Pony-Me™: Rebooted

by TheMajorTechie

1 ◈ And so much to do.

"And here's your rations for the week, sir." Lisa handed a bucket to the man waiting below her. "Don't forget to check for everything on the label. Don't want to have anything missing!"

The man nodded and walked away, bucket in hand. Lisa wiped a bead of sweat from her brow. Even with all the shade she had around her, it was getting pretty hot in the metal box she was standing in. At least she'd found something to do in the meantime. She walked deeper into the trailer. It was a little bit cooler near the back, and, even with the distinctly-autumn breeze that blew past from time to time, it still helped to take some time off from all this physical acti--

"Excuse me!"

Lisa looked over her shoulder.

An old man stood by the ramp. "Young lady, do you happen to know where the restrooms are?"

"Sorry, I don't. Maybe find one of the technicians and ask them?"

He nodded and scurried off. Now that he'd mentioned it... where were the restrooms, anyway? Not only for... well, that, but also for water. There were no streams nearby as far as she could see, and the apartments clearly had no access to running water, either.

She shrugged off the thought, sitting down on one of the buckets. Something as important as water would probably be included in the ration kits anyway. Not that she'd had the time to stop and look at the labels yet outside of passing glances.

Another person approached the ramp. Time to lug another bucket out. Lisa silently chuckled. What would Applejack think of all this physical activity she was doing? Rarity certainly wouldn't've approved, that's for sure.

"Here you go!" She set down the bucket. "The contents should last you about a week. Don't forget to check to see if anything's missing!"

"Yup, I'll make sure to do just that. Thanks for volunteerin'!"

---

Well, there wasn't anything left to sit on now, save for her own bucket beside the ramp. At least that meant that all the rations she'd been assigned to pass out made it to those who needed them.

"Testing, testing... is this on--great--hello there." A voice abruptly cut through the air from all sides. "This is a test of our settlement-wide announcement system. We will be delivering updates on the status of the network using both these messages as well as optional in-person meetings--the first of which will begin shortly. Please take a moment to thank the following volunteers for helping with the distribution of ration packages on such short notice: Craig Dale, Abigail Fairsong, Lisa Garnet, Samuel Gearings, Andrew Smith--"

Lisa stepped out of the trailer, frowning at the wooden ramp in front of her. Some of the people who'd come and gone were brave enough to step on it with their bare feet, but her? Hooves or no hooves, splinters were annoying. She hopped down beside the ramp onto the asphalt below. At least it wasn't nearly as hot as it was inside the trailer; it was warm, yes, but it wasn't anything uncomfortable.

Now then. What to do with the rest of the day. She lifted the bucket off the trailer's floor. She'd might as well put it away in her apartment in the meantime.

"--again, thank you to our volunteers. Now, regarding basic services." The sound of paper rustling echoed overhead. "As you may know, there are no amenities provided within your individual apartments, save for automatic climate control. Our town hall building will serve as a public commons in the meantime, complete with multiple stations for water and public restrooms and showers. Given how many... uh, years it likely has been for the vast majority of you, I would highly recommend the showers."

That last part made her laugh a little. Well, now she knew where to get water and stuff, hopefully that old man from earlier heard the announcement as well.

She let go of her bucket, rubbing her arm. It probably was a bad idea to be lugging around so much weight so soon after waking up from what was essentially a coma. Nevertheless, this was her bucket. Other folks managed to get their rations back home, and so would she.

...Man, would it be nice to be able to use magic right about now.

Lisa pushed that thought to the back of her mind. Homesickness was the last thing she needed right now. She picked up the bucket again and walked past a small group of people.

"--and from what I heard, because this world is the actual simulation, there is reason to believe that the Equestrian government may be using this so-called 'disconnection' event to construct--"

She cringed. There wasn't any chance that she was going to talk to those people anytime soon.

"--or maybe this place is a ghost town compared to what it once was. Wouldn't it make sense? 'Round-the-clock technicians who double as doctors if need be, multiple empty apartments with no cots inside; we're here to die. The spirits of those who already perished must've been the ones who caused the disconn--"

Great. Now comes the conspiracy theories. Even when she wasn't a Princess of Equestria, they seemed to have a habit of following her around. The rumor that she'd received a leg extension surgery years ago after her ascension was at least funny in concept, but these? Lisa shook her head. These rumors--especially the first one--were best avoided.

Granted, there was the potential to act on the first theory, given how she was Twilight Sparkle and all. Maybe she could consider it for an April Fools' joke. Rainbow Dash would've definitely been onboard with the idea.

She shook her head again. Again, now wasn't the time to reminisce. Hoping for a quick return to Equestria was fine, but... She let out a sigh. Keeping Equestria out of her thoughts wasn't going to be easy, was it?

In the corner of her eye, she caught sight of another motorcade approaching. Though, unlike the earlier set of ration and supply trucks, none of the vehicles seemed to be carrying much, if any cargo.

Comments

[RDDash]

Your story reminds me of this video.

[TheMajorTechie]

10624122
ha. neat.