/:Where do I begin…
/:I might as well start at the beginning…

/:War...War never changes. Equestria's efforts to stop the end of the world were not optimal, and pony kinds own selfishness and greed drove them to near extinction. I say /:near, because of all the terrible things that had become of pony kind, they still had a backup plan: The Stable.

/:But even the Stable is nothing compared to my facility. The Stables were generally buried around 400 - 700 meters underground. My facility is placed roughly 1200 meters below ground, and approximately 1000 meters tall by approximately 3000 meters long on either side. I have the most advanced technology available, seeing as I have an entire Research and Development floor, and a fabrication facility.

/:Oh, where are my manners? I forgot to introduce myself. I am Warden, the Artificial Intelligence of the Nightmare Facility.

/:It seems one of our Units has woken up. Time to introduce them to their new life.

'What IS that hissing noise? Did somepony forget to turn off the shower again…? Oh, fuck it, five more minutes wouldn't hur-'

:Good Morning, Designation Balefire:

My eyes popped open to see who, or what, had just woke me up. Surprisingly, I wasn't greeted with my wonderfully dull gray bunk, but a wonderfully dull gray shell wall, and a frosted glass case sliding down above me. I rolled over and pulled myself out of my coffin, only to see hundreds more around me.
"What the hell...Where am I?" I said to myself. Or so I thought.

:It's good to see you thawed properly, Designation Balefire. As to where you are, you are currently inside Sub-Level 476: Designated Cryotube Storage:

Of course! Now I remember. We were all assigned a cryotube, and we had been ordered to enter them….what? Ten years ago? A thousand years ago?
"How long have we been sealed? And on another note, just who the hell are you?"

:You have been sealed for approximately 237 years, 8 months, and 26 days. Today is a Friday. As to who I am, I am Warden, the Artificial Intelligence of this facility:

237 years, huh? Well...that definitely screws up my plans. "I thought the sealing procedure was supposed to last until it was habitable on the surface." From what I remembered of the debrief, habitability wouldn't be for another hundred years or so.

:You are correct, Designation Balefire. The surface is still not pure, but it is hospitable for life, as evident by the Diamond Dogs on Bionics Floor 2:

"Wait, you're telling me that DIAMOND DOGS are on Bionics Floor 2!? First, how did they get in, and second why aren't they DEAD!?" Letting unauthorized personnel into the facility is punishable by death and erasement. If anyone broke in, they were to be killed on sight, or so I thought.

:The Diamond Dogs simply dug in to Bionics Floor 1 on accident, and I made a deal with them. They seem to understand the use and implantation of bionics, so I gave them access to that equipment in exchange for not destroying any equipment or personnel. Chief Violet agreed to my terms:

Huh. I didn't think Diamond Dogs were that reasonable or smart enough to know what bionics were, let alone USE them. "So...how many are on Bionics Floor 2?"

:What is the purpose of this information to you, Designation Balefire? Do you believe that you have better judgment than I do when it comes to MY facility?:

IT's facility? The facility is owned by the Ministry of Magic, and therefore it's the Ministry Mares facility. Oh, yeah, that's right. The Ministry Mares died over 200 years ago, so I guess it is it's facility.
"No, I simply thought that protocol was important, thats all." I began to walk around some of the other cryotubes, seeing blank screens that were long dead. "What happened to all these cryotubes? Why are they offline!? What happened, Warden!?"

:My upload caused an unforeseen power fluctuation, and caused several cryotubes to shut down. Do not be concerned. They were non-essential personnel, and were expendable:

"EXPENDABLE!? These were my FRIENDS! Don't you DARE say that they were expendable!" I felt like my insides were on fire I was so angry. How could this..this MACHINE know if a pony was expendable or not!? I should- And now I WAS on fire. My body gave off a bright, sickly green glow as I stood there.
And then I wasn't there at all. I didn't know what happened, but when I came to, I was on the floor, the cryotubes around me melted slightly. I felt like I had just gotten up from 200 years of straight sleep, and I felt sore. Not just workout sore, but like every muscle in my body had been torn apart. I couldn't even move my mouth, let alone my head, legs, or wings. Hell, even my mane felt sore.
I laid there on the warm floor for what felt like eternity when I realized Warden hadn't said anything.
"W-Warden?" I whimpered, forcing myself to stand up. "What just...happened?"

:You experienced an adrenaline burst, and that caused your internal defense mechanism to activate:

Internal defense mechanism? "W-what do you...mean by 'internal defense mechanism?'"

:Put simply, you disintegrated. Did you forget what you are? You are Phoenix Breed #419. Phoenix Breed are used as eternal warriors, given the ability to disintegrate and rise from the ashes. Now do you remember?:

Phoenix breed? What the hell was Warden talking about? I was just a simple Pegasis, not some...some..Chimera? Is that the right word? Feels right. "I'm just a normal Pegasis, Warden. I volunteered to defend this facility, not to be someponies science experiment." That's right, right?
That's when the big screen Warden had been talking through started to play a video. Not just any video, but a video of me. I was signing some kind of paper, then a rather pretty unicorn mare escorted me to a room. I even saw myself take a look at her flank as she lead me. Goddesses, I was terrible.
She slid an ID card into the reader by the door, and it slid open. The camera switched into the room, where I stepped into some kind of chamber. It looked like a cryotube, but with several tubes, vents, and containers with various liquids around it. The mare strapped me in, and put several needles into my forelegs. I hated needles, and could see myself flinch and look away. She then stepped away and pressed several buttons on a terminal, and the glass lid of the chamber slid into place, sealing me inside. After a few moments, she left the room through a side door which I assume lead into an observation area. Then the screen went black. Had Warden decided that was enough? Apparently not, because then a deep purple glow filled the room. It was beautiful, but it made me feel uneasy for some reason. The chamber I was in started to fill with that odd purple glow, and I could see myself twitch and buck in it. After a few seconds the glow faded, and I burst into flames. If the video had sound, I'm sure I would hear my screams as I burned. The flames started to die, and all that was left were ashes in the chamber. That's when the video ended, the screen going blank.
What the FUCK did I just watch!? That couldn't really be me, right? Right!? "Warden, what….what exactly was that video? Why the fuck would ANYPONY volunteer for something like that!? And what was that glow? It was…"

:Beautiful yet disturbing? That's the common feeling for those who see distilled Chaos. As to what that video file was, I thought it was obvious; It was your procedure. And would you have passed up the opportunity to live forever? Or to become a near-unstoppable soldier?:

"No, I suppose I wouldn't…" I looked around at the cryotubes around me. "Were they all like me? Were they all Phoenix Breed, or something else?" As I looked around, I noticed one cryotube that was still active. My eyes opened wide as I started to make my way over to it, bumping into several tubes on the way.

:No, they were not. This facility created several Chimera Breeds, Phoenix being the most common:

I looked at the data screen of the cryotube to see who, or what, was inside.

/:Status: Nominal...
/:Subject Designation: SHIFT...
/:Open: Y/N...

/:Y...
/:Opening...