Forgotten Data

by Lightningflash101

Awake

My eyes start to open as I stir awake. Everything feels odd and familiar at the same time. As if my body is supposed to be made of something else than what I am. From the glass, I could see myself from some sort of light from my eyes. An earth pony stallion with a yellow coat, a pair of dark blue eyes, and cyan hooves. My mane looked to be combed back with a very dark shade of navy blue as a base with an orange-red center. My tail held the same colors with a messy look. Bits of metal could be seen where my ears meet with my head and where my joints would be. A metal line crossed my right eye. A pair of cyan lightning bolts stood out on each side of my flank.

I find myself suspended in midair by these... Cables on my legs and back. Where am I? Everything is covered in darkness but I could see spots of dim lights in the distance. It seems that I'm the only one here. I don't remember how I got here. Actually... I think I don't remember anything. Who am I and how did I get here?

"H-hello?" I called out, my voice robotic, "Is anyone here?"

No response. For an unknown reason, the feeling of dread swept over me. Fear followed soon after. I was alone. There was no one to help.

My first instants were to get free from these cables and find out what's going on. So I started pulling on the cables on my front legs. Snap! The cable on my right released. Using my now free leg, I go to release the other cables. One by one, I pull my body free from the cables. The only one left was on the back of my neck. I took a deep breath before placing my hooves around the cable. In one quick motion, I pulled the cable off and fell to the cold ground.

With some effort, I shakily got to my hooves. I could feel my breathing trying to find a calm pace as I place my front left hoof on the glass tube. Something was wrong. I'm not sure how, but I'm going to find out. But first, I needed to get out of this tube.

"Maybe I can kick my way through it." I told myself, turning my hind legs to the glass, "Hopefully."

Taking deep breaths, I pulled my hind legs as close to myself as I got to get them. Then, I forced them towards the glass as fast and hard as I could. Crack! The glass didn't break, but it cracked a bit. It wasn't much. But, if I keep this up, I'll be out of here. It's just repeating the motions. Wind up, strike, repeat. Wind up, strike, repeat. After the seventh kick, the glass finally gave. Shattering around me. Free at last.

The first steps felt wrong. As if I wasn't supposed to be awake right now. But I am awake now. There's no turning back now. I have to keep moving forward. I need to know what happened.

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A voice? But I thought I was alone here.

"Hello?!" I called out, looking around, "Who's there?!"

aslkdjfhasdkj_not_safe_kaduh

"Where are you?! Show yourself!" I shouted, trying to find the source of the voice

ads_find_the_exit_aldsfh

"Find the exit?" I asked, "What exit?"

aslkdjfhasdkj_not_safe_kaduh. Ads_find_the_exit_aldsfh. Akdjf_restore_memory_core_asiudg

The voice suddenly disappeared. Leaving me alone once more. Find the exit? Restore memory core? I don't understand. But I shouldn't ponder about it now. I need to keep moving.

The sound of metal hitting metal filled my ears as I continued to walk. Other tubes with a pony inside came and when. But these ponies seemed blank, broken. Every tube had something on them. Although they were barely legible. "Test Subject #0052" was one of them. This tube held an earth pony mare. Her arm was missing, showing wires. Fur blank of color, following her barely opened eyes. For some reason, she was suspended upside down. The body had no signs of life. I backed away. How many of us are there in this place? Am I the only one alive still?

---

After what seemed like an hour or more, I find a terminal. Its screen was on but just barely. Text reading "Play video logs? Y/N" was being displayed. I just hope that it can give me some insight into what happened here. With that thought in mind, I pressed down the Y key.

---

The entire screen lit up, displaying a different unicorn mare. Her coat was soft purple, her eyes holding a much darker shade (as well as some bags under them. Probably from a lack of sleep). Her main, styled to have bangs and went down to her right shoulder, was violet with a stripe of pink and a stripe of dark purple, matching her eyes.

"Date. March 1^st, 2021. Time. 14:23." She stated, as if reading a script, "Today, our volunteer, subject 0053, had a malfunction with his Magic Spell Blaster. For a reason unknown, his M.S.B refused to cast a stun spell of a mana magnitude higher than 8.7 Sparks. The following result was a magical overload causing a forceful shutdown. I'm currently running diagnostics on him to see if there were any glitches in his systems. Until I can find anything, his M.S.B and other similar functions will be locked with a code, named 'FRIENDSHIP'. I will have an override code in my notes on the central computer. I will use that code for similar testing."

---

The image switched to static for a moment. 0053... I know I've heard that before. But where? As quickly as the mare disappeared, she reappeared. Her mane was messier now, her baggs darker.

"Date. April 23^rd, 2021. Time. 10:12." she began, "Subject 0053 experienced another magical overload today. This will become his tenth overload this month. I will team up with other programmers to find the cause of this. We have no idea what happens for this to occur so frequently. I wonder if it has to do with the fact that he is not a unicorn, like myself. We have to find this cause soon. Things will only get worse before they get better. We've begun to see side effects a few days after the third overload. 0053 has become less focused, slowed in achieving tasks, and less social with others. As of right now, I worry that he'll only get worse if tests are to continue."

---

The process repeated itself again. The mare's face only getting worse with each transition.

"Date. May 12^th, 2021. Time. 13:30. Today 0053 and I are going to test the wing prototype. I've been given instructions by the princesses themselves to record the tests. We'll be starting off at a low altitude of approximately 10 meters"

The screen this time went from static to what looked to be like me. But now with a pair of cybernetic wings on my back. Making it look as if I was a pegasus. My face held a cocky confidence as I stood there.

"Remember Lightning, this is only a test run" the mare stated, "Dont push yourself."

"Dont worry Twilight." I assured her, opening the pair of wings casually, "Flying comes naturally to me. Just let me know what to do."

---

The video cuts off from there with a pop from the screen. I jumped back. The terminal must have finally died out. But I'm left with more questions than answers. The only thing I know for sure is that my name is Lightning. But everything else, the M.S.B and those wings. If I have those, where are they on me? I need to know more.

"I think the sound came from up here." a mare's voice, also robotic, said from a distance and getting closer

"And I think you said this place was fucking abandoned!" shouted another robotic voice, a stallion's

I almost froze in place. Two other ponies are coming this way and I have no place to hide. What do I do? They'll find me if i don't do anything and they don't sound like the friendly type.

"I said I thought this place was abandoned." the mare shot back to her partner, "even I can be wrong sometimes."

"Whatever." the stallion sighed angrily, "Just be ready for anything. I don't want to carry your metal corpse back to the camp."

I could hear their hoof steps as they got closer. I needed to move and find a place to hide. Who knows what they'll do to me if they find me.

Slowly, I started to step back into the tubes of dead ponies. With a blink of my eyes, my light turned off. I'm not sure how, but they turned off. I can hear the two split from each other. They must be looking for me. They're on both sides. I could feel myself shake with fear.

" hay, Aqua, look at this." The stallion called out, stopping, "it looks like one of the tubes has been shattered."

I can hear the mare walking back to her partner. Fortunately enough she didn't see me as she walked

"What do you mean shattered Max?" Aqua questioned

"I mean it's shattered." Max replied, "And it's missing an obsolete cyber pony."

"Thats impossible." Aqua insisted, "Theres hardly any energy in this place for one of them to stay stable, let alone reactivate."

"Then how do you explain this?" he asked, "this one must have taken as much as it could and woke up."

This was my chance to get away without being noticed. I started to slowly walk away from the two in the opposite direction. The sooner I escape this place, the better. At least I hope so. Just as long as I know I'll be safe.

Thud. My body bumped on one of the tubes. I froze in place as the sound faded out through the room.

"Did you hear that?" Aqua asked

"Yeah," Max replied, "it came from over there."

The two are slowly approaching in my direction. They found me out! I have to run, get away from them!

Without a second thought, my body bolted towards a direction, my lights turning back on. I didn't care how much noise I was now making.