Walls.
Colossal stone structures, layered and cemented with the texture of fine sandpaper.
They stretched out as far as Hearth Spirit could see, encircling a sprawling city of white marble and multi-coloured tiles. On the lowest points, a river separated the city into two parts, with multiple arching bridges standing on either sides. On the highest, a cliff top separated by mere metres from the next with a glistening citadel constructed decades ago, where two filly alicorns lay at rest. The climax of pegasi architecture, set in the middle of a dark and sinister forest.
Hearth gazed in awe. Taking in a breath, he reminded himself of his task. There were several contracts for jobs in engineering given out by the chief of defence, and he hoped to get one. From a basic understanding of Equestrian economy, a big city would need a lot of buildings, and machines. And this was one of the biggest.
The pegasus driving Hearth's sky chariot shouted to him over the wind. "Welcome to Pegasopolis, kid."
The vehicle cleared landing. Hearth jumped off and tipped the driver who bowed back at him, his three-cornered hat dipping low before picking himself up and taking off again to the skies.
Hearth was left in an unfamiliar environment. He had learnt his trade from Cloudsdale, a place where the bustle of pegasi flying to their respective jobs and appointments would be commonplace without a dull moment.
Here, the streets were silent. Rows upon rows of second and third story houses lay either side of him, with a long and empty cobble road down the middle. Each window was shut, each door closed, going on for what looked like miles.
Hearth brought out a map from his side satchel and down onto the road near a street light, spreading it out. The map crinkled loudly as it opened. A circle around the word 'barracks' were his directions given. The only trouble was finding it before he was late for his application.
He looked at an acronym scribbled onto the map, 'PCT'. What was that short for? It took a short pause to remind him. "Pegasopolis Clock Tower".
The best bet was the giant tower straight ahead, which was visible through the reflection of the moon. There were two black mechanical arms on the circular face just below its peak, both shaped like wings and facing opposite directions to each other. Had he seen it before? It reminded him of a painting in the Cloudsdale art library..
Hearth checked the map one last time. Working in correlation with the tower and his current position by the walls, he packed up the map and planned to set out northwest, the easiest way to the barracks. He set off alternating between roads to stay on the quickest route.
The longer wing on the clock travelled halfway around by the time Hearth found the barracks. He could tell it by the temple-style roof and guard posts on either side of the main building, the same as back home. He pushed the door with his head, hoping that the lack of anypony outside was mere coincidence from the time of day. He had his head tipped down as he entered, and therefore jumped when a hard hoof slapped his back.
"Halt" ordered the stallion. "Personal information papers are required for access." He had a strong. imposing voice.
Hearth turned to see the stallion. He was wearing a chest plate covered in a cloak, and a feathered bronze helmet. He held a spear in his other hoof.
"Personal information papers?" Hearth frowned, having never heard of them before. "All I have are the application papers requested, Is... that what you mean?."
"Nope. Personal information papers are required. Unless you want to be apprehended, of course."
Hearth tried to act calm. "Well, uh, I don't have them on me right now, I must have left them at home, if I could just go and get them-"
"You do realise that I can arrest you on the spot for not providing those papers?"
"Uh, no I didn't actually" Hearth's ears retracted. "Think I can get by on benefit of the doubt?"
"You're pathetic Talon," complained a mare trotting in from one of the barracks wings, having overhead the discussion. "Grow some balls and do your actual job for once."
"Pathetic?" the stallion whinnied. "Did you see the face this colt just made? It was hilarious!"
"Pa-the-tic. Now get a move on, you're wanted in Fluorescent's jewellery store."
"Huh," the stallion snorted. "You're no fun. Get out of my, kid." The stallion head-butted through the door, thumping Hearth on the side.
Hearth was left by the door with the mare, both confused and frankly a touch annoyed at the stallion 'Talon's faked performance. He paused before turning to the mare, now sat behind a counter at the back.
"Is he always like that?"
"Anypony given a weapon to hold and a rather low IQ acts like that," sighed the mare. "That's why I prefer the work in administration. I don't get stabbed as much as they do either, which is a plus. But enough about me. What d'you want?"
"I'm looking for a mare named Lightning Pulse for the application in engineering. I was told she'd be here."
"Do you have the application papers?"
"Right here," Hearth said before he drew them out from his side bag, placing them on the counter.
The mare examined it closely, afterwards pointing her hoof the way she came in from, and returning the sheets. "Down the hall, third on the right. Try to get on her good side, by the way. She doesn't take too kindly to"—she glanced at the front door with another sigh—"unprofessionalism."
* * *
Finding the door to the room labelled 'Pegasopolis, Defence Wing', Hearth hit the dual-winged knocker three times, and stood back. After a short pause, a muffled voice shouted from the other side.
"Name and Occupation"
"Hearth Spirit. I've come to apply as an assistant engineer."
There was some movement behind the door, and then the sound of opening locks.
"Enter."
The orange pegasus did so, and pushed open the door. The room looked considerably better decorated than the previous ones, with a tall and wide bookcase made of well chiselled oak, and a multitude of wall-lamps placed in intervals across the wall spots without decorations.
There was a desk which another mare behind it. She was wearing a three cornered hat, a tricorne, similar to that of the stallion who had driven the chariot. On the desk there was a small metallic stand which displayed the name 'Lightning Pulse'.
Hearth instinctively approached one of the stools in front of the desk, and attempted to sit down.
Lightning rose a hoof in protest. "Ah. Not just yet, thank you. Your papers?"
"Oh, sorry! I have them here" said Hearth, placing the application papers onto her desk. He made for the seat again, but the mare reinstated her hoof in the air as she read the documents.
Hearth stood still, awkwardly. He had started to understand what the mare in the other room meant, although he did not think he was being unprofessional in his mind.
"Well," spoke Lightning, "Your papers seem to check out. Normally I would dismiss a stallion such as yourself without previous job experience and only a mediocre course in Cloudsdale academy. However, we are short on rookies and you, sir, meet that description to a tee. Now, I shall present some of my own questions. How adept are you in the fields of fixing and repairing, notably brickwork?
"Fixing and repairing? My father and I built a couple of brick fences in the yard in Cloudsdale, and I had to fix it if they dropped off the cloud."
Next question," she muttered, looking out of the large gilded window to her right, bored. "Are you skilled in woodwork?"
"No. Or at least I haven't tried it yet. But that isn't- "
Lightning swung her head around. "Yes, yes, I know. I am simply figuring out where you would be most effective. Final question." She paused, adjusting herself on a leather armchair. "Do you know Earth magic?"
"What, like earth pony magic? Not that I've heard of."
Lightning facehoofed. "No, I mean Earth magic. You shouldn't feel sorry. No pony who hasn't come to Pegasopolis before has ever heard of it."
"Why do you ask it then?"
"Regulations," Lightning replied. She stood up, and trotted around the desk. "Follow me."
Hearth did as he was told. The mare led them out of the barracks, and flew across to the other side of the city. They approached a large cave in one the vertical cliffs, sectioned off with walls from the inner city. The walls were heavily defended with guards posted them as well as nearby watch posts. The cave appeared to have a glow emanating from it.
They landed near the walls. Lightning trotted a few steps forward, and explained, "Pegasopolis base of military affairs and technology. Note that you won't be getting in here again without high ranking permission. Any unauthorized entry results in life imprisonment."
She led him into the base, guards backing away as she strode past them. They continued past the watch posts and a few tents dotted around, moving towards the large cave. Guards trotted past them, some saluting Lightning as they trotted by. The majority had the same bronze helmets as Talon, while others had them strapped to their sides or not with them.
It was cold and damp inside the cave. It felt like it should be dark, but a strong glow brightened their way, coming from a tree at the other end of the cave, accompanied by busy-looking pegasus flying around the place.
It was not a normal tree by any stretch of the imagination. Blue branches shot off from the body, with glistening leaves populating the branch ends. There were also a number of strange multi-coloured gems embedded within the tree, giving off an otherworldly appearance.
"This," Lightning said looking at the tree, "is Earth magic." She turned to face Hearth. "We have plenty of engineers with far higher experience than yourself. The only reason I'm keeping you is what it reads on your application concerning mechanical equipment, in that you 'have adequate experience' in that area. Your job is to assist those researching the tree with the machines, and to report if anything happens to it. Are we clear?"
"Um, yes, ma'am."
"Good. Get a briefing off the head scientist. Her name is Flare." Lightning trotted back to the cave entrance. "Don't do anything stupid. Your life is worth a lot less than this research, and you'd be wise to remember it."
Lightning disappeared from view. Was this really the job he wanted? Probably not in honest opinion, but he had nothing else to go for. He had made his mind up to not return to Cloudsdale until he had made something of himself. Something like Canterlot was not preferable as tensions between the other pony species were seemingly higher than ever before as of late. He wanted to refrain from getting into trouble.
Hearth looked around for the pony in charge of the operations. The blunt realisation came that they all looked almost exactly the same, so eventually he wound up asking, and eventually came to the head mare in question through rude pointing on behalf of a brown stallion.
He trotted over to the mare, trying to get her attention. "Hello? Flare?"
"Yes, that's me," she replied. "What is it?"
"I'm your new assistant. Lightning told me to ask you about a briefing."
"Well that certainly sounds like Lightning," she chuckled. "Very quick to pass responsibility onto others, you'll find. I'll be happy to fill you in."
"So, what is this, and what are you doing here, exactly?" Hearth asked.
"This tree we're researching? We've been calling it the 'font' of Earth magic, a term Lightning likes to use when describing it. We believe it's a source of some type of magical power, and it's the only one we have found across Equestria with similar properties. The magic appears to ward off what we term as 'dark magic' that comes from the Everfree forest. That's why we were able to build this city where it is."
Hearth gave a puzzled look. "That's really strange. I never heard about a magic tree back in Cloudsdale, or anywhere, until now."
"Heh, you know what's even more strange?" asked Flare rhetorically. "It isn't the unicorns who are studying this, it's the pegasi. Unicorns can't even get into the city, being that there's no gate entrance and all. Chances are we would find out about this a great deal faster with our own magic. And that's why we'll be using recordings and wacky inventions to try to work it out." Flare poked at what appeared to be a steam engine. It continued to buzz and hum at random.
"We could, of course, wait for our own magic in the form of those alicorn sisters up in the palace. But chances are it'd still be a lost cause," Flare continued. "I don't think Lightning wants them to know about it, either. Probably speciesism if I'd hint a guess. Now, back on the task at hoof, I suppose you want a bit of an introduction to these machines, then? Gather around this here marvel..."
Hearth did so with newfound interest. Maybe not everypony was so bad.
Maybe Pegasopolis, home to both mystery and magic, could become his, too.
