Chapter 1. Life in a Bottle
Light filtering through my eyelids pulled my attention away from the dream-world and nondescript background noises clarified into the buzz of a few insects and the distant sounds of ponies going about their business. Sleep faded, but the physical pain of my dreams did not. My legs ached, feeling very much as if they had been beaten during the night. Of course, they hadn't been beaten, although, perhaps, one could argue that they had been abused.
"Such are the consequences of your lifestyle, Aneki, you silly mare," I said to myself. "You run too much."
Perhaps I could consider the pain to be my body self-regulating my activities, although this many days after my last major effort, I should have felt fine and ready to go again. Usually a decent run only left me feeling pleasantly fatigued. Had I slipped and pulled my muscles without realizing it? That was entirely possible.
I tumbled out of bed and walked the two steps to the window through which the morning light was streaming. Poking my head through the opening, I looked about. Several storeys below were the narrow streets, already humming with the daily activity of early rising ponies. Despite the varying widths of each building, the streets were rather narrow up at this height too. A few floors above, the building reached out across the gap, to merge briefly with its counterpart from across the street, parting ways again above the short bridge. Just across from me was a part of the wall of the neighboring building, its rendered, cream finish showing minor cracking and a years-old accumulation of dust. While the otherwise featureless piece of wall was not particularly interesting to look at, it was infinitely better than having the window to somepony else's room there. Windows facing walls were common, a deliberate design choice taken to allow ponies some privacy in the crowded little world of H'ven.
Haven? Heaven? The exact name of our world had degraded with time, although those were the two most popular theories as to the root of the word. H'ven kind of left out the key letters. Heaven was the official line. Ponies had it better here. Life was perfect. Yeah, right. Of more interest to me was why the name had been chosen in the first place, whichever name it was. So far I hadn't found its origin.
Our world was large. If you walked all day, you couldn't transverse it. On the other hoof, if you were energetic, you could make the distance if you ran. On a good day, that was; it had to be quiet. Running under the light of Luna was more suited to the task. If ponies were up and about, they tended to get in the way of your mad dash, blocking the narrow walkways, slowing your progress, and even tripping you, which invariably led to bruises and a lot of name calling. On the other hoof, if you were to use Mane Way, it would be much easier, as it was straight and uncluttered, but that was reserved for official traffic for pretty much that reason, and running across the world for leisure wasn't official, except on the day of the marathon. While I always took part in the marathon, one day a year was not enough to satisfy me. I ran across the city way more often than that, and the obstacles made the run that much more enjoyable. Bouncing between walls to gain height, jumping over safety rails and clearing gaps between buildings all added to the experience and pleasure.
More challenging, though, was to try to go from the bottom of the city to top as quickly as possible. You really needed good legs and a strong heart to do that. Even so, it couldn't be done in a day, no matter how hard you tried. It was worth climbing all those stairs and negotiating all those ramps, though. There was open space up there, above the structures. There were some spires, bridges and walkways, but they never crossed into the greater void. With the view of the sky-dome uninterrupted by structures, I would stand there imagining the blue went on forever. Legend had it that the void was created to allow ponies to fly up there. Of course that was silly. Everypony knew winged ponies were make-believe.
It was obvious that H'ven had been built with great care, as much of the original structure of the place was still in very good condition. Nonetheless, age was now taking its toll. Small cracks had appeared here and there over the years, and maintenance usually repaired the significant ones, leaving behind little welded scars. Compounding that was the erosion and deformation caused by the ponies themselves, as they added to and subtracted from the buildings, modifying them to suit their needs or desires. That occurred less often now, as resources were becoming harder to locate. In my lifetime, very little had changed beyond the cosmetic.
Resources came from two places. Historically, it was a matter of exploring the underlevels in the hope of finding some area that hadn't been used in centuries and raiding that for materials. Most of those resources were expended. That which was left was now under the control of Central, much like the Mane Way. The other resource was of course what we had immediately to hoof. That was why history had been lost. We'd reused it, or the media on which it was recorded, perhaps hundreds of times.
So that took us back to the name. Heaven? Maybe centuries, no, millennia ago, this place, with all its beautiful white and cream construction in pristine condition, may have seemed like heaven to those who named it. I couldn't say I bought into that argument though. I preferred to spend my time exploring the place while most of the population were content to sit on their rumps watching the specially formulated entertainment fed into our homes by the establishment. As such, I considered myself to have a better grasp on life in this world. There were too many inconveniences, niggling little problems and other things that weren't quite right for this place to have ever been perfect, and heaven by definition was perfect, was it not?
Okay, so I didn't think it was Heaven. What about Haven? I would argue Haven made more sense. This world was just too weird to make sense. It was too confining. We were living in a bottle. We had containers in our world, so it made sense that our world could well be a container in an even larger world. Sometimes I compared our world to a terrarium. We were trapped inside the sphere, in this little artificial environment. Haven made more sense that way. Millennia ago, ponies had locked themselves into this big spherical bottle where the glowing dome of the sky provided light by day and faded to leave just the small, varying patch, Luna, and a smattering of point sources by night. And, yes, it really was a solid dome. I had touched it, poked at the little point sources of light with my hoof. It was no infinite sky as described in those old legends that now only survived in spoken form.
So what was outside the sphere? What was so terrifying that this place could be a haven? Of course, ponies were encouraged to not think about what could be out there. In fact, we were taught that there was nothing out there. Taught? Who am I kidding. We had it drummed into our heads during foalhood. It popped up in the occasional story in popular entertainment to remind us. It was the big bad nothing in breezie tales. We were totally indoctrinated to not consider what could be on the other side of our impenetrable shell.
Then again, these two names were just the favored possibilities. Had the name morphed as it passed down through the generations by word of mouth alone? Had it been forgotten, then rediscovered in some ancient text? What if the word came something written in another language or script that had been misread into our own. Even if we restricted it to our own language, there were other words it may have been. What if the H had been part of a different word, or was so worn it may have been a different letter altogether. It may have been this place was originally called Seven. That was the underground rumor. And that brought up another huge collection of questions. If we were Seven, what about One through to Six? Discussing that wasn't advised though, unless one really enjoyed counseling, or in persistent cases, confinement.
Me, I just liked running. Puzzling through these things was just a way to keep my mind busy while I ran. I didn't buy into any official line. I was my own mare. My job took me all over H'ven and even under it sometimes. Well, not exactly under H'ven, but under what ponies considered to be ground level; the underlevels. I was with the inspection department, an engineer and surveyor. It was my job to head out to places where ponies reported seeing damage or to explore disturbances detected by the department's sensitive equipment. I would then report my findings and then the correct repair team for the job would be dispatched.
I wondered where the boss would send me today. Not too far, I hoped. I limped over to the food dispenser and waited while it scanned and weighed me before depositing my ideal meal before me. At least this room had one. Some ponies had to use communal food dispensers all of the time. Actually, the food these machines served up was another argument against "Heaven" being the name of this place. It was certainly edible, even palatable, but it was monotonous.
Having eaten, I stepped into the grooming bay and was subject to a quick wash and "style". Legend told us ponies used to use water to bathe. Could you imagine that? I reached for my brush to tidy my mane to my liking and was surprised when I knocked it to the floor. I glanced at my forehoof. Well, that was a foalish error, wasn't it? Maybe my legs were hurt more than I realized. Trying again, I retracted the hoof wall and extended my three thin, black fingers from within. Better. I wrapped them around the handle of the the brush and set to making myself more pleasant to look at. Hey, a little vanity never hurt! I studied my dark cream colored coat and variegated ruby red mane and tail, offset with eyes that were a shade more orange than my mane. Not bad. If anything, I was average in the beauty department. Well, I'd be above average if it wasn't for that bony lump marring my forehead. But being average wasn't bad. The average mare was a pretty mare.
I tossed my survival saddle across my back and fastened it in place, then grabbed my combined auto-mapper and comms unit and strapped it to my left foreleg, where I usually wore it. That done, I reestablished my hoof. Why would I be having troubles like that now? Foals were born with their front hooves the same as their rear, good for nothing but walking on, but as they grew, their fingers appeared, along with the walls of their forehooves changing so that they could be retracted. That way, foals didn't have to worry about learning to use their fingers while learning to walk. Occasionally a pony wouldn't grow their fingers. I was glad I wasn't one of them.
Oh well. It was time for work. I tapped the comms button on the mapper and waited for my boss to respond. While waiting, I exited my home, locked it, then started down the three flights of stairs to local ground level.
"Good morning, Aneki. Nice of you to call in," a male voice spoke into my mind.
"Sarcasm, boss, sarcasm. You know damn well I am early," I subvocalized back.
"I have some good news for you," the boss said, not rising to the bait. "I know you like to run. We need you to go back down to the underlevels, not far from where you were last week. There have been more disturbances down there."
I groaned.
"What? No enthusiasm?" the boss asked. "I saved this one up for you because you love running."
"Thanks, boss, really, but I haven't recovered from the last run down there. My legs still hurt. Too many stairs, I guess."
"Oh, Aneki, I'm sorry to hear that," the boss said. He sounded genuinely concerned. "The other members of the team have already been assigned their tasks, so you are stuck with that job. Give me a moment to check something."
The boss went silent. I continued my way down onto the street, walking towards my distant destination. Today was either going to be slow or painful. Maybe once I got going, the pains would ease.
"Okay, Aneki, I'll tell you what. I've just passed an authorization code to your mapper. You are clear to use the Mane Way to get to and from service elevator fifteen to the underlevels. I've managed to get you a low priority clearance for the elevator, too. Chances are you will have it to yourself anyway, but Central aren't prepared to give me a high priority clearance."
"Thanks, boss. That will help me a lot. A low clearance is better than no clearance," I said. He was a decent fellow.
Now, as much as the clearances would make my journey easier, it was still quite a distance to travel, so I gritted my teeth, bowed my head, and pushed myself to a trot, dodging and weaving through the narrow streets. It did not take long to get out of my residential area and onto one of the feeder streets that led to the nearest stairway down to the Mane Way.
As I've already mentioned, H'ven was spherical, a great big hollow ball with us all inside. The Mane Way was set about halfway up the sphere, effectively at ground level, and stretched almost wall to wall. In the center was a node where all of the many roads forming it linked. As you went further out from the center, the roads divided then divided again, and so on until there was a great lacework. Concentric rings each mile or so allowed one to move between the radii. As one got further from the center of Mane Way, the ground level rose, forming hills that approached the walls, eventually become cliff-like. The Mane Way went underground when the rate of rise got too steep to climb without the aid of stairs, where it served the works of H'ven. After all, industry and such didn't require pleasant views.
You would think such a great network of roads would be available to everypony, but there was a significant problem with it. Like every other road in this damned place, the roads were narrow though admittedly they weren't as narrow as the streets. There was just enough width to allow two vehicles to pass each other while allowing enough space to one side for a couple of ponies on hoof. There was no chance of widening it either, because buildings were packed right up against the road edge, with buildings, walkways and bridges regularly spanning it, up at street level.
I lived on the second tier, as that placed me as close to the center of H'ven as possible. I had chosen the place because my work took me all over H'ven, and a central starting point was convenient, especially considering I usually had to stay off the Mane Way. I exited the stairway, took a left turn, and trotted down the short ramp towards the Mane Way - Authorized Use Only sign. As I approached the barred entry point, I was automatically scanned, and the code gleaned from my mapper. Part of the barrier immediately in front of me lifted, allowing me to trot through. Finally having access to the Mane Way system, the mapper calculated the optimal route, directions appearing on my head-up display. Two miles down this branch, left and onto the ring road, pass two more branches, left again for a quarter of a mile, exit back to the streets.
Having paused only twice to grab a quick swig from my water bottle, it took me just shy of half an hour to reach my exit due to my slow trot. Despite the exercise, my legs didn't feel any better. Bugger, I really should have recovered from the last run by now. It wasn't as if it had been anything significant, just climbing or descending over a dozen flights of stairs, as well as the run to and from home. Hell, by comparison that was barely a warm-up compared to my climbs up the stairways of the cliff-like outer city, and I'd only felt tired and perhaps slightly sore after those, not like somepony had taken to my legs with a club. Maybe I'd have to call in sick at the end of this job and go visit a doctor.
Service elevator fifteen was directly connected to the Mane Way via a short access ramp that led down to below the nearby buildings. The Mane Way barrier lifted to allow me back into the unrestricted zone. Stairs led from the ramp, up to the street level, allowing access to the elevator without the use of the Mane Way. I guessed that was the way I would have come down without the access codes. To the right of the sealed elevator doors was another closed door labelled Stairwell 15E. "Not today, my friend," I addressed the door. I approached the elevator doors and reached up with my hoof, tapping the call button. With a beep, the doors immediately opened. Lucky! As the boss said, it wasn't currently in use. The law of maximum perversity would have it in use when I needed to return to the surface, though. What an uncomfortable climb that was going to be.
I stepped into the elevator car and surveyed the array of buttons. What was it? Sublevel seventeen was where I was the other day. I glanced at my mapper for confirmation. Sublevel thirty-six? What the hell? That was getting seriously underground. Oh well, I may as well get on with it. I keyed in 36 with the hoof buttons, then hit Start. The doors slid shut, and a faint throbbing started below me as the drive mechanism of the elevator kicked in. I settled to the floor. I may as well rest for the trip down.
Unfortunately, that trip did not last long.
"Alert, priority override," the elevator's speaker announced as the elevator suddenly slowed. "You have five seconds to disembark, or you will be subject to excessive g-forces." The doors slid open. Damn. Level nineteen. At least I was more than halfway there. I didn't feel like gaining more bruises and ending up at the start of my trip again, so I lurched to my feet and leaped out the door moments before it closed behind me, leaving me standing in the dark. Moments later, I could hear the elevator rapidly accelerating away.
The sound of the elevator car receded, revealing quiet groans and moans echoing through the disused corridors.
Wonderful. Just bloody wonderful.
Road map of the central part of the Mane Way.
Cross section of H'ven.
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Wow this is very interstng I like were this story is going, that an it really has got me wanting more.
keep up the good work friend 
Parkour pony?
No pegasi, and... no magic either? Woah. And apparently she's some kind of cyberpony, since she has "fingers" in her hooves... This is getting more bizarre (and intriguing) by the minute!
Buh. No cyber. Some kind of genetic manipulation? Definitely intriguing...
And now, telepathy... huh. Does that mean they don't speak out loud at all?
...please tell me that's just the metal groaning under the stress of higher levels
3780943
Only between the comms device and the wearer. Pony to pony remains vocal.
3782013 Ah.
Could you conjure up some kind of schematic or model of the Mane Way and the structure of the world? It's not quite clear from the description... I'm having trouble visualizing it
3782275
The center section of the Mane Way. Also added above.
3783657 No, I mean, you say it's a sphere... but are they standing on a sphere, like, a small planet, with downwards gravity towards the center? Or is their 'surface' a flat disk, with a half-sphere of air above it and a half-sphere of "ground" below it? The whole structure of the world isn't clear to me. And that Mane Way seems like something to cover a flat disk surface...
3785212
That was the Mane Way. Yes, it is a flat disk. Structure drawing is there now too.
Remember the title. Life IN a bottle. Aneki also comments on them living in a container that may be inside yet another container.
They are living inside a sphere, with a flat disk about half way up. That is their ground level reference. For a lack of a better comparison, they are an ants nest in a tennis ball, or a snow dome, or even The Truman Show. Whatever is causing gravity has it facing in a single direction, from the top of the dome, down to the very bottom of the underlevels. The diameter is under 20 miles (?). At the edge, their city creeps up the outer walls a few miles up, but not so high as to cause pressure/extreme cold problems for the ponies. In fact the temperature is very well regulated whatever height you are at. The disk itself is mostly covered by buildings stacked upon more buildings.
I have not mentioned a sun because there isn't one. Below ground level are the underlevels - effectively 10 miles of them, going straight down. The upper layers contain the typical under city workings, as well as evidence of old residential areas. The lower portions? Who knows, as no pony has been down there in living memory. The water must come from somewhere, Something is generating heat. Perhaps something is generating gravity too.
Being a sphere, the width directly affects the height, so sometimes I wonder if an egg shaped world or a cylinder would be better, or if I should just reduce the diameter, but I do want it BIG, and somewhat crowded. It is the mofo of all vaults/stables.
I added some clarification within the story itself (as well as found about a dozen @#$% errors that had somehow evaded the spelling detector).
3785280
An ants nest in a tennis ball... I see. That explains nicely
Wow! This is great. Reminds me of Ergo Proxy among other things. I hope the world won't be too OC-centered, but even if, Aneki is a good character. Onto the next chapter!
Meanwhile on the other side of the mirror pool...
Those maps really do help.
I started reading, and wow, this looks good. Also, that map, the unknown underlevels...
I hate smart premises.
Dam this is fricken awesome~!
Kinda reminds me of the City of Ember Novels in a way.
Thank you for those images, that helped. I also didn't think the first chapter would catch my interest like it did. Good work on that. I got some catch up to do. Hopefully the story continues to draw my interest.
Oh my sweet Jesus why have I not read this story yet.
I saw two errors, that I can't point to atm because my iPad doesn't like to cooperate.
Other than that, I like this story. Something seriously weird is going on here.
Not sure what I expected, but it certainly wasn't that.
Now this is awesome. Evolution is rad. Also the odd finger count. I'm guessing one is a thumb?
3785280
That is sooo cool. I love this story already. This is some real shit.
Starting my fifth read of this story! Here we go again!