//------------------------------// // The Eternal Furnace II // Story: Rainbow Dash's Unstoppable Ego // by MagicS //------------------------------// There was a brief moment of silence from those first few dozens of ponies as they registered Rainbow Dash’s existence and what she had said—before they started being shoved from behind and yelled at by the others. “What’s the hold up?” “Move it!” “Come on, we wanna get back to our rooms!” They all yelled and began pushing until the front rows had to hurry up and move out of the way. Rainbow Dash too backed up a bit and watched as the ponies all began to spill out of the massive hallway and into the square room where all the individual rooms were. A lot of them looked on the verge of fighting and arguing with each other until they noticed Rainbow Dash too. The more that came out she started to notice looked downright mean and some of them kept to groups with each other that lashed out whenever others got near. But there were a lot of individuals at the front that just seemed like regular, downcast, ponies too. “Who are you?” A unicorn stallion from the front asked while another unicorn mare stood close beside him. He at least looked normal and the others seemed to be waiting until Rainbow Dash answered him too even with more of them continuing to emerge from the hall. “I’m Rainbow Dash, I just came from outside. I’ve been flying around for a while looking for something and found your city,” she told them. “You said you were hungry?” The stallion asked. “I don’t know how much you know about this place but-” “You can hold on right there,” another stallion interrupted and stepped forward. He was a gangly and vicious looking earth pony with part of his left ear torn off, his black coat and purple mane dark enough where she couldn’t tell if he was covered in soot and grease like the others. His deep blue eyes appraised her and a serpentine smile split his lips. “Well, if you’re from outside you’ll want to come along with me and my crew. Things aint all safe in this city and-” “Now you hold on right there!” A new voice now interrupted this guy and a pegasus stepped out of the crowd. He had a bright yellow coat and a spiky red mane, with a lightning bolt tattooed on his cheek. Also it looked like his jumpsuit was specifically tailored with holes in the sides for his wings. All the pegasi seemed to have jumpsuits like that. “You lost your marbles, Double Duty? She’s a pegasus, that means she’s ours. The earth pony—Double Duty—glared at the new pegasus. “You Thunderbirds don’t lay claim to every pegasus in this city, we Diesel Kings saw her first!” Rainbow Dash looked back and forth between them as their argument started to grow. “Uhhh...” The pegasus stepped towards Double Duty and was joined by a group of other pegasi, all of which had their own lightning bolt tattoos on their cheeks, while Double Duty had a group of earth ponies and unicorns join up behind him. Rainbow Dash could tell they were on the verge of fighting. The ponies not involved, that didn’t look like they were part of one of these groups—gangs—backed away while keeping careful watch, some of them sidling up next to the walls. That was when a third pony pushed his way through the crowd and interjected himself between the Thunderbirds and the Diesel Kings while a dozen others followed behind him. “Now I say neither of you get to decide on anything!” He yelled, he was a unicorn with a copper coat and a short, almost buzzcut, white mane. “We Wrenchers aint getting left out!” So now there were three gangs facing off with each other and Dash had no idea what to do. She was still really hungry and just wanted some food. The stallion who had first tried to speak to her backed away with that other mare he was with. They seemed to be well aware of what was about to happen with these three gangs. He shot a single worried look at Rainbow Dash and tried to scoot over to her. On the outskirts of this whole conflict there were some disinterested ponies who had luckily managed to slink off and avoid the whole thing, heading to the stairs and up to their rooms most likely. Rainbow Dash didn’t want some pointless fight to start on account of her so despite everything else she was about to jump between them and see what she could do. “What’s all this racket up here?!” A loud voice yelled from the crowd of ponies still back in the hall. The gang leaders scowled and everyone else turned to look at the source of this voice, including Rainbow Dash. The dirty jumpsuit wearing ponies were parted like water as a fat unicorn strode right down the center of the hallway, flanked by four others pushing any ponies who were too close away. These five were different, instead of filthy jumpsuits they were wearing polyester outfits with kevlar plates on their shoulders, knees, backs, and chests while also carrying metal batons at their side. The fat unicorn who had spoken looked disdainfully at all the others around, he had a mean and ugly face that was only made worse with his brownish-green coat, yellow teeth, and scraggly orange mane. “You bunch of idiots, no fighting while I’m around,” he said as he made it out into the big room. “You did your work for the day so go home and get some rest! There’s still plenty more to do tomorrow for all of ya. May not care about ya one lick but I’ll be darned if that oil isn’t kept flowing.” He snorted in annoyance as the gangs started to disperse, none of them willing to disobey his threats. They all still threw plenty of nasty glares at him, his lackeys, and each other though. “Bunch of slack-jawed… what got into y'all anyways?” The fat unicorn asked as he looked around. And then his eyes fell on Rainbow Dash—quickly narrowing. “Who in the sludge are you?” Rainbow Dash didn’t like the way he was speaking or the way he held himself, everything about him said “bad guy”. But she didn’t really have many options here right now. “I’m Rainbow Dash, who are you?” “Crush. Head of security,” he responded firmly. “I don’t recognize you. Where’d you come from?” She nodded her head towards the outside wall of the mountain. “I just flew in from outside.” Her stomach suddenly loudly growled and she grimaced. “And I’d really like some food right now.” “Hrm,” Crush snorted. “Just some dumb pony who didn’t even know where she was going? I couldn’t care less what ya want, you’ll get no hospitality from me or our leader. If you want to stay around and try to mooch some food off any of this sorry lot that’s up to you—but don’t you cause any problems while you’re here. In fact it’d be best if ya just throw yourself out right now. This is our city and we aint here for your amusement.” Rainbow Dash’s stomach painfully growled again. “Not exactly an option for me right now so sorry but I’ll be staying here for a day at least. Crush shrugged and started walking past her with the other security officers following him, heading in direction to the door leading deeper into the mountain from the big room. “Suit yourself. Shack up with someone here if they’ll take you in.” He shot a final mean glare at her. “But like I said, don’t you dare cause any problems for us. Got that?” Rainbow Dash frowned and narrowed her eyes. “Yeah. I got that.” He didn’t look like he trusted her one bit but he didn’t care enough to keep arguing with her. Him and the others ended up walking right out of the big room while the gangs and other workers filled up the balconies and stairs as they returned to their rooms. Some of the ponies were going even further though, continuing down the huge hallway opposite from the one they came and likely going into another portion of the mountain city that had rooms just like these. “What is up with this place?” Rainbow said as she watched Crush leave. “Um, hello?” A familiar voice came from behind her. She turned to see that stallion and mare there, waiting for her. “Oh, hey.” “We wouldn’t mind if you stayed the night or so with us,” the mare said. “The food wont be much but it should still tide you over.” “It isn’t exactly safe out here alone either, as I’m sure you’ve noticed,” the stallion said. “Yeah. Honestly not sure if the gangs or the security made me feel more unsafe,” Rainbow joked. The two of them didn’t seem to find the joke funny though. Probably because it hit a bit too close to home. “Er, sorry...” Rainbow Dash apologized and rubbed the back of her neck. The stallion shook his head. “Don’t need to apologize or nothing, things here… ain’t what they used to be.” Rainbow Dash was about to question him further when another rumble hit her stomach with enough pain that she doubled over and grasped her stomach with her hooves. “Ughhh…” She winced and looked up at them. “I’m really sorry but I really need that food right now…” The mare quickly paced over and helped Rainbow Dash up. “Our room is on the second story, it won’t be much of a walk.” “That’s right,” the stallion reassured her. “You just come right this way.” “Thanks...” Dash weakly responded and walked with them as they went to the nearest stairway. “What are your names?” “I’m Night Reader and this is my wife, Brilliant Star,” the stallion told her. Night Reader was of a light-brown color with a fluffy and wavy but still short white mane that looked a little bit like a cloud resting on his head. It actually made Dash wonder if one of his parents was a pegasus. Brilliant Star on the other hoof was a red pony with a deeper shade of red mane. She wore it so it curved down around the right side of her face, which would’ve concealed it from anyone looking at her from that direction. And the both of them happened to be blessed with blue eyes. They at one point may have looked like a happy couple but now the light had left both of their eyes, leaving nothing more than a dull sheen behind. The other ponies here were all the same. At least there was clearly some kindness and willingness to help left in Night Reader and Brilliant Star. Maybe some of the other ponies would’ve offered to help too or allowed Rainbow Dash to eat and stay with them if Night Reader and Brilliant Star hadn’t already, she wanted to be a little optimistic about that. Looking around she saw that most of the ponies were walking in groups that were clearly families, was it one room per family? Things seemed like they’d be pretty cramped if it was more than even two ponies living in one of those places but on the other hoof where were any of the foals supposed to go otherwise? There were some pretty elderly ponies too… “So...” Rainbow Dash wheezed in an attempt to talk while the three walked together. “You said things weren’t always like this… so what happened in this city?” She didn’t need to wait for them to answer. A static buzzing noise came from the ceiling of the huge room and a chipper mare’s voice began speaking from a speaker or set of speakers that must’ve been up there somewhere. All of the ponies who had been walking to their homes paused to listen in. ~This is your leader speaking, our eternal and everlasting flame thanks you for your hard work today! Remember, the flame is everything, the flame is life, the flame is all that matters, the flame is everything you work for! Keep the oil pumping and keep drilling for more, our fires need your sweat and worship! The furnaces will never stop burning! You’ve all made a wonderful sacrifice for our flame—just keep giving your all to it! The flame is all that matters, the flame is everything, the flame is what your whole life is about. Remember that, remember that and you’ll be as happy as me! You live to serve the flame, we all do! This has been your leader, Resin, goodnight!~ The speaker cut off with a buzz and things were silent in the large housing block again. Rainbow Dash frowned and glared up at the ceiling. Don’t cause any problems here, huh? Fat chance.