It seemed an abnormally good day in the small and peaceful hamlet of Ponyville, seeing as no strange monster was attacking the town, for once. Lyra Heartstrings was on her morning trot to the edge of town, wearing nothing to cover her magic-mint fur but a white sweat towel. She was using her Unicorn magic to levitate a water bottle in front of her that she drank from occasionally. When she reached the end of her trotting route, she slowed to a jog. She used her brilliant cyan and single white striped tail to flick off a little sweat off of her right flank, right over her lyre cutie mark.
Something popped in her head as she was levitating the towel over her muzzle and body proper. The words of Bon Bon, her Earth Pony roommate and PFF (pony friend forever), rang in her head: Remember to buy confectioner sugar while you’re out trotting. Here, this should be enough bits for five or six bags.
I should probably go buy that sugar, Lyra thought. Bon Bon can’t just use her work sugar for home cooking experiments.
Lyra began trotting towards the market. Suddenly, she saw something shiny out of the corner of her eye. She turned and saw what looked like a chrome-colored flashlight hanging in midair.
On sheer impulse, Lyra began to walk towards it. It moved away. Lyra followed. Suddenly, the flashlight disappeared. Lyra stopped. Then, out of nowhere, and without even the flash that comes with teleporting, a huge chrome-colored metal donut appeared, hovering in midair. Then, a bajillion metal limbs extended from the donut.
The metal donut swirled around to behind Lyra. Lyra screamed and ran. She ran, and the metal donut chased her.
She ran, and she ran. No sense of time. Only sheer terror. They were soon outside of town. Lyra could see Fluttershy’s cottage in the distance. She headed towards it. The metal donut sped up rapidly, easily passing Lyra to hover before her.
Lyra tried to stop and turn around, but got caught and held by two of the donut’s arms. The metal donut then spoke in a calm, feminine voice.
“Please calm down. I do not wish to harm you,” it said.
“Then stop chasing me and let me go!” Lyra yelled.
“I’m sorry. I cannot do that at this time,” it said.
“Why not?!” Lyra demanded.
“Because I am in desperate need of assistance,” it said.
“You could’ve just asked!” Lyra said.
“This is a top-secret matter. Technically, I’m not supposed to have even exited Cloaking Mode at any point in the mission,” it said.
“Cloaking Mode? What’s that?” Lyra asked, suddenly confused.
“Invisibility, you might call it. Regardless, the humans who own me said that I am to retrieve a watch made by ponies and that if I can’t get it, I should not bother to return. But it is guarded too heavily for me to obtain it myself,” it said.
“Hu-humans?” Lyra asked, her interest piqued and her panic ebbed away slightly.
“Yes, my masters are human,” it said. “Do you wish to know-”
“Humans are a supposedly mythological race of chimpanzee-like animals that were mostly hairless, stood at towering heights over a pony, and while they lacked magic or the ability to fly, they possessed incredible intelligence! Most ponies don’t think they ever existed, but I think they did exist, and now I have proof!” Lyra said, excitedly.
“Proof? To what proof are you referring?” the giant metal donut asked.
“You!” Lyra exclaimed.
The metal donut was silent for a second or two longer than usual, then asked “Wouldn’t you rather have proof that humans are still around?”
Lyra’s face changed from excitement to stunned ecstasy. “Humans…. are…. still a…. living species?!”
“Yes. Unfortunately, I am forbidden to return to any human settlement without the item I was sent to retrieve, so without it neither of us can go there. But with the target item in hand, I’m sure the humans…. would overlook me bringing in an outsider one time,” it said.
“Well, what is the item? I’m sure I can get it for you,” Lyra said.
“I am in need of a pony-crafted watch. Any kind - pocket, wrist, it does not matter - so long as it is a small timepiece made by pony hooves using pony techniques and materials.”
Lyra’s face dropped.
“What is wrong?” it asked.
“Watches are…. kind of expensive. Most ponies can’t afford them. Including me,” Lyra moaned.
“I have already located the only store in Ponyville that sells watches. I have analyzed the facility in great detail. Its security systems are incredibly primitive for human standards. But it does implement a surprisingly clever system in which the watches are impossible to remove from their places of display without either levitation or making a huge racket, and the security system prevents the use of levitation. If we work together, we can sneak in and take it.”
“You don’t mean… stealing it?!” Lyra asked, alarmed.
“I do.”
“I can’t do that!”
“In that case, you cannot see a live human, and I cannot go home. I will go find somewhere to rust in quiet contemplation of my failure.”
The metal donut set Lyra down and began slowly hovering away, closer to the ground than before.
Lyra’s mind raced to evaluate her options. As a split second judgement, she called out “Wait! Giant iron donut thing, wait!”
The metal donut stopped, and said “Yes, little pony?”
“Can you guarantee that we won’t get caught?”
“With ninety-five percent surety,” it said.
“Okay, well, tell me your name and we might have a deal - maybe. But I can’t go stealing for somepony I don’t even know the name of!” Lyra said.
“I am Number 7554 of the Autonomous Servant, Teacher, Repairman, and Intelligence Droid Series of multipurpose robotic servants. And you are….?” the metal donut asked.
“Huh?” Lyra asked, too confused to form a question.
“ASTRID,” the robot said.
“Oooh, okay. ASTRID. I can remember that. My name is Lyra Heartstrings,” Lyra said. “It’s, uh, nice to meet you!”
“It is nice to meet you, as well. Now…. do we have an agreement?” ASTRID asked.
Lyra hesitated for a moment, then tentatively said “Give me a couple of days to think about it.”
“Understood. I will meet you behind your residency at eleven o’clock PM in forty-eight hours,” ASTRID said.
“O-okay, see you in two days,” Lyra said.
What am I getting myself into, here? she wondered.
After buying the sugar, Lyra went home. She then said “hi” to Bon Bon before putting the sugar away and going up to her room. There, she reviewed every book on anthropology she had. There was nothing on humans being capable of creating and controlling invisible flying sentient machines.
That “robot” thing definitely did have strange powers not in these books. The humans from 5,000 years ago that are depicted in these books wouldn’t have been able to make it. So it must have been telling the truth and the humans must still be around somewhere, and they’ve been advancing their technology for five thousand years since their disappearance!
Lyra pondered her situation over the next two days, trying to figure out how to meet a human without committing any crimes. Finally, she came up with something.
When she asked the robot about her idea, it simply said “Risky. But we can try it. If your method fails, we will have to go farther away to find a watch. Remember that.”
The next morning, Lyra and a cloaked ASTRID went to Carousel Boutique. Inside, Lyra called out for Rarity.
Rarity approached them. She was a white unicorn mare with a purple mane and three purple gems as a cutie mark. She politely asked “Oh, hello Lyra. How can I help you today?” then said quieter “You don’t need another… custom set of leggings, again?”
“Oh, no, it’s not that,” Lyra laughed, nervously. “Actually, I’m about to show you something really weird. It’s honestly a little scary, but you have to promise not to scream and run off. It won’t hurt you.”
Rarity gulped, but nervously said “O-okay, sure… thing…”
“ASTRID, you can come out of cloak now.”
ASTRID came out of cloaking mode. Rarity almost screamed, but covered her mouth with her hooves.
Slowly and nervously, Rarity asked “Wh-who’s your f-friend?”
“I call her ASTRID. She’s some sort of robot made by the humans. She says she needs a watch to return to her makers, but hasn’t been successful, yet. She’s agreed to take me with her if we can obtain a watch. I was hoping you could help us out…?” Lyra explained.
“H-humans? What- what are humans?” Rarity asked, confused.
Lyra gave a brief explanation of humans, including what they look like and how technologically advanced she thinks they are. “Well, they’re mammals like ponies, but stand on their hind legs and use their front legs purely for manipulating tools and carrying things. They’re the original environment manipulators.”
“And they make robots, too, apparently,” Rarity observed. “So, I don’t understand what you need a watch for.”
“Er, I don’t really know why the humans want a pony-crafted watch. I’m sure they can make even better stuff themselves. Maybe they’re researching us like how I’ve been researching them,” Lyra proposed.
“How very interesting… I think I have an old watch around here somewhere. Let me look in some storage boxes.” Rarity used her magic to start opening up boxes and shifting through the contents. Supplies and mementos came flying out all over the room. “Ah, yes, here it is. I got this watch when I was a young filly for my first coltillion. It went so well with the dress I specially made for that occasion. It’s an older model, but we can’t just go giving out too cutting-edge knowledge of ourselves to those we know nothing of, right?”
“Oh, wow! This is exactly what I was hoping for! Thanks Rarity! I’ll make sure this pays out for both of us!” Lyra was excited.
“Now see if you can talk the humans into giving you a watch of theirs to give me, okay?” Rarity requested.
“I’ll see what I can do,” Lyra promised, trotting out the door happily. ASTRID floated after her.
Lyra followed ASTRID back out of the town, towards the Everfree Forest.
“Are you sure that there are humans in the Everfree Forest? I mean, that place has been pretty solidly mapped out in the last couple of years, and nopony has ever found humans in there…” Lyra said, nervously.
“Yes, I am sure. I remember passing through here, and I do not forget anything unless a human edits or wipes my memory banks,” ASTRID assured Lyra.
The pair headed past Fluttershy’s cottage. Lyra couldn’t help but wonder if Fluttershy was watching.
Once inside the forest, ASTRID began taking a more erratic path through the woods. Lyra was having difficulties keeping up. Finally, ASTRID stopped before a large cliff face.
“So, do we go around this?” Lyra asked.
“No, we’re here,” ASTRID said.
“ASTRID, I don’t know what you’ve been eating, but that’s a cliff,” Lyra pointed out.
“Just wait. They’ll let us in soon. Just hold up the watch,” ASTRID ordered.
Lyra trotted to stand next to ASTRID and held up Rarity’s old watch.
“Welcome back, ASTRID-7554. You and your new friend can come on in,” said a mysterious voice coming from what seemed like all around them.
Suddenly, the cliff face turned blurry like an old TV on the fritz. Then, a large, shiny, metal door appeared on the cliff face.
“Where did that come from?” Lyra asked, shocked.
“It has always been there. It was hidden using the same technology I use to hide myself, plus a little extra,” ASTRID said. “Now, please follow.”
The door split in two as it opened, one half going down and one half going up. Lyra followed ASTRID inside the new opening in the cliff face. The door closed behind them.
On the other side was a large and pretty much empty metal room with lights that glowed like the sun, but dimmer, on the ceiling. On the far side of the room was… another door, identical to the one behind them.
There was a beeping sound. Then, a computerized voice similar to ASTRID’s but louder and more masculine popped up and said “INITIATING CLEANSING OF ALL BACTERIAL AND VIRAL CULTURES IN THREE… TWO… ONE…”
“Bacteria-wha?” Lyra started to ask. Before she could properly phrase her question, a small robot hovered over to her and sprayed a cool mist at her from all angles. Lyra felt as if she was taking a nice, cool shower and putting on vaguely flower-scented hoof sanitizer all over her body at the same time. A second robot was doing the same to ASTRID.
When the small robots finished spraying the mist, they left through some unseen exist and the computerized voice said “CLEANSING COMPLETE. WELCOME TO UNDER CITY 564.”
The door opposite the two finally opened. It opened the same way the first door did: splitting from the middle along the x-axis and pulling its halves up and down, respectively.
And from the other side came in the most bizarre yet amazing creature Lyra had ever laid eyes on: it stood at a towering six feet tall, four above Lyra, and stood on two legs while keeping its two arms free. The creature had an overall ape-like shape with light tan skin and sort of yellow-ish hair in a buzz cut style, icy blue eyes facing forward in its skull, and a ridiculously small muzzle that Lyra was still trying to figure out how humans smelled anything with. Just kidding, Lyra knew it was called a “nose” even if most other ponies didn’t.
As clothing, it wore some sort of uniform, clearly decorative, reminiscent of some old pictures Lyra had obtained (from one of her many anthropological digs) of what was apparently the dress uniform for “Officers” of the United States Army - the army of what Lyra had thought was the fallen nation of “the United States of America” - but instead of being mostly forest green, it was mostly blood red. The decorations were different, too. Also, the symbol that in the old pictures was the flag of the United States was instead a totally different flag: a red and blue marble with a sword striking through it with the hilt sticking out the top at a slight angle. Lyra quickly concluded that humans looked a lot more menacing in person.
It was followed by a second human, one wearing what Lyra could only guess was a lower-ranking women’s uniform. Lyra could tell male and female humans apart easily enough, and this second one’s body shape and bun-styled hair (plus the fact that she was a couple of inches below six feet) made it obvious enough if the skirt hadn’t given it away first.
ASTRID tipped forward in what Lyra thought kind of looked like… a bow! Lyra quickly bowed as well.
The higher-ranking human spoke in some odd language Lyra couldn’t understand. Then, the lower-ranking human spoke in plain English, albeit with a strange accent, asking “Greetings. Do you understand Modern English, little pony?”
“If that’s what you call the language we’re speaking right now, then yes,” Lyra answered.
“Good. I am 1st Lieutenant Nohi Kado. The man next to me is Colonel Adryan Beyett, who holds the prestigious position of Captain of the Under City 564 Defense Guard. What is your name?”
“Lyra Heartstrings,” Lyra answered, still bowing, and being careful to avoid eye contact.
Colonel Beyett spoke again. For convenience of recording this account of events, the incomprehensible speech of Colonel Beyett will more or less be omitted until he says something you would understand.
“It is nice to meet you, Ms. Heartstrings. Tell me, do you know what this place is?” Lieutenant Kado asked.
“It’s a human settlement, isn’t it?” Lyra asked.
“Yes, you could call it that,” Lieutenant Kado said, amused. “Under City 564 is the largest Under City - an underground settlement for humans - in the entirety of the continent of North America. It is also one of the most technologically and culturally advanced Under Cities in the world. And you are the first outsider to have ever been allowed inside any Under City, let alone one as magnificent as this one.” She then followed-up with a “Care to take a quick tour?”
For the first time, Lyra looked up into Lieutenant Kado’s eyes. They were a piercing dark brown. Her pale peach-colored skin seemed to almost glow in the simulated sunlight. Her black hair, worn in a tight bun, wasn’t nearly as shiny.
Lyra quickly nodded and said “Y-yes, of course! It- it would be the greatest honor!”
“Very well. Please, follow me. And, you can hand ASTRID-7554 the watch you’ve been so kind to hold on to for this long,” Lieutenant Kado instructed.
Lyra handed ASTRID the watch and murmured “Could we meet up again later?”
“Possibly,” ASTRID answered vaguely.
Lyra trotted over to the humans and followed them through the door. ASTRID flew past them and then the door closed, shutting Lyra in. For some reason Lyra couldn’t fathom, the slam of the second door closing seemed almost… ominous according to her instincts.
Perhaps noticing Lyra’s concern, Lieutenant Kado calmly said “In case you’re wondering, yes, we can and will let you go home. Under City 564 employs the latest computerized automation systems. The Overworld Door is not going to malfunction in any way.”
I wasn’t concerned about whether or not you can let me go home… Lyra thought.
Lyra looked around her. She was in some sort of entrance hall with elevators behind some ID scanners with button pads. The brick floor was designed in a simplistic basket weave pattern that matched the walls. The same artificial sunny lighting from earlier beamed down from light panels. There were numerous color-coded boxes that had labels in a language Lyra couldn’t quite read. To either side of the elevators were stairwells. On the walls hung unlit lanterns.
“This place looks like a refugee camp crossed with a company building’s lobby…” Lyra noted.
Lieutenant Kado chuckled a little, and responded with “Well, when you’ve got as much automation as Under City 564, you do need some redundant backup systems. In many cases, we’ve worked to prepare for the possible event of a city-wide electrical failure. Not a pleasant thing to think about, but a healthy amount of caution never hurt anyone. Now come, let me show you the nearest cafeteria.”
Colonel Beyett swiped a card in one of the scanners. Mere seconds later, one of the elevators beeped and opened. Lyra followed the two humans onto the elevator. Notably, ASTRID was nowhere to be seen.
“Why do you need to swipe a card to get on an elevator?” Lyra asked as she looked out of the elevator’s window to see it begin moving diagonally along some sort of diagonally-compatible grid.
Looking confused for a second, Lieutenant Kado asked “What do you mean? Everyone living in this city has an ID card, and that ID card is used in conjunction with a button pad to tell the computer who you are and where you want to go. Then, the computer tells you which elevator to get on. And it always picks the most efficient elevator to get you from Point A to Point B. Why would we do it any other way when we’ve yet to develop anything more efficient enough to warrant remodeling?”
Before Lyra knew it, the elevator had stopped.
“We’re here,” Lieutenant Kado said.
The elevator opened, and the three of them stepped out.
Like the entrance hall, the cafeteria had walls made of some sort of dark-colored concrete. The paneled lights were still very sunlight-like. Both rooms had a very utilitarian architectural style. In this room, though, Lyra could sense the hopeful atmosphere of the humans eating there.
Oh, the humans! How many there were! Lyra had only seen the two up until now, but now she couldn’t believe how many, many humans were eating here! And they were… all staring.
“This is getting awkward,” Lyra said.
“Come, let’s get in line,” Lieutenant Kado suggested.
The three of them got in line. “I can’t read the menu,” Lyra complained, a little perturbed.
“That’s because it’s written in New English, the current lingua franca among humans. But you can just order whatever you want. The menu is just a list of recommendations. The molecular food printers in the kitchen can produce any food a human can eat. And recent analyses of your kind suggest that ponies have very similar tastes to a vegetarian or a vegan,” Lieutenant Kado explained.
“Oh, okay. I’m not sure what a molecular food printer is, but it sounds like you’re confident it’s okay for me to eat here,” Lyra said.
When they got to the right point in line, some restaurant employee spoke in a language that Lyra could tell sounded like English, but with a lot of words that sounded made-up.
“He’s asking what you would like,” Lieutenant Kado said.
Lyra thought for a moment. She kind of wanted a hayburger, but wasn’t sure the employee would know what she meant by that. Deciding to play it safe, Lyra said “I would like vegetable soup.”
Lieutenant Kado repeated Lyra’s order and ordered something for herself, as well. Colonel Beyett presumably also ordered.
The trio walked over to an empty table. All the other humans were still staring, albeit less directly now. Rather, they had elected to look shiftily at Lyra out of the corners of their eyes. They tended to stare more intently when Lyra wasn’t looking directly at them.
“Why is everyone still staring?” Lyra asked, now a little scared.
“Because you are different, new, a curiosity,” Lieutenant Kado said, calmly.
“They won’t- they won’t do anything, will they? I could live with being stared at for a day, but I don’t know how long you guys want me here and I’m not- I’m not sure those humans are just curious. Some of them look… scared. A few even look angry,” Lyra said.
As Lyra spoke, a waitress walked over to them and placed their orders on the table. Lyra took a sip of her soup. It was delicious. Lyra proceeded to begin spooning large amounts of the soup into her mouth. Lieutenant Kado apparently got herself a bowl of some sort of small white grain that stuck to itself so that it could be eaten with the two sticks she used instead of a spoon. Colonel Beyett had something similar to a hayburger that Lyra recognized as a “hamburger”. Like a hayburger, but instead of the main ingredient being hay, the main ingredient in a hamburger was… well, Lyra tried to put the thought out of her mind. She didn’t like thinking for very long about how… varied in content a diet healthy for humans really is.
“The scared ones are scared because you’re different,” Lieutenant Kado said in between bites of the sticky white grain. “The angry ones are angry because you terrify the ones they care about. They feel the need to protect their own and don’t know yet if you’re as dangerous as their loved ones think you might be. Remember, you are the first outsider allowed within any Under City ever. Naturally, you’ll be treated as if you don’t really belong. But do not worry. They won’t make any truly aggressive moves against you as long as you’re with us. Plus, Colonel Beyett is already considering a bodyguard force to train for your protection while you’re here.”
“You mean I’ll even need a bodyguard?” Lyra asked, alarmed.
“Just as a precaution. Nothing major. Just a few MPs guarding you at all times. Two for guarding you during the day and two at night while you sleep.”
“What are ‘MPs’?”
“‘MP’ is short for ‘Military Police’.”
Lyra was stunned silent, her face full of shock. All of the human nations Lyra knew about that had militaries had military police to enforce the military’s rules and regulations on itself. But only in nations with governments controlled by their military - military states, military dictatorships, whatever you want to call them - had their military police really doing anything beyond that. In the democratic countries, the job of protecting citizens or foreigners from crime would be held by a separate institution of police that protected civilians specifically.
“Do- do you mean that the human race isn’t democratic anymore? That at least this particular human government is a military state!” Lyra exclaimed.
Lieutenant Kado looked surprised. “My dear, dear little pony, whatever made you think that the statement ‘all of the nations in humanity are democratic or republican in nature’ was ever true? When democracy became a popular fad in the Western Nations, it spread like wildfire. But it was never a popularly used form of government outside of Europe and the Americas. Sure, Eastern and Middle Eastern democratic nations existed, but they weren’t nearly as rampant as in the West. The sort of chaos that democracy brings to political debates was just a passing fad. When the Manasplosion Event occurred that forced humanity underground, we needed to be united as one, and we needed that unity to last. That’s why all, and I mean all of the Under Cities in existence answer to the Grand General, who combines the positions of the head of the military and the head of state.”
“But- but aren’t humans democratic by nature?” Lyra asked.
This time Lieutenant Kado flat-out laughed. “Maybe when there’s two to four of us. Too many more than that and a strong leader figure will eventually rise to unite the group. How that leader figure should be selected has been a matter of debate down through the millennia, but the inevitable truth of the matter is that one leader will be selected or will select himself.”
“Okay, so how do you select your leader?” Lyra asked.
“In the case of the current day, that leader is called the Grand General and is selected by the Military Senior Staff from one of their own upon the death or resignation of the previous Grand General,” Lieutenant Kado said, a little too proudly for Lyra’s tastes.
Colonel Beyett said something in New English. Lieutenant Kado looked at the Colonel, then turned to Lyra said “By the way, we have been meaning to ask you - would you be willing to participate in some basic testing so that we humans can learn more about you ponies?”
“You don’t mean dissection?! No way, no how!” Lyra exclaimed, slamming her hooves on the table.
Lieutenant Kado looked incredibly distraught. “Why does everyone always assume dissection?! No, that’s not what I meant! You are a rare or unique test subject to us. We would NEVER do anything to you that we thought would harm you. Once you dissect, you can’t do any more tests. Plus, we have tons of imaging technology that can tell us just as much or more than a dissection! Trust me, we’re just talking things like bloodwork and some harmless psychological tests.”
“Oh, okay. Sure, then,” Lyra said, chuckling sheepishly while sitting back down.