The Olden World

by Czar_Yoshi

The Sunken

"Well, here we are!" Valey announced with a grin. "Blueleaf! Hooves crossed for a nice brawl!"

Maple grimaced. "I'd really rather the other way around..."

The town rose vertically around them, architects throughout the ages having decided that building on the roofs of existing structures was far less hassle than cutting down trees to expand outwards, and the laws of gravity having somehow agreed to play by their rules. Structures upon structures were stacked, all made of the same dark wood but with dramatically different levels of craftsponyship and no adhereance to floor plans whatsoever. The result was a shadowed maze where jutting overhangs were just as common as alleys two stories in the air, the thin gaps of sky visible from the ground only letting sunlight in at the height of the day... and only then when they weren't blocked entirely by bridges or clotheslines. It was a chaos akin to Riverfall, only wilder and ridden with danger.

"So where are we going in here?" Starlight asked, dubiously squinting down the main street they had entered on. It ran straighter and wider than any of the side roads she looked down, but eventually met its end somewhere beyond the crowd of ponies that blocked out her view of the ground.

"Hmmm..." Valey adjusted her beret, thinking. "I still like my idea of starting a bar fight best. But if you're feeling chicken, I guess we could just wander around and wait for trouble to find us."

"I'm not sure I like the look of this place," Maple understated, standing protectively near Starlight. "The ponies here look... desperate. Why aren't we passing straight on through?"

Valey shrugged, peering hopefully down a dark alley as they walked by. "One, because I'm bored, and two, because it's six miles to Grand Acorn and you two are basically dead. Can't have you guys collapsing from exhaustion. I don't even do that to ponies I want to mess with. Being unconscious makes you boring."

Starlight's eyes wandered as they talked, looking over the other ponies in the street. The ones that caught her attention first carried themselves with an air of slight tension and importance, or else confidence with their setting, all suited with nothing or clothes that weren't the finest, stallions allowing a day's worth of stubble to grow on their chins and mares wearing manes that had gone a day without washing. It was as if they were giving the town their second-best, and wanted it to know it.

But there was a second class of ponies about too, who stuck to the shadows more and had longer, less-kempt manes and scruffy coats that hadn't had a proper grooming in much longer. They only talked to each other, and they constantly stared at the first group of ponies, and did their best to be less noticeable than others. Had the weather permitted it, she was sure they would have worn heavy, well-used cloaks to compliment the aesthetic, and when their mouths moved she imagined their voices were gruff, even the mares. Very few of them were unicorns.

There was also an unusually large number of unattended colts and fillies, going by both her sensibilities and her experience with Riverfall and Equestria. She watched them curiously, tuning the rest of the ponies out and touching Maple with her tail to ensure she didn't get distracted and separate herself. Most of the foals moved in quick, darting bursts, never going for more than a second without being next to a wall. Some carried saddlebags gripped in their teeth, while others used cruder methods to haul their belongings and others carried nothing at all.

One colt managed to pull over a better-dressed mare and withdrew something from his sack, offering it to her with two hooves, evidently trying to sell it. She shook her head and continued, and he chased after her for several steps before looking down, dejected. Starlight's heart sank with his spirits, and she looked away.

The next filly she looked at returned eye contact. Sitting alone in front of a dark, open door, she had a short mane and tail and stared back with sharp, burning eyes that refused to let Starlight go or even take a breath. Her insides crawled after several seconds of the filly's determined gaze. It wasn't natural, seeing a pony so young who had anything to care about that much. Every youthful face her mind could bring up was innocent, happy and carefree, yet this one was so devoted to some unspoken goal Starlight considered the possibility that the filly was willing to kill to get it. No pony should ever look like that, young or old.

...She wondered if she looked that way when talking about cutie marks.

"Maple?" she whimpered, voice shaking more than she had hoped. "I don't like it here."

"Neither do I," Maple whispered back, then kissed the top of Starlight's head. Then, to Valey: "I hope the entire Earth District isn't like this. It doesn't feel nice."

"Eh, don't worry about it," Valey said with a shrug. "Blueleaf is a bit of a special case. Granted, towns further north have a lot more Sosans, especially Gnarlbough, where you wanted to go. The thing is... Ironridge has a bunch of districts, but most of them are only for work. The only residential ones are the Earth District and the Stone District, and the Stone District is way nicer because it has a view, is close to the Skyport, and isn't stupidly hot all the time. So it kinda costs more, and any economy's gonna make floaters and sinkers. And since this town is right next to the Stone District... it's where a lot of the sunken wind up once they can't afford to live up top anymore. Some of them get back on their hooves and work with a commute, and dream of moving up some day. Others realize they don't have to work to survive, since food is pretty much free down here, so they wind up doing nothing... and then they wander around, wondering why their lives are so meaningless and being depressing."

Starlight's thoughts flickered back to the colt, trying to sell something to support his family, and she gave a frustrated snort. "That doesn't sound very fair."

"Hah! Ya think?" Valey laughed bitterly. "Didn't I pour my heart out to you last night about how dirty the world plays and you you've gotta play dirty back, or something? Look at me!" She flexed her leathery wings and gave a fanged smile. "Walking, talking, cuddlier-than-a-cactus proof that fair doesn't exist. Now come on, this way looks promising."

With a flick of her tail, she darted to the right, and the mid-afternoon sunlight disappeared as they were enveloped by a narrow alley.

Comments

[alamais]

Description of haphazard architecture reminds me of Kowloon.
static2.businessinsider.com/image/54d3d8b46da811e977a0aa13-1190-625/26-photos-of-hong-kongs-chaotic-kowloon-walled-city-once-the-most-crowded-place-on-earth.jpg

[Venlinelle]

...She wondered if she looked that way when talking about cutie marks.

I’m glad she realized this, because I was gonna point it out if she didn’t.