They came suddenly for out of they infinite blackness of space, in there large interstellar mining vessels looking for raw resources such as oil, coal and precious gemstones such a diamond. the first reports by Equestrian solders out on scouting operations and traders traveling to neighboring kingdoms of "tall hairless apes, with mind blowing magic machines" where laughed at. saying that they where ether seeing things, had drunk to much apple cyder or just making up stories but then it happen, "the fall", the day when the corp seized control of Equestira. it came out of the blue in a sea of fire and chaos in big air traveling ships firing down high-tech canon-fire and landing foot soldiers into the Royal city of canterlot. it was said you could hear the blast from their "phase rifles" all the way from ponyville but as suddenly as it started, it was over, they royal guards were disamated, the royal family was nowhere to be found, any immediate resistance was quickly stamped out and the subjects of Equestria suddenly fond themselves under the control of the corruption.
That was almost a decade ago and Equestira is know a former shadow self with its cities and towns replace with technological advanced settlements know as "sectors" where ponies are forced to live, there no better that giant slums or gulags. On a transport shuttle a young male brown coated unicorn with black and white mane and with a field medical kit for a cute mark by the name of Hopefire is traveling to one of these sectors with his mentor in medicine, a elderly male pony by the name Doctor Hoofdust, and orange earth pony with a dark brown mane and a X-ray cutie mark .
"tell me again why are we traveling to Sector 1 again,, said Hopefire said as he looked out of the port window looking down on the ground blow.
"because Sector 1's only Doctor with knowledge of Pony kind died in an "Incident" last week and are dire need of somepony with medical expertise,, replied the elderly doctor to his eager young apprentice.
Sector 1 was one of the older and one of the first Sectors to be built in Equestria, built on the ground where Ponyvile once stood. Sector 1 has a population size of manehattan in the space of where ponyvile one was, crammed into 20 blocks with block 20, the Sector Security block, high in the sky at the top and block 1 just blow ground level. A towering settlement that at times is jokingly as the "Friendship gulag" because of the ties to the mares that once held the elements of Harmony, ponyvile once had.
"approaching Sector 1, block 6 dock. All non corporation personnel please have their travel permits ready of check in,, a voice said over the shuttles intercom. Travel between sectors are restricted for all non corporation personal with the exception for medical personal such as doctors and nurses or in cases of unforeseen circumstances such as a death of a family member
"looks like we've arrived,, commented Doctor hoofdust
the shuttle pulled into the block 6 dock with an easy landing and number of corporate personal disembarked from the shuttle wile cargo-bots unloaded the cargo from the shuttles cargo hold. Hopefire and Doctor Hoofdust made their way through check in with more easily than it was to get the travel permits in the first place and where making there way to their destination, the medical center on block 3, via residential elevator. block 3, like much of the blocks blow the human only blocks above block 15, was cramped, dully lighted, damp with thin layer of smoke being vented out the cooling vents. block 3's walkways lined with out of work ponies looking to make ends meet. in a time when most obs could be done cheaper and faster by using what humans call robots, most ponies ether work down in the block 0 mines or find them selves with out a job.
"hay, sugar looking looking a good time" said a young mare with pink mane and purple coat
"um" stumbled Hopefire
"He's not interested!,, barked Doctor Hoofdust, pushing Hopefire faster along the walkway
"she was..um..friendly,, commented Hopefire with puzzled look on his face
"It wasn't friendship that mare was after, young lad,, replied The elderly Doctor "anyway the medical center is just a round this corner.
the medical center was in the dead center of block 3 with easy access from all the near by living quarters and equipped with emergency elevators for fast access to the blocks. Hopefire and Doctor Hoofdust enter the medical center to find it over run with sick and injured ponies on a number of make shifted med-beds. The the lone over worked nurse attending to the patients was a white coated mare with a pink mane that was starting to go gray with red medical cross doted with pink hearts, who was starting to enter her twilight years.
"great to see you again, nurse redheart,, Doctor Hoofdust greeted the nurse
"Doctor hoofdust, if I live and breath!,, Nurse redheart replied " I thought you die in the fall?,, she added
"no,no I was lucky enough to miss that dreadful event by visiting a family in hoofington the week before"
"oh thank goodness...oh who this? nurse redheart replied to Doctor hoofdust's statement
"Hopefire, ma'am,, hopefire in response to the nurse's question
"Yong Hopefire here is my apprentice of sorts" added Doctor Hoofdust
"Oh thank goodness, we where lucky to get you here, Hoofdust but to have you bring a second per of hooves help with patients this is realy is a blessing for Celest....."
"thank that bitch for buck all!!!,, said a injured miner pony with two crashed legs and damaged left eye interrupting Nurse Redheart '' that bitch abandoned us, along with that whore of sister!"
Nurse Redheart was about to show the pony what you get fore bad mouthing the royal sister when the room suddenly lit up in flashing red lights and a emergency siren when up. Aloud rubble could be heard coming down the emergency elevator shaft from the up blocks and then emergency elevator 4's doors flung open.
"We need a doctor!!!!!,,
"We need a doctor!!!!!,,
Those where the worlds that where shouted as two male ponies, one a Pegasi and one a unicorn came charging form emergency elevator 4 while carrying a unconscious and badly injured female "earth" pony between them. maybe carrying is the wrong word to use here, they where more like dragging that carrying the poor female earth pony from the emergency elevator.
"bring the poor thing over here,, Doctor hoofdust addressed the two carrying the female pony, pointing to an empty bed in on of the examination room. The two immediately followed Doctor hoofdust instructions and place the unconscious female pony onto the examination room's bed.
Hopefire couldn't help and watch as the two colts carefully placed the injured mare down. There was something about this mare that made him just stop and stare, was it her mane that had two shades of blue, one light, one dark or was it her hot pink coat or was it that the fact she look like a damsel in distress, laying flat on here back on the examination room's bed. then something odd about this mare caught Hopefire eye. this "earth" pony mare had a magic crystal for a cutie mark witch was very odd as the last time Hopefire had checked, earth pony couldn't do magic.
"are you going to help us or are you taking to standing there drooling over this poor thing?!,, Nurse Redheart suddenly interrupted Hopfire's train of thought
"Sorry..,, Hopefire replied to the now annoyed nurse Redheart
looking over the injured mares body it was clear even to a pony with no clue about medicine that something terrible had happen to this mare. On her two fond legs near the hoofs there where red markings suggesting that she had been struggling to get free from being tied with rope, while her two back legs had stress marks again suggesting that she had been standing on her two back legs for a longer than usual period of time. the rest of her body had cuts and bruises, making it obvious that somepony, no like someONE had beaten her to an inch of her life. there where even burn marks.
"So who is she?,, Doctor Hoofdust ask the question that all three medical ponies where thinking
" we 'ant got a clue,, the male earth pony replied to question in a country accent
"But we found laying in the gutter in from of the corp only elevator, up on block 13,, add the Pegasi pony
"That elevator goes straight up to the the holding cells on block 20!,, that was what busted out of Nurse Redheart's mouth as soon as the pegasi had spoken.
Just then something fell on the floor from where ever the mare had hidden it on her body. the object in question was a clear cuboid shape that could be changed into a cube for easier transportation. Hopefire picked it up to take a closer look, He was sure he had never seen anything like it before.
"what you got there, Hopefire?,, Doctor Hoofdust asked the young unicorn, who had already started to attend to the Injured mare wounds
" I don't know...,, Hopefire replied " Redheart, ma'am, Have you seen this before?,,
"No dear, and stop calling me ma'am. your making me feel old" Nurse edheart answered Hopefire question sounding yet annoyed
Hopfire then turned to face the two ponies that had brought the mare in but the earth pony just stood there shaking his head
" yea I seen some of the policy enforcers carry them" said the Pegasi told Hopefire " I think they use them to carry something called daaytaaa around,,
" ya mean data...don't ya,, the earth pony stated to the pegasi
"That what I said!,, the pegasi replied sounding a bit cheesed off
"anyway we better be setting off, our wife's be wondering were we got ta,, earth pony said as the two started to leave the medical center they way the came but Nurse redheart stopped them and clearly told them that it was an emergency elevator and that they had to take the elevators out in the walkways. Nurse Redheart came back into the examination room and let out a yawn.
"I don't know about you boys, you could do with some sleep,, the nurse pony commented
"but what about the other p...,, Hopefire said as he turn to find the medical centers waiting room was now completely empty, even the asshole that had blab-mouthed the royal sisters had gone.
"don't worry boys, most of them where ponies looking for a easy way out of the block 0 mines and I have had already attended to the real patients hours before you two arrived, most could go home just then, the others are sleeping the recovery rooms but sadly for our mystery mare here there full up,,
"so the young dear will have to sleep in here then" added Doctor Hoofdust to the nurse pony's statement "anyway can you show us up to the staff staff quarters upstairs,,
" I want to stay and keep and eye on, i mean eye out in case she wakes up during the night,, Hopefire stated to the two older medical ponies "she needs somepony at her side,,
"then looks like we have a volunteer for the night shift,,
meanwhile all the up at block 20, the security center and heart of all corporation activity that goes on at sector 1. the person in charge of the running block 0's operations and the general running of all other blocks, a human that goes by the name of director of operations Irons was busy working a way at his station in the middle of Sector 1 security. director of operations Irons is not a very nice man, even by Corporation standers and is such not only feared by ponies but also by a number of his corporate subordinates and it is rumors that he only got his possession by murdering his predecessor. The room Director Irons was siting was dully light by sides the light coming off of the numerous control panels and security monitors, Irons's desk it self was light up with panels that controlled the security doors on all 20 blocks of Sector 1, energy out put of the power, water and food output and air filters to keep each blocks air clean. The man in question, Irons was a giant of a man with a military style crew cut hair, blue eyes with a scar going a cross the left eye and was built like a tank. the man looked like he belonged in the army rather than a managerial job. Irons was working at his stations security terminal when one of his subordinates walk up in order to talk to this monster of a man.
"what's so important that you have to interrupt me when I'm working on something,, bark Irons at the poor boy
"um..um,, the boy who was not long out of his teen and this was probably his first job, stuttered in fear
" its about the the suspected terrorist, the one that escaped this morning,,
"what about it?,, Irons replied in a menacing manner
"She, I mean it's been spotted being taken to the medical center on block 3,, Irons's subordinate answered in haste "should I give the order to send in policy enforcers to recapture her, I mean it, sir?,, policy enforcers are the corporations default police force and as there title suggests, its is there job to enforce any law or policy that the corporation passes and to keep the ponies in line. its because of this there seen as no more than thugs in the eyes of Equestria's pony population.
" you mad boy?!, that would give the terrorists more p.r to use for recruiting,, Shouted Irons "and besides that stubborn bitch won't give us her friends no matter how long we interrogate it the bitch, anything else?,,
"yea sir , the pony doctor that nurse of the aforementioned medical center requested has arrived but there was something odd though" replied the subordinate
"what's so odd about that?,, Irons asked sounding puzzled
"he replied for a second travel permit for a...,, the subordinate had to check his notes "...a unicorn by the name of Hopefire, apparently the pony doctor's, a elderly earth pony by the name of Hoofdust, apprentice,,
"very well, keep an eye on this "hopefire", if it puts on of its hooves out of line. book him on a terror suspect charge,, ordered Irons as he got up to turn in for the night
"oh and another thing Sir, your "guest" for the night has arrived, she, I mean it's waiting in your private quarters,, the subordinate told Irons as he was about to open the door to his private quarters, trying to hid the utter disgust on his face.
"oh good, I've been told by the medical robots that need bump out of my built up anger,, Irons said to his subordinate in a menacing way as he stood in the door way of his, in clear view of his bond Pegasi pony mare that was bond and gagged on his bed with a look of primal fear on her face. " oh and an other thing boy,, stated Irons as the doors to his quarters began to close " If you pull a face Like that when referring to my private life again, I will have to detain you and boy........Don't ever let me detain you!,,
