The Ambassador

Pop was thrown as the elevator jolted to a stop. The unconscious Pegasus mare slung over his back was flung to the ground.

“Horseapples!”

Pop gingerly picked her back up, ignoring the nauseating urge to throw up. The muggy hotness on his skin was growing at an uncomfortable pace. The cage doors to the elevator creaked open. Pop stumbled out, followed by his brother and Dubstep. In the darkness, he could make out the shapes of two ponies waiting for them.

“Hey guys.” Pop recognized Sherbet Surprise’s voice.

“Twilight and the others are just up past that staircase,” the other pony, Spring Loch, began. “We were just waiting for you to- Sweet Celestia!” The Unicorn mare shrilled upon seeing the twins.

Pop grimaced as he imagined their expressions of horror through the darkness. “Yeah… you might want to go get her.”

3 hours earlier...

“We’ll activate the beacon once we’re ready to leave. Come and get us with the ship, then we can go home.”

“Of course, Your Highness.” Lightning Strike bowed.

Twilight shifted uncomfortably. “Are you sure you’ll be alright up here by yourself? We could be down there for months.”

The Pegasus smiled wryly. “Certainly. Besides, I’m the only one who can pilot the ship. The humans need the rest of you.”

And indeed they must. The station was completely abandoned when Twilight’s crew docked to the station. It was rather tricky having no one inside to direct a safe landing, or even open the doors (Twilight was fortunately able to force them open). This only increased Twilight’s growing fear for the humans. An unexplained disappearance, a cease in communication, and an abandoned space station. None of this bode well.

Twilight swallowed her fear. “Thank you, Lightning.”

Lightning Strike bowed again. “I’ll see you all later.”

The ponies all shuffled into the smaller landing craft. As luck would have it, there were several left behind by whatever team had previously occupied the station. It was a tight fit, but everypony managed to squeeze in. As the doors shut, Lightning Strike turned around to exit the launch area.

Another thick transparent door closed behind him. Lightning waved forlornly as the craft was ejected into space, hurdling towards Earth.

~~~

The ponies all shook from the force. For a minute, Twilight had a fleeting fear that the ship might be torn apart. The worst soon past, and they were sailing through the sky at breakneck speed. Twilight checked the console, ensuring that they were heading towards the landing tower described in the space station.

The coordinates were still correct, and judging from the position of the setting sun, they were heading in the right direction. Twilight tried peeking down to see the ground below, but the window didn’t allow her to see that far.

On the horizon, she saw the outline of skyscrapers like the ones found in Manehatten. Well, that’s at least a good sign. Getting in touch with a world leader shouldn’t be a problem. Not in a metropolis like that.

Lower and lower the vessel went, dipping from the sky into the city. Twilight was grateful that it had slowed down; speeding through a maze of buildings couldn’t possibly be very pleasant. Or safe.

The ship came to an incredible crawl, and Twilight sensed that the building they hovered over was their destination. Sure enough, she heard the whine of machinery as the pod began extending its legs to land. The ship touched down, and the doors opened.

The ponies stretched as they disembarked. Twilight fought the urge to throw herself to the floor and rest. She stepped down the ramp to see that several others didn’t share her self-restraint.

Twilight urged everypony inside the doors far beside the landing pad. The room inside was a wide open space, with writing desks strewn here and there. There was a small kitchen off to the side, and a metal-framed doorway at the end.

Twilight was not thrilled to find that it was empty.

“Alright, my little ponies. We have finally arrived. Now, once we contact whoever is in charge of this land, we can get to the root of our problems.”

“How are we supposed to get down?” Charcoal inquired.

Twilight nodded towards the steel cage door. “That, if I’m not mistaken, is an elevator.”

“Oh.”

The troupe closed in on the elevator, inspecting it inquisitively. The inside wasn’t very big, maybe enough room for 5 ponies at a time. Twilight pursed her lips. The sun was nearly set, and the sky outside was a remarkable pink color. But it would be dark soon, and they would be in no position to commence their objective.

Hopefully the humans inside could aid the ponies in their effort.

“Doctor Whooves, Muffin, Blazing, Quick Fix, please come with me. The rest of you follow in groups. We’ll meet at the bottom and find someone to help us.”

The designated ponies followed Twilight into the cramped elevator. Twilight gave the lever a tentative pull. The elevator screeched as it began descending slowly, metal grinding on metal.

“This elevator appears operational. What do you think?” Twilight addressed Quick Fix.

He shrugged. “If it were gonna fail, I think it would have already.”

Twilight nodded, silently scolding herself for not testing it before they boarded.

The ponies waited (im)patiently for the elevator to reach the bottom. The elevator came to an abrupt stop, jerking the ponies roughly. The doors rumbled as they slid open, revealing another dimly lit room. Twilight squinted as she tried to discern her surroundings.

The room was much larger than the one on top of the tower. The elevator was positioned in the center of the room. There were rows and rows of desks throughout the room, each with papers aged yellow scattered across the tops. Twilight forced down the urge to stop and organize them into neat piles.

The air in this room was stale, as if no one had opened a window in a long time. Beyond the rows of desks was a metal staircase leading up to a wide lobby with several glass doors. Twilight could barely make out the street outside.

Twilight jumped at the sound of the elevator returning upwards. She turned to see that the other ponies glanced around nervously. It was indeed unsettling to find the building abandoned. It was late in the evening, but the human ambassadors had boasted about the productivity of the human race.

According to them, the humans would be bustling with work, even at night. So why was it so… silent?

Twilight flattened her ears. She hadn’t considered that. She didn’t hear crowds jostling. She didn’t hear feet stepping. No sounds of work, no chattering voices. Absolutely nothing.

“We wait here for the others. I have a bothersome feeling.” She instructed. The ponies all nodded. “And… make sure everypony stays within eyesight.” She added.

After around 10 minutes, most of the ponies had already arrived. The elevator was sent back up once more to retrieve the last of them. Twilight tried not to overthink the situation. And failed.

The humans had been going through what had been described as a purge of devastation. What if they were unsuccessful? What if the work of the ambassadors had been for nothing? What if, what if, what if?

Twilight cast her gaze to the doors. The answers are outside. She stepped towards them, hoping to find some sign of activity outside. So far, there hadn’t been any movement.

“Somepony stay here and let the others know we’re just up the staircase.” She ordered. Twilight did her best to mask her nervousness as she scaled the stairs. Maybe if she looked from an eye-level view she could see something going on. Anything.

Her group slowly followed, subconsciously pressing together, looking out for anything to come leaping out for them from the shadows. Twilight made a proper scan of the street. Still nothing. Still not good.

“Once the rest return up here, I’ll take 3 volunteers with me to… find a dignitary. And hopefully form a solid plan. Everypony else will please wait here for us to return. I expect we’ll be gone for a few hours, so… make yourselves comfortable.”

The ponies all exchanged looks and reluctantly moseyed around to find a place to rest. Dr. Whooves raised his hoof. “I’ll join you, Twilight! I can’t stand the suspense anymore.”

Derpy pulled the doctor aside, whispering concerns into his ear. He only chuckled.

“There’s no reason to fret, my dear. Even in the dark, I have an eidetic memory, and I believe that will come in useful. This will be a trot in the park!”

Derpy scowled, obviously not pleased.

“I’ll go too,” Blazing Skyward groaned as she stretched her wings. “It’s been too long since I’ve properly used these babies.”

“Alright, as long as we all stay toge-”

"Twilight!"

Everypony jumped at the piercing scream. A pony galloped at full speed up from the elevator. Twilight stared as the orange Earth Pony gasped, eyes wide.

“She, I uh… there’s- she was,” Sherbet Surprise babbled unintelligibly.

“What is it? What happened?” Twilight queried anxiously.

“She was attacked by a human.” The ponies all swiveled their heads to determine the source of the new voice. At the base of the staircase stood 4 more ponies. Spring Loch, Dubstep, Fizz, and Pop. Twilight felt her stomach lurch.

Lying across Pop’s back was a young Pegasus named Shortstack. She was out cold, blood spilling from a large gash on her side onto Pop. A gash where her right wing should have been.