//------------------------------//
// Episode 3.5: The Nameless City 
// Story: Earth Without Us 
// by Starscribe 
//------------------------------//

The floor was the sky was the ground and Alex couldn't tell which way she was falling. She tumbled with uncontrollable speed, a nauseating rush that seemed like it would never end.

Then it did, and she was soaring through the air for some distance before rolling and bumping uncomfortably to a stop. She moaned a little, flexing each of her wings in turn to make sure nothing was broken. It wasn't.

Eventually she straightened, forcing herself to sit up, and brushing the dirt from her face.

The city was enormous, its towering skyscrapers vast and expansive compared to the puny buildings built by modern ponies. The "bloodgate" on this end was itself a vertical square the exact same size as the pool she had just left behind, made of a single cast of sturdy metal covered with markings. There was nothing through it but more sky, though a few faint drops of blood seemed to ooze from the opening before falling to the ground to steam away.

Alex rose, testing each of her legs before putting weight on it, and ultimately found that she was uninjured. From her hooves, she could get a better look around her. 

It was a human city. The skyscrapers weren't just towering, they were rotten. Glass panels were missing, exposed metal showed corrosion, and many of the intact windows were coated in a thin film of... something. The ground all around her, formerly bustling streets, was covered with sediment, and only faint traces of roads or sidewalks poked through.

There were no cars, not even rusting hulks of where they had been. The buildings themselves seemed little more than rotting shells, overgrown with greenery. Some leaned precariously under the weight, and there was plenty of evidence nearby that others had already fallen.

Even so, this place had defied the erosion of time better than she would have expected. Even if not a single year had passed since her death, many lesser suburban areas and small towns had already been completely erased by nature. In some places the touch of humanity remained—big cities like Tokyo, London, or Rome.

Why is this city still standing? She still didn't know the year, not with just three days of watching the stars, but she could guess decades at the very least. It would have taken at least that long for the metal of Paradise Crater's reactor to corrode into the solid mass of wrecked hardware it had been, probably most of that time spent underwater.

She didn't get to stand around and think any longer, though, because something kept prodding at her shoulder. It was the doe, Longstrides-through-dense-grass. She had evidently made it as well. "Where are we?"

Alex walked ahead a few steps down the windswept street, to a street sign. The letters were long faded, but the structure of the sign was familiar. "Big city, lots of skyscrapers, familiar plants... I'm guessing we're in New York."

"Ruins like these should not be entered. The Hunters will take revenge if we desecrate their grave." She bounced back and forth between her front and hind legs—not a pony sign of anxiety exactly, but simple enough for her to comprehend.

It was a good thing they had another language to speak—the effects of Alex's first spell had ended with the portal. Violent transit through space was intense enough that the gossamer threads of mind magic were torn away.

"What hunters are you talking about?" Alex had to ask—there was no possible way the deer could mean...

The doe got very close, lowering her head to within a few inches of Alex's ears. "No one knows for sure. All we know is they were worse than the skycats, worse than the magebloods, but also more. They were... so big and powerful that they barely even saw us. But if they did, they would kill us. Even you, mageblood."

"Human," Alex supplied. "The word is human. Almost all the humans are gone now. But you shouldn't know about them. Your species wasn't sapient when they existed..."

The deer only stared blankly, uncomprehending. "Human?"

"Nevermind." Alex tried to brush off some of the dirt on her coat, before picking a direction and setting off at a trot. The doe followed easily, taking half as many steps to every one of hers. "Look, Longstrides-through-dense-grass... your name is hard for me. Can I just call you Stride? Or... Grass?"

"Stride. Grass is food, I don't want a name to make predictions." Her eyes darted around them, from the wrecked buildings to another standing tall and defiant despite the years. "I hope this is the way out, mageblood. I am not welcome here."

"Alex. My name is Alex. And no, this place doesn't..." She reached out, patting the doe's shoulder in a way she hoped would be reassuring. "Nobody cares that you're here. You're probably just feeling some kind of instinct, left over from before. Back when humans still lived here."

"How can you be sure?" Stride stopped, resting a hoof on her shoulder. "I've never seen one, but... there are stories! Terrible stories!"

I'd love to hear some of those eventually, Alex thought. Instead, she said, "I was one of them. Many years ago..." She thought back until she found a book about North American wildlife. "Fifteen of your generations back, maybe twenty."

Stride shook her head. "Not even mageblood live that long! I've seen old, you haven't seen twenty summers! Old enough to be my mother perhaps, but not the mother of the first tribe!"

"It's true. Travel with me long enough, and you will know. I walked on two legs, lived in a city like this, ate meat..."

The doe's eyes widened, and she retreated out of reach. "That would explain how you killed the skycat! But... why didn't you kill the rest of us? You left my Kin alive, even wanted me to go with them!"

"I'm not human anymore, Stride." She sighed, sitting down on her haunches on the grass. Where were all the people, anyway? The ruined streets were deserted around them, though they were also so choked with plants and rubble that they couldn't see very far in any direction. "Even when I was, I never cared for hunting. The only time I ever saw one of your kind was when I went camping. I never hurt one."

"I think even if we found some humans, they'd treat you differently now. They don't kill creatures that make clothes and build societies and learn old human languages." Alex got up again, and marched past her. "Look, I don't know how to send you back. You're welcome to go your own way, if you want. But I'm not leaving."

Alex hadn't gone far before she stopped again, inspecting something pale half-buried in fallen leaves and other refuse.

"Why did you come here?"

Alex brushed the leaves away, tugging at the thing resting underneath. It was a pony's skull, the top half of one anyway. Several other bones poked out from nearby, obviously a complete set. "To stop this from happening to more ponies. Make this into a thriving city, where ponies don't starve in winter. Eventually powerful enough that we can tear down the governments that would kill intelligent beings to fuel their spells. If I could only find Athena..." She pushed the skull back into the leaves, brushing off her hoof on the ground. 

"I'm sorry I was too late, friend. Whoever you were. I'll send someone to bury you before winter. Promise."

"The Mother's champion is insane," Stride muttered from behind her. "Thinks she walked with the hunters and talks to the dead."

"And yet you believe that I talked to her? I don't see what makes that easier."

"I saw her strength in your eyes," Stride said quietly. "When you saw what they were doing to Gestalt-of-rainbows. Some mageblood got sick, or cried, or looked away. You fought."

"Well, look into my eyes now, Stride." She reached out, touching the doe on one side. "You don't have to stay with me. But if you do, if you give me your hooves and your loyalty, I will teach you to build a society out of ashes. When this is over, you can return to your Kin with the knowledge to make them great. You can return with friends who will fight beside you next time someone tries to kidnap and kill you."

Stride was silent for a long time, staring at her. Alex heard nothing—nothing but the wind, and the distant rustling of leaves. Then Stride nodded. "You say like it is already true. I would like to see this future already before you."


* * *


 

Much of the city resembled the area around the portal: some structures intact, some crumbling, but no sign of anything like useful salvage. This city had been picked quite clean back when there had been a pony settlement here. Alex set their route according to what she remembered about it, heading for Central Park. That was where they had been building last time she checked, scavenging and looting the existing city more than living in it.

She kept her eyes open for any sign of whatever had kept the city so well preserved for so long. It was true that some of the skyscrapers hadn't made it, true that more than once she passed a river running where a street had been, and in those areas the structures had been hit particularly harshly. Yet even so, the whole thing felt wrong. There shouldn't be this much of a city left. Maybe one or two lucky structures, perhaps a stone church here or there. Not the majority.

It had already been late when they arrived, and it was getting darker by the moment. Nightfall no longer seemed particularly frightening to Alex, not as her sight seemed to get better instead of worse the less light happened to be around. Her companion felt more and more uneasy about being out, though. She had already pointed out wolf tracks, and there was no telling what else might be hiding.

Alex picked the most intact-looking structure she had yet seen: a tall apartment building with most of its glass windows unbroken.

It wasn't. Her memories about how thoroughly looted the city had been weren't wrong. Centuries of scavenging, of erosion and time, meant the building had very little for them. No trace of carpet, so much as it was a steel and cement shell, with rooms of various sizes and occasional piles of decomposed detritus. The stairs were intact and the building didn't shake as they climbed, so she counted that enough.

There were no doors, but they picked a room near the back of the floor, and piled up bits of rotten material until the doorway was packed full. It was a depressing place to spend the night, but she hoped at least it would be a safe one.

"Tomorrow I have to teach you how to find better food," Stride offered, when Alex had stripped and made a pillow out of her backpack. The deer slept close-by, even more oblivious to personal space than native ponies could be. Just now, Alex enjoyed the warmth. "You graze like a fawn, putting anything green into your mouth. No wonder you aren't more grown up."

Alex winced, though she bit back the pain. "There's a way to graze? Aren't we just eating crap? Almost empty calories, just to stay alive. We'll get farming going soon, but we have to find—"

Stride silenced her with a look. "Just like a mageblood! Maybe in the darkest winter we get that desperate, but not before the leaves change! I will teach you, tomorrow. You cannot build anything with a stomach full of grass and dead leaves."

She slept, uneasily. She went on no more dream-journeys. She still wanted to find Athena, but just now it seemed more urgent to start helping the humans banished to the "Nameless City." Maybe with enough of them, she would find someone with technology she could use to contact the AI. A cell phone might even do it, if she could get a strong enough signal.

She heard motion from the hall, soft hoofsteps as though partially obscured by cloth. Somepony was trying to sneak up on them. Alex opened one eye, though she didn't move, watching their makeshift barricade begin to collapse from the other side, almost silently.

Alex rose even more quietly, trusting to the darkness to hide her. She pressed herself to one wall, somewhere she wouldn't be easily visible to whoever was sneaking in on them. She unfocused her eyes, calling on the power of her office. Was it true that the ponies of the city were former humans?

This one was. She waited until he had taken apart the barricade, or very nearly, and was creeping in over the rubble. That was when she raised her voice, calling loudly enough that it echoed. "Robert Miller, there's no need to sneak up on us. Please, come in."

Something metallic dropped, clattering to a stop on the cement floor. She saw the knife, a sturdy pre-Event looking piece without any corrosion.

Robert was an earth pony, solidly built and dark furred. His mane was a light tan, and his eyes were half wild. Like most ponies his night vision was poor, and he looked only in her general direction when he finally answered. "Whoever you are... don't fight. I can break animals in half. I've done it before."

Archive stepped sideways, so that she was right below the window and clearly illuminated by the moonlight streaming through. "That's because of your race, Robert. You've become an earth pony, and strength is one of your primary abilities. Not the most impressive, but significant."

"I don't w-want to hurt you." He fumbled for the knife, resting one hoof on the handle but unable to lift it. He also seemed unwilling to bend down to take it in his mouth, what with how vulnerable that would make him.

Stride had opened her eyes and watched the exchange from the wall, eyes mostly on Robert. "What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing," Alex responded in her language. "Our first recruit came to us."

"Looks like he's here to eat us to me."

"Be quiet!" The earth pony snapped one hoof down on the cement, which cracked easily under the force. "Speak normal! If you try anything, I'll kill you!"

"You won't." Archive advanced on him, very slowly. "You can't fool me, kid. You aren't a killer. You should be practicing law right now... Penn State, class of 2011, right? You were a junior fellow at—"

"Shut up!" he screamed again, very little of sanity left in his face. "You can't know those things! The whole world is dead! Everyone is dead!"

"Robert isn't dead," she said. "You hate yourself for what you've done to stay alive." She was very close now, almost within reach. Archive kept her body as tense as drawn cord, ready to dart away at the slightest perturbation in the air. An emotional earth pony could shatter her like glass, but he would have to hit her first.

"I don't blame you, kid. You did what you had to do. But you can stop." 

The pony was shivering now, his eyes darting rapidly between her and the knife, but unable to move. "S-stop it... whatever you're doing..."

She rested one hoof on his shoulder, looking up into his eyes. She was at her most vulnerable now, easily within reach. Failure was no longer an option. "Let me show you a better way. You've run around this city half-starved, hunted by something you can't see, not sure where you'll find your next meal or where you'll sleep... but under all that, I can still see the person you were. Robert wanted to practice law so he could help people, and because you wanted security for yourself and your family. I can help you find both."

The muscular earth pony melted like butter left out in the sun. He cried, and Alex held him with all the strength she had. In truth, she could see very little of how his life had been since coming to the city—it was only the person he had been that she could see. But all she had to do was look at the scars in his coat, the lean ribs poking through, and hear the quaking in his voice.

Not every pony who did evil was evil.

"I don't understand," Stride said, when the pony had been reduced to weak quivering and the danger had passed. "He didn't even try to hurt you. What kind of spell was that?"

"The most powerful spell anyone ever cast," Alex answered. "The truth."


* * *


 

Dear Journal,

Found my first refugee in the 'Nameless City.' Pretty sure it's New York, by the way. I've seen several of these structures before, though at present I can't get a good view of any of the iconic landmarks. I do not have an easy answer for how the city is so intact despite the time elapsed. Even the luckiest skyscrapers should've crumbled to dust at this point, right? Well maybe if I could find a useful year.

Stride the dutch-deer (way easier than her proper name), did not know a year any more than the refugee did.

So yeah, earth pony's name is Robert. Apparently he's been in the city since before last winter. He was able to tell me a little about the state of the city, though I am somewhat suspicious of the quality of the information he gave me. I will want to independently verify as much of it as I can.

He guesses there are a few thousand ponies trapped here, from all over the world. He doesn't have an idea of how long the average has been here, though what information he did have was not encouraging.

There is no settlement to join, no city or town growing up here. Most ponies survive by grazing, which based on some quick napkin math I did does not sound sustainable through winter if all of Manhattan Island is still mostly city. Ponies’ coats are helpful, but the delicate species would not do well.

No ponies build houses, most just shelter in the ruins and fend off the marauders. There are a great deal of ponies like him, thieving bands of a few to a few hundred that have always stopped something more civilized from forming.

Robert is extremely nervous about building with us, because he's afraid that once word gets around we have anything worth taking, people will come to kill us and take it. Just now, I am inclined to share his fear.

A few thousand ponies would be a respectable starting population. If we could reach a certain level of sophistication, the metal and glass of this city are very useful raw materials to build its replacement. I don't know why so many of the structures survived... but if they did, maybe more valuable salvage did as well. Maybe we could strip copper out of building wires, or pipes, or whole working machines!

I haven't seen any sign of working machines. No cars that are anything more than rusting mounds. No street lights that look intact, and nothing in the few buildings I checked that resembled working tech.

A shame, considering what I could do if I could get word to Athena. I will have to try Isaac again soon. Sending a message he will remember through to waking will be tricky, but it shouldn't be impossible.

Tomorrow I will send Robert to protect Stride while she searches for edible plants for our food stockpile. If we're incredibly lucky, we'll find something we can grow. A single earth pony can feed many other ponies with their magic, when taught to properly use it. Abundant food is the first step to our stability.

While they search, I will try and find a unicorn. With someone to empower my spells, there are few limits to what we could accomplish. We'll need magic if we hope to overcome the odds against us.

That's one blessing: the refugees banished here might be slowly losing their minds, they might be starving, but nobody's been teaching them their powers. We will have a distinct advantage over the criminal elements. They might see what we do and know it's possible, but they won't have teachers.

I promised some difficult things today. I don't intend to become a liar.

NEXT DAY UPDATE: 

I would like to date these entries, but that 's difficult to do without some arbitrary frame of reference to use for comparison. How about counting days? Day two in the city was successful, though not in the way I imagined.

First, food. Stride and Robert collected all sorts of edible plants. That deer proved to be quite resourceful. She found several different kinds of berries, as well as some wild turnips, and a few dozen wheat-berries. Potatoes and sugar-beets would have been nice, but considering our odds I'll take what I can get.

They apparently met some other ponies during the search, but Robert frightened them off. I'm glad things didn't come down to fighting. Stride's loyalty is secure, but Robert's is not. If he were forced to fight, I'm fairly sure he'd run and we would never get him back. His earth pony talents will be absolutely essential to what I want to build.

The ponies here are some of the most forlorn, empty creatures I have ever seen. I met several today, wandering aimlessly through the streets as though they couldn't even see me. Some laughed when I explained I was going to start a town here, and that they were invited. None were as easy to reach as Robert was. Too callous, too damaged—I wonder if maybe they've lived in the city too long. I might win them over yet, but... not with only promises to offer.

The search wasn't fruitless, however. I found a pegasus—she wouldn't talk, but she listened, and she was willing to follow me home. She hasn't left my side since I found her, actually. She's only a filly, maybe eleven or twelve. The last time I found an abandoned child was a changeling queen hiding in the top floor of a building. Nancy is about the same age Riley was, but she hasn't survived as well. She looks pretty bad, I can only imagine what she's been through.

But she's safe here. Got her cleaned up, and she's resting easy now. Maybe for the first time in a long time.





Tomorrow we will relocate to somewhere more stable—a smaller, intact building that is easier to defend, preferably with somewhere we can start planting. We may need to start with rooftop gardens, or something else that is easy to protect.

One hint about what might have kept the city intact this long: there is magic here. It was so diffuse I missed it the first day, and I'm no unicorn. It became more obvious with exposure. It isn't evil, not like the bloodgate that got us here, but beyond that I don't know what it is. It would take a unicorn's senses, which I don't have.

Focused plenty of attention on Robert—can't have him giving up on us. I think Stride taking him around to lots of edible plants and the subsequent feast did more to earn his loyalty than any words I could say, though. Few arguments are as persuasive as a full stomach.

-Day