“The universe is not like a puzzle-box that you can take apart and put back together again and so solve its secrets. It is a shifting uncertain thing which changes as you consider it, which is changed by the very act of observation. A powerful man is not a man who dissects the universe like a puzzle-box, examining it piece by piece and measuring each piece with scientific precision. A powerful man has only to look upon the universe to change it.”
Manehatten.
Equestria’s population centre, a city to house more than any other. Some come to seek work in the multitude of mega corporations that base themselves here. Others, seek the allure of the concrete jungle, and the more… criminal attractions hidden behind the grand constructions.
But now…
Now there is a new reason to come... for better or worse.
After a particularly powerful earthquake rocked the unprepared city, a massive sinkhole swallowed a large portion of the island. It was a disaster, with rich and poor alike shaken by the level of devastation as nearly a quarter of the city disappeared under the earth.
The Princesses gave great speeches, and roused thousands into action. Nobles, for the first time in decades, showed their hearts, as grand houses were opened up to refugees. The common pony worked tirelessly to look for the missing… and bury the dead, forging bonds between all walks of life that would’ve never happened otherwise.
Unicorns performed great feats of magic in the service of others. Pulling at the strings of reality to save others they have never met.
Earth ponies cleared rubble many times heavier than themselves, forcing their strength to the limit with grim determination.
Pegasi scouted the ruins from the skies, informing the ground teams of unstable buildings, and fallen friends. Each flying for longer then any thought possible.
For all the death, this was the one of the great moments in Equestrian history. Where ponies from all around the country banded together to rebuild homes that they may never use.
It was almost insulting, for it to all crash and burn. After all the greatness… all the heroics, it seemed the universe called for a dark joke at the ponies’ expense…
With a grunt of effort, rubble was pushed aside as a large stallion pushed forward. The stallion, clad in standard royal guard plate armour, was followed by a magically identical squad of guardstallions.
“Keep your eyes peeled, fillies!” The leading stallion cried out to the rest of his comrades. “Let’s find these lost civvies and get back home in time for kickoff!”
“Sir, yes sir!” The rest of the guardstallions shouted in response, each voices tinted in amusement at their sergeant’s antics.
Near the back of the squad of eleven, a younger stallion fiddled with his armour’s straps. At his side a shortsword hovered in his golden telekinesis, its slight shaking belaying the private’s nervousness.
It was little more than a training exercise, after all, it was just a missing archeology team. Chances were the team had found something shiny and got distracted.
At least, that’s what he told himself.
But, alas, he was still shaking in his armour. Running through the ruined city was bad enough, but doing it at night? He knew he needed night-op training, but was now really the best time?
He sighed deeply before attaching his sheathed sword to his belt, after all, complaining wouldn’t help anyone, would it?
“You alright, Sparky?” One of the other privates, Steele if he could remember correctly, asked, using one of her wings to brush some hair out of Spark’s eyes.
“I-it’s fine. Just some first-op jitters, that’s all.” The unicorn replied, blushing lightly at the mare’s teasing caress.
“First-op you say? I assume just the first night-op, after all, I’m pretty sure I’ve ran with you a few times.” Steele giggled, slowing down to walk at Spark’s side.
“Y-yeah.” Spark stammered, glad the magic of his armour hid the fierce blush gracing his face.
She opened her mouth to say something, before closing it as if thinking better of herself. Reigning in whatever she was going to say in favour of drifting her gaze across the ruins. Silence ruled the moment as they marched forward, giving half hearted attempts to keep an eye out for any passing figures.
As the night wore on, their squad marched further and further into the centre of the ruins. Before long, the hike began to require their attention, and any hopes of conversation was buried under the steep terrain.
The buildings had fallen inwards into the sinkhole, providing a relatively usable ramp into the depths of the pit. Not to say it was easy, but it was better than the near ninety degree drops of the rest of the sinkhole.
It gave an almost dystopian feel, reminiscent of the modern ‘sci-fi horror’ books Spark had noticed during his rare trips to the library.
A shudder cursed his spine as he looked out into the open air. After being cooped up in the main city ruins, it was nice to see the sky again. The simultaneous flutter of all the squad’s pegasi seemed to voice a unspoken agreement.
Personally, he prefered this to the claustrophobic ruins of the main city. After all, this had the added bonus of being able to see for miles. It was an almost exotic feeling, having spent most of the children life, and guard career, in perpetually rainy city of Hoofington, he couldn’t remember the last time he saw such a view.
As he gazed across the picturesque landscape, in all its ruined beauty, one of his comrades cried out from further up the track. “Civilians sighted! Sector three-five, north-east, three klicks out!”
Homing into the coordinates, Spark noticed a slight shift in light as a campfire smoldered further into the sinkhole. It was almost unnoticeable, like picking out a single faint voice in a crowd.
Turning again, he noted that one of the corporals had pointed it out. Clear Sight, if he remembered correctly, who, unsurprisingly, had a knack for picking out fine details in terrain. To the point that Spark wouldn’t be surprised if Clear was also able to see the ponies in the camp. Unfortunately for Spark though, it meant they would need to go down there to make sure. Roughly three kilometers… through ruins… further into the pit…
He let out a quiet sigh, and prepared himself for a long night of hiking.
“This isn’t good…” Spark murmured, his voice barely above a whisper as he walked through the abandoned remains of a civilian camp.
Five tents were bunched around a smoldering campfire, each left wide open with miscellaneous supplies scattered around them. Five of the other guards had set up a perimeter as the rest searched, but the eerie silence left the young stallion feeling as if he was alone.
“It looks like they left in a rush, sir.” Spark overheard one of the specialists inform the sergeant. “From what I can tell, they were moving furth-”
“Sergeant! We’ve found something!” An older private, first class Spark assumed, cried from over near the eastern perimeter.
The cry drew the majority of the high ranking guardstallions, with Spark following solely for morbid curiosity. Thankfully, what he came to find wasn’t the dead, but instead a small hole barely large enough for a pony to fit through. At the lip of the hole, a faded yellow rappel anchor led into the darkness, barely visible through the rubble.
“Orders sergeant?” The same private asked as the sergeant drew near.
The discovery slowed the sergeant stride for a moment, before he pulled in a new breath to shout orders once more. “You! Inform the perimeter guards to split into teams of two and three! The larger will follow me into the hole, and the rest will protect this point! You two! Join the specialist and investigate if there is any other leads!”
“You, private!” The sergeant continued, turning to Spark. “Call in for another team to assist, then you’re coming with me!”
“Sir, yes sir!” Spark cried in return, snapping to a practiced salute. As he pulled out of the mass of moving bodies, he called his magic into his horn for a trio of signal flares.
As he released them, he watched the cascade of a blue, a red, and another blue grant light to the pale moonlight. It always gave him a little rush of excitement to show off his special talent, as even with his wallflower attitude, he could get somepony’s attention better than anypony in his squad.
The moment passed as he was not-to-subtly forced into line by the other guards following the Sergeant. Before long, he was once more stood before the hole, this time, surrounded by comrades as they prepared to venture into the darkness.
Standard night-op his flank.
The commanding officer drowned on about service to the princesses and loyalty for a few minutes, hyping the other guards up to venture into the darkness as if this was the last time they’d see the light of day.
It wasn’t very comforting.
In the end, the speech had worked for the others, as the other guards tried their damndest to get in the hole as fast as possible, each following the sergeant as if there was nothing wrong with what they were doing.
Spark let out a deep sigh, chances were he was just over reacting. After all, he was with other Royal Guards, he’d be perfectly safe. And yet, even as the line dwindled, he still couldn’t shake the feeling of dread…