//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 // Story: An Empty World // by The_Unnamed_Pawn //------------------------------// “So where do you guys think we are?” Wisp asked as he stepped out of the train. It was a truly pathetic attempt to quell the argument ensuing inside of the train, but if nothing else it helped him get away from it. Wisp stared back into the car with a blatantly forced on smile. Nopony was listening to him unfortunately. Well that wasn’t entirely true. At least Airheart seemed to have gotten the idea. Then again, when she walked out of her own volition without even giving him a look, Wisp couldn’t help but feel they’d merely gotten the same idea at the same time. “I think we’re in Manehattan,” she said loudly and without the slightest hint of subtlety; after which she turned around to get a look at her fellow passengers. Only Stinger seemed to be paying them any attention, and she was too busy joyously watching the argument to do more than wave. “So what you’re telling me is that you’re just completely incompetent!” That was Lightning Flash doing the shouting, as he had been since the group had accidentally passed Canterlot. Aces Low was sitting quietly against the assault, although it was clear he was close to breaking. Wisp still had trouble reading him, but the grimace on his face could only be worn from somepony who was desperately trying not to punch somepony else. “He did stop us before we crashed,” Dew Drop interrupted from behind Lightning. For her part, she had been doing her best to try and calm the enraged stallion. Thus far her attempts had failed quite miserably, and it appeared to be getting to her. For his own part, Spectrum was desperately trying to persuade Dew to stop trying before she started crying. Twinkleshine was the only one who seemed to be completely ignoring the argument altogether. Like Wisp and Airheart before her she had wandered out of the car as soon as the train had stopped, but unlike them she didn’t bother to try and calm the rest of the group through distraction. It was clear that she was too distracted by the city herself to bother trying. Here was where Wisp and Airheart’s intentions split. The pegasus ended up trotting back into the train in a hopeful attempt to try once more to stop the shouting. Wisp meanwhile chose to turn his attention to Twinkle. She was smiling as usual, but this time it was strange. It wasn’t like any smile Wisp had ever seen. The grin seemed hopeful, but Wisp could swear that he saw tears in the mare’s eyes. Happy tears just didn’t strike him as fitting for her. “There’s so much here,” she mumbled. Wisp guessed that confirmed the hopeful bit. He started to trot towards Twinkle with the hope of asking what she meant, but before he could he was distracted by a new voice finally throwing itself into the argument. “Did it ever occur to you that I might have inadvertently done something good for us?!” he heard Low shout. Wisp almost instantly forgot Twinkle when he turned his attention back to the fight. Low was the angriest Wisp had ever seen him. He sounded even angrier then when that tree was trying to blow them both up. Airheart had now actually been forced to step between Low and Lightning in an attempt to keep them apart. Suddenly Wisp felt genuinely worried that a fight might break out, and he wasn’t sure how things would end up if they had to deal with Lightning Flash’s crossbow. Thankfully it never came to that. Apparently seeing Low break down was finally too much for Dew Drop, and she had to get in her own shout. “Just stop,” the pegasus cried with a shocking amount of authority. Everypony in the group actually paused what they were doing to stare at her with a look that could only be described as awe. The only exceptions were Twinkle, who seemed distinctly unsurprised, and Stinger, who seemed disturbingly happy about the latest bit of drama. Dew Drop had finally broken down and started crying when she’d yelled. However her voice was clearer than when she had been holding back the tears. “This fighting is pointless,” she said, still speaking with a bizarre level of authority that was somehow not undermined by the tears running down her face, “Blaming Low won’t get us anywhere, Lightning.” Lightning’s look of shock left almost immediately in favor of a glare. It didn’t last long against Dew Drop’s own tearful stare however, and the unicorn backed down quickly in favor of moving to the engine. “I’ll get this thing moving again,” he complained as he left the car. Low and Stinger watched with smiles on their faces as Lightning trotted off in a huff. “Now that that’s over,” Dew continued, “Can you please explain what happened Low?” The authority had worn away. Now she just seemed sad. Feeling that this might be a problem, Wisp stepped in to take over before Low could answer. “Yeah Low,” he said as he trotted back into the car, “Why did you overshoot. We were aiming for the castle. Manehattan’s pretty far from Canterlot.” “Hey look who finally decided to step in now that Little Miss Teardrop took care of things. He’s really a knight in shining armor isn’t he, Dew?” Wisp didn’t turn to look at the mare that was speaking. He didn’t know much about Stinger, but Spectrum had warned him not to pay her too much attention when she got like this. She just wanted to start another argument. Rather than pay her any mind, Wisp continued to focus his gaze on Low. He had intended for it to be an unassuming look, but Stinger’s insults did make him grimace a touch. To Low it probably looked like Wisp was angry at him. Thankfully, either Low had figured as much, or he simply didn’t care what Wisp thought of him. For after taking a moment’s pause to wipe the prideful smile from his face, he responded. “It’s really a simple problem,” Low began, “Ya’ see when we were approachin’ the castle, the brake lever jammed, and in the end I broke it while tryin’ to force it back.” Low presented the group with a large metal rod that he had been keeping behind his back. “I was goin’ to explain as much before that big galoot assaulted me.” Wisp stared at the rod for a moment. He was pretty sure it was the brake handle. “Thanks to that, I was barely able to stop the thing by the time we got here.” “Okay I guess that makes sense,” Spectrum commented calmly as he trotted in front of Wisp, “But can you explain why you locked us out of the engine?” Low blushed and scratched his back before speaking up again. “Well ya’ see…I didn’t want anypony to bother me while I was workin’ the engine. It’s complicated work ya’ know.” Most of the group stared in disbelief at the sheer idiocy of that statement. Spectrum however seemed satisfied. Without another word, he picked up the lever and trotted to the engine. This prompted a few more confused looks from group. It wasn’t the action that was odd; it was the sheer nonchalance with which he did it. “Boring as ever,” Stinger commented from her place to the side. “Maybe you should go help,” Wisp commented after Spectrum had shut the door behind him. He was referring to Low of course, but his gaze, along with most of the group’s, was focused on the door. “I doubt that would be a good idea,” Airheart retorted. The train whistle bellowed suddenly after she finished speaking. Suddenly worried, Wisp dashed for the door. However the moment after he opened it, he saw Spectrum trotting back towards their cabin, dusty but unharmed. “I think he’d prefer to work alone,” the pegasus commented as he trotted straight past Wisp and took a seat once more. “What are you guy’s doing in here?” Wisp turned away from the nonchalant stallion to see a much more expressive mare standing at the door. “I was almost into the main city when I heard the whistle. Why didn’t anypony come with me?” For once Twinkle wasn’t smiling. She seemed weirdly serious. “Sorry things were pretty hectic in here,” Stinger responded as she moved to join Twinkle at the door. “You can’t just leave a scene like that alone.” The mare chuckled as she trotted straight past Twinkle and into the city. Wisp took a glance around the cabin. Things were calm now, so most of the inhabitants were exchanging glances, Twinkle included. Wisp noticed she was smiling again. It was pretty clear she was excited. Most of the other ponies seemed to be sharing nervous glances; Airheart with Spectrum, Dew Drop with Low, and Low with Wisp. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t leave you guys here,” Spectrum said to Airheart. Everypony else of course looked straight back to him, but his eyes didn’t veer from his fellow pegasus. “I promise.” Wisp turned back to Airheart. She was crying, but with a smile on her face. Wisp was confused again. Why couldn’t any of the mares on the train cry normally? “Thanks,” Airheart responded as she wiped her face and turned to the rest of the group. “We probably should look around,” she said, her eyes resting on Twinkle, “If the whole city’s this intact we might run into some survivors.” Low chuckled. “I guess my screw up might’ve been good for somepony after all,” he said. With that the stallion trotted out of the car. Twinkle joined him, and soon so did everypony else; save Spectrum of course. Once they were all out of the train, they saw Stinger not far ahead juggling a few rocks. “Well if everypony’s coming we need to choose teams,” she said with devilish smirk. It was obvious that she had been suspecting this, but Wisp wasn’t entirely sure how the rocks were going to help them decide teams. “You know we have straw back in the train,” Wisp commented. “Yeah, but that wouldn’t be as much fun,” Stinger smirked as she tossed one of the pebbles into the air. It was only when Wisp heard another pebble hit the ground at his feet that he realized this was only a distraction, and by then it was too late. It took less than a second for one of the heavier rocks to make contact with his snout. “Alright,” Stinger cheered, “Fire boy’s my partner. Who’s next?” ***** “So why are we looking for strip malls?” Airheart asked as she trotted to catch up with Aces Low. The system that Stinger had come up with was absurd and admittedly painful for the stallions, but Airheart couldn’t complain too much after being given the opportunity to choose who she worked with. Aces Low may not have been her first choice, but at least he seemed more enthusiastic then either Twinkleshine or Dew Drop. “I’ve got a good feelin’ that we’ll be able to find somepony there,” Aces Low responded with a charming smile. Airheart liked that smile. Somehow it seemed more honest than Twinkleshine’s, and it wasn’t nearly as disconcerting as Stinger’s. “And hey worst case, we’ve got stores loaded with supplies right?” The stallion finished with a nod in answer to his own question and picked up his pace, forcing Airheart to catch up once more. By this point the group had all probably wandered a good distance away from the train station. Will O’ Wisp and Twinkleshine had gone off looking for survivors in the northern and southern portions of the city respectively. Airheart and Aces Low had headed straight east after splitting up with the rest of the group. Airheart personally didn’t know much about Manehattan, but thankfully Aces Low did. He had even come up with a plan on how to proceed through. Airheart wasn’t too surprised. Manehattan struck her as the kind of place for poker players. The pair walked on in silence for a few moments as Airheart collected her thoughts. Once she’d finished she saw the stallion was smiling patiently as he walked. It took her a moment to realize their pace had slowed. Airheart decided if they were going to move slowly they should at least use the opportunity to talk. “So, Aces Low-“ “Just call me Low, Airheart.” Airheart nodded. “Right. So Low, how many ponies do you think we’ll find here?” she asked as she turned back to the city. Manehattan was way bigger than Cloudsdale, so it only made sense that there’d be more survivors. Airheart had to admit that the prospect actually frightened her a bit after her last experience. Naturally she was hoping to see more ponies, but that fear was still prominent. As she turned back to face Low, Airheart couldn’t help but wonder if he could tell. If he did see anything, Low certainly didn’t show it. He simply smiled on ahead as he thought on his number. “I think we’ll see two,” he eventually decided. “That’s a pretty low number,” Airheart responded. Now her fear showed a touch more clearly, although this was obviously a different fear. “Don’t ya’ mean, ‘That’s a pretty number, Low.’?” Low responded as he turned to wink back at Airheart. The joke cheered her up enough to smile, but that was all it did. The fear was definitely still there; primarily because they hadn’t seen anypony yet. “It makes sense though doesn’t it?” Airheart looked back to the road and nodded. “I guess you’re right. Only two have made it from everywhere else after all.” Low stopped ahead of Airheart. It took her a moment to realize it was because she herself had apparently stopped. Nonetheless Low just looked back at her with that sincere smile of his. “Well look,” he said as he suddenly turned away to look down a nearby street, “I see you found a strip mall. Nice job, Airheart.” Airheart smiled back as Low trotted down the alleyway, but before she followed she had to wipe a tear away. Suddenly his sincere smile seemed just a touch less sincere, but then again he was using it for good. Airheart only spared something like that a single tear. Anymore might be insulting to the good will behind the lie. Once she did follow, Airheart saw that she and Low were indeed in front of a strip mall. Airheart counted a total of five stores; a restaurant, a kitchen supply, a jewelry store, and two clothing stores. What struck the mare as odd though was that all of them were empty. Airheart could only tell what they were based on their signs. “Well I guess that our supply plan’s a bust,” Low joked as he looked through the shops. “Nothin’ left here but a bracelet and some signs.” The stallion sighed as he stopped in front of the jewelry store at the mall’s end. Airheart took her time as she moved toward the unicorn. She wanted to make sure that what he was saying was true. It was. No window showed anything remaining in the shop from a crumb to a stray thread. When she finally arrived to her place beside Low, she found that the only thing left was single gold chain bracelet with a purple diamond decorating it. “I wonder why that’s still here,” Low commented as he stared at the gem. After a second he turned to look back at Airheart. “Do you want to grab it, Airheart, or do ya’ want me to get it?” Airheart didn’t respond as quickly as she might have wanted to. Her thoughts were on the bracelet. It wasn’t identical, but somehow the gem made her think of the necklace from before. The shape and color was different sure, but it still felt just as important, though that may have simply been because it was the only thing still sitting in the store. Once Airheart’s thoughts were gathered she turned to ask Low if they should grab it. Then she realized that the bracelet didn’t just remind her of Lightning’s necklace. It also reminded her of the broach on Low’s chest, and, now that she thought of it, the bracelet that Stinger had used to torture the hippogryph not very long ago. “Low,” she asked, “Do you think this gem is like the others?” Low nodded. “I’m sure it is, Airheart.” “Do you think they’re important?” Low nodded again, but this time he didn’t say anything. He merely opened the door and ushered Airheart in with that smile of his. Aiheart returned the nod and trotted in to grab the bracelet. “I think ya’ should put it on,” Low commented from his place in the doorway. Airheart took another look at the bracelet. Unlike what the others were wearing it didn’t exactly match her. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” she asked, “What if these things are magical or something?” Low chuckled. “I’m sure you’ll be fine,” he said before turning away and trotting back into the street, “Besides we forgot to bring saddlebags, and I can tell ya’ that I’m sure not gonna wear it.” Airheart chuckled right back at Low while she watched him leave the building. She paused a bit before putting the bracelet, but she eventually did put it on before following the stallion. After nothing happened, she felt confident enough to continue out the door; she also found herself feeling slightly angrier at Lightning, but that was neither here nor there. Once Airheart did make it out she saw Low seated just in front of the door. Initially she naturally assumed he was waiting for her, but once she got a look at his face this assumption fell apart. Low was gazing distinctly at something in the distance. Upon following his gaze, Airheart saw two ponies approaching them. “I told ya’ there’d be two,” Low chuckled, before looking back to Airheart. “C’mon Airheart, let’s go and say hello.” With that the stallion trotted toward the pair. Airheart joined Low instantly, but not without adding a hearty, “Hello,” and a wave as she approached.