The innards of the Delivery Company were lacking, to put it mildly. The walls had never been properly fitted for paneling, and neither had the floor. The business was set up almost immediately after the Upheaval team had dug out a cave. From then on, the place was always too busy to have an Overhaul crew to come and finish with the power cables, steam pipes, and wall and floor coverings. Crude slabs of sheet metal were jammed into the dirt and rock of the cave walls, with a bare dirt ceiling overhead. The floor was also dirt, packed down tight from hundreds of hoofsteps each day. Nopony seemed to care how the place looked, as long as they got their mail.
The layout of the Delivery Company itself was simple enough; the entrance led to a small reception room, where disgruntled citizens could complain to an even more disgruntled receptionist. A door behind the receptionist's desk led to the heart of the business: the sorting room. Here, over a dozen unicorns worked to sort out the piles of letters, packages, and parcels that were brought in. There was always a rushed atmosphere in the sorting room, partially because the unicorns worked so frantically to get the packages sorted out, and partially because it served as a staging area for the delivery ponies to saddle up and work out their delivery routes. There were always at least a few ponies clustered around the big city maps on the back wall, mentally tracing a path throughout Mantle City, sometimes beyond. Others were in the corner, where a few stacks of small lockers had been placed, putting on saddlebags full of mail and storing their own bags inside.
Flood walked through the doorway to the sorting room, watching the mild chaos before him as he passed . He somewhat enjoyed seeing the hustle of the unicorns, observing their magic at work, letters and boxes flying every which way across the room, out of mail carts and into saddlebags. Maybe it was seeing things get done was what brought the enjoyment. Maybe it was the fact that he had a less demanding job.
Suddenly, he ran into another pony. They both went crashing into the floor, a mailbag flipping over and sending a shower of letters flying into the air.
Ah, hayseed, he thought to himself. Watch where you're going! He looked up at the pony he ran into: a walleyed pegasus, with a gray coat and blonde mane.
"Oh, Ditzy Doo! Sorry, I wasn't paying attention..." Ditzy stared back at him, smiling. Flood smiled back. She never gets mad at anything, does she?
"It's okay." She continued to smile, and began to pick up the letters scattered about, stacking them up into piles. There were a lot more letters strewn over the floor, and Ditzy was getting some of them dirty.
"Mind if I help?" Flood focused some magic in his horn. Stack them up, he thought. The letters began to shimmer and float upwards, aligning vertically with one another in multiple stacks. He willed the stacks to drift towards the empty bag. One by one, they dropped inside. Ditzy let go of the stack she had, and it began to float towards the mailbag. She beamed at Flood as the last of the letters fell into the sack.
They stood up, Flood brushing dirt off his foreleg. Ditzy gave him another smile and set off towards the back of the room. She was the only pony down in Mantle City that he could really consider a friend. She was a single parent, a mother of a little unicorn named Dinky Doo, who sometimes Flood would foalsit. She was just as sweet as her mother.
Ditzy was the first and only pony at the Delivery Company that bothered to get to know Flood. Having moved from Soddington to Mantle City to find work, he knew nopony. He had nothing but the paltry contents of his saddlebag, a small apartment in the Housing Quarter, and directions to The Great and Powerful Trixie Delivery Company. And Ditzy Doo just seemed to accept him as family. Some nights he would spend the evening at her house, sometimes for a meal, sometimes for company. He would invite her and her daughter over sometimes, too. Cooking wasn't Flood's forte, though. Ditzy always appreciated the gesture anyway. She was a kindhearted mare, from a town called Ponyville.
The way Ditzy had described Ponyville to Flood made it sound like a paradise compared to living all the way down in the ground. She had been a mailpony there too, delivering mail from all over Equestria. She normally didn't talk much, but when she told him about life in Ponyville, she could go on forever about the things she missed: the rolling hills of Sweet Apple Acres, cobblestone streets at the center of town, and the sky, the beautiful, blue sky.
Being a unicorn, Flood had no actual idea of what it was like to be a pegasus living underground, with no real space to be able to truly fly. He had asked a pegasus co-worker about it once. 'Think about what it'd be like to cut a few inches off your horn, kid,' he had told Flood. 'And even then, you wouldn't know what it's like.'
"YOU! Where have you been?" Flood was pulled from his thoughts by a harsh voice behind him.
Oh boy...she's out and about this morning. He turned around to face the pony that had called out. It was Trixie.
Trixie was significantly older than Flood, but the way she acted, she may as well have been just a foal. As a boss, she was a self-centered, arrogant mare. Anytime somepony would criticize her, she would demand that they try and do better. It was obnoxious.
"You were supposed to be here five minutes ago! Trixie does not appreciate tardiness. Trixie thought she told you to be here on time this morning, Flank!"
That was the thing about Trixie; she referred to herself in third-person. Everypony at the Delivery Company knew it was out of some sense of self importance.
"You wanted me here at 8 in the morning, and it's barely past 8 right now. And it's Flood."
"What is?" she shot back.
"My name," he answered. "It's Flood."
"Whatever it may be, Trixie frowns upon tardiness! Being on time is being late, as Trixie always says."
"Uh huh. I have letters to deliver," Flood said, giving her a slight glare. He turned away and continued down the side of the room to the lockers.
Trixie shouted out at him as he went. "No more excuses! Be on time or not at all!"
Flood rolled his eyes. Can't believe she called me Flank. Pretty different from the usual Flash or Flare.
As he approached the lockers, he magically pulled his saddlebag off and opened the locker marked '28.' He slid the bag inside. Another pony approached the locker next to his and opened it up. He turned to Flood.
"Did you hear about Tunnelburg?" he asked.
"What about it?"
"They're saying it got attacked! Like New Canterlot," he said excitedly.
"Don't be dumb," Flood responded. "And Gully, you believed it when someone told you the cocoa machine was giving away gold last month. How are you so sure an entire city got attacked?"
"Have you delivered any mail from Tunnelburg lately?"
Flood was silent. It was true, he hadn't had any letters from Tunnelburg for a few days.
"No, but how can that mean they got attacked?" Flood asked.
"They're not letting anypony ride the carts into the city, either," Gully continued. "I even asked at the cart station about buying a ticket there, and they told me the Tunnelburg Transit Authority isn't even sending ticket sheets!"
Flood was silent a second time. Why wouldn't they send tickets for Tunnelburg? he wondered.
"Well, they've probably got some sickness going around or something. Maybe they're locking it down to contain it," Flood said as he closed his locker. "And at any rate, don't go around saying stuff like 'Dude, Tunnelburg got blown up,' or 'Did you hear about those hydras that ate everypony in New Trottingham?' You'll cause a panic. And have you seen my bag? Number 28? It's not over here, it should be loaded and ready to go."
"You're 28?"
Flood nodded.
"Your bag's in the back, I saw it over there when I got in. Looked weird, too. Just a couple of letters and one package for downtown Rockland."
"Wait, what? All the way out in Rockland?!" Flood raised his voice. "That's two hours away! By cart! Why am I going all the way out there?"
Gully gave a little laugh. He was evidently amused by Flood's itinerary. "Beats me, buddy, but you better get going if you wanna be back by dinner!"
Flood rushed over to the back of the room where a few mailbags were piled up. He lifted the one labeled '28' with magic, pulling out a package. He stomped over to Trixie, who was giving her lecture on punctuality to a few colts, the same lecture she had given Flood earlier.
"Trixie, what in Equestria is this?" He levitated the package in front of her.
"That is a package, one you should be out delivering right now," she shot back.
"In Rockland?!"
She glanced at the label on the package. "Yes, Trixie is relieved you can read. Now, be off with you." She turned back to the colts and continued her lecture. "Trixie frowns upon tardiness..."
---
Flood's deliveries had taken him all over the city. He had been up and down the Commerce Thoroughfare for most of the morning, and throughout the Housing Quarter for the better half of the afternoon. When all but the package for Rockland remained, he decided he would go to Feedbag Square for a quick meal to eat on the cart ride. Having to ride the rails for deliveries is a crime, he thought, as he bought an oat and lettuce wrap. Trixie's such a pain in the flank. He set off back towards the cart station, dreading the long ride that would take him from Mantle City to wherever 8902 Rockland Court, Rockland, was. He didn't think he'd be home until at least 9 p.m.
Approaching the platform, Flood was relieved to see that the cart to Rockland was just arriving. At this time of day, there were hardly any passengers going all the way to Rockland. Almost nopony was boarding the train, and there were even less passengers on the cart itself. The cart wasn't even pony operated, only driven by an old magic engine. Conductor must've taken off for the day, he deduced. Flood stepped off of the platform and onto the cart. As he did so, he noticed a familiar face. Ditzy Doo was on board as well. He took a seat next to her.
"Hey, Ditzy," he sighed.
"Hi, Flood," She brightened up at his greeting. He was obviously tired from the long day, but Ditzy never seemed to waver in her work, always able to make any delivery.
"Why're you headed to Rockland?" he asked her.
Ditzy patted her mailbag. "Delivery," she said. She smiled at Flood.
The cart rumbled, and set off down the track.
---
Rockland was primarily a mining town, whose chief export was invaluable: coal. Rockland coal was what drove most of the cart system throughout the underground. If the cart system was the backbone of transportation, the coal deliveries were its legs.
After what seemed like forever, the cart came to a halt in the darkness.
Flood looked around in the pitch blackness of the tunnel. "That's weird...why'd we stop?"
Ditzy shifted in her seat. "Broken down?" she asked in the dark.
"Better not be," Flood grumbled. "Let's see here..." Light it up, he thought, as his horn glowed. A little orb of light seeped from the tip of it, casting a wide beam of light into the inky blackness. He moved it along the wall, expecting to see nothing but tunnel. As he moved the beam, he began to see seats and railing. They were at the Rockland cart station, but it was dark and deserted.
"What..?"
Flood couldn't believe it. Sure, it was getting late, but that wouldn't mean the station would be pitch black and empty. Ditzy shifted in her seat again.
"Come on, Ditzy, let's go see what this blackout is for," Flood said. Abandoning his mailbag, he sat up from his seat and pushed the door open, shining light onto the platform. Stepping up onto it, his nose twitched. A coarse smell filled his nostrils.
Ditzy stepped up behind him. She sniffed the air. Flood could see her eyes widen in the pale glow from his horn. "Smoke," she breathed.
Flood tensed. If there's smoke, there's gonna be fire. "Something's gone wrong," he whispered. He didn't feel safe on the platform anymore. "Let's go find somepony that can give us answers."
He and Ditzy set off away from the platform and down a dark tunnel. Flood widened the beam of light to illuminate the tunnel around them as they walked down the tunnel at a quickened pace. The smell of smoke was slowly getting stronger. Something else crept into Flood's nostrils, too. It smelled awful, almost rancid.
As they turned a corner, Flood's hoof bumped into something solid on the ground. He cast the light at his feet.
A pony lay on the ground, motionless. And he was missing a leg. Where the leg should have been was a burnt, charred stump. Ditzy let out a quiet gasp. This was the source of the terrible odor, the pony's burnt flesh.
"Is he...dead?" Flood asked. He couldn't believe it. He had never seen somepony dead before. The smell of burnt flesh, the lifeless body in front of him; all these things were alien to him. Death was something he had only read about in stories about heroic battles or tales of adventure. He had never come face to face with it.
Ditzy Doo put a hoof on his shoulder. "Need to go," she urged. "We're not safe."
Flood stared at the pony before him. "But...we can't just leave him here, Ditzy," he whispered in a low tone.
"He won't be forgotten, Flood."
He blinked once, slowly. Somepony would have to come back and do something. He would lay in the tunnel and rot if they didn't.
---
Flood and Ditzy had broken into a gallop, racing down the tunnel. They passed a sign reading 'ROCKLAND MANE STREET' in big, brass letters. The smell of smoke had gotten a lot stronger too. Passing underneath an archway, they could see an orange glow coming from around a corner. They sped up, turning the corner, and came to a stairwell. The smell of smoke was almost overwhelming now. Flood raced up the stairs, Ditzy right behind him. When he reached the top, he felt his heart skip a beat at what he saw.
Rockland had become fires and wreckage. Flood had been to Rockland once before, hunting for jobs. The city was a colossal underground chamber, with buildings all around, some as large as three stories high. It was like a surface city, only under the earth. But now, the plain mining town was a mess of debris and towering infernos anywhere he looked. Ditzy stood next to him. "No," she breathed. "What happened?"
"I...don't know," Flood answered. "The entire city..."
Suddenly, Ditzy took off into the air. A great gust of wind from her wings blew dirt away from where she stood a moment ago, some of it hitting Flood.
"Ditzy, where are you going?" he shouted up after her. She didn't seem to hear him though.
Maybe she's gone to look for survivors, he wondered. He watched Ditzy fly farther off down Mane Street. He took off after her.
All around him, fires raged. Some roads branching off of Mane Street were overtaken by flame. Others were blocked by collapsed buildings. The destruction made Flood's coat prickle with anxiousness and fear.
What truly disturbed him, though, was the lack of population. Anywhere Flood looked, he couldn't see a single pony. Or diamond dog. Being a mining town, Rockland was known for having a large population of both ponies and diamond dogs. But none were to be found, aside from the dead pony in the tunnel.
Flood looked back up and saw that Ditzy had stopped racing between the buildings. She had stopped dead in midair, and started drifting back down to the ground. She disappeared between the buildings. Flood darted down an alleyway, galloping to where he thought Ditzy might be. He saw her at the end of the alley, peering into the street beyond.
"Ditzy! What in the world are you up to," he asked as he approached her.
"Shh!" she hissed, holding a hoof to her mouth. "Look!"
Flood crept up behind Ditzy, craning his neck to get a view of the street she was watching. His jaw dropped.
A giant mass of dark gray rock literally stood at the end of the street. It turned what seemed to be its head as it looked around with two small, glimmering eyes. The thing turned around. It had magical runes all across its back, glowing bright white with energy. Flood thought he recognized the thing from a comic book. His eyes grew wide again with shock. No way...it can't be...
"Is that a golem?!" he shouted. The thing spun around, making a loud grinding sound. The two appendages that hung from its shoulders rose up to either side of its head. The magical runes began to pulse, changing color from white to yellow. A third glimmering light appeared below the eyes as the runes turned a deep, bright red. He could hear a heavy humming noise coming from down the street. "Run!" Flood shouted.
The thing's arms flew back down as a blast of intense magical energy launched itself from the third point of light and flew into the section of alleyway that Flood and Ditzy had occupied a split second before. They had tore off down the road, fleeing from the enraged golem.
"What the hay is a golem doing down here?!"
Ditzy just kept running alongside Flood. He turned his head back to look at the golem. It was chasing them. Great, stony legs bringing it down the street with heavy thumps. The humming noise started again.
"This way," Ditzy cried. They turned down another street, but came to an abrupt halt. A building had collapsed over the road, blocking off the other side.
"What?! We can't get past here!" Flood was panicking. The thudding of the golem's footsteps were growing louder.
Ditzy looked around the street frantically, but there was no way to get off it. She and Flood shot their gaze back to the street they had just come off of. The golem came into view. It stopped and turned to them with another deafening grinding noise. The runes on its body pulsed and glowed an intense purple. It began to shake. Flood couldn't move, he was paralyzed with fear. A third point of light appeared again below the golem's eyes. And it fired a bright red beam of energy with a sickening bweeeeeeee.
The beam traveled quickly along the street and up towards them. Flood's eyes were wide with terror. He screamed as he was shoved onto the road, landing on his side. Ditzy had pushed him out of the way of the attack.
The beam sheared her in half, vertically, along her chest. It traveled up a building and dissapated. Ditzy fell to the street.
"DITZY! NO!"
The golem started to walk down the road, with thundering steps. Flood tried to stand, to run to Ditzy's side. He fell back to the street as the golem's slow, deliberate footfalls shook the ground beneath him. The rumbling of the ground intensified. It was a constant tremor now, sending vibrations all throughout Flood's body.
It stopped walking. The golem stood just twenty feet away from him now, raising its stony arms to the sides of its head. The runes glowed red. Flood knew what was coming, and he could only watch in fear as the familiar point of light below its eyes began to shine brightly.
Then the tremors started again. They were even more intense now. The light on the golem stopped, as both it and Flood looked around the street. The building it had blasted with the previous attack started to crumble. Flood started to scramble away from his position on the street, as the golem stared up at the building. It began to fall apart. It started to fall sideways towards the golem.
It turned its attention to the building, charging up another attack as its runes glowed red.
A massive piece of metal came off of the building, falling towards the golem's head as it fired off a blast of magical energy. The attack collided with the debris as it flew straight at its head, exploding into a dazzling explosion. Its head had exploded into dozens of pieces, flying all over the street. The building came down around it as the body tipped over and fell to the ground with an unbelievably heavy thump. It was dead.
Flood lay on the ground in disbelief. He got up and ran to kneel at the upper half of Ditzy Doo's lifeless body, lifting her head up off the dirt. Her empty golden eyes still had tears in them.
"Ditzy..."