You're In Manehattan, Get Used To It
Twilight exited the revolving door marking the entrance of the train station and glanced around worriedly at the tall and decidedly artificial buildings that lined the streets. Despite having grown up in Canterlot, the bustling capital of Equestria, Twilight lacked the street smarts of most city ponies. Canterlot Castle she knew like the back of her hoof, but whenever she had need to leave the Castle she generally always went by way of flying chariot and not her own four hooves. All this walking, through a unfamiliar city no less, wasn't going to be fun. But it would definitely be worth it.
True to it's name, Manehattan certainly was the busiest city in Equestria. Ponies flocked the streets in doves, milling about with purpose or wonder. Camera flashes and cheap souvenirs distinguished the tourists from the locals and businessponies, but overall, the picture was still one so chaotic even Discord could appreciate it, so such distinctions were unimportant. The ponies took on one mass that endlessly moved in bizarre patterns. Vendors popped up periodically along the road, but the train station seemed to be in a residential area of the city and there were few shops. Most of the buildings near Twilight were apartment blocks. Ponies would come in and out of each building periodically to enter or detach themselves from the sea of motion that was the Manehattan streets. And what a treacherous sea it was, it's times like these a nice ride in a flying carr...
Celestia actually had arranged for a chariot to pick her up in Manehattan, and Twilight appreciated the offer one hundred percent. Despite that, Twilight had taken the liberty to tell the royal guards in the station lobby holding a sign saying “Twilight Sparkle” that no, that would not be necessary. Strong, independent mares for the win! She had never been to Manehattan before and she wanted to take the time to see all there was. However, seeing the ominous, towering buildings, she realized how daunting a task that apparently was. Perhaps deciding to walk hadn't been the best choice.
Nervously, Twilight magically unrolled her map again and double-checked her route, taking note of each street and landmark. Just walk a few streets until she finds Mane Street, then go down that a while, then turn off and take a couple of turns and presto! Warehouse 15, easy enough. There was nothing to it. Well, the walk was a little long… but on the bright side, Twilight would be going through the Times Squares. If she wanted to, she could also probably take a detour to find Broad Hay. It was Equestria’s longest soda bar and restaurant, hence the name. She had read that their hay milkshakes were to die for, though Twilight wondered why anypony would really die for a milkshake. They would be dead then, wouldn’t they? How would they drink it? The brochure never explained these kind of things. Shaking her head at the paradox, she rolled up the map and put it back into her suitcase.
Armed with her mental map, Twilight was ready. Smugly, she trotted into the mob with confidence and her head held high.
Alright, let’s do thi- woooOOOOooOOOOOAH! Immediately after joining the flow Twilight found herself forced to dodge pony after pony rushing to get to the things at the places.
“Excuse m-- Oh! I’m so sorry-- Oops I-- Eheh, Hi. My na-- Sorry!--“ weaving in between ponies and apologizing, Twilight eventually found a niche in the traffic where she could ride the flow of ponies and walk mostly unhindered. Her sigh was drowned out by the city noises.
There goes that confidence, she moped. Then, self-righteously, she made a decision, No! I’m the Princess’ prized student! I can handle one measly, ridiculously large city. What do you say, Twilight Sparkle?
The other, less confident side of her brain gave a timid, Yes?
THEN LET’S GET GOING! Sure enough, during her mental dialogue Twilight again felt confidence surge through her body. She picked up her pace. She was Twilight Sparkle, the Princess' faithful student. She passes ponies up on the street, not the other way around. Twilight allowed herself an authoritarian smile, she had this. Nopony can stop this purple bomb! She flinched. Horseapples, there was that stupid bomb again. FOCUS TWILIGHT!
She was making real headway through the crowd now, so when she rounded the next corner she afforded a second look at the city. Gone were the intimidating buildings. During her entrance into the city she had been claustrophobic, felt trapped in such a forest of stone and steel. That had changed, Twilight found herself admiring the way the buildings scraped the skies and how the ponies scurried with purpose from place to place. Though it had started out as nothing but a few small homes, over the years Manehattan had built it’s way upwards and outwards, until it was the largest, if not the fanciest, city in Equestria. Though not as pure and graceful as the buildings of Canterlot, Manehattan buildings had a kind of strong will in the way the buildings climbed the skies and defied the weather for the sake of their inhabitants. The place wasn’t classy, but Twilight felt respect well up inside of her. This was the kind of city where ponies got things done, where history was made. Her eyes lit up with inspiration.
As she walked, Twilight checked the street signs of the intersections she passed. Sure enough, eventually one of them read “Mane Street”. She brightened, put a little spring in her step, and sped around the last corner. She couldn’t wait to see it!
Wide and oh-so-long, Mane Street was named as it was for the way it rolled off of the hill where the Equestria State Building made its roost. The road was the masterpiece of Stone Cutter, the most famous sculptor and architect of the last century. It had taken over 20 years for Stone Cutter to start and finish Mane Street, partially because she had refused to let anypony else help, since she claimed they would ruin it, and partially because at the time there weren’t very many ponies in the Manehattan area to begin with.
The true Mane Street was the part that flowed off of the hillside, the stone delicately woven together hundreds of thousands of times to give the impression of a mane cascading downwards. From her distance, Twilight could almost believe that it was about to blow in the wind, and though it remained still every minute movement she made shifted her perspective and gave her the impression of the “hairs” shifting as a natural mane would. Its official title was “Waterfall Mane”, though everypony preferred “Mane Street”. She shook her head in a mixture of awe and disappointment, because the descriptions she read could never capture it's beauty accurately. Twilight resolved herself to take the tram ride to the top of the hill at some point, though the price was steep. Walking was free, but no way in hay was she going to do attempt something that grueling. Mane Street was truly an amazing piece of work, though enjoying it could be a pain.
The Mane Street of the city however, was really just the addition of prospectors who had come to establish the town after Stone Cutter had completed her work. It stretched on for what seemed like all of eternity, Twilight would have thought it went forever if she hadn’t read in the past that it was only eight miles long. A far cry from eternity. Still, eight miles could be a long way for a unicorn who does nothing but eat bon bons and read books all day in her library. Thank Celestia the train station wasn’t on the other end of the city, she only needed to walk about a half mile before her next turn.
It wasn’t nearly as artistic, but Manehattan’s Mane Street was far more practical and far busier than the original. At 50 meters across it held the record as the widest street in Equestria. As such, ponies had gathered along Mane Street, set up shop, expanded, and eventually created the towering metropolis that was Manehattan. For that reason, Mane Street was even more chaotic than the rest of Manehattan and Twilight was caught right in the thick it. Swarms of ponies obscured the ground beneath their hooves, even during nighttime, going about their important business. This time, Twilight's confidence didn’t falter in the crowd… much. But she still found herself avoiding the looks she got for her fancy royal suitcase and apologizing to the unlucky ponies that bumped into her.
Like all the big cities, advertisements flashed and propaganda made promises all over building walls and lampposts. The bright oranges and yellows of one poster caught Twilight’s eye. It was a picture of Spitfire the Wonderbolt dressed up in some sort of cheesy, overly generalized army getup giving the camera bedroom eyes and taking a seductive pose right by some military equipment. The caption read, “Make me proud, join the REA”. Twilight shook her head, stallions who fell for such an obvious ploy were complete idiots.
Well, Twilight reflected, it worked with Rainbow Dash… She shook her head, What happens in that mare's brain anyway? Twilight reasoned Rainbow Dash's decision making process went something like this, Can it get me into the Wonderbolts. Can it get me laid. Do I look awesome doing it? What would Daring do? She smirked internally, Ha! That last one was clever. It was an unconventional method, but she guessed it worked for Rainbow Dash. Yet at the same time, she found the fact that Rainbow Dash's thought process was close to her analysis mildly depressing. It's times like these that one just loses themselves to their thoughts and-
WHAM!
Smacks straight into another pedestrian, evidently.
"Omigosh, I'm so sorry! I was just in such a hurry and I ran around this one stallion and then I saw you getting closer but it was too late to get out of the way and then we sort of just went WHAM! and gosh are you OK you don't look so good need a hoof let me help you up I'm so sorry!" ARGH. As if the collision wasn't enough, it had to be a collision with probably the most annoying pony in all of Equestria (going by the fact that Pinkie wasn't in Equestria right now).
Twilight rubbed the back of her head with a hoof before reaching to grab the hoof being offered to her. Once upright, she blinked twice to right her eyes and took in the other pony. It was a nervous looking yellow mare wearing a strained expression on her face. She stumbled over herself, righted, and continued her flow of apologies.
"Really this happens all the time I'm just such a klutz you see I collide with ponies all the time and I drop things and--" Her eyes widened at the remembrance of something. "Oh no! I'm late, I still need to hurry." Uh-uh, no way was she just running off.
"Wait! What are you late for?" Twilight was actually pretty curious. The yellow mare gave her a sideways look.
"Well, it's. Um, you know. Not important! I just really need to go."
"At least tell me your name!"
"Risky Run," she sheepishly extended a hoof towards Twilight, "and I'm sorry that we hit again... I do that a lot, it's nothing personal."
"Well Risky, my name is Twilight Sparkle." she said, shaking hooves.
Risky's irises shrunk to the size of peas. "Tw-Twilight Sparkle? The element of harmony?" This surprised Twilight. Supposedly ponies did know about Twilight and the other elements, but in name only. They had never earned any kind of fame because of it. While they did have windows in the Canterlot Castle dedicated to them, it's not like the public was allowed to wander into the Castle. Because of that, Twilight and company had remained comfortably unknown for the most part. It was rare to be recognized like this.
"Um, yes. How did you know? Not that many ponies know me."
"I'm... a fan! Yep, big fan of the ponies that saved us from Discord, yessiree. Well, tar- I mean Twilight, it was really nice meeting you but BYE!" And she sped away into the crowd.
"Hey, wait!" Twilight looked after her with a mixture of amusement and confusion on her face. That had been... eventful. Why had she been so nervous? It still bothered Twilight that Risky had known who she was. It gave her the feeling that everypony knew her, and half-interested glances her way became full on scrutinies in her mind. But forget about what just happened, she had somewhere to be, too.
With that little experience abruptly cut short by Risky's exit, Twilight made good time down Mane Street, just drinking up the sights and apologizing profusely to anypony she bumped into. Soon enough, the crowd got slightly thinner and fewer shops stood on the sides of the street. Instead office buildings, banks, and other establishments began popping up. The traffic as a whole became quieter yet more hurried. At first Twilight was at a loss for what could have caused these changes. After a moment of confusion, she realized the reason was right under her snout, literally and figuratively. She was walking on the Times Squares.
The Times Squares were giant multiplication tables that covered an entire mile of Mane Street. Large numbers were plastered all over the street, carved into the fine white marble that marked the area from the rest of the road. At the start, the numbers one through one hundred ran horizontally across the street from building to building. Vertically, one through eight hundred ran down Mane Street, split every hundred by more horizontal numbers. That way, ponies dealing with more complex equations could easily reference their place on the table. Every building that lined the Squares had a number of telescopes poking out from inside to allow ponies within to check the table, even if the number they’re looking for was a quarter mile away. Because of the height of most buildings, the distance generally wasn’t an issue except for the ponies on lower floors.
It was because of Times Squares that so many offices and banks had sprung up in the area. It was the business center of Manehattan. When Twilight was younger she had dreamed of working here, with so many smart ponies and such large, beautiful numbers. Really, she could just sit here and stare at them for days, just memorizing the equations... At least, that’s what she had dreamed of. Unfortunately she already had memorized a multiplication table going up to 13,824 times itself. Still, if she ever needed a review this would be the perfect place to do it. Twilight got the urge to kiss the lovely numbers, and nearly did before realizing she was in a public place. She blushed sheepishly and took a step back, though nopony paid her any mind.
She sighed and turned her back on the glorious shapes. Her secret romance with science, numbers, and all kind of information would have to wait. The fact that she was at the Times Squares meant that she was near the warehouse. Twilight checked her mental map of the route. Seeing the next turn nearby on 34th Street, she regretfully left down a side street.
To her relief, almost as soon as she left Mane Street the crowd thinned considerably and left her room to maneuver. Despite that, Twilight felt even more uncomfortable than before. The tall buildings blocked out sunlight, an effect she found disconcerting given that it was shaping up to be an exceptionally bright and sunny day. Plus, while being jostled by other ponies had been frustrating, walking all by herself in the artificial dusk made Twilight feel vulnerable. Of what she had no idea, but her old trepidation came flooding back with a vengeance. It tugged at her hooves, asking her, What are you doing!? RUN!
Look at me… Scared like a school filly, there's nothing scary about this place. Except that I’ve never been here before, and it’s dark, and there’s lots of ponies I don’t know all around me, and I’m so confused right now! Twilight grimaced and lowered her head, giving sideways glances at her surroundings. Who was she kidding (herself?), she was terrified of this place.
She hated her stupid emotions, they were too hard to control. Numbers, facts, those things she could learn and apply, they remained static no matter what. But her emotions? Those had always given her trouble. They came and went when they wanted to, they whispered nagging doubts to her, they embarrassed her in front of others. It was so enraging, not because of any of the problems they caused, but because she couldn’t understand them. That was the ultimate deal-breaker for Twilight. If only she could understand everything then she wouldn’t need to freak out so much.
Fortunately, the trip through the gloomy streets was actually fairly short, and Twilight quickly found herself passing by a number of large buildings. Each was adorned with a massive double-digit number. She looked to the building closest her and saw the number “18” boldly portrayed. Likewise, the building ahead of her had a “17”.
Descending order, eh? I don’t have far until 15 then. Twilight quickened her pace. Knowing that she was getting near to her destination made her satisfied, but it also represented safety from this insane city full of danger. She reflected on her collision with Risky Run. And I used to think Ponyville ponies were crazy...
Her proximity to the warehouse let Twilight take her mind off of her fears and just let it wander. She wondered, why this specific warehouse? Supposedly, there didn’t need to be a reason. But still, a pony would think that there would be a pretty good explanation for picking this spot over another. Well, this was a probably-top-secret government project, and a warehouse doesn’t exactly advertise itself.
It’s enough out of the way to be discreet, she figured. But why couldn’t we do this somewhere more intellectual? Like a library… Like my library in Ponyville! We could of done it there, I even have my own lab in the basement! It would be like a slumber party! But with science! A SCIENCE PARTY!!!! She clopped her hooves together at the delightful thought but frowned right afterwards and grounded her hooves. Why did they have to do this in the city? She hated to admit it, but except for the Times Square and the traditional part of Mane Street, she already hated Manehattan. Stupid “Manehattan Project”… she pouted, rolling her eyes in exasperation at the generic name.
Somewhat unwillingly, she wrenched herself out of her musings to take in her location, finding herself standing right beside a faded white “15” backed by a worn wall of grey steel. The warehouse loomed over the street like it wanted to swallow Twilight. Why did they have to make the warehouse look so... scary? She looked at the numbers and swallowed, her old doubts returning. What was she getting into? Is this really such a good idea? But the Princess…
It’s OK, I can do this. What’s the worst that could happen? There will just be a lab or something and I can go in, introduce myself, and get to work. Steeling herself, Twilight approached the simple gray door underneath it's number and, horn glowing, pushed it open.
She was surprised to find the space within pitch-dark, not the well lit space filled with scientific equipment she had hoped for. If the horror novels she had read were anything to go by this was always a bad sign. Tentatively, she took a few steps into the building, careful to keep to where the weak light shone into the room from outside. There was something dangerous about leaving that light. Twilight peered into the darkness, but found it was becoming hard to stay in her rapidly diminishing island of light. She realized why when the door shut behind her with a metallic clang that echoed through the shadow. It was dark.
Very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, VERY dark.
“Ummm… Hello?” Twilight asked the darkness, panic creeping into her voice. To Twilight’s horror, the darkness didn’t respond how she had hoped. Instead of saying, “Hi Twilight! You have nothing to be afraid of!”, a great bright light clicked on and blinded Twilight, who gave a yelp of alarm and shielded her eyes, cowering.
The light demanded, “WHO ARE YOU?”
Well, it took me long enough, huh? Rest assured, it took so long because well, I wanted to make it good. I went through hell and back to make myself satisfied with this chapter, but I bet it's still only decent to non-me's.
I had tons of fun making those puns. I decided to embrace them rather than put them in for some dry humor, and I think it really payed off.
Heh heh, dropping hints about where Pinkie is(n't). Make what you will of it.
And there is Risky Run, OC character number 1. I'll be introducing more next chapter, there are going to be a ton by the time I'm done with this fic. Which, FYI, probably won't be for about 3-4 months. And knowing me that's probably an underestimation. I'm expecting at least a good 20 chapters out of the story.
At any rate, from now on Twilight will be doing things with other ponies, so it will be both easier and more fun to write the story. I've been wanting to introduce these characters ever since I thought them up, so we'll see how you like 'em next chapter.
As is my motto, any and all feedback will be loved, tolerated, and most likely followed.
Thanks for reading. Keep on rockin', everypony!
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New chapter! Should have taken the chariot Twilight. An interesting chapter, looking forward to the next
Saw the new chapter and I was all like
292446>>292934 Haha, thanks guys! I'm glad you enjoyed it, really.
When light talks to you, you know you're bucked
want new chapter, need quality things to read
344060 I'm so sorry, I bet you don't (because honestly, who does? well except for the few... but thats not the point!) read my blog posts, but lots of things have been happening in my life and I flat out have not had the time or energy to work very much on the next chapter. I'll probably get some more work in this week and over the weekend, but next week is going to be terrible, it's Tech Week for my performance of The Wiz and we'll be opening on Friday. However, after that week I will no longer have to be at rehearsal everyday until I get home at like 7 pm and have to do my 2-3 hours of homework. I know that two weeks is a long time to wait, but once this show is over I fully anticipate getting out a chapter each week.
Anyways, sorry for the inconvenience right now. I really do feel bad about it. Please bear with me!
272332
Flying Fortresses. close though.
Silverstein222 out!
Amusing thus far. I look forward to seeing what happens next, and who Risky is working for.
Actually, more information on the war would be very nice. I like the way you're trickling it out, but a few nagging questions come to mind: What happened to Spike? Who are the Equestrians fighting? What started the conflict?
Obviously, you only need to answer if and when you're dang well ready, but you've got me speculating. Always a good sign.
493857 Good questions, and ones I've deliberately made you think about. After the next chapter it will be getting into the stories of the other Mane 6, who I've also been hinting at. Things will become more clear then.
Spike I'm not sure about. I don't know where to put his story in yet, and I'm actually not sure if I want to.
The fact that you read my crap means a lot to me. Thanks! I hope you keep enjoying it!
AWESOME! Tracked. And I'm proud to say that was good use of my favourite adjective!
1121035 Which one was that?
Also, don't expect too much. I'm super lazy and haven't updated in months. >.>
Trust me, I feel bad. When life gets straightened out though, maybe I'll find more time to write horse stories.
1124108 I meant awesome. And don't worry, I haven't updated The Pegasus of Fire in like, four months!
1127486 Oh! That's what you meant by the adjective thing. I was over thinking it. Thought I had used some adjective you really liked or something in a chapter.
*Taps foot impatiently
I see what you did thier
<returning to this fic after many years!!, also since Oppenheimers movie came out ive been looking for some fanfic for mlp version of it cuz god damn is it gonna be a masterpiece, hope you or someone continues this fic
cuz i really wanna see twilight say "now i am become death, the destroyer of worlds"