‘Tidal wave levels Fillydelphia’ was printed in block lettering across the dozens of newspapers that circulated through Manehattan 2 days after the event. If you stopped and listened to the discussions of the meandering ponies, more often than not you would hear tell of the morbid statistics of the disaster. The death toll rang in at over 200 ponies, most of which were from one of the seaside middle schools. Others talked about the fishing ships which now decorated the rooftops of several of the buildings along the shore. According to a few travelers, the tales were even more spectacular, with descriptions of unimaginable destruction that had literally leveled the entire city.
Despite the difference in the accounts, one word kept echoing from all of the conversations around the city: Badwater. Many believed it to be unofficial name of the catastrophe, others believed it was that of one of the ships that had been thrown ashore, some even believed it was the tongue-in-cheek name that the residents of Fillydelphia had given to their beloved town hall. However, these suppositions were false. Nopony was there to tell them the truth, and so the most fanciful ideas took hold. Within weeks, the event’s hype died away, leaving only a shell of mystery surrounding the disaster of Badwater.
Questions were created too fast for the answers to keep up, and within time, many began to suspect the natural disaster wasn’t so natural after all. All of the evidence had been literally washed away, and golden lore began to fill the cracks in the pottery of truth. A web of fantastical stories sprung up, each with their own prime mover to the event. Some believed it was a sea monster's wrath, others believed it was the wrath of Celestia herself. But only the remaining residents of fillydelphia believed that it was a small filly who had caused the chaos.
In the town of Fillydelphia, everypony knows of the legend of Badwater. Fillies and Colts cowered beneath their covers as their parents told of the evil pony who would wipe out the town again if they didn’t do their homework. The name Badwater had become so synonymous with the city of Fillydelphia that their main port bore the name. It was a legendary story, one that had spanned several generations since the event, but the legends still had not captured the true essence of what had really happened on that fateful day. No pony knew the reasons as to why this filly had destroyed the town.
Had she done it on purpose? Was it an accident? What had caused her to possess such power? So many questions had stemmed from the small seed of truth that a small filly had destroyed the town so many decades ago.
To understand what it takes to destroy an entire town, we must talk to those who experienced the disaster firsthoof. The casualties were great, but the survivors outnumbered them 100 to 1. Everypony knew someone who had died.
When the trauma began to settle in, certain specific images were ingrained into the minds of those who survived the wave itself. It had been devastating, completely ruining what had once been a quiet and peaceful town. One anonymous mare summarized the entire event from her perspective on the cliffs that overlooked the city.
“It was midday, and I was picking some flowers for decorations of my home. It was just something I did to pass the time and get away from the chaos of the city. Earlier that year, we had installed a siren system in the city. We only knew this because of ruckus it made every first wednesday of every month.
“Well… it went off that afternoon, and I ignored it until I realized that it was Monday. The sight I expected to see wasn’t there, but instead everything seemed normal. The activity in the city slowed a bit as the ponies stopped and looked for the danger. Most looked to the sky, but there was no hurricane on the horizon.
“That was when I noticed the white line racing from where the ocean met the sky. It rolled slowly at first, but as it grew closer, I realized what it was. The wall of water was higher than most buildings, and it’s white crest was dirtied by the ships it had pulled along in its wake.”
“First, it took our beaches. Then, it rolled over the levee. Houses, trees, ponies, and ships were picked up by it’s powerful tide and pulled beneath to be torn apart in the current. The water hit the middle school that sat on the side of the shore, taking away nearly half of the building with one simple motion.
“It was as though someone had challenged the wrath of god, and that challenge was accepted by nature itself.”
The terror that was experienced on that fateful day was etched the minds of those who watched their lives change by the power of water. One stallion who was in the market, and was lucky enough to survive by the skin of his teeth, recounted the event as “I saw a wall of water swallow my life whole.”
The Badwater disaster affected thousands, but to really get to the bottom of the case, we need to talk to one more pony. The final answer to ‘why did the disaster happen’ lies with a mare who lives on the coast, away from the civilization of Fillydelphia.
She wishes to remain anonymous, but she has agreed to talk to us about the disaster. According to her, she has some very specific information on the filly who may have caused the disaster itself. Our host lives on the cliffs overlooking the sea. She spends her days living off of the land and studying an elusive species she called ‘seaponies’. While their existence isn’t proven, our witness is convinced they are real.
When we asked her about the Badwater incident, she was able to produce the journal of the filly. She turned to the final entry, and the contents themselves were disturbing.
The ponies always make fun of me. I know seaponies are real, and I really like drawing them in school, but today [REDACTED] tired to take my notebook. I wish they would just leave me alone. I tried talking to my teacher, but she wouldn’t help. No one helps. I just want to be alone.
The disturbing report from the troubled filly came two days before the disaster. What our source said next revealed much more than we intended to uncover. She paused for a moment before saying this:
“I went to school on the day of the event, and something snapped in me. I stood up to my bully, but in the process, I allowed the anger to get the best of me. I got mad, really mad, and something came over me. I sort of blacked out, and when I came to, the entire room was filled with water.”
After that discourse, our witness decided she wanted to reveal her name: Badwater.
