The Dark City

by awf

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

There was no waking up that night, at least not as far as Rusty Bones could remember. Perhaps it was just sheer exhaustion after the previous couple days' effort, or she was growing more familiar with this dark and quiet place. She remembered some vague, undefined dreams which felt like they should be disturbing, though. It was odd because she didn't recall any particular themes or images, just feelings of being trapped and watched from the dark. It probably made sense given the ruin they were exploring. Trapped would be a good description and all the dead ponies they had found would account for the watched. Odd how dead, empty eye sockets still had this vague, indefinable alertness around them.

The quick cup of morning tea dispelled those thoughts, but brought up different, completely equine problems. "Drat, it's going to be a long walk to the surface, isn't it?" she mused to herself.

Gustaf, who had risen shortly after her and was munching on his strips of dried meat looked up. "Huh?"

"When we have to go potty. Already it's a long walk, but I don't know how we'll manage when we go deeper."

It wasn't a problem anypony gave much thought to. Weird how all the reports and stories of exploration never mentioned it. The bird didn't seem perturbed, though. "It's gonna be fine."

Before Rusty could answer a sleepy voice replied: "No, yer flank is fine."

The two stared at each other and blinked a few times in confusion, before they realized it had come from Ember Clover. Then the mare started giggling and the griffin buried his beak in his mug to try and hide the red in his face.

Moments later Ember stretched all four limbs and yawned. "Mornin'," he said, as if nothing had happened. "Uh, what's wrong with Miss Bones?"

All she could do in reply was shake her head as she tried to keep full-blown guffaws inside. Even the giggles were causing some unpleasant echoes, she didn't want to hear what the ruins would twist laughter into.

"What?!" the poor, confused stallion asked.

Luckily Gustaf came to her rescue: "Don't you remember what you just said?"

"Did I say anything? Uh, I sometimes talk in my sleep. What did I say?"

Gustaf relaxed. Knowing that Ember's comment hadn't been intentional made it less mortifying, though it did raise some implications the old warrior just wasn't ready to think about. That could wait until their expedition was done. With luck, it would also wait until he had escorted the group back to the town, as per his contract, and then it could keep on waiting as he made his escape.

"It's not important. Just something random," Gustaf said.

Although that didn't completely satisfy Ember's curiosity, it was enough and the stallion stood up. "Well, time to walk up to the surface. Wanna go with, Gustaf?"

Rusty jumped into the conversation: "Actually, we were just talking about that. It's going to be a problem as we go deeper."

"Huh," Ember said, "you're right. What are we gonna do."

"I believe Gustaf has an answer. Curio. Winter Shine. Get here, briefing."

The other two ponies wandered closer and sat on their haunches in an almost perfect imitation of each other. Rusty motioned for the griffin to speak.

"We were discussing our, well, 'toilet arrangements'. Going to the surface won't be viable if we keep going deeper, but there's a simple solution."

They all waited for it and four sets of eyes and ears focused on the griffin.

"The old ponies, who built this place, they probably had the same problem, right? I don't imagine everypony in a city this big went outside for their, well, business."

Rusty Bones nearly facehooved. "That's right! Why didn't I think of that? They must have facilities. Even if they're ruined, some kind of a sewer or something probably still exists."

Curio raised a hoof and waited to speak until Rusty nodded at him. "We might want to reconsider that. We got more information out of their garbage than their libraries for some ancient cultures."

"The way I see it, it's either using their sewers, going in bags, or maybe you have some magical way to solve this. Can you teleport us to the surface each time we need to go?" Rusty pointed out.

Curio shook his head. "Maybe a powerful unicorn could have, like Princess Sparkle before she became an alicorn. Or now, any alicorn obviously, but not me or Winter Shine."

"Any other idea?"

Winter Shine raised a hoof next, but she didn't wait for a signal before talking: "I have one," she said. "What if we burn it? It obviously won't work for the- uh, the- you know... 'liquid kind', but a magical fire spell isn't that difficult and-"

Her professor smoothly jumped into her word as he picked up on the idea: "That's right! We find a nice bit of empty floor, then- well, like Winter said. Burn it to ash, problem solved. Magical solution, like you wanted."

"And when we have to pee?" Rusty asked.

"That would probably be alright in the sewers. It'll evaporate. At worst there'll be a smell, but we'll deal with that when we come back for a full study. Then we'll have more ponies and we can bring those portable, you know... what are they called?"

"Portable potties," Winter Shine finished.

"Okay," Rusty Bones concluded, "it doesn't sound pleasant, but we gotta do what we gotta do. We're not eating a ton so it won't be too big of a problem."

That settled the discussion Rusty had never expected to have in her life and they split up to pack their things. It was a day for exploring deeper into the ruins. For some reason, talking about such mundane pony things also seemed to lift the oppressive presence she half-remembered from her vague dreams. Remembering that they were alive, with all the problems and inconveniences that brought also served to remind her that these ruins were abandoned. There was nothing in them which could hurt them, other than traps, obviously. Rusty knew traps, so that wasn't a worry.

She took out her map and studied it. "We'll set out in five. First order of business, we're going back up top and melting plenty of water. Six of these bags per pony, that'll last us five to eight days." She saw Winter Shine open her mouth, but forestalled her: "I know it's a bit of weight, but we have less food by now. If we find pure water down there you can pour it out."

There were no further complaints, or even attempts after that, so Rusty nodded to herself in satisfaction and went on. "After that, we'll be going past the kitchen there, through these storage rooms and down this passage. It takes us out of the way of any traps."

"Why would they need traps this far inside?" Gustaf asked. "I kind of understand them at the entrance, but wouldn't they just cause problems?"

It was a valid question and not one Rusty had contemplated herself before. After all, ancient ruins went hoof-in-hoof with traps, didn't they? "Hmm," she murmured as she looked at the map with fresh eyes. Looking specifically at the traps their predecessors had marked revealed a new picture. "That's a very good point. Looks like the traps are set only in these corridors leading to and from the barracks and armory, if you don't count that cluster over there."

Gustaf nodded sagely. "Ah, that would explain it. They probably intended that to be a fortified position in case their front door was breached. What is the other place?"

"Throne room and treasury."

The bird grinned and cracked his knuckles. "Also easy to explain. Good ol' paranoia. Who cares if the invaders kill common ponies, just so long as the royals and their loot are protected."

It was a cynical way to think, but Rusty Bones suspected her griffin friend was right. It also made her job a little easier. "Okay, let's go down the side tunnels then, through what looks like some kind of a bazaar. Then through these living quarters and- workshops, I guess?"

"But-" Curio started and she cut him off smoothly.

"We'll visit the throne room on our way back. I want to see it too, but I'm worried we'll spend too much time and I am more curious about this." She jabbed a hoof at a spot in the map. "Looks like the map isn't finished in that bit, so it must be something really exciting or scary."

Winter Shine pointed out: "Or, like we said in Ice Floe, they spent most of the time near the entrance so they explored that bit more thoroughly."

"Also possible, but I would have expected at least the basic shapes of tunnels to be drawn. These just... stop."

"Probably a big find," Curio Trinket said. "They were drawing the map as they went along, which is a good idea so they didn't get lost. Maybe the map pony was in the middle of drawing that last corridor and one of the others came back with exciting news and they all went to see, and forgot to finish the map."

It was as good an explanation as any, Rusty guessed. She worried slightly that the group might have been surprised by something nasty instead, and driven out of the ruins. They would have to be careful. She couldn't imagine what might have happened, especially with how long the ruin had been abandoned. Maybe some kind of wild animals had made their home down there. If so, what kind of a beast lives in a dark labyrinth? The mare shook her head. They had two unicorns and a griffin, not to mention her experience. They were going down there pre-warned that something might not be right. They would deal with it. Worst case, they would have to hoof it out of the place and return with reinforcements.

"Okay, let's go," she announced and rose to her hooves.

---

Nopony talked much, at least not after the first few minutes. The corridors in this part of the labyrinth were narrower, which lower ceilings, which added to the feeling of claustrophobia. Ember was feeling it particularly hard, but the stallion denied any discomfort. She could see how his ears were flattened and his tail tucked between his legs when he thought nopony was looking, though. Rusty didn't begrudge the stallion the way he kept close to Gustaf and apparently neither did the griffin himself. Down there the place really began to branch out and every few dozen steps they would come to a new intersection. She led them in the right direction with the map, but after the second turn Curio had stopped her. The stallion had picked up a stone in his magic and scratched a groove on the stone floor, a rough arrow pointing the way they came. Then he had gone to do the same at the previous intersection. That way, he had explained, if they were lost they just had to look out for the markings. In a pinch, they would be able to feel the direction even in darkness. It was a good idea and Rusty dutifully stopped at every split to let the pony mark their way. Especially if they had to retreat in a hurry there might not be time to read the map.

After that they proceeded smoothly, down abandoned tunnels and crumbling stairways. There was more rotten furniture and an occasional skeleton, sprawled on the ground. Some of the finer bones had turned to dust, but the remains were still recognizable. Some times the bodies wore bits of old clothing, but it was tattered and fell apart at a breath of air.

"All earth ponies, which confirms our hypothesis," Curio noted.

"Yep." Rusty kept track and so far the majority of the dead ponies had been facing inward. That meant whatever had killed them came from that direction. Perhaps there had been a rebellion or something, and it had started in the heart of the city? It would be more plausible than invaders making it inside, especially after having seen the armory and barracks.

They stopped where the tunnel suddenly spread out in all directions. According to the map, they were at the bazaar and the large cavern seemed to confirm it. There were occasional columns with brackets for lamps or torches, and Rusty saw some ruined wooden structures in the circle of their lights. Merchant stands, she guessed. Off to one side there were more stone tables, hewn out of the rock. Some were cracked, but most of them were still solid. It was as good a place as any to have their late lunch. Once again they had to stand, since the wooden seats had either fallen apart or tended to crumble as soon as they touched them. It shouldn't have been possible, but the silence in that place was even more oppressive than in the caverns above. Any tiny little sound they made echoed from the vast cavern, so nopony spoke much and they tried not to tap their bowls against the stone.

"Can you imagine this place full of ponies?" Winter Shine whispered.

They all looked around. If they ignored the decay and ruin, the place could have been any open market in Equestria, except for the darkness. Not even on the blackest of nights could match the almost palpable gloom in the ruin.

Ember Clover shuddered and briefly pressed his side against Gustaf. "I'm not sure I want to," he replied, just as quietly, "if I try, I start thinking of all those corpses we've seen. I think I'm half-expecting them to start shambling around."

"Eugh!" Winter Shine hissed. "Don't say that! It gives me the creeps!"

It made Rusty's skin crawl as well and she looked around to convince herself it was just fanciful talking. Dead bodies did not walk around. "It must have looked a lot different back then. You've seen all those brackets and lamps. This place must have been well-lit."

"Yeah," Ember agreed. "I still can't imagine living here, though. Maybe you have to be an earth pony to like it?"

Rusty Bones shook her head. She was one, and she liked exploring old ruins, many of which were underground, but she couldn't imagine living in a place like that. "No, not really. These were very strange ponies. I wonder what made them build this place and leave the surface."

The Professor sighed wistfully. "If only we found a library. Tartarus, even a second-hoof book shop would do. I bet we'd find answers."

"We'll keep a look out. Actually, we've made good time so we can take the rest of today to explore this bazaar. We'll sleep on the other end, where the tunnel to living quarters branches off."

The suggestion was uniformly liked and everypony nodded happily at the chance to do a bit more exploring. Curio was right, if they could find the reason why this civilization came to be that would be an amazing find for their first excursion.

She began packing away her bowl and stove, but paused. "Ember, you haven't been cooking. Give me one of your stove cartridges, I'm running low- well, not exactly, but since I'm using my stove the most, I'd like to stay stocked on fuel."

The stallion didn't object and searched his pack for the item. He got out the cylinder and wordlessly held it out to Rusty.

"How about you Gustaf? The Professor still has two full ones, I think."

She was right and Curio nodded at her assessment, but the griffin shrugged. "I've got plenty left. I'll tell you when I'm done with this one and we can rebalance so you don't have to carry around full stove cartridges."

Rusty Bones began to pack her stove back, along with the extra fuel, but froze as she caught something from the edge of her eye. "What was that?"

It took her precious seconds to grab one of the unicorn-powered lamps from the table and swing it around to the tunnel entrance. Was that the one they had come through? Was something following them? Something silent?

In an instant Gustaf was by her side. "What did you see?"

"A shape, just from the corner of my eye. I think it was a quadruped."

"Pony?"

"No, too silent for that. Maybe a beast on paws?"

The rest of the group looked at one another, then Winter Shine volunteered: "A-Actually, I've been seeing it too."

Her news was so unexpected that Rusty forgot to look for the creature and twirled around to shine the light back at the mare. "You have? What did you see?"

Winter gulped and her ears splayed, but she plunged on: "Just like you, I t-think. Out of a corner of my eye, like a shadow. I thought it was some kind of a large cat or something."

"That would explain how it can be quiet," Gustaf muttered.

"Any theories?" Rusty asked.

Surprisingly the Professor piped up before the griffin could say anything: "Is it possible it's just a wild animal, attracted to our food? I haven't seen anything, how about you Ember?"

The pegasus, wide eyed and trembling in fear, shook his head.

"See?" Curio went on. "Probably just some beast that lives in the Frozen North and it wants the crumbs we leave behind."

"W-W-What- what if it- it eats p-p-ponies?" Winter Shine asked, her voice starting to stutter in fear.

"No, I don't think so."

The mare didn't reply, but she cast an imploring look at Rusty Bones. She wanted to be reassured.

"If it wanted to eat us, it would have attacked by now. The fact we've hardly seen it tells me it's scared of us," Rusty went on.

In some ways, having others confirm her vague sightings was a relief for Rusty Bones. She had been worried that the apparition was just in her mind, an early sign of some madness brought on by the spooky ruin.

"That's it, from now on we have a guard when we sleep. We'll take shifts," their griffin guard commanded.

"Agreed," Rusty said before anypony could object. "We'll set the order before we sleep each night. It's probably nothing, but it won't hurt to be sure. Also, make sure you don't leave any food behind, maybe it will go away."

It was a plan and the tough explorer sounded as if she knew what she was talking about, which reassured her party. Even Winter Shine relaxed after a bit, but she made extra sure not to leave a single crumb on the stone table.

"Okay, while you're exploring this- this-" Gustaf began, but looked a question at Rusty.

"Bazaar."

"Yes, bazaar. While you're searching through here, please stay together. I'll take a walk around the nearby tunnels and see if I can spot anything."

"You'll get lost."

"Loan me your map then."

Rusty was a bit unwilling to part with her precious parchment, but they still had Curio's one, even if something happened to hers. Besides, hers was just a copy and the Professor had the original. "Very well. Don't lose it."

"More importantly, Ember Clover whispered, "don't get lost yourself. We'd miss you." He gave the griffin a suggestive wink, which told Rusty that the stallion was over his fear, at least.

She interrupted the flirting: "Good. We explore the bazaar together, meet back here at this table in, say, three hours."

They all nodded, but then Winter Shine suddenly pointed out: "How come he is allowed to wander around alone? You said we always go in pairs!"

That was true, but Rusty had guessed Gustaf's intentions. "I'm making an exception. First, Gustaf can take care of himself and he won't get distracted and fall into a hole. Secondly, he is planning to sneak, probably in darkness-"

She looked at the griffin for confirmation and he nodded.

"He has a chance of sneaking up on anything that's following us, but it won't work with hooves. I'm sorry, but us ponies just aren't particularly sneaky. Any more questions?"

There were none and Gustaf slunk away, already prowling and completely silent. Ember Clover watched him go with considerable admiration.

"Okay, let's head this way and circle the central marketplace first, then we'll go see the side caves. I guess those were the more prominent, permanent shops. If there's anything left to find, it'll be in those, but I want to be thorough."

"Agreed," Curio Trinket said and they headed off in the opposite direction.