The first thing he noticed was the alarm as systems began booting up. Surprise and confusion set in as the repair bay opened and the restraints released his limbs. What could have set off the alarm? Had a cave in or animal tripped something?

He pushed the thought aside as the system readout was pulled up, flexing and rotating the mechanical joints as he did, and frowned at what he saw. The physical problems had changed little in the ninety five years of standby, the main problem was the power reserves and output which was currently hovering around seventy two and eighty three percent respectively. If he dropped below sixty three percent power he was going to have a problem. Systems would start to degrade rapidly and with no replacement for the cracked prism there was nothing he could do.

Shifting his legs to the pipes above him he started on a rout that would quickly bring him to the source of the alarm as the readout was closed, pushing the impending death out of his mind. What was the point of worrying after all, there was little that could be done given the circumstances.

It was only minutes into his travel when he sneezed. Even sealed in the repair bay dust had managed to creep in over the decades much to his annoyance and out of habit he sniffed afterwards. Left eye going wide he stopped in place mid step, foot claps on the pipes causing the rusted metal to groan in protest as he processed the information.

Fresh air.

The ventilation had long ago been deactivated and the air in the mountain had quickly become stagnant, as dead as the rest of the factory, so it was easy to smell even the smallest hint of the outside world. Opening his mouth to make a sound of disbelief but was quickly halted by how completely dry his mouth was. An eye role and quick mental command later saliva glands quickly remedied the problem.

"Much better." He said after a few moments, the low tenor voice echoing slightly.

Returning his thoughts to the matter at hand he quickly set off towards the alarm again, different scenarios playing through his mind as he moved with renewed purpose. Had the blast doors been breached? Was it another nation stealing pegasus secrets and if so could he stop them? The last thought made him slow and after a moment of deliberation reroute towards a command station. If it ended in a fight he would need his security force.

It took several minuets to reach the nearest station and several more to clear the collapsed pipes in front of the door. He was grateful the liquid
thunder pipes were not among them as forcing the door open would have been a nightmare. The inside seemed to have fared better as he approached the console, the two smaller limbs quickly flipping switches in order to activate the machine, and after several tense seconds it hummed to life. The metallic digits pulled back as another tool was brought forth, a six inch tapered blade like object, that was used to interface with machines when he couldn't interface wirelessly.

Pushing the blade into the slot he immediately set to activating the security force but was stopped from doing so. Clicking his tongue in annoyance their system status was brought up, selecting both Sky Rake and Blood Bolt. It seemed their spectra engines has been in standby for so long they had switched to minimum power at some point. Both their power and physical condition were fine, with energy reserves above eighty percent on both activation should be no problem they simply needed time to spin up.

He tapped his chin in contemplation. While he needed them awake he also didn't need Blood instigating an unneeded fight. The vicious little mare could easily make things worse if it wasn't an enemy but if it was....he pondered. It would take half an hour to spin up their engines so he started the process but had them remain in standby mode. He decided to scout the situation before unleashing them, no need to cause more damage than needed.

Moving towards the alarm once more he paid closer attention to his surroundings and it wasn't long before he heard something. Swinging down a maintenance shaft and grabbing his mane to keep it out of the way as he moved he quickly came to a supply bay. Squinting his left eye and the right shifting to yellow he took in the first daylight seen in nearly four centuries. But that wasn't what his sight was locked onto, oh no, it was the ponies working in the area. Specifically the two working on the blast door. Both elation and rage coursed through his system. Pegasi were in the factory once more yet here they were trying to force their way into his factory without proper clearance.

Using the tangle of pipes and crane equipment he moved unseen to an area just above the blast door hidden in shadow and apparently just in time as the blue pegasus with his hooves in the control panel yelped and fell on his ass.

"Dammit! Why is this thing so touchy?!" the blue stallion exclaimed, rubbing his sore hooves. "That's the third freaking time that fused popped today. I'm starting to feel like this thing has it out for me."

The lime green mare looked up from a hoof sketched diagram. "Well we are kind of guessing here. From what I've seen this place used liquid thunder almost exclusively for its out side needs and we haven't gotten the stronger fuses yet. Maybe in the next shipment?" The last question sounding hopeful. "Besides you should be using those" pointing a wing at a pair of rubber gloves.

The blue pegasus scoffed. "What, and work even slower? I've got Rainbow Dash breathing down my neck as it is, I don't need any more pressure thank you very much." He paused as he picked up a screwdriver and began scratching a spot behind his ear. "How did she manage to head this little venture anyways? Don't get me wrong, she's more than proven her chops fighting all the crazy monsters with the elements and was even a wonderbolt for a while but that doesn't make her an engineer or tech" he finished as he turned towards the mare.

She simply shrugged and went back to the diagram. "Maybe they just trust her to keep everything in order, it's not like she's working on equipment. Besides I'm sure princess Celestia wants at least one of the elements here as a condition of allowing us back in" tilting her head to peer at him with from underneath her mane.

The male thought about it for a moment before shrugging and standing up. "I guess. Hey, can you grab me another fuse? I want to take a crack at this again."

The cyber pony above the door had heard enough and when safe began making his way back towards the maintenance shaft. Once safely back in the darkness he pondered what he had learned.

One: He had learned the name and likely the coloration of the pony in charge of the operation below.

Two: The pegasi still took orders from those vile alicorns!

If he still had blood it would have boiling. "How are those retched creatures still alive?!" he wondered aloud as he moved towards his original goal once more. "Perhaps researcher Point was right when he theorized they could naturally refine spectra to a high degree" a vicious grin of sharp non-pony teeth appeared on his face. "I wonder if unit three can hold such a large pony" he chuckled, "it would be fun to find out."

It took just under ten minuets to reach the source of the alarm, the Theater room, named so as the high balcony allowed the factory workers to spectate the failures as they were brought in. Proceeding slowly he entered once again through a maintenance shaft, this one from east wall. Luckily no pegasi were in the air due to the lower ceiling and absolute maze of pipes cluttering said ceiling. He moved carefully, the rubber on his clamps wasn't completely dry rotted but close. Thankfully the shouting of who he guessed was his target made stealth much easier.

Ponies truly have little imagination for names at times.

"Ugh! What do you mean it's impossible? We have the best engineers in Cloudsdale, how is one stupid door causing this much trouble!!" Throwing her hooves in the air and bringing the down in a stomp making the pony in front of her flinch.

Pink Cloud rubbed her foreleg as she answered " I'm just telling what they said Dash, the lock can't be opened without a key code. They can cut through the door but they're pretty sure it could take a week or more."

This only seemed to upset Dash even more "We've been here almost 2 weeks already! The plan was to bring as much as we could back online, download as much info as we could, and salvage what we could. If the robot freaks were here we make contact if not we do what we can" she ended in a huff. "I miss anything Starburst?" speaking to a tan stallion to her left.

Starburst looked up from his clip board at the sound of his name "No Ma'am that sounds about right. Speaking of which, the search party reported in just a while ago" he scratched his cheek "still no sign of the permanent staff. They also reported they have found more hatches that could lead to the interior but are locked like the rest" moving to stand beside Pink Cloud as he finished.

Dash sighed as she turned her back to the pair "Yeah yeah just pile on more bad news why don't ya." She turned her head to the right and squinted at Starburst in annoyance "And what did I say about calling me 'Ma'am' Starburst?" causing said pony to smile sheepishly and scratch his mane.

"Sorry Dash, most managers are kind of strict about it" giving a sincere smile " I'm sure things will get better soon."

Dash gave a tired sigh and lowered her violet eyes to the ground "I hope your right." Just a moment later a loud crash caused all three pegasi wings to pop open in alarm as Dash looked down from the balcony they were standing on to find the source of the sound. After finding the broken crate Dash put her fore hooves on the rail and flared her wings "What the hay?! Be careful with that stuff! Do you have any idea how hard it is to requisition new gear this far away from Cloudsdale?" while the other 2 settled down and chuckled at her antics.

Above the trio a certain 'pony' was barely able to contain his laughter, this setup was just to perfect. Not only had he confirmed the this group was from the Pegasus Weather Center they had somehow positioned them selves perfectly for what he had planned. It was almost worth the centuries of boredom. Taking a deep, if unneeded, breath he calmed himself. He still needed written confirmation in order to allow them access and so with a few adjustments to his position, he dropped.

Author's Note

Feel like this is good spot to catch my breath a bit.