//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Pelcotus // Story: Meliora // by Starscribe //------------------------------// Jackie did not get a chance to explore the ruins of Midgard again for a few weeks. There was much to do that was more practical—such as spreading her bats enough that they could all find food. The citizens of Mundi had been so sheltered by life there that only the handful of refugees in her group had anything close to practical experience. She would take a former human who had actually lived in the world outside, even sheltered by modern society, over bats that hadn’t even left their homes in years. At least these ponies were willing to learn, something that couldn’t be said for their fellows they had left behind. It was a good thing Jackie still remembered what life had been like before the end of the world, or else they would’ve been in real trouble when things ended. They planted orchards, began setting up basic shelters. Athena had offered to supply them, in the same way she kept Mundi running with her systems. Jackie had not intended to refuse, but now… Now she had a different master. “We’re going in there,” she explained, as their group shifted gradually inland towards the jungle. “I’ve got some spells to teach you all. We won’t need to build houses if we can grow them instead.” “Couldn’t we just chop them down and make cabins or something?” Asked a unicorn whose name she hadn’t learned. “No.” She cut him off before he could continue. “That’s not as easy as you think. Big hardwood like this takes strong metal saws. Think of all the technology we need to make that—we need quarries, we need foundries, blacksmiths and kilns. We could waste years and years to get all that, living out in the open and getting our asses rained on, or we could just use these easy spells.” The tree-shaping was not unicorn magic, or even earth-pony. Like most of it, the spells relied on runes, which could be carved right on the bark and empowered with a few drops of sap or blood. She committed everypony in her group with magical talent to begin studying the spells, while Jackie herself finally snatched a few hours to see what had been happening in the ruins of the ancient Enduring city. She couldn’t go naked, not like the other bats. She kept digging in Alex’s supply cache until she found a thin jumpsuit made of metallic fabric—reinforced thaumium weave. It was commonly worn under powered-armor, since it insulated the body from almost any spell that struck it. And the civilization who knew how to weave it is all but gone. The Enduring Ones had kept the secret of woven thaumium far better than the ancient Chinese had kept their secret of silk making. At least thaumium didn’t rot like silk. Only Liz had come back to the chasm with her, though there was only one set of thaumium and anyway the seapony was not very good at flying. Still, she watched with skepticism. “You look like a stripper wearing that. How is it supposed to stop you from joining the bat barbeque like those other two?” Jackie grinned down at her, posing in the purple outfit. “You like it? I do like how form-fitting it is. Feels really cool against your body, too. Great for hot weather.” Liz groaned, ears flattening in mild embarrassment. “How long do I wait up here before I go to camp and tell them you died caving?” Jackie shrugged. “A day? That should be long enough for me to get out. There isn’t a prison in the universe that can hold me. Not even the universe.” She stuck her tongue out at the seapony, before diving headfirst into the void. Ponies who had survived as long as Jackie knew not to rely on armor alone. She felt for the subtle charge in the air that indicated a live conduit, one that might be bridged by the magic of her own body, and stayed well away. The secure corridor into Midgard wasn’t present here. Instead there was a swirling maelstrom of trapped power, potent enough to light up whole cities or instantly kill anyone it touched. She reached the upper levels of the old city. Midgard was two thousand years less advanced than Axis Mundi, yet it was still an impressive sight. Towering buildings of white glass and geoscupture, with what had once been rivers and artificial forests growing between them. Not even Elrond had a house as grand as this. But it had been ruined. Whole skyscrapers were collapsed, sections of wall had been covered with tarry stains, and all the plants were dead. Most of the lights and systems had shut down, save where someone had strung up live thaumic conduit with all the care of a hurried spider. The cables were about as thick as Jackie’s torso, made of spun crystal and completely uninsulated. Far less power filled them than had once powered an entire nation in the days of its glory, but there was still more than enough to kill. Whoever this was, at least they’d made themselves very easy to find. Down through the levels of the ancient city, Jackie found herself grateful for the protection of her armor more than once. Magic didn’t strike her so much as roll around her, impacting whatever was behind. Eventually she found what she was looking for. Whoever had appropriated Midgard had chosen the most supernatural place for their work—the home of the ancient Compiler. The crystal had been a mind, perhaps the equal of Athena herself, but a mind endowed with magic as well. The mind that linked the souls of every Enduring One, endowed them with power, and helped them master their magic. A crystal so ancient, its seeds had already been growing when the Event was only hours old. It had been housed deep under the earth, so deep that the air got heavy and every surface was warm to the touch. There were parts of the rock so dense that the conduit barely fit, and Jackie had to walk between the shadows in order to reach. Eventually she arrived in the chamber. So much magic had flown through here that every surface had been transformed. First into crystal, on those parts that were further away. And closer to the center, in a depression about five feet across, a strange metallic substance that flowed like mercury but grew rigid to the touch. It was a magical wonder—one that Jackie didn’t understand or really even care about. This was the realm of Alicorns and other great powers. But the craftsman was an Alicorn. He hadn’t come with only his clothes, as Jackie did. The space on one side of the depression bent strangely, curving outward until it was large enough to fit a small house built of concrete and crystal. He had set simple wooden platforms over much of the curved floor, and the latent magic of the place had transformed the obvious scraps into transparent Tass of the highest quality. A pony who stayed here too long might very well be transformed themselves. Only a proper Alicorn would be able to resist those effects—as indeed stood before her. She knew this pony, as she knew all Alicorns. He had been Thestralia’s only alicorn, and his mind had not dealt with the collapse of his nation very well. Then again, Jackie had never known him to be particularly stable to begin with. He hardly looked like a nervous wreck now, rushing as he was between pages of notes and something he was extracting from the bottom of the crater. “Eureka,” Jackie said, landing on one of the platforms with a nervous caution. Her little jumpsuit would insulate her from the magical effects of this place, but not forever. The radiation was strong enough that anything short of an alicorn would be in serious trouble before too long. “Why the hell did you run an Arcane-Network mainline down here?” The Alicorn didn’t even turn away from his work. He had a pair of thick goggles on over his face, and a thick coat like something a doctor might wear. His mane was cut short, and stood on end as though he showered with a Van de Graaff generator this morning. He wasn’t using his horn to levitate, but gripped a pair of crystal tongs in one hoof, very delicately. Jackie knew why—with this much magic just buzzing about around them, even a minor spell could grow into something explosive. Even a little telekinesis could rip the earth right open. At least she didn’t have to worry about that—her own magic was subtler. Whatever Eureka was doing, it was obviously an extremely delicate operation. Jackie didn’t distract him again, and she stayed out of the way as he lifted a crucible of silver-metal out from the crater and towards a vat of something white and steaming—liquid nitrogen. Only when he’d thoroughly submerged the crucible did he finally turn around, glaring at her. “You picked an inopportune time to visit me, Knife.” She felt herself tense. The derivative of the stupid religious name was obviously calculated to annoy her. “You Alicorns picked an inopportune time to bugger the fuck off and leave the evil robots to take over,” she spat back, advancing slowly on his worktable and the insulated canister atop it. “What is that, anyway?” “Apirion,” he answered, unable to resist the temptation to brag. “Or almost. The old Central Compiler condensed it as it ran, but didn’t stabilize it. Had to bring the power down here to revitrifiy what it made. Figure I might be able to stabilize it if I can…” He trailed off. “You have no idea what I’m talking about. I forget you’re about as academic as Artifice. You like to let other ponies do your thinking for you.” “I pick the best ponies to do my thinking for me, thank you very much.” Jackie glared at him. “She’d probably say that too. Was it her idea to make a deal with the deer-god, or was that you? I never thought I’d see the day the Dreamknife would be working with the Nine.” Jackie resisted the urge to shove the table and knock over all his hard work. This alicorn was not making it easy. She took a few deep breaths, calming herself, banishing the temptation to do violence. It was a lot harder since she’d lost her wife. “Your Nine are fucking dead like everybody else,” Jackie said, though she knew full well not all of the Thestralian leaders had been killed. This Alicorn had been one of them at the end. “And I’m not working with them. I’m not working with anyone. I’m just trying to help some ponies in need. The bats of Mundi didn’t have anypony else to turn to. I did my civic duty and staged a bit of an uprising… but look at this. One of the rightful rulers of this nation is right here. I’ve got some citizens for you, Eureka. About… ten thousand of them.” She turned away. “Just head north for twenty miles or so, you’ll find our new camp. It’s right on the edge of the jungle. You can take over, and I can go back to not ruling anything like I belong. It’s been great, but… I hate it. So cya!” She heard Eureka’s laughter from behind her. Mocking, hysterical laughter. “If you really think I’m going to start doing your job for you… take over a nation of primitives just because my country used to be here, you know less about me than I thought. What, do you think Alicorns have to compulsively rule things? I’m busy. Your bats all have skills I don’t need, they’ve been sheltered by a city that would only let them do a few jobs. They’ll probably starve out here without your help. I know they won’t have mine.” Jackie turned back, practically stomping over to the table. “This place is yours, Eureka! Your old despotism loved bats! You even named the continent after them! You wouldn’t just let them die! If I flew away, you’d have to get up there and take care of them. It’s your duty.” He shrugged. “Would you let them starve if I told you I wasn’t going to help? I doubt it. Say what you want about flying away, Knife. But you let them convince you into helping in the first place. That tells me you’ve got a little bleeding heart. I don’t.” “That’s not… that’s not right!” Jackie shouted, suddenly heedless of the danger. Or any anger she might provoke. Eureka had not been the oldest or the most powerful of the Alicorns, but he was older now, and more powerful than she was. Alicorns were one of the few creatures she still had reason to fear. “You’re not going to help at all? These bats come here desperate for a better life, surrounded by the dangerous ruins you fucking left, and you’re going to step back and leave us to die?” He looked up from his work, staring at Jackie. He didn’t say anything for several long moments. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t help. I said I wasn’t going to do your job. My work is impeded by the collapse of the Network, and it gets worse every year. Having a nation using it again, expanding it… would benefit me as well as them. I’m sure we could come to an arrangement.”