A False World
By Distrance
(*Authors Note: This is my first fan-fiction, therefore it is prone to errors/inconsistences/pony terminology. If you spot any errors, feel free to let me know*)
Chapter 1
All was quiet in the early mornings in Ponyville. Animals and ponies alike still nestled within their homes, silently sleeping. Within the veil of silence, an unknown force bares its way, bringing with it an unlikely victim…
Briiiiiiiing the clock whirred as a disheveled Twilight slowly awoke, slamming her hoof to shut it off. “Morning already?” she lazily exclaimed, pulling herself from her comfortable sheets. Spike, also awakened, stretched and then resumed his slumber. Twilight, agitated, nudged the green dragon from wading back to sleep.
“No sleeping in today Spike, we have plans with the girls this afternoon.” Spike forced an eye open and complained, “I know YOU do, but why do I have to go?” Twilight made her way to her bedroom mirror and began brushing her mane back to its usual style. “Because Spike, I need you to keep everything organized while we’re out and about.” Spike grunted in frustration, sitting up from his bed.
He exclaimed, “Fine, just don’t make me go on your girly shopping sprees.” Twilight giggled and looked back towards Spike. “Deal…” she replied, walking down the stairs to the main living room. Spike followed behind and made his way into the kitchen. “The usual?” echoed from the kitchen to Twilight, as Spike rustled in the pantry for ingredients. “You bet.”
***
“Up, up… keep going up… don’t look down, DON’T LOOK DOWN.”
High above the land below, an earth pony traces himself along a narrow passage. Above him lay salvation, but below him a decaying world.
The stallion began panting. “Only a little bit further, keep cool… it’s only a...” he gulped, “…thousand or so foot drop…” Every step felt uneasy, as if the rocks were to give way at any moment. Inching further and further, the top of the chasm was in view.
“A few more steps…” he told himself. With a final heave he threw himself to the end of the path. Behind him the ground crumbled and crashed into the edges of the chasm, hitting the ground with a thud.
He breathed a sigh of relief, and looked forward. The stallion only stood and stared at the view in front of him. A beautiful view of….. dirt… and sand. He slumped down to the ground. “No…. no… NO, NO NO NO!” he shouted in frustration. “My LAST hope to get out of this hell and there is NOTHING! NOTHING HERE!” he slung the pack from his back to the ground. To his surprise, it hit the ground with a metallic THUNK! He looked back towards the pack in confusion. He carefully walked over to where it lay disheveled on the ground. He hoofed at the ground. What caught his eye was a glimmer of light.
“An old building maybe? Made of metal? No… maybe glass?” he pondered, continuing to hoof at the mystery below him. After minutes of work, he stood back and scoffed. A large metallic floor was hidden amongst the sand and dirt, and the stallion eyed a separation in the ground. Reaching down, he picked at the edges with his hooves, nothing. He continued to rub the ground free of dirt, revealing a rusted lock attached to a part of the floor.
“This… is a trapdoor.” He told himself. He quickly rummaged through his bag and pulled a hammer out from it. Turning to the pointed end, he hacked at the rusty lock, to which it quickly broke in two and kicked to the side.
Unable to contain his excitement, he let out a wide grin and held his breath. He opened the trap door, to which a puff of dust blew into his face.
Pff! cough! hack!
He wiped the dust from his face and looked below. He could see an eerie green glow below. To the side he noticed a ladder, and carefully and quietly he grabbed his pack and made his way down.
***
“So Twi what kind of super-duper amazing things were we going to day today huh?” Pinkie Pie said bouncing ecstatically. Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash walked in unison towards Carousel Boutique to pick up Rarity for the fun Twilight had planned for today. Twilight showed agitation towards the question. “Pinkie Pie I thought I already told you, we’re going to attend Ponyville’s annual Salespony Extravaganza.”
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at the response. She replied unenthusiastically, “Couldn’t we do something more…. Awesome?” Twilight shot Rainbow Dash and look and continued down the road. Her mind drifted off into thought. I wonder if there will be some exotic book collectors at the festival? Twilight became giddy at the thought of new reading material for her library.
Pinkie Pie bounded ahead of the group. "But Dashie it IS going to be awesome, I bet there's going to be lots of neat-o stuff like candies and oooh" Pinkie gasped at the realization. "Maybe there will confetti ooh and balloons oh oh andgamesandsweetsohmygoshishouldbringmypartycan-" Pinkie's mouth was abruptly brought with a hoof from Rainbow Dash.
"Oh, I just hope I can find something nice to bring back home for Angel..." said Fluttershy, sidestepping Pinkie's bouncing. "I'm sure it's going to be a blast." said Twilight, making a swinging motion with her hoof. After a few side conversations and a walk down Ponyville's side streets, they approached Carousel Boutique. Twilight made her way to the door and knocked lightly. "Raaaarity, it's Twilight and the girls, are you ready?" she called out. Nopony answered the door, and there was no response.
"Think she went to join Applejack in that Sales-whatchya-ma-call-it?" asked Rainbow Dash. "No, I don't think so, Rarity said she would rather be out here with us to shop. I'm sure she would have told us." Twilight rubbed her forehead. "...Right?" she tried to ensure.
Twilight approached the door once again and creaked it open, putting one hoof inside. "Rarity? Are you in here?" Still no response. Oh I hope Rarity won't mind us sneaking in. Twilight told herself.
Twilight motioned for the others to follow in behind her. Walking into the main 'lobby' of the shop, her ears perked up at a faint noise. It was coming from upstairs. It was.... sobbing? "ohmygosh!" said Twilight, "Rarity, are you okay up there?" Still no response, but the faint sobbing seized. Twilight and the girls inched their way to Rarity's bedroom, and opened the door. Inside, Rarity sat upon her bed, her eyes were red and puffy, and tears stained her normally pure-white coat. Rarity cringed upon seeing her friends enter. "Oh my, Twilight darling. I-I'm so sorry you have see me like this." Rarity said, rubbing her eyes. "...I must look d-dreadful. I just couldn't show up looking so... distraught." She explained.
Her friends worries were shown upon their faces. "Rarity, what's wrong? What happened?" questioned Twilight. Rarity looked down towards the box of tissues and the mess strewn on the bed. "A letter came today.... I got... t-terrible news." Rarity hesitated to continue. Fluttershy approached Rarity and nudged at her side. "Oh Rarity, we're your friends, you can tell us anything." The usual ecstatic Pinkie Pie carried a warm, but also worried smile on her face. "Talking makes everypony feel better, I know it makes me!" she exclaimed. Rarity took in a deep breath and continued. "My mother.... she passed mysteriously away in Manehatten... just a couple hours ago."
***
The soot-covered stallion couldn't help but leave his mouth agape at what was ahead. After climbing down the long and slightly rusted ladder, he approached the faint green glow. Beyond him, was hundreds, no... THOUSANDS of strange looking, metallic pods, stretched as far down the corridors as he could see. Besides the few stains of rust and dust piled around everything, the place was practically in perfect condition, which only baffled him.
How could anything like THIS survive The Great Cataclysm? he thought to himself. A quick scan of his surroundings and a elevator and stairs were in view to his right. He descended down the stairs to become closer to the unknown objects that populated it's base. halfway down the steps, he noticed a rather large sign draped across the wall ahead of him. He stopped to observe it. It was a directional map, which said:
__________________________________________
Floor 3: Thermal Reactors and Emergency Escape
Floor 2: Offices and Living Stations
Floor 1: Experimentation and Hibernation Chambers
__________________________________________
"Experimentation and Hibernation Chambers." he read to himself once more. "Just what was this place anyways?" he thought. This was a place of science no doubt. After the Magi Wars a near 100 years ago, magic was at a decline due to it's negative use and views towards it. Earth ponies started to get creative, they started to build amazing new machines... new weapons... and soon surpassed both the Unicorns and Pegasus's natural abilities. No doubt some sort of secret Equestrian facilities were built somewhere along the line. He shook his head, he never liked reading so much about that damned war.
he sighed in exhaustion and rubbed the dirt from his mane, when it suddenly occurred to him. "THERE'S AIR CONDITIONING?"
At this point he would call himself the luckiest stallion in Equestria. Something like air conditioning vanished along with the rest of civilization after past events. "Someone here obviously wanted to preserve this place, but what for?" He continued to ponder. He dismissed his thoughts for the moment and continued down the stairs, finally approaching Floor 1. Pushing open the doors the the floor, he viewed his now present surroundings. It was a security checkpoint.
"No telling if these work or not." he questioned to himself, as he slipped around the metal detectors. Walking down a rather long hallway, he came to a fork in the path, a sign neatly displayed, pointing towards Experimental or Hibernation Chambers. "Either path should explain something going on here," he concluded. Taking a right into "Hibernation Chambers," he made his way into a circular room with at least 20 branching hallways to it. Each hallway was categorized neatly. He traced his eyes through the different categories: Profession, High Threat, Governmental, Staff.
"Staff... that would work, maybe some documents or scriptures I can use." he exclaimed, proceeding down the hall. At last he got a good look at what he saw during his first encounter. The metallic, oval pods sat in the edges of the room. There were at least 20 of them, to what he could count. Before he could approach one more closely, something else caught his eye.
There was a desk near the pods. On that desk was a TV, left on and stuck in static. The stallion cautiously walked towards the TV. He accidentally kicked something on the ground, to which he looked down to observe what it was. It was a simple black tape, on it, it read: "HIGH PRIORITY: WATCH IMMEDIATELY" He looked to his sides in paranoia. He took the tape and pushed it into the player connected to the TV. A picture appeared on the screen:
The surroundings appeared to be in the same room he was standing in. After a short moment, the camera shook and focused onto a short, brown coated stallion with an unkempt, short mane. He was wearing a lab coat that covered his flank, which made it Impossible to see his cutie mark.
The stallion cleared his throat, and began to speak. "To whomever this may concern, my name is Doctor Whooves, my first name is not important. Me and a small team of scientists have managed to keep this facility is as best of condition as we can, but it means nothing now.... Solar Corporation has ordered the dismantling of this place. This, this is something me and my fellow ponies cannot comply to. I tried to explain to them, decommissioning this project could have devastating effects on the residents here. Some would die of lack of their normal nutrients, or simply fall into a depression."
he shuffled in his seat. "Unknowing to them, we have received a shipment of F35 Destabilizers.We- we're going to sink this whole facility under the sands. We've had a few employees 'opt' out, to which we let them peacefully leave, impossible to alert Solar Corporation in time. Me and the few who remain are going into hibernation. If your watching this, you'll find me in the pods located near here. I fear the worst for this world, and that's why I'm going into the next..."
He paused the tape and stared in momentary shock. What does this all mean? Going into the next world? Residents? I have to find out. resuming the playing of the tape, the doctor continued.
"These, are the hibernation pods." he motioned his hoof towards the oval contraptions. "They induce a deep, and... hallucinogenic sleep." He cleared his throat and continued."A fascinating device really. Developed by the most brilliant minds in the world, well.... the remaining world."
Doctor Whooves made his way to the back next to the first pod in the line. "This, hallucinogen is like... an alternate reality. Everypony in these pods are connected through mind, yet their bodies remain here, within these fiberglass containers." The doctor tapped against the side of the pod with his hoof, then continued. "We have attempted extraction of a patient of these pods before. All the kinks have yet to be fixed, if ever..."
The doctor moved back to his original seat in front of the camera. "...The patient had no recollection of this world, only the 'other' one. Memory loss was apparent. Not only this, but we had to undergo emergency care in order to... rejuvenate the patients body." the doctor dragged his hoof through his mane. "The patient sadly passed away shortly after. Their bodies natural adjustment to the nutrient tubes rejected our own solvent." He sighed in exhaustion. "I'm only glad that.... that they died with a peace of mind."
Doctor Whooves looked back towards the pod and then back into the camera. "So that's it then. I'm going in... Soon, I'll be in a peaceful land... no war, no starvation... and no damn sand."
He continued, "But with that I take my mind... I suspect in a period of a month all past memories will cease, and I will continue life in a state of... unknown denial." His head drooped at the thought. "So... Goodbye my friend...." Doctor Whooves reached to switch off the recording then stopped. "oh... and if do happen to be the first to receive this tape, we've left something... just for you." he showed a faint smile. "3rd row, 4th pod." he exclaimed, taking a moment to salute, then finally shutting it off.
with those words, the TV resumed to it's normal static.
He only sat there.... dumbstruck. This.... doctor, threw so much to my mind to consider. It was almost impossible to wrap his mind around a world away from this, away from this... hell. he thought to himself quietly. He stood up from where he sat, his legs wobbled momentarily. Slowly, he approached the pods left in the corner of the room. "If he is telling the truth, then the doctor... and the other scientists are in there..." He immediately thought of the doctor's last words.
"we've left something... just for you." "3rd row, 4th pod."
He scanned his eyes around the collection of pods. "row 3..... pod 4..." he said aloud. Walking through the aisles, he stopped. Who were some of these mysterious ponies who had assisted the doctor? He looked to his side. A pod sat next to him, the faint sound of pumping tubes could be heard. He wiped his hoof across the viewing portion of the pod...
He looked at the pony before him, sleeping in peaceful silence, as if untouched by time itself.
It was a mare, and a unicorn at that. She was a light violet color, with a neatly combed, moderately long mane. A single dash of pink and purple streaked across it. He traced his eyes along her body and gazed upon her flank, her cutie mark. It was a large, pink star, accompanied by 4 or 5 little white stars.
he crouched and stared intently at the mare's closed eyes.
"Twilight Sparkle." he breathed...
Chapter 2
By Distrance
“Oh I think it’s just awful what Rarity is going through.” Fluttershy exclaimed to the group of friends, trotting away from Carousel Boutique. “I know!” Pinkie Pie replied, “Maybe… maybe we can cheer Rarity up with a party!” Twilight held her hoof up to object, but Pinkie Pie continued. “…with only her close friends to lighten her up.” She smiled. “You know…” Twilight said. “That’s not too bad of an idea, Pinkie. It would help keep Rarity’s mind off of these things.” She pronounced. “I just hope she is going to be fine today without us there to keep here company.” Twilight worried. Rainbow Dash, who was hovering slightly above the group, interjected. “I’m sure she’ll be fine. Rarity is tougher than she looks, I’m sure she just needs time to vent.”
“You’re probably right, Rainbow.” She said in agreement. “But at least now we can focus on the big Salespony Extravaganz-whaaa?” she trailed off, looking ahead towards the Ponyville marketplace. Everypony had left, leaving only the salesponies and themselves, unhitching their tents and gathering their unsold goods back into carts. “Oh no, no, no! We spent so much time at Rarity’s we missed the whole thing!” She yelled.
“Well howdy there girls, how come ah didn’t see ya’ll ‘round here today?” a familiar voice asked behind them. “Oh, Applejack it’s you.” Twilight said as they looked behind them to identify the voice. “Applejack something super-terrible happened to Rarity today, so we had to stay there to help cheer her up!” Pinkie Pie told her. She began in a change of subject, “were there games and candies at the Extravaganza like I thou-” Pinkie was cut short by a confused Applejack. “Wait, Rarity was in trouble, what in tarnation happened?” she worriedly questioned. “It’s just terrible. Rarity’s mother passed away last night in Manehattan.” Fluttershy informed her. Applejack held her hoof over her mouth. “None of ya’ll bother to tell me? Heck, ah would of packed up right then and there if ah had known.” She exclaimed.
“We’re sorry Applejack it’s just tha- that…” Twilight’s words were cut short by a sudden sickness that erupted within the entirety of her body. Her head began to spin and she felt woozy. “You okay sugarcube?” Applejack asked curiously, as her voice began to become distorted. Twilight couldn’t respond as her vision began to dim, and with the buckling of her hooves, she blacked out.
Twilight could see something… in the darkness, through her eyelids, a faint picture. There was a stallion leaning over her, as he fiddled with something below her vision, a determined look upon his face. He was caked with dirt and grime as he talked to himself. Before her mind could conduct a theory about the strange pony, the picture had faded out, and for a short period there was nothing.
***
The stallion pondered for a moment as he gazed intently upon the mare resting before him. “Twilight Sparkle…” he repeated. He remembered who she was, at least, from what he had heard. A big-shot unicorn, served under Princess Celestia herself back in the day. ‘Leader’ of the Elements of Harmony, some super mystical power that he had heard, was even more potent than both princesses combined. But… he thought. That’s all behind us now. The princesses are missing or dead, the Elements, destroyed, and the ‘legendary’ mane 6 scattered… He drifted his eyes towards the empty pod, just inches from Twilight's. This whole world has gone to shit.
He approached the pod and swept his hoof across the viewing glass. I could have all of this disappear… I would be happy again. He argued with himself. But how can I just forget the past, my life, my REAL life. He closed his eyes and stood in silence. The only sounds heard being the pumping of the still fully active machines. No. he thought, opening his eyes, stepping back from the empty pod in revelation. Twilight has saved the world TWICE, by Celestia she is going to do it again!
With no more of a thought, the stallion hurried back to Twilight’s pod, and began unlatching the sides of the glass. He retracted the lid from its original position, and motioned his hooves towards the IV’s in her arms, unplugging one of the few located on her body. WAIT! He called to himself. Twilight’s body began to fidget and the heart sensor installed into the frame of the pod began to beep erratically. The stallion rushed to correct the problem before had serious injured her. A past reminder from a certain pony returned to his thoughts:
“Their bodies’ natural adjustment to the nutrient tubes rejected our own solvent.”
“Bah, you idiot.” He scolded himself, quickly attempting to replace the removed IV back in. Successful, Twilight’s body began to calm itself and return back to its somber position, and the monitor beeped a normal tempo. He sighed and sat back, regaining his composure. He began to brainstorm once more, there has to be another way… He pondered. His eyes began to grow in size as he brought up a new idea. He twisted his head back to stare at the unoccupied hibernation pod he had recently thought of delving himself into. If I can’t bring her out from the outside, I’ll bring her out from the INSIDE!
He put his hoof to his cheek. How do I even work these things? He asked. He motioned towards the table and the TV which he had recently discovered. He opened the compartment on the sides of the desks, mostly empty. The last compartment however, held a large, binder, in which appeared to be packed to the brim in papers. He pulled it from the drawer; he blew on the front of it which sent dust flying off of its cover. There was no label; only the faint signature of what he could make out was one of the scientists.
Opening the binder and placing it upon the desk, he noticed a wide assortment of different papers. There were Lab results, personal messages, and other incomprehensible documents that he ripped from the binder without a second notice. After a moment of aimlessly spreading papers out among the desk, he pulled a thick, bonded notebook from the folds of it. It read:
Introductory Manual: Hibernation and You
The stallion shook his head and smiled, this was just what he had been looking for. He flipped open the notebook, and scrolled his hoof down the table of contents. “No, no, no, AHAH!” he exclaimed. “How to and History: Z45-2x Hibernation Unit” he read aloud. He flipped to the appropriate page, and read:
History:
The Z45-2x Hibernation Unit is a revolutionary device formed by the scientific team of LunTec Co. Lead by Dr. Heartfield, an expert on the effects of psychoactive soporifics, put his team to the test in order to create generated hallucinogens in which the brain could be tricked into belief. After the initial chaos of The Great Cataclysm, the recently formed Solar Corporation pushed millions of bits to fund Dr. Heartfield’s works, and only 4 months into the project they had completed their first prototype, the Z08-1x Hibernation Unit. Initial tests proved positive, brain scans showed a calm demeanor to the regularly apocalypse-distraught patients. However, there were noticeable side effects: Memory loss, anxiety, nutrient rejection, and in rare cases schizophrenia.
Because of this, the Z08-1x Hibernation Unit was deemed too dangerous by Dr. Heartfield himself, who attempted to claim a different approach to Solar Corporation’s brash demands. However, Solar Corporations involvement and funding set Dr. Heartfield’s team to complete a 2nd line of mass-produced Hibernation Units. Dr. Heartfield responded by abandoning his research and opting out of the project. Solar Corporations perseverance, however, pushed them to complete the new line of Hibernation pods, dubbed the “Z45-2x Hibernation Unit.” The kinks of the Z08-1x, while improved, was still less than satisfactory, showing similar results to its predecessor. Nonetheless, the units were pressed for release, and are currently available today, albeit dangerous as before.
He sighed and thought of this seemingly dangerous foe: Solar Corporation. Who were they exactly? He had never heard of them, at least not from any other pony he had met in the wasteland. What kind of business sells defunct machines to the populace? He rolled his eyes. Nevermind.
He scrolled his eyes down the page until he ran across the How to section.
How to:
Setup:
If you’re reading this section, you are currently in possession of a Z45-2x Hibernation Unit. For installation, please refer to page 109, otherwise, you are currently seeking in activating your Unit. While best done in accompany of another, this Unit can still be activated solo. Use is simple: turn the machine on using the switches located on the back of the machine. Set the wave focus of the machine to your liking; refer to page 115 for wave focus prep. Standard Z45-2x Hibernation Units is pre-programmed to the buyers order, wave focus preparation for advanced users only. Make sure nutrient tubing is unharmed, place medicinal ingredient supply in the supply case of the unit. Make sure supply is in securely.
Use:
To put your unit in use, place the subject/yourself within the bedding portion of the unit, set subject in an appropriate and comfortable position. Close the glass lid down and secure its safety lock. Lock can be easily undone within the unit after consciousness is regained. Install IVs in the main vein sections of the body; refer to page 56 for main vein locations. Then, activate the machine to the users consent. A trigger device is located inside the unit, located near the front legs on the side of the machine, labeled “Start-up.” Consciousness is lost within a period of 2-5 minutes.
Extraction:
To exit the machine after use, the user himself must have remembrance of the Hibernation Unit’s ID, to which his subconscious must repeat to itself. This process reawakens brainwaves or ‘snaps’ the subject out of hypnosis. Refer to the back of your unit for Hibernation ID.
He finished reading, and slowly closed the manual, placing it back within the binder. I don’t really have a choice he thought. There’s nowhere else to go but forward from here on. He hastily placed all the scattered papers back into the binder, shut it, and placed it back in its original location in the empty drawer. He got up and walked towards Twilight’s pod. He lowered himself down and searched for the ID number. A silver coating of steel and an engravement on the pod bared the system’s ID.
Solar Alpha 146J he read. At least they kept it simple he reassured himself. He stepped back up and approached his own pod. Solar Alpha 371B he etched into his mind. He took a minute of silence to remember everything up until this moment. I’m ready... he told himself.
All too slowly, he rechecked all the unit's setup. It was in place, already set, just for him... He lifted himself up from the ground and slid into the open pod. It was surprisingly comfy, the padding he laid on was more comfortable then the rags he’d sleep on out in the dust storms above. He closed the lid with his one hoof and searched around him for the IV needles. Let’s see… he thought, remembering old teachings of pony anatomy. Nodding to himself, he injected himself, one by one. He sighed, needles weren’t his favorite thing, but he withstood placing them. “Moment of truth,” he whispered to himself, It was time. He let in a large gust of breath, and began. With his left hoof, he pressed the button to start the machine. Instantly he felt a warm, tingly sensation overcome him. A certain comfort that rolled among him, his eyes felt weak and tired. He struggled for a moment to stay awake.
Twilight Sparkle, here I come. He announced faintly to himself, before finally closing his eyes.
