The following morning she stood outside Night Reader and Brilliant Star’s room and gazed out across the dimly lit housing block. No one else was out. But then again, why would they be? They had nothing to do here aside from wait for their work to begin and worry about gang attacks. Most of the normal ponies probably always just holed up in their rooms and hoped the day would end quicker than yesterday.
Rainbow Dash breathed in and out through her nose as she tried to figure out what she needed to do today. She was not a planner like Twilight but she still needed to work with what she knew. If Brilliant Star was right there was no way to get to the top levels of this city without either Crush’s compliance or forcefully getting the security code from him. And Dash knew from her flight around the outside of the mountain that she couldn’t exactly take a shortcut there either.
And if Silver Tooth and the Black Hoofs were the only ones who were supposed to ever call Crush on that radio that meant he’d probably recognize if it was someone else using it. So again she either needed Silver Tooth to willingly call Crush or force him to. Buuut, apparently they didn’t let anyone into the casino and she had no idea where the radio might be hidden and there might be too many for them to fight on her own. So she needed some kind of leverage or some way to get to Silver Tooth first. One small step at a time, that’s how she needed to take this.
If Crush knew what she was doing before she got anywhere or had allies he’d bring the entire security force down on her and either toss her out of the city or throw her in jail. If he knew what she was doing after she had gotten some allies and was planning on drawing him out he could retreat to the higher levels or barricade himself in the security area. She bet he had a way to contact Resin. So she really couldn’t let Crush ever find out about anything.
And Night Reader and Brilliant Star mentioned some kind of metal monsters or something that Resin had made, whatever those were. Rainbow Dash didn’t want to chance putting everyone else down here in danger.
“I need the ponies here on my side,” she said. “And I need those gangs to stop fighting each other. Time to kill two birds with one stone… better not use that analogy around Fluttershy.”
She looked down the massive hallway that led in the direction of the other housing blocks, the Diesel Kings were the closest so maybe she should just go and talk to them right now? It was probably her best bet, Double Duty wanted to see her anyways. Although she doubted any of them were going to give two bits about what she had to say. It would probably take some time and effort before any of them cared about or respected her enough to listen to her plans to unite them together so they could take down Resin.
...or she could just beat the leaders up? That might be faster if she challenged them for control or leadership of their gangs. If they’d even be willing in the first place, or keep their promise after. That was certainly more of a direct and Rainbow Dash way of doing things. She’d keep that option on the table, it would probably be better if she could actually get them to stop hating each other and join with her willingly.
Rainbow Dash hopped off the balcony and glided in the air, keeping herself suspended a few feet above the floor with some gentle flaps of her wings. With a serious and determined look on her face she turned to the hall that led to the Diesel King’s block. “First stop.”
The actual hallway was darker than even the housing blocks because so many of the lights on the ceiling looked like they had been smashed and Resin clearly didn’t care to have anyone fix them. There were maintenance teams and repair ponies weren’t there? Did the repairs not matter if they didn’t impede with getting oil? It would certainly fit Resin’s belief that that ceremonial flame or whatever was the only thing that mattered. You didn’t need light just to walk through a hallway.
“This place would be creepy if I was the type to get scared,” Rainbow Dash said as she flew down it.
She didn’t want to think about the lighting in here damaging her eyes for when she left the city. Hopefully she wasn’t here long enough for something like that to happen.
Up ahead she heard some sounds, it seems like the ponies in the Diesel King’s block were already awake. Rainbow Dash noticed a slight curve in the hallway as she flew. The housing probably curled around the mountain, perhaps all the way or only a bit. She wondered if what she was hearing now were the Diesel King’s themselves or some of the ponies they were tormenting. Rainbow Dash had no idea how much time she had until the ponies here would need to start working so she sped up a little to get out there as fast as she could.
The first thing she noticed when she emerged into the new housing block was that none of the rooms that filled up the walls had doors on them. No—not none—the top row of rooms still did, but the bottom three didn’t have any at all. Was that the Diesel King’s doing? And why?
“Weird,” Dash shrugged.
The second thing she noticed was that there were indeed ponies out and about in this block, a circle of about a dozen sat on the floor and were throwing what looked like screws and bolts into the middle of their circle while a bunch of others watched. Was it some kind of game? Rainbow Dash saw that there were a lot of kids watching, she hoped they weren’t part of the gang.
She was paying so much attention to that circle that she didn’t even notice she had been spotted by a pony up on one of the higher balconies. He brought a hoof up to his mouth and let out a loud whistle. It got the attention of everybody, including Rainbow Dash, and they looked up to see him point to the flying pegasus.
“Well… not like I was trying to hide,” Rainbow frowned. She gave a small wave to the ponies below her and started floating down to them.
The ponies down on the ground gathered up and watched her, most of them with unwelcome expressions on their faces but a few were curious. As she descended to the floor she was able to see into a few of the doorless rooms and saw scared ponies huddling inside them. The ones who lived here but weren’t in the gang most likely.
When Rainbow Dash touched down she raised an eyebrow at the gathered ponies. “You guys part of the Diesel Kings?”
“You’re that pony from outside that came in yesterday, huh?” A mean looking earth pony mare with a scar over her right eye said. She was glaring at Rainbow Dash and spat on the ground right after she finished talking.
Dash glared right back at her. “Yeah that’s right. What’s up with you?”
It was also kind of funny to her that despite their gang being called the Diesel “Kings” they clearly had no problem with letting mares in.
“You think you can mosey in here just cause Double Duty didn’t want you picked up by the Thunderbirds? We may be looking for new bodies wherever we can get em but you’re not a Diesel King just cause Double Duty showed some interest. This here is our turf,” she angrily stomped her hoof on the ground in proclamation.
Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Fine, whatever, I just wanted to talk to Double Duty about this stuff anyways.”
“You aiming to become a Diesel King?” Another unicorn stallion asked her with suspicion in his voice.
“In all honesty? No,” Dash answered truthfully. “But I just wanted to hear him out since he offered to talk and said things were dangerous here alone. Wouldn’t mind giving him the chance.” That second part was not answered as truthfully. But they didn’t need to know her real aspirations for meeting with Double Duty and getting involved with the gangs. “So where is he?”
“He’s getting some extra sleep,” the stallion answered. “Leader’s privilege while the rest of us watch out for any Thunderbirds or Wrenchers trying to do something on our turf.”
The mean looking mare lightly kicked a filly standing next to her and yelled. “What are you standing around for? Go wake him up!”
Rainbow Dash watched the scared filly run off and glared at the mare. “Geez, good to know how nicely you treat each other.”
“There’s no place for nice in this city,” the mare narrowed her eyes and spat again.
Rainbow really was going to have her work cut out for her. “So what’s your name then?” She looked around at the others. “You all do have names, right?”
“Keep your mouths shut!” The mare yelled to the others and glared back at Rainbow Dash. “My name’s Soot Mane, Double Duty’s right hoof. And you can just shut it for any other questions you have for me, we got nothing to talk about. Just stand there and wait for Double Duty to get here.”
“Fine,” Rainbow Dash ground out, already Soot Mane was getting on her last nerve. Soot Mane was a pony with a white coat smeared in… well, soot and grease by the looks of things, and a blond mane that was pulled back in a tight bun. Her eyes were a deep red and her mouth seemed to be in a perpetual state of frowning.
None of the other ponies here were going to disobey her either. They just watched Rainbow Dash to make sure she didn’t do anything funny. She watched them back, only noticing two pegasi in the whole group, and one of which who was a colt. Seems the Thunderbirds had a pretty good track record of picking up the pegasi that were interested in joining a gang. Rainbow Dash spent the rest of the time waiting impatiently tapping her hoof on the floor while up above on the top level of the rooms she saw that filly running towards a closed door in the center of the wall. So at least she was right about the Diesel Kings still keeping their doors while the others were left out to dry.
The filly finally stopped and knocked a few times on the door, getting no answer she knocked louder until it was swung open and Double Duty grabbed her with his hoof and lifted her up. He had an even nastier looking face than Soot Mane did and even though Rainbow Dash couldn’t hear him from down here she had a pretty good idea of what he was saying to that filly. When she explained herself, Double Duty looked down and saw Rainbow Dash. An avaricious grin split his face and he dropped the filly onto the balcony and began making his way down towards Dash. The filly winced but stood up and followed after him.
He looked like he was purposefully taking his time in getting to her, probably to show off his authority and tell her he was the one in charge. Not like any sort of display like that had an effect on Dash.
When he finally made it down the stairs and strode over to her with a slimy smile on his face, Soot Mane went to stand by his side and narrowed her eyes at Dash. She’d be watching her—it was the unspoken threat. Double Duty didn’t seem to take any notice or interest in Soot Mane at all though. The leader of the Diesel Kings was focused entirely on Rainbow Dash. The new blood.
“Well, well, well, look who showed up. I wasn’t expecting you here already, figured I’d have to send somebody out to get you.” Double Duty licked his lips. “Guess you saw the sense in what I said? Joining up with the Diesel Kings will keep you safe as can be around here if you’re planning to stay”
“And you probably want to stick it to Acid Rain for recruiting a new pegasus huh?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow at him.
Double Duty giggled and eagerly nodded. “Oh yes, that’s a big added bonus. And considering we never get new ponies here even just having one more in our gang is a big deal. How else are we supposed to grow when everybody else here is either already in a gang or has made it clear they won’t join anybody?”
“Guess I’m a real prize then,” Rainbow noted.
“She doesn’t look anything special to me,” Soot Mane snorted. “And she still can’t really become a King if she doesn’t work with us first! That was your own rule, Double Duty, she aint one of us yet!”
“Shut it,” Double Duty growled at her and Soot Mane meekly looked down to the floor. “I know all that, you don’t have to remind me of my own rules.”
“You know I’m not really surprised you have trouble getting new members with how awful you are to each other. It’s not making me want to join you either,” Dash told him.
“So what about wanting to join? You might find you don’t really have a choice. And that’s not a threat, it’s just the reality of the situation in here. You won’t last all on your own after catching the interest of all of us. You’ll need some friends or you’ll find yourself hounded by us, the Thunderbirds, and the Wrenchers at every turn. Not to mention Crush and the security team if you ever do anything out of line,” Double Duty said. “So come on, stay here and join up with me. I guarantee it’ll be better than trying to play the lone pegasus for whatever you try and do in our city.”
“Don’t even get why you don’t just leave,” Soot Mane mumbled.
Double Duty elbowed her in the side. “Ignore her. So obviously you came here for a reason and now you’ve heard me out.” He held his hoof out to her. “Become a Diesel King.”
Rainbow Dash was about to tell him exactly why she had come here. And she was going to do it while telling him off about a lot of other things. But she didn’t quite get the opportunity to do that. There was a metal clang from above and all of the ponies looked up to see the large grill from a vent on the ceiling fall to the floor with a clamoring. Out of the vent shot three pegasi—including Acid Rain—and they looked angry as hornets.
“What did I tell you, you stupid Diesel Kings? That pegasus is ours!” Acid Rain shouted down at them.
Double Duty snarled up at him. “Can it you cockroaches! You don’t got dibs on her and she came here first to meet me, not you!”
Only because you were closest. Dash wryly mused. And where did those three come from? Did they seriously fly around in the vents and were looking for her?
“All the pegasi in this city should be Thunderbirds! We’ve got the right to the newcomer!” Acid Rain said.
“Oh yeah? Tell that to my couple of pegasi down here. You don’t got a right to anything or anyone!” Double Duty shouted right back.
“Every pegasi in this city is a Thunderbird! They just don’t know it yet!”
“I’ll pluck your wings you screeching chicken!”
“I’d like to see you try you dirty grease rag!”
“Flying toolbox!”
“Leaky barrel!”
“Ugly vent pigeon!”
“Stupid duct worm!”
Rainbow Dash was rubbing her temples trying to fight off the approaching headache as the two lobbed insults at each other. She was already tired of these gangs. Maybe she should just deck both of these guys right now? They definitely had it coming but Twilight and Fluttershy probably (definitely) wouldn’t like it if she didn’t at least try and talk to them and finish things peacefully. So she sucked in a big breath of air and was about to shout them down when…
A panel in the floor was thrown open and they all looked to see that copper unicorn from the Wrenchers leap out of it with a bunch of other ponies following him. It must’ve led to a maintenance tunnel or something and they were probably listening down there and spying on things too. Were they rats? They were all carrying an assortment of wrenches, pipes, chains, hammers, and any other sort of tool that could be used as a weapon. The copper unicorn glared at both Double Duty and Acid Rain before his eyes settled on Rainbow Dash.
“Well you listened to both these losers but it’s clear the Wrenchers is the only place for you. Name’s Frayed Wire,” the unicorn said.
“You’re not even the real leader of the Wrenchers!” Double Duty accused. “You’re still fighting with Nut!”
“So what? We’re still as big and strong as ever and we’ve got just as much a right to make that outsider ours, you hear?” Frayed Wire.
“Neither of you have a right to anything!” Acid Rain yelled and brought a hoof up to his mouth to whistle.
The shrill whistle must’ve been a sign because several more grills were knocked out on the ceiling and a dozen pegasi emerged from them. Seeing that things were about to get serious the Diesel Kings got in a protective formation around Double Duty and went to grab a bunch of the screws and bolts that Rainbow had seen them messing with earlier. And out of their jumpsuits they pulled slingshots. Dash knew how deceptively dangerous those could be when firing something metal. The Wrenchers were aware too and made a tight line, holding up their weapons as all three of the gangs now faced off with each other.
Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened as they were all clearly waiting for any excuse to throw the first punch. She had to try and defuse this. “Wait—don’t fight because of-”
But that interruption was what lit the fuse.
The Wrenchers screamed and charged while the Diesel King’s fired a volley of nuts and screws and the Thunderbirds dove at both of them. It was a surprisingly brutal melee right from the start as one of the Wrenchers got pegged in the face with a screw and went down while the unicorn stallion Diesel King that had spoken to her earlier got smacked in the jaw with a pipe. One of the Thunderbirds was grabbed out of the sky and thrown on the floor where all the other ponies around him started stomping on his wings. A young colt ran underneath the fighting ponies and bit a mare on the leg, she yelped and knocked him away. Frayed Wire used his magic to levitate a long chain and wrapped it around Double Duty’s neck while the earth pony had him in a tight headlock. When Soot Mane tried to intervene, Acid Rain landed on top of her and smashed her into the ground before tackling the other two leaders.
“Stop it, you morons!” Rainbow Dash yelled but her plea fell on deaf ears.
A group of Diesel Kings broke away from the crowd and started firing shots at any Thunderbird still in the air. Rainbow Dash winced as she saw a screw strike one of the pegasi and embed itself in his wing. He went into a tailspin and collided with the hard metal floor while the Diesel Kings kept firing volleys at his friends. Some of the Thunderbirds saw what was happening and swiftly flew over to the enemy sharpshooters, using their agile flying skills to avoid anything being sent their way now that they were focused on it. The pegasi divebombed the group of Diesel Kings and knocked them away from each other. One of them grabbed a unicorn stallion by the back hoofs and carried him up into the air, halfway from the ceiling, before dropping him with a thud.
She looked into the melee to see another Wrencher smack a wrench into the underbelly of a Diesel King only to then immediately be kicked in the head and tackled by a flying Thunderbird. At the same time, Soot Mane had gotten up and jumped on the back of Acid Rain while he tried to buck her loose. That was until a pegasus mare with a purple and yellow swirled mane tackled Soot Mane off of him. The two mares rolled around on the ground practically clawing at each other with their hooves, they rolled like that until they hit the wall of the housing block.
Acid Rain was about to hit Double Duty over the head when a bolt shot from someone else hit him in the temple, making him crash into a Wrencher.
Frayed Wire used his magic to throw a pipe into the air and smack a Thunderbird’s wing with enough force to make him falter and accidentally fly into another Thunderbird.
Double Duty had grabbed the chain Frayed Wire previously used against him and swung it at the nearest Wrencher. But they saw it coming and ducked—so Double Duty only ended up hitting one of his own Diesel Kings.
It was a madhouse.
There was no other way Rainbow Dash could put it. It was the kind of vicious brawl that could only happen for the most petty and asinine reasons. And from what she had heard she figured it must be pretty common. Even if there might not have been big fights like this as often, Rainbow Dash could picture two or three gang members getting into brawls like this every day.
Frayed Wire was knocked to the ground with Double Duty standing over him, the earth pony lifting a pipe in the air and about to bring it down-
RIIIIIIIIINNNNGGGGG!!!
An incredibly loud ringing noise came from the ceiling, so loud and unexpected that Rainbow Dash had to cover her ears. But what was even more unexpected was how the gangs reacted to it. Everything stopped. Everything. Ponies in the middle of throwing punches stopped, Double Duty dropped his pipe, Soot Mane and the other mare stood up, the entire fight came to a standstill and very quickly after that they began to get in orderly lines and started walking towards the hallway that would lead back to the housing block Rainbow Dash came from.
“Uhhh, what’s going on?” She asked them as they started marching past her. It was perplexing.
“It’s time for work,” Acid Rain said, the closest of the leaders to her.
She tilted her head and scrunched up her face. “And you guys stop just like that? You were practically killing each other!”
“Work comes first. We have to do as instructed by Resin and Crush,” the pegasus said although he kept a glare on his face.
Dash almost didn’t believe it but she saw even the injured ponies pick themselves up and start to leave too. She just shook her head as she watched it and then flew to the front of the line, joining them.
“What are you doing?” Double Duty asked her, raising an eyebrow.
“You don’t need to work,” Frayed Wire said.
“I want to. I want to see what you guys all have to do,” Rainbow Dash told them.
Acid Rain scoffed. “Why even bother? You’re certainly not planning on living here for good are you?”
“Nope,” she replied and then shot a glance at Double Duty. “And I’m not planning on joining any of your gangs either.”
“Then why?” Double Duty asked with a sneer curling his lip.
“Cause believe it or not—I want to help you.”