Chapter 6: Magic
Mom and Dad used to talk of Fillydelphia being the saviour of Equestria albeit already falling to corporate corruption and espionage. They said that Fillydelphia consisted of so many battling mechanisms to fight Discord. Nothing happened though and Fillydelphia was never talked about again. It still looked untouched by everything. We were crossing the bridge towards it now. A lot of carts were trying to leave Fillydelphia but were abandoned by their former owners. With closer inspection I spotted a lot of bones and I turned away.
“It looks so... clean,” Elven Spices said.
There were no ponies or zebras in sight as we finally entered Fillydelphia. The buildings were so tall that the roads were forever covered in shadows. The streets were cluttered with carts and bones but nopony was around. We entered one of the buildings, still nopony. I began to get the shivers again and Silver-Lined looked a bit worried.
“Has anyone ever heard of those ghost stories?” Brass Tacks asked.
“Not now Brass,” Kiara sighed.
I curled up into a little ball, peering up at Brass Tacks who was looking right at me.
“They say Fillydelphia is the City of the Lost where the dead come to roam,” He began.
Elven Spices interrupted, “I’m pretty sure it was where all the Lost Ones met,”
“Then the place wouldn’t be so clean,” Kiara scoffed, “the version I heard was that it was merely an illusion, that we’re not really here but we’re walking the fiery grounds on the edge of Equestriaaaaa,”
“Shut up you guys, you’re scaring Glace,” Silver-Lined said.
Everypony snorted.
“Oh come on, you of ALL ponies love to tell horror stories,” Kiara said.
Silver-Lined winked at me. “We have a scared little colt with us; I like to make sure he’s comfortable. Besides, maybe those stories were told to keep everypony away from here... to hide something.”
Everypony gasped with wide, interested eyes.
Fillydelphia was really really big. We ventured deeper and deeper into the urban jungle to find that nopony has ever walked the cracked roads of Fillydelphia for quite a while. Vines and flora were growing up and along the buildings and the deeper we got into the city, the more foliage was present. The strange thing was, plants needed sunlight to thrive. The plants wouldn’t have nearly gotten enough sunlight to grow as green and big as they did.
“Our answer is underground,” Elven Spices observed.
Her and Kiara were inspecting a baby vine by pulling it out. Kiara gently used her unicorn magic to pull it out. It wasn’t a growth spell she was using, it was simple telekinesis and the vine was reaching to about the size of four Silver-Lineds! It started off as a vine no bigger than me as well. As the vine finally stopped, it ripped. Kiara and Elven Spices shoved their muzzles into the tiny hole it was growing from and dug at it with their hooves.
“There’s more of it down there, these plants must have some sort of... underground garden that they’re growing from,” Elven Spices said.
Brass Tacks and Silver-Lined had their shot at digging at the hole. We weren’t sure how deep this ‘garden’ was or if there really was one at all. Elven Spices was doubting herself more and more by the minute. Eventually something rumbled and a mechanical mare voice erupted throughout Fillydelphia.
Being inside of Fillydelphia felt like walking a city where everypony had simply vanished and nopony roamed Equestria. Fillydelphia fell into ruins and dilapidation due to no more pony activity. Even the buildings looked unstable and were ready to fall any minute. A small tremor sent everypony to the ground and the road began to crack. We fell into darkness and I felt the tendrils of grass scratching at my face. Opening my eyes I could see something falling down over us. Silver-Lined jumped over me, protecting me from any debris that was falling from the sky and eventually it all stopped. The ominous creaking of something broken echoed in the tunnel.
The tunnel was the Fillydelphia Metro-line. Plants and vegetation lined the floor, walls and ceiling as if Fillydelphia was laid to ruins many centuries ago. The pitter-patter of hooves echoed in the distance and the sound of a leaking drain was starting to get on my nerves. A billboard had fallen over the hole we fell in, preventing our exit and leaving us enshrouded in darkness. Kiara and I lit our horns using a simple illumination spell.
“The only plan of action is to keep walking down the train tracks until we find a metro station to get back up to the surface,” Silver-Lined said.
“N- No, wait,” everypony looked at me, “our answer is underground right? Maybe the answer lies in the metro-line somewhere.”
“Regal Dusting,” a gruff sounding mare called, “is that you?”
We hugged the walls. Everypony grabbed their guns from their holsters and I crept to the floor as we walked. Silver-Lined stretched his back and complained of it being tweaked, although he wasn’t a robot pony. I was forced to walk beside him, almost underneath him. We hugged the walls and dimmed our unicorn lights.
“It’s over here,” another pony said.
Before I knew it, Silver-Lined fell back, knocking Brass Tacks along with him. Elven Spices shrieked and Kiara flew against the wall, a magical aura surrounding her body. There was a gunshot and I put my hooves under my eyes and hugged the ground. Somepony grabbed me by my mane and threw me against the wall. The pain was numbed by my fear.
We were escorted in the dark. Kiara and I were forced to keep our unicorn lights off. The silhouettes of our captors looked brawny, one looked thin. One of them patted my mane and gave a content giggle and I hugged Silver-Lined’s leg. We were approaching the light and eventually our captors came into view.
An earth mare with a brown, short, pixie-cut mane and a dark red coat with the cutie mark of binoculars and a dagger, another mare, a unicorn, with a light blue coat with a long, flowing blonde mane with the cutie mark of a monocle and spyglass. Finally the earth stallion with a shaved mane and a light pink patch of skin replacing it over his dark red coat, his cutie mark was of small dots leading to an X.
The sight before us was scary; it appeared to be an excavation site with nopony working on it anymore. The walls had etchings of elegant shapes and design and the constellations were deeply carved above an old, rusting door. Vegetation and old, dry fountains confirmed my observation; we were in a courtyard.
“I’m Regal Dusting,” the light blue mare introduced, she was the skinny one. “This is my sister Treasure,” She pointed to the brawny, dark red mare. “And my brother Hunter.” She pointed to the stallion who was as big as Brass Tacks.
“We’re treasure hunters,” Hunter declared in a booming voice, “we’ve travelled all over Equestria to seek treasure amidst the chaos, it’s quite fun.”
Their accent was very posh, very ‘high-class’. Although they didn’t look like the part, apart from Regal Dusting.
“What is this?” Kiara asked, seemingly intrigued by the mechanisms that decorated the courtyard.
“We found this a month ago,” Treasure said, gazing at the constellations, “it was carved into Fillydelphia during Discord’s reign some time ago so we can only assume that it was Discord that did this.”
I trotted around the courtyard. Skipping and hopping around like an over-excited foal on a sugar rush during Nightmare Night. Kiara followed me to the door and she placed a hoof on it before shutting her eyes and placing her horn against it. She gave a shriek before falling back. Everypony gasped and stared while I galloped the short distance between us to help her.
“Sweet Celestia,” she took in a deep breath, “that thing is imbued with all types of security spells.”
“A sense of chaos magic?” Regal Dusting asked while swaying her mane around her horn.
Kiara shook her head, “No... oddly. But there’s a whole lot of magical presence in this room and behind that door is the catalyst.”
Kiara gave another crack at the door but this time was able to sustain it. She drew in a sharp breath and stumbled back. This time I put my horn to the door – horrible idea. A powerful current of electricity surged through me and I flew back a few yards. Silver-Lined galloped towards me this time and hugged me.
“G- Glace!” Kiara yelled, “don’t do that! This magic is really strong... I... I don’t know if I’ll be able to crack it.”
“Twilight Sparkle,” Silver-Lined whispered in awe, “magic like that, it has to be Twilight Sparkle behind those doors.”
Regal Dusting placed her horn against the door before stumbling back. She gave a nod, agreeing that the magic was strong within the door. I tried kicking the door and Brass Tacks laughed as the force of my kick sent me face-planting. Silver-Lined scolded him and joined me. The door was impenetrable.
“We’ve tried bullets, bombs and Regal’s magic,” Hunter said, “but nothing.”
Kiara placed her horn there again before instructing Regal forward to do the same. As Regal placed her horn there, the tension in Kiara’s body slipped away. I trotted forward and did the same. Everything seemed fuzzy and reality began to melt into a dark void. The void pulsated purple every now and again and slowly but surely, I began to regain my bearings.
“Hostiles detected,” a voice boomed, “initiating security protocol – Magicalicorns 3.0.”
Shadows of tall alicorns materialized before me. Kiara and Regal materialized in front of me too. They looked at me, gave a nod and we charged our horns at the alicorns. Of course, I should've known better. The alicorn I charged for simply lowered its own horn down and parried, sending me up into the air and crashing down on my haunches. I let out a cry and Regal stood in front of me with her horn glowing.
The alicorn froze and began to dematerialize. She swished her head around at the other alicorns and charged. Kiara did the same and I sat there, dumbfounded and vulnerable. Eventually the alicorn army disintegrated into the void and we stood there gasping for air.
Purple walls began to rise from the ground and the voice boomed, “Initiating DataCore Labryinth.”
I galloped around corners and through tight spaces. It was impossible to tell whether I was running around in circles or going somewhere different. Screaming for Kiara or Regal proved useless as the void produced an unwanted static all around, it was almost deafening. My galloping slowed to a trot and I studied the walls.
Mysterious etchings and computerized codes decorated the purple walls and every now and again a constellation was drawn. So much data and information must have been stored in this mainframe, this... computer. I galloped again and this time reached a shiny sphere. Was this it? Kiara galloped up behind me and shrieked as my hoof touched the sleek surface of the sphere.
An explosion of light engulfed us.
* * *
“Glace,” Silver-Lined’s voice rang through my ears, “wake up, pal.”
“You blew it,” Kiara yelled, “you blew the core and now the door won’t ever open!”
Silver-Lined hugged me as I opened my eyes which were quickly becoming wet. Regal gave me a dirty look and Kiara continued.
“What pony touches the core of a super-computer like this?” Kiara raged, “it’s common sense!”
“You have to remember Ki, Glace is just a foal. He doesn’t know as much as you two who have worked around technology and stuff for most of your lives,” Silver-Lined said.
Regal gave a discontent huff and said, “you don’t know me,”
The door sparked and Brass Tacks stood in front of me, returning Regal’s fiery glare. Elven Spices wandered towards the door and poked a hoof at it. The door creaked and she laughed.
“It’s vulnerable now,” she said, “if you’ve got any more explosives, use ‘em.”
Kiara, despite being proven wrong, was still in a sour mood.
Hunter and Treasure lined red sticks of dynamite along the base of the door while Regal’s horn was emitting flames, ready to ignite the wick. When she was signalled, she bowed her head and galloped behind a stone wall. Brass Tacks dragged me by my tail and I glided along the courtyard cobblestone on my haunches while giggling. Kiara’s marine face was purple with anger and she looked away from me.
The explosion erupted like a volcano and pieces of the door went flying in all directions. The courtyard walls cracked from the force and the courtyard trembled as if there was an earthquake. We stood up and stared at the smoke which concealed the door from view. A mechanical humming started up and everypony began to move towards the source.
A purple pony was curled in a ball within the force field. Magical auras and tethers connected the purple pony’s force field to a metal storage unit which fed into a gigantic computer behind the data collector. The purple pony seemed to be in suspended animation, although operating the machinery all around her. Silver-Lined told me that it was Twilight Sparkle.
Kiara and Elven Spices ran for the super-computer while Hunter, Treasure and Brass Tacks fought the zebras that came in from the door. Silver-Lined popped me up on his back, grunting as I landed and flew in the air, trying to look for a way out. A paw immerged from the shadows, swatting Silver-Lined and I to the ground like a parasprite.
“Tsk tsk tsk... you shouldn’t be here,” Discord said before flicking Silver-Lined with a claw.
Discord exhaled a ghastly smoke which covered the room in its haze sending everypony, even the zebras, coughing and falling to the ground.