Initial Exploration
The tunnel was rather long; long enough that just transversing it would cut into the time the team would have for exploration. Silver Star was already taking this fact into account, knowing that if the team did not make it back to the air lock in time, they would suffocate once their tanks emptied. He would have to think of a way to extend the time available during future trips inside, if the team setting up the Argon extraction equipment was unable to sufficiently clear the inside air and make it the same as on the outside of the cavern. Maybe they could have a team bring down a wagon filled with extra Oxygen tanks, if need be. Pushing those thoughts aside, he focused on monitoring the time instead.
The ponies chatted casually as they walked through the tunnel, although not a single one of them was able to hide the nervous tension in their voices. Instead of isolating themselves into small private conversations, they were exchanging thoughts as a group on the structure and what it could be, and trading factual snippets and explanations on what meager details they’d discovered so far. Currently, Apple Polish was sharing what she knew about Argon preservation, which was barely any more than what Twilight knew herself.
“Assuming there are no leaks into other parts of the cavern, the argon will have thoroughly retarded, and possibly even stopped, the natural degradation of whatever this structure holds,” the mare said, her voice holding an air of propriety that immediately irritated Twilight. The irritation was compounded by the memory of Polish’s scathing glare during her magical exam. “Anything we find should be perfectly preserved, barring damage from any such occurrence as a cave in.” She glanced at Earth Stables, who nodded and began to speak, continuing Polish’s train of thought.
“Well, the entirety of Canterlot Mountain is geologically stable, but depending on how old this structure is, it could have been affected by several major earthquakes from the surrounding region that we have sedimentary evidence of,” Stables explained slowly. He had a laconic drawl to his speech, with a hint of a southern accent that was barely even noticeable compared to Applejack’s. “There are records of several massive tectonic shifts in the time before the Alicorns. If this tomb is anywhere near as old as its location would suggest, it’ll likely have been hit by at least a couple of them.
“Oh, and everypony be on the lookout for large cracks in the walls,” Capstone Drafts followed on, glancing at the walls and ceiling as she did so. “If there’re any at all, stay as far away from them as you can. With all the pressure of the mountain on top of us, even a single crack could be the starting point of a cave in.”
“Big thing to remember is to take small sips of air,” Silver Star commented, changing the topic. “These suits can get hot, but you’ll want to avoid panting to keep your oxygen from running out.“
“Hey, look.” Lyra suddenly lifted one hoof and pointed, drawing the other ponies from their discussion.
The party fell silent immediately, with each pony turning their heads towards the end of the large tunnel. What could be seen through the glare of their flashlights was a glimmer of silverish light reflecting off a polished surface. It was a small thing, but one that brought Twilight’s heartbeat up to an excited rush.
The conversation did not resume as they walked on. Each one of them stared intently at the silver glimmer, trying to discern its source. Even as they got much closer to the source, the reflection remained, stubbornly blocking their view of anything behind or around it.
“Use your widebeams,” Silver Star advised, his words being followed by a confused jumble of swinging shafts of light as the party collectively switched from powering their highbeam lights to their widebeams. Almost immediately, the harsh reflection dropped to an ambient glow, revealing the object of their attention to be another door. It looked exactly the same as the one they had entered through, except that this one’s surface was polished to a metallic shine.
As they approached the door, it was immediately noticed that there was no keyboard next to it as there was at the main entrance. Instead, there was a simple button about the same width as a mare’s hoof. Above the button was a sign which read OPEN/CLOSE.
“It seems that we have a decision to make. Do we take the chance and open this door as well?” Bastion asked the group. “It feels like it should be safe, but we have no clue what could be beyond the door.” As an acadamian, he was not one for taking risks, especially ones that could carry fatal consequences. But the importance of this discovery made it worth taking such risks, within reason, of course.
Corporal Blune was the first to reply. "It would not make sense to come this far, only to let a closed door stop us. Yes, there are risks involved any time you enter uncharted territory, but, as it has been explained, there should be nothing alive that could threaten us, nor have there been any indications that continuously puts us in added peril. Besides, with Sarge here," he says, pointing to Silver Star with his hoof, “I’d say that anything that messed with us would be in for a world of hurt.”
“Still bucking for that promotion, I see, Blune. Okay, if everypony agrees, then let’s proceed.” When the team all nodded their agreement, Corporal Blune pushed the button. Backing up, he joined the other two guardsponies, prepared for whatever may be on the other side. Once the door finally opened, the three guards entered. Scanning with their eyes, they were aided by their flashlights, of which they had powered up both sides to maximize the illumination within. When no signs of threats were detected, they motioned for the rest to follow.
They found themselves in a room about forty feet long and a good fifty feet across. The architecture was foreign to them, with the chamber being crafted entirely from polished metals, save for the floor, which was made from what appeared to be cement and was visibly scuffed from use. There was not a curve to be seen, as every corner was a plain, sharp angle. For Twilight, it was a jarring, ugly contrast to the curving aesthetics of Canterlot and Ponyville.
However, there was something about this room that felt familiar to her in a way. The room was almost empty, save for a desk set against the opposing wall and a group of benches to the left of their large entry door. The ceiling was tall, almost taller than necessarily needed for a pony, being a good twelve feet or so above the floor. The three other walls of the room each had two openings into long hallways. Yes, she understood now why the place had a familiarity to her. Twilight didn’t have to take a second look around to know that this was a lobby.
“All those hallways…” Earthy Stables spoke quietly, looking down one of the long tunnels and finding it long enough that his widebeam was unable to reach the end wall. “By Celestia, how big do you guys think this place could be?”
Nopony answered, knowing that any response would be nothing more than them talking out of their flank.
It was at that moment they all jumped. None of them had expected to hear a voice resonate throughout the room. It was a somewhat feminine sounding voice, though it sounded hollow and unreal, almost mechanical. They had no clue as to where the sound was coming from, due to their helmets making it virtually impossible to directionally focus their hearing. The only thing that they felt certain about was that it was their presence that triggered the voice. Maybe somepony stepped on a sensor pad, or maybe a detection spell of some sort triggered it. Looking around for the source of the sound, Twilight noticed a couple of black squares near the top of the door frame. Maybe it was those squares that somehow sensed their entrance.
The voice repeated itself, still sounding as empty and mechanical as the first time. “Recovery protocol M thirty-eight is in effect. Please use caution. Log all activities,” it said, before it continued, “Estimated time until environmental normalization: two hours and twenty-seven minutes.”
“I believe that we have triggered some kind of recording,” Apple Polish said, half to herself.
Lyra nodded her head inside her helmet, adding, “And what do they mean by ‘environmental normalization’?”
ȸ§ȹ§ȸ§ȹ§ȸ§ȹ§ȸ§ȹ§ȸ§ȹ§ȸ§ȹ§ȸ§ȹ
The exploration team spent the next ten minutes by the desk. Twilight had discovered another light screen and keyboard built into the fixture, and it gave them an answer to the question Apple Polish had asked. On the screen was the same message which they had seen at the main entrance to this place, but with a difference that Twilight spotted immediately. The number readouts for inside were different from what they had read before.
Recovery Protocol M-38 in effect.
- - -
External Radiation: 1.54 Millisieverts P.A. (Acceptable)
External Temperature: 24°C. (Optimal)
External Air Pressure: 0.988 Earth Atmospheres. (Acceptable)
External Air Composition: 74.68% Nitrogen. 23.13% Oxygen. 1.34% Argon. 0.9% Carbon Dioxide. 0.07% Neon. 0.06% Helium. 0.63% Other Gases. (Acceptable)
- - -
Internal Radiation Levels: 0.98 Millisieverts P.A. (Nominal)
Internal Temperature: 20°C. (Optimal)
Internal Air Pressure: 0.962 Earth Atmospheres. (Acceptable)
Internal Air Composition: 57.22% Argon. 32.11% Nitrogen. 9.95% Oxygen. 0.39% Carbon Dioxide. 0.03% Neon 0.03% Helium. 0.27% Other Gases. (Warning)
- - -
Exercise caution while inside facility.
Estimated time until environmental normalization: two hours and seventeen minutes.
- - -
Press any key to continue.
“Well, now we know what the normalization means. Too bad that our air tanks will run out before the air is safe. Anypony have any ideas on why the atmospheric pressure in here is now lower than outside?” asks Twilight.
It was Capstone who had the answer for her. “My guess would be that the place has a ventilation system designed to suck the dangerous air out, much like a vacuum pump, and that fresh air is allowed to vent in from the outside. Whereas Argon is heavier than the rest of the gases, if the vacuum vents were down at the floor, then if you have the vents from the outside near the ceiling, you would have a very efficient means of clearing the inside air.”
The discussion quickly moved on to how they should explore from there. “It goes without saying that this lobby is now our hub,” Silver Star spoke up, taking command. “We’ve got six hallways here, but we can’t cover them all at once because that would mean some ponies going solo, and that’s not happening, plain and simple.” There was a smattering of affirmatives. Nopony was going to argue with the sergeant when it came to safety, Twilight thought. “Normally I’d say that we just don’t split up at all, but those hallways are too tight a squeeze for nine ponies, and we’ve got a lot more ground to cover than I thought. To search as much of this place as possible before our oxygen gets low, we’ll be going in three teams of three, with one guard per team.”
“Guards against what?” Stables questioned, with a hint of a challenge in his voice. “I thought we’d all agreed that nothing could be alive in here.”
“That is what we believe, but we are still dealing with the unknown here.” Silver Star gave Stables an irritated look, and Twilight knew immediately that he did not like his orders questioned. “Whereas we do not know what we may find, safety has to be our prime concern. If anything does go wrong, then there’ll be a guard on hoof to provide first aid.”
The earth pony nodded once in response and allowed the guard to continue.
“And remember the rules: touch nothing, even if you think you know what it does, and if you find anything you don’t know about, refer to one of your fellow specialists that might. Everyone clear?” Another round of nods and yeses, and Silver looked away, examining the six openings presented to them. “Let’s take the hallways closest to the door. We've used around thirty minutes worth of oxygen so far, and when we leave it’ll be an uphill climb, so I think we want to all be back and ready to leave in forty-five minutes. It could take a good thirty minutes to walk back out in this gear, and then we’ll still have a fifteen minute window.”
And with that, they divided up and started down the three selected hallways.
ȸ§ȹ§ȸ§ȹ§ȸ§ȹ§ȸ§ȹ§ȸ§ȹ§ȸ§ȹ§ȸ§ȹ
Twilight and Lyra walked down their assigned hallway with Corporal Blune following behind close enough to be able to protect the two Unicorn mares if something should happen, but not so close as to feel like he was up their flanks. They had passed numerous closed off rooms and had looked through the ones that had windows in the doors. A few were stairways leading off to Celestia-knows-where, while others had been various rooms assumed to be offices of some sort. They did not enter any of them, wanting instead to explore further while they had time. More detailed examinations could come later on the next trip, when the atmosphere was much more breathable than it currently was.
Eventually the trio came to a set of closed doors. They were not sliding doors, like the first two entrances were, but swinging doors, with a red cross on each one, just like you would find above any Equestrian hospital entrance.
As Twilight, captivated by the thought of what may be found beyond the doors, moved to push one of them open, she was stopped by Corporal Blune. “I’m sorry, Miss Sparkle, but the Sarge gave instructions, and I would hate to have him upset at me for violating his orders,” he told her.
“I don’t see what the problem would be with going through the doors and taking a look around,” Lyra retorts. She too wanted to know what they would find inside. “It just makes sense to take a calculated risk when we have found nothing yet that would indicate the possibility of any added risks. As we have all agreed, there can’t be anything alive down here, and this is clearly a hospital of some sort. I severely doubt that there would be any traps inside that would hurt us.”
Blune thought this over for a moment. Sergeant Silver Star did give specific instructions, but as a non-commissioned officer in the Royal Guard, he was also expected to be able to make decisions on his own when needed. Besides, he was a smart pony, like everypony else that came down into the structure, and he was curious. “Okay, we will enter, but I will go in first, just because if anything were to happen, I could protect the two of you.”
“Thank you, Blune,” Twilight said, smiling. “How much time will we have?” she asked.
He checked a watch around his left forehoof. “A little under a half an hour.”
Placing his hoof against a door, he gave it a light push. It seemed to want to move, but was rather stiff, so he pushed harder, and both doors started opening on their own. Slowly, as if there was little power for the purpose, but still, they opened to his push.
Turning on his spotlight while keeping the wide beam on, he scanned the room before him. Neither light revealed anything that would be threatening, so he shut the spotlight off and waved for the mares to follow him inside.
When they stepped through, it was apparent that this was a small lobby. Off to the left was a small waiting room of some sort, with what were apparently chairs, though they looked a bit tall for your average pony. there was even a coffee table, and what looked like book shelves in the room. Up on the wall was what looked like another one of those lighted screens, only much larger. Also along the walls were what looked like paintings, though closer looks revealed them to more likely be posters of paintings instead. They showed various nature scenes, including one which looked similar to the mountainous regions in western Equestria.
“Hey, Twilight! Come take a look at this,” she heard Lyra call to her. Trotting over to the mint mare, she saw what had caught her attention. Behind a counter appeared to be several computers on a shelf, as well as more chairs, all a bit tall for a pony like the ones in the other room, but these were on small wheels. “Why do you think they put wheels on these chairs, Twilight? I think they’d move around too much on them. Plus, look at the height of them! I think the only pony who could really use one of these would be Princess Celestia. Maybe Princess Luna or your brother, but that would even be a stretch.”
Twilight looked around the place. It seemed to be set up like a command hub of some sort, like the nurses station in any emergency room. She believed that was exactly what they had found, given the red crosses on the doors they had just came through. Her thoughts were interrupted by a call from their guardspony.
“Twilight! Lyra! Come here and check out what I've found!” he yelled excitedly. They followed his voice to go see what he had found. When they got there, they saw that it appears to be a typical examination room, with its gurney, a few benches, a wash basin, shelves, cabinets and various medically relevant signs and posters on the walls. It was a couple of those posters that Blune was pointing to that caught their attention.
“Mother of Celestia!” exclaimed Lyra when she saw it. It was a poster showing a cut-away of a creature, but the creature was unlike any which they had ever seen before. The posture looked completely alien, as if the creature stood upright on its hind legs. It did not show the complete profile, but instead, it was cut off at just above where the neck seemed to start and below where the hips appeared to be, giving confirmation to it being most likely bipedal.
“Take a look at this, you two!” Twilight said, pointing to a poster on another wall. It clearly showed an upright, bipedal form. On one half, the skin appeared to be completely removed, leaving the musculature of the creature plainly visible. The other half was missing the muscles as well, leaving the skeletal system on full display. “What manner of creature is this?” she asked, in awe. “It looks like it would walk upright like Spike, or that crazy Minotaur, Iron Will. This is just…” She was at a loss of words, unable to describe how she felt. This discovery was among the most important discoveries in history, and she was a part of it. Realizing this shocked her to the core, suddenly causing her to feel inadequate to the task at hand.
“I don’t know if I should feel amazed, or creeped out,” said Corporal Blune, almost to himself. His training and time in service had introduced him to many cultures and races, but this felt completely surreal to his disciplined mind. The upright stance and general build shown in the second poster just felt so alien to him that he did not wish to believe it was real. “Maybe we should head... HEY! What in Tartarus are you doin’, Lyra?”
It was too late to stop her, though. She had already pulled the first poster from the wall with her magic and was moving to do the same to the second one. “Relax, Blune. I just want to take these with us. I know that the Princess will love to see them. Besides, what harm is there?” she asked as she gently pulled the remaining poster from the wall.
“And what if by doing that you had triggered some sort of alarm, or worse?”
“I have to agree with Lyra on this,” Twilight replied on behalf of her friend. “There has been no indication at all of any danger so far and we’ll be taking these to those who can study them further, so, in spirit, it is following the directives set forth by Sergeant Silver Star.”
Blune snorted in disbelief inside his helmet, knowing that the Sarge was going to go up one side and down the other on the two mares for being reckless. As for him, Silver would most likely dine on his severed head, served with a nice Marelot if he was lucky.
Exiting the room so as to not argue any further with the two mares, he looked inside another room. This one looked much the same as the other, though it did have an additional feature. Hanging from a wheeled rack was what appeared to be a skeleton of one of the creatures on the poster. It appeared to be about five and a half feet tall, which would be halfway between the two Princesses in height. Examining it closer, he could see that its forelegs, if you could call them that, ended in what reminded him of a Minotaur or Griffin’s foreclaws, with a total of four digits extending down and a fifth one off to the side. This probably meant that they were quite adept at using tools.
Setting these thoughts aside, he decided that it was probably a good time to head back. he stepped out of the room to find that Twilight and Lyra had left their room as well. “Let’s head back. Might as well face the wrath of the Sergeant that you two chose to ignore orders from.” With that, he led them back out into the hallway.
ȸ§ȹ§ȸ§ȹ§ȸ§ȹ§ȸ§ȹ§ȸ§ȹ§ȸ§ȹ§ȸ§ȹ
“What in the name of Hell were you thinking?” asked a very irate Sergeant of the mare that could have put the offending trio of ponies at risk. As Corporal Blune had predicted, he was very much displeased, and he felt he had every reason to be. The safety procedures were there for a reason, and were especially important when civilians were involved. Unfortunately, it’s normally is the involved civilian that is the first to violate the rules. “What if by pulling those posters off the wall, you had triggered some sort of device set there to protect the place? You could have put everypony here at risk. For all we know, you could have even put the Princesses outside at risk, as well as every other pony that came down into this cavern.”
“It seemed obvious to me, Sergeant, that the risk was minimal and that the rewards made it important to bring these findings back with us,” retorted Lyra, her voice filled with frustrated tension. She was not a pony who cared much for authority figures, and to have this soldier coming down on her like this was starting to piss her off. “Are you gonna tell me that something that the Princess might find highly valuable should have just been left there when there were no indications of any undue risk?” she asked.
Watching from the side, Bastion Yorsets decided to step in to defuse the growing tension between the two. “If I may, Sergeant Silver Star, I find myself agreeing with Miss Heartstrings. While there are safety concerns, if the evidence shows there to be almost no risk and the data retrieved is of sufficient importance, then I cannot find fault with her choice.”
“Fine. We shall discuss safety concerns and the gross violations of them at a later time. We need to head back to the cavern.” Looking towards his subordinates, he focused on Corporal Blune. “We’ll discuss this in private, Corporal,” he informed him before leading the team out into the passageway.
The walk back to the cavern was filled with as much energy as the walk in, though this time they discussed the things seen and found inside. “I find it incredible that whomever they were, their language was the same as ours. How could that be possible? The posters Lyra brought out with her show clearly that they were not ponies. The only beings on Equis they even remotely resemble seem to be Minotaurs, and that is mostly due to a bipedal stance. Maybe dragons as well, considering that some do walk upright. Lyra, you studied Pre-Equestrian history. What do you make of this?” asked Apple Polish. Although she had concerns about the eccentric mare being part of the team, she had to admit that the decision to bring her had been the correct one.
“Honestly, I am baffled just as much as anypony else. There is nothing in my studies, neither during my time at Canterlot University, nor on my own after, that mentions anything like this,” she responded. This was all completely new and unprecedented, and in her mind, she had made the decision that she would be a continuing part of what went on there. “I can’t wait to be able to go back inside and explore more. I want to learn everything I can about all of this. Who they were and where they came from, and how it is that there are these parallels between Equestria, and what we’re finding.
“Just look at the keyboards we have found. They are very much like a typewriter, but with added buttons which have some undiscovered function. And the alphanumeric layout is virtually identical to our QWERTY layout. Another thing that is remarkably the same is how they use a red cross to identify their medical facilities. I can’t wait to find other similarities.”
“I know! There’s so much we could learn from all of this, I find it staggering!” Twilight beamed, barely able to restrain herself from bouncing around like an excited filly. “The technology alone could advance us countless years even.”
“I cannot fathom just how long it will take to study all of the data we shall collect. I imagine it will be longer than any of us shall live. We’ll need a completely new wing at the University just for this purpose alone,” Bastion stated. Already, his mind was compiling lists of ponies he would be making overtures to in the effort to expand. Canterlot University could secure its position as the premier learning institution throughout all of Equis if he played his cards correctly.
The conversation carried on like this for a while as they continued towards the airlock.
They were about three quarters of the way to their destination when trouble hit them. It started with Apple Polish feeling like she was not getting enough air, very much like when she tried to go to the summit of the volcano on the Island of Haywaii. It was getting worse too. Still, she could tell that they were almost to the airlock, and would be able to take her helmet off soon. all she had to do was…
When she collapsed, half of them began to panic, but between Twilight and the three guards, they managed to keep a sense of order. Arwell, being the closest, immediately began to check her for vitals.
“I cannot feel for a pulse through the suit, but it looks like she’s struggling to breath.” Looking closely, he could see that her normally grey lips had picked up a noticeable blue tinge, indicating that she was suffering from oxygen deprivation. Silverstar checked the dial gauge attached to the bottle strapped to her back.
“Damn! Her bottle is completely empty! And it’s five minutes to the airlock.”
Twilight immediately realized that there was no way that they could carry Apple Polish to the entrance in time. In five minutes, there would be no chance of reviving the stricken mare. She made the decision at once. “Quickly, get her on my back!”
“There is no way you could carry her that far in time, Twilight!” Bastion told her, getting ready to carry the mare himself.
“I can teleport to the airlock and have her out of the suit in a minute, but we need to do this NOW!” she replied, feeling the extreme urgency of the situation. Stomping her forehoof for emphasis, she once again instructed the guards to place Apple Polish onto her back. Once they had her in place, she told them to hurry to the airlock, then charged up her horn to teleport.
In a flash, she found herself halfway to the lock and she could see exactly where she needed to be. With another flash, she was just inside the airlock, and seeing a clear spot, she then immediately used her magic one more time to jump to that location. Once inside the cavern itself, and out of the structure, she immediately began removing the unconscious mare’s helmet, and from there, the rest of the suit as she yelled for a medical team.
Once Apple Polish was in the hooves of the medics, Twilight sat back on her haunches, feeling exhausted. She had no clue just how much wearing one of those suits could drain a pony. While they did feel almost like a second skin, they constricted movement a bit, and the helmet was heavy enough to notice after a couple of hours. On top of that, the bottle she had been carrying was heavy, and as a final drain, she had to constantly keep a steady flow of magic, to keep the light going. It only became worse when you had to keep a constant watch on how you breathed so that you would not run out of air too soon.
Due to her exhaustion, she did not notice Princess Celestia come up next to her until the Alicorn gently removed the helmet from her suit. “Are you okay, Twilight?” her mentor asked. The Princess’ fears that something could happen were the biggest fears that she had, and was one of the reasons why she was reluctant to allow Twilight to go inside. It seemed fortunate that she did though, for it appeared that if Twilight had not been there, then they might have lost a member of the exploration team.
“Yeah, I’m okay, Princess. Thank you,” came the tired reply.
“What happened? Is everypony else coming? Are they okay themselves?” Now that she knew that her student was unhurt, she needed to know just what happened, and why. And just as important, she needed to know that the others would be okay as well.
“Her tank ran dry. I don’t know why, but we were five minutes away from the airlock, and this was the only way to get her to safety in time.” Looking over to where the medics were tending to Apple Polish, Twilight and the Princess both saw that she was sitting up and should be fine. “The others were just fine when I ‘ported out of there, and they should be exiting the structure in a few moments, Princess.
“Oh! Princess, we found something down there that is just incredible!” Twilight told her with an excited gleam in her eye, just as the other team members reached the inside of the airlock.
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New chapter...WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
4148415 Sorry that it took longer than I hope to get this out
4148415 that is exactly what i was going to say
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAATT??????
This is the last thing i expected to see an update to!!!!!!!!!
Time to read it!
---Reads it---
can we by chance get more of this? i don't know anything about your situation but I would love to see how this little archaeological expedition goes.
It's funny because I had completely written this story off as the least likely to be updated.
Wow, new chapter. Sweet.
4148434 Understatement level: rather serious
25.media.tumblr.com/00ff7d70933eafd0e98e69bbd07dd2b2/tumblr_mk0mvbKW1Q1qz581wo2_500.jpg
4148415
Hehe hey robert! And yeah.. You couldn't have said it better... This was...quite a while ago...
Mfw the feature box cuts down the title of this fic from "Those Who Came Before" to "Those Who Came":
http://www.meh.ro/original/2010_05/meh.ro4312.jpg
4148472 Just so you know, i am NOT the original writer. The Sentient Cloud started this fic, but when he retired from writing poni words, him and I talked with an Admin, and the story was transferred to my name.
I've only had it for almost 2 weeks now.
4148474 See my reply above
4148477 Damn Knighty for trying to turn my fic into clop!
Wait...
IT'S IN THE BOX ALREADY!!!!!!
4148490 hehe ok, yeah I could not even remember who made this by memory so... Still, good to see it ain't dead, I really liked the beginning and I know I sat here waiting for it to update.. Hehe that was kind of a lost cause but thankfully I had this story on "email when new chapter" otherwise I doubt I would have noticed...
Good luck on taking over the story, will read the new chapter as soon as I get home
Ah an update, nice chapter man.
This sounds really bad but I really wish one of them had accidentally set off a trap.
Oh and good luck with the story.
Blume
The rest of the chapter calls him "Blune".
4148490 When you inherited this story, it came complete with a lot of fans. Fortunately, you seem to be doing a good job with it.
4148593 It is my goal to keep this, or even exceed, the level of awesomeness that Cloud put into his works.
4148585 I MUST FIND THIS ERROR!!!!!
fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2011/289/f/8/crazy_twilight_sparkle_by_brianc1006-d4d26pi.png
4148485 You fooled me...
4148485 What I meant is good writing!
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSS
A new update!
Woooo!
Awesome story, was waiting for an update for a long time
I always wondered if this fic would ever get updated again. I have to say, you're doing a great job following on from the original author.
Holly horseapples IT LIVES!!!
...and Equestria was never the same again.
4148636 Thank you. I much appreciate the compliment!
4148637
If you only knew just how dead on accurate with this statement.
ARE YOU FREAKIN PSYCHIC!!!
IT'S ALIVE!
Why is "Okay" capitalized?
Ah, I was wondering when the yearly update would be. Can't wait for next year!
4148485 you might want to mention that in an authors note. you may also want to get an editor or something. There were only a few issues, but to see reach instead of reached in the last sentence sort of poked me in the side.
It lives?
I was wondering what's up with you being the author of this. I was vaguely recalling someone else. Yes, it would be a good idea to put that in the description. Or at the very least, the author's note.
Question: Is there a reason why the internal sensors display did not have most of the zeroes before the periods? I mean:
And so on.
Also, am I the only one who thinks internal would make more sense? Matches the external bit. Or switch that into exterior? It seems off when they're different... Edit: Just checked, it's the same in the first chapter, so you followed the original convention. Still feels weird to me.
Also,
Whereas is just one word.
There was something else... quick reread is in ord... aha!
Derp!
How did that even happen?
Anyhow, I can't wait to see this continue! I was so disappointed when this stopped updating, it looked so promising. Now it is back again!
Keep up the good work!
They should probably both be the same, and use interior/exterior.
If the values are being printed on the equivalent of a linux terminal I wouldn't be super surprised is someone coded the format of the values in a way that didn't match actually.
Lyra and the Hand of Man variation?
4148706 Because that is proper grammar, as I was taught in school.
4148716 I hope you're not too disappointed when i update at some point next week
4148738 I had 4 going over it, and this just proves that YOU CANNOT have too many proofreaders/editors!
Also, it states in the long description now that I am the one that took over, but you are correct that I should also state so in the A/N.
4148762 as I told the reader above... I NEED EVEN MOAR proofreaders/editors!
(I have 4 right now, and still, things get missed. Will have to go in and make corrections.)
4148783 Maybe they're Mac computers...
Thank you, everyone, who has pointed out the inconsistencies/errors. I shall go in and make the corrections.
Few minutes later, there was a sound, a synthetic voice rang through the structure unheard by none.
"Interior Air Composition approaching acceptable levels."
"Reactor power level rising."
"Medical stations active."
"Initializing waking procedures..."
4148826 I accept that as a legitimate alibi. Are you serious when saying you want more proofreaders?
Sweet, another chapter, hurray! (crosses fingers) Let's hope we keep seeing them.
4148871
Personally I'm hoping there are no survivors and this is all archaeology based.
4148872 The more people I have helping, the more that the things that get missed, get found instead
I'm almost giddy to see what happens when the humans wake up.
4148900 well, I'd love to volunteer. It might be a good release of my inner grammar nazi whose been tied down since ever with my own unwillingness to be a thorn in whichever authors side. And I also get to read the story sooner (maniacal laugh)
4148892 I prefer when there's someone alive. Archeology is good and all, but after few oh's and ah's it all ends with putting tags on pens and chairs.
I think there is someone in there (hopefully alive), because no one would build a bunker with preservation systems, and long term power supply to leave it empty, and paintings and sculptures don't need medical facilities.
4148920 I'll Have to take you up on that. I would like to have the first two chapters gone over as well. Do you do Gdocs?
UPDATE!!!!!!!!!
thanks for remembering about this
4148983 i've never had the occasion to really use them but they actually did occur to me. And I would be willing to go over the first two chapters. In twenty minutes I'll be leaving to do something that would probably take me until midnight to return from (EST) so I wont be able to immediately start, but I would like a rundown on how to use gdocs.
4149000 It's pretty much like using an abridged version of Word, but with the ability to be shared much more easily, and to allow people to comment, or even edit
4149039 pretty much what I thought. Anything I need to do on my side before we get that business started? (ten minute warning before I gotta put the conversation on hold)
Really glad to see you decided to continue this
4149048 Well, if you have Skype, you can find my Skype name on my user page, if that will make working easier.
I should be on tonight as well.
4149064 cool i'll get that going
got a very Alieny vibe from this haha
IT LIVES!
Are there going to be live humans?
Cough! Cough! A wizened head with a long unwashed, and unfortunately unruly, mane of hair wearily held his head up above the dust with a bemused expression on his face...
"Are we back on? About time....", he said. Just before his head plunked back down into the dry grime that had been his home for so many months.
Sorry. I kid.
