The gentle tap of liquid could be heard, falling at a slow steady pace in the darkness. A moment later the clang of metal rings through out the silent halls as two hydraulic powered claws clamp down on the rusted valve and with a heave attempt open it for the forth time today and again they release it as the metal begins to bend for fear of permanent damage. The owner of said tools sighs, the first sound hes made in weeks, as he looks over the stubborn valve. A green light flickers on where his right eye should be as he contemplates his options.
When was the last time he even needed light? After all he knew every inch of this place, he doesn’t need sight in order to find his way or to work on even delicate equipment. When was the last time he even bothered to check the docks for supplies that had stopped centuries ago simply to see the sun or starts?
He rolled the joints of the six metal limbs attached to his body grimacing as many popped or squealed in protest of the action. A thought later a readout of his systems dominated his sight, showing far more yellow or even orange lights than he was comfortable with. What was the most worrisome though was the percentage displayed in the spectra engine in his chest. He frowned. He had replaced it not that long ago, it shouldn’t read below ninety percent for years.
Two smaller metallic limbs came forward, ready to catch their prize as he readied his back up power and after a moment the fur covered chest plate split open and began shining a rainbow light. The five digit claw came forward and gently pulled the spectra filled sky prism from its socket and held it out carefully to be inspected.
The orange pony looked at it carefully, the green lens of his right eye shifting to yellow in order to see it in its own light while the organic yellow orb on the left squinted at the sudden abuse after being in the dark for so long. Two multi-joint metallic limbs that attached to his back where wings once stood handled the crystal with care, one of which pushed aside the long leather bound mane from his face, brushing the steel plate covering the right side of his head as he did. The mane would have come close to the ground on a normal pony but standing on four large metallic legs kept it well from the surface. They were not underneath him, rather jutting out from his sides from ball joints with another such joint at the mid section forming an elbow and at the end large hydraulic four finger clams large enough to grab a pony or in his case traverse the piping of the facility with ease.
The lens of his right eye shifted to red as he inspected the prism in his claw in order to see past the brilliant display of light, his face went sour moments later. A micro crack. At some point it had been damaged, not enough for a critical failure, but enough to leak its precious contents. After a few more seconds he returned the gem to its socket and closed his chest panel, the seam not showing where the two halves met.
Another sigh escaped his lips as the room returned to darkness and right eye flicked back to green, he was going to have to deactivate.
Each leg turned upward in quick succession to grasp the pipes above him as he quickly plotted a course to a emergency repair bay. After choosing his destination he started off, moving in a smooth unhurried fashion as he deftly avoided valves, pipes, and switches by pure memory. Watching his mane sway slightly with each step he lost himself in thought. The others had already shut down per his orders to save power and be spared the loneliness of the abandoned factory. Not that it mattered, supplies were at zero much of the equipment was in ill repair and he long ago threw away any hope that the Pegasus Weather Center would send anyone for any reason. They had been thrown away, abandoned on the order of those damn Sisters, snarling the last three words into the dark.
It took only minutes to reach the bay he had selected as his tomb, he would likely never open his eyes after today and it bothered him little. Laying down into the harness he placed his legs into their proper restraints, the smaller limbs on his back placing his mane is a safe position before locking together and resting on his neck as he laid his head down into the restraint and thanked the winds that the lighting rods had kept the liquid thunder charged enough to operate the bay as it begins to close around him. His last thought as his eye dimmed was of a pink mare he sorely missed and a small smile crept onto his lips. Maybe he would dream this time.
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.
Author's Note
I apologize to anyone that wanted to see more. After losing a massive chunk of what a I wrote I kinda got demotivated. 
Reactivate
Rainbow Dash had no idea of what happened. One moment she was yelling at somepony for dropping a crate and the next a loud crash of metal and a violent tremor nearly had her falling face first to the floor below, with a strong flap of her wings she righted herself. "What the..."
"Rainbow, help!!" Dash turned at breakneck speeds at Pink Clouds plea, hooves skidding as she lowered herself into a fighting stance. Her ears pinned themselves to her head at the sight that greeted her. She had been briefed about the augmented staff, at least with what little information the C.W.C ( Cloudsdale Weather Corporation) had on them. She never imagined the monster in front of her.
He had managed to pin the now crying mare under his left foreleg just after landing and ether through quick thinking or pure instinct Starburst had managed to take off. However said pegasus was now struggling in his right fore clamp, wings flapping futilely, and with restrained force brought him roughly down beside the pink mare.
He couldn't help the sadistic grin that spit his face. How long had it been since he had the pleasure of a creature struggling in his grip. With a quick inhale he calmed himself and looked up at his rainbow maned target in front of him and waited on her to act. He didn't wait long as Dash shook off the fear, baring her teeth at the perceived threat and taking a step forward.
Perfect.
"Hold." The small limbs on his back moving over the heads of his two captives, the interface blades popping out just inches above them.
Dash visibly cringed at the sound the blades made and took the rather obvious threat for what it was, straitening from a fighting posture into one of authority. Legs strait, chest and wings puffed out, and head high slightly tilted back she faced him down.
He couldn't help but find her posturing slightly adorable.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Dash all but shouted. The situation was bad but refused to be intimidated.
He straitened up from his crouch over his captives "The Rainbow Factory is off limits to unauthorized pegasi. All intruders will be killed and processed" delivering the statement in a business like tone devoid of any emotion.
The flat response made Dash blink in surprise. "We have written permission from the Cloudsdale Weather Corporation to enter the factory, repair any systems, and retrieve any data or hardware that can be salvaged and returned to Cloudsdale" Dash delivered evenly. She fought the urge to bite her lip as his eye squinted in suspicion. She lost.
"Cloudsdale Weather Corporation?" This time he didn't bother keeping the emotion out of his voice. Had he made an error? Most likely it was a simple name change but he had to be sure. Protocol demanded that no one other than weather center pegasi enter the factory.
Several tense moments passed as Dash tried to understand her mistake. Thankfully the ponies working in the area had rushed balcony after hearing the commotion and formed a half circle around the scene with several more hovering just off the rail. It was from this group that a mare spoke up.
"Excuse me, may I...?" Flitter trailed off in uncertainty, her posture low and submissive as she took a step away from the crowd. He looked her over a moment before nodding. " They changed the name from the weather center to the weather corporation about 50 years ago." stepping back after finishing.
Fighting off an urge to sigh in relief he turned his attention back to the rainbow maned pony, there was one last thing needed. " Do you have written permission from the corporation detailing such orders and authorization to enter the facility?"
A curt nod from Dash. "Starburst?"
Said pony sucked in a few breaths to steady himself " Th-they're in the bag under your cot" as he eyed the blade hovering just above his head.
"Flitter can you go grab my bag?" Rainbow said, saying the first name that come to mind. Said mare perked up at her name and after moment nodded taking flight towards the sleeping area the expedition had set up outside the factory.
As they waited the tense atmosphere quickly descended into something more akin to an awkward boredom, both Dash and the cyberpony holding their positions. After minutes of simply staring at each other the creature was the one to finally move, blades snapping back into their compartment as he took a more relaxed position and slightly easing the pressure on this captives. Dash flinched at the sudden metallic sound and let out a heavy breath as she realized her two assistants were still alive and literal death wasn't hovering over their heads. Her muscles slackened a bit but she didn't drop her guard, this thing had taken her by surprise once already and refused to let it do so again.
"So" he began " I take it you lead this little project miss?" motioning with a metallic digit much like a griffon Dash noted as he addressed her.
"Dash. Rainbow Dash, weather team leader, former Wonderbolt, third level manager, and Element of Loyalty." Not bothering to hide her pride as she listed off her titles and achievements though she noted the lack of impact on her current audience.
"Forgive me for my ignorance but what is a 'Wonderbolt' or 'Element of Loyalty'? They sound like titles a foal would come up with while playing." The cyberpony not hiding his condescension for such childish sounding terms as his arms moved to his mane, picking at the knots out of habit.
Dash scowled at both the insult and tone but said nothing. "The Wonderbolts are a group of Equestias best flyers, only the best can join. The Elements are kind of hard to explain. They're like a part of Eqestria and of the magic of friendship." At some point Dash had looked up and started scratching her chin in thought, as her eyes came down they were greeted to the bemused expression of the cyberpony in front of her.
He couldn't believe what this multi-colored mare just spouted. Magic of friendship? What utter nonsense. He chose to ignore it for now and focus on the other topic at hand. "You said the best flyers, not the best pegasi, not the best soldiers?" In his bones he knew the answer. He knew by the lack of security in their ranks, by the passive and submissive countenance of the pegasi around him.
The Flock had become weak.
Rainbow couldn't help but shuffle restlessly at the accusatory tone leveled at her. "Technically anypony can try out" she started "but of course it's currently all pegasi!" Her wings and chest puffing out in pride at the statement. "As for soldiers? They're technically our ace strike force but with no wars in centuries and the Elements taking care of any major baddies they really only do stunt shows and stuff." Dash expected some sort of reaction but he simply stared at the floor in front of him, blank faced, as he processed the information. His unmoving form started to agitate her greatly. "The hay is that pony? Flitter!-she yelled- What the buck is taking so long?!"
As if to answer said pegasus reentered the room just after she shouted, landing just beside Dash and breathing heavily. "Sorry, it took me a while to find your bunk." said Flitter as she handed over a worn Wonderbolt bag and moved back a step.
"No, no, no, why is that in here? No. Ah ha! Here it is." after several moments of digging through the bag she manages to pull out the, slightly crumpled, scroll containing the official orders from the C.W.C. "This should be everything you need." as she canters towards the cyberpony, stopping just in front of him with authority and holding out the scroll towards him.
His attention snaps from his reverie and back to the task at hand as the clank of hooves on metal comes towards him. As Rainbow presents the scroll the arms picking at his mane quickly secure the parchment, he smirks and raises an eyebrow at its condition causing her to give a bad smile and awkward chuckle. After calmly untying and opening the scroll he quickly scans the document to confirm her mission.
As he reads "So, I introduced myself but I don't think I found out who you are." said Rainbow. "We knew there were 'permanent staff'- hoof quoting- here but we didn't really know what to expect, nothing like you for sure." she finished, hoping that everything was fine with the orders. His silence was starting to grate on her nerves fiercely.
While still reading "I am the head manager, technician, repairman, and security chief of this facility. Or -he grinned down at Dash, sharp teeth gleaming- head freak if you prefer." He couldn't help the array of emotions that ran across her face, from fear to surprise to a grimace and finally a hoof across her muzzle. He didn't bother to hide his chuckle at the sight.
"Ugh, so you heard that huh." dropping her hoof to the floor and looking up at the ceiling "Why? Why do I keep shoving my hooves in my mouth?!" finishing in an exasperated cry while throwing said hooves in the air only from them to crash back to the floor with a clang. He found the pouty scowl quite cute.
Smiling he continued on with his inspection of the scroll and when he reached bottom the lens in his right eye switched to a purple light, or at least attempted to. Now wearing a scowl himself he brought up his hand and tapped on the lens, it took several seconds but yellow light flickered to purple and what it saw only made his scowl deepen making the cyan mare next to him cringe. "In order to verify the orders received from the chairman of the Pegasus Weather Center" he recited in monotone "both the signature and seal must be of a exceptionally pure condensed spectra."
The pegasi on the platform became tense as the two clamps holding Pink Cloud and Starburst caused the metal beneath them to groan. He slowly rolled up the scroll, retied it, and held it out to Rainbow Dash who extended a shaking hoof and grabbed hold of it, sucking in a breath as his face was suddenly all to close to hers.
"This passes." causing Dashs face to scrunch in confusion. "Barely." he growled, making her ears wilt and turning her eyes to the now free scroll.
"They spent months processing just one vile for this." The confusion and lament was evident in her voice. Just how much progress had they lost when they closed this place? Dash snapped back to reality as he lurched back causing her to spring back in surprise but quickly calmed as he gently picked up Pink Cloud then Starburst, placing the shaken ponies next the surrounding group.
"Now that everything has been verified and I don't need to feed the lot of you to Unit Two how may I be of assistance Miss Dash?" Any anger or negative emotion was gone, replaced by a sight calm smile as if he were a helpful teller at a bank.
Reeling from the emotional whiplash of the last few minutes Dash shook her self to regain her sense and after a quick stretch made her way back over to him while keeping a safe distance...she hoped. "Cool, but I don't think I ever got your name. I mean can't just go around yelling 'hey freak' whenever I need you." she frowned "And don't call me miss." The twitch of his lips told her she would be saying this again far more than she liked.
He shrugged "I've been called far worse." again causing Dash to give a embarrassed chuckle. He wished he could have a bit more fun with this, introducing himself in such a mundane way was such a bore. He attempted the wireless connection in the room. He had no real hopes of connecting but when the lights blinked so did he and tried again. The lights began to flicker in an ominous manner causing the pegasi in the room to look around in slight panic, most were uncomfortable underground as is.
"Oh this is going to be sooo much fun~" he thought to him self as he crouched and began moving towards a now sitting and tense Rainbow Dash.
"I don't remember my past." A clamp came down with a thud causing Rainbows attention to snap to the cyberpony in front of her. "I don't remember who I used to be." -thud- Rainbows breath quickens as her muscles refuse to move. "I don't remember my friends of old, I don't remember my destiny." -thud- Her eyes are widen as the lights flicker wildly. "What I've become? I've no idea. -thud- I only know one simple thing, the name they gave me." Dash was barely breathing as the red eye and rows of sharp teeth dominated her sight. The lights suddenly went out.
Abesntia
(Art: https://bakki.deviantart.com/art/Commission-Iron-within-557179266)