylar pressed the little button and immediately it opened making no more noise than that of something light sliding across the floor. Stepping inside, he noticed three buttons. An up arrow, a down arrow and a third, marked with a picture of a gear. Skylar pressed that button, curious as to what it meant. The lift began to shake, and instead of going down, It seemed to go into the wall and then up. The lift came to a stop and the black haired pegasus turned around as the back of it opened up into the ceiling. He stepped out and found himself in a massive room lined with about ten green pods on each wall, each big enough to hold a pony. Most of the pods had the grey gear logo on it and some had a white one. Those pods looked larger than the others and there were a lot less of them. Skylar was on a platform. As he looked over the edge he saw that there were at least another four more rows of these pods before they reached the bottom. Skylar couldn’t believe his eyes. He did the math and worked out there were at least two hundred of these pods in this room. The pegasus saw that some kind of computer was on the platform too. He walked over to in and gave it a look. A tiny monitor flashed, showing that every pod had an X over it, meaning they were all empty. Skylar gave a double check and this time he saw one pod wasn’t empty. It was one with a white gear logo over it. This pod had a red line under it though but it didn’t say why. Skylar tapped the screen and suddenly the platform began to move. It was taking him to the pod. - - - Lance and Cherry had gone past the factory rooms and down another set of stairs. “How many stairs does this place have?” Lance said, getting tired. He trotted out onto another catwalk and saw a lift on the other side. He took a step towards it. “What’s that?” Cherry asked, still riding on her brothers back. Lance looked to his sister and she was looking down over the catwalk. “What is what?” Lance asked. “There’s a pony down there!” Cherry said. Lance looked down and after a second he saw it too. A grey pony without a mane was lying on the scrap metal. He looked so small from where they were. Was that what happened to the last pony who lived here? Lance thought to himself. “Come on.” Lance quickly ran to the lift and jabbed a hoof to door. It wouldn’t open. Cherry jumped off Lance’s back and then pressed the button to call the lift. “Oh… right.” Lance’s ears folded to down to his head, embarrassed he didn’t think of that first. Cherry just smiled at him. They didn’t have to wait long, the doors soon slid open and they jumped inside. Lance pressed the down button and the doors closed. The lift hummed as it went down, seemingly taking forever. Finally the doors opened and before them was a giant pile of scrap metal. Each bit was bent, crushed and rusted. “Over there!” Cherry called out. Lance looked over and saw the pony lying at the bottom of the scrap. Lance and Cherry ran over to the pony but as they got closer Lance stopped. Cherry went one more step ahead before stopping. “That’s not a pony.” Lance said under his breath. Lance moved slowly towards it. As he got closer he saw that it looked more like a full body metal suit. It completely covered up the body and head, hiding the pony inside. “This must be some kind of new armour. Maybe this is a military factory?” They both got closer. “You mean like the Royal Guards?” Cherry asked. “Yeah, well… I… I’m not sure, maybe.” Lance couldn’t think of an army outside of Celestia’s. Maybe these go back thousands of years to Nightmare Moon’s time? Lance thought. They soon came right up to it. The whole metal suit was grey, there was a tiny spike where the tail was, and the head had a few spikes where there mane would have been. Yet the oddest part was the eyes. It had three red eyes. Two of the eyes were in their normal places, yet strangely a third eye was right on the forehead. The left red eye was hanging out though, hanging on only by the wires. The rest on the suit was dented, cracked, split and a few wires were showing through. Lance looked around the rest of the room, but there seemed to be nothing else here except a large plate covering the floor but there was no switch to open that nearby. “Come on Cherry, let’s go back up. Skylar isn’t down here.” Lance turned around and then turned back to Cherry. She had moved to the metal pony armour. “Cherry, come away from there.” Lance moved to her, she poked it with her hoof and then sparks flew out of it and as Cherry screamed, backing away, it then suddenly wiggled it’s legs, rolled of the scrap metal and stood up, facing them. It’s not a pony suit. Lance thought, horrified. It’s alive!