EQUESTRIA: CATACLYSM
Chapter 1
Life within Equestria used to coexist peacefully.
But that all changed, the day the flood came.
While some ponies crowded into their boats to live,
most of the planet was not so lucky.
When the torrential waters finally stopped their rise above the land masses,
The survivors began to dive, and scavenge what they could,
building floating cities on which they could scrape by a life.
As generations passed, the cities grew.
It's been 197 years.
Welcome to Waterworks.
The familiar scent of salt water filled my nostrils as I awoke from a deep sleep. Rubbing at my eyes, I checked my calender. It was Monday, the fresh start to a new week. A week of running around Waterworks, fixing the tech systems, performing emergency resets on the thruster engines, and possibly maintenance on the electric sails. I couldn't help but give a sigh as I thought of the thrilling week again, the repetitiveness, the feeling of shame when I fail at performing some miniscule task. But, it's not my fault the governor feels the need to make the engineer run around performing tasks that the electrical crew should be taking care of. I was trained to weld and build. However, I did as I was told. Slipping out of my socks and into my grime-covered overalls, I snatched a seaweed energy bar off my dresser along with a bag of shark teeth and glanced into my shattered mirror. My reflection stared back at me. Throwing my green mane back and dusting off my brown coat, I quickly checked my eyes to make sure the salty air hadn't damaged them. Nope, still the dark purple they'd always been.
"Have a lovely day, Steel Wire."
With a loud snort, I moved out into the hallways of Residence Sector 4. Giving my eyes a quick rub to clear the salt from them, I began down the hall, other early risers coming from their rooms as well. Some were discussing last night, and that they'd been awake. I could sympathize with them, I'd been up too. In the early morning hours, there had been a loud grinding and the entire city had vibrated. I figured it was simply the eletrical crew screwing up in their duties again. Greeting some ponies that I knew, I opened the door to the city and stepped out. Waterworks. My home residence above the flood waters. A city built from scuttled ship parts, wood, and what was once possibly a pre-flood building. Weld it all together, add some duct tape, throw in electrical systems to make everything run, engines to power the thrusters and massive floatation devices: Boom. The City of Waterworks. Stepping down the rust-encrusted walkway, I became aware of a colt yelling my name. Turning, I watched as he breathlessly ran up to me.
"Steel!" He cried as he nearly crashed into my chest. Holding him back gently, I smiled. It was Gray Cascade, from the custodial crew. He took a moment to compose himself, then straightened up. "I have an urgent message for you from the governor. He requested you go to under the ship and repair the thruster again. It's about to break off."
I blinked at the colt. I'd just fixed all the thrusters last week. The fact another one was breaking already was ludicrous. "How can it already be breaking loose?"
"Apparently the navigator steered us right over a mountain underwater. That was the loud grind last night."
At his words, I had to rub my head. The pony chosen to be navigator was the worst choice anypony could have made. She couldn't read maps, she didn't watch the radar, and she certainly did not keep us safe from the underwater dangers. I'd heard rumors that one of her ancestors was a very ditzy mare, but if any of us asked her about it, she would just give us a wall-eyed glare and return to whatever she'd been working on. Surely she'd be in for punishment now, since we'd collided with a mountain, of all things.
"Yeah, thanks Gray." I said, giving the colt a small nod. He inclined his head back slightly and turned around, darting off back to the lower regions of Waterworks to presumably get started with his day's work. Letting out an exasperated sigh, I began the trek to my supervisor's room. She'd brief me on what needed to be fixed, and probably yell at me for showing up. After several minutes of carefully stepping around rusted holes and sharp, jagged pieces of metal, I opened the door to the engineering office and peered in. As usual, my supervisor was at her desk. But this time, instead of looking up and yelling at me to get to work, she looked up and just shrugged.
"The navigator took us right over a mountain. The governor wants you to fi-"
I cut her off, nodding. "I know, Gray told me." She nodded, looking back down at a report. Her eyes narrowed.
"He also wants you to make sure the rafts weren't damaged. So don't buck that up, okay?"
Giving her a tender nod, I moved to my locker and pulled out my diving suit, my helmet and my underwater welder. Putting a fresh coat of sealing tape over a crack in the side of the helmet, I slipped it on, followed by my suit. We were down to only three diving suits, and they were clearly meant for somepony two times bigger than me. Hitching up my sleeves and fixing my hoof gloves, I moved into the next room, the diving room. Shutting the door tightly, I looked upon the diving hole in the floor, the water dark and murky. Shaking my head in a futile attempt to clear the smell of salt from my nose, I jumped down into the depths of the ocean. Fiddling with my suit, I turned my helmet's flashlight on and was greeted by the sight of several fish giving me blank looks. I gave them a look back, before swatting at them. With them darting out of my way, I moved forward, looking for the damaged thruster. SIlently, I cursed the navigator for already wrecking my morning by making me put on a bulky suit, dive into the ocean, and fix a thruster that she carelessly broke while being awkwardly watched by a school of fish. For all I knew, the fish couldn have teeth and be hungry... Shaking that thought from my head, I continued swimming forward, swatting at more schools of fish as they curiously crept close to me. Soon, the damaged thruster came into my line of vision. Moving towards it, I looked the hull of it over. There was a long gash across it, going into the bottom of the city. I breathed in relief as I saw the mountain hadn't pierced the flotation rafts. With a swift upstroke, I placed my hooves on the thruster's hull and hooked myself to it, getting anchored. Once I was secured, I reached to my back and took down the welder, switching it on. Opening the hatch in the thruster's side, I pulled out an emergency piece of sheet metal and place it to the gouge in the city's hull. Welding it in place, I checked the thruster and carefully bent it to the metal, beginning to weld it in. I worked in silence for half an hour, fusing the thruster back in place and securing it tightly to the jet that powered it. Once done, I swam around, making sure that I hadn't missed a spot to weld. After I'd finished that, I pounded on the hull. It roared to life and started spitting out bubbles. I turned and began swimming back to the diving hole. After being harassed by more fish and what might have been a turtle, I hoisted myself up and through the hole back onto dry metal. Shaking myself off as I shut the hatch over the hole, I let myself smile. Removing my diving suit, I trotted into the main room and placed the suit over a drying rack. My supervisor looked up at me, eyebrows raised.
"Did you fix the thruster?"
I nodded, giving her a sly grin. She blinked at me, not amused by the look I was giving her. "Good. The governor wants to thank you personally, as does the city council."
I chuckled, delighted. "Think they'll finally give me a raise?"
"I doubt it."
"On behalf of the City of Waterworks, we thank you, Steel Wire, for fixing the thruster and keeping us save."
The governor nodded at me in approval and I smiled, giving him a small, respectful bow. The council had already thanked me, and now it was just the governor and me, sitting in his resplendent office. He settled back in his chair and gave a loud, melancholy sigh. "I'm not sure how much more I can take of our current navigator. She's clumsy and does not pay attention to where she's taking us..." He trailed off, staring out his window. I shuffled my hooves together and nodded.
"But, unfortunately, she's the only one who's up to the challenge of navigating this city over this area. If I fired her, who would step up?"
I shrugged, thinking rapidly about the problem. "You might be surprised. There could be ponies who are willing and might speak up if given the chance."
The governor turned and gazed at me, with his cold, gray eyes. I shivered. "Perhaps... I may assign somepony to help her. You may go."
With a nod, I leapt up from my rather comfortable chair and stepped out. As I looked around, the sight of two colts made me smile. Technichrome and Lucky Chip. Technichrome worked for custodial and Lucky Chip... well.. he didn't work. He just gambled at the bar, where he pretty much spent all his time, too. They grinned and waved at me as I came out of the governor's office and quickly rushed over.
"Yo Steeeel, we heard ya saved da thruster from explodin' or somethin'!"
I rolled my eyes at that comment. Technichrome was a bit of a drama king. But, I let him have his fun. "Yes, I did. Saved it just in the nick of time."
Suddenly, I was being congratulated by the two. Lucky smirked at me. "Eeey, you wanna go to the bar n' get some drinks?"
Thinking about the prospect of getting drunk on a Monday, with work tomorrow, I shrugged. "Depends. Are you buying?"
"Yes."
I thought about it again, my brain pondering. As fun as it sounded, it was still Monday.. "I don't know. It's Monday, I have to work tomorrow, and I'm short on shark teeth."
"Yes, but it's the shift night of that cute bartender you like."
It wasn't long after that I found myself in the Shady Oasis, drinking vodka, rolling around like a hyena on the pool table and hitting on the bartender.
The two research ponies watched the radar screen, boredom etched into every piece of fur on their face. They were the lucky ones who had been assigned to keep an eye on the navigation mare. As the mare looked out the viewport and hummed to herself, the two colts sighed and tapped their hooves.
"You two look bored!~" The navigation mare exclaimed, smiling sweetly at the colts. One of them grumbled and turned away, keeping his eyes on the radar. The second colt just shrugged, eyeing the mare's flanks.
Suddenly, the first colt turned. "Look out, mountain tip incoming!"
The mare squeed and darted over. "Where?! I want to see!"
"Hey watch it!" The second colt exclaimed, jumping up. Grabbing the wheel, he wrenched it hard to the side. The entire room tipped as the city veered to the left. The mare laughed as she was flung across the room, the first colt landing on her and getting a face full of flank. The colt at the helm bit his lip, growling softly as the city turned. "Come on! Turn harder!"
The first colt scrabbled to his hooves and shakily made his way to the radar. Watching the mountain slip off screen, he called over. "Alright, we're clear!"
Popping up from under a box of papers, the mare giggled. "Can we do that again?"
"Yeaaah, this is how we do it!" Lucky Chip yelled, jumping from the bar straight into a group of colts and sending them tumbling to the ground.
I laughed, hugging some random yellow mare that had stumbled drunkenly into my hooves. Clutching her closely, I called to Technichrome. "Heeeey Chrooome! This mare's got an eyeball!"
Technichrome laughed too, hitting his head off a dart board. "Don't we aaaaallllll have eyebaaaaalls? Haaaah!"
I bent over, laughing harder as I kissed the mare's nose. She giggled, pulling me in for a full-blown makeout session when the room suddenly tipped to the side, sending ponies and objects alike crashing into the wall. I squealed as I was sent headfirst into a keg. When all was calm and everything moving had finally stopped breaking, I peered out, drenched completely in rum.
"Heeey, that was like that time...! With the thing...." I hiccuped and slumped to the side as my vision clouded over and everything went dark.
It was dark outside when I finally awoke, thrown into a trash bin and smelling heavily of rum and refuse. Coughing, I rubbed the salt from my eyes and crawled out of the trash bin. Shaking myself off, I looked around. I was behind the Shady Oasis. That would figure... and oh Celestia, my headache. Letting out a pained whimper, I sat down, rubbing my head. It felt as if I'd had the buck kicked out of me, followed by a sugar overdose.
"This is a perfect example of why I shouldn't drink on a Monday..." I whined, getting to my hooves. Stumbling out of the alley, I fell to the side and gazed at the sky. When I grew bored of that, I again lifted myself up and staggered down the road. Behind me, three figures stepped from the shadows and began following me down the road. When I finally noticed, I thought nothing of it. Just ponies heading home for the night, more than likely. I rounded a corner and immediately walked into a sign proclaiming I was in Residence Sector 4. The news I was home didn't stop my headache from worsening since I'd taken a direct hit to the forehead. Whining again, I sat up and became aware of the three figures right behind me, snickering.
"Aww, the poor little drunkie hurt hisself." The biggest colt chuckled, stepping towards me. I couldn't recognise him in the dark, and with my hangover, I sure as hell wasn't going to be able to place a voice. Rising to an upright position, I growled softly at them. The colts laughed, pushing me about.
"Poor drunkie!"
"Go cry to mama!"
"Water Snakes rule!"
Oh Celestia... the Water Snakes. A self-proclaimed gang that liked to terrorize the city by engaging in small-scale stuff. They claimed that their name was a great one, perfect for a gang. I thought it sounded like something you'd get from a cheesy gang in an old video game. They never really hurt anypony unless the pony chose to fight back, and even then, they just roughed him up. The leader stepped towards me and I rolled my eyes.
"Come on guys, are you reeeally thinking of messing with me?"
The colts chuckled, nodding. "Yeeah, we love messing with drunkies like you! You're too drunk to put up a fight."
I suppose what he didn't expect was me snapping my hoof up and clocking him right between the eyes, followed by a swift uppercut across his jaw. He stumbled back into his buddies, stunned. They blinked at him, and he growled. "Well get him, you idiots!"
The first colt to come at me lunged for my head. I simply stepped aside and laughed as he plowed into the sign instead. With a threatening snarl, he turned and lunged at me again. I ducked as he flew over me, then jumped up, ramming my hooves as hard as I could into his jewels. Hearing him scream in pain, I laughed. He tottered away me and fell behind his beloved leader, cowering. The third colt just simply looked at me and threw a weak punch, which I deflected and bopped his nose. He yelped and turned, running off. The first two growled, the leader grabbing his friend and running out towards the city. He looked back towards me as he ran.
"We'll get you! Mess with a Water Snake, and you'll get the fangs!"
That tagline made me snicker as I rubbed my head. Ugh, those punks had made it worse. Trotting to the door, I let myself in. I half crawled, half rolled and gave myself a vigorous shake on my way to my room. A mare looking from her room rushed out to me and checked me out, concerned that I'd been doing drugs. I think I only lowered her opinion of me when I told her I'd been drinking and gotten in a fight. With an irritated huff, she went back into her room and brought me out a cup of seaweed coffee. Shuddering, I drank it. Sadly, every drink we had to live on was made with weedy, salty water. Waterworks had once had a purifier long ago, but according to legend, the navigation mare's grandmother had broken it. However, this coffee wasn't too bad. I drank it down like a rabid camel, feeling my insides warm up and untense. Thanking the mare for her generosity, I continued down to my room, looking forward to a good night's rest before the failure known as Tuesday commenced. Dumping my bag of shark teeth on my dresser and lying down on my bed, I attempted to pull my blanket around myself, but instead managed to screw up and yank it from under myself and launch myself onto the floor. With an irritated groan, I cursed at Techichrome for letting me get so drunk on a fucking Monday.
The Engineering Supervisor growled softly, watching the technical stability monitors with a keen eye. Thank goodness she was an insomniac batpony, or else this job would suck harder than being the colt who had to clean the city's sewage pipes. Tapping her hooves idly against her desk, she gave a small sigh. Like her mother and grandmother and great-grandmother before her, the supervisor was an impatient mare. And the night time didn't help her impatience since nothing ever happened! She preferred the day more, when she had engineers to yell at, paperwork to do, and scouting missions to participate in. Though there had been that one instance with a Stalker... She shuddered, trying desperately not to remember that day. At least later today she'd be able to yell at that one idiot colt for getting plastered off his ass at the bar. Spinning in her chair, she rose from it and stretches her slender legs out. With another melancholy sigh, she moved towards the reffreshments table and helped herself to a stale seaweed bagel. Shuddering at the revolting taste, she managed to wolf it. Suddenly, a lood series of rapid bleeping made her jump into the air in shock and turn. Darting to her monitors, she frowned as nothing was off. No flashing lights warning of imminent danger, no rapid flickering... hell, even the radar was looking no-.. wait. She peered close, looking at an oddly shaped blip. It was the tip of a mountain... but what was that resting on the side? Peering closer, she turned and picked up her phone, calling the engine room.
I awoke from my sleep, groaning as my head pounded from the remnants of my hangover. Slipping from my bed, I checked my clock. Though there was a margin of error by about 5 minutes, I groaned upon seeing that the time was only 3:53. Slipping back into my bed, I settled and looked out my skywindow. It was a clear night, the magnificent star-studded blackness of space above me. As I lay there in peaceful silence, it dawned on me. It was quiet. Way too quiet. I sat up, looking around suspiciously. The city's thrusters were off, the grinding humming they produced no longer in existance. As I crept to my door, the speakers which were in every room of Waterworks crackled to life.
"Attention citizens of Waterworks. You may have noticed that the city's thrusters are turned off. They will remain off until furhter notice. Do not be alarmed. Everything is under control. Engineers, to the engine room immediately."
I frowned at the announcement, rubbing my chin. The thrusters had only been turned off once before, and that was for maintenance. But the maintenance crew had been called over the speaker system. This was... different. Grabbing my fish-skin coat from a nearby chair, I opened my door, trotting heedfully into the hall. There were several groups of ponies, chatting boisterously. Moving past them, one rapped my shoulder rather harshly.
"Hey, engineer. Any idea what's wrong?" I simply shook my head as the stallion sorted. "Figures."
Moving past him, it came out to one of the rusted walkways leading to the engine room. Moving down it, I let out a shrill yelp as my hoof punched through one particularly rusted area and nearly sent me through to the murky water below. Wrenching my hoof out, I lept over the hole, continuing at rapid pace downwards into the engine room. Upon arriving, I saw that the rest of the engineers had shown up as well, along with our supervisor. She looked in my direction.
"Ah good, Wire. Now we can get started." She nodded, pointing to one of the many monitors. Upon its screen was a sonar picture of a mountain, with an oddly shaped object colored green into its side. "What we have here appears to be a pre-flood structure. It is embedded in the side of the former Appaloosa Mountain, three hundred feet from the peak. I'd like a team of engineers to dive down and recover it from its resting zone, bring it back up, and let us take a good look at it to see if there's any metal worth scuttling. Lavender Skies, Cherry Soda and Freemane. You're the diving team. Get down there and recover it." The three mares indicated nodded, slipping into their wetsuits and trotting into the diving room.
"Wire, Flash, you're on the crane. Bring it up when they signal you."
I nodded, as did the other colt with me. Leaving, the two of us moved up towards the recovery crane and took our seats at the controls. Pulling a lever, we watched in silence as the crane rotates into position and plunged down into the dark depths of the foreboding ocean.
"Any idea what it is?" Flash asked me inquisitively. I merely shrugged my shoulders in response. Flash sat back, pulling a colored cube from his pocket and beginning to play it. I groaned exasperatedly, wishing that I'd brought something to pass the time. Relaxing, I watched Flash work the cube, attempting to get all sides the same color. Seconds became minutes, and those minutes slowly became hours. I spun in my chair, half-tempted to start a game of crane polo when a bell abruptly snapped us both to attention. Pressing several buttons and yanking the lever, Flash and I watched as the crane's antiquated pulleys slowly began to turn, creaking and grinding as it pulled the mares and their recovered load to the surface. Our faces hot with anticipation, we leaned over the side of the viewport and watched the water's surface break. The mares stood atop their recovered artifact, waving frantically at us as Flash switched on the floodlights and aimed the piercing beams at them.
"What the hell is that?" I asked Flash, scrutinizing the object the mares were standing on. It was cylindrical, with a domed tip. Flash studied it for several long moments.
"It... looks like a submarine. From one of those old books I love reading."
A submarine? I frowned, observing the object as it came into better focus. Indeed, it did resemble a submarine. There was a barnacle-encrusted viewport at the front of the vessel, a propeller on the back, and a hatch in the side. Looking at the side, I spotted a row of peeling letters encrusted on the side. Several letters had come off, leaving awkward gaps in various places.
"N que Ere." I raised my eyebrows, confused. What was 'N que Ere'? Shaking my head, I pulled another lever and brought the crane rotating over the docking platform. Setting it down, Flash and I left the crane controls and trotted to the platform, anxious about the find. The three mares leapt down, pulloing their wetsuits and helmets off.
"That was rather fun." Lavender remarked, batting her eyelids at Freemane, who growled.
"Yeah, let's have you be the one who nearly gets her face shoved into the breaker next time. Fun, fun, fun."
Lavender laughed, slugging Freemane's shoulder gently. Ignoring them, I came up and looked the submarine over. It was an older design, and had only one light on the top, above the viewport. I scraped at the barnacles with my hoof's edge, but to no avail. It would take a heavy sraper and some sandblasting before that would be able to be seen out of again. With a dejected sigh, I moved to examine the side hatch. More barnacles with various coral had grown onto it over the many years, effectively sealing the door shut against any outside danger. Gripping the handle in my hooves, I tugged and groaned. However, the door would not budge. Giving up after a futile minute's time, I sat down, panting.
"On your hooves, Wire! Stop slacking!" The supervisor's voice rang out through my ears, instinctively making me leap to my hooves and give myself a quick look-over. As the batmare came close to me, I gave one last fleeting look to the submarine. The mare stepped up, looking it over. She tapped the encrusted door, scraped at the viewports, then let out an aggravated growl.
"Alright. Wire, Flash. Work on getting this open. We'll scavenge what we can out of it, then use the metal for repairs around the city. Celestia knows we need new walkways."
I smirked, motioning to Flash to get the torch. As he darted off, I came up to my supervisor.
"Think we'll find anything interesting inside?"
"I doubt it. This has been down for so long, whatever's inside is probably reduced to fine powder."
That elicited a nod from me, as I thought about the letters on the side. Hearing hooves scuttling up to me, I cycled around to the sight of Flash offering me the blowtorch. Taking it, I set to work upon the door.
"I hope there's treasure inside!" Flash exclaimed gleefully as I finished cutting through the sealife on the sub's hatch. I shrugged my shoulders, gripping my hooves around the hatch.
"Let's pray this even opens. Three.. two.. one!" With a mighty tug, I felt myself get launched backwards as the door came cleanly off, sending me a few feet back from the force of my tug. Crying out as I slid into a crate, nI wriggled out from under the door to the sight of Flash doubled over in laughter.
"Laugh it up, fuzzball!" I growled at him, grabbing onto the submarine's side and hoisting myself up. Peering through the doorway, I gasped in astonishment.
"It's... it's perfect!"
Indeed, inside the sub, all was pristine. A row of terminals sat against one wall, with a bunk bed on the other. Hoisting myself inside, I took a look around. It was magnificent. It was as if I was looking into the past, at the way things used to look before the flood. Turning my head, I looked to the front of the sub.. and let out a soft gasp. Two skeletons were seated at the submarine's controls, slumped back against their chairs. Turning my head, I shut my eyes tight, starting to pant.
"Flash, Flash.. we've got dead in here. Get one of the crates."
Flash nodded and ran towards the crates, grabbing the biggest empty one he could see and hoisting it back. I pulled the decaying bones from their chairs, the scent of death getting into my nose. Trying my hardest not to vomit, I laid the bones into the crate, settling them carefully side by side. Flash slipped the lid over as I jumped down and moved to a sink, washing my hooves clean.
"Do we.. like, bury them?" Flash asked, tilting his head inquisitively at me. I nodded my head once.
"It'd be respectful."
The two of us grabbed the crate and moved it to the side of the platform. At the count of three, we tossed the box down into the water below. Contrary to our expectations, however, the crate didn't sink. It bobbed on the water's surface. Flash looked unsettled as I opened my mouth.
"Uh.. you died two anonymous ponies, rest in piece, Celestia have mercy, all that."
We then bowed our heads respectfully and turned back to the submarine. Flash rubbed his neck, giving me an uncomfortable look. "Do you mind if I.. go? That wasn't.. right."
I nodded, watching the colt skitter off down a walkway. Trotting to the sub, I hoisted myself back up and inside. I'd noticed the lights had been on the instant I opened the door, and now, with a better look, I could see that one of the terminals was active. Trotting over, I frowned as it asked for a password. Thankfully, it gave me a list of words I could attempt. On my third attempt, the terminal dinged. As the interface changed words, I peered at the screen.
N.E.E. User Interface
Welcome, Lightning.
View log.
View mission.
View change notes.
Passwords.
Interested, I tapped first at "View log". A hoofful of dates came up, all of which I examined. Nothing seemed interesting. Just dates of what appeared to be experiments. Shaking my head, I clicked back to the menu and chose "View mission". Immediately, new text came up.
5/17/05
As you are aware, preparactionzzrs have been made. Equestria will soon be underwater, and we are prepared for when ey razod. Our specialists are waiting for a signal. You alet deliver this submarine to our base in Manehatten. Good luck, and long livh dhg shcghdk;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
I stared at the screen, stunned and shocked. Equestria will soon be underwater? Specialists waiting for a signal? Whoever these ponies had been known about the flood. I looked at the file again, rereading over the corrupted text. Indeed, somepony had known about the flood. Why hadn't they warned the rest of Equestria? Confusing thoughts swam through my head as I sat back, thinking about this revelation. Hell.. had the flood been deliberate? Shaking my head, I looked up. Above the monitors, a long rod with a lense was pointed at me. I leaned to the left. It followed my movement. I leaned to the right. Again, it followed my movement. Starting to feel uneasy, I looked back to the monitor and clicked "View change notes".
5/18/05
-updated software to power down in case of critical failure
5/20/05
-power accessed. Diverted to motor
6/30/05
-water detected. Life support engaged
7/2/05
-collision detected. Life forms found: 0. Powering down.
4/15/02
-entry gained. User scanned. Unknown user.
Upon reading the last line, I frowned, and looked at the rod again. It was still tracking my every move. An abrupt ding made me look to the screen. New text had appeared.
"We don't know who you are, but we have your location. And you cannot be allowed to know this information. You will be dealt with."
A cold sweat suddenly broke out over my head as I read those words. They had my location, and by the sounds of it, I was marked to be killed! I sat there for several minutes in shocked silence, the word repeating themselves in my head. Stumbling up from my chair, I recognised a storage disk in a bin under the terminals. Snatching it, I quickly copied the information I had learned onto it, along with the entry I hadn't yet looked at for passwords. Securing the disk into my overalls, I leapt down from the submarine. My supervisor had to know about this information! Turning myself, I rushed to the walkway and hurried towards the engine room. On my way there, I passed on of the many guard groups we had stationed around Waterworks. The colts at their mounted gun were frowning, tapping the device. As I moved by, I heard them speaking to each other.
"It's not working. Do we tell somepony about this?"
"We'd better. Don't wanna get screwed over if dem damn dang durned Stalkurs come by agein."
The guns weren't working? This troubling thought rattled through my head as I progressed down another rusted walkway. A group of colts jumped down from a rusted balcony above me, snickering.
"Heey, it's the little drunkie! How are ya, drunkie?"
I groaned in discouragement. These punks just simply didn't know when to stop.
"Look, guys, now's really not a good time."
One of them snorted mockingly, jabbing a hoof into my side. Another stepped forward, tugging a concealed knife from his pocket. My eyes widened in fear as I smiled nervously.
"Hey, guys, there's no need for violence here."
"There's always need for violence with jerkoffs like you. Get him!" Two of them pounced at me. Out of reflex, I ducked and let them soar over me, crashing into the decrepit excuse of a wall behind me. The leader's eyes narrowed as he lowered into a defensive stance, clutching his own glinting knife between his teeth. Charging at me, I turned to the side and ducked as he ran past me. Reaching up, I latched to his side and hoisted myself up to his back. Squeaking in surprise, he turned his head, looking at me sitting upon his back. I gave him a small wave, which saw fit only to enrage him further. Starting to buck, he launched into a rapid frenzy of kicking, trying to send me off his back. Clinging to his weathered fur for dear life, I leaned down and bit into his ear. This elicited a scream from him, causing him to rush forward in pain. Loosening my grip, I jumped from his back as he tore down a walkway and fell through the rust, crashing into the floor before.
Snorting with laughter, I turned again, glaring at the remaining Water Snakes. They blinked at me, before just awkwardly shuffling past and peering through the newly-constructed hole down at their leader. Raising my brow, I discreetly stepped back and sprinted off. As I swung around a corner, I crashed into a stallion, sending us both to the ground, rolling down the narrow walkway of open water. When I finally came to a stop, he crashed into me and the cycle began again until we'd both reached the bottom. Surging to his hooves, the stallion bellowed.
"What the hell were you doing? You could have killed me!"
I shakily rose to my hooves, blinking at him. "I'm sorry! I just need to get somewhere!"
"What is so important that you'd risk killing me over? Wait... you're not a hitcolt are you?"
My look turned to confusion. "No?"
"Oh good!" The stallion turned and began prancing up the ramp again. Still confused, I turned, glancing with a tired eye out the window. A boat was approaching in the distance, which made me tilt my head in bewilderment. No boats ever came to Waterworks! Anypony we'd ever had were the Stalkers, and they came by air. Although maybe they would simply go by us. As I stared at it, the thought came to me I still had to see my supervisor. Turning tail, I moved down the ramp. After another tumble with a mare, I rounded into the engineering level and crashed into my supervisor.
"Wire! What the hell? You just-"
I cut her off, yanking the disk from my overalls. "Shush it, Lamplight. I got some data from that submarine we uncovered.. and.. I'm not sure what to make of it. But by the sounds of it, the flood may have been known about, and deliberately caused!"
My supervisor stared at me, her eyebrows raised in mild amusement.
"Funny, Wire. Why don't you use that imagination of yours to get back up there and see if there's any metal worth scrapping?"
I moved forward, touching her shoulder. "But La-"
"No buts! No anything! Just do as I tell you and we'll be fine! Got that?!"
With a small sigh, I nodded. Maybe the Governor would be interested in my discovery. Leaving my supervisor to growl at me and mutter threats, I began my new trek towards the governor's office. Off in the distance, I heard a loud thump of metal against metal. I looked towards the source. Though walls were blocking my way, I sensed that the noise had come from the docks. Turning again, I became aware of a screeching in the sky, followed by ponies gasping. Looking up, I momentarily saw a flurry of wings as the City's sirens slowly crackled to life over the speakers, along with the voice of the governor himself.
"Attention Waterworks! We are under attack! Repeat, we are under attack! Stalkers have breached our defenses!"
I gasped out, speechless by this announcement. Stalkers, in Waterworks! The air began to fill with screams, and ponies started rushing from buildings. Several stallions were grappling with other ponies, which I recognised as Stalkers. Their pieces of leather armor and their lack of manes were a dead giveaway. They'd attempted to breach Waterworks before, byut had always failed due to Waterworks' superior defenses. How they had gotten in this time, I didn't know. A flapping of wings brought me to a stop as a Stalker flew down in front of me, growling. His eyes blazed fiery red as he looked me in the eyes, foam bubbling from his mouth. With a frantic lunge, he tackled me to the ground and attempted to bite my neck. Bringing my hoof up, a yanked a screwdriver from my overalls and drove the sharpened metal blade into his neck. The Stalker let out a surprised yelp as blood began to gush from his wound. His eyes rolling back, he slumped to the ground as I yanked the screwdriver from his lifeless body and darted forwards. I made my way up the walkways, past many stallions defending their wives and their foals from the savage Stalkers. I came across one mare who wasn't so lucky to have a defender as a Stalker viciously had his way with her flank, the mare's face and chest matted in blood. She screamed at me for help and I quickly dug my tool into the Stalker's head, killing him instantly. The violated mare sobbed and curled up. As much as I wished to stay and help her, I had to get to the engine room. Moving onwards, I ran past the Shady Oasis. The sight of it made me come to a halt. The entire building was engulfed in flame, with ponies and Stalkers alike screaming as they burned from the intense flames. Running past, one flaming Stalker grabbed onto me and dug its teeth into my overalls.
"Augh! Get off!" I screamed at it, clubbing it repeatedly with my hoof. The Stalker let out an unponylike snarl and bit down harder. Grimacing, I jabbed the screwdriver into its eye. The eye exploded in an instant, the enraged Stalker screaming as it let go of my coat and started clawing at its face. A swift kick from my hind hooves sent the Stalker reeling right into the doorway of the burning bar. Not looking back, I rushed down a level and came to the engine room. The door was wide open, with a blood trail leading inside. Peering in, I gasped.
Two Stalkers were having their way with my supervisor. She was a bloody mess, her eyes shut tight as the Stalkers harshly violated her. Her bat-like wings were ripped from her back and stapled to the wall, while her phone was stuffed into her mouth to prevent her from making noise. Her eyes opened and she looked me, tears running down her cheeks. Horrified, I backed up. It was too much for me to handle, and I simply turned, running to get away as far as I could.
I realised that I needed to get out of Waterworks. Whoever had caught me on the terminals had sent the Stalkers for me, and instead, the Stalkers were just ravaging my city! Tears came to my face as I raced for the docks. Running past the custodial level, I stopped and watched in horror as Technichrome battled several Stalkers. He was doing good, fending them off with a broom before one Stalker tackled him from above. The rest quickly lunged at him, savagely ripping his limbs off and beginning a feast. A scream escaped my lips as I turned my back on the brutally horrific scene. Continuing forward, I ran past the decapitated body of Lucky Chip, finding his head later on mounted to a jagged piece of metal that was sticking out from somepony's house. Lowering my head, I burst through the door that lead into the dock's hallway. Rushing down it, I could see that several ponies were trying to escape. Coming upon them, I cried out in terror.
A colt in body armor had a shimmering sniper aimed at the crowd. I gazed at him. His armor was silver, his chest armor split into three pieces. Underneath the silver armor was black, thick leather. Not a single shred of fur could be seen. His hooves and hind legs were completely covered in the silver armor. But what stood out to me was his helmet. It was a skull, carved to conform to his head. A jaw bone covered the bottom of his mouth, so it seemed like I was staring at a skeleton. To his back was mounted what appeared to be a saddlebag with round canisters on it. I stepped back in terror as the stallion looked over the crowd. Suddenly, he spoke, his voice low and gravelly.
"Which one of you idiots is the one that was in the sub?" He growled, the sound much like a Windgull ready to kill its prey. "Don't bother lying to me, dirtbags. I know which one of you it was. And I'm going to find him."
Slowly, he started through the crowd, his hooves stomping loudly as the heavy metal contacted with the light metal that comprised Waterworks' floors. As he glowered about, I stepped back. However, his gaze fell upon me. A deep laugh eminated from him as he stepped towards me. "There you are! My employers want you fuckin' DEAD." Raising his gun, he aimed at me. Immediately, I did the first thing I thought of.. which was darting to the side. A deafening shot rang out as I moved. Several ponies screamed and almost all of them swarmed back into Waterworks, wanting to rather deal with the Stalkers than this brute. The stallion laughed at me as I ran, him taking several shots. I quickly realised he was toying with me, since his shots were dead accurate to right where I just was. A growl rose in my throat as I stopped and turned to face him. He laughed, aiming his gun at me. However, I don't think he suddenly expected me to charge at him, weaving my way past his shots. Leaping into the air, my forehoof connected with his skeletal helmet and forcefully knocked his head to the side. Surprised, he stepped back as he I dropped to the ground and dived under him, punching his stomach.
Unfortunately, that succeeded in just hurting my hoof. Metal plus a hoof equals not fun. The stallion laughed again, lifting his foreleg and bringing it crashing down upon my fragile hoof. I screamed as I felt a bone snap and staggered up. Spotting a button on his odd saddlebag, I quickly jabbed at it as I dived away. The metallic cansiters on his back activated and the stallion snarled as he was launched forward into a metal wall.
"You got a little fight in you. I like that."
"Then you're going to love me!" I yelled defiantly, chargelimping at him. Jumping again, I grabbed his helmet and tugged at it. This was all for naught. He grabbed my tail and threw me back. I skidded across the metal floor, causing it to squeak from the sheer force of the throw. Landing near a maintenance door, I noticed a nearby bucket lying on its side. Rising to my hooves, I threw the bucket at the stallion with difficulty. It bounced off his armor, causing him to elicit a laugh.
"So sad. The little chicken can't defend himself." He reached back once more, drawing his gun. Seeing my oppurtunity, I darted into the maintenance door and took refuge. Outside, I heard him laugh.
"You can't double back on me!" Relief swept through me as I heard his beastly hooves stomp up the walkway into Waterworks.
Opening the door, I peered cautiously out. The dock was entirely cleared, leaving me open to my escape. Limping out, I worked my way to one of the smaller boats. Jumping into it, I powered on the engine. Checking the coast again, I winced. There was a large boat that was unfamiliar, and it was surely the boat the bounty hunter had come in on. Backing out, I piloted my small fisher up beside it and peered inside. There was another rifle tucked up against a wall, and papers lying on the dashboard. Grabbing onto the boat's side, I pulled myself over and in, rising to my hooves to get a scrutinizing look at the ship's inside. Besides the rifle and the papers, the deck was clean. No food, no chairs or benched. All there was was a pole screwed down into the back, with several chains hooked into it. I noticed a picture on one of the papers and snatched it. Leaning in, I moved to grab the rifle, but the sight of shadows coming down the walkway stopped me. I hoisted myself up onto the side and hopped back into my own boat. Backing up from the large hunting boat, I turned and slowly sped out into the open ocean. Turning, I looked back upon what was once my home. Waterworks was smoking, and I could see Stalkers flying above the city. Screams followed me as I drove my boat away. Tears came to my eyes, knowing that I'd probably never see Waterworks again, and if I did, what would it be like?. The city I'd been born in, the city I'd worked in, and the city I'd thought I was going to die in. Wiping my eyes clean of salt and tears, I looked down at the paper. Pinned to it was a picture of me seated at the submarine's terminal, looking up towards where the rod had been. Patting the disk in my overalls pocket, I pulled the picture off and pinned it to my boat's dashboard. Cleaning my eyes again, I held the note up, my eyes scanning the page.
Subject name: Unknown
Coat: Dirt brown
Mane: Dark green streaked with light green
Eyes: Dark purple
Target has accessed and kept valuable information. Said information is highly sensitive. Kill immediately and bring head to our office. Recover disk and bring to us to be destroyed.
Bounty paid upon head: 5,000 shark teeth.
Bounty paid upon head with disk: 7,500 shark teeth.
I gazed upon the paper, reading my death warrant. It sent chills through me to see that I was wanted for such a costly price. Leaning back, I started to think of what I'd do with 7,500 shark teeth.
"I'd probably buy a nice ship, live on it... get a mare.. and a gun." I sighed, thinking again of Waterworks. It was still in sight, growing ever so smaller on the horizon as my speed brought me further into the unknown mystery of the open sea.
Unexpectedly, the antique radio on my boat crackled to life. I started with a yelp, swiveling in my chair and staring at the mechanism. It continued crackled, growing louder and containing way much more static, before finally, it went quiet. Music I'd never heard the likes of before began to play. I settled down in my chair, relaxing. The singer's voice was beautiful.. it reminded me of home.
“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of Luna,
She is taking out the vintage where the hooves of wrath are stored.
She hath loosed the fateful moonbeams of her terrible swift horn!
Her truth keeps trotting on!”
I smiled gently, the music relaxing me. Slipping off my chair, I pulled the throttle down and curled up at the front of the boat. Taking one last look at Waterworks before it vanished over the horizon, I laid my head down and gently began to weep. Within minutes, I'd passed out from exhaustion.
“I have seen Her in the stars of a few dozen darkened nights,
They have builded Her a Castle from the freshly put-out lights.
I can read Her celestial sentence by the dim and flaring stars,
Her night is trotting on…”
An unpleasant bumping jolted me from my sleep. Looking up, I rubbed and scratched the salt out of my eyes. I was bumping against a log. Growling in irrtation, I swept the log away and looked around. Nothing. Nothing was around me. The horizon was flat in every direction, and the sun had fallen to just below the skyline. Moaning in dismay, I slid back up into my chair and tapped the controls. The engine sputtered and died. I was stranded. Starting to panic, I laid back down in the middle of the boat and watched the sky.
"I"ll be okay. I'll be okay.." I whipered to myself. However, my future was uncertain. With a low sigh, I hummed the tune I'd heard earlier to myself, hoping to eke the time away. As I lay staring at the sky, my thoughts once again turned to Waterworks. Had they managed to fight back the Stalkers? Or had the Stalkers left once they and the bounty hunter had gotten ahold of the fact I'd escaped Waterworks. Rubbing my fractured hoof, I winced, remembering my supervisor on the ground, helpless as those two Stalkers had violated her. The thought made me feel dirty, knowing that I had done nothing to help her. I'd simply turned and ran away, trying to survive. I wished I'd helped her, to comfort her, let her know that I was going to protect her. But instead.. I'd just run. And now, here I was, feeling shame over. I slapped myself, angry for having run away. However, there was another thing that made me angrier. I pulled the disk from my overall's pocket and growled at it.
"I caused a fuckton of trouble over you... and I'm not even sure what you mean!" I glared menacingly at the disk, half-tempted to just throw it in the ocean. As I raised my hoof, unwelcome thoughts came into my head. Who knew about the flood? Why hadn't they warned Equestria? Had they maybe been the ones to cause the flood? I sighed angrily and tucked the disk back into my pocket. I'd have another look at the information if given the chance, but I wasn't sure of when that would be. Here I was, stuck in the middle of the ocean, by myself, with no help in sight. Rubbing my hoof again, I supported myself and turned over, lying on my side.
Watching the sky, I became aware of clouds starting to form above me. Oh Celestia, it was going to rain, and my boat had no covering.
"Well piss." Was all I had to say as the rain came pouring down. Yanking my overalls off, I crawled under them in a pitiful attempt to stay dry. Shutting my eyes, I attempted to go to sleep and bare out the storm.
Nothing could have prepared me for my boat to abruptly smash into a wooden pillar. I screamed as I leapt to my hooves, my injured one bashing off the wheel as my head smasked against the lining. Seeing stars, I shook my head and attempted to rub myself as I looked up. I was.. in a dock! To a city like Waterworks! An ecstatic gasp escaped me as I crawled from my boat onto the soaked wooden planks. A sign posted to a wall flashed at me, catching my attention. Moving to it, I read the text planted upon it.
Welcome to the City of Downpour.
Downpour? I'd never heard of the city. Then again, I'd never heard of any city. I'd always thought that Waterworks was the only civilized location left in Equestria. With this revelation of Downpour, I realised that there must be floating cities all over Equestria! Limping past the sign, I crawled up an unreliably rusted walkway and found myself standing in an atrium. Ponies were bustling about at market booths, where merchants were selling fruit and vegetables. I came over, looking through. They had foods I'd only seen in books! Apples, bananas, oranges.. I licked my lips and was considering buying an apple when I remembered.. I'd left my bag of shark teeth back in Waterworks. A grumble of chagrin came from men as I turned my back on the goods and started to look through the city. There was so much to see! I was about to start down a path with a sign labelled "To bedrooms" when a white mare with a blue mane came to me.
"Why my dear, you're injured! Let me help you." *Leaning down, she tapped her horn to my leg. A sharp burst of pain made me cry out in pain. Ponies glanced our way as the mare smiled. Now you can walk on it!"
Growling again, I set my hoof down and tested it. I could walk.. but my leg was numb.
"Uh, thanks?"
The mare smiled at me, nodding as she turned and trotted back back to her stand. Rolling my eyes, I started once again down the path, hoping I'd be able to find a free bedroom with a nice view of the ocean. Rounding a corner, a sign pointed me to a help desk. Blinking my eyes, I searched until I found the mentioned desk. The mare behind it smiled at me as I came up and batted her eyes.
"What can ah do for ya hun?"
"I need a room. Free. I don't have any shark teeth."
The mare raised an eyebrow at my words. "Err, none at all?"
"None."
She shuffled her hooves together, then some papers, looking through them. "Uhh, weeeell.... we can put ya in wit somepon' if dey dun mind ya stayin' wit dem."
I coughed, rubbing at my mane. As much as I hated the prospect of staying with somepony, it was the only choice I had. "Sure."
The mare nodded, turning and speaking into an intercom. She asked several times if the pony would take in somepony that needed a room for free, and each time, the answer was no. My hopes started to sink, when suddenly, I heard a voice say "Ys." My ears perked as the mare turned to me.
"Room seventy three."
Thanking the mare vigorously, I moved down the hall, searching. It took three wrong turns and an accidental trip into the mare's bathroom before I found room seventy three. I gently knocked. After a minute, the door opened. A pale blue mare with green eyes and a gray mane stared out at me.
"You're the guy that wants a free room, eh?"
I nodded. She giggled and stepped aside. "Come in then."
Stepping inside, I looked around her room in interest. Several posters of Pegasi clad in blue uniforms decorated the walls, with a picture of one on a dresser. Looking at her again, I could see she herself was a Pegasi.
"Thanks for lettin' me stay here.. I'm Steel Wire."
She nodded. "Storm Cloud. get comfortable and whatever."
I sat down onto her couch gratefully. A question that had been bugging me popped into my head.
"How come this city was invisible? I was stranded, and didn't see anything. Suddenly, a storm appeared and here was.. Downfall."
She rolled her eyes. "Downpour. And it's a spell they cast to keep the Stalkers out. Stalkers hate the rain, so even if they stumbled across our city, they'd immediately leave because getting wet scares them or somethin'. So it always rains here, every day, all day."
I nodded. That made sense. Stretching out on her couch, I grinned. "Is this where I sleep?"
"Yes. Until you manage to make enough teeth to get your own room. Deal?"
I voiced my agreement, shutting my eyes. Wiping the salt from then, I sighed. Waterworks once again forced itself into my mind, my mind's eye seeing Technichrome being eaten, Lucky Chip's body, my supervisor.. and the bounty hunter. I shuddefred, remembering the cold, black eye sockets in that skeletal helmet he'd had. Turning over, I listened as Storm Cloud bustled about her room, cooking something on her stove. Within minutes, the scent of something I'd never smelled before filled the room. And it smelled delicious! Sitting up, I came over to her. What she was cooking looking like small white slices of wood.
"What is that?"
Storm gave me an odd look and didn't answer. When I asked again, she nudged me. "They're potatos. Havn't you ever had potatos?"
I blinked, trying to figure out what a potato was. Everything I'd ever eaten or drank was derived from seaweed. With another odd look, she gave me a plate of baked potato. Apprehensive, I took a bite. Flavor overwhelmed my tastes and I had to stop, the sensation overtaking me. I opened my mouth and started to pant, my eyes widened in surprise. Storm giggled at my awkward expression, sitting down and digging in to her own potatos. Once my bizarre sensation had passed, I dug into my potatos with zeal, small squees escaping me. When I was done done, I set down my plate, sat up in my chair, and screamed.
"I LOVE POTATOS!"
The next morning, I awoke, confused.
"Where's my room?!" I cried out. The unfamiliar setting scared me momentarily and I curled up, afraid. Little by little, the events of the previous couple days came back to me. Sniffling softly, I uncurled from my fetal position and sat up. Apparently, my outburst hadn't awoken Storm, who was still lying in her bed, snoring gently. Slipping off her couch, I grabbed some paper and wrote her a note on her oven, informing her I was going out to explore the town. Trotting out, I looked up and down the hall. Unlike Waterworks, there appeared to be no early risers here. Humming softly to myself as I trekked down the hall, I passed the information desk I'd stopped at earlier. The same mare was inside, reading a book. Smiling I tapped at her desk.
"Hm?" She looked up at me. "Oh, hello!"
I smiled. "Good morning. Is there any.. like.. work around here? That an engineer could do?"
The mare scrunched for a moment, before looking into a book. After a moment of silence, she shook her head.
"No, sorry. There is an opening in the market for something. Maybe you should go ask around and see what it is.."
I thought about it, then nodded. Thanking the mare again, I moved to the marketplace. How boring could working in the marketplace be? Now that I was relaxed and refreshed, I could look around better than I had the previous day. There were a few stands dedicated to fruits and vegetables, another stand dedicated to entertainment, and two stands for weaponry. Above, rain continued to splatter against the roof, holding true to what Storm had said. As I moved toward the weapons stand, I glanced up. Standing above the marketplace were several stallions with mounted guns, eyeing me as I crossed to the stands. Upon reaching the stand, I glanced at the colt running it.
"Tight security?"
The colt nodded. "Very. We like to make sure there's no trouble in Downpour. If anypony starts fighting, the guards have orders to end it any way they see fit."
Pondering that thought, I nodded and began to look over the weapons. There were several pistols meant for unicorns, and a few rifles meant for unicorns as well.
"Do you have anyone that an Earth pony like me could use?" I asked. The colt shrugged unknowingly and reached around his stand. Pulling a crate out, he opened it tenderly and looked inside.
"We have.. only unicorns. Sorry." With a sigh, I nodded and turned, trotting off. As I bent to examine the fruit again, I became aware of the marketplace falling silent. As I sat up, warm breath pushed against my mane.
"Miss me, scumfuck?" A rough voice behind me asked. My insides turned to ice as I timidly turned around. Looking above me stood the bounty hunter, smirking. One hoof was placed on his gun's butt, while another was holding a knife. "I bet you thought you lost me, didn't you? I would have expected at least one of those useless rabid pegasi to get you, but after I let them in, it's apparent they were only interested in having their way with the fucking city. But you, you managed to get away. But, you didn't cover your tracks as well as you would have liked, idiot." As he pulled his gun from its holder, the sound of several mounted guns were heard clicking. A uniformed guard came over to us, eyebrows raised.
"Is there a problem here, gents?"
The bounty hunter growled softly, reholstering his gun. Leaning towards me, he snarled. "Alright, you got lucky. But just know, I'm watching you closely."
At those words, he turned and sulked into a nearby bar. He gazed at me through a window, his skull helmet shining through the windows at me, giving the eerie appearance of a skull floating in midair. The guards slowly pulled the guns up from being pointed at me and the guard that had questioned us nodded, leaving me be. However, I wasn't faring too well. My hooves were shaking and my insides were still ice. Turning around, I started slowly back down the hall towards Storm Cloud's room.
I could tell this was only the beginning.