//------------------------------// // Chapter22: Well we are in a sewer you know... // Story: The Missionary // by Radon18 //------------------------------// Chapter 22 (Reminder that I own nothing!) ‘Thought’ “Dialogue” “Words in a foreign language.” “Quoting in thought” *** The small convoy of wagons slowly wormed its way through the snow and frozen brush along the meandering path that connected the Everfree City to the closest trail. Fleetfoot followed along, flitting around the five wagons like a particularly vigilant hummingbird. She had been tasked with escorting the shipment of supplies from Ponyville to the science team and garrison that now resided in the mysterious city. The assignment was a slow paced grind where little happened beyond the occasional timberwolf attack, but she honestly didn't mind. The slow pace and rare trouble gave her a chance to unwind, something she was especially grateful for after the past few days. The light blue mare smiled as the 'gates' of the city came into view. The primitive wall had been torn down and replaced with a tall earthwork wall that had been petrified into a semi-smooth wall of stone. From what she could see, the wall stretched most of the way around the mismatched disk of earth the city sat on. Oddly enough, the unicorn engineers had apparently fallen in love with the coils of bladed wire that had once adorned patches of the scrap-wall and now stretched as far as she could see in either direction.   "Hold for inspection," came a bored sounding voice from one of the gold plated Day Guards that were standing guard over the new entrance.   Fleetfoot glided to the ground in front of the guards, saluted and held out a scroll that had her orders written in it. The guard took the scroll and glanced over it briefly before hoofing it back. Afterward, the pair of Day Guards went from wagon to wagon and checked over the supplies, making sure that no stowaways could sneak into the veritable fortress that the Everfree City had become.   After the guards had checked everypony with the anti-changeling needles (including themselves, by order of Princess Celestia), the convoy quickly headed into the city proper. This was always Fleetfoot's least favorite part of any trip into the Everfree City: looking at the empty and slowly decaying houses that lined every street. It was like looking at a sick parody of one of the larger Equestrian settlements that were generally full of life at nearly any hour.   Fleetfoot grimaced and forced her eyes off of the depressing sights and focused on the perfectly smooth black ribbon that made up the street that the wagons followed. After only a few minutes, the convoy stopped in front of the prison-turned-castle that most of the City's current residents occupied. As she glided down to one of the wagons to help them unload, she couldn't help but notice quite a large collection of wagons being loaded with many non-descript crates and supplies for at least a two day journey. She couldn't help but find it a bit strange the much larger convoy was preparing to move out so late in the day; if they left right this moment they wouldn't even hit Ponyville before nightfall.   With a shake of her head, Fleetfoot cleared her mind of the odd decisions made by those above her pay grade. With a snort and small grunt of effort, she picked up a sack of hay in her teeth before tossing it onto a quickly growing pile.   "Excuse me? You there, regular?" Fleetfoot heard a voice waft up from the ground. It took her a moment to realize that somepony was actually trying to get her attention when the mare's voice repeated her inquiry politely. Fleetfoot wasn't exactly used to ponies not knowing who she was. She looked over the side of the wagon and was greeted with a forest green unicorn mare. Fleetfoot raised an eyebrow questioningly and the mare smiled at having finally gained her attention.   "Umm, hi there. One of the other soldiers said the mail was in this wagon?" the green mare asked, a hopeful lilt to her voice. Fleetfoot looked behind her and spotted the lone sack sporting the Equestrian Royal Mail Service emblem. Snatching it up in her teeth, Fleetfoot tossed it over the side nearly hitting the poor green unicorn on accident.   Fleetfoot needn't have worried as the unicorn caught the heavy sack with ease in an aura of magic, thanked her and trotted off into the makeshift headquarters. Fleetfoot waved to the departing mare before going back to unloading the rest of the hay. After about half of the sacks had been unloaded, she heard yet another voice, this one was gruff and very much a stallion's.   "Ahem, pardon me, Fleetfoot, is it?" Fleetfoot looked over the side of the wagon again and was greeted by the Quartermaster of the Everfree City garrison. The older stallion's name was Mill Stone and he had served in the Royal Guard for decades. He was a dark golden color much like freshly harvested wheat and his age was only just beginning to show through a few grey patches here and there.   "If you'll hoof over your orders, I would like to go ahead and sign them," the aging stallion said. Fleetfoot nodded and tossed the scroll that held her orders to him, which he caught deftly and quickly unrolled. To Fleetfoot's surprise, the Quartermaster pulled out one of the human writing utensils and quickly scribbled his name down on the scroll before tossing it back to her.   "You wouldn't happen to be heading back to Ponyville tonight, would you?" Mill Stone asked as Fleetfoot tucked the scroll away. Fleetfoot just shrugged, she could make it back to Ponyville before sundown easily, she was the fastest of the Wonderbolts after all, but she was curious as to what the aging stallion wanted.   "Well, you see, with so many guards heading out with our convoy there," Mill Stone gestured to the line of wagons who were nearly fully loaded, "We're going to be a little short hoofed tomorrow..."   ***   Professor Crystal Beaker sat quietly at her commandeered desk in what once was some sort of office building. She was on the top floor of the massive glass tower that stretched high into the frigid sky, its many interior lights casting a warm glow over the city through its glass exterior, so different from the brick and mortar buildings of Manehattan.   Crystal Beaker had moved most of the important research into the building only a day ago. The reason? Simply comfort, as the plush offices were by far preferable to the cold interior of the prison-fortress. In front of her were stacks and stacks of reports, both military and scientific. Crystal Beaker may not have led the military aspect of the mission, but after she had persuaded the Royal Guard CO, he had kept her well informed of what his Guards were getting up to.   Outside, at this very moment, was the wagon train full of platinum, research reports and particularly interesting cultural artefacts. Nearly thirty ponies would be making the several days journey back to Canterlot and she couldn't help but frown at the thought of those ponies being hurt. The Enchanters Guild, through Bunsen Burner, had made it plainly obvious that something terrible was going to happen to them.   Crystal Beaker couldn't help but curse her pony nature; the desire to cooperate and prevent harm was something that wasn't something that was easily suppressed. However, she had a desire, something she wanted from the very core of her being: recognition. She wanted to be looked upon with the same reverence that learned ponies heaped on those like the mighty Starswirl and this was just one more thing she was going to have to sacrifice to achieve that goal.   "Princess Luna would hate me for this," Crystal Beaker mumbled to herself as she watched the ill-fated convoy depart to its meeting with disaster.   Crystal Beaker shuffled back to her desk. No matter how much her own actions and desires warred with her pony instincts, she had work that needed to be done. After shaking her head and clearing her thoughts, she picked up another field report, this one having to do with an exhibit a researcher had found in one of the small human museums that dotted the Everfree City. As the Professor's eyes trailed back and forth over the perfect square of paper in front of her (it was faintly amusing how many ponies had taken to using human writing supplies), her eyes widened in astonishment. The student who wrote this report believed that the exhibit was dedicated to an event where humans had managed to walk on the face of the moon.   Crystal Beaker leaned back in the soft office chair that, while soft, still managed to make itself slightly uncomfortable to her pony anatomy. She took several deep breaths and calmed her mind, restoring it to its usual calm and analytic state. "A collection of mortal creatures with no magical ability who can do the impossible..." she mumbled to herself before turning her eyes back to the paper; it described the series of images that the student had found. Nopony had managed to translate the human language yet but with the similarities to diamond dog runes they were making far more progress than they might otherwise have been. It still frustrated the professor that the only pair of living human specimens who could solve that problem virtually instantly would not help with the translation. Still, the description of the images told a fantastic story, one she would look into for herself as soon as she had a moment.   Crystal Beaker had to admit, she misjudged the species. When the female human had hurt two ponies who had only been trying to see to her medical needs Crystal Beaker had thought of them as brutish, animalistic creatures. She had even thought they might have usurped all of these fantastic achievements from some forgotten race of ponies. As she sat in her not-quite-right chair, a thought wiggled its way into her mind as it worked to truly understand the strange and powerful beings she had been sent to study.   'There are two of them, but we could make sure there will be more...'   A grin split the Professor's face. This could be the perfect way to make up for what she had done. A gift that would push the nation of Equestria to new heights in exchange for the recognition she desired. She levitated one of the perfect pieces of human paper over to her, readied one of their ingenious writing utensils with a small click and began to write out her new plan. It would be her gift to the nation who raised her, a gift to ensure a bright future for those who would look back at her in awe at her brilliance.   *** (The following morning)   Fleetfoot sighed and rolled her eyes in exasperation at the two science ponies she was ‘escorting.’ They had been jabbering on and on about the news pamphlet that the green unicorn she had nearly squashed with the mail bag the day before had carried in her magic and the fact that they were currently trotting through a sewer didn't help the former Wonderbolt's mood at all.   "I still can hardly believe the changelings attacked Ponyville of all places," the unicorn mare said to the slate-grey earth pony to her right.   "It was probably symbolic, Green Leaf, showing us that nowhere is safe if they are willing to attack the residence of the Elements themselves," the earth pony replied while chipping away at a piece of the stone tunnel they all found themselves in. "I have some plant life here, under the loose stones, very scummy," he mumbled.   The unicorn levitated a small sample of the substance over to herself, silently taking note of the scum's characteristics. After a few moments of study, she flicked it aside and finished scribbling something in a notebook. "Hey Stone Slate?" she asked after a moment.   "Hmm?" the earth pony hummed back, probably to show that he was listening despite not turning away from his work.   "Did you hear the humans were involved in the changeling attack?" Green Leaf asked.   Stone Slate turned and looked at the unicorn mare in surprise. "No, I hadn't, where did you hear that from?" he asked, a cautious tone in his voice.   Fleetfoot resisted the urge to lean in to listen to the answer. This was one of the things she was best at, information gathering, the trick was to simply make yourself appear unimportant. Ponies, and many other creatures, often spilled important information when they thought nopony worthy of thought was in the room. Fleetfoot already knew all about the attack, she was nearby when it happened, but it would still be interesting to hear what this mare had to say and where she got her information from way out here in the Everfree.   "I have a relative who lives there, Golden Harvest, she was eating dinner when she heard the commotion." After a moment, Green Leaf continued after making sure she had Stone's attention. "She went to go find out what was happening and she saw the human female nearly snap a changeling in two."   Stone Slate's eyes widened as he stared at the green unicorn. "Wow, I knew that humans must be strong but that is ridiculous!" he hissed in a low tone. "What happened after that?" he asked.   Green Leaf leaned in and was almost whispering now. "The Commander of the Ponyville garrison was there, she ordered the soldiers to take both the female human and the mayor to the hospital and stay to guard them."   "The mayor survived?" Stone asked as he leaned back in astonishment.   Green Leaf nodded. "Yes, she survived by managing to crawl into a cabinet in her desk, she only had some minor burns and some nasty smoke inhalation."   "We should move on, I have everything I need here." Stone had to force himself to remember why they were down here in this sewer to begin with. "How about you, need any more samples?"   Green Leaf shook her head and gathered up her equipment. "I have everything I need.”   Stone returned her nod and started trotting deeper into the tunnel system, Green Leaf just behind him. Fleetfoot paused for only a moment before quickly following after the pair of academics. After only a few minutes of trotting, Fleetfoot heard Stone's voice from ahead of her. "So what about the male?" he asked, keeping his gaze forward.   It took a moment for Green Leaf to figure out that Stone was asking her a question. "What? Oh, um, yeah he was there. From what Golden Harvest wrote, it sounded like he wanted to carry the female all the way to the hospital himself but the Elements stopped him."   "The Elements? Why would they stop him?" Stone Slate stopped and turned around in surprise.   Green Leaf fidgeted a little under his gaze. "I don't know, he was still pretty messed up when they shipped him back to Ponyville… maybe he is still too injured for anything like that."   Stone nodded to himself and turned to trot on down the damp stone tunnel. "Oh yeah, that makes sense. Luna messed him up pretty badly from what I remember."   Green Leaf hummed in agreement and shivered, probably remembering that unpleasant night as the trio continued on down the tunnel. When they came to a transition from the traditional style stone into what seemed to be a featureless grey substance, Stone stopped to take a scraping of the wall.   Fleetfoot watched the pair like a silent hawk and after a few moments of Stone grunting in effort and grumbling about needing "a sharper chisel," Green Leaf began to look around for any plant life she could catalogue, but the featureless grey material offered no nooks or crannies for fungus or moss to cling so she headed on a little ways forward into the dark.   After a few minutes, both Fleetfoot and Stone Slate were startled by a loud "UGH!" That came from the darkness.   "Green? What did you find?" Stone Slate called down the pipe.   "You should see this, it smells disgusting!" Green Leaf called back.   "Well we are in a sewer you know," Stone replied with a little bit of mirth in his voice. Fleetfoot also couldn't suppress a grin and covered it with a hoof and fake cough.   "No you moron, it's some kind of plant," Green Leaf replied, finally emerging from the darkness and waving a hoof at them to come see her discovery.   Stone looked around at the almost scoured looking stone walls and seemed to have his curiosity piqued. "A plant?  In this area? Okay, this I gotta see." Stone Slate trotted off into the dark after Green Leaf with Fleetfoot not far behind.   After a few moments of walking, they came to a larger open area that seemed to be almost completely made of metal piping. Along the walls, a thick slimy black root seemed to nearly choke the room. Many of the side passages and pipes were nearly completely filled with the strange plant.   "Well this isn't creepy at all," Stone said sarcastically as he followed Green Leaf over to one of the roots that were covered in hundreds of tiny tendrils. They reminded Fleetfoot of the eyestalks of slugs or snails as they waved back and forth in a non-existent wind.   "Watch what happens when I try to take a sample," Green Leaf said as her horn lit up and she pulled out a scalpel. When she tried to slice off one of the waving stalks, it withdrew seamlessly into the black root, almost like it was a fluid. However, the worst part was the sudden overpowering smell of rotting meat that came from the twitching root that almost had everypony in the room gagging for breath.   "Oh goodness, what is that awful smell!?" Stone shouted as he pinched his nostrils shut with his hooves. Fleetfoot backed a little further out of the room and waved a hoof in front of her face as her eyes watered at the disgusting stench.   "Where exactly are we?" Green Leaf asked from her spot next to the plant, her nasal fortitude apparently greater than anypony alive.   Stone pulled out a map of the sewers that had been made by Night Guard scouts and looked it over for a moment before pointing a hoof at a junction point near the edge of the map. "We're right under the refinery," he said, using the human word Chris or John or whatever his name was had used when he was questioned about it.   "This thing is magical!" Green Leaf suddenly called out. She had her horn glowing and the spell washed back and forth over the strange (and creepy) plant. The plant rippled and the tiny stalks seemed to wave in her direction.   "And that's a big deal... Why? We are in the Everfree forest and pretty much any plant has some sort of magic ability," Stone Slate said as his professional curiosity got the better of him and he moved to examine one of the many metal pipes that lined the walls.   "It's a big deal because none of the plants native to the Everfree City contains any trace of magic in them. It's one of the reasons I was so unnerved the first few days," Green Leaf said as she prodded one of the larger roots with a hoof. "This place has its own unique biosphere that has no analogue anywhere else on Equis. Haven't you noticed how most of the plants here don't feel real?" she asked, turning to the grey earth pony.   "Not really, but I'm not a botanist so I haven't exactly been paying attention to what the trees looked like," Stone Slate said as he tapped on the pipe he was examining.   Tap Tap Tap   Fleetfoot turned to glance around the cramped pipe and root covered room. The two science ponies worked on their own projects and hadn't even so much as glanced at each other after the previous conversation died.   Tap Tap Tap   Fleetfoot's ears flopped back and forth as the slate grey stallion tapped on a pipe in the wall with a small metal tool he had pulled out of his bag. The noise was grating but she had had to deal with much worse in the past.   Tap Tap Tap   Fleetfoot grit her teeth as the noise was starting to become even more irritating. She was only one moment away from marching over and causing some accident that nopony would be able to pin on her.   Tap Tap Tap   Tap Tap Tap   Fleetfoot slid behind the grey earth pony with wrath in her eyes, the strap of his bag could quite easily be tripped over and cause him to accidentally tie himself up and spill its contents. As she prepared for her nefarious prank, the bewildered face of her target gave her pause. With suspicion on Stone Slate's face, he reached out and tapped the metal pipes one more time.   Tap Tap Tap   Tap Tap Tap   Stone Slate and Fleetfoot both looked up at the odd echo. What they saw was something out of their worst nightmares.   Its body was that of some poor, unfortunate bear's skull; the monster wore it like some kind of demented hermit crab. A pair of scythe-like arms emerged from the body and Fleetfoot could tell they were sharpened rib bones, probably from the same bear that lost its skull to whatever this monster was. The bleached bones were held together with some sort of stringy black goop that seemed to act like tendons or muscles. Behind the head were the remains of a spine covered with much smaller legs, a dozen or more, that held the abomination to the pipe above them. The creature raised itself up off the pipe slightly and tucked the two massive bladed limbs under itself where it rubbed them together with the harsh sound of bone grinding against bone.   Fleetfoot could feel Stone's muscles coiling up, preparing to bolt as fast as the stallion's legs could carry him. Running would only spur the creature to chase and Fleetfoot really didn't want to end up lost in the vast and complicated tunnel system that made up these sewers. Slowly, almost delicately, Fleetfoot slipped a wing around Stone's neck. The stallion jumped at the contact but relented to her control as she slowly backed them away from the creature.   Green Leaf was completely oblivious to the situation, until Fleetfoot's other wing slipped around her neck and muffled her surprised gasp. When the mare was turned around to face the threat the wing over her mouth muffled the scream and Fleetfoot's tight grip kept the unicorn from bolting and drawing the creature's ire. All three ponies slowly backed towards the tunnel they had entered from as the bulbous centipede-like creature slowly crawled down the pipe and then across the ground towards them. The monster kept a set of reflective patches inside of the former bear's eye sockets and former nasal cavity trained on them as the trio made slow progress out of the room.   The creature followed the trio of ponies right to the mouth of the tunnel before it stopped, looked around and then turned to do something with the creepy roots. After it didn't turn back toward them, Fleetfoot urged her charges into a measured trot and then a full gallop down the tunnel and back the way they had come.   They ran as fast as the cramped tunnel allowed and it wasn't long until they found one of the many metal disks that covered the access points to the tunnel network. Remaining in shocked silence, the two science ponies clambered up the ladder. Stone Slate practically flinging the metal cover from its place before turning to haul Green Leaf the rest of the way out of the hole. Fleetfoot was the last to emerge as she burst from the pipe with a gust of wind from her powerful wings. As the science ponies collapsed and gasped for air on the pavement, Fleetfoot quickly found the metal cover and pulled it back into place and let herself slump down with relief.   "What the HAY are those things!" Green Leaf shouted in a shrill voice, hopping to her feet to look at Fleetfoot who could only shake her head.   "It looked like one of the things that attacked us the night we arrived," Stone Slate offered as he shakily picked himself up off the pavement.   "You don't think I figured that much out!? This entire trip has been nothing but insanity!" Green Leaf shouted back, only to collapse again with a sigh. "I should have gone to Hayle."