INITIALIZING STABLE-TEC(TM) BOOT AGENT v3.3.2
CANTERLOT-EEA-HQ/STORAGE/5
THIS TERMINAL IS PROPERTY OF THE EQUESTRIAN GOVERNMENT.
AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.
UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL TRYING TO ACCESS THIS TERMINAL WILL BE TAKEN FOR QUESTIONING.

Entry 1. Day 2 after the end. Loading...

We've been attacked, Canterlot is destroyed.

The EEA building in Canterlot survived, but just barely, the upper floors are compromised.

There are fifty ponies in here right now. Nineteen are sick. We can't identify the sickness.

The Chancellor took control. He is the eldest of us, so I guess that's fair.

As his first action, the Chancellor divided us into working groups. He and his inner circle are now Management, ponies who go scouting deeper into the EEA building are Retrieval Teams. Then there is Research Team, Food Management and then there is me. Inventory Management and Record-Keeping.

First, I'll introduce myself. I am Cold Fritz, I work (or is it worked?) as an EEA assistant. Haven't been here for too long. Hoped to get a stable income out of this job to save up for a Stable ticket. It didn't really work out that way.

I'll be keeping the record of the surviving members of the EEA.

"We will not fail Equestria again."

The EEA assistant, Fritz Cold.

Entry 2. Day 6 after the end Loading...

We lost eighteen ponies. Only one recovered after the sickness. We are growing short on food. The Chancellor overestimated how much we had. The Research Team is looking into it, but we don't have food to waste on research.

We have recovered some of the old EEA relics and spellbooks. The rulebook among them. We are forced to rely on some of our magical relics for survival. One of them, "The badge of EEA" has proven itself useful, it was created to close schools that didn't follow the guidelines, but we used it to seal off dangerous parts of the EEA HQ.

A lot of relics are in Research right now, meaning they can't be listed as inventory. The Chancellor hopes to store the relics away. What they did to Canterlot messed with all the magical items we have. Two items have already been discarded as corrupted, we lost a member of the Research Team to find that out.

On a brighter note, terminals from the storage have also been recovered. Ten working ones and three broken. The terminals are to be repaired and sent to each working group. And, of course, I'm the one that has to fix them. I already have one working. As a matter of fact, I am using the working one to do the record.

"We will not fail Equestria again."

EEA assistant, Fritz Cold.

Entry 3. 1 week and 3 days after the end. Loading...

It has been a week and 3 days since the end. Most of us are having nightmares. Luna has left us, now there is nopony to guard our dreams. Every night it's the same, it's that day. Everypony was on edge, because of the constant missile strikes, but thanks to the Princesses we were safe from the zebras, or so we thought. It was as normal a day as any other during the last few days, but that all ended when the Cloud came. It was everywhere, coming from the vents, the windows, even the walls. I can't forget the panic when it started, it all happened so suddenly. We had to run downstairs into the deeper parts of the building. The air filters there were supposed to be a lot stronger than those on the top. We got down here and the Chancellor sealed us in. But even though we were safe and deep underground we could still hear the screams. They didn't stop for hours.

The only survivor after the sickness, Nova, started to emit the Cloud. We had to seal her off in another room. She's a good pony, I hope she makes it.

Anyway.

The terminals are fixed and distributed. Those things actually took me some work, hard to fix technology you never held in your hooves before. The damn things were impossible to take apart, it's like they were made to withstand anything.

One of the books has been given to me for safekeeping. I've been flipping through it for a couple of days now. It has our history. It's incredible what EEA used to do before Luna and her Ministries. I thought we were just controlling schools before, but that's not even half of it. We used to guide our youth, to keep ponies safe from forbidden knowledge, we had our own relics for Celestia's sake, we were the Equestrian Education Association! I guess it's a story worth keeping, a story of the EEA. Mind, I joined the association a year before the end, so I can't tell how it really was way back when. But when I was hired, this place was a propaganda machine in the hooves of the Ministry of Image. Our spells were used to cover accidents after the Ministry of Morale. Our relics were put to use in the military. Some of our brightest minds were taken by the Ministry of Arcane Sciences. We didn't guide the youth towards a greater Equestria, we guided them towards this.

"We will not fail Equestria again."

The EEA assistant, Fritz Cold.

Entry 4. 2 weeks after the end Loading...

We lost two ponies while digging up the lower floors. There was some unexpected resistance. The old wardings were active. Incinerated our guys instantly. Silverstone and Shimmers aren't getting through. Another mistake that cost us dearly.

Nova's still alive in that room, our spells are keeping the Cloud from leaking in for now. I'm visiting her every chance I get. We talk about how the world used to be, before the war. She seems to be fairly fine, though she gets angry from time to time.

The book I was given has also proven quite useful. It mentioned a few secret chambers on the lower levels, one of them was in our controlled perimeter. It's a library or an archive of sorts. So my "department" was moved there. A plus of working alone, it doesn't take long to move. I still have to move the terminal and some paperwork.

As of now, the Chancellor has tasked me with exploring the library for any useful knowledge, he thinks it could really benefit us. I have already sorted some of the books and scrolls that could be potentially useful. "Classification of Dark Arts" grabbed my attention immediately. Maybe there is something on this Cloud there.

There are lots of other books that may be interesting, but the diary of an ancient Chancellor is first on my list, the thing was just laying in the middle of the unlocked chamber. The diary may contain knowledge vital to the future of Equestria, and I must get that knowledge.

"We will not fail Equestria again."

The EEA assistant, Fritz Cold.

Entry 5. 2 weeks and 1 day after the end. Loading...

We are running short on food supplies. This building is massive and incredibly durable, but it wasn't meant to be a bunker. The Management debates sending a team higher into the building to scavenge, but they haven't decided yet. It could be the end for us.

Nova is still alive, but she's getting worse. She forgets things, things like her name, why she's locked, where she is. I think she's losing her mind in there.

All the things are finally moved into the new room. My new "office", is cluttered with scrolls, books and heaps of paper, I'm starting to think this was some kind of study. Most scrolls and books here aren't worth the time, "The Migrational Patterns of the Jackalope" or "The Dangerous Wildlife of Equestria" wouldn't be helpful right now.

The Chancellor's Journal dates hundreds of years back and I'm guessing that this room does too. The entire book is written in old Ponish and I'm not planning on translating the entire thing, so I'll just mark all the important information in these logs, sorry to any future scribe or clerk that'll have to dig through my records.

I've read the first few chapters of the diary, it belonged to Chancellor Night Twister. She just moved into these chambers and felt uneasy doing her work so deep underground, but she also states that her work must be done away from other ponies. No idea what "work" she is mentioning, hopefully, something we can use.

I've started on THAT book. The Classification of the Dark Arts. It's hard to put into words. The things described there are horrifying and there is nothing even similar to that Cloud there yet. That book also had a few references to some other tomes on the same matter, I've been searching for those books everywhere but there's no sign of them here. I hope I'm not going the same route that led Equestria to where it is today.

"We will not fail Equestria again."

The EEA assistant, Fritz Cold.

Entry 6. 2 weeks and 2 days after the end. Loading...

Yesterday I finished all the inventory management that had to be done, so for the next few days, I plan to be completely focused on the books. First I'll finish the Diary then the Dark Arts.

I've been reading Night Twister's diary today. I translated a couple of pages and there is already a thing that spiked my interest. She mentions a second door in this room and how she had to sit on the opposite side of the room from that door. I couldn't find that door or any mark of it. That is the only thing I managed to get out of that text today. Most other things in there are just some very complicated magic theory notes.

"We will not fail Equestria again."

The EEA assistant, Fritz Cold.

Entry 7. 2 weeks and 3 days after the end. Loading...

Night Twister describes herself as a unicorn with "extraordinary" abilities and finally sheds some light on her goal. She's something like a researcher doing some, well, research. She also mentions the same books that the "Classification of Dark Arts" mentioned. I couldn't translate anymore today, her words just didn't make any sense to me.

"We will not fail Equestria again."

The EEA assistant, Fritz Cold.

Entry 8. 2 weeks and 4 days after the end. Loading...

I couldn't help myself. I simply needed to know. Today I read more of these Dark Arts. The things on those pages. They are horrible. Yet I can't help but wonder if those things could help us survive. I think I'll bring this book up on my next meeting with The Management, if I get some people from the Research to look into it, maybe it can help.

"We will not fail Equestria again."

The EEA assistant, Fritz Cold.

Entry 9. 2 weeks and 5 days after the end. Loading...

The Chancellor rejected my idea. He told me to forget about this book and focus on something actually useful.

I tried to read the diary today, I really did, but I couldn't get myself to translate, something just didn't click. I want to follow The Chancellor's orders, but every other moment I find myself wandering to that darn book. Thinking of throwing it behind a bookshelf or somewhere where I wouldn't be able to read it.

"We will not fail Equestria again."

The EEA assistant, Fritz Cold.

Entry 10. 2 weeks and 6 days after the end. Loading...

I haven't slept since the last log. I've been reading the Dark Arts. I think I'm starting to understand why I was told to stop. It mentioned an easy spell that any pony with a horn can do. It's an easy "Cover" spell, but the book doesn't explain what it does. I'm debating if I should try it. One tinny spell can't really hurt anyone, plus my room is far away from where the others are staying, so if it hurts any pony it'll be just me.

"We will not fail Equestria again."

The EEA assistant, Fritz Cold.

Entry 11. 3 weeks after the end. Loading...

I did it. The spell itself was easy, almost natural. When I used it, all the bookshelves in the room disappeared like they were never there. The books were still in their places.

I could see the door Night Twister wrote about. Although I wouldn't call it a door, it's closer to a wall being taken apart by magic. Brick by brick the wall deconstructed itself. It was dark inside, unnaturally so. There was just one thing I could see in there. A black leather-bound book. It had an ill presence to it, like the book itself wasn't supposed to be. I tried to open it, but the second my magic touched the cover I was thrown back into the room with an immense force. I flew right into a wall at the opposite end of the room. I raised my head and couldn't look away from the book. It was mesmerizing. I fell asleep looking at it.

The nightmares were unbearable. After I woke up screaming, I wrote this log. I can't really go back to sleep, so I'm thinking of walking around the building for some time. Maybe I'll visit Nova. Yes, that sounds like a good idea.

"We will not fail Equestria again."

The EEA assistant, Fritz Cold.

Entry 12. 3 weeks after the end. Loading...

That was a mistake. I took the camera recording so that no one would be able to know what happened. I'll store it on this terminal as well, nopony checks these logs anyway.

SECURITY FOOTAGE EEA-5F66. Loading...
SECURITY FOOTAGE EEA-5F66 NOW PLAYING

The green screen flickered a couple of times before showing the recording. A window in a wall and a unicorn putting his hoof against it.

"Nova, are you in there?" the voice belonged to a stallion, he sounded scared.

"..."

"Nova? Can you hear me?" there was no reply. Slowly a pony appeared on the other side of the glass.

"Your eyes..." said the figure on the other side with a raspy dry voice, "Your eyes... Eyes, eyes, eyes," the pony started to repeat themselves over and over again, getting louder and more aggressive with each repetition, until finally, they started to beat on the glass screaming. The unicorn started to shift further from the glass.

"EYES!" she howled with each hit on the glass.

There was an audible crack. Something started to seep through it. The unicorn recoiled and ran off. The recording goes on for a few more seconds, but then abruptly cuts off.

END OF FOOTAGE EEA-5F66

Entry 13. 3 weeks and 2 days after the end. Loading...

I think I've recovered enough to do another log. Nova is gone. So is Mist, she died while they tried to put Nova down. I haven't slept since then. She was just fine the day before, but the moment she saw me something went wrong. Nopony knows that it all happened because of me, and we'll probably die before anyone decides to check my work, but I still feel like everybody secretly knows that I did it. It's killing me.

We've run out of food completely. Tomorrow we'll have to unseal ourselves and send somepony to get food. We've run out of other options.

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It's hard to believe that it's been almost a month. A month since Equestria died. To be completely honest, it's hard to comprehend that Equestria doesn't exist anymore, that everypony is dead. This country endured for a thousand years, it felt like this peaceful life would never end. And now that everything we ever knew has failed us, what are we meant to do?

The morning alarm sounded and knocked me out of my thoughts. It was time to wake up. But getting out of bed was the last thing that I wanted to do. I say bed when in reality it's just an old red sofa covered in even older books. The surrounding room wasn't much better, old books and scrolls everywhere and a desk with a terminal in the corner.

As much as I would've loved to sleep for a few more hours, it was time to get up. Today was important, today we were going to break the seal separating us from the floors above. I really hoped that we wouldn't just invite the Cloud back in. By the order of the Chancellor, everypony must be present there. Guess to keep the morale up or something like that.

I got up from my "bed" and slowly trotted out of the room, there wasn't really anything for me to do before going to the seal. The corridors of the EEA building were almost all the same, made of dark bricks, narrow and with pretty high ceilings. It's easy to get lost in these halls if you don't know where to go and which turns to take. Thankfully I knew these halls by heart at that point, though it still took me a couple of minutes to get to the place where we sealed ourselves off.

I entered the room pretty early, there weren't a lot of ponies there yet. Just a few folks from the Retrieval Team, nopony was talking. All of them stood opposite the magical insignia blocking the way to the upper floors. Before the End, this room was something like a cafeteria. There was no food left there, of course, this was the first place we looked at. Some food trays still littered the area. I backed against a wall like everypony else and started to wait.

It didn't take long for everyone to get there. The Chancellor and two of his advisors came in last.

"We had a rough few days and the days ahead are going to be tougher," started the Chancellor, " but as members of the Equestrian Education Association, it is our duty to survive. Today we send away our bravest and strongest to ensure our survival. We all hope for your safe return. And without any more useless ranting," he raised the badge, turned towards the magical lock that had kept us safe from the Cloud for almost a month.

Then the chains holding the barrier together started to snap one at a time. When the last one snapped the magic disappeared leaving an open entry. For a second everything fell silent. Then we heard it. Low rumbling, it grew louder, we heard a growl, suddenly we heard hooves. A lot of hooves getting closer to us. Before long we saw what was making that noise. Pink eyes in the dark, tens of them, then hundreds. Then it began.

A figure emerged from the shadows, then another and another and another. I lost count somewhere around the moment when the first thing leaped at the Chancellor and bit down on his neck. We all panicked. I ran out of the room with the crowd. I could hear screams coming from behind, not everypony managed to get out. We all ran our separate ways, everybody was trying to get to their rooms, maybe we thought that these monsters wouldn't hurt us there, maybe we just didn't have anywhere else to run. I was no different.

I don't even remember how I got to my room, it's all a flash. The second I was in my "office" I shut the door and moved the sofa to block it. I frantically searched the room for anything that could help. Terminal? No, even if it could somehow help, I didn't think I had enough time to figure out how exactly it could help. The scrolls? Most of them were blank, too old to read, or too convoluted to be useful. I heard something scratching at the door, time was running out, I had to do something. Then it suddenly came to me, the wall, I could hide in there. I cast the spell to open it, the shelves disappeared, the bricks in the wall flew out. I stepped into the dark and cast the spell again to close the wall. The bricks fell back in place and the bookshelves appeared. It was just me, the darkness and the book. Thinking back on it, locking myself in there might not have been that best decision.

It was quiet in there. I could barely hear the scratching. Then there was a bash and the door gave out, I could hear the things getting past the door and the sofa, could hear them starting to scratch on the bookshelf that I was behind. They knew where I was and I had no way out. For the third time in ten minutes, I began to panic. I didn't know what to do or where to go. It was the End all over again if only a bit smaller and with less pink clouds.

The book, the only other thing in the room, it was different now, somehow less scary. Maybe, compared to real danger some spell on an old book is just not that alarming. I thought to open it, no magic this time, after all, what else could I do. I picked it up, it was a heavy tome. Opening the cover I read the title, "Custos ex Somnia". I turned the first page. It was, unexpectedly, in modern Ponish, still, most of it was gibberish, but I could make out a few words. Then a few more, until the whole page started to make some sort of sense. It was something like a spell, a weird one.

You see, I was never the best spell caster or magic wielder out there, but I could cast spells. Quite a few actually. And most of the time I could understand what a spell was for. If you think about it like music, every spell is a composition and it's like you see your notes and you kind of hear them in your head. Well, this spell was off beat.

I didn't trust it, I should've just closed the book and died in that room, but I didn't. I tried to use the spell. There were a few sparks at the end of my horn, then a poof, then nothing. It felt like playing the lyre, but you strum the metal part. I tried again, calmly.

There were no sparks this time. This time it worked. Tendrils colored like Luna's mane crept from my horn. They dragged themselves down covering me. Then, all of them melted into a clear night sky. There was no ground, nothing but the sky and the stars. There was no fear of death there, no End, no Equestria. It was so peaceful. I closed my eyes.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading!
Comments are always welcome