II - As the Leviathan Feeds
Leviathan Wakes moved with the sea. This included every wind, every wave, and every storm. Ponies could attempt to steer the boat city as much as their resources would allow, but it was impossible to avoid every tumultuous brew the weather would throw at them. Sails were down, chains were fastened, and most sane ponies were huddled indoors.
It wasn’t the worst storm ever. Boats weren’t capsizing but the various scaffoldings that kept the mobile settlement unified were being strained considerably—not to the point of falling apart but creaking enough to keep everypony in a tense state of uncertainty. Anypony who’d been through a storm before knew the city would survive and they would too, so long as they weren’t stupid enough to go outside and risk getting tossed into the ocean.
Cotton Fluff was one of the ponies who liked to live on the edge just a little bit. Instead of hiding within his broken down ship apartment like most ponies, he was out on the deck holding tightly to the railing. Granted, he had a rope tied around his midsection that was affixed to several rungs inside his apartment, but he liked to tell himself that being out here at all made him a daredevil.
The rain crashed down all around him, having flattened his usually puffy white mane long ago. His coat was a dull blue that he believed went well with the ocean despite what his marefriend told him. After all, he was Cotton Fluff, he knew better.
With a creak, the wooden railing gave way a little, prompting Cotton to move to a more stable-looking area. Satisfied that the post he was on wasn’t about to give out, he looked up at the rest of Leviathan Wakes. It was impossible to see all of it in the storm given the rain, but he could see far enough to consider it a spectacle. At the furthest reaches of his vision he saw one of the most massive ships of all, the Cadenza, rock as a wave passed under them. The chains and boards that connected the Cadenza to the rest of the city pulled taut, straining some of the other ships. However, the chains had been measured out properly, so shortly after the chains were pulled the other ships began to roll up the incoming wave. A few rocked so far that massive quantities of water poured over their decks, but that was par for the course.
He should probably get back inside, given the size of the wave. Even with his rope getting hit by that wouldn’t be comfortable. As he took one final look around, he decided he’d had enough of being out in the storm.
Just as he was turning around, he saw them. Two ponies walking along a rickety line of rotting rafts below the railing of Cotton’s apartment ship. He wouldn’t have seen them at all were it not for the brilliant white coat of the lead pony—a pegasus, given the protrusions on her sides, though it was hard to see details in the rain.
“Hey!” he called. “Are you stupid!? The wave’s coming! I—UGH!” Before he really knew what he was doing, he slipped out of his rope and tossed it down to them. “HURRY!”
The rope hit the white mare on the head, upsetting her hat. She said something Cotton couldn't hear over the din of the storm, but she grabbed hold of the rope and began climbing.
Looking up, Cotton saw the wave getting too close for comfort. Without the rope around his barrel, it could very easily sweep him away and kill him. He retreated back to the open door of his apartment and began to pull on the rope from there. This way, if the wave hit him it would just shove him into his apartment. Painful, yes, but not deadly.
He closed his eyes and strained himself as much as his legs would allow, pressing two against the edges of the doorframe and using the other two to pull. Eventually, the rope went slack. Since there had been no sharp jerk from breaking, he assumed this meant the ponies had gotten over the edge of the railing. He opened his eyes.
The two of them had gotten over the railing, all right. But so had the wave. The next thing he knew his vision was replaced with the sense of salty burning. The water slammed him into the back of his apartment hard, hitting the knobby doors of his dresser. That didn’t knock the wind out of him, but the pressure of two mares slamming into his stomach did.
For a while, the world was spinning. He was vaguely aware of the rush of water leaving the apartment and somepony closing the door.
Eventually, he could hear voices.
“—this apartment is ruined,” one said with a light tone that Cotton decided was “cute.”
The other’s voice was deeper, but more dignified and authoritative. “He was the one who saved us. Plus, there’s not really much in here to ruin.”
“Saved? Really?” The cute one let out a childish giggle. “You and I both know we would have been fine out there. The Trinity was all of ten meters away!”
“So? Rope dropped from the sky. I seized the moment.”
“Yes, yes… oh, I think he’s coming back around!”
Cotton’s vision was, in fact, panning out. In front of him was one of the most beautiful mares he had ever seen, putting even his girl to shame—a thought that made him feel more than a little guilty. Her legs were thin, yet well toned. The water matted down her bright pink coat to make the presence of her muscles easy to see, giving her an alluring mixture of strong and delicate elements. In contrast, her mane was such a deep red it was almost black, so long that it was trailing along the floor and tied around one of her hooves. A few beads dotted the hairs here and there.
Her face, while no doubt just as beautiful as the rest of her, was shrouded by the damp mess the rain had made her mane, so all he could make out was her red irises. He soon decided it wasn’t worth staring at her eyes anyway, for on her bare flanks he could see the rare sight of a cutie mark—and what a mark it was! An exaggerated crimson eye with a star-shaped pupil and waves across it.
“Wow…” Cotton said, dumbly.
“Yeah, it’s something, ain’t it?” she laughed, and Cotton noticed soft sparks of magic around her horn. “Name’s Sparkler Depths. Thanks for tossing that rope.”
Cotton blinked. “But… didn’t you say…?”
Sparkler had the decency to look sheepish. “Heard that, huh? Yeah… sorry, we probably would have been fine. But it’s the thought that counts! You put yourself and this… place at risk just to help us!” When she gestured at the apartment, Cotton could tell she did it with a little disdain. He wasn’t surprised—she was a Gifted, after all, she probably rarely had reason to step into a place this cheap and run-down. Not to mention the fact that it was soaked.
It was going to take forever to air out the blankets.
“We can compensate you for the water damage,” the other voice said, reminding Cotton that there had been two mares. “This fun diversion was worth that much.”
“Th-thanks. I didn—” He stopped speaking the moment he laid eyes upon the other mare. She was white, all right, he hadn’t misjudged her color out there. But she definitely wasn’t a pegasus. Her wings had no feathers to speak of, replacing the natural fluff with harsh, leathery webbing. The water clinging to her coat revealed an angular posture, more predatory than any normal pony. No mark graced her flank and her luscious amber mane was just as messy as Sparkler’s, though nowhere near as long.
Despite the nest of hairs, he couldn’t look away from her eyes. Amidst her ghostly white form, the pale yellow within her irises sparkled like citrine gemstones. Where he had hoped to find a normal, round pupil he instead found an angry slit running from the top to the bottom.
A thestral.
His breath caught in his throat and he began to tremble in fear at the almost mythical creature before him.
At his response, she grinned, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth. He had enough of his wits about him to notice that a tooth was missing—and subsequently realized that the missing fang hung around her neck on a white string. Out of her mouth it somehow looked sharper.
“S-stay back!” he stammered, pressing himself as far as he could into the damp wall, trying to run away. He glanced toward the door. Dare he take his chances out there, in the storm? If these two had ways to survive out there, maybe he could. It would be better than sharing a room with a monster.
“Sure,” the thestral said, sitting down on his soaked bed. She took a moment to adjust her pearlescent sailor’s cap, combing down the points on her ears in the process. “Guess I’ll just sit here, then, since I can’t leave without getting closer to you.”
Thestrals are tricksters. They toy with their victims from the shadows.
“How long do you think we give him?” the thestral asked. “Two minutes? Three?”
Sparkler shrugged. “You’re the Admiral.”
The Admiral smirked. “True, but this isn’t exactly a nautical decision, now is it?”
“I say the less time we waste, the better. I’d rather get as far away from those leviathans as fast as possible. It’s like they’re always watching me.”
“I suppose we’ll have to disregard our fine hero’s wishes, then.” She jumped off the bed.
Cotton glared at her. “I kn-know when I’m being toyed with.”
“Good boy.” She reached under her hat and tossed him a few bits. “Now you’ve got some bits. Might want to consider getting some wits, lest you fail to live up to your city’s reputation.”
“Lay off the poet speech,” Sparkler suggested.
The Admiral shrugged, jumping to the door and swinging it open. Her grin widened as the rain pelted her face. Sparkler followed her out, shooting Cotton a pitying smile as she closed the door.
Cotton heard a wave crash into the door a few seconds later.
Somehow, he knew they were just fine.
Why was a monster like that walking around in the open?!
~~~
The Admiral did not have far to travel through the stormy weather to get to her destination. She would have gotten the Trinity much closer so there would have been no need to travel anywhere at all, but sadly that wasn’t an option when going to Jester’s. There was a policy about not having subs of any kind beneath her ship and Jester had enough of a reputation that ponies actually followed it except in dire circumstances.
Thus, a trot through stormy weather. They were knocked into the water a few times despite their best efforts, but the Admiral’s leathery wings were excellent under the waves, allowing them to surface long before another wave came along. Absolute worst-case scenario, they’d have to go deep and signal for the sub to come get them.
As expected, the mini-sub did not need to be called. The Admiral and Sparkler arrived at Jester’s soaking wet but smiling nonetheless. Her ship was of a decent size and painted with notoriously bright colors. Usually, there would be torches lit around it to draw attention, but the downpour kept the festive exterior from lighting up. Even the bright pink doors they were standing in front of were muted.
The Admiral checked behind her to make sure this entrance wasn’t about to get bombarded by a wave. Upon convincing herself it was safe, she allowed herself to grin.
“...We’re not knocking, are we?” Sparkler asked.
“No. You know this is my favorite part.”
She whirled around and kicked the doors in, prompting light to flush into the grime outside. With her head held high and a smirk that showed off her fang she marched right in, wings spread.
Jester’s was a bar, though not the sort a pony would usually find in a city like Leviathan Wakes. There was far too much color, the drinks behind the counter looked like they might be the magic potions of old, and it was abnormally clean aside from the water pooling around the door.
The Admiral made it all of three steps before the first glass fell to the floor—the drink of a young green mare who was clearly trying to decide if she was hallucinating or not. The Admiral passed her by without so much as a pitying glance while the rest of the patrons of the bar slowly realized what had just walked in their doors. The regulars either groaned or tipped their drinks at her in respect. Others weren’t lucky enough to have context and there was a mixture of dropped jaws, drinks, and even a few heads as ponies passed out.
She carefully watched the one pegasus stallion in the corner who looked angry at her existence, but it didn’t appear like he was going to do anything due to the pressure of the other patrons.
Sparkler closed the door behind them, smiling awkwardly. “I think she broke your latch again, Jester!”
“I’ve learned to keep spares,” Jester said, sliding into view on the other side of the bar. She was a white unicorn with a short, pale pink mane resting below a pointed hat. Today, the hat was baby blue, but everypony knew she had a million different colors stored elsewhere. Reaching into the bar’s drawers, she pulled out an extra latch and tossed it to Sparkler, who caught it in her telekinesis and began affixing it to the door.
Wordlessly, Jester took out a golden brew from behind her and set it in front of the Admiral. Pulling a small pouch from her hat, the Admiral responded by dropping a handful of bits on the counter.
Jester raised an eyebrow. “They broke more glasses than usual this time, Admiral.”
The Admiral chuckled—a strange noise made with a slightly eerie hiss in the back of her throat. She tossed another bit into the pile. “I’d think the entertainment would be payment enough, Jester.”
“You may never think it gets old, but let me tell you about how Gruff went on a rant about you last week.”
“Wh—hey!” an old drunk stallion grunted.
“Shush, not talking to you, Gruff, just about you.” Jester winked. “So I’m afraid the price for your little power-play has gone up slightly. I’m sure you can afford to part with an extra bit with all that Sanctaphrax money of yours, hmm?”
The Admiral shrugged. Wordlessly, she removed a small black box from her satchel and set it on the bar counter.
Jester stared at it. “You really are insane.”
“You’ll get it to where it needs to go?”
“Obviously! But… I mean I know this has a reputation for being a safe place, but you’re just being ridiculous.”
“Nopony would dare mess with you. I think we’re good.”
Jester rolled her eyes “Well, yes, but it’s the principle of the thing. Stars, I swear, you either have more wits than anypony or none at all.”
“I think it’s a coin flip on any given day,” Sparkler said, taking a seat next to the Admiral. “Milkshake, please.”
“And you never drink anything alcoholic. You’re worse than she is.”
“Probably.” Instead of levitating her drink directly, Sparkler levitated her hair like a limb and picked up the shake, beginning to obnoxiously slurp it.
“Monsters… monsters!” a blue mare in the back shouted.
“Oh, quiet!” Jester shouted at her. “These are some of my best customers, shut your yap! ...No, don’t leave it hanging open, that attracts flies.”
“In this weather?” the Admiral asked.
“You know what I mean.”
“So, got anything juicy for us?” Sparkler asked, giving everypony a blessed moment of reprieve from her slurking.
“Juicy…?” Jester tapped her hoof on the counter as she refilled Gruff’s drink. “Well, there’s a particularly crazy rumor about a bunch of mares from Old Canterlot, frozen in time. Probably nuts, though, right?”
“And not worth our time,” the Admiral said. “Look where the old ways got us.” She gestured at the door. “We’re lucky we’re able to live through that.”
“Eh, it was just the most interesting thing I’d heard.” Jester shrugged. “Unless you want to hear about the falling rumors.”
“Already picked that place dry,” Sparkler said. “Where did you think we were?”
“I don’t know, the moon?”
A smile came to the Admiral’s lips. “I wish.”
“How’s that whole thing going for you, by the way?”
“It exploded. Again.” The Admiral downed her drink. “But you always learn from failure.”
“I wouldn’t know,” Jester chuckled.
“Oi!” Sparkler blurted. “Ya know everythin’, ya might ‘s well own up t’ it!”
“Accent slipping, dear.”
Sparkler flushed. “Er…” She coughed, indicating to the Admiral that she should change the topic.
“We’re heading back to Sanctaphrax after this,” the Admiral said, tipping her glass forward to get it filled up again.
“Not going to stay for the after-storm festival?”
“Too much cargo, too many thieves with wits and no bits.”
Jester raised an eyebrow. “You think a bunch of thieves are going to be able to storm the Algol’s cargo hold?”
“Oh, no, I just don’t like extra bodies.” She slid her drink to the side. “Contrary to popular belief, ponies taste terrible.”
A dramatic silence fell over the bar.
“Speaking of, got any mangoes?”
Jester laughed and grabbed some dried mango slices from under the counter. “Don’t have any fresh right now, storm and all, so half-price.”
The Admiral paid. It wasn’t anywhere near as good without the juices but it was still amazing. Most plants were boring and dull tasting, not worth her time if she had a choice. Mangoes were the exception. Their lavish flavor, the grainy texture that pulled into strands, th—
“You’re spacing again,” Sparkler interrupted her.
“I swear, it’s like drugs to you,” Jester said.
The Admiral shrugged, downing the dried fruit.
“Anyway, going back to Sanctaphrax? I might have something for you.” Jester walked over to a cork board and pulled off a small piece of paper. “Ship went down that direction. Not much valuable besides a family heirloom that this Violet Bow wants. Not much pay, either. Nopony’s picked it up because of that. Buuuut… you like raw materials, don’t’cha? Hmm? Free refined metal, sittin’ at the bottom of the ocean!”
Taking the note, Sparkler read through it. “That’s not far out of the way… Think we can get Orange off The Button long enough to jury-rig a net of some kind?”
“He’ll do it if I tell him to,” the Admiral said, taking the note and pocketing it. “We’ll do it. Let Violet Bow know it might be a few weeks before we get her heirloom back.”
“Caaaaan do!” Jester sang. “Now, I know my internal clock’s a bit off, but I think Rummy will be around soon for a game. He really wants a rematch.”
The Admiral made a show of thinking deeply about her response even though she knew exactly what she was going to say. “...I suppose I could be convinced to play if he would up the ante a bit this time.”
“Good,” Jester giggled. “Good…”
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Me reading this.
Looks good, but I still need to read the original first. I'm excited!
9807705
It should be readable without context, but whatever you want!
Midnight over Sanctaphrax?
Youre chasing lightning in the bottle, son.
9806335
Same honestly. Mangoes are freaking delicious
And this story has my attention
Given that the Horizonverse takes place in the future, and S9's ending:
derpicdn.net/img/view/2018/8/28/1818592.png
(In case image doesn't show, pic isn't spoiler; it's Cozy thinking from a season 8 episode)
9807987
Ah, but remember, Horizons interrupts the sequence of the show in S2. Twilight never gets her wings, for one. Who knows how else everything went?
Honestly, what most surprises me is that they still have the supplies needed for milkshakes. The production and preservation of ice cream says a lot about the current state of civilization.
In any case, I'm certainly intrigued. Still not planning on reading about the Mane Six slamming facefirst into a drowned dystopia and breaking themselves in the process, but you have my interest. Looking forward to more.
9808815
It's not a post-apocalypse so much as a post-post-apocalypse. Society's already rebuilt into it's new form, and after booze, ice cream is the next thing on the list.
9808897
Thanks for the Word-of-God feedback. No offense meant in my earlier comment. You've clearly crafted a fascinating world, but the plot just isn't what I look for in ponyfic.
I certainly can't argue with those priorities!
9808921
No worries. Not everyone likes seeing beloved cartoon characters getting body parts and mental faculties crippled beyond repair.