Chapter IV : Into The Deep
“Rarity! What happened to the dang light!?” Applejack demanded.
“I dropped it! Excuse me for being startled," she snapped back, feeling around with her magic for the lost rope in the pitch-black lighthouse. If I could just cast a light spell, this wouldn’t be an issue... she chided herself mentally.
"Maybe Rainbow Dash can fly to Fillydelphia and get a new one?” Pinkie’s voice suggested further inside. “But she probably wouldn’t come back till after her stupid show...”
“Hush up, Pinkie,” Applejack said, adding an edge to her words. Though she was still disappointed with Rainbow, Pinkie’s new attitude was getting old fast.
Small sobs that could only belong to Fluttershy echoed somewhere in the darkness. “Fluttershy! Where are you?” Rainbow asked, ignoring the pink pony’s heckling.
“I’m h-here...” Fluttershy murmured in response. Dash zeroed-in on the faint sound, finding the group’s other pegasus cowering by the door they had entered from. Fluttershy gasped at the sudden contact.
“It’s okay, Dashie’s got ya.”
“Oh geez, get a room you two,” scoffed Pinkie.
Okay, that’s the last straw. “What is the matter with ya, Pinkie?” Applejack said, finally calling attention to her standoff-ish behavior. “You’re acting like a pig with a knot in his tail! It’s not like ya at all...”
“You don’t have to worry about me AJ,” Pinkie answered, her caustic voice directed towards Applejack. Hoof steps clicked on hard flooring, moving closer and closer. “That’s something only friends have to do.” There was something malicious in Pinkie’s tone that actually frightened Applejack. She backed away, only to find herself pressed up against an unseen stone wall.
Suddenly, the room filled with lights. Standing two inches away from her muzzle was Pinkie’s sneering face. Applejack jumped in surprise, barely catching a frightful shriek. Pinkie grinned with satisfaction, then trotted away casually.
“What in the world is this place?” asked Rarity as her eyes adjusted to the light and took in their surroundings.
The round room the middle-aged mares stood in seemed to go all the way up the inside of the tower. It was also finely decorated and furnished, very much in contrast with its rough stone exterior. Light radiated from elegant fixtures set atop marble columns that ran along the curved walls. A bundle of crystals within each cast pale blue lights, reflecting in a myriad of shades off polished tiles that covered the floor.
In the center of it all stood an eight foot statue of a dignified pegasus mare, surrounded by flowing red banners. Her mane and tail were done up in old-fashioned ringlets, which matched the odd, anachronistic feel of the structure’s atmosphere.
“Oh my!” Rarity exclaimed, “It’s all so very...” She surveyed the vintage stylings of the place, trying to put into words exactly how it made her feel. “So very... tacky. These designs are decades out of date! I mean, just look at that mare’s hair-do! It’s simply archaic.”
Applejack trotted over to the statue in question, keeping a wary eye on Pinkie. “Who do ya’ll reckon this is?” She asked at its base. The marble mare’s short, curly mane reminded her of something from Granny Smith’s old photo albums.
Rainbow flew up for a better look, inspecting the statue closely and poking it with a hoof. “Just looks like some old mare to me...” She hovered around the stately figure, getting a good look at it from all angles. “Huh, whoever she is, she’s got a blank flank.”
“Oh, Rainbow,” Rarity rolled her eyes, “Just because the statue doesn’t have a cutie mark, that doesn’t mean she’s a blank flank!”
“Maybe the sculptor was selfish and only thought about herself?” Pinkie snorted absently as she wrung the leftover water out of her straight mane.
“Wh-What do those banners mean?” Fluttershy squeaked, cautiously eying them from the floor.
After shooting Pinkie an icy glare, Rarity turned her attention to the vibrant read velvet handing proudly above, “Hmm. Let’s see here, ‘Unbind thyself from the chains of fate’? Some sort of motto, perhaps?”
“Uh, guys?” Rainbow hovered by the statue’s flank, her face suddenly pale, “Something tells me the sculptor who did this wasn't lazy...”
“Come on Dashie, there’s no way a mare her age could have no cutie mark!” Rarity said dismissively.
Rainbow shook her head, “I’m not saying she didn’t have one. I’m saying she... doesn’t have one anymore.”
“Doesn’t have one anymore? What makes ya say that?” Applejack asked, circling around to see whatever Rainbow was going on about.
“Just look! There’re scars all over her!” Rainbow said, pointing out the thick lines on the statue where its cutie mark should have been. “The sculptor wasn’t lazy, he was like, the best statue-maker-guy ever! This pegasus... I think she cut off her cutie mark!”
There was a round of gasps, and a shrill scream from Fluttershy. Using her long, pink tail, she hid the butterflies on her sides. If she had been scared before, she was outright petrified now.
They starred up at the deformed mare with the words on the banners echoing in their minds.
‘Unbind thyself from the chains of Fate...’
“Maybe... we should go back outside?” Applejack suggested, beginning to feel queasy all over again. “I'll bet some other boats saw the light, maybe we can wave one down and get outta here. C’mon, help me get this door open.”
With a few backwards glances at the unsettling statue, the mares lined up along the door. There didn’t seem to be a handle on it, so together they pushed on the heavy brass with their collective shoulders. After several minutes of pushing, and a few bucks from Applejack, it had not budged an inch.
“W-We’re trapped in here!” Fluttershy wailed, feeling a panic-attack coming on, “Ohhhh nonono no no!” This is bad, this is BAD!
"Calm down ‘Shy! We just gotta push harder!” Applejack huffed, “Come on ya’ll, one more big... wait- why ain’t Pinkie Pie helping?” She peered around the statue’s plinth to where Pinkie had been sitting moments ago. The moody mare was nowhere to been seen.
“Where’d she go?!” Fluttershy gasped, covering her butterflies again, “Y-You don’t think- They wouldn’t... cut off her cutie mark? W-Would they?!”
“Ah said calm down, not 'make wild assumptions'. Ah’m sure she’s just... wandered off. You've seen how she’s been acting up.” Applejack placed a hoof on her quivering friend.
“You think she went deeper into this creep-factory?” Rainbow piped, giving the door one last ineffective shove before giving up. "And you expect us to be calm about that?"
“C’mon, nopony else is even in here.” Ah hope... ”...We’d better go find her.”
“N-No!” Fluttershy cried, earning confused looks from the other three. “I mean... I’ll just wait here, okay?” She wanted to be as far away from this place as possible, not explore its hidden inner depths.
“Sorry, but we ain’t splittin’ up. That's never a good idea.” Applejack said, glancing apprehensively at the ominous statue.
“Don’t worry ‘Shy, you got me to protect you!” Rainbow swooped to Fluttershy’s trembling side. “I won’t let anything even look at you the wrong way. It’ll be just like old times, okay?”
“I... I... can’t...” she stammered, trembling from her feathers to her fetlocks.
“Come now dear, Pinkie could be in trouble. She needs you,” Rarity said, recalling Pinkie’s psycho-breakdown on Endless Horizon’s deck. “I think... she needs all of us.”
Fluttershy looked close to tears. It was like she was on the sinking ship again, locked in her bathroom alone while it filled with water. Except, this time she wasn’t alone. She turned to Applejack, who gave her a little smile and a nod.
With a deep breath, Fluttershy nodded back. “Okay... I’ll try.”
Rainbow helped her off the hard tiles, and together, they passed by the offending statue. From this close, Fluttershy could clearly see the scarring under its closed wings. She stifled a yelp and focused on the smooth floor. At the back of the room, the group found a small stairwell leading down to another level of the strange lighthouse.
“Pinkie!” Applejack called from the top, “Pinkie, ya down there?”
“Does anypony else hear... music?” Rarity’s ears perked up. She swore she could hear a fiddle playing somewhere below.
“We’re going down there, aren’t we?” Fluttershy sighed in resignation.
Rainbow wrapped a comforting wing around her, “Come on, whatever’s down there can’t be worse than that time with the dragon in Ponyville, right?”
Fluttershy gasped, fixing Rainbow with a horrified gaze, “You don’t think there’s a dragon down there, do you?!”
“Seriously, I think I know this song...” mused Rarity.
Applejack placed a hoof on the first step. “Ah don't hear nothing. And there ain’t no dragons on the ocean, Fluttershy. Let’s just get this over with so we can get outta here. I'll bet we can try'n climb out the top of the lighthouse next.” She continued down the first flight, stopping at the bottom and looking up at the others. “Well? Ya’ll comin’ or what?”
Rarity, Rainbow and Fluttershy exchanged uneasy glances, then carefully stepped down towards Applejack and the lighthouse’s lower level.
“Pinkie? Where are ya?” AJ called again as they reached the floor below. “Where did she get off to now?” The staircase split and ran down either side of a round room to a flat landing. In its center sat a large, bronze sphere, lit by more of the strange light crystals.
“That is one weird-looking bathtub.” Rainbow said, reaching over the banister and tapping the metal contraption from the stairs.
“Do ya hafta touch everything?” Applejack snapped. It had been a very long day for her.
Rainbow cast a frown her way, then took to the air for a better vantage point... and to get away from the frazzled orange mare.
“Huh, the music stopped...” Rarity noticed the fiddle forged tune had faded away, leaving the four in an eerie calm. Even the ocean outside was silent behind large, stone bricks.
“PINKIE!?” Applejack called once more. She reached the landing and rounded the bronze... thing, finding a wide opening on its side. “Pinkie?” She peeked into the sphere, and sure enough, there sat an unresponsive Pinkie Pie. “Girls! She's in here!”
“Does she still have her cutie mark?” Rainbow zipped to Applejack’s side, followed shortly by the other two.
“Yeah, she’s still got her balloons,” Applejack snarked back, spotting the yellow and blue party balloons on Pinkie’s flank. To any outside observer, she would appear to be fine; just casually sitting on her haunches with her back to the sphere’s entrance and the four mares crowding around outside of it.
“Umm, Pinkie, dear, are you quite alright in there?” Rarity asked hesitantly.
“...Twilight,” Pinkie replied flatly. Rarity and Rainbow swapped a pair of nervous looks.
“What? Pinkie, look, we gotta get out of this place. Come on!” Applejack tried.
“...Twilight,” Pinkie repeated.
“Umm, AJ?” Rainbow said, “I don’t think she can hear you right now...”
“Whaddya mean? She’s standin’ right there!”
“No, you see... What Dash means is...” Rarity sighed, “Something just like this happened earlier.”
“It did?” Applejack growled, rounding on the guilty-looking pegasus and unicorn.
“On the ship, right before it sank!” Rainbow jumped in. “She kinda lost her temper and went all space-case wacko and wouldn’t stop saying-”
“Twilight,” Pinkie interrupted.
“Exactly, she snapped out of it right before you and Fluttershy showed up, and she’s been... a tad temperamental ever since,” Rarity finished.
Applejack closed her eyes and placed a hoof on her forehead, “So let me get this straight; Pinkie blows a gasket and has a complete change in attitude... And ya’ll didn’t think ta mention it till just now?”
“Well, there were more important things happening at the time!” Rarity said in her defense.
“Like gatherin’ up all your precious clothes?” Applejack asked, matching her agitated tone.
Uh! The very nerve! “THOSE WERE MY GALA DRESS DESIGNS!” Rarity’s pent up anger exploded. She was getting pretty sick of having that luggage thing thrown in her face.
The high-strung mares broke into a heated argument. Dash tried to break it up, but somehow managed to get involved herself and soon, she was shouting just as loud as the other two.
Fluttershy looked from the bickering mares to her catatonic friend. She swallowed the growing lump in her throat and stepped shakily into the strange metal ball. To her shock, it bobbed slightly, as if it was floating. She pulled back her hoof with a startled gasp.
She needs you...Fluttershy reminded herself. With a resolute nod she stepped in, ignoring the slight movement. “Pinkie?” It was little more than a whisper.
“Twilight?” Pinkie whispered.
“Ummm, no, it’s me, Fluttershy...” She cautiously approached her motionless friend. The inside of the bronze sphere was furnished in a style similar to the rest of the strange tower, and plush seats ran along its close walls. It almost looked cozy.
“...Twilight,” Pinkie droned again.
Fluttershy came to a stop behind her. “Listen to me. I... I know things haven’t been going great so far this week...” She began, feeling a hint of the confidence she had experienced alone in her cabin. Before things had gone so horribly wrong.
“I was GOING to tell you before I LEFT!” Rainbow's voice shouted.
Tuning out the shouting match, Fluttershy moved to Pinkie’s side and caught a glimpse of her blank, white eyes gaping at a lever sticking out of the floor.
“I- I know it may not seem like it right now...” Fluttershy forged on, “but we are still your friends.”
“... My... friends?” Pinkie's head slowly turned to face Fluttershy with pupil-less eyes.
She had to quickly look away, but forced herself to keep going. “Y-Y-Yes! An- and right now, we need your help; first to get out of here and then... we need to repair our friendship.” A few strands of Pinkie’s flat hair curled up, and it seemed to brighten just a little bit.
“Do you have ANY idea how long those designs took me to make?!”
“...Twilight,” Pinkie’s attention slipped back to the strange lever.
“Pinkie, please. I know we can do it... Won’t you help us?” Fluttershy reached out and put a yellow hoof on the bewitched mare’s pink one.
Pinkie slowly glanced down at it, “We need... Twilight.”
“Twilight? What do you mean?”
“She’s going to help us....” Pinkie muttered as the fighting outside reached a fevered pitch.
“WELL YOU SKIPPED OUT ON MAH WEDDIN’!”
Applejack shoved Rarity, who voiced her offense with a sharp huff and shoved right back. A second later, they were on top of each other, throwing wild punches and insults. Rainbow, either to stop the violence or work out her own frustration, threw herself at them in a flying tackle. The three tumbled backwards into the bronze sphere with Fluttershy and Pinkie.
“...But we have to help her too.” Pinkie finished, reaching up and pulling the lever in front of her.
With a series of quick, mechanical clicks, the opening of the sphere was sealed shut by a sliding, glass-paneled door. It closed with a loud clack; effectively ending the fight inside.
“What the...? Pinkie, what’d ya DO?” Applejack flung Rarity off of her and went straight for the door. Push, shove and kick as she might, the door remained closed.
Pinkie blinked dumbly at thin air, as if she had just awoken from a deep sleep. “Me? I didn’t do anything,” she said, her eyes returning to normal. She took in her current surroundings and frowned. “It looks like one of you dummies got us locked in this... this whatcha-ma-thingy.” Wait, how did I get here?
Applejack wheeled on the pink pony, breathing hard. “Now, you listen here, you-”
The sphere clicked internally again, and suddenly, it dropped into the water below it. The five ponies inside jumped as the craft promptly began to sink. They could only watch through the window as air bubbles floated past and they submerged completely, continuing down a dark shaft beneath the lighthouse.
“We-We’re sinking!” Fluttershy tore herself from the horrifying sight and cowered on the floor, hyperventilating immediately.
“Not if Ah can help it!” Applejack ran to the back of the sphere, leaping over Fluttershy and shoving Pinkie out of the way. She grabbed hold of the lever and pushed it back to its original position. When that produced no results whatsoever, she did it again, then again as they descended. Markings on the shaft’s walls indicated they were already several fathoms below the waves.
“Way to save the day.” Pinkie dusted herself off bitterly.
Applejack bucked the controls, destroying them with a spray of sparks. “YOU!” She stormed over to Pinkie. “Ah don’t rightly know how, but I KNOW this is YOUR fault.”
“Pshhhh, what are you talking about?” Pinkie said, acting cool despite the furious mare bearing down inches from her face. Outside, more markings passed and they sank further into the ocean.
Applejack snorted, “The reunion. The cruise. And now THIS. It was all your doing!"
“Oh?! And what about you?” Pinkie growled, “You’re the one who doesn’t want to be friends anymore!”
“Ah never said that! I mean- yer twistin' mah words!” Applejack gasped.
And just like that, the argument started back up. Rarity and Rainbow joined in, filling the small space with harsh yelling, despite the current emergency.
“Please...” Fluttershy squeaked, “I just- I want to go home!”
Applejack turned to tell the pegasus to hush up... and noticed she was crying. In the dim light of the cramped sphere, she could clearly see the same desperate fear and worry on each of her old friend’s faces.
She inhaled and exhaled deeply. “Girls...” The mares around her kept arguing, but with one less voice they began to quiet down. Applejack waited, then repeated herself, maintaining her calm tone. “Girls, Fluttershy is right. Let’s all try ta... ta calm down here and figure a way out of this mess.”
Fluttershy whimpered into her hooves, while the other mares swapped frightened looks with one another.
Suddenly, a metal shutter slid over the window, and the light crystal on the ceiling went out.
Great, now what? Applejack thought, too exhausted to be properly worried.
The crystal reactivated, only this time with a much more concentrated light. It shot a white beam from the ceiling down to the floor, which widened out into blurry image floating in the middle of the sphere. It was some sort of moving picture spell.
The ponies stared in awe as the image took the shape of a black and white mare, sitting comfortably with a glass of wine. Rainbow Dash recognized her as the mare from the statue, now several dozen fathoms above them, but before she could point this out, the ghostly image began speaking.
“Hello, my name is Summer Rain.” It said through speakers hidden in the craft's walls. “You are here because you share my desire for freedom; to break away from the chains that bind you.”
“It’s some sort of crystal magic!” Rarity murmured, amazed by the impressive enchantment.
“So, she’s not really here?” Rainbow crouched low and moved in closer. She tried to touch the mare, only to have her hoof pass right through. “Wooooah.”
“Quiet! She’s still talkin’,” AJ ordered.
“I speak of the chains of fate.” Continued the emanation. “For how can you be free when an image on your flank determines your destiny? How can you be free when your very name is a condemnation? How can you be free when you are ruled by an immortal monarch with unquestionable authority?”
“Hey, is she talking about Celestia?” Rainbow asked, still prodding with a hoof.
“Ah said hush. And stop that!” Applejack barked, then smacked away Rainbow’s distracting limb.
“My time on the surface taught me that you simply cannot, and so I made a choice. I removed my mark and broke my bindings. I chose freedom, I chose; Rapture.”
The illusion fizzled out and the shutter over the sphere’s only window slowly reopened. The mares eagerly crowded around it and shared a gasp of amazement at what lay before them.
Out of the murky haze sprawled a massive, sunken metropolis, sitting the floor of the ocean. Glittering neon lights of every colour and tall buildings of stunning architecture made up its entirety. The city’s magnificence illuminated the dark waters surrounding it, creating a blue-green aura around the whole thing. It was like something out of a fairy tale; a fanciful story told to foals before they went to bed.
The mares gaped open-mouthed at the marvel before them. As they approached the looming buildings, Summer Rain’s smooth voice went on, “A place where ponies make their own destinies; where shackles and blinders are cast aside, where we are free from the tyranny of fate.”
The bronze sphere entered the city proper, travelling between buildings through flooded streets. Schools of fish swam through as well, over and under glass-covered walkways that linked the towering metal structures.
“You are here because you reject the way things are up above. You have been deemed worthy to join our ranks, and so I say, welcome! Welcome, to our city.”
The sphere turned sharply, diving and picking up speed. Its occupants fell onto each other, creating a writhing pile of limbs and cursing.
“Get off of me, Rainbow!” Rarity shouted from under the blue pegasus.
“I can’t! Pinkie is sitting on my wing!” she replied.
With much effort and plenty of shouting, they untangled themselves and returned to the window. They were moving fast now... directly at one of the Manehattan-esque skyscrapers.
“WE’RE GOING TO CRASH!” Fluttershy shrieked. She ran to the smashed lever, hoping to use it to stop the sphere, or change its direction, or something; but it had already proven to be useless, even before Applejack destroyed it.
She banged away on it to no effect as the sheer grey wall sped closer. “WE’RE GONNA- huh?” The craft turned on its own accord, bringing it alongside the wall they narrowly avoided smashing into. It slowed down, and the mares were able to take in the city as it leisurely drifted by.
“Well Ah’ll be... a whole city underwater? That just don’t make no sense.” Applejack read one sign with ‘Lucky’s Bar & Casino’ written in neon green letters. A pipe smoking buffalo held up a deck of cards next to the glowing words.
“It’s no more ridiculous than a city in the clouds,” Rarity remarked, recalling her various visits to Cloudsdale. Not being able to walk on the city made of clouds made business trips there such a hassle.
“Hey, Cloudsdale is not ridiculous! You only think that cause you’re not a pegasus," Dash scolded. It was her hometown, after all. There’s nothing ridiculous about a city that floats, but one that sank? That’s way more ridiculous.
“Maybe Seaponies live here?” Fluttershy said, moving back to the window now that they had slowed down.
Pinkie snorted, “Seaponies aren't even real.”
“Woah! Did you guys see that?!” Rainbow pushed her face on the glass window.
“See what? There’s a lot to be seeing right now.” Rarity said, admiring the beautiful, albeit very retro, design of the city.
“Up there in that tunnel- I saw something move!” She pointed to the walkway, but the sphere was underneath it now and their view was blocked. “I swear I saw something...”
“Well, who would live in a place like this?” Fluttershy asked, her growing curiosity outweighing her crippling fear. What if Seapoinies are real? What if they’re not friendly?!
“It doesn't look like anypony or anyone even lives here, now that you mention it.” Rarity had been wondering the same thing, but she couldn’t spot any of the city’s inhabitants through the numerous windows that passed by. As beautiful as the city was, she noticed parts of it were badly in need of maintenance. Rust crept up the dull grey siding, and a dark green algae dotted the glass windows she eagerly tried to peek through.
Applejack pointed ahead out their window, “Ah think we’re ‘bout ta find out.”
A doorway with ‘Rapture Transit Authority’ engraved around it irised open in an approaching wall. The bronze craft entered a tight-fitting tunnel within, stopping at its end at the bottom of a vertical shaft. From inside, they heard the doorway grind close behind them, and the sphere began to rise up the dark cylinder with a rush of air bubbles.
A tense hush overtook the vessel as it ascended, even Fluttershy’s whimpering faded into silence. Up they slowly went, each pony anxiously holding their breath. They huddled around the window as the sphere crested out of the water and rose out of the floor into a dim, open space, then came to a jerking stop.
Everything was dead still in the city. The ponies inched closer to the glass as water streamed down its exterior and peered out into the dark docking bay. Through the limited view their window provided, they assessed their surroundings.
Directly in front of them, a slim panel of glass granted them a view of the watery path they had just taken through the city. Blue-green light filtered in, giving everything it fell on a sickly tint. Somewhere behind them, another light was flickering on and off randomly. For the brief seconds it was on, a soiled red carpet could be seen just outside the sphere’s door, leading to the window, then off to the left.
Even as she took in the sights before her, Fluttershy could feel her anxiety rising again. “Oh... okay, how nice. So- I'd like to leave now. H-how do we go back up?”
Applejack glanced back at the broken controls. “Heck if Ah know,” she grumbled.
“Oh, but... I, oh no...” Fluttershy’s nervous thoughts took over. Applejack always has a plan. But she doesn’t now... Girls, what if we’re stuck here forever and Seaponies cut off our cutie marks? What if they’re coming to get us RIGHT NOW?! Oh no, oooh nonon-."
“Don’t worry,” Dash cut in before Fluttershy had a breakdown. “As long as we’re in this thing, we’re safe!” She tapped the sliding door, producing a metallic clang.
It replied with a series of clicks, making the tightly-wound mares jump halfway out of their hides. With a sharp hiss, the door slid open.
The group beat a hasty retreat to the back of the sphere, their metal and glass barrier no longer separating them from whatever lay beyond. They huddled together for what felt like an eternity, and when nothing burst in with knives or hacksaws, Applejack spoke up.
“Didn’t ah tell you ta stop touching stuff?!” She whispered harshly at Rainbow Dash.
“Come on, that totally wasn’t my fault!” She whispered back.
“Oookay, I’m out of here,” Pinkie said, then shouldered past Rarity and trotted up to the exit.
“Pinkie! We don’t know what’s out there!” Applejack said, increasing the volume of her whisper so it matched that of a normal speaking voice. Rarity recovered from the shove and scowled.
“You know what’s not in here? A way back up. Somepony lost their temper and broke the controls.” Pinkie turned back to the door and craned her neck around its edges. “Plus, you guys smell like a bunch of wet dogs.” Her muzzle turned up as she hopped out onto the red carpeting and trotted away.
“There’s gotta be some other way out of here, right AJ?” Rainbow asked, remembering her carefully set plans. How am I going train for the Fillydelphia show if I’m trapped underwater? "Maybe we should, you know... start looking around?"
Applejack sighed heavily, “Ah suppose that’s better than sittin’ on our hooves in here... Ah sure don't expect to get help, neither. This place looks really abandoned...” She slowly stepped up to the opening. From outside, a stagnant odor of dampness and seawater reached her nostrils, underscored by a hint of smoke.
Here goes nothing... She steeled herself, then took her first steps into Rapture.
It was like walking through a portal to another world. The air in the large space was warm and musty; she could feel the moisture sticking to her orange coat. The place was utterly deserted, giving it the distinct feel of a ghost town. She continued down the carpeting, each hoofstep producing an soft squish. Water was pooled everywhere, and she noticed bits of rubble and refuse lying around haphazardly. In a far back corner, a small fire burned quietly. There was no sign of Pinkie.
Something about all this is a little... off . Applejack warily walked up to the glass panel and scanned the sunken cityscape beyond with curious fascination. She couldn’t help but wonder why this place was even here. Though she didn't consider herself much of an architect, surely building a whole city underwater was insanely difficult. Why go through all the trouble? Her gaze tilted upwards past the towering, grey spires to the endless sea of green and a more important thought struck her. How are we gonna get out of here?
From behind, Rarity cautiously exited the craft while Dash attempted to convince Fluttershy to do the same.
"Oh my word...” the unicorn exclaimed, taking in the mysterious city’s interior with another wide eyed stare. “I know this probably doesn’t look like much now, and the designs are simply ancient, but on second thought I am positively stunned by the beauty of this place.”
“Beauty?” Applejack repeated incredulously. All Ah see is a dingy, dirty wreck.
Rarity bristled at the remark. “Oh yes! If you could just see past this layer of grime... and that fire- you’d see a grand terminal, one to rival the elegance of Grand Galloping Central! If only we could have seen it when it was new...” She closed her eyes, trying to picture it in her mind. The smell made it more difficult than she cared to admit.
Applejack scanned the area again, but still only saw an under-maintained disaster zone. A burning fire was a hard thing to see past, but then Rarity had always had an eye for... extravagance. “Yeah... right. From the looks of it, Ah’d say we’re a little late to this party.” What Harvey would think of all this... she wondered. He'd probably find it pretty too, though he wouldn't be able ta stargaze from way down here.
With a very nervous Fluttershy at her side, Rainbow finally left the sphere. “Is she still going on about the design? I think the real question here is... what reeks?” She covered her snout with a blue hoof.
Applejack gestured with a hoof. “Just take a look ‘round, the whole place is in ruins.”
“So, is there a-anyway out...?” asked Fluttershy, ignoring the decor Rarity was still admiring and looking for any means of escape from the dilapidated wonder. She was soon able to answer her own question, when her eyes fell on a dock for another bronze sphere thing. This one, however, was empty... and completely blocked off by broken chunks of cement. “Oh dear...”
Following her gaze, the others took stock of the destroyed bay.
“That’s... not a good sign,” Rainbow declared.
“It’s okay everypony, “ Applejack said with false conviction, “We’ll find another way, okay?” Oh, please let there be another way... She suddenly missed Harvest Moon very much. "Maybe Rarity can use magic to get the pod to go back or somethin'?"
Rarity hmphed softly. "Thank you for the vote of confidence, Applejack, but I can promise you I'm capable of no such thing."
“HEEEEEEEEEELLOOOOOOOOOOO?” Pinkie interrupted, her shout coming from somewhere further within.
“Anyway, we can’t leave without Pinkie,” Rarity reminded them. “Perhaps she’s even found something useful?” Like a muzzle...
“Sure... everypony stay close, and keep yer eyes peeled.” Applejack started down the dock towards its far end, her friends trailing close behind. Together, they followed the soggy carpet past the obstructed bay and the still burning fire.
You’d think all this water would have put that out, thought Rarity as she stepped over hastily discarded luggage and the occasional puddle. She eyeballed the site of baggage piles every so often. What happened here to make them leave in such a hurry?
The worn wood beneath the carpet gave way to a staircase that lead up and out of the dock. A thin trickle of water flowed down its uneven steps. “That call came from up here, ah’m sure of it.” Applejack said, leading the way up the slippery stairs.
At the top, she rounded a corner to find a long hallway suffering from the same mistreatment as the docking bay it overlooked. Fallen marble columns lay broken on the floor and more trash and baggage was scattered all around. At the very least, it was partially lit, and sitting at its far end was a pink, flat-maned pony. She was trying to clear away a pile of rubble blocking the hall’s exit.
“Pinkie!” Dash shouted, “What are you doing? Come back here!”
“Nope, I heard voices this way,” Pinkie replied without looking back. She stood on her hind legs and grabbed hold of a large piece of fallen wall siding.
Voices...? That can’t be good, whether she imagined them or not... thought Applejack. “Pinkie, get over here now! We need to find a way out!”
“What does it look like I’m doing?” The obstacle crashed to the floor. Pinkie climbed over its shattered remains and up the staircase it concealed.
“Oh no you don’t!” Applejack roared, breaking into a full gallop down the gloomy hall; leaping over the broken columns and sidestepping a discarded pipe wrench. She flew up the stairs, paying no heed to Fluttershy’s distressed cries. Pinkie’s up ta somethin’, I know it! She ain’t getting away from me!
The long staircase brought her to what looked like a reception area. ‘Welcome to Rapture’ was scrawled above another doorway in a wall comprised entirely of glass panels. Ignoring the breathtaking view, Applejack darted in and surveyed the beat up welcome center. The irate farm-mare quickly found what she was looking for.
“There ya are, ya little varmint!” She exclaimed, spotting Pinkie with her back turned... staring at something on the wall in front of her.
She made no reply as Applejack closed in. “Well? Ya gonna start talking now, or what? Hmm?”
“...Twilight,” Pinkie said flatly.
“Oh great, she’s gone all loopy again...” Applejack removed her hat and rubbed her temples. This keeps getting better and bett-
“Loopy? What do you mean?” Pinkie turned her head to face Applejack, her blue eyes meeting AJ’s with an annoyed glare.
“Wait you’re... fine? Then- what are you doing staring at the wall?”
“Applejack? Is that... is that really you?” A third voice said, seemingly coming from nowhere.
“Woah! Who said that?!” Applejack spun around. Nopony else was in the area. She could hear the others making their way up the stairs, but this voice had been much closer...
“Applejack...” The same voice came from behind her. She spun back to face the wall. Pinkie was staring at it too, or more accurately, at the box full of glowing crystals mounted on it. “I... I can’t tell you how good it is to hear your voice.”
She sounds so familiar... almost like- “It can’t be...” Applejack deadpanned as the realization slowly dawned on her. “It’s just not... but how could...?”
“What’s going on?” Rainbow landed next to a dazed AJ, flying ahead of Rarity and Fluttershy.
Despite her best efforts, Applejack just couldn’t organize her thoughts into words. Her exhausted mind was buzzing with questions, all jockeying to be asked first. She faced her friend with a glazed over expression, but was unable to say anything other than a few dumbfounded grunts.
“Uhhh, you're not gonna barf again, are you?” Rainbow asked, taking a step back from the stupefied pony. “Pinkie, what did you do to her?”
“Rainbow Dash!” The mare’s voice said again as the rest of the group arrived. “Rarity, Fluttershy! I can’t believe you’re all really here!” The three mares shared confused looks. The voice was slightly distorted from whatever spell was allowing its transmission, but they all knew they’d heard it before.
"...Twilight,” Applejack finally managed to squeak.
The effect of the single utterance was gradual at first. All three faces slowly shifted from confusion to disbelief and finally awe. They gawked at the glowing box, unable to accept who they were talking to.
“I am so happy you made it.”
