“What is it.” Asked Scootaloo.
“Its … Moles.”
What was in front of them was hard to describe. Actually no – what was in front of them was easy to describe.
It was a city full of moles.
What was hard to describe was how rich is was.
The city rose like stalagmites from the cavern floor. Spirals of a sand colored stone that maintained a consistent thickness for the entire length where it thinned out into a roof-like point. Each top decorated with a shiny gemstone.
The spirals were filled with holes that must be windows – yet they still did not give off a Bee hive like impression as they were far to symmetrical in their placing. And a light shone out from inside every single one of them.
What was like a bee hive though, was the streets below. Never would the Cmc have imagined a mole society to be so buzzing with activity. Not that they had imagined moles to have much of a society at all – most that sprung to mind was a hole in the ground and an intricate network of tunnels. Not a sprawling city with streets and bridges and lights.
A thousand tiny, tiny lights were shining from gem encrusted lamp posts. They decorated not just the street level – But the sides of the buildings. At every floor there were rows of gem-lanters decorating the towers like the lights on a Hearts Warming tree. Culminating in that bigger gem on the spirals top.
The whole city shone like in an eternal day. The warm yellow light radiating of the warm sand colored bedrock that the whole city was made of.
It was like looking out over a forest of sand-Fir. Like someone had made the most elaborate sand sculptures of hearts-warming trees on a hot summer beach.
A forest that rose in front of them. with the shorter buildings decorating the far edges of the cavern, each neighbored by a taller cousin – who in turn was neighbored by an even taller uncle. As the city rose, floor by floor as it stretched outward and upward in front of them. Until at the very back, there was the most elaborate sand castle that the girls had ever seen.
It towered up over the city – like the final backdrop to an elaborate sand painting. It leaned against the far cavern wall, like Canterlot castle would sit on the backbone of its mountain.
The girls could not believe anything underground could be so vibrant.
Comparing it to the diamond dogs tunnels was like comparing a rock farm to Canterlot.
Despite there being no sun, The cavern was overflowing with light. The light that shone across the city was coming from hundreds – No, thousands – No, tens or hundreds of thousands of crystals, each glowing with a warm yellow/golden light.
It made Sweeties mouth water.
“Wow.” Said Scootaloo “I though you said your home was humble.”
"Oh - don't get me wrong!” Said the mole “It is the Greatest city in all of the endless-earth ocean. But surely you have greater in the sky.”
“Well --- there is Canterlot, Manehattan ,Cloudsdale and Las-pegasuss.”
Applebloom gave her an elbow to the side.
“Are you kidding me?” She said “This is like if Las-pegasuss and Manehattan had a foal.”
“Wow ... How long has this been here?”
“A few years now”. The mole told them. “In fact we are coming up on the celebration of out first decade.”
“No way!”
“Yes way. In fact, you being here can only be a sigh of the surface.”
“Sigh? What kind of sign?”
“That the next decade is going to be even more prosperous then the last.”
The mole bounced with energy as he proceeded down a slope leading down from the platform the girls were standing on.
Following him proved to a a bit of a balance act for the girls, as they were wider then the tiny little furry creatures it was designed for.
***
The city was even more vibrant up close. Entire walls had been decorated in colorful gems. Sometimes in single colors – but far more often in beautiful mosaic patterns that stretched sometimes up the length of a building. There were even mosaic signs and billboards that shone with nothing but the inner colors of the gems they were made of.
And the buildings themselves... beneath all the gems and the lights, the most impressive thing was that the city did not look constructed – it looked excavated. Like the whole city had been dug out from the bedrock. There was not a single line of brick or woodwork...
(Come to think of it – there was no wood at all. No shutters for the windows of doors for the entrances. Everything was an open hole in the structure.)
… The buildings melted into the streets. Everything out of the same sand colored material – like a single gigantic sculpture dug out from the bedrock. Once again Sweetie was reminded of sand sculptures in the sand on some hot summer beach. Though the streets below her hooves were cold, it was like walking in a forest of gigantic sand-Fir's.
Gigantic – That was how Sweetie and her friends felt. As foals they had spent their entire lives looking up at everypony else. It was a life spent living in eye height of other ponies legs. And moving through a crowd usually meant being lost in a forest of legs, trying to avoid being trampled by an unobservant passer-by.
Here – It was they who had to 'look out below', as not to trample on any of their admirers.
Every mole had stopped to stare as the girls passed down one of the wider streets. Their eyes shining brighter then the brightest crystal, as they stood in awestruck silence as the girls were being paraded down the streets – some even averted their eyes, or jumped behind something when Sweetie turned to look at them.
It was only once the girls had passed that the cheering started up behind them. It followed them, but never got to close, out of fear of intruding.
In front of them, their guide walked. Proudly proclaiming like a herald:
“Hear ye hear ye! Visitors from the sky approaches! - Clear a path! clear a path!”
His worm wriggled in front of him. Gently “encouraging” moles to clear the street as they proceeded deeper into the city, in the direction of the castle.
The “parade” grew as they got deeper into the city. More worm riders (what else should you call them) joined up in their escort (once their awe had settled in). And a trail of admierers formed behind them, growing longer with every street they passed.
Scoot started to walk backwards in order to address the followers. Taking true inspiration from her greatest Idol she asked them if she should sign any pictures they might have taken. It did not matter to her too much that the moles did not seem to poses much in the way of photo equipment – Or paper for that matter – a simple stone tablet would suffice.
Applebloom was mostly keeping to herself in the middle, though she had allowed the crowd to carry their saddlebags and hardhats.
Sweetie was actually starting to feel a bit naked in the crowd. The bright lights of the city glistened of what few parts of her that was not smudged with soot. She had been unwilling to part with her saddlebags, which quite literally contained a part of herself. A part that had been nicely saved from the soot due to being so neatly tucked away. She would have liked to change somewhere – or at least wash the soot of - if not their guide had been so over enthusiastic.
On the other hoof – this way they got to see her for what she really was – and they were not looking down on her for it, (not that they had any choice but to look up) but their eyes just carried that little extra.
They admired her.
She wondered if this was what Princess Celestia felt like? To be admired like a …
”Are you a goddess?”
Sweetie stopped in her tracks. (causing Scootaloo and Applebloom to walk into her) and turned her head.
In the silence, it had not been difficult to hear the tiny, tiny voice.
Beside her – A small mole had walked out into the street. Far smaller then any other. Yet with eyes that seemed twice as big as it stared up at her.
“What?”
“Are you goddesses?” The little one repeated. Its high pitched voice identifying the speaker as a female.
Sweetie felt like the whole street was holding its breath, It pressured her to say something.
”No? We are ponies.”
”But... you came from the heavens, right?”
“Of course they did Lot, of course they did.“
An bigger female appeared beside the little one, and tried to gentry drag her back by the scruff.
Looking behind her. Sweetie saw a small tiny herd of tiny moles, grouped closely together. Their eyes shifted nervously between the giant mechanical pony and the elder with one of their in her mouth.
“I beg your pardon, o heavenly child.” the elder said – spitting out the younger. “Little Lot here can be quite a mouthful.”
Sweetie wasn't quite sure is she should interpenetrate that literally or not.
“Oh – I don't mind.” She said. “Who … who are you?”
The elder one shifted uneasily as she tried to hide the smaller ones behind her. A fruitless task as the little one simply climbed onto her back.
“I'm Lot” said Lot “And that's Lat - Spatt - Spard – Lard – Flard - Gipp and Gapp and Gepp ...”
The little one pointed as she named of her group in rapid fire succession, all of them apparently having short , single syllable names. It was all Sweetie could do to save a mental image of the group and play it over the sound file of Lot's voice in slow motion to put a name to all the faces.
“Were on our way to school.” Lot finished, before the elder mare managed to get the little one of her back. “Whats your name?”
“Oh, I'm Sweetie Belle.”
“Swit .. e ... Bell?” the little one struggled with a name that was longer then the usual variety.“ before settling on 'Bell'.
“And I'm Applebloom.”
That name proved even harder to pronounce so the little one simply settled on “Boom!”
“And I'm Scootaloo“
“Scoot!”
-:: Well that was an easy nickname ::-
“Are you a pony, miss Bell?”
“Yes.” Sweetie answered automatically.
“Really? You don't look like the others.”
Sweetie grinned as she looked down into eyes full of innocence.
“well … I guess I'm not really like everypony else.”
“Our great king never described someone like you.”
Sweetie's mind drew a blank on that statement about as fast as another mole-child elbowed little Lot in the side for making it.
Had that little mole just called her 'some-one', despite her obvious iron outside.
She felt … flattered.
“Don't get me wrong. He is very wise. But … Maybe he just missed you.” Little Lot said, as she rubbed her side.
“I doubt that,” said Sweetie, not remembering having been watched by many moles. “I have not been around for that long.”
“Are there others like you?”
“Nooo … there is just me.”
This drew a lot of exited gasps, not just from the group – but from the rest of the street as well.
“Did our prayers create you?”
“Did they create you and send you down to us!”
“Oh Child of the heavens – Have you come to aid us in out darkest need!”
All focus was on Sweetie Belle. The same superstitious awe filled their eyes.
“Are all machines alive in the sky?”
“Noooooo. … Its just me.”
“A sigh” they yelled. “You were sent from the sky to aid us!”
“The sky have come to aid us!“
“I came on my own.” Sweetie Belle corrected.
“Same thing – the sky has come to aid us!”
“Its true!” Shouted their guide. Now coming back to check why the parade had stopped. “I've seen them take on a tunnel worm several times their size like it was nothing!”
He pointed at Sweetie.
“The Sweet one here carries the holy drill...”
“My name is Sweetie Belle!”
“My apologies” he said, and cleared his throat. “Miss Bell here is able to conjure up a drill from noting!”
-:: Eh ... close enough ::-
“Really – Show us!” the crowd began to chant. “Show us, show us, show us!”
Sweetie made a mental note of her power levels – Her battery was still full – but without any reserve crystals to keep it that way – she doubted shed be able to do much.
Then again – these ponies were so pleading for a demonstration. And it was fun to be the center of attention in a non demeaning way
-:: Activating drill ::-
The drill nearly touched the walls of the surrounding buildings
There was an awe inspired sigh from the crowd – and octave that first rose in sheer awe … but then seemed to ebb out into … Was that disappointment Sweetie heard? The tone quickly cut off before it got that far.
And everyone just stared as the street once again fell into a tense silence.
“HA! is that all!? My dad could make better drills then that!”
The voice came from up high. As Sweetie Turned to see the speaker, she sensed something hitting her cheek.
No bigger then a drop of rain.
She touched her cheek and found a tiny green goo stuck to her hoof.
“Maybe the skies ain't so great after all!”
The whole city gasped in horror at this travesty.
“Its her! Its her!” shouted the boys of the class.
“That Sim – After her!”
There was the blowing of whistles and several worms wriggled their way up the buildings after the unseen attacker.
Sweetie turned her head to see – And almost knocked over a building with her massive drill.
Whoever the assailant was – she quickly disappeared
“Who was ...?”
“Oh don't mind her...” The elderly female waved her paws dismissively ”Shes just a little … insubordinate...”
Another mole quickly stepped forward, bowed, then asked to get to clean up Sweetie's magnificent hooves.
She allowed him – a bit offput when he kissed the spot, and licked up the substance.
He grimaced when he was done – but bough forth his best smile.
“Wow” Said little Lot, looking up at Sweeties big drill “You really are a living great engine. You look just like out crystal drill engines! How fast can you move through the earth? Can you rack bedrocks? Do you have an interior cooling system, how long before the auger-blades gets dull and has to be replaced? Do you use rotation force crystals? How much kinetic force can you manage? Whats your power outlet? Do you run on gems?”
Sweetie grinned nervously. Little Lot's rapid fire questions made her computerized mind feel slow as she had never really thought about the dynamics. She had never really calculated the process beyond “apply force until the thing in front of you breaks.” perhaps not the most optimized of solutions but ...
-:: Wait ... Gems?::-
"Yes ... yes I do. How did you know?"
-:: that's too good for a guess ::-
"Everything run on gems, silly. what do you think we use to fuel our great drill engines?"
The street gasped at the word 'silly'.
“Wait … you have drill engines?“ Applebloom began. “But ... you're moles … Don't you dig with your claws?”
“And … don't you have worms that do that for you?” Scootaloo added.
“Not anymore. Don't you know anything about the age of enlightenment, silly?” Little Lot asked.
The street gasped again.
“My apologies” Said their Guide, quickly rushing over “Truly we must be too beneath you for you to take notice of out simple lives.”
Behind him – The elder pushed the child back into the herd.
“Weeeeeeeel …” Scootaloo dragged out the vowel while she looked for words. “You are, technically beneath … in a geometrical sense. And in a sense of height.”
She held out her hoof at mole height – which was barely up to their knees.
Applebloom shoved it down with her own knee.
“What is this Age of enlightenment?” she asked.
“Oh! We can show you! We can show you!” Little Mole began to chant – Please, please, please, please, please! We were on our way to learn about the great engines anyway.”
She tugged on the elderly mole.
“Miss Teacher can tell you all about everything!”
Teacher? Well then, at least now the herd of children behind her made more sense.
“Well ...” Said the teacher, Looking really reluctant to ask “If its not too much trouble, We were on our way to school.”
“Oh … I'm sure the great children don't have time for ...” their guide began.
“No – Its no trouble.” Said Sweetie, who was actually growing quite curious. “In fact – I'm wondering where you got all these gems?”
“Oh! We can show you! We can show you!” the children chanted in chorus.
“I mean! Yes, of course the children have the time!”
"Annnnnd ... I was wondering if I cant have a few. If its not too much trouble. " Sweetie added , with all the subtlety of a giant filly in a town of little moles.
"Of course not - anything for our visitors!"
Though their guide looked like he wanted to object – he bowed and backed away.
“Allow us to carry your bags, Oh children of the sky. Surely there shall be a great feast in your honor.”
And so, their equipment continued down their glorious parade, while the girls themselves took a detour.
“Ugh – I can't believe the bottom of the earth ain't enough to get away from school.”
Applebloom shot her friend a disapproving look.
“Really miss 'below us!' What was that all about? ” She whispered.
“I mean – I sure had no idea this was below us, Miss “But – but you're moles!” Scootaloo whispered back.
***
The town opening up straight into what could only be describes a a quarry. The cavern walls outside of the city were filled with walkways and holes. Different platforms of varying size and regularity having been cut into the bedrock, like a motive of stairs and boxes stacked on top of each other in an almost regular metric shape. This shape stretched from left to right around the cavern – And by Sweeties estimate the whole lower half of the cavern – with a few exceptions of the castle – was like a big quarry sandbox, with the city located in the middle of it. The only reason the girls had missed this before was because they had been blinded by the city itself.
On every quarry level there were tunnels opening up into the vast unknown of the underworld. With the smallest tunnels on the upper levels. While the tunnels on the bottom floor were wide enough for a pony to walk through with their head head high. In width rivaling or even surpassing the holes Sweetie had made. Opening up like a dark hole that swallowed all light that happened to sine past its wide mouth.
This part of town seemed even more filled with activity then the crowded streets – possibly because no one had stopped to look at them. Moles and worms scurried up and down the narrow walkways.
It was like watching ants in an ant-farm. With the walkways having been cut into the cavern wall, like tiny half tubes in wish the moles curried forth , like how a hamster might crawl through his tubes.
More headed to the mines then there were coming out of them, disappearing on quests that could take days or weeks – the Teacher explained.
Those that did return did so carrying bags, or riding on little paw cranked trolleys, or bigger mine carts pulled by worms. Carts riding dragged on tiny railroad tracks that to a filly would be little more then a playset. Carrying everything from glowing worms, seeds and plants that grew underground – to rocks or iron and copper and a lot of different materials. Everything the moles had came from the mines.
These riches needed to be well guarded - it seemed, since the place had such a heavy guard presence. At just about every street leading out into the quarry there was a mole wearing a some form of plate mail. Often accompanied, and sometimes riding upon their big worms.
They were not too happy about letting the crowd into the workplace. But once they saw the girls they quickly fell silent and allowed all to pass.
As one could imagine the place buzzed with activity. As Sweetie watched, a cart full of gems were being pushed out of one of the bigger tunnels and straight into one of the larger buildings at the end of town. By another stood a series parts of machines awaiting assembly by a line right outside the gate in its walls. Again – the gate had no actual door – so it was easy for a filly to bend her head and try to see where the red light from inside was coming from.
Doing so met with a gust of hot air – It was like holding your face up to a oven.
Inside – naked moles worked pouring red hot liquid metal into shapes. Their hair-less bodies carrying several scorch marks as they carefully felt their way around in The red hot light coming from crystals who glowed with the color of lava. They wore no protection from the light or heat – as far as could be seen - if there was ever a reason for moles to be blind – it was to explain how they could work in such blinding heat.
The machine were nothing to sneeze at either. It was bigger then a filly. Which made it seem huge to the moles who climbed on it. Assembling a machine akin to something like a big red train. Except it had a big pointy trill in the front, rather then a fender.
A finished example stood ready and awaiting by the nearest and biggest tunnel entrance. Its drill wide enough to have made the tunnel as big as it was. And the machinery behind it big enough to be qualified as a train on the surface. It sat upon several sets of wheels, standing upon a railway leading straight into the darkness of the tunnel. Its red paint shone of polish.
“These great engines” The teacher explained “Are use to drill the rock where even our worms can not tunnel.”
Sweeties eyes scanned the impressive engine from back to front. An engine was just what is was. One big engine on wheels. There was no pilot house nor chimney – nothing sticking out beyond the diameter of the drill. There were however several power coils spread out across the hull, crackling with a white hot energy.
The machine hummed like a tumble-dryer, and it sounded as several big gears were turning around under the hull, as the big drill in front slowly spun – without any real speed.
It gave Sweetie the impression of a sleeping bear. Inactive, but very much alive.
Scoot looked upon the machines with a puzzled expression.
“I though you said you had never seen the sky? But how come you can not break through towards the surface with these?”
”Oh - We are not digging towards the sky“ said the Teacher.” We simply dig because we have to. You see – the more we dig the more the colony can expand, and the more our people can grow. If we did not dig we would become overpopulated.”
Sweetie looked into the tunnel. It was nothing but a big long empty hallway. She did not know much about expansion, but if they wanted to make their city bigger, then should they not be making the cave bigger? Not be drilling holes to nowhere?
She asked the teacher about that.
“No.” the teacher said with a sad smile. “We are not expanding this colony. We are digging our way towards a new home. A new hope. For you see, our old home have recently come under attack.”
“Attack? By whom? And why?”
“I will tell you; for you see, digging is a hard work to do with nothing but the claws on your pawns. The Mole king brought us new technology – giant drill machines that make the work easier. But the machines don't run on dirt. (if it only where so well) They run on crystals. So we dig for crystals to keep our machines going. But they are difficult to find.”
She sighed.
“Sometimes we dug just to keep the machines digging. finding just enough crystal to keep the machines digging, looking for more- an evil circle.”
Sweetie sighed as well. Apparently crystal power shortage was becoming an universal problem.
“But – what does that have to do with whom attacked you?”
“Once” The teacher said” when we where digging, we found these massive caves filled with crystals. We though at first that we were blessed. That we had finally found the light at the end of the tunnel. But those caves where cursed. For there lived the evil Demon dogs.”
“Demon dogs? You mean Diamond dogs?”
“Diamond ... dogs?” said the teacher confused. “Well … they certainly live in diamonds. But no, they are Demon dogs.”
“The mole king say they are what evil little moles turn into after they have died.” one of the children squeaked.
“Sim is gonna become one for sure - for sure!” Squeaked another.
Sweetie gave her friends a confused look.
"Moles don't turn into Diamond dogs ... right?"
Both of her friends just shrugged.
"I don't know. Ive never seen a female dog. Have you?" said Scootaloo.
"No - I haven't"
Still - this theory did not sit entirely right.
Sure, the Diamond Dogs where kind of rude and smelly. But to call them demons? Wasn't that a bit of a stretch?
-:: you came up with worse names for them when they took you hostage ::-
-:: And if they are really hurting these little people, they are worse then you thought ::-
“Anyway.” the teacher continued, and her dramatic story-telling tone returned: The Mole king says that the Demon dogs guard the way to the sky, any mole who tried to look for it will find only a harsh and cruel fate.”
“They are evil” the children chanted. “They are wicked, deceptive and cruel.”
“The mole kind says The Demon dogs use their crystals to lure our people to our doom. So we dig to find a new home. A new hope. Because the mole king promises us there is a light at the end of our tunnels. And we are digging to find that light. Something that will make us never have to rely on crystals again. And then we'll be able to free ourselves of the evil Demon dogs. And then we will never again have to dig through the tunnels. And then we will never again have to sacrifice our children to work in these dangerous machines.”
She looked upon the trio, Sweetie Belle in particular, with a proud smile.
Around her – the children had sat down to listen.
“And now that you are here we know for sure that our journey forward is blessed.”
Sweetie sensed one of her red hot blushes coming.
Wait a minute. Dangerous machines?
“What do you say about your children?”
At that moment. There was a scream from the engine.
“whats going on!?”
“Its Slip!”
There was suddenly a buzzing of activity around the engine.
Sensing the call of someone in danger, The Cmc leaped into action.
“Turn it of!” Scootaloo screamed making a quick lap around the engine. “Where do you turn it off”
She turned to the crowd.
“Where is the darn off switch!?”
“There … there is no off switch” said a mole, who Sweetie dubbed the foreman ”Once the great machines are turned on – they are to be running eternally...”
Applebloom banged on the hull.
“Where are you!?” she called “Answer me!”
She ran her ear along the side of the hull, Trying to locate the source of the screaming as it echoed through the engine. Along with all the other sounds of straining machinery.
The screaming continued, until it no longer did. There was a hiss from the machinery, and the drill suddenly stopped spinning.
“Help … Its … Crushing me... “
No time.
Sweetie looked up on one of the power coils. She reared up, horn sparkling as she rammed it straight into the white hot energy hub.
Well … this was new.
It was not the first time Sweetie had interfaced with another piece technology. But it was the first time she had interfaced with something like this.
Normally the energy that flowed inside a machine became her energy. Her consciousness surfing along on the those electrical waves, until her mind, her will, flowed through the extent of external electronics like it did through the rest of her body.
It was a process that occurred at the speed of lightning. Which is to say – really, really fast. As fast as the electricity can travel to the light bulb and back when the on switch is pressed.
Sweetie had thought to simply make the machinery stop. If no off switch existed – she would make one of her own. This had always worked on normal pony electronics.
Normal pony-made electronics used electricity. It was an easy energy to interface with as it mixed so well with her own.
This was different. There was still an energy coursing though the machines veins. But it was of a different nature.
It was crystal energy.
Sweetie realized, as she surfed through the engines internals, that the wheels inside it were not spinning because of an engine. There were crystals spinning it with … something. She was hesitant to call it magic because it did not feel like it.
It was simply kinetic force – Like the energy of movement trapped in a bottle.
She had not exactly been lucky today with controlling crystal energy.
However – like the magical upgrades she had received today – she believed she could control the components themselves. Even if she could not affect the energy inside them – she just had to “put the cork back in the bottle” – so to speak.
How had she done it with the crystal upgrades she had received today? It had literally just been hours ago. Her memory banks could not have eroded just yet.
-:: Just – give them a little push ::-
Sweetie located the main sources of the energy. All of them. And let her own electricity flow through them, along with a simple command:
-:: STOP ::-
The machine did not answer to Sweeties commands. Why should it? They did not speak the same language. In fact there was no code flowing though the machine at all. Just energy controlling the different parts in a complex patterns of breakers and switches she did not understand. (Not exactly more advanced then a data program – but mote complex in its mechanical structure of directing energy within the machinery.)
It was like a Railway yard with an flurry of different levers and switches that she did not have time to learn about.
Letting her own energy flow through them would be worthless - as the only way she stopped her own magical components from functioning was to cut of the power going through them.
What Sweetie did instead could be more akin to jumping onto a wild beast and try to reel it in. She attacked the machines energy with her own. Overpowering it and reeling it into a dangerous rodeo game.
If she could not cut off the power, she would redirected it somewhere else, All of it, just to make sure there was no energy who could move the machinery and crush anyone.
She made one of the power nods on top of the engine her focus point as she hurled all of the energy that way. Akin to overloading a component by pushing too much volt into it. It might break the machine – but there was a life at stake here.
A blinding light shoot out across the quarry, as the power coils up top crackled and sparkled worse then they were probably designed for. Even though Sweetie's mind was inside the machine, the eyes in her scull saw the long tendrils of energy escaping from the top of the engine. So many individual bolts of white hot lightning were appearing so quickly that they appeared to be instantaneously forming a huge tight bush of lightning branches, stretching up through the cave.
Inside however, things went quiet. With no more reinforcements the fighting forces of the engine were forced to give up arms, and the humming of machinery died.
After a tense few seconds of silence there was a huffing and puffing from inside the machine. And shortly thereafter, a tiny head stuck up out from the machinery.
Only then did Sweetie cancel the connection.
Just as soon as the giant lightning show ended, the quarry erupted in cheers from all the moles that had been standing in awestruck silence.
“A miracle... Its a miracle.”
“Truly this machine has been blessed.” the Fore-mole said.
“Are you ok” Applebloom shouted up at the little mole-child.
Said child did not answer. She was too busy staring at the three giant children of the sky that had just saved her by preforming a miracle.
“Hey Slip, what happened?” one of the class mates shouted.
“I … I tripped and slipped.”
Living up to her name. The little mole took a misstep when she tried to leap of the engine. She completely missed the hooves Applebloom had stretched out to catch her, and instead plummeted towards the arguably much softer surface of Sweetie belles saddlebags.
There was a tearing sound of fabrics as claws made for digging managed to tear a hole in the lid of the bag, and the little mole disappeared into the softer contents of the bag with a wet squishy sound.
A new muffed shriek filled the cave. As the contents of Sweetie's bag begun to rattle around.
“OmC! Are you alright!” Sweetie shouted, spinning in place as she tried to reach her bag. The shifting contents of her bag causing her to loose balance.
“No I'm not!” She mole shouted.
“Hang on, I'll get you out of there!”
Scootaloo and Applebloom joined in the pirouette as they grabbed after the thrashing contents of Sweetie's bag, while she spun around Like a cat chasing its tail.
“Its death in here!”
The trio managed to trip over their own hooves just as three different hooves grabbed the bag.
The audience had to back away to avoid being crushed as they watched their children of the sky tumble all over themselves. The bag and were being spared getting crushed in the big pile of fillies by being swung off its bearer and slammed down in front of them. Its contents spilling out right in front of the crowd.
The little mole named Slip kicked her way out of her fluffy pink landing-pad. A glowing squishy liquid dripped from all over her body.
“Ew … ew … ew … I'm covered in glow worms.”
Sweetie sighed as she disentangled herself from the pony-pile. It had been a bad idea to store worms in the same bag as her hide.
The crowd were staring in horror at the glow worm saturated organic matter.
“What is it? ”
“Its … skin … Its a pelt!”
“Is it dead?”
Sweetie was feeling some horrors of her own. Though of a less morbid kind. It was the kind of horror that arises when you can just imagine the face on your beauty obsessed sibling when you come back home looking like the appropriate metaphorical disaster-mix of dog urine and worm sludge.
“Its … Mine.”
She sighed as she pulled up her skin from the ground. The irony was that all her intents to keep her exterior organic shell clean had only ended up getting it dirtier.
-:: Turning of nostrils ::-
She was only glad the thing could be washed. The only thing missing was a little patch in the corner saying something like: Only wash in 35 degrees.
“What do you mean; its yours?”
Looking out over the crowd, it dawned on sweetie that the current onlookers were not thinking of this as a dirty piece of clothing- But a piece of flayed animal.
“Its a part of me – Simply. Its my skin. This is my tail, and this is my mane.”
She stroke her hoof over the not so fluffy bundles of hair. Worm goo and other undesired fluids stuck to her hoof as she did so.
“I can put it on to look like... ”
-:: Like a normal pony ::-
“I mean … like every part of me – it can be removed and replaced.“
-:: Well - - - maybe not every part ::-
“Like … I could remove these plates – and exchange it for this...”
Sweetie realized she was stammering around the subject. She basically just hoped that the moles would see the resemblance in the color and size, since she did not want to have to put it on.
The crowd stared at her.
“You can use that... to change form?”
They looked at Scootaloo and Applebloom
“Can you too remove your skin?”
“Em ... No.”
“I don't really transform” said Sweetie. “I just wear it on the outside. It help me look like...”
She looked around.
“Like my friends here.”
“But ...” the Fore-mole began “Its organic? You can make organic and inorganic matter coexist?”
“Its there no end to the miracles you can preform!?” Said another.
“Oh, Its no miracle, Its just magnets.” Sweetie said. Waving her hooves dismissively as she tried to explain.
“My skin is connected directly to my body by the use of magnets. so the connection there is pretty much instantaneous through the sensors in my exterior body.”
“But then, where is your tail?” Asked a child – her eyes full of innocence. “Where is your mane? Don't you have a mechanical base or a skeletal frame to attach to?”
The child mole pointed at sweeties tailbone.
“How can such a large area of hair have only a small magnet to hold them up?”
Sweetie looked out over the short haired moles. It only now occurred to her that there was not a single mane among them, And not a tail except for a little stubby end on on their behinds. Not a hair on their bodies differed from the brown short fur that covered them. She suddenly felt like she was in a play of 'the empress new dress'. Her mind venturing to the scalps of artificial mane and tails waiting in her maintenance station.
"I … don't need any bases or frames ... the mane and tail kind of have their own connection hubs – since they are really just big lumps of organic hair with no real cybernetics in them. The tail in particular, who is only connected to my body by the tailbone.”
She felt her cheeks heating up, as her mechanical bone at the end of her spine wagged almost on its own.
“That thing is basically like an antenna.” Said Applebloom. “ With all the sensors and connection hubs that pick up information solely from those long curly straws back there.”
Scootaloo gave the naked tailbone a whack. procuring a “Spoing” sound and sending it vibrating like a spring.
Sweetie answered with a swift kick to the sternum.
"Anyway … I was looking for a place to wash it of. Wash myself of."
“Yeah … “ said Scootaloo, rubbing her chest. “I guess we all need to cool down a bit.”
The crowd 'Ooooed' in awe.
“Show us!”
“Try it on – try it on!”
“Ew … no!” said Sweetie, as she shoved the dirty skin back into her bag.
The inside of that bag had not fared much better. But it was not like the skin could get much dirtier at this point.
One of the mole children sighed in disappointment. But another hushed him.
“The children have spoken. Lets not trouble them further, not after such a miraculous rescue.”
The attention returned back to Slip, who was still trying to shake the crushed worms of her, without actually touching them.
Applebloom, not one too pry, picked up the little mole in her hoof and loosened her (already dirty) bow tie. Which she used to wipe the worst of the goo off.
“What were you doing in there? “ She asked the little one.
Slip blinked questioningly at them.
“My job?”
The girls looked at each other.
“Your job?” They said in unison.
“Oh yes – as a member of the mechanicus cast, it is my duty to make sure the great engines run smoothly and eternally.”
“Smooth and eternal!” the rest of the children answered, like in a chant.
Sweetie looked them over. So this was what kind of school this was, a school for mechanics of sorts.
“Still – why where you in there, inside the machine while it was still on?”
“To make sure the machine runs smooth and eternal” Slip answered without blinking. "I was cleaning the clean the main cogwheels when I … slipped and fell.”
“And you.” Said Scootaloo out to the crowd. Why didn't you do anything? Have you never heard of an off switch?”
“An off switch?” Said the fore-mole.
“Yeah – you turn the machines of before you clean them. Said Applebloom “I mean its just common sense. I would never work on a wagon while it was rolling down a hill”
“But … the great engines have to run eternally. If they stop – they die.”
“And if they die … we die.”
“What do you mean?” said Applebloom “A machine don't die if you turn it off”
“Do you turn off?” Slip asked Sweetie Belle.
-:: Ouch ::-
“No … I mean yes … Technically I could … ”
-:: If my power runs out ::-
“But I don't die … and I don't need someone working inside me. ”
“Forgive us, Oh children of the sky.” said the guide. “We must seem so primitive to you. Its just that without these machines … “
“… Our lives would become so much harder,” The teacher finished. “ I pray for your patients. You do not understand out ways. Digging tunnels are not easy, And if out ways seem harsh to you – know that they used to me much harsher before our great king bough us the gift of technology.”
“Its hard work, but somebody's got to do it ” said Slip.
The whole crowd nodded in agreement.
The girls looked at each other. Try as they might- the Cmc were not exactly the worlds most exemplary foals when it came to safety instructions.
“Still – you should have an off switch.”
“But the mole king says ...”
“I don't care what the mole king says. You'll need off switches, just in case something goes wrong.
-:: And also to save energy ::-
-:: That little lightning show took its tole ::-
-:: Checking batteries ::-
-:: Power down to half strength ::-
-:: Darn ... ::-
Sweetie's little internal systems check almost left her deaf to the silence that had befallen the crowd.
They all looked back and forth at each other, contemplation what their visitors had said, they all looked afraid to speak up.
But someone dared to laugh.
The laugh snapped like a whip in the absence of anything else. Short and quick, like someone catching themselves laughing at an inappropriate time. And the crowd all jumped like they had been sneak attacked by that metaphorical flogging tool. And like all victims of a prank, they immediately started looking around for the prankster.
“Up there!” someone shouted. “Its Sim!”
“Someone grab her!”
More whistling followed as the guard moles sent their worms up the buildings after the perpetrator. They disappeared quickly into the city, passing from building to building by throwing their length of their bodies like a rope. Holding onto both ends as the worms behind them crawled over.
Sweetie followed them with her eyes. Herd mentality vouching for the rest of her to follow, as the crowd that had followed them now disappeared back into the street to watch the spectacle. To catch a good look at the mysterious figure that twice now had eluded her.
But a mole stood in her way, waving his paws defensively.
"Oh - don't you worry about this, oh blessed children. We'll handle this little nuisance."
Sweetie looked back and forth between their guide and her friends.
“Should we do something?” She asked her friends,
Applebloom shook her head.
"What can we do? Well just end up causing a Spikezilla and crunch half the town if we go chasing after someone like in a place like this."
Sweetie grimaced at the Ponyvillian saying. As giants they would only end up causing more harm then good.
Ironically there was such a ting as too much power. She wondered if this was how Celestia and Luna felt when something happened? Having to hold themselves back out of the risk of causing more harm?
-:: you would know something about that – wouldn’t you? ::-
Sweetie hushed her sarcastic interface and looked back out into town.
Quite a lot of worms were joining up in the chase now. Their many wriggling bodies forming like a great sauce of pasta, a monster of many forms that all conversed on the central taller building.
Meanwhile – the chasing party from earlier were joining their own pasta sauce to the chase, as they closed in on the same building from the other end of town.
Suddenly – there was a great piercing sound, like a steam whistle, except with more of a melody to it, rung out throughout the cavern. Overpowering all the whiles that were still blowing like sirens to the chase.
Instantly the worms went wild. If they had not been eager to reach the central buildings before. They did now. They two chasing forces literally threw themselves onto the center of town like two runaway trains. And as they crashed together - they exploded upwards. Coming together in a massive heap of pink flesh that instantly wrapped itself around the most central structure. With their many bodies it was like they formed a single larger organism that rose upward and upwards as the worms ascended by climbing on the tower and then themselves in a giant corkscrew motion.
It was like seeing the great spaghetti monster 'Pastafarian' sticking out one of his many tentacles through the fabric of reality. Higher and higher the pink pillar rose until it approached the very top of the cavern roof.
Many a moles dropped to their haunches and cried in horror.
“No! She is going to doom us all!”
But just as the great tentacle was about to touch the ceiling, another tune rang out. A melody much deeper and heavier then the steam whistle. It seemed to make the very bedrock vibrate, and every tower in the cavern shake under its assault.
Sweetie found herself covering her ears out of pure reflex, just like her friends did.
Instantly. The momentum of the worm tower ceased, and begun to break apart. Worms tumbled over each other as they hurried to dislodge themselves from the mass and scurry back out into their individual directions.
Almost as soon as it had begun. It was over.
Silence filled the cavern for about half a minute, until the moles started cheering. The entire town sounded like a very tiny avalanche as every - mole was clapping their tiny paws, stomping, whistling and shouting praises in direction of the castle.
“Oh! Blessed be the mole king!”
“Our king has saved us!”
“Long live the king!”
“What was that?” Sweetie asked, after her spirit leveler had retested itself.
"That was AWESOME!" Said scoot, her wings flapping so hard with excitement that she was levitating of the ground.
“That was Sim simply going too far.” Said the teacher, in a far less exited tone. “She is crazy that one. Its like she wants to bring the demon dogs straight down upon us.”
“I mean – what was that noise” said Sweetie.
“That” said their guide "was our great king, saving the day yet again.”
Tears of thankfulness were streaming down his face as he bowed in the direction of the castle.
-:: Really? It sounded like someone else trying to bring down the mountain ::-
The teacher revered their puzzled faces with the same patient eyes that any mentor might hold for their students ignorance.
“It was the sound of the sound of the earth mother” she explained. “Off all the gifts that out king brought to us, the ability to communicate with the worms was the greatest of them all. Even greater then the great engines.”
“He received the earth mother blessing” The children chanted “she taught him to communicate with her children, and he in turn taught us how.”
“And now we tunnel as equals – towards a better tomorrow and a brighter age.” they all said with one mouth.
“But … Look at me blabbering” said the teacher. “I did promise you the tale of the age of enlightenment ... and a few gemstones.”
She gestured towards the big building with the red light shining out of it.
“Follow me – and I shall teach you how he made our people great.”
“Great … School.” Scootaloo sighed.
Applebloom swiftly elbowed her.