//------------------------------// // 52 - Underton // Story: Re:Harmony // by starcross7 //------------------------------// Chapter 52 - Underton "I can't believe it!" Lyra cried as the track-wheeled truck ran over another snow mound. "The Pie Family had over a thousand complete skeletons, and you ground half of it?" "Give us a break," said Bella as she readjusted herself and the grenade launchers in the truck bed where she sat with Lyra Heartstrings. "It's not like any of us were archeologists or whatever you government types do. These human bones were great as fertilizer and for making dynamite. Those things don't come cheap by the way." "But this is the history of our world we're talking about! The Before Times! Don't you ever wonder what happened to the previous inhabitants that would leave so much ancient technology lying around?" "Not really." "Apple Bloom, you agree with me right? About the existence of an ancient race of 'walkers' that ruled the planet before us?" "It's kind of hard to swallow," replied the filly sitting the cabin. Lyra sighed, and she slumped down to her stomach to nestle herself between guns, ammo cases, and various camping equipment. The truck stuck another mound, and even at low speeds the bump was hard. Bundled up with layers of shirts and topped with a thick parka, her mind wandered the prospect of finding Twilight Sparkle, the unicorn she faced back in Rock Prison. It was good fortune that they were allowed to hitch a ride with the Unicorn Hunters and Apple Bloom. Of course, it did take a lot of persuasion and a democratic vote. Not counting herself and Bon Bon, Ingrid was outvoted two to one by he own sister and the filly. Today, it was Lyra and Bella's turn to ride out in the truck bed. It wasn't bad since the winds had calmed from a few nights ago. That left Bon Bon and Ingrid riding in the cabin with Apple Bloom. Silence could not begin to describe the two serious mares who had been at invisible odds against one another. Bon Bon would have been more talkative if Ingrid would have answered her straight about Apple Bloom. The elder sister was obviously reticent about revealing who she really is or why she was traveling with the Unicorn Hunters. They couldn't have kidnapped her, and the filly couldn't have hired the bounty hunter sisters to capture a certain target. Ingrid and Bella were after Applejack, that much was certain. But Apple Bloom couldn't be related to Applejack. Lyra knew that Applejack's family were killed during the razing of Sweet Apple Acres, and almost all her other relatives were dead. That filly who sat between Ingrid and Bon Bon stared ahead with seriousness, as if she wanted to be in this earth-forsaken tundra. There were things the Unicorn Hunters weren't telling Lyra and Bon Bon. Then again, Lyra and Bon Bon had things they weren't telling the sisters either. A loud beeping noise interrupted the relative silence, and Lyra knocked on the rear window of the cabin, motioning to Apple Bloom to tap on Bon Bon's shoulder. "Hand me that," said Lyra, motioning to her lover to procure from the saddlebag a box-like computing device. Resting her upper body on the top of the cabin, the green pony fiddled with various buttons and switches according to the waveform display on its tiny screen. "What is that?" asked Bella. "It's a dimensional shift detector," said Lyra. "I picked one up in a lab in Hollow Shades before Bon Bon and I left, should we run into strange things here." "So what does it do?" "Detects dimensional shifts." "As in?" "Let's just say it's able to find things that are here, but not quite, as they are still in this world. I have read that unicorns used this principle to allow themselves to teleport from one place to another. I have also read that they could hide an entire city before our eyes." "Like the Crystal Empire?" "Feh," said Ingrid. "Crystal Empire--everypony says it's a fairytale." "Sister, you do believe in the Elements of Creation, and we know that unicorns exist." "Even so, both Gaea and Pegasopolis would have already found it by now despite the war." "Miss Ingrid," said Lyra, "you might want to take that back now. This detector is acting very crazy, and it's saying that there's something big out here. Whoa!" A circular golden glow manifested on top of Lyra's forehead, rendering her momentarily dizzy and causing her to sway left and right before her regaining her balance on the top of the truck. "Now it's resonating with my horn," said Lyra. "Horn?" asked Bella. "Wait, does that mean you're a--" "Don't try anything," said Bon Bon as she drew her cocked hoof pistol from underneath her parka and took aim at Ingrid. "Even with a filly string between us, I won't hesitate to blow you two away." "Relax," said Ingrid, unfazed by Bon Bon's threat. "It's not her we're after, and I'm the one driving if you haven't noticed." "Won't stop me." "Besides, Bella and I already had a feeling your friend was special." "You already knew?" "It's one of these 'senses' Sis has," said Bella. "Wow, another unicorn. There must be more out there than we thought. How many are there?" "I don't know," said Lyra as she continued fiddling with her device. "I was born to earth pony parents, and that's why I'm looking for the unicorn that was said to accompany Rebel Applejack. Good heavens, these readings are getting stronger. My horn is--ah!" The green pony clenched her teeth as she grunted. The golden glow around her forehead grew bigger, and the same glow flowed down to her dimensional shift detector before enveloping everypony and the truck. All of a sudden, they all entered into a bright flash, and immediately afterwards the truck's tracked wheels plowed through a field of green glass that grew underneath a ceiling of calm weather. The initial shock caused Ingrid to become disorientated, but it was too late for her to swerve to avoid one of the two towering purple crystal pillars that served as the main gates. Crash! Ingrid tightly clutched Apple Bloom while her and Bon Bon's faces dove straight into a pair of ballooning white airbags. Both Lyra and Bella had the unfortunate circumstance of being thrown off the vehicle. They didn't hit the pillar, for Lyra used her magic to redirect their bodies for a soft landing upon the main road. From their vantage point, Lyra and Bella saw the unshorn fetlocks of a pair of crystal stallions dressed in dazzling blue crystal armor. They stared upon the mares without any semblance of amusement, and all Lyra and Bella could do was look up to wince and chuckle uneasily. Applejack and her companions managed to secure a carriage bearing over towards Underton Village, albeit with a slight problem. Rather, it was a big problem, and the problem took the title and name of Diamond Princess Rarity. How and why she managed to convince herself to accompany them was a deep mystery plaguing Applejack. The Diamond Princess meddled upon them right before they were about to leave, and had asked them to where they were going. Upon the mention of Underton, Rarity started on a discourse about how it was a mining town at the very edge of the Empire and that it was one of the poorest communities. "But being a mining town," she had said, "there are always merchants who will inevitably find the rarest gems in karats that may never been seen for years. Oh, I insist in coming along with you. We will go gem shopping!" That was how the group ended up with four carriages: two regal ones reserved for the Diamond Princess and her friends, and two more reserved for the guard escort. Rarity had the gall to combine it with a pony pet play date with the royal feline Opalescence, who lay curled up in her hoofwoven straw carrier basket to the right of the Diamond Princess. Spike sat giddily at her left in the back seat of their carriage, twiddling his claws and feet with silent joy while Applejack and Twilight sat across watching him gush almost embarrassingly. The Empire must not know winter seasons, for Rarity decorated herself in what looked to be a pink summer dress and a yellow bonnet. She even made her newfound friends wear similar dresses complementing the colors of their natural coat. Applejack's green summer dress was tight. It was a bit itchy as well, but at least the skirt and sleeves were short enough for her to maneuver around. She could do without the braiding of her mane, but she had to admit, the same style looked good on Twilight. It made the purple unicorn appear femininely intelligent. If she wore glasses, Twilight would look like a no-nonsense scholar or an incorruptible Chancellor. The carriage made an abrupt halt right as they heard a loud scream. Twilight and Applejack poke their heads out the window and saw North Star fleeing from the other regal carriage with an imprint of Pinkie's face on the back of her dress. The pink earth pony in question had slumped out carriage door in the middle of her doze, and she muttered something about a cloud of cotton candy running away from her. "Was that North Star?" asked Rarity. "I say, that unicorn seems on edge ever since all of you arrived to Empire." "I assure you, Rarity, that we haven't done anything indecent to her," said Twilight. "Nothing too indecent," added Applejack with a smirk. "I do hope so," said Rarity, "but it makes me wonder why she hasn't told me about what's troubling her." "Maybe she don't wanna offend Your Highness by complainin' about us." "I don't wish to offend you as well, seeing as you might have differing customs than ours. Anyway, we have arrived at the gates of Underton Village, but it will be a walk since we stopped a little earlier." Before anypony could step off, Spike immediately volunteered to help Rarity off the carriage before volunteering to carry the basket containing the rascal of a cat Opal, who began meowing aggressively in a bid to escape her container. The baby dragon desperately tried to keep the lid close as sharp claws began to shred the straw walls. Even with tough scales, Spike was getting cut, and he immediately hurried off to the side and from anypony's critical view to contain the cat and his own pain. Applejack did want to count on Spike to distract Rarity instead of her cat, but even if that were possible, there was still Sunset Shrew and Blueblood Buffoon, who had immediately stuck his tongue out in disgust of the mining town right when he stepped out of the carriage. Underton supposedly was the poorest district, but on first sight, it looked anything but. Sure, the crystalline buildings and lamppost appeared roughly cut compared to the majesty of the streets surrounding the castle, but Underton was cleaner than the government residences in Manehattan. It might as well be cleaner than Gaeaopolis's Palace of the Earth. The orange mare wasn't sure if this was a mining town in the first place. The entire district appeared as a hollowed-out crater whose only borders were the edges and the magical barrier protecting the Empire at large. The wide main road appeared as one long spiral line leading to the bottom where many mining facilities clustered around. Despite a difference in class and appearance, this place was undoubtedly similar to the main streets surrounding the Castle in terms of mood and atmosphere. Every crystal pony Applejack and her friends passed by had those forced smiles, and for certain it wasn't because of the Diamond Princess daintily carrying herself for all to behold. The usual stalls selling precious stones, hoof-carved trinkets, and home-cooked food lined up the first block they passed through. She tried ignoring Rarity's long-winded discourse about how Lord Umbra granted free healthcare and free horseshoes to all of its citizens upon his ascension to the throne. Applejack was too preoccupied with Lieutenant Sunset Shimmer hawkishly keeping her eyes on them while prevent her co-lieutenant from discreetly fleeing his duties by keeping a magical hold on his blonde tail. Spike was nowhere to be found, and Pinkie Pie continued to remain asleep since their departure. Poor Fluttershy had to carry the pink earth pony on her back, and with each step, Fluttershy's legs wobbled like noodles with each step. Pinkie slumbered on while blowing a big snot bubble in an out of one of her nostrils. That left Twilight trying to scan the stalls, the streets, and crowd for any signs of the Crystal Rebels, and even with a crowd sparser than that of Sewer Town or Ponyville, there would be no way for her and her friends to meet their appointment with the royal entourage accompanying them. Even with a several pairs of eyes scouting the Crystal Rebels, they were getting nowhere, and Applejack motioned to her and Fluttershy to follow her to a nearby stall selling crystal candy apples, some of which they ordered themselves. Surprisingly, it tasted like regular candy apples, but with a hint of crunchiness. "There's gotta be a way get her Highness off our heinies," said Applejack. "Any you gals have any ideas?" "I don't have any," said Fluttershy, "but whatever you girls think of, I hope it involves getting Pinkie off my back. Ugh!" "Of all the ponies who could provide a big distraction, the one we need is fast asleep. She should be awake with all these food they're sellin'." "Food, huh?" said Twilight. A bright idea lit up in her head, causing her grin to draw across her face. Without words, she immediately conveyed her plan to Applejack face-to-face with a series of nods and winks. The orange pony, after understanding her partner-in-crime's plan, stood on a nearby box and banged a metal stein against a pan she procured from nearby. "Here ye, here ye," she cried out. "We Esteemed Guests would like to challenge y'all to a time-honored tradition of tests of strength and endurance of lands beyond the Barrier. I'm sure all y'all have some variation thereof, but Pinkie Pie here is the best at every eating contest across the lands. Is there any pony here in the Crystal Empire that can beat the Pink Bomber?" A tiny crowd gathered, but while some tried to egg one another to accept Applejack's challenge. The plan might not work as expected, and Sunset Shimmer shot her gaze at the orange earth pony with a discerning suspicion. A few ponies left, squeamish about facing or even witnessing the challenge, but then one unexpected pony stepped forth and raised her front right hoof. "I accept your challenge," said Rarity. The bystanders who started to leave, doubled back upon hearing their Princess's words, and eventually the crowd grew, as did their interest. Some crystal ponies were starting to sparkle more. "Um, Your Highness," said Lieutenant Shimmer as she appeared beside the Princess. "You shouldn't stoop so low to participate in their base and barbaric games." "It may be base and barbaric, but it is part of their culture, is it not? If I am to venture to the lands outside our Empire's borders, then I should have a taste of what's to come--no pun intended, of course. Now everypony, bring out all that you have that is edible. The Royal Family shall reimburse you generously for my frivolities." "Your Highness, if you'll reconsider…" "We cannot back down, Lady Shimmer, for the pride of the Crystal Empire is on the line. Now, are you and the boys going help set up the contest?" "Of course we are, Your Highness." Applejack didn't expect the ruse to work that well. Too well, she felt, but a distraction was a distraction. Twilight, Fluttershy, and she had to linger around as a platform, a table, and some hard sparkling chairs were set up a village square in front of a crystal-cut fountain. Pinkie Pie lay slumped on her seat still dozing away despite the strong sweet aroma of colorful cakes and candy being set before her. Princess Rarity took her seat as several guards arranged her plate, silverware, and napkins as if she was having a formal dinner. They even put on her a ruffled white bib as she patiently waited for her food to arrive at her table. Soon enough a dense crowd had gathered for the spectacle involving their Princess. "Lady Applejack and Lady Twilight," said Rarity. "Am I to assume that Lady Pinkie Pie will be waking up in time for the start of the contest?" "Um, no," said Applejack. "She's only resting because she wants to you give you a generous head start, Your Highness. In fact, you can start at any time." "If you do insist, but I have to warn you, just because I'm a Princess doesn't mean I'll get beaten easily. Lieutenant Shimmer, if you'll please." Shimmer's eyebrow visibly twitched upon the issuance of the command. Reluctantly she fired a magic shot at Blueblood's flank, forcing him to lift a mallet with his magic to strike a large silver gong that had been set up beforehand. Thus, the eating contest began, and while Applejack, Twilight, and Fluttershy expected speedy and messy gorging, Rarity began nibbling a piece of a cake from her magically floating fork, while Pinkie Pie continued snoring and drooling on the table. Even with little activity from the contestants, the crowd was at least large enough for Applejack, Twilight, and Fluttershy to discreet themselves towards the back and away from the town square. They trotted further away, and with every few feet the three turned their heads back to make sure they weren't being followed. Once safely far from view, they rested for a moment in a nearby alleyway. "Will Pinkie Pie be okay?" asked Fluttershy. "She'll be fine," said Twilight. "She has her Element of Pleasure on her, the Pinkie Gear. With Rarity and the guards in town, I don't think we'll have a chance to meet with those Crystal Rebels now." "Don't hang your hat up just yet, Sugarcube," said Applejack. "Maybe our lil' convoy scared them off, but they are still here. I can sense them. Let's go this way." "Wait, you know where you're going? How is that even possible? You never have been here." "Well, ever since I got the wind knocked out me for knocking into that rebel stallion youngin', I've been developing some kind of sense tinglin' in my hooves." "Does this mean you're having visions of ponies suffering in an underground prison?" Fluttershy asked. "It's nothing like that. Flutters, where did that even come from?" "Oh, it's nothing important really." "It might just be," said Twilight. "Fluttershy, why didn't you tell us about these visions?" "I just didn't want to scare you girls. Rarity especially." "Is there some kind of weird magic goin' on Twi?" Applejack asked. "First this 'sense' I'm having, and now Fluttershy is having visions." "This Empire does have a lot of magic flowing about," replied Twilight, "but it is also possible that the powers of the Elements are evolving as time passes." "Fluttershy, you can tell us what your experiencin' afterwards. We gotta find those Rebels before they start movin' again. You think you can take to the air and keep an eye out?" "But I'll stand out," said Fluttershy, "and I don't want to ruin Rarity's summer dress." Two sets of eyes were rolled, and Applejack had no time for Fluttershy's timidness. She nodded to Twilight to cast a spell that sent Fluttershy's dress into a pocket dimension. The pegasus whelped and covered the underside and the chest area of her body in embarrassment, but then realized she had been used to being naked for most of her life. Twilight hid her and Applejack's dresses as well before they began the search so as to not arouse suspicion of two well-dressed ponies scouring for rebel elements. Naked like the rest of the citizenry, they still stood out, but at least neither had any sight and stench of royalty on them as Applejack led her companions deeper into the crater town known as Underton Village. The streets did not get dirtier or shadier, and every citizen they passed by upheld their forced smiles. They did not even seem to acknowledge the floating presence of a pegasus, an obvious rarity in the empire at large. They walked for many minutes, but they were not lost. Applejack seemed to know where she was going, even though she herself was not one hundred percent sure if her hunches were correct. For every forty steps she would stop, close her eyes, and imagine the topology of the Underton. Applejack could sense the vibrations of hoofsteps several hundreds of feet away, particularly that of a quick-footed pony trailing them unseen. She could also sense many others exerting a rippling vibration designed to muddle her senses. When she extended her range, these pieces were arranged in fortification designed to protect a central target that Applejack had been leading her friends towards. She was getting closer, and the quick-footed pony had yet to take action on her and her companions. "Over there," said Applejack as she pointed to a narrow building that looked as if an alleyway had been there before. "A bookstore?" Twilight asked. "You sure who we're looking for is in there?" "I have a good hunch it is." Stepping inside, they found books and books stacked haphazardly on top of one another and several crystalline shelves cracking under the weight and pressure of sandwiched tomes. Any normal pony would be turned off the state of this tiny business, or even driven away by the dustiness and lack of organization, but Twilight seemed to zip from shelf to one another with a slight smile on her face, as if she became oblivious to the mission she was involved with. Applejack and Fluttershy nearly passed by a counter hidden by these books where an elderly grayish mare with a faded pink mane and large golden spectacles sat behind on a torn red velvet chair. Her expression appeared genial, calm, and patient, considering her age and the lack of other customers. The only noises she made were the creaks caused the misalignment of the chair legs. "Can I help you with something?" she asked in a low and soft voice. "We're looking for somepony," said Applejack. "You're looking for me?" "Not you. Somepony else." "We are the only ponies here, miss." "I'm looking for the two ponies you have in the basement. Now, you take me to them, or do I have to call out the guards?" The bookstore mare's expression suddenly turned grim and serious. Applejack could sense the fear and apprehension in her eyes, and if anything, the old mare wouldn't hesitate to blow up the bookstore with herself in it should there be a bomb set up beforehand. The old mare leapt of the creaking chair and motioned to Applejack and Fluttershy to follow her towards a door at the back corner. "She's waiting for you down there," she said after unlocking and opening the door. This felt like a trap, but Applejack had to meet these ponies. She couldn't leave Twilight alone to drool over the books, so she pulled her by the tail and dragged her downstairs. Here, the obvious spiderwebs and dim torches decorated the stairwell that led down to a shady basement, which, unsurprisingly, contained more books. Surprisingly, however, the basement also contained things they should not have been seen in the hidden Empire, like flashlights, a tray of bullets, a crate of grenades, and even an old portable computer on the table. This was definitely a rebel's den. Suddenly, they heard hard galloping from the dark corner of the basement. Applejack couldn't back away: Twilight and Fluttershy were behind her. There was no place to jump safely to the side as well. The only thing she could do was stand her ground, and imagine her body hardening like a diamond. She faced her green attacker who headbutted her head on. The impact sent Applejack sliding back a few inches. She shook her head from the initial pain, but she didn't pass out. The green stallion before her stared back with dumbstruck eyes. "Twilight, Fluttershy--duck!" Heeding their friend's command, the unicorn and pegasus dropped to their stomach as Applejack backflipped with her Sword of Truth drawn out. The blade of her katana was now poised the neck of the quick-footed yellowish pony from the night before, and she had a dagger gripped between her teeth. "Impressive," said a voice. "I never figured an outsider would be this proficient in Geosense." A bluish mare emerged from behind the bookshelf and set down a grenade she was about to use. Upon her nod, the green stallion backed away and relaxed himself. The yellowish mare dropped her dagger in defeat, thus allowing Applejack to release her so she could join up with her two rebel companions. Applejack then reverted her katana back to its necklace form and stepped past Twilight and Fluttershy to come face to face with the leader. "And didn't we tell you that you weren't supposed to be followed?" the leader asked. "We weren't," replied Applejack. "We hitched a ride with them. Now, are you gonna tell us what you know about this Empire?" "Are you sure we can trust them?" asked the green stallion. "They may be outsiders, but the King might have brainwashed them already." "My Geosense tells me that they're too good for that. Now Castle, if you'll please." The young stallion nodded. He marched up the sole table in view and pushed it towards the wall with a hard buck from his legs. Then he raised his upper body and crashed down the cloudy and crystalline floor with his front right hoof. The basement shook. While books and bookshelves rocked, the floor in front of him began collapsing in perfect cubes to reveal a secret stairwell leading into darkness. Fleet-footed Quicksilver dove in first, checking ahead, from what Applejack understood, if the enemy had already infiltrated the tunnels. A faint whistle apparently signaled to Aurea that all was clear, and she compelled her guests to follow her down the stairs in a narrow passageway barely wide enough for two ponies. No wood torches hung on the wall, but they had instead self-sustaining crystal lanterns that glowed bright enough for everypony to see each other's silhouette. Finding the bookstore took a while, but Applejack never expected the trek through the passageway would take this long. For all she knew, the eating contest would have already ended, and there would be no way the Diamond Princess would eat more than her slender figure would allow. The orange pony wanted to push Aurea to go faster, even at the expense of crushing her cherished Stetson hat in a headbutt. "When are we going to get there?" asked Applejack. "Quiet," said Aurea. "Even the Empire's Geosense soldiers can detect the vibrations of your voice from down here." "You keep mentioning something 'Geosense'. What the hay is it?" "Shh. No talking until I say so." No talking during the walk. Applejack almost felt like a Pinkie Pie waiting for breakfast, brunch, lunch, supper, dinner, and desert to be ready in the rare times she wasn't raiding the fridge or the pantry. Perhaps it was boredom that made her legs ache and her hooves sore, and the orange pony knew that she walked longer than this while she was alone and on the run so many years ago. How much time had passed, she did not know. But eventually they reached a round cavern structure where a ceiling of crystals were cut jagged wave-like pattern. Quicksilver had been waiting almost impatiently with four metal chests beside her. Aurea and Castle went ahead and quickly conversed with her, and they opened the chests to procure, cups, a thermos, and several wrapped paper bags of sandwiches. The meals were evenly divided amongst themselves and their guests, and the Crystal Rebels sat down on one side of the cave structure while Applejack and her friends sat down across from them. Between them was a cluster of crystals that glowed a dull green glow and exuded warmth quite similar to a campfire. "Now we can talk," said Aurea. "I thought you already knew about Geosense, Miss Applejack. Isn't that how you found us?" "If you call it that, but I thought this Empire had some special magical properties affecting ponies." "Miss Applejack, I can assume that you yourself have seen a good share of close calls and fulfilled hunches. Have you wondered why you were able sense danger before it happened? Before you possessed that magical artifact that you now wield?" "Now that I think about it, there was this time when Big Mac and I went into the Ponyville Slums to buy some sugar. Most folks won't sell us an ounce with us bein' Apples an' all, and it was getting dark before we could even buy any. When we were walkin' home, I told Big Mac I had a tinglin' a feelin', a sense if you will, and the two us quickly skedaddled into an alleyway, jumped on a dumpster, and climbed a fire escape ladder to the top of a building. There below us, there were some rough-lookin' young stallions chasin' us the whole time, ready to lynch us." "You didn't know back then, but your Geosense alerted you of those stallions. I guess it confirms my suspicion that the art has been lost since the Great Pony War. My fellow Applejack, Geosense is a latent ability we earth ponies use to fight against pegasii and unicorns on equal terms. It is the ability to detect the vibrations of objects and living beings, and the ability predict their movements before they even act. "But Geosense can also enhance its users as well. Quicksilver here uses hers for speed and agility. Castle uses his Geosense to harden his body against impacts or crush rocks. My Geosense ability allows me to divine the truth from other ponies by singling out their lies." "Looks like you and I have more in common than I thought," said Applejack. "Many of us rarely practice it except when employed in the Geosense Corps, and even then it is still rarely used. That is until after Shining Armor suddenly showed up in our borders." "You know something about Shining Armor's arrival?" asked Twilight. "Not much," replied Aurea, "but I have heard reports that the unicorn arrived here half-dead. He was in such terrible condition that he probably lost most of his memories prior to coming to here. But he didn't seem to have forgotten all the spells, many of which we have never seen before. Because of that, the Magic Corps was formed along with him becoming Captain of the Royal Guard." "You ain't suggestin' that Twi's brother is the reason why you Rebels attacked the castle, are you?" asked Applejack. "Shining Armor is just part of a cabal who plan to plunge the Empire into war." "Against you?" "Against you outsiders."