Redemption

I could almost feel the gaze of the ponies on my back as I took my first steps towards a monument-like structure directly in front of us. Around it, the rows of crates and storage containers spread out in a radial formation, with aisles leading down towards different sections. If I was at the vertex of a 'v', the aisle would be spreading between the two prongs. But there was one thing off about it...

I turned back to the ponies, and I spoke out to them, especially Twilight and Lyra, the two I knew best. "Now, I will say this once only. Much of what is inside this building is not suitable for the eyes of a pacifist. In addition, many of these things are harmful, deadly, and could easily mean the end of peace as you know it if exposed to the public. I strongly advise telling the Princess about this now and not opening a crate unless it is specifically made for peace. We humans have a tendency to turn everything into a weapon..."

The ponies seemed to gulp down a knot of apprehensiveness as one. Lyra stepped forwards, and then turned to the ponies, and she began giving orders. It didn't matter to me, I was drawn to the monolith like a moth to a flame. As it was brought into view, I noticed it's size. It was a series of statues, each of a different person. I could see Thales, Pythagoras, Newton, Edison, Ford, Archimedes, Socrates, and a few others. Engraved on their pedestals were a set of quotes, presumably one from each. However, the man in the center intrigued me the most. It was our own William Shakespeare, and engraved upon his pedestal was a quote, a single quote: "Ignorance is the curse of God; knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to heaven."

I pondered for a moment about this, and then I began to make my way down the center aisle. I turned around for a moment and waved at the ponies, and I'm fairly certain that I was seen by Lyra and a few others, so I continued my walk down 'memory lane'. I passed crate after crate, the aisle only branching off at certain points, probably in a very organized format. As I reached about three-fourths of the way down the aisle, a hatch in the floor caught my eye. I might as well as check...

I quickly opened the hatch and descended another thirty feet, and then my boots hit the ground. Turning around from the ladder, I was greeted by the sight of a relatively small room, as compared to the warehouse, only about fifty feet in length and width. However, that wasn't what caught my eye.

In front of me, a series of huge plasma screens lay, each displaying a readout or picture. As I neared the display, I saw some video feeds of the ponies, some video feeds of other places, and some covered in static. Strangely enough, in the center, where a person would be, there was a sort of projector lens in the ground. I carefully stepped onto it and then over it, and it didn't seem to move or give way underneath me. I returned my attention back to the screens in front of me, and I began to observe them. After a moment, I stopped on a single screen. It had a display of the continents of the planet, but they weren't in the correct locations. Landmasses had broken apart and reformed, some had been subducted back into the mantle, and some had been formed from eruptions of d volcanoes all over the world. I subconsciously raised a hand, tracing the borders of the land, and as my finger touched the screen, the map began pinging. Red dots began to appear on the map, along with some green and some blue ones. They had small labels next to them, displaying what I could only perceive as serial numbers and status lights. My hands fell to a pocket in my armor, and I pulled out a rolled up plastic piece. Placing it down on the desk next to the display, I tapped a few keys on it. Moments later, the status lights of red and blue winked out.

I looked back at the display, now projecting what appeared to be beacons of some sort. My smile returned to my face, the last few remaining archives of my race still existent. But then, the display next to it caught my eyes. It was a list. A list of serial numbers, names, ID tags, and... statuses...

I moved myself over, alongside my wireless keypad, and stood in front of this display. Each item in the list had the serial number of a cryopod, followed by either a blank or the information of the thing inside of the cryopod. I quickly filtered the contents of the list, my admin status helping quite a bit, and I began to search for a set of people. I scrolled through names and ID's looking for any members not labelled 'deceased'. No luck. I would not give up. I set up another filter, this time on the units and their statuses. I found a single active agent... Me.

I shook my head and continued. There was no way on this god-forsaken, pony-colonized planet that I was the last, damn human alive...

Another filter went through the list. There were names. Names and numbers. Names and numbers and statuses, but not a single one showed 'active'. Not even a single one showed 'suspended' or 'inactive'. All of them were either 'deceased' or 'missing'. I slammed my fist on the desk. No. I couldn't be the only one left. I couldn't have left everyone behind. No...

I turned to the other displays, frustration building in my head. I glanced at the inventory display, searching for a moment for things of value, like ammunition, rations, or repair equipment. I got lucky, for once, as this building also contained a built-in storage for ammo and military equipment. Then, as I was leaving, a silent alert flashing on the corner of a display caught my eyes.

'Signal detected. Designation: Phoenix. Rank: Sergeant. Immediate aid requested.'

I laughed out loud at the signal, relief spreading through my body. Someone else had survived. I wasn't alone!

I took a glance at the location of the distress beacon, and I quickly marked its location on my AR. Taking up my armor's mic and syncing it with the frequency being broadcast, I spoke. "Override code Alpha-Sierra-Niner. This is designation: Virus, receiving distress. Help is on the way, hang tight." Without waiting for a reply, I left the console. I had work to be done.

I quickly made my way out of the communications hub, and then over to the armory of the warehouse. I could hear pony voices and hoofsteps, but I had work to do. I grabbed an Mk. 2 - Strun shotgun. the familiar texture of the magnetic coils laying against my lower back as the gun clamped magnetically onto my armor. I snagged a pair of smokescreens and a pair of flash-bangs, lowering them into pockets on my armor, and then I headed back towards the voices.

A worried Twilight met me as I returned to the statues, her face clearly agitated.

"Where have you been? You should tell us before you g-" I cut her off with a hand on her mouth.

"There was a distress beacon from a human somewhere on this continent, quite nearby. This is where it is." I projected the point and a map of our location on the ground, so the lavender unicorn could see. "It's underground, by the way." I added, making sure she could help me.

After a moment of staring at the map, her eyes lit up, and then darkened once more. "That's diamond dog territory. I've been to some of their dens, and they're not pleasant at all. You're going to have to fight your way in if you do, they don't take kindly to visitors, especially the more feral ones."

I nodded, and then motioned to the door. "Well, I'd better get going then."