The Olden World

by Czar_Yoshi


Level Five

Valey paused near the door to the generator tower, Neon Nova's unconscious form slung carelessly over her back. Below, visible beneath the grated floor, the crystalline power core was pulsating vibrantly, the array of machines around it firing alternating streams of lasers that might have served as pumps... or could have been there just for show. The room's metallic interior was lit with the dull orange glow of safety lights, and the hum of operating machinery filled the air.

"...So," she said, staring at the locked portcullis. "We've covered all we need to cover? You two are just going to hang out with this kid while I take care of business, and eventually I'll be back and we keep going. Right?"

Starlight, Maple and Redshift blinked back. "Right."

"Okay then! Try not to..." Valey grunted, adjusting Neon's weight on her back and moving to push the door open. "Miss the sound of my voice! Buh-bye!"

It swung open with a disused creak, daylight and fresh air flooding in. Valey slipped out the moment the entrance was wide enough, kicking off the bridge and winging away in a green-and-black streak. A slight breeze followed her, and she was gone.

The remaining three stepped wordlessly out after her, the door swinging shut with a clang after them. The bridge was deserted; no spectators were in sight to witness them leaving the generator. Valey was a speck on the horizon, and save for the jungle heat and each other, they were alone.

"...Huh," Maple eventually said, staring around. "I almost expected there to be a crowd waiting for us, or something else dramatic that would get us in more trouble. Where is everyone? Do they not care that the lights are back on?"

Redshift stepped to the edge, peering down into the pit of cleared land around the generator. Entrances to bottom-level streets were visible below, and they glowed faintly with orange light. "They care. But why would they come here? For all they know, it'll just go out again in a few days or hours."

"I guess you're right..." Maple breathed.

"Look," Starlight interrupted, pointing a hoof at the mountain peaks to the south.

Everyone's heads turned. An ugly mass of gray clouds were building beyond the ridges of the Sky District... which were alarmingly close, as Blueleaf sat at the very base of the mountains. Maple frowned. "That doesn't look pretty..."

Redshift shrugged. "It's just rain. I've been out in much worse. Now are you coming, or what?"


Starlight's hooves beat an impatient stanza through the fourth-level streets of Blueleaf, tapping against metal reinforcements as she passed by windows and closed doors. With only one level above her, sunlight was somewhat common... as were views of the sky. The storm clouds bore down fast, and every pony who had somewhere better to be was either there or in a very swift hurry to reach it.

Her pace was hindered by Maple, weighted and panting in the heat, and multiple times she almost opened her mouth to ask if she could help. She knew better every time, though: her own hooves and legs were only slightly on the better side of laden with aches and cramps, and only because she had pushed herself through far worse crossing the mountains. A day full of hiking up the Stone District, through a museum, then endlessly around the Water District and followed by another day's trek through the Earth District wasn't something that was past her limit, but it was close enough to it that doing anything unnecessary or wasteful could easily break her stamina.

"Are you really that tired?" Redshift asked over her shoulder, leading the two ponies by a considerable distance. "It's not that much longer. We can slow down and still not get rained on."

"That would be nice," Maple huffed, dropping her pace instantly. "Ooh... I'm really not as in shape as I thought I was. I don't know how we're going to walk all the way to Gnarlbough after this..."

Starlight frowned. "You were carrying a heavy crate up an entire mountain, and then did a bunch of other stuff. That would tire anypony out."

"Doesn't... change the fact that I'm the one slowing us down..." Limping with all four legs, Maple slowly caught up with the fillies, and the group started moving again as one. "I think stopping for a few minutes there just made it worse. Gave it... more time for the cramps to set in..."

"What even happened to you?" Redshift asked. "I still don't like or trust Valey, but you're nothing like her. You're beaten up, you follow her around... you said you're wanted in the Stone District and she was helping you get away? Why?"

"I don't really know," Maple sighed, stumping along. "She just said she took a liking to us. When you're desperate enough not to care where help comes from..." She shrugged. "Besides, she's been nice to us, at least. She's strange and sometimes rude, and constantly calls me Ironflanks and talks about Starlight smelling bad, but I don't think she means anything by it. She might just like having others who are nice to her. Maybe that's all there is to it."

Redshift exhaled. "You know what they say about her, right?"

"Aside from constantly grumbling about how bad she is?" Maple lifted an eyebrow.

"Yes," Redshift growled. "They say that in the Defense Force, she has some kind of rivalry with the other commander, and they try to get at each other by doing stupid things like making rules about what kind of ponies can work for them, or messing up paperwork, and it makes all the ponies who do work there's jobs be jokes! Nobody knows anything about her past other than that she's from Yakyakistan, and she's been in charge for as long as she's been in Ironridge. She's never had to do anything to earn or keep it, and every time anyone tries to complain to the yak embassy about her, the ambassador won't even listen! She acts like Ironridge is her playground, has never had to work for or earn any of the things she has, and is constantly treating everyone else like jokes and making their lives more difficult. It's not fair!"

"Earlier, she told us she hated Herman," Starlight remarked. "The yak ambassador. Even talking about him made her really mad."

"...Whatever," Redshift muttered. "We're here."

She had stopped in front of a slightly-decorated fourth story door, and knocked thrice with a hoof. Maple leaned closer. "I thought you lived on the fifth level?"

"I do," Redshift answered. "Watch."

The door swung open, a meaty stallion with a bushy black mustache eyeing her beadily from within. He stood stock-still for two seconds... then smiled, facial hair moving as he spoke. "Afternoon, Miss Redshift. These two are with you?"

She nodded in return. "They are, yes."

"Go on through, then!" The stallion stepped aside, opening the door wider. "You've seen, of course, but the power's back on, and there's a storm brewing! As good a time as any to finish up your business and get home, isn't it?"

"Yeah... yeah..." Redshift paid him half a glance in respect, then walked past, motioning with her tail for Maple and Starlight to follow.

The door lead only to a small room, two chairs and a counter for ponies to sit at and a carpeted staircase along the back wall. The wooden walls were shiny against the orange light fixture, boasting an old coat of varnish and a musty, dusty scent. A hefty mat at the entrance served for wiping hooves, which the filly stopped to use liberally.

"This is where you live?" Maple asked, gazing around the dark interior. It wasn't foreboding or poorly lit, just themed with black and brown, as if dwelt in by something very old that had gotten bored of daytime long ago.

"No," Redshift answered, making for the staircase. "Up here. You'll see."

Maple and Starlight followed. "This," Redshift explained, "is the way to level five. Only the richest families can afford to live at the top, so there are no public ways up. All the staircases from level four have guardposts, like this one. Part of what your money gets you is privacy..." Her face darkened. "And not having to look at proof each and every day that you're literally living on top of hundreds and hundreds of suffering ponies."

At the top of the flight, she pushed open another door to the side, and daylight spilled in once again. Swiftly at her side, Maple and Starlight's eyes widened. As much of a leap as the third level had been from the two below it, and then from the third to the fourth, level five was twice the difference and then some.

An artificial enclave in the sky, it boasted a meandering, cobblestone street that wiggled naturally like a river. Beds of dirt on either side held grass, flowers and occasional exotic plants, divided by dainty walkways to houses that stood not wall-to-wall, each having their own space on all sides. Behind them, a fence wall rose, mostly obscured from sight and designed to obscure them in turn, preventing the luxury from being obvious from floors below. It was a hidden jewel... that in turn hid everything it was built on.

Redshift didn't pause to stare, both because she didn't care and because raindrops were beginning to fall, appearing as dark spots against the ground. Instead, she set off at a brisk pace, marching stiffly down the whimsical road, leaving Starlight and Maple scurrying to keep up.

"I have to wonder..." Maple panted as she walked. "How does Blueleaf not collapse under its own weight? All this stone and dirt must be heavy, and to have it all held so high up with no building code..."

Redshift shrugged. "It's been reinforced. Parts of the city are often torn down and rebuilt, and we rebuild it a little better each time. That hasn't happened lately with the generator out, though."

"I see..." Maple licked her lips, still dubious, and followed, Starlight at her side, further through the maze of the fifth level.