A dark wind blows through the city of Appleloosa, and its inhabitants are in peril. Fluttershy, working as a Health and Safety Inspector for the city, must get to the bottom of these horrible accidents before disaster strikes.
The settlement of Appleloosa has exploded into a metropolis of industry and invention, ushering in a new era of science. This pioneering city has attracted flocks of migrants to reside within its walls and engage in its rich economy, all at the detriment to the other cities. Fluttershy, working as a Health and Safety Inspector for the City Council, has been charged with investigating the recent increase of mechanical mishaps and accidents. Of course, one pegasus can only do so much, so the City Council saw it fit to award her with an assistant. Fluttershy is courteous, fair and does everything by the book. She needed a wild card, somebody not afraid to take it to the next level. She also needed somebody who should knew and could trust. As luck would have it, such a candidate had just winged her way into the city!
"With a population reaching nearly a twenty thousand Appleloosa has become the third largest city in all of Equestria. Fuelled by new technologies and wealthy mineral deposits, this city has grown exponentially over the course of the last five years," The unicorn dressed in an elegant suit of fineries glanced over his shoulder to the group gathered behind him, "But I don't suppose I really need to tell you all that. After all, you all built it."
A soft murmur of chuckling rippled out of the group as they waited for the heavy wooden door to rattle open. The elegant unicorn glided through the opening doorway.
"I just wanted to impress upon you ..." He raised his voice, as the towering cityscape was revealed to the group: thirteen massive towers of metal rose out of a hive of metal walls and wooden rooves. From these spires the group could see intermittent sections of gear-work, plainly visible for all to see. These massive gears turned occasionally and with them the tops of the towers slowly rotated, shining columns of light down onto the city. The rest of the skyline was marked with much shorter towers; cranes that held beams or freight containers were erected by sites still under construction. Weaving slowly between the fourteen massive towers were several airships, held aloft by a cluster of four balloons each, tethered to the hull beneath. The smaller buildings were built in heavy clusters surrounding wide patches of land that were also densely packed with verdant gardens and crop farms. The gathering of ponies beamed at one-another, some shaking hoofs or doffing their hats to one another.
"The full extent of your work." The unicorn finished after the group had taken in the sights and congratulated themselves. He tilted his head and forced the large lever down beside him with a yellow glow of magic. The door closed behind them and the compartment that they stood in shuddered as it begun its descent into the city.
“As grand as these sights are,” A polite, nervous voice spoke up. A couple in the group and the unicorn attendant looked to the speaker; a young mare, dressed in a purple flowing dress topped with a flowery cap. “Aren't we concerned at all about the recent provocations by Cloudsdale, and it's old world folk?”
The crowd mumbled to themselves, casting glances in the direction of the unicorn attendant. Right behind him, outside the elevator, they passed by a mass of exposed pipework that a pair of earth pony workers were fixing up. The attendant put on a winning smile and spoke up.
“Concerns regarding the political affairs of greater Equestria are being dealt with, but they are not of any serious concern. If Cloudsdale wishes to diverge from the path we're on, then let it be so. They are not in any position to dictate what we can and can't do.”
“I second that.” A pale-amber pegasus spoke up. “I'm not bothered by them. They're full of hot air.” He smirked, and the rest of the group laughed. Their laughter was shorted lived, as a loud bang far above them stirred them into worry. The group huddled to the window to look out and saw a handful of bolts and a small wrench drop by outside. Nervously, the group resumed their laughter.
“So, I hear the Carrot family intend on developing a theatre?” A unicorn stallion spoke up, easing the group back into conversation. A handful of the group spoke in hushed voices amongst themselves.
“Yes, they are indeed.” The attendant beamed. “The proposal for the Tops Theatre will be posted in the Council Halls about a month from now. But believe it or not, there are already stage groups planning-” The attendant was cut off by a screaming red blur as an earth pony hurtled down past the elevator window and into the depths of the city. The elevator erupted into panic stricken screaming, shouting and cursing.
* * *
Thirteen accidents in two weeks. Almost one a day. I don’t know what’s started all this, but there's got to be some source of it all. Even if it is ... Fluttershy’s thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door.
Through the window the early morning sunlight bathed her office in a soft yellow haze, and the thin curtains drifted up and down as a zephyr brushed in from the outside. Even with the wind from the outside Fluttershy still had the fan on her desk on full blast. In order to prevent the arrangement of paperwork on her desk from blowing away she had strategically placed pencils, pen nibs and her ink-well on the various pieces of paper.
“Come in.” She gently spoke.
With a rattle the door collapsed away into the wall crevice. A young pegasus mare dressed in a pleated dress trotted into the room.
“Ah, Slumberose.” Fluttershy smiled in delight. “Good morning; how was the dinner last night? Did Amberseed take you to see the fireworks in the end?”
Slumberose giggle and nodded, “He was so nice, he even offered to pay for my carriage home.”
“Oh my, what a nice gentlecolt you've met. I take it I won't be hearing of Timber any more?” Fluttershy asked with a tiny giggle.
Slumberose stopped laughing, “Timber is my brother.”
The silence between the two was taken up by the whirring of the fan and the faint murmurs of conversations in the rooms nearby.
“Um, so. What do you need?” Fluttershy nonchalantly rested her forehooves on the top of the table.
“Nothing,” Slumberose spoke up, her brain slowly turning back on. “I came here to tell you that Applejack, and the rest of the City Council really appreciates everything that you're doing. You're truly a hero.”
Fluttershy blushed but managed to keep a straight face, even if her instincts were telling her to just crawl under the desk in humbled embarrassment.
“Which is why,” Slumberose continued, stretching her words out a little. “They believe it's time you got some help.”
Help? Thought Fluttershy. What do they think I need help with? I'm holding up well. I've not had any accidents, or made any mistakes. I've behaved exactly as Rarity told me to behave. Why would she say all that, and then tell me I need help? Fluttershy began to fret, her eyes breaking contact with Slumberose's.
“With the mounting cases you're having to deal with the City Council have decided open giving you an assistant. She'll be with you shortly.” Slumberose, noticing Fluttershy looking away, offered a consoling pat on the shoulder. Fluttershy looked up to the pegasus.
“They're not saying you can't do the job; they're saying your job has gotten more ...” Slumberose paused in thought, searching for the right word. “Involved?”
Slumberose took a few paces back and nodded to Fluttershy. Fluttershy meekly returned the nod and mumbled a goodbye. Slumberose left, pushing a lever back up on the outside of the office, and the door rattled in, shutting the office up.
Fluttershy mulled over the conversation. It was true, her job had intensified in its complexity and was now much more than when it first began. When she was first brought in as the Council Inspector it was more of an honorary title. The first of her duties were to make sure that the great replication engines were in working order and to pass reports from engineers onto the City Council Ministers. It was a very comfortable and enjoyable job as she hardly had to leave her office. Her job was then extended to involve taking in any construction proposals that had passed basic architectural scrutiny and conferring with the City Council on what to approve and what not to. After that the City Council added to her duties the task of handling any serious mechanical failures that were likely to affect the city as a whole, which, at the time, did not amount to much. Now with the recent increase of damages done to the city her workload has been steadily increasing. After consideration, Fluttershy admitted to herself that she could do with the help. She wasn't like Applejack, not yet at least.
Fluttershy stood up and trotted over to her window. Below she could see a group of foals weaving around a wagon cart as it was drawn through the street. A group of chatty mares idly strolled along the cobblestone path between the two rows of houses, talking loudly about the highlights of their day. A pair of petals drifted right by the window, too fast for Fluttershy to react and snatch the pretty morsels up. She looked skyward to where they had come from and saw a unicorn a few floors up from her attending to a small garden that he'd grown on his office balcony. This city was swelling with life, wherever she looked. There were so many ponyfolk here, and their safety was swiftly becoming her top priority.
There came a second rapping on her door. Fluttershy exhaled to calm her nerves, steeling herself so that she might greet the new assistant with the dignity befitting a mare of her position. She turned about and sat down on the large pillow behind her desk.
“Come in.” She announced, in as regal a voice as she could muster. The door began to rattle open so she sat up right and proper, just as Rarity had taught her.
Fluttershy's little heart thudded once, heavily against her ribcage. Those talons. Her lips twisted together as she fought back the terror. That purple flecked plumage. Fluttershy was choking. All pretence of propriety and nobility were shedding themselves rapidly from her as she began to tremble.
“Hey. Sup'? It's been a long while, hasn't it?” That gruff voice.
“Gilda.” Fluttershy's light and airy voice was a far cry from her sour expression and twitching left eye. “W-What a pleasant … surprise.” She forced out. “What are you doing here?”
“Eh?” Gilda tilted her head, leaning forward. “I thought you were a detective? Ain't you detecting anything so far?”
“You're in my office ...” Fluttershy spoke slowly. Gilda nodded and began to wave her right talons in a circular motion.
“Because you want to talk to me ...” Fluttershy continued. Gilda nodded and raised both brows.
“About … ?” Fluttershy's voice raised in pitch and she began to bite her lips.
“My new job ...” Gilda nodded emphatically.
“Which is with me.” Fluttershy's voice rose to breaking point. Her muscles tensed up and she began to shiver again.
“There we go! They told me you were a good detective.” Gilda laughed. Fluttershy remained paralysed with shock. Gilda brushed it off and sauntered into the room.
“About that little accident five years ago,” Gilda laughed nervously and ran her talons through her plumage. “I think we can look past it, y'know? We can throw a bit of banter about and it'll all be cool. It wasn't that bad anyway!”
“And you bounced back! Look at you now. I acted like a sour apple, and now I'm here to make it up to you.” Gilda boasted. Fluttershy fidgeted and her eyes darted about the room.
“Okay, maybe I just wanted to channel these stupid emotions into something positive. I'm a force for good now, I swear it.” Gilda stood up on her paws and held her bunched talons to her chest. “Griffon's honour.”
“Why me?” Fluttershy finally regained her composure. “If you want to help, surely there are better places to be for that. The City Council always need more engineers. What about agriculture as well? Farming is good for your health and the city's!”
“I'm not so good with those egg-head contraptions and farming is a bore, so, I wanted something a little more gung-ho.”
Fluttershy's jaw sagged a little and her brow twisted up.
“Gilda, this is a Health and Safety service. This isn't the armed forces. We don't have any airships and cannons here.” Fluttershy laid it out.
“Maybe I just wanted to make it up to you? Maybe I just want to help?” Gilda offered and Fluttershy's expression soured. She closed her eyes and took in a sharp breath.
“Have you considered the possibility that I might not have wanted to see you again?” Fluttershy's voice was stern, but her inner-self was panicking. Self control. Fluttershy thought, Just remember the finer points that Rarity taught you. Gilda didn't respond. She lowered herself a bit and folded her wings firmly back.
“Yeah. Okay.” Gilda said, her voice weaker. “If you don't think I can change, that's cool. I'll just … I'll just go, again.” She emphasized the last word and turned around, heading for the doorway.
“Wait.” Fluttershy called out. Her heart knotted up with guilt. Whilst still looking out of the doorway, Gilda grinned. “Maybe... Maybe I was a little too hasty.”
The griffon slowly turned about-face in a lumbering fashion.
“Really? You'd have me?” Gilda sounded sincere.
“On a number of conditions, but maybe. The first is that you do as I say, understood?”
“Completely.” Gilda nodded.
“The second is that under no circumstance do I want you scaring the ponies who live here, is that understood?”
Gilda mumbled and looked away, askance.
“Is that understood?” Fluttershy said, firmly.
“Yeah, yeah. Gotcha'.” Gilda quickly answered.
“The third is that I want you to be honest with me at all times. That's Council Policy; Honesty.” Fluttershy tapped her desk and pointed to the front of it. Gilda looked down and saw a simply plaque on the front panel that read 'An Honest Day's Work'.
“I don't do lying.” Gilda gruffly said.
“Well then, we're ready.” Fluttershy announced and stood up, her legs slightly shaking from the whole ordeal.
“Ready? What, you're going to make me swear an oath now or something?” Gilda pried.
“No. We're going to see a mare about her waterworks.”
“Wh-What?” Gilda was caught off-guard. The tables were turned. Fluttershy was now bouncing banter back at Gilda. Drat. She thought, Wasn't that what she wanted? Fluttershy briskly trotted out from around her desk and to the door.
“The site of the latest accident.” Fluttershy confirmed as the two left the room. Gilda flicked her tail, coiled it around the lever to her door and yanked it down. The door rolled shut as the two walked away from Fluttershy's office and into the wood and copper-brace corridor.
“Two hundred and fifty bits of damage and one hospitalised worker; it's my most serious case so far.” Fluttershy sharply looked at Gilda. “Please don't do anything brash or rude.”
Gilda nodded.
“Is that understood?” Fluttershy said, firmly.
“Yeah. Okay.” Gilda looked away and whispered under her breath. “Geez. When did she get so pushy?”
“What?” Fluttershy pricked up an ear.
“Nothing. So, where are visiting first?”
“The outside of tower seven. Floor thirty eight.” Fluttershy stopped by an elevator door and tapped the button on the panel. The button lit up with a chime and there came a whirring sound from beyond the metal doors.
“The outside of?” Gilda raised a brow. Fluttershy looked her up and down.
“You've got wings, don't you?” She asked. The elevator chimed a second time and the doors opened. Gilda made no comment and together the two bundled into the elevator and began their descent into the city streets.
The pegasus and griffon duo wandered through the crowded streets of Appleoosa. Market stalls set up along the cobblestone streets; selling fresh produce from farms inside the city walls. Accompanying these stalls were several larger carriages with their walls collapsed out. These carriages were selling all manner of mechanical devices, from sensitive machine parts used in industry to tool-belts and personal trinkets.
Gilda passed by the carriage and snatched up a circular device mounted onto an arm brace.
“What's this?” She asked, bringing it close to her eyes.
“A chronographer. It tells you the time. Only fourteen bits, and the brace comes with it!”” Answered the young colt merchant dressed in a single piece black suit.
“Pfft.” Gilda huffed. “What would I need that for? I can just look up at the sky.” She set the useless trinket down on the carriage table and caught up with Fluttershy.
“Hey Flutz, this place is weird. How much useless stuff do they sell here?”
Fluttershy caught herself grinning at Gilda's remark.
“Oh, lots! This city moves something like ten thousand bits in total, from hoof to hoof, in a week.”
“Then how come I don't see you wearing any of those things?” Gilda asked
“I don't need them~” She hummed sweetly as she made her way through the bustling crowd. Gilda gave up attempting to weave or push her way through the crowd and opted to take off, flying just above Fluttershy at a slow pace.
“I guess that's why I've not seen any beggars yet.” Gilda thought out loud. Fluttershy looked quizzically up at her. “Oh, Canterlot is full of them. Once you get into the lower rungs of the city.” Gilda shook her head. “It's pretty lame.”
“Is that where you've come from?” Fluttershy ventured.
“No. Not recently at least. Why are we walking anyway? Why don't we just fly up there?”
Fluttershy laughed and pointed down the road and to where a large flight of metal steps began. The steps went up and onto a metal platform held up by huge brass struts. Gilda could even see that there were houses built underneath this platform.
“We don't really use wings to fly any more around here. I'll show you.” Fluttershy picked up the pace and the two hurried over to the steps.
The platform was crowded with ponies from all walks of life: some foals dressed in school uniforms, some mares dressed in their summer dresses, more than a few stallions dressed in fine attire and sporting tophats, and the pair could even see a few soldiers dressed in their brown uniforms.
“I'm not really seeing anything.” Gilda looked around at the platform just as a dark shadow began to cover the ponies standing there. Gilda looked upwards and saw the form of a large wooden boat, held aloft by airbags, slowly descend towards them.
“Oh.” Gilda followed Fluttershy and the rest of the moving crowd towards the craft.
The airship was a grand sight to behold up close. Gilda was craning her neck fully upward to see the four balloons and the cables that held them tightly in place to the hull of the ship. The hull itself was made of some dark and incredibly sturdy-looking wood. The panels and planks that made up the hull were held together by numerous bolts, and at the top, where they connected to the deck of the ship, there was a metal mantle that rolled over the top of the wood.
Gilda watched as the crew on board the ship tossed lines out for staff below to tie to sturdy-looking bars of metal on the platform. Planks were dropped from the deck and ponies began to make their way up them, showing tickets or badges to the attendants at the bottom. Fluttershy got there first, held out a badge of and then pointed to Gilda. The attendant nodded and waved Gilda up with Fluttershy.
“They've really improved upon those flying boats now, ain't they?” Gilda remarked as she arrived on deck. She saw on her way up a large plaque mounted on the port side of the ship, painted over in blue and gold it read; 'Cherry Springs'.
“I don't think they have. They've just made them bigger. They're just as dangerous, but no one is willing to listen to me about it.” Fluttershy made her way up to the pilot's deck and flashed her badge to the guard there, who let her in.
“What's that badge anyway? Can you go anywhere you want with it?” Gilda asked and wandered to the end of the ship where she rested up against the back barrier of the pilot's deck.
“With the Seal of the City there's not many places I'm barred from entering.” Fluttershy proudly announced.
“Could you get us free drinks?” Gilda waggled her eyebrows at Fluttershy.
“That wouldn't be very honest.” Fluttershy pouted. “But yes, I could.”
“Aw right!” Gilda clenched her talons and pumped her fist in the air.
“I thought you said you'd changed.” Fluttershy quipped with a grin.
“I have. I now drink more.”
Fluttershy just stared blankly at her.
“Just kidding.”
“Sure.” Fluttershy turned away, rolling her eyes. The ship rocked in the air. “The ship is taking off. Just don't look down.”
“What? You think I'm scared of heights?” Gilda laughed
“I'm not talking about heights.”
Gilda opened her beak to respond where there came a heavy rattling sound and the roar of fire beneath her. Wildly turning about and looking down she saw two huge propeller blades kick into motion below her. The rickety frame she had been leaning against was all that stood between her and an efficient dicing machine. Gilda swallowed the lump back in her throat and backed away from the rear frame of the ship.
“Gotcha.” She managed, and turned about to face Fluttershy. “So, what are we doing up here anyway?”
Fluttershy tossed her hair and pointed with her wing to the deck below.
“I don't like being crammed down there.” She scrunched her nose.
Gilda wandered past the captain as he took the helm and looked down onto the deck. It was incredibly crowded and it looked like everybody who had been on the large station was now cramped on the deck of the ship. Gilda looked over to the captain; an old red coated stallion wearing a tall, peaked cap.
“How come they're not downstairs?” She asked. The stallion looked over to her.
“Old ship, ma'am. Downstairs is taken up by the guts of this ship's engine, and a scarce few rooms for us crew. There's no place for those folk to sit or rest.” The captain then laughed. “I hope you weren't thinking this ship was heading for a battle? This is ain't one of them civil guard airships.”
"'Course not, dude." Gilda looked down again at the cramped deck. “How long do these flights usually take?”
“Depends on where you're going from, but from tower three to tower fourteen that's the whole stretch of the city. It can take about thirty minutes, sometimes forty five.”
Gilda thanked the captain and made herself comfortable on the captain's deck. After a little while the pair could see the looming spire of tower seven and the damage done to it was plainly evident. There was a criss-cross grid of scaffolding on the outside, about a third of the way up the tower. Below that were more grids of pipework that had been exposed, and finally, at the very bottom, were several large sheets of iron that used to cover the internals of the tower up.
The Cherry Springs airship gently swung around and drifted over to the landing platform nearby the tower. Only a few of the ponies got off here from the deck, but even more from the platform below got on board. Fluttershy tapped Gilda and flew off the side of the airship and to the platform below. Gilda gave one last worried look at the heaving crowd on the deck of the ship before sailing on after Fluttershy.
The inside of tower seven was a bustle of activity. As much as she could have guessed; there were no windows inside the building. The entire thing was lit up by many glowing balls of light fixed to walls and caged up behind tiny metal bars. There were two elevators built into the centre of the room that could ascend to a third of the way up the spire. Around these elevators, with a wide breadth of clearance, were platform rings that housed shops and offices. Gilda could see that they could either take the elevator up to these rings or use one of the many flights of stairs that ran up and down through all the rings.
"You even have ponies living inside these things?" Gilda asked, looking up and around at the insides of the tower.
"Only for a third of it. The rest of it is taken up by the charge station complex." Fluttershy answered and made her way towards the stairs.
"Charge station? Is that what the big lights are?" Gilda followed on after Fluttershy, looking ahead to her intended destination. "We're not going to take the rising platform thing?"
"That's right! Those lights charge up any magic cell they pass over and ..." Fluttershy looked over at the elevator, appraising it. "Too crowded."
"Can we at least fly up?" Gilda looked up at the many flights of steps and then to the hollow clearance though the centre of the tower.
"That wouldn't be very civilized, would it?" Fluttershy began to hum a little tune as she briskly trotted up the stairs.
"You gotta' be freakin' kidding me..." Gilda began to trudge up the steps behind her.
The pair arrived at the top of the stairs a good while later. Fluttershy seemed unperturbed but Gilda was leaning on the stair rails, catching her breath. Fluttershy scampered on ahead and pointed to an orange painted door at the far end of the ring that they were on. The door was being guarded by two pegasi dressed in brown long-coats and caps. Fluttershy introduced herself by showing the guards her badge and they nodded, greeting her in return.
“The engineers have been expecting you upstairs. I reckon by now they're be starting the repair work, ma'am. We can take you up there now, if you want?” The guard offered and Fluttershy nodded in acceptance.
“How much further up is?” Gilda asked, still panting.
“It's on this level.” The guard talked as he lead the pair through the pipe riddled back works of the tower. “Nice to see Appleloosa is attracting plenty of outsiders. It's been a good few years since I last saw a griffon.”
“Yes, how long do you intend on staying in the city, Gilda?” Fluttershy asked.
“'Till you and I are fair and square.” Gilda cheerfully bumped Fluttershy with her bunched talons. Fluttershy shot her a look but Gilda continued. “There's plenty of riches and work floating around here. I might end up staying longer than I first thought, who knows?”
“I hope you don't make the City Council angry by quitting so soon.”
“Woah, who said I was quitting soon? I'll be around for a while. A couple of months maybe? Don't worry Flutz, you and the council will get a run for their money.”
“Flutz.” The guard repeated and snickered.
The guard brought them to a opened out chamber with several metal boxes stacked up and pushed to the corner of the room. The wind blew persistantly through the large opening in the outer wall and from here they could see out over the wooden rooves of the city buildings.
“Better view out here than in your office” Gilda remarked to Fluttershy and made her way over to the large opening. A grey pony engineer approached Fluttershy.
“Ma'am.” He tipped his hardhat in greeting. “We've started fixing up the pipeworks and they'll be up and running with the next two hours. It might be three hours if we can't get the pressure right first time.”
Fluttershy nodded and kept an eye on Gilda, who had reached the edge of the opening and was looking down.
“Where are the debris?” She asked and the engineer waved a hoof to a pile of metal crates marked with a cross. “Thank you. I'm happy to hear about the good work.” She smiled sweetly at him and trotted over to the crates. The engineer followed after and opened the first of the marked boxes up. Inside, Fluttershy could see a few sections of pipe that were darkened and stained heavily. She picked one up with her wing and gently swung it to and fro through the air.
“It's bone dry.” She remarked to the engineer and he nodded in confirmation.
“It's a hot day, ma'am. I guess they dried out during the process of taking the pipes apart. It's been three hours, after all.”
Fluttershy considered his answer and set the pipe back in the box. As she did it snapped in two, brittle fragments and a tiny cloud of dust came out of it.
“Very dry.” Fluttershy said with a frown. “Is the other worker still here?” She asked the engineer.
He nodded and pointed to a earth pony stallion sitting down on a few layers of cloth, with a steaming hot drink in a bowl beside him. He looked worse for the wear: his white apparel was filthy and his green mane was a tangled mess.
“Worker ID 371. His name is Sourchops.” The engineer replied.
Fluttershy thanked the engineer and trotted away, over to Sourchops.
“Hello there, I'm Fluttershy.” She introduced herself with practised perfection, even throwing in a gracious dip of the head to him. “I'm with the City Council. I'd like to ask you a few questions, if I can?” The stallion looked up into those big imploring teal eyes. He felt both his heart and his troubles melt away.
“S-Sure.” He mumbled, trying to stand up.
“Oh, no no. Please. There's no need to stand.” She hushed him and set a gentle hoof on his side.
“But, you're a lady and a city official. I want to show some respect.” The stallion forced himself upright with effort and exhaled at the end of the ordeal.
“Oh, you needn’t had.” Fluttershy gave him a sickly sweet smile and coy glance away. Gilda looked on at the two in disgust, silently retching in the background.
“So what can you tell me about what happened here?” Fluttershy asked.
“Well. Me and Oatbridge were doing some replacement work on the pipes up here. We'd had a few complaints from the restaurants just below that they were having leakages through the kitchen ceilings. When we started to open up the panels we found more and more of the pipes were out of commission.”
“Why were you on the outside though?”
“We wanted to make sure nothing had hit the metal shell outside. Then after that we wanted a closer look on the pipes at the far back. We weren't expecting them to just … give way like that. The whole thing just broke off. It struck Oatbridge straight in the head and sent him back off the edge. Parts were flying at me as well, I only just managed to stay on the platform. Scariest moment of my life, I swear.”
“You weren't expecting them to break apart?” Fluttershy curiously looked back at the marked boxes contained the decayed parts. “Why not?”
“We'd only put them in last week, ma'am. We figured it was a loose bolt or a damaged pipe. Y'know, something broken in the factory,” He gulped. “Or by us.”
“Have you seen what's in those boxes?” She pointed at the marked boxes. The stallion shook his head.
“No, but I saw them but the pipes in there. Besides, even if I wanted to look I don't think they'd let me.”
Fluttershy rolled her eyes and trotted over to lift the decayed pipe out. She set the thing down before Sourchops and it just shattered apart upon contact with the ground. Sourchop's expression twisted into confusion.
“What the hay happened to the pipe? We fitted it just-” Sourchop silenced himself and just shook his head. “I don't understand how this happened.”
“I don't blame you,” Fluttershy patted him on the side again. “I'll get to the bottom of this.”
She gave him one last smile and trotted away. She gave one quick look around to make sure nobody's eyes were on her. She was in the clear! Fluttershy let out the long sigh she'd been holding in from the conversation with the worker. As she did a quick tremor of nerves rushed through her and out of her system. Mentally propping herself back up; she trotted back over to the chief engineer there.
“Have you had any reports of damages to the restaurants downstairs?” Fluttershy asked him. The engineer removed a clipboard from his saddlebag and looked it up and down.
“Yes, that's right. Two. One was early this morning, very early. The other has been lodged about and hour ago. The water damage has apparently ruined their grilles entirely.” The engineer huffed in amusement. “We'll be the judge of that.”
“Where does the water come from, to go through these pipes?” She asked. The engineer trotted over to a plaque mounted on the wall. The plaque was beside an array of the pipes that should have lead across the room, but currently terminated at the gap where they'd fallen apart.
“Floor 49.” He replied. “It's just a pumping station, ma'am.”
Fluttershy thanked him for his help and headed over to the gap where Gilda had been resting this entire time. The griffon was silently gazing out over city, watching the sun slowly fall into the horizon.
“Um, Gilda?” Fluttershy prodded the griffon lightly with the tip of her wing, startling her.
“Woah, oh, hey. I heard you talking in the background there. Find out anything good?” She asked. Coming to her senses after looking out over the city for so long.
“I know where to go next. Come on.” She lifted her head up and beckoned Gilda.
“You work fast. I wasn't expecting you to be done so soon.” Gilda remarked as she got up. “You been building on those wings of yours as well?” Gilda snickered. Fluttershy firmly snapped her wings back close to her body.
“It was a compliment, geez.” Gilda reassured her. Fluttershy brightened up and smiled. “In case you're thinking it; I wasn't being completely useless over here. You know that Cherry Springs boat-thing we rode in on?” Gilda pointed down to the platform where the airship was still moored up. “There's been some big row down there. I don't know what about, I couldn't hear. Some ponies got taken off the ship though.”
Fluttershy regarded the airship and the crowd of ponies gathered down there. She prodded Gilda a second time with her wing.
“Thank you for telling me. Let's go. We've got to inspect a broken water pump.” Fluttershy wearily looked over the airship a second time and began to walk away from the gap in the wall.
The trip up to floor forty nine of the tower was riddled with short elevator trips through the layers of compact mechanical rooms and cramped corridors. Both of them were happy to see the end of the journey and welcomed the large, open plan, pump chamber that they'd ended up in.
The main body of the machine had five pistons at irregular intervals down it's domed body that worked tirelessly. The shell of the machine was cast in iron and on it's western facing side had an array of valves and levers and leading up to the body of the machine was a thin glass parting in the floor. Looking through this foot wide parting the pair could see a flooded chamber below that was feeding a gigantic iron screw into the machine. The screw twisted and pumped upwards, driving water through the machine, whilst also dredging up more water up from the reservoir beneath the floor.
“I thought you said it was broken? It looks fine to me.” Gilda raised her voice over the din of the machine.
“I thought you said earlier that this place was full of weird stuff? How do you know what this does?” Fluttershy's voice was heavily drown out by the firing of the pistons and the rushing of water.
“Well, it's obviously...” Gilda trailed off, her mumbling drown out by the machine. She looked it up and down. “It … looks like it's working?” Gilda compromised and shrugged at Fluttershy.
The pair headed over to the control centre for the machine, passing under a walkway above. The rest of the room was empty, save for a few discarded and open metal containers. The walkway above had a pair of doors that lead back into the room above from where they'd come in.
Fluttershy looked over the controls. Internal pressure gauges, pressure release, water pressure gauges, piston cycles per minute, the list went on. She turned to face Gilda.
“I don't think any of this machine is broken!” She managed to squeak higher than the machine.
“What made you think it was broken, anyway?”
“Whatever this thing sent through those pipes back there,” Fluttershy pointed to the doors where they'd come in from. “Managed to totally corrode and ruin the pipes within a week! I figured there might have been some kind of problem up here, but it looks fine.” Fluttershy looked up the machine in frustration.
“What about the water?” Gilda made her way over to the glass slit in the ground and jabbed at it with a talon. Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak only to pout after a few moments thought.
“Even if there was a problem with it, I wouldn't know what to look for! I'm not a chemist.” Her throat was already running hoarse from all the shouting they were doing over the machine. Fluttershy looked down through the glass into the water anyway.
“Well maybe it's-” Gilda stopped talking as she saw Fluttershy's expression contort into bewilderment. Gilda followed Fluttershy's gaze up to the screw that was pumping water into the machine. “What the ...”
Now that they were close they could both make out a dark, fleshy growth that had coiled itself around the screw. It's black, leathery skin glistened with the water being driven up by the screw. Fluttershy stepped up as close as she could to it, standing over the glass and looking down.
“Are we gonna' switch the machine off?” Gilda asked, looking over to the control panel attached to the machine.
“No,” Fluttershy shook her head slowly. “Not yet. I think we need to alert the City Council.”
Fluttershy turned about and made her way towards the exit. A soothing relief passed through her head as she was getting away from the machine. Her hooves momentarily tread air as her view twisted and begun to surge off to the right. Her startled yelp was drown out by the heavy smashing sound of metal landing on metal. She had found herself being clutched by Gilda as they too landed on the ground, Gilda's body bracing her and taking the brunt of the landing. They both looked up and saw four iron beams on their tips, now free falling to the ground. Above them, up on the walkway, was a lone, dust coloured, pony. He turned about-face and cantered off down the right door upstairs. Gilda covered Fluttershy up a second time as the poles landed into the ground, cracking open the glass line above the water. By the time Fluttershy had come to her senses Gilda had already taken flight and was on the walkway above, racing after the pony.
Fluttershy's cries fell on deaf ears as Gilda stampeded after the pony. The narrow corridor she was racing down was riddled with doors and small brass containers, both of which where being thrown back in her face by the back legs of the pony in front. Door after door she bashed aside, before they shut and locked themselves on her. The dust coloured pony made a hard right, skidding on the metal floor and bashing into the wall, sending a metal shelving unit of paint buckets smashing onto the ground. Bounding along on all fours was hard for the griffon, and she quickly became tangled up in the metal shelves and the cracked open paint cans. The dust coloured pony finally breached the outside, and onto a walkway that ran around the outside of the tower. Up ahead was an extension off the platform and a twin winged flying craft was set up there. It's rickety angular body and upwards pointing air-sails did not look sturdy enough for two ponies to ride on, but that did not stop the dust coloured pony leaping onto the back of the craft. The driver looked back in shock and he drove his front hoof into the side of the driver's head.
“Get going!” He shouted at the driver, who, panic stricken, dumbly sent the machine into motion. Three gems inset on the rear of the long craft hummed and glowed brightly. This brought the upwards pointing wings down, and then up again, and then back down. This draft forced the light craft up into the air and then forward, as the driver tipped the front nose down.
Laughing, the dust coloured pony looked back only to find that taking flight behind him was an irate looking red, yellow and green painted griffon. He struck his driver in the back of the head again.
“Can't this thing go any faster!?” He shouted. Looking back again he could see the griffon gaining on him. He used his rear legs to kick down on the back of the flying craft. Loosening a panel of metal he hooked his hoof under it and pulled it out, sending it flying back at Gilda.
Gilda tensed her talons taut and swung her right one out, tearing the thin sheet of metal into shreds that harmlessly bounced off her. Beating her wings fiercely she sped up to the rear of the craft. The dust coloured pony grabbed onto the driver and tried to drag the screaming stallion out from his driver's seat.
“Don't come any closer or-” He never finished his sentence as Gilda soared right over the flying craft, grabbing onto the dust coloured pony's mane and, with a great heave, hoisted him off the back of the craft. She watched the craft twist and drop out of the air but the pilot swiftly regained control of his craft. Happy that she'd just avoided Fluttershy being upset at her for crashing a nice fellow's craft; she turned her attention to the stallion dangling in the air beneath her.
“Bit of a situation you've gotten yourself into, isn't it?” She asked, looking down at the squirming stallion.
“Put me down you stinkin' halfbreed!” He shouted back up at her. Gilda laughed.
“That's a very poor choice of words!” She let go of him and he began to plummet towards the ground, screaming all the way. Gilda batted her wings once and sped after him, snatching him up by his tail and flying back up.
“That was fun, shall we try it again?” She laughed as she rose up into the air.
“No! Don't kill me! I'll do whatever you want!”
“Maybe I don't want you to do anything? Maybe I'm having too much fun here.” She let go again and he fell. This time she waited a little longer before chasing after the screaming stallion in free fall.
“What do you want from me?!” He shouted in between bursts of hyperventilation.
“Let me think,” She hummed in thought and lazily swung the stallion to and fro by his tail. “Oh yeah! You tried to hurt me and my friend. Now why would you go and do something like that?”
“I'm just a guard, okay?! Nobody was supposed to be allowed in there, and if they did, I had to get rid of them.”
“That's not everything!” Gilda shouted, violently shaking him by the tail. “Tell me who you were working for, and what was up with that machine.”
“I was working for a pair of guards over over on 31st Avenue, New Pike Building.” He spoke quickly. “They pay me on the door there.”
“And the machine?”
“I don't know what you're talking about. I don't even know how it works!”
“You sure that long drop down there can't convince you otherwise? Maybe jog your memory a little?” Gilda snickered maliciously.
“I'm telling you the truth! They wouldn't let me near it!” He shouted, panicking.
“They?” Gilda stopped shaking him.
“The door guards! They said if I ever poked around inside, they'd break me in two!”
“Right.” Gilda beat her wings and began to fly back to tower seven. “Let's see if those Civil Guard ponies I've heard about are around yet.” The pony she held by the tail whimpered.
* * *
The ball and chain was secured around the dust coloured pony and the two guards in brown long-coats shoved him up into the back of the wheeled cage. The guard shutting the door gave a thankful nod to Gilda and joined his companion in the front compartment of motorised cage. The cage drove off at a snails pace down the street, with ponies parting way and watching on in awe.
Gilda looked down at herself. The red, yellow and green splashes and marks of paint were still adorning her fur and feathers. She frowned. This stuff better wash out.
“Y'know, I don't know why they insisted on that cage. Surely it's faster to walk him, even with that ball on his hind leg.” Gilda commented, turning to Fluttershy who was sitting down on a bench a few meters away from the entry into tower seven.
“I-I nearly died.” She shuddered, curling her tail around herself. Gilda approached her as tenderly as she could, especially since she'd been a complete mess for the past half an hour.
“But you didn't.” Gilda reassured her. “So why are you worrying about it? It's not like it happens often.” Fluttershy pouted after some thought.
“That's true.” She shook her head as she spoke. “But it shouldn't have to be that way. I shouldn't have to fear for my life.”
“Well, cool. Don't.” Gilda gave her an incredulous look and shrugged for emphasis.
“It's n-not as easy as that!” She stammered, her tail now flicking about in agitation.
“Listen, I get that we're not the same and we've lived different lives but geez, these things happen. What more, they're gonna' keep happening! You just have to rise to the challenge.”
“I don't mind challenges,” Fluttershy whispered, but managed to bring herself back onto her hooves. “But not like this.”
“Let's have a change of topic, okay? I found out where that guy had come from.” Fluttershy looked over in surprise at Gilda.
“How?” She asked.
“We had a chat.” Gilda dismissed the question. “I'm not smart enough to remember it all, so I wrote it down as soon as I got back.”
Gilda handed over a scrap of paper to Fluttershy, who took it gently in her wing, bringing it to eye-level. She began to frown.
“You've been lied to. This is the wrong address.” She sighed softly.
“I really don't think that idiot would have lied to me. What makes you so sure he did?”
“What makes you so sure he told the truth?” Fluttershy furrowed her brow and stepped closer to Gilda.
“When you're being held hundreds of feet up in the air it takes a lot of guts to lie. Believe me, I've met a lot liars in my life; this fella' ain't one of them.” Gilda puffed up her chest and nodded firmly.
“You did what to him!?” Fluttershy looked appalled. “I specifically told you to not scare ponies here! You've not changed a bit!” Gilda gave her a hollow stare.
“Are you for real?”
“I don't want you running around torturing ponies for any reason!” She pleaded, putting her hoof down.
“He tried to kill you, and I never tortured him.” Gilda narrowed her eyes. “Did me saving your life mean nothing to you?” Fluttershy's eyes widened and she shrunk back.
“No, I'm sorry. I just,” Fluttershy fumbled with her words. “Thank you ... for saving me. I didn't mean it like that. I'm really grateful. I just don't want vengeance. It's not in my nature.” She scuffed her hoof on the ground and averted her eyes.
“I wasn't doing it just because I was angry. I'm not like that any more. I promise.” Gilda very gently reached out and patted Fluttershy on her wing shoulder. Fluttershy smiled softly and broke away from Gilda, trotting down the street.
“What made you say he was lying?” Gilda spoke up as Fluttershy trotted away.
“That building is an official City Council building. It's a commerce office, ran by Apple Fritter. She's one of the family heads that run the whole city.” Gilda looked to the motorised cage, still slowly making its way away. Gilda furrowed her brow in worry and ran her talons through her plumage.
“Right. Of course not. Guess he was lying after all.” She said, coolly, collectively, in complete contrast of how she felt.
“Come on then. We've still got work to do before the day is up.” Fluttershy beckoned Gilda on after her. “The engineers will deal with the machine upstairs, the Civil Guard have the situation up there under control. It's time for me to write a report. Including all details.” Fluttershy shuddered.
