//------------------------------// // The Drowned City // Story: Tales of Harmonia // by Ise no Kami //------------------------------// The four ponies made their descent down a long, long staircase. As they descended, the light from the entrance got dimmer and dimmer, until their path was lit only by the torches that sporadically lined the walls. Just as they were beginning to think that the staircase would never end, it finally opened out into a massive dome on the ocean floor. Above them, a giant sphere of thick glass separated them from the ocean above, through which sunlight reached down and lit the ruined city underneath with what rays could make it down that far. Small canals lined the streets between the broken buildings, and the remains of fountains could be seen in a few dilapidated rooms. "Seems like an odd place for zebras to set up shop," Shining Blade wondered. "Any idea why they decided to live down here?" "According to Zaphias," Daring Do began, "his tribe found out there was some sort of spirit down here, and built this place on the ocean floor to live alongside her. You should really hear it from him; he talks about that spirit like he knows her personally." She spread her wings. "I'm gonna go find Zaphias and get him to give me a tour. You three...don't you dare break anything." And with that, she flew off into the ruins below. "Well, guess our work here is done," Blade noted. "Oh come on," Night Sky chided. "This place is nice. I wanna check it out for a bit longer." "I thought you were against coming in here." "A walk through the city can't hurt." Blade sighed and gave up, following his friends down into the city. As they passed by one of the canals, a bipedal fish monster jumped out of the water, and lashed out at them with some sort of wand. Scootaloo panicked, and reflexively beat the thing into submission with her scooter. Night gave it a stab to make sure it was dead. Apparently these ruins were also affected by the magic surge. The three made sure to tread lightly, their weapons at the ready to fend off the other fish monsters that had taken refuge in this ancient city. As they walked through the dilapidated city, Blade noticed something in the corner of his eye. He turned to look into an alleyway, and saw the rear of a pony as they walked behind the building and out of sight. Blade noticed the mystery pony's short, blood red tail, and instantly knew it was Thatch. But why would he be here? He got his friends' attention, and led them down the alley. At the end was a door locked by...magic? How? Zebras didn't have access to magic. Before the three ponies could ponder this mystery, however, they noticed the sounds of electricity and screams, muffled by the thick door. Blade wasted no time busting the lock with his Sorcerer's Ring, and the three rushed to the rescue. However, they weren't prepared for what they found. After rushing through a narrow hallway, they came to a small room. In the back was the same apparatus they had found in the abandoned lab at the unicorn range, except this one was fully functional. Strapped to the chair was a zebra stallion. Unlike Zecora, his mane was more like a pony's mane, and drooped over his face. His flank showed a circle with a large dot in the center, and he wore a runed ring where Blade had his Sorcerer's Ring. A beam of magic energy shot down from the needle, making the zebra writhe in agony as it drained some sort of pink energy from him. Over to the side, Thatch stood in front of a connected apparatus as it deposited the energy into something physical. As the three ponies burst in, the machine finished its process, and the object was complete. Thatch panicked, grabbed the object before anypony could see what it was, and sped off through a side door. The ponies rushed to the zebra's side and freed him as the machine shut down. "Zaphias, I assume?" Blade asked. "Yes, but how do you know my name?" Zaphias asked. "Daring Do told us about you," Blade explained. "Wait, you don't speak in rhymes?" "No..." Zaphias answered, confused. "Were you expecting me to?" "There's a zebra friend of ours back home who rhymes everything she says," Scootaloo explained. "Ah," Zaphias replied, understanding. "I had heard that another tribe spoke in rhymes. The zebra you speak of must be from that tribe." He shuddered as he tried to take a few steps. "Woah there, buddy," Night warned. "You better rest up after what you've been through." "Your concern is appreciated," Zaphias began as he pulled out a boomerang, "but you must understand. This is my home, and that pony and his friend defiled it. I will not stand idly by and watch as it is defiled further." He stood tall, shaking off his pain and fatigue and readying himself to face the intruders. "Looks like we found our secret facility," Blade noted in hindsight. "If that's how you feel, that's fine, but we're tagging along with you." The group made their way through the side door and down the hall it led into. As they moved through the ruins, they faced more fish monsters, as well as monsters born from the broken stone of the city. Zaphias noticed a lot of these threats early, and took the initiative by throwing his boomerang before the creatures even registered their presence. After that, the other three were on the weakened monsters, and dispatched them quickly. Finally, they made their way to a ruined hall lined with the remains of long desks and chairs, with a podium at the front. This was once some sort of senate office, but now it was empty. Empty, that is, except for a tan adventurer and the blue monstrosity that stood before the podium. "Ahuizotl!" Daring called out. "How did you even find this place?" "Why, I had help, my dear Daring Do," he explained while stroking a tiny white cat beside him. "What, you thought you were the first pony to set hoof in this place? Sorry, but no. And it gets better. My helpers just offered me a gift that will let me get rid of you forever!" He reached into a sack he had strapped to his side... "I would say otherwise," Zaphias stepped in. "Undine! Wash this creature away!" A blue-skinned human, with fins on her head, stark azure hair, a blue silk scarf mimicking water, and a stunning aqua dress, materialized above the zebra. With a small gesture from the woman, a torrent of water broke through the walls of the room and carried Ahuizotl away. "What in Luna's name was that?" Night asked. The other ponies, including Daring Do, were too stunned to speak. "That was Undine, the Spirit of Water," Zaphias replied nonchalantly, as if summoning a fish woman was no big deal. "You mean she's real?" Daring Do asked, dumbfounded. Zaphias nodded in reply. "Wait, if she's like a god to your tribe," Blade began, "why would she just do whatever you asked of her?" Zaphias responded by holding up his runed ring. Only now did Blade notice the one rune that glowed with the shine and color of aquamarine. "This is a pact ring, a relic of my tribe," the zebra explained. "So long as one has this, they can forge pacts with the spirits of nature, such as Undine. Once those pacts are forged, the summoner is free to use their powers as they wish." "There are more spirits?" Scootaloo asked. "Yes, little one," Zaphias answered. "For every element that makes up this world, from its raging fires to its gentle winds, to even the powers of light and darkness, there is a spirit that governs it. And with this ring, I can bring those spirits under my command." "Wow," Daring Do responded, truly astonished. "You never told me that trinket had that much power." "Ah, Miss Do," Zaphias finally acknowledged his partner. "Forgive me for stranding you in the jungle. I'm afraid that monster's 'help' captured me for some sort of experiment. It is thanks to your new friends that I'm finally free." "Don't mention it," Blade replied. "His helpers are the reason we were in the jungle to begin with. Now let's go track them down. We've got some scores to settle." The group followed Ahuizotl through the new hole in the wall, heading deeper and deeper into the city as the water trail drained downward. As they moved, they noticed how the stone looked more ruined and eroded as they moved ahead. As they passed one terribly dilapidated building, a chunk of it fell off, clipping Scootaloo's leg as it blocked their return path. Zaphias noticed this, and rushed over to the injured filly. He pulled out a potion, and poured it on the wound. Miraculously, the wound healed in seconds under the running liquid. Finally, they reached the edge of the dome, and proceeded to some outlying structure. They made their way through a dark hallway, until it opened into some sort of coliseum. At the far end, a damp Ahuizotl stood waiting for them, enraged. "You've thwarted me for the last time, Daring Do!" he told the adventurer through gritted teeth. "This time, I'll make sure you never leave this place alive!" "Yeah, I'm sure you had your cliche chitchat speech nice and prepared," Night began, "but we don't really care. Where are your helpers?" "You dare mock me!?" Ahuizotl shot back. "I don't need helpers to send you all to your graves! Behold!" He reached into his sack, and pulled out the object that was made from Zaphias' energy. Now that they were allowed to get a good look at it, all the ponies' jaws dropped in shock, confusion...and horror. Ahuizotl was holding a silver ornate necklace. Embedded in the center was a pink jewel in the shape of a butterfly. The metal was wrong, but otherwise, they were staring at the Element of Kindness. But how was that possible? "My helpers have given me the results of their pet project," he explained. "Now, bow before the mighty power of an Element of Harmony!" He put the necklace on... ...and his body froze up. Just as everypony was trying to figure out what was going on, a flash of white light came from an overlooking balcony. Blade looked up to see Thatch and Lockheart looking down on the whole scene with contempt. Thatch sighed. "Guess we still have a few bugs to iron out." "You...you tortured Zaphias...to make that!" Blade accused them, pointing to the trinket that was giving Ahizotl a seizure. "Why!?" "Surely you know the answer," Lockheart replied. "The Elements of Harmony are gone, and our country is defenseless. So we've taken it upon ourselves to make a new set." "We tried this before with Mornstar," Thatch began, "but that try was even worse. We ended up creating that monster you guys fought, and we got the whole lab shut down." "And we had to erase her memory of the whole affair," Lockheart mentioned. "It's actually a good thing she started asking questions, though. She walked right back into our hooves without even realizing it." "You don't mean-" Blade realized. "You let her go, you monsters!" "I'm afraid we're not the monsters here," Lockheart dismissed him. Just then, Ahuizotl's body exploded with pink energy, shaking the room. When the light faded, what was left...could hardly be described as Ahuizotl. From his abdomen poked out eight sharp, spidery legs. From his rear protruded a tail with a massive blade at the end. Where his head and neck used to be, there was a humanoid torso. The arms ended in stumps, at which point they transitioned into long curved blades. Where his head should have been on this new torso, there was only a single eye, though it didn't look like the eye of any normal creature. Looking into that eye, everypony could tell that Ahuizotl no longer had control over the monstrosity he had become. "He is." "You freaking monsters!" Blade yelled. "You used him like a guinea pig!" "Yep," Thatch replied nonchalantly. "And now we're gonna let you clean up the mess. See ya!" With a flash of Lockheart's horn, the two were gone. Realizing they were going to have to fight the monstrosity before them, Zaphias threw his boomerang in its face, then summoned Undine to ravage it with a torrent of water. Scootaloo rushed it, barely dodging its scythe arms as she pounded its stomach with her scooter. As Scootaloo fought the creature from below, Night battled it from above, dodging its tail as he looked for opportunities to stab it. Blade went at the beast head on, his sword clashing with its scythe arms as he moved to dismember it. Daring Do punched the creature here and there, but it was clear her companions were doing more damage. As the monster put up a fight, the soul of Ahuizotl within suffered, trapped within a monstrous body he couldn't control, waiting for his assailants to finally kill him. As the battle raged on, however, the monster ceased to be the only threat. The fight was weakening the room's structure, and the stone was beginning to crack. Finally, Blade struck the monster a blow that sent it writhing in agony. It crashed into the back wall, and that was enough to end the room's erosion. Water began bursting through the cracks, breaking off chunks of the walls and ceiling as they got bigger. The Ahuizotl monstrosity was crushed under a giant chunk of ceiling, finally ending its life. The ponies, however, had no time to run as the room collapsed, releasing them into the ocean. Blade lasted for 5 seconds before the pressure made him lose consciousness... On the shores north of the Forbidden Jungle, four ponies and a zebra washed up on the beach, unconscious but unharmed. As they slept, a white unicorn with a golden mane approached them. Arcane Arts picked up Scootaloo with his magic, gently placed her on his back, and began to walk off. Just then, Shining Blade regained consciousness, and noticed what was going on. He drew his sword, ready to stop the kidnapping in progress. Arcane noticed him, and with a flash of his horn, he called a lightning bolt down from the sky to smite Blade. "A shame that you can't understand the reason I've gone to such lengths to achieve my goal," he mentioned. "Now, back to sleep with you, knave. Your time will come soon enough." With that, he walked off into the distance. "Damn you, Arcane," Blade said through gritted teeth, before losing consciousness once more.