The valley was filled by the city.
The valley was the city.
The closer Rainbow Dash flew over the towering spires, the more and more of them she saw stretching upwards from their indiscernible foundations. It was as though the dimness of the Dark Side was a dark gray fog and more and more building faces bled through the obsidian canvass, twinkling with their blue-tinted reflection of the stars overhead. The grand immensity of the metropolis was magnified—hauntingly so—by the sheer silence lingering throughout. In a way, Rainbow Dash felt like she was descending upon an exposed array of giant bones—discarded countless eons ago.
The lower she drifted in altitude, the more layers Rainbow saw of the urbanity below. The city had levels to it—multifaceted platforms that swam and wrapped around the giant smoothe skyscrapers. There was an ornate pattern to how the suspended courtyards and steel pathways clung to the vertical buildings. From a distance, the platforms resembled spring leaves and lily pads, wrapping around and spiraling both upwards and downwards to afford access to the multiple floors. The levels were designed with both elegant and practical purpose, so that maximum light from the heavens above could reach as far down into the vertical depth of the city as possible. Peering from above, Rainbow Dash counted no less then ten layers of suspended courtyards, roads, and walkways. Even at that point in her flight, she could not discover where the actual ground level began—if there was one.
Rainbow kept her flight slow and deliberate. Even though Fluttershy hadn't sensed any major life signs to be concerned with, she approached this inexplicable urbanscape with extreme caution. She wasn't alone; Ariel and Wildcard floated on either side of her. They were protective wingmates, strung halfway between guarding their leader and gawking stupidly at the spectacle below them... and soon to be all around them.
At last, Rainbow's descent braved the topmost layer of platforms. She could see her own reflection in the windows of the buildings, and she marveled at how shiny the glass and steel had remained after... after...
There was no telling just how long these structures had been here.
There was no telling anything about them.
The city was unlike anything Rainbow Dash had seen before. Even Blue Nova was a miniscule speck compared to the likes of this place. In terms of land acreage, Rainbow Dash figured that Silvadel's capital was probably larger, wider, and grander—but the buildings there were paltry compared to these architectural marvels, and none of Silvadel's buildings had truly remained intact.
But this place...
Rainbow Dash lowered even further. She hovered directly above a platform, and upon closer inspection she found that the suspended streets were full of debris. It was difficult to tell what she was looking at specifically: metal shrapnel? Concrete detritus? Organic residue?
No...
Even here—on the topmost layer and christened with twilight—there were no bones. No bodies. Not even a layer of ash to indicate the place's prior inhabitants. Rainbow Dash drifted past a series of concrete enclosures, and it was Ariel who suddenly signaled her... pointing at the rigidly-shaped basins.
Narrowing her vision, Rainbow Dash hovered above one of the enclosures. She discovered that the basins were filled with dark, dark sediment... some of them clumped together in crumbling patches.
Soil...
She and Wildcard looked at another platform, suspended opposite a space from where they were hovering. They saw more enclosures—some of which possessed rickety stalks of splintery, dead, carbon-based matter. Practically coal.
Wood... ...
Rainbow's lips pursed. She looked about the upmost level of the city—spotting more and more remnants of dirt and wooden debris scattered across the courtyards.
Gardens...
Horticulture... ...
... ... ...civilized harmony-with-nature, planted squarely in the shadow of the Dark Side.
And it was all dead.
Rainbow brushed her bangs back. Shuddering, she glanced at her marefriends. But Twilight and Applejack and the rest were dead silent... dumbstruck with awe.
There was a metallic tapping sound.
"!!!" Rainbow Dash and Ariel spun.
They saw Wildcard levitating above a collapsed metal structure in the middle of a platform. He was poking it with Bard's staff. His goggles flickered with twilight as he glanced at the two mares, then motioned them closer.
Rainbow Dash and Ariel approached the object. As they came close, they realized that the streamline chunk of metal had a purposeful shape to it... and multiple signs of mechanization. There were four outstretched pylons with hollow ends—like wheel-wells—and the inner chamber resembled a series of seats within the central compartment of a carriage. But—for the life of her—Rainbow Dash couldn't spot where a quadruped might hook itself up to the vehicle... or any sign of mana-powered leyline circuitry.
Wildcard whistled.
Ariel and Rainbow Dash looked at him... then past him. They craned their necks and ultimately discovered that several of the platforms, courtyards, and roads suspended alongside and below them were likewise littered with multiple mechanisms—just like that one—of various shapes, designs, and purposes. All were dormant. All were empty. All were abandoned.
The group shared a collectively anxious breath. They looked back at the mountainside where the rest of the Herald lingered. Wildcard hand-signaled from afar, and Flynn flickered his light back before trotting back into the tunnel along with Kepler to retrieve the wagon.
Seraphimus and Logan remained in place... two statuesque figures still locked—mesmerized—on the spectacle below.
Rainbow Dash took a breath, turned around, and dove even deeper into the phenomemon... until she was practically swimming in it.