//------------------------------// // Book 3 - Chapter XLIV // Story: The Sunset Trilogy // by ocalhoun //------------------------------// Book 3: Equestria Abides Chapter 10 Twilight Sparkle couldn't stop laughing. She was sure it was inappropriate to the situation, sure that the other ponies present didn't appreciate the humor of the situation... but she just couldn't stop. After suppressing herself back to a mere giggle, she looked again at their big discovery. It was magnificent, splendor that any thief could only dream of, right in front of them all... huge stacks of gold bullion, flanked by mountains of bits, all gleaming dimly in the light from the vaporized door... and every ounce of it completely worthless. * * * Apollo shook his head with exasperation. Focused on the useless treasure in front of him or the incessantly laughing unicorn behind him, he couldn't decide. He was beginning to regret leaving the most difficult target for himself... not that he hadn't earlier while sprawled on the pavement a truly disgusting number of times. He growled lightly to himself before walking outside, “Okay, Needle, mark it on the map... maybe it will come in handy some day...” he sighed, “but let's hope the other two teams have had better luck than this!” “Why, what's in there?” The shy navigator asked, already pulling out a rolled-up map of Las Pegasus. He couldn't bring himself to say it. “Ugh... just ask Twilight when she comes out... if she ever stops laughing long enough to come out that is.” * * * “Albie!” Apollo called out into the echoing chasm between the skyscrapers looming overhead, “Shimmer! ... Where are you?” His calls echoed unanswered into the cityscape, even though this was the area the two had been assigned to forage in. Twilight walked alongside him, taking in the sights. The streets were a mess, trash laying everywhere, discarded carts or vendor stalls making the streets and sidewalks an obstacle course... and overhead now that the air was clear she could see the spider's web of connecting bridges and catwalks above, already falling into dangerous disrepair with no pegasus ponies to maintain the clouds they were attached to at the higher levels. Despite the silence and neglect though, Las Pegasus still boasted a quiet grandeur. The buildings all still soared up majestically to disappear in the permanent cloud bank above, which she knew once functioned as a second set of city streets for the city's pegasi. A flock of birds wove their way between buildings and gantries far above, the only motion visible in the city at the moment. She paused a moment to admire a particularly amazing bridge, arching its way over a small city park; every single girder was a work of art, each connecting together in an intricate stylized braid, but still managing to support the bridge's soaring span. Even though the life had fled out of this city, she found herself continually impressed by the ponies who had lived here and built it. “Over here!” A shout came from her left, behind her as she had been admiring the bridge. Albatross could be seen there at the street corner, waving them over. “Sorry, got a little carried away and lost track of time... almost didn't make the rendezvous!” “Just tell me you found something useful,” Apollo sighed, “My target was a complete bust.” The white pegasus just grinned back, hovering there just above the street, “Just you wait and see! Come on!” With that he started off down the street, forcing the ponies behind him to run in order to keep up with his flying. * * * Albatross kicked the already broken door open with a flourish, spinning around and gesturing with his good front hoof, “Fillies and Gentlecolts, allow me to present to you, the finest department store in Las Pegasus!” Apollo stepped gingerly forward through the pile of broken glass at the entrance, cautiously making his way into the dark building. There wasn't much to see so far, with dim shapes looming at the edge of the narrow walkway he found himself on. “Shimmer honey, time to hit the lights!” Albatross called out into the darkness. A bright blue glow illuminated Shimmer spell standing a good distance away in the center of the floor, quickly shooting up to inhabit a truly gargantuan chandelier in the middle of the single big room. In the fractured blue colored light that filled the room, Apollo found himself surrounded by... fancy clothes. It was true, they were the best of the best, their frills and dazzling rainbow of colors shown off to interesting effect by the unorthodox lighting... but still... just clothes. “What are we going to do with these, hold a dress ball?” He asked. Albatross laughed as he continued to lead the group to his fiancée in the middle of the room, “This is just the first floor, buddy, it gets better.” He looked back with a crooked smile. “And what if we do want to hold a fancy dress ball?” * * * Twilight let her own magical light augment Shimmer Spell's, lighting the next floor with an even stranger combination of colors, her violet and Shimmer's blue blending together and throwing oddly colored shadows wherever there was a place that one color would reach and another couldn't. “Allow me to introduce you to floor seventeen, Furniture and Appliances!” Albatross called out theatrically, though it was truly beginning to get a little old after sixteen floors of hearing his pronouncements. “At least this one might be a little useful,” Apollo mused, “That old castle is awfully bare. ... So, that's one out of seventeen so far.” “Hey,” Twilight admonished, “I liked eight!” Liked was a bit of an understatement, actually. Floor eight was Books! A whole floor dedicated to be a big bookstore! And they were all free for the taking! It wasn't the biggest collection she'd ever seen... not the royal library by any means... but it was enormous, and stocked with a dizzying selection, including new releases the library hadn't managed to get a hold of before she left for Ponyville. Despite Apollo's insistence at moving on, her saddlebags were already bulging full of a few she just couldn't leave behind... and her mind was likewise full of plans about how she would transform that upper reception hall in the castle into the most wonderful library. Rather than leading them to the stairwell to move up to the next floor though, Albatross was guiding them through this floor, giving Twilight a moment to look longingly at a fine mahogany desk along the way... she was missing having somewhere to settle down to do her reading and writing... but that was way too big for her saddlebags, and the other group had taken the wagon. She passed by, making an addition to her mental checklist of things to get when she had the opportunity... right behind item forty five on her checklist: acquire quills and ink so she could make a real checklist. Albatross stopped next to a door set in the outer wall of the furniture floor... which was itself a strange thing to see, given that they were on the seventeenth floor. “You want to introduce it, Albie?” Shimmer Spell asked. “You're the one who found it,” he replied nuzzling her a little. She perked up, showing a little hint of her previous showboating self, and opened the door, leading the group of ponies across one of the many bridges crossing the streets of Las Pegasus. Twilight was surprised to see as she exited that while the support columns here were still made of stone, the walls themselves were already made of cloud. The paneling on the inside had hidden that, and she suddenly felt a lot less secure this high up above the city street. Even though the buildings still stretched far above, this seventeen story drop seemed plenty high to her at the moment! “And now, Shimmer Spell shall redeem this entire edifice with her magnificent discovery!” The blue unicorn cried out from the other side of the bridge, fully in performance mode now. “She gives you the Home Improvement Department!” * * * Apollo hopped up, boosted by his wings, taking a shortcut over a ladder that was laying propped up sideways in the street for some reason. As he watched the ponies not so blessed with wings work their way around, he once again had to grudgingly admit that behind her showy exterior, that Shimmer Spell really could deliver. The home improvement department had left him like a colt in a candy store... To just think of all they could do with the castle and all the equipment and supplies they could find in that place! It would become a real home, not just a big drafty cavern to set up a camp inside... Still, the one thing the department store didn't carry was what they needed most right now: food. He didn't have to call out to find the last members of his crew, they were already ready and waiting at their rendezvous location, with a promisingly laden wagon hitched to Pebbles. Even if they had been hard to find, Splints's loud arguing with the two foals would have given away their location easily. “NO! You will stay RIGHT HERE!” She yelled out. A whining voice came back, but at this distance he couldn't hear what it said. “I KNOW it's an ice cream shop! But there is NO ice cream in there you idiot! How long has the power been out here? What in Equestria makes you think it wouldn't have melted already?” “Did you find any food that isn't melted?” Apollo asked, interrupting the argument... Only to find himself interrupted as Twilight rushed forward and scooped a surprised Sunny Daze into a fierce hug. The unicorn had been even more overprotective of the little filly ever since the changeling incident, not that the filly seemed to mind too much, at least not at the moment. “Heh, did we ever!” Splints replied, ignoring the show of affection. “Fifty bits says we got more than all the rest of you combined!” Apollo just rolled his eyes. “First of all, of course you did. You can carry more with that wagon... and second, I'll take that bet.” He relished the momentarily confused look Splints gave him. “I've got a lot of bits I need a purpose for, and losing bets seems like as good a use as any.” At that, Twilight broke out laughing again, but he ignored her mirth as he had grown accustomed to doing back at the gold hoard. Instead, he paced around the wagon to see its contents... and he wasn't disappointed. A huge pile of food filled the interior! Sure, most of it was canned or packaged and heavily processed... but what could one expect after over a year of not having any fresh produce? It was still food, and plenty of it... maybe even enough to last the winter... and he was sure there must be more where they had found this. Lost in thought and now pleased with the prospects of the future, Apollo sat, oblivious to the activity around him for just a moment. Things were finally looking up. * * *