Jax groans softly as he sat at the table in the staff room, lying his head on said table as he fiddled with a pen in his hands. He had finished up the taxi runs, but now he had to stick around and help out the boss so to make up the hour and forty-five minutes. It's nothing too major, he just had to fill out paperwork officially and occasionally get the boss a cup of coffee.

He yawns again as Kylla appears on the disk at the counter next to the Element-Microwave. "Your black cheese burger is done."

Jax nods as he stands up, stretching his arms as he finished signing page 340 of 2,000. Once he got to the microwave, he pulls out the burger and puts on top some lettuce, tomato, onion, and some of the musty-red sauce. Once it was set up, he sits back down and takes a bite as he continued signing the papers. Thinking thoughtfully, he looks at Kylla. "What's going on tomorrow?"

"According to the calendar, you're free tomorrow, and will be working on Saturday."

"Oh yeah? Cool, so I got Tuesday off, that's something to go by."

"Thinking of hitting the cross-species coffee shoppe?"

"It's called a cafe, but yeah, they have a special on Tuesdays."

"Ah yes, the Cinnamon Chocolate King Blast. It's a wonder how no one gets a sore throat from the strength of the cinnamon in those things, let alone the fact it's meant for the cinnamon lovers."

Jax rubs his head. "I'm not that much of a cinnamon lover, but it's unique to me. Besides, I always wanted to try it."

"Fair enough, just make sure to get me a Minty Chip Latte."

"How do you even drink those things?"

She points at the disk. "Ever since the law written that AI have the same rights as any other individual, we've been upgraded in enough ways to enjoy normal human luxuries, such as eating and drinking things through putting them in the center circle, and occasionally giving them a built-in holo-physical disk so that they're practically a solid being that appears as a hologram."

Jax looks at his burger. "Makes sense, I suppose. Still have no idea how we became roommates."

"We're childhood friends, Jax, you know that."

"Yeah... I know."

"Something wrong?"

"No, just thinking about something."

"What?"

"The paper is asking me who I consider my fiancee."

Kylla instantly whacks him on the head, causing him to grip his head with a yelp in pain and rub the bump. "Owowowowowowowowowowowowow..."

Kylla raises her fist with a visible vein in her forehead. "You weren't even listening to me, were you..."

"Sorry... I made out the 'we're' part, then just spaced out..."

"Need another whack to remember?"

He quickly raises his hands with a sweat bead on his forehead. "No! No really, I'm good!"

She nods as he rubs his head, then returns to signing the papers. After a moment, she decides to ask as he writes. "So... Have you... You know... Found anyone yet?"

"No, not really. Why?"

She fiddles with her fingers. "No reason..."

Jax raises an eyebrow, but shrugs as he sits back.

...

Dorn grunts as he lifted a large piece of debris out of the way while the mech-lifter steps into the chamber. As Dorn moved some debris, his supervisor steps over. "How's the work going, Dorn, manage to find anything else?"

Dorn rubs his helmet. "Not yet. This palace may not be as large as Cetera Palace, but it's still massive. It's a wonder how they managed to keep most of it occupied."

"And it's Not a wonder on how we keep Cetera Palace completely occupied?"

"Good point." He wipes his brow. "I Did find what looked to be a kind of study, but it was locked shut, some kind of magical barrier."

"Well, then why didn't you go and get an mining-mage in here?"

"Because it's no magic I've seen before. I Did get one by the way, and the woman said that the magic is primitive, however it wasn't researched, so she can't be 100% sure how to open it. Even if primitive, something bad could happen if not handled properly."

The supervisor sighs as he rubs his neck. "Damn, do we at least know what's of interest in there?"

"She said there's a ton of magical tomes and books recording ancient studies and work. Enough to improve onto the magic we use these days."

"Huh, so we won't have to use Element-Implants to increase our magical prowess then?"

"That's what she said, yeah."

He sighs as he looks at the crystals. "It's been what... 200 million centuries, and still these ponies seemed to leave behind some form of legacy, after all this time... It's a wonder how we managed this far without them."

"Things change and work themselves out, it's normal."

"That was a rhetorical question, okay?"

"Right, right." He grabs a metal plate from the miner that stepped over to him. "Ah, got the scans?"

"Yes, sir."

"And your personal opinion?" He asks as he presses the center button, causing a holographic screen to appear, revealing the scans on the seven ponies.

"They've been in stasis for this long, and somehow they look to be no older than 18... Among the smaller six, while the seventh looks to be around 45."

"Isn't it said that the larger ones have extended lifespans?"

The miner adjusts his glasses. "Good point, so my guess would be around 3,000 to 5,000."

"That's a big leap."

"If the theory is right, then that's the most likely. I used to research them as a kid. I never got more than small pieces, but I read enough to know that the first 'alicorn' as they called them was revealed about 4-5,000 years before the event that made pony kind disappear."

"Huh, did your homework then..."

He shrugs. "About as much as a scholar could know."

"Good to know. Could we move them?"

"Yes, however they could possibly awaken in the process."

"So even if we don't break the crystals they'll wake up. Damn it, was hoping to move them to the palace to at least get some compensation before they would be woken up."

"So? We can just wake them up and ask them kindly to join us, can't we?" Dorn asks.

"Well, yeah, but wouldn't they try to run away or possibly get lost because of how different our worlds are?"

"Maybe, but it's better than forcing them."

The supervisor sighs, rubbing his face. "Fine, you have a point. See what you can do."

Dorn nods as he follows the miner with glasses to the crystals. "So, you're the new guy?" The man suddenly asks.

"Yeah, wanted to try and get a good bit of money. I'm trying to join Void-Tech University."

The man whistles. "Damn, that's a whole lot of money to fork over."

"Yeah, about 50,000 Diamond Glow-Crystals."

The man whistles again. "Damn man, it's hard enough to find a job that'll pay more than 14 a week."

"Yeah, I know."

"Well, good luck. It Is the highest recommended university for Void researchers."

"No kidding." Dorn offers a hand. "Dorn Fujai."

The man shakes it. "Killon Moji."

"Moji?"

"Yeah, I know, I'm the son of Boka Moji, the famous artist..."

"No kidding?"

"Yeah, but don't go spreading it around. I don't like the attention. I'm not dad."

Dorn nods as they step over to the crystals. "So, how do we open it?"

"We got a system hooked up." He picks up a small cube. "Here."

"Right." Dorn takes it and hovers his hand over it, causing the cube to scan his hand, then blink a green color, before they crystals begin to slowly melt. After the crystals melt enough, Dorn catches the large white one before it could fall to the ground, while Killon gently shakes the cyan one as it was the closest.

"Vital signs are good, they're just asleep. We should get them back to the camp."

"Sounds good, I'll start up a pot of Herv Stew."

Killon nods. "They would probably appreciate some. Make sure not to add any meat."

Dorn chuckles. "Herv isn't a meat man, it's a kind of fig."

"I know, I'm just saying."

Dorn nods as they both get the unconscious ponies over to the camp, and get them under some covers while they return to their things.

...

Jax groans as he lays down in bed. "Ugh... Can't wait for tomorrow... I could go with a jog right about now..."

Kylla appears on the disk. "Perhaps. Do you not like rain?"

"It's not that, I just don't like getting soaked."

Kylla clears her throat as she leans against a holographic wall. "Well, that's fair..." 'Though I did enjoy the show when changing...'

"Anyways, night Kylla."

"Good night, Jaxson."

Jax hits the lights and covers up, going straight to bed.

Author's Note

Chapter 2 is out, and I hope you all enjoy. I'm putting a lot of effort into this story.