Chapter One - Don't Shoot the Messenger
'100 feet underground is home. Orange lanterns guiding the way through the darkness, the light of "day" being nothing but a figure of imagination. Away and safe from the destruction above, safe from the war aftermath and sickness that plagues the Overground.
I cannot say what happened... Grandmaster would be mad if i did... but... maybe if i say it once, and keep what i hear secret... maybe one day, we can return back to the Surface. Once the poison does clear up’
A sharp rapping against wood came from the door, a gentle voice coming though moments later. "Sagedust? Are you there?"
"Coming mother!" I called back and hastily put away my quill and worn journal under my bed. I hopped out of my hay-bed and opened the once-existing wooden door. Looking up, I could see Mother's hazel eyes before she was swept away by an invisible force and back into the unlit hallway. It was not mother... she wasn't there. She never was. Me stopping writing, that was true. As I could hear her voice inside my head, as vivid as I can remember... but another voice that I knew was from the door. Only it was a more rough and firm voice that came through.
"Sage?"
I looked up as an Official stepped in, a scruffy dark grey unicorn stallion. "Yes?" I sat upright on my bed. His light-green eyes of impatience gazed down at me.
"There is a interbranch gathering at the central burrow in two minutes. Grandmaster particularly wishes you to attend."
I felt my ears go down for a second as I looked in another direction, "I-I'll be there..." It isn't like I have any other choice...
I heard his hoofsteps walk away and back through the doorway, out to the narrow hallway. looked around my small room, hopefully not for the last time. It wasn't much... just a round dug-out room, just another identical one to every other room in my Branch, 10C. All of the rooms where parts of a branch, all the branches lead up to one room... one that I hope won't lead to heavy regret.
My room in particular was... somewhat special. The dirt walls were packed more tightly than the others, the ceiling being made of sandstone bricks... or dirt-stone, its hard to tell between the two.
Closing my eyes and breathing in as much air as I could, I slowly let it out and opened my eyes again, them straight at the worn-down leather necklace that hung on a hook next to the doorway. Slowly standing to my hooves, I quickly walked over and put the small brown-wire lantern around my neck, the orange-red glowing orb inside its intricate cage illuminating the area around me as soon as it touched my coat. The unicorns enchanted all of the lanterns to work the way that the pony wearing them wants them to work... and that connects with the user's life energy. Personal lantern goes out, so does the pony.
Hurrying out to the two-pony-wide hallway, the jingling of my lantern made the Official glance behind him, still with that monotone look. "Are you ready?"
I breathed in and out again, managing to smile up at him."Yes sir."
He nodded, and stood beside me as we went down the narrow hall, the one that all the individual "homes" are connected to. We passed by 10C-1, the first doorway leading to another pony's home, all of them empty. As we walked, occasionally we would have a small conversation. The opening ahead had one big lantern on the top, it pulsing in a white-grey glow. Others say it is blue and white... is "blue" a shade of grey then?
Whispers come from the crowd of ponies that surrounded a finely-polished brick half-circle stage. Two officials stood in the back in front of the back wall, clad in armor and faces as stiff as their posture. Between them was a iron door, the only one of it's kind... inside is Grandmaster's chambers. A sacred place.
"Excuse me please..." I said as firm as I could muster. The crowd went silent as all eyes found their way to me. The Official next to me ordered everyone to stand aside and let me through. One set of eyes after the other, I only paid attention to what is ahead of me. Chin up, I kept telling myself... even though it was hard as there were at least fifty eyes staring down at me all at once. Only a few were friendly, and I smiled subtly at them while keeping a straight face against the others. The glows from everyone's lanterns helped me see what was ahead of me, all of them identical to the one I wore. Except their lanterns were all grey, giving off a dull glow of an ominous reason of why I was summoned here.
Near the end of the line stood my friends, all of them around my age, the one at the end of the line I recognized right away from his warm, reassuring smile. He looked at me as I walked past and saw my jittering eyes, and jerked his head up slightly. 'Chin up, good luck', Iron Spirit's voice echoed in my memory again, those recited words what I often heard. He was only a year older than me, yet I sometimes think that he is younger than I am.
I approached the metal door, and the crowd held their breath. The guard to the right, a unicorn as I found out, unlocked the door with his magic and opened it just wide enough to where I can walk in. Everypony is counting on you... just see what the Grandmaster wishes to speak about, and then the real gathering can begin. I told myself.
One last breath, and I was inside the forbidden room.
The room inside was... glorious. A bit indescribable as well as everything seemed grey and brown to me. The two Official Elite's, the highest Official ranking to ever receive, stood on the other side of the door, one of them closing the door behind me once I entered.
I stopped a few feet away from the door, facing forward into the dark, empty, and nearly colorless room. Bowing and closing my eyes while facing the smooth stone ground, I remembered what words to use. "You requested my presence, Grandmaster?" My heart flustered at the words that I was told to say, how to speak towards the pony who never showed their face nor voice to another soul.
"Yes, they did ask for you, loyal Sagedust."
Was that the Grandmaster?! My insides shook, but I refused to let it show. It was a mare's voice, a firm one. 'Chin up, good luck' I reminded myself. "What is your wish of why you requested me for?" Wrong words, wrong pattern of words, I panicked and opened my mouth to correct myself, hoping that they didn't hear me.
I felt a presence come towards me and place a gentle hoof on my head, "You may stand, but do not open your eyes." I followed their instruction, standing with my back straight and head high as I was taught. The voice continued, "They wish to appear for the first time to the community, but they rely on you to be their messenger."
"A... messenger? But..." I recomposed myself, my surprise going back to the steady firmness I had before, "... Everypony is waiting just outside. They are impatient-"
"They know." The voice stung my ears for a second, "However..." I felt their hoof slide off my head and go under my chin, pushing it up a little bit, "They believe you are a very special part of this wonderful community. You do know why we stay down here, correct?"
I made sure certainty was in my voice as I replied, "Yes. To keep pony-kind safe within these walls of the dirt that keeps us safe, and the sickness that nearly wiped our ancestors away up in the Overground. We are to never leave this place, as it is safe here."
There was a pause, which I assumed was them nodding, "That is exactly why. The Grandmaster taught you well, young Sagedust. Do you believe that anypony could want to go up there and face what horrors lay above your home, our home?"
I thought about it for a minute... when I walked through the crowd moments ago, everypony looked weary, covered in dirt and sometimes soot if they were working with fire. I know some of them lost their sanity. Everyone had a job, but as of recently... not much was given back to them. The shouts of ponies echoed through the metal door, something hard banged against it, a guard's voice telling them to back away and threatening whoever barged the door. Their voice alone told me that they could no longer think straight... another Rebel.
"She is too young to hold a job that we need!"
"Stand away from the door, the filly is fine and is safe alongside the Grandmaster."
"But what about us? We are starving, while one little filly gets more food than those of us who actually work! If it wasn't for those useless parents of hers, she'd be a digger like some of us! While we dig this "paradise", she lounges around and is a puppet to the Grandmaster, who is doing nothing to help! We demand to see the Grandmaster, now!"
"Unless you wish to go to the Embargo, stand away from the door and back with the others. The Grandmaster wishes to speak to the filly in private. They will come out soon."
The voices hushed, the two Elites not even blinking at the noise just outside.... and the question 'Why me?' passed through my head. Then I remembered the old saying that is posted in the schoolroom. 'Every filly and colt is a miniature adult'... and having the highest position in my class made me the most noticeable.
The mysterious hoof was no longer on my chin, now I'm assuming back on the ground. There was a pause, I kept my silence as I felt sweat start to appear on my forehead. Both of my parents were diggers, because of our hooves having a bit of hardened bone sticking out that made digging much easier. "Digger's Hoof", the doctor called it. If a newborn had it, they were automatically put as a digger, somepony who digs tunnels to expand our community.
I heard hoofsteps come towards me, and another set of hooves stepping to the side. "You may open your eyes now, Sagedust. Use your night-vision, and tell me what you see."
I opened my eyes and focused. White outlines of my surroundings appeared as my night-vision was triggered. In front of me was two ponies; one of them being a mare, the other pony... is odd. They had a cloak around them, and a thick veil around their face. I couldn't see their mane or tail, nor tell if they were a mare or stallion. Yet, I couldn't help but stare at the figure in amazement, "Is that..."
"They wish for you to follow them to see the public. The only guideline for you is to not question what the Grandmaster says. Only you relay what they say to you."
I nodded, and turned toward the door. The guards took one glance at me, and while one stood to my left, Grandmaster to my right. History was to be made soon...
We stepped outside the room, the crowd below us growing impatient... yet fell into complete silence as they saw who was beside me. I heard a voice inside my head. "First time?" I subtly nodded. The voice felt weird, it was ghostly. Was that the Grandmaster's voice. "Just repeat exactly what I say, okay? And try not to make it obvious that I am talking to you like this."
I muttered "Okay." Apparently he heard me as I saw him nod slightly. The crowd below us grew restless again, the same voice came from before, an old stallion's voice. "Grandmaster, with all due respect, why does this small, insignificant filly get more-"
"Silence!" My voice broke through his complaint, both me and Grandmaster were furious at his statement, "You are not to speak to the Grandmaster like that. We heard your impatience from inside." The stallion's anger diminished in a second. "If you speak again, there will be consequences." The Official's looked at the stallion with narrowed eyes. He did not respond, only muttering under his breath.
The Grandmaster spoke again inside my mind as I kept my composure... my gaze along the starving and irritated ponies below being more relaxed and sympathetic than the Officials standing around the crowd. "My job is to simply keep the peace. I do my job while you do yours. Without any of us, the community will crumble and pony-kind as we know it will be no more." The ponies looked among each other, then back at me. "As I tell Grandmaster, there are faults, yes. But the Grandmaster promises to fix them when the time comes."
"When is the time then?! It needs to be soon, otherwise everypony here will starve!" Stomping followed as more shouts from those below. The Grandmaster only stomped twice on the stone stage, and a loud boom boom shook the area. Silence.
"The gardeners are doing what they can to supply everyone with food. Water has been harder to reach as not much has been leaking through the ceiling. If we draw any more out, not even a unicorn's magic can keep our home from collapsing.”
The crowd became quiet… only soft whispers were exchanged. I heard Grandmaster’s voice again, “As for the reason Grandmaster has decided to appear to all of you,” Everyone hushed and turned back to me as I spoke… except... I could not continue. I stayed silent for a moment until I felt their gaze on me. I sighed quietly and continued.
“Grandmaster has foreseen an odd future. Yes, there will be suffering. Yes, there will be hardships. Compared to the life that some lost soul may be going though on the surface, we are living much better. We have a reliable, non-poisoned food and water supply. Even with it shrinking, we are better off here than above.”
The air still felt tense, but there was nothing anypony could do… the Grandmaster has spoken. What surprised me was what I was to say next. “That is all.” Grandmaster turned and went back to their chamber, the door closing behind him. Glancing around at the crowd… I felt something. Something off. I don’t know if it was from them or from the Grandmaster… no, it couldn’t be from them. The Grandmaster is here to help us survive and thrive, away from sickness. Another thought came to me. If ponies started getting sick again… my parents...
“Hey!” A voice from right below me snapped me out of my attention as I looked at Iron Spirit, standing on his hind legs and his front hooves on the stage’s edge, smiling at me. “See? Like I said before, you’d be able to meet the Grandmaster!”
I couldn’t help but smile back, “I guess so…” Everypony else seemed to be dispersing to their own conversations, a few of them peering over towards me with glares, “... I-I better go hide…” I hopped down from the stage.
“Wait, hide? Why?” He tilted his head to the side slightly, “No-one’s mad at you. And why would they be? You were only trying to help-"
“No… look around.” I said, letting my ears droop as I watched Spirit look around from where we were. Most of the crowd is now gone, only a few ponies here and there… still staring at me with hostile, watchful eyes.
I quickly trotted past Spirit, and once I reached the residential branch I belonged to, I didn’t stop myself from escaping to my room, fighting against crying. I heard Spirit calling out for me, but I did not reply.
I belonged here, I like it here. It is my home. Even if I may sound like a lunatic for thinking that, I cannot leave. The dream of one day being able to run away from this place - at the same time as me wanting to stay, therefore following the rules - it always had passed through my mind. I remembered just the other day, an elderly couple once told me a story that was passed down to them from their parents. Stories of water that flowed down “streams”, large mounds of dirt that reached the “sky”... I wish I was able to tell others.
Yet not everypony believes in a filly's fairy tales.
