All That I Know is Gone

My eyes slowly parted as I woke, my body ached all over, the small tube that was my stasis module had popped open only moments earlier. I tried to sit up, my joints creaked and cracked as they moved again for the first time in 25 years, or so I thought. As my vision came into focus, I saw that the lab was empty, every other pod was open, but there were no signs of life anywhere, nothing in the room except me, the tubes and a red flashing light. At first I thought it was nothing, simply a light that meant I had woken up, but I started to get a little worried after nobody came looking for me, I decided to walk around a bit, hopefully my muscles were still in the same condition they were when I went into that tube, they still felt the same.

I stood and began walking, everything felt normal, other than a few aches, but I ignored them as best I could and kept going, I decided to wander around the room a little, it looked as though no one had come through the room is years, shelves and desks thick with dust, the floor slightly grimy and gritty under my hooves. Where has every pony gone? I thought to myself as I wandered around the room. I stopped and looked at some papers left on the desk nearest my tube.

Subject Name: Crystalline

Purpose: Stasis project Beta v7

Age: 20

Mane colour: Red

Coat colour: Cream

Eye colour: Blue

Stasis Project Beta v7, Day one;

Crystalline had a small episode of fitting as the sleeping drug began to work her system, her body writhed, yet she slept. Stasis Day one, success.

I thought it was odd, to have those details, did they expect anything to change, colours of my coat, mane and eye shouldn't have been to any importance, they could have seen it through the tube anyway. As I read over the stack of notes on the folder, I heard a scurrying behind me, I turned, there was nothing there I'm going crazy I thought to myself, ignoring the sound and continuing to read, the next note that stood out was much later than the first day, most of the notes weren't there, I wasn't sure if they'd gone missing or if they simply didn't exist.

Subject Name: Crystalline

Purpose: Stasis project Beta v7

Age: 20

Mane colour: Red

Coat colour: Cream

Eye colour: Blue

Stasis project beta v7, year 19, day 206;

Subjects body function is normal, no decrease in body mass, nor muscle mass. Subjects are lucky, while they sleep peacefully, we're up here in the middle of a war, it should end soon. only a small uprising, it shall be easily handled by the Equestrian Armed Forces. All subjects are sleeping normally, impossible to tell whether they are dreaming or not, cognitive function should be at almost 0% Most bodily functions have shut down, the only thing still running is their mind, though it is in its 'sleep state' That will change in 6 years.

War? There was a war while we were all asleep? I was shocked, my brain failing to comprehend what I had just read. The notes stopped on year 23 day 300.

Subject Name: Crystalline

Purpose: Stasis project Beta v7

Age: 20

Mane colour: Red

Coat colour: Cream

Eye colour: Blue

Stasis project Beta v7, year 23, day 300

Subjects will never wake up. War has overtaken the land, at this rate, there will be no one to wake them, I fear that I myself will not be around to see tomorrow, as I write this, the banging at the doors become more intense, the shouting, the screaming, the demands, it's all too much. Subjects should eventually wake up, about a year after the set date for them to wake.

Crystalline, this a note for you, when you awake, run, run like you've never run before, teleport if you have to, just get out of Canterlot. The doors are almost broken. You'll find your mother's grave on the hill by her first home, I assume you know where that is. I'm sorry we didn't wake you. Blame me, I said that you may die if we wake you and put you back into stasis too close together... I'm sorry, the last thing she said was 'My dearest Crystalline, you've let me down. You told me you'd never stop loving me, that you'd be here for me when I finally passed. But no, you didn't show. Now I fear your love for me may fade, but remember, I have not forgotten you, nor will I ever forget you...I await you in Celestia's grove, we will be united' Again, Crystalline, I'm sorry, please. I'm about to love my life, but run, just listen to me, find your mothers grave, make peace with your soul and hers, but don't ever return to Canterlot after you leave...If you leave.

The note ended there, there was still a blood stain on the paper, my heart started racing, my mind was running through every possibility, there was more movement, it sounded like hooves, I spun around. No one was there. "Am I insane?!" I shouted, slamming my hooves on the desk, I decided to at least listen to what the note said, I'd make my way out by running to the train station and following the tracks. I started to make my way out, the security doors held fast, I placed my right hoof in each scanner, moving through the doors as soon as I could, I could still hear sounds, hooves, rustling, even an eerie voice joined the sounds occasionally, I couldn't make out the words but I wanted out. Running through the halls, the sounds getting louder, plant life was growing in the halls.

I kept running, dodging plants, jumping over it when needed. After running through what seemed like an endless succession of hallways, I made my way to the main lobby, there were signs of activity in the lobby, hoof prints and, what looked like a mark made by hatchet and a club of some sort, I didn't know what to think, even in the time before I was born people used lasers, clubs, axes, hatchets were all primitive, to be 25 years later and have people still using these, it was a bit much, I decided to search the room for anything useful.

After searching around a little, I decided to check the drawers in the desks the receptionists would have used, as I searched through, I found a flashlight and a few batteries, along with a small satchel, I secured the satchel tightly to my side and put the flashlight and batteries inside That should be all I need I thought, as I stood and began to make my way to the exit, I heard the hooves again, I turned to the source of the sound to see him "You're alive?!" I shouted, shocked at the revelation.

"Of course I'm alive," He said, smiling at me, lulling me into a false sense of security, "I thought I'd never see you again." He said, examining me, walking around me slowly like a vulture circling a corpse.

"What happened here, do you know?" I asked desperately, beginning to spin to keep my eyes locked with his, examining his body, he looked exactly the same, other than a small cut on his cheek.

"No, I woke to find all tubes but yours empty, so sign of anyone else, just me, the red flashing light and my thoughts, I came up here, oh, about, 3 years ago, things have changed here Crystalline," He stopped walking and simply stood in front of me, ours eyes locked, "So many things that, I don't think you'll survive." He smirked, his voice became sinister and he spat poison with his words, hitting my ears like acid.

"what are you implying?" I asked, backing away slightly, "What's happened to you?"

"What's happened to me?!" His eyes lit up and he became jittery, suddenly moving around me, his voice sounding more ghostly and wispy, his form flickering lightly "You are the one who is corrupted, this world knows not of your existence, no one here would miss you, should you die."

"Why would you want to kill me though, I've done naught to you, nor anyone you love," I said, my heart beat rising again, taken aback slightly, "Everything here looks to be in ruins, there would be no point to killing me." I tried to remain calm, backing away more.

"Yes, but with you dead, that's one less pony to question my power!" He began to walk to the door, "out there is a whole new world, I may not kill you now, but in due time Crystalline, things will become clear, I know not what happened here, two hundred years ago, but I know one thing," He paused "All that you know, is gone." As he finished the sentence he teleported away, a puff of smoke where he once stood was all that showed he was there at all. My mind was racing, two hundred years, it can't have been two hundred years, I was only asleep for a maximum of twenty six, two hundred years, two hundred years I kept thinking about the time that had passed, not sure if it was true or not, I stood at the matte black doors, the entrance to the lobby I guess, this will prove that two hundred years have truly gone by I took a deep breath and stepped through the doors.

Everything stood still. My heart slowed, my mind failing to function, to register what I was seeing, my body wouldn't move, the sight before me was, overpowering to say the least, I couldn't believe it. "Two. Hundred. Years." I mumbled slowly, looking out over what used to be Canterlot, every building covered in plants, trees growing from the concrete, some hundreds of feet tall, it seemed to be desolate, a waste land of sorts, I couldn't believe it, "All That I know is Gone." I mumbled in shock, where would I go? What would I do? I had to find answers about what had happened during those two hundred years that I was in stasis.