Over a thousand years ago the three pony tribes fought with each other, leading to the rise of the wendigoes. The harsh winter they brought with them caused the turmoil amongst the tribes to a boiling point. Faced with no other options, they each decided to go their separate ways in hopes of finding a new land.
What few ponies know, and even fewer remember, was the race of the bat ponies. While they mostly kept to themselves they too suffered from the eternal winter brought with the wendigoes. With nothing else left they decided to leave their home for another land as well.
However, much like the ponies of the three tribes they were divided on which direction they should travel. Some wanted to head east, while others wished to try their luck to the north. For days they argued, until they came to the conclusion on who they wanted to follow. The clan split, one group heading east while the other moved north.
For days upon weeks and months they traveled farther north, braving the frozen plains and climbing to the mountain peaks themselves. Out of food and water, they bat ponies had nearly gave up all hope when a voice called out to them, ancient and powerful, it offered warmth and protection from the elements.
With the last of their strength the bat ponies heeded the siren’s call to a hidden cave. Their sensitive eyes were able to see well in the moderate darkness, and as they traveled through the twisting caves they came upon a vast open chamber deep in the mountain. The entrance extended nearly twenty feet over a massive pool of churning magma.
The heat made it hard to breath but they gazed in awe, the heated glow lighting up the interior of the mountain beautifully. As they stared, the magma churned more, as though it were alive. They soon learned that to an extent, it was alive, for this was the home of one of the ancient gods of Equestria, Akthul.
The magma rose up and cooled, forming a great dragon rising up above them. ‘Make your home here,’ the dragon said, ‘and I will bestow my gift of the earth upon your people.’
The bat ponies were in awe, they were saved! They had found a home to call their own. They agreed to live in the mountain, and thus Akthul bestowed upon them all his gift. Their bodies changed, their fangs grew sharper, their ears more keen, body temperature heightened and a thirst for creation drove them. They became a new species, no longer were they bat ponies, but mighty thestrals.
The thestrals thrived under Akthul’s tutelage. They learned how to harvest the food of the mountain; they learned the taste of the flesh of the many monsters that dwelled in the lower caves; they learned how to create mighty works that would last millennia as they perfected their arts. They mined, extracting ore and gemstones from the earth to feed their lust for creation.
They built huge forges, heated by the ever present magma, and forged ever larger and larger works. Huge gold statues of the clan leaders, massive reinforced doors to keep out the cold, and ever evolving mechanisms.
It was not long for the thestrals to notice a new city growing several miles to the south, a city made entirely of crystal. Eager to greet their new neighbors several envoys flew from the mountain bearing gifts of gold and jewels.
While their initial appearance was rather frightful, they were able to open relations and trade with the city. They would exchange their excess or unneeded raw materials in exchange for food, clothing, spices, and whatever else they may need.
The influx of wealth from the thestrals made the city prosper into the Crystal Empire. But all was not meant to be. Akthul warned of a growing darkness within the Empire, a warning that did not come a moment too late. Spires of darkness erupted from the ground as the mad prince declared himself king.
The thestrals fled, bringing with them as many of the crystal ponies as they could. They provided homes and food to the ponies as they closed their doors, waiting until the day the new king was defeated. They did not need to wait long before the alicorn sisters arrived and defeated him, but in doing so made the entire city vanish as though it was never there.
The surviving crystal ponies wept at their loss, for there was no longer a home for them to return to. Akthul offered them sanctuary, his gift and home, extended to those in need. After much deliberation, most of the crystal ponies accepted. They took on the traits of the thestrals, though lacked any wings.
Over time, the bloodlines mixed together, and there were no more crystal ponies among the thestrals. Instead, they inherited the crystal pony’s talents. Never before had there been what could be considered a master engineer or a master hunter, but now without them the clan would not be anywhere it is today.
The prodigies changed the clan, bringing about a golden age of innovation. The simple mechanics were soon replaced with complex engines with hearts of magma. Heat traveled through machines like blood, expanding and contracting to move simple mechanical beings. As time went on, they too were expanded upon. Now full size mechanical dragons patrol the more dangerous areas.
Iron and steel were quickly replaced with a newer, stronger, lighter metal called titanium. With their new metal they were able to increase production even further. They dug deeper into the mines, extracting more and more materials with which to build. As they did, so did the frequency of monster sightings appear.
Thus a guard was formed; they would specialize in neutralizing the threats that entered the tunnels. Monsters from the giant spider to cave trolls roamed the unexplored caves, and with the hunting more food was available for all. They slayed them with ease using their weapons of titanium and were guarded well thanks to their titanium armor.
As often happens with the past, it slowly becomes the present. The present sees a young thestral by the name of Faina Night-Steel, a combat protégé on the cusp of taking her grandfather’s place as one of the seven elders of the clan.
She has accomplished much in the last few months alone, she was the first since the rise of the dark king to leave the mountain, where she made many new friends and fought alongside allies to save the world from an ancient evil, but that is another story. For now, she has returned home to be with friends and family once again.
Faina woke up with a yawn and she blinked at her surroundings. She was in her and her fiancé’s room, the bed containing just her for the time being. Her husband to be usually got up far earlier than she and started working in the forges. He was a smith, one of the best, save for a few accidents where he nearly worked himself to death.
Faina chucked as she left the bed, glad that she was there to help him relax a bit and work a more normal schedule. Their room was rather small, more of an open chamber no bigger than the throne room of Canterlot by her estimation. It had a large cooking pot over and open pool of magma on the far end of the room and a large round table, still barely holding together since one of her friends somehow ‘accidentally’ chopped it in half.
There were several skin rugs, large trophies of hers from her various hunts or monster slaying missions. One was a large white bear, the other a troll. Her friends thought the troll looked too ugly to be a rug, but the fight it put up made her want to preserve the memory.
Along the walls were several masterfully crafted arms and armor, as well as an old gauntlet. It was one of a pair, the last she has of her father. And next to it lay a beautiful dagger, the blade broken to pieces. A final memento of the cave-in that took their lives and several others.
She traced a hoof over the old weapons before turning to her own gear set out beneath them. She wore a pair of titanium gauntlets with mechanically retracting blades, based on the design her father used, but improved. They reached from the back of her hoof all the way to their elbow; they were heavy but incredibly sturdy. The well-oiled parts never let her down.
She donned her light leather undershirt followed by her heavier chain shirt and more leather padding. On the outer layer were several loops and buckles to hold her other equipment and pouches. She dabbled a bit in poisons, from sleep inducing to paralysis and ever causes the heart to fail. She rarely uses them but it never hearts to be prepared.
With one last strap holding a small buckler in place she was ready, “Back to patrols. Ready for a new day, Ragna?” She looked to a small mechanical dragon, a new invention of her friend, Gaige.
“Delighted.” It responded. Gaige had somehow discovered the art of imprinting a soul onto a special type of gem, she herself has no idea how it’s done, just that ‘it feels right.’ She may not yet know it, but in the future she becomes more than a kooky engineer, she becomes Equestria’s first Artificer, an engineer with the ability to craft life into machines, and Ragna was her first, without her or Ragna even realizing it.
Faina nodded and headed out her door, it closed heavily behind her as she trotted to the right through the wide hall. The sounds of the commons were refreshing, thanks to her there were more than a few traders traveling all the way to the mountain to barter their goods.
The tunnel opened up to a massive cavern filled with thestrals and more than a few ponies. They chatted away excitedly and ate breakfast and traded, even her bitter rival Winter was doing good business. She smiled and waved to a few ponies as she made her way to the main entrance, which was guarded by her friend Fang, who she trained with in school.
“Morning, anything interesting?” She asked him.
He looked at her with a bored expression, “What do you think?”
“... Yeah, guess I’m used to the world ending every day.” She chuckled.
Fang shifted, “Well... besides the increased monster activity in the Lower Mines... and the strange noises in the forge, nothing really much going on.”
“Activity in the mines? Why didn’t you say so?”
Fang shrugged, “Didn’t seem too major of a concern during the shift change.”
Faina sighed, “Alright, I’ll check it out.”
“Be careful down there.”
“If it looks dangerous I’ll let you guys know.” She responded and headed back through the commons.
She entered another wide tunnel, this one grew steadily warmer as she neared the far end. The sounds of massive hammers ringing out against red hot plates of metal filled the air as the smiths worked diligently on whatever plans they needed to complete. The main forge room consisted of a trio of some of the largest forges in the mountain, each one large enough that ten ponies could work on each one at once.
In front of the forges were massive anvils, each one twenty feet long and five feet wide and tampering off with various angles and tools for whatever the smiths may need. The floor was solid bedrock, pounded smooth by the hooves of thestrals over a thousand years. This was the forge that began everything.
To the left of the entrance flowed a river, water was pumped up from the reservoir deep underground and flowed through here, where it was naturally filtered through lava rock back into the ground water. There was a pony currently cleaning the grates of soot and impurities from the cooled metals.
She approached a light grey and silver manned thestral who was pounding away on a large plate, molding it into shape.
“Morning, what cha got for me, Thust?” She said, pecking him on the cheek.
Thust chuckled, “Nothing yet, right now I am busy forging a few things that Gaige asked me to make for her this morning.”
“Oh? and how is our favorite mad inventor?” She asked.
Thust paused for a bit, “She seemed very off...”
“Hm… It’s probably something to do with the rumors of the monsters in the lower mines. I was headed that way anyway so I’ll check in on her.”
Suddenly the entire forge was filled with a loud creaking sound. Several of the other smiths looked around worriedly before going back to work as the noise faded away.
“Thust... What was that?” Faina asked as she tried to pinpoint the source.
“I don't know,” He said, “Everyone says that sound has been going on for a while. They say to just pay it no mind.”
“... The walls floors and ceilings are bedrock, they don’t creak.” Faina reasoned.
“It might just be something in the furnaces settling.” Thust said uneasily.
“Kind of sounded from all over, how often does it happen?” She asked him as she pulled out a small notepad.
“I have heard a once or twice so far today... Ivan, how many times does that sound happen?” He asked his neighbor smith, a light blue thestral.
“At least four times a day.” Ivan said.
“Does it seem to happen at any set interval?” She asked as she jotted things down.
“None that I noticed.” Ivan said, “It is most likely just things settling. These furnaces are quite old after all, maybe it's time to see if they need repairs or something. I'll see if I can some of the Cogs up here to repair it... dang I actually haven't seen a Cog in forever...”
“That is true...” Faina agreed. She started a new page and made a list of current investigations.
‘We need to assess the activity in the lower mines, investigate Gaige, schedule repairs of the primary forges. Note: may need to drain the forges for repairs.’ She nodded as she jotted down the last bit.
“Alright. Ivan go ahead and just do an overview assessment and see what you can find, I’ll speak to the elders and see what they say about draining the forges.” She tapped the pen against her lips as she thought.
“Yeah, Yeah…” Ivan muttered.
“Yeah, have the cogs assess it.” She added.
“We will find them and have them assist us with this then.”
“Alright, I’m heading to the lower areas. If I pass them I’ll send them your way.”
“Thanks.” Ivan said before returning to his own work area.
“Whelp, see you in a bit, I’m off to the lower areas.” Faina said as she pecked Thust on the cheek
“Be careful.” He cautioned.
“Of course.” Faina bit farewell and took one of the supply tunnels out of the forge. She passed a few open door leading to rooms filled with unprocessed lumps of ore and rock and processed ore in the shape of easily stackable bars.
She followed the tunnel further down where it eventually lead to another large hall. Here there were several of the mechanical beasts that were undergoing repairs or maintenance, while two others were being assembled from parts fresh off the forge. By Faina’s estimation they should be complete in another month or two.
Near the end of the hall was a door to a private workshop. She trotted up to it and gave it a few knocks. There was a loud series of bangs and crashes as the pony on the other side scrambled to answer the door.
Moments later the door was thrown open to reveal a smaller mare with wide, twitchy eyes. Once she saw who it was she visibly relaxed with a sigh.
“Morning!” Faina greeted with a smile.
“Yeah... morning.” Gaige said sadly.
“... Is everything alright?” Faina asked with concern.
“What? Of course everything is fine, why wouldn’t it be?” She said with a forced smile.
“Thust seems to think differently, and I do too. So what's on your mind?” Faina asked.
Gaige looked away, “Nothing... Now do you need something...? I am in the middle of something important.”
“Well, I actually wanted to ask you about the activity in the lower areas and if you heard or saw anything, and I was making sure you were alright as a friend of both and Thust and I.”
Gaige sighed, “Yeah... the monsters down there seem to be getting more aggressive... Some of the Cogs actually had to abandon a build site when they went up far from where they were supposed to be. We have the mechs patrolling more heavily right now due to it.”
Faina nodded and noted that down, “I see... Then it’s possible something bigger than them moved in and that's caused them to move out of their natural areas. Don’t worry, I’ll see if I can find what's agitating them.”
“Right, just don't lose a hoof.”
Faina chuckled, “I hope not, I need my hooves.” She put her note pad back into a pouch, “See you later then, best of luck with your latest work!”
As Faina was about to leave Gaige turned to reveal her left foreleg had a series of precise markings around the shoulder.
“Are you sure you're alright? Those look like bite marks of some kind.” Faina said, motioning toward the markings. “Well, it could be from a machine then, in that case go get em and show it whose boss!”
“It is nothing to really worry about.” Gaige reassured.
Faina nodded, “I believe you, just don’t forget about coming to dinner tonight with the rest of the gang, alright?”
Gaige looked lost for a moment, “Dinner... OH! Oh yeah... That was a thing wasn't it...”
Faina chuckles, “Alright, see you there then?”
Gaige grinned a real smile, “Just wait, I am going to show off a brand new invention tonight!”
Faina smiled back, “I can’t wait!” She pulled her into a gentle hug. “I’ll let you know if I find anything.”
“Of course.”
They released from the hug and went their separate ways, Gaige closed her door and Faina headed deeper into the mines, before long reaching the lower areas that were still being excavated. For the most part this section appeared to be deserted, likely in fear of the monsters wandering up from below. All around was abandoned mining equipment, from pickaxes to hard hats to great drilling machines, giving off a spooky vibe as she went on the defensive. She crouched low, allowing her inner magic to let the darkness flow over her and hide her from sight.
She whispered to Ragna, “Silent running, observation mode, keep an eye out for trouble.”
“Confirmed.” It said softly, growing very still on its resting place between her wings.
Faina traveled slowly along the edge of the tunnel, careful to move as silently as possible in case there was anything dangerous around. Not soon after leaving most of the construction behind she heard a few voices speaking as the put away their gear.
“I swear... Those upper levelers... It was like they never saw a monster before...” The one with a white mane complained.
The one with the gray mane replied, “I will admit, I have never seen them come up this far before... I am sure the Fang clan would agree as well.”
The white maned one shrugged, “Well it seems what was done is undamaged... Good... I would hate to have to start back at the beginning.” He said, referring to the tunnel.
The grey manned one sighed, “Why are we all of a sudden building so much... We are already busy enough as it is.”
“The elder’s words are law. I am sure they have a good reason for it. They have never steered the clan wrong before.” The white manned one reasoned.
While they were talking Faina continued on her way toward the natural cave beyond the tunnel, easily sneaking past them undetected.
The white manned on sighed as they finished storing their gear, “Well, we better get moving before a Fang patrol comes down here... last thing we need is questions being asked.”
The grey one nodded, “Agreed. Come on Enai, time to go.”
A young yellow maned thestral ran into sight, quickly moving to the older thestrals sides.
“Go back to the others for now. I will speak to the elders about what exactly is supposed to be happening now.” The grey manned one said as they started moving back up the tunnel.
“Of course Sever.” The white manned one said as they moved too far away to hear.
Faina continued her journey deeper into the caves, reaching more unexplored areas that were home to monsters. Ahead she heard a few grunts. She slowly moved closer to see a pair of cave trolls heading in the direction of the mining operations. Looking them over they seemed to be covered in burns and bruises.
She thought about trying to take them out herself, but thought better of it. 'I have faith the guards will be able to handle them; I need to find out the cause. I need to be careful anyway, I promised.'
She whispered to Ragna, “Send an alert of incoming monsters.”
Ragna opened its mouth and unheard by thestrals or monsters sent out a series of ultra-high pitch sounds that echoed off the walls. “Alert sent.”
Faina soon comes along an open area in the caves, where a pair of stone golems and a fire elemental appeared to be fighting against a horde of giant spiders, preventing them from entering the cave on the far end.
Faina made a mental note of the path taken to get this far and proceeded around the battle, the screeches of the spiders easily masking any sounds she would have made. She moved quickly around the battle behind the three aggressive monsters to the cave they were guarding. She headed into the cave while the monsters were distracted.
Another hundred yards down the cave it opened up into a chamber of magma, where more golems and fire elementals stood around the pool of magma. Not knowing what they were doing, she moved to a shadowy corner and hid, waiting and watching silently.
Several hours passed as she observed the room, nothing stood out to her. There didn’t appear to be a demon or a cursed item or anything that seemed out of the ordinary. Suddenly the chamber rumbled as the magma churned as though something was swimming inside it. As she watched a massive snake broke through the surface, reaching all the way to the ceiling of the chamber before diving back into the magma. The body moved through the loop above the surface quickly for several moments before the tail whipped through the air and the surface returned to its normal bubbly self.
Faina stared at the pool in wide eyed fear, something was in the magma channels, the clan was in danger, and it was either controlling the new monsters or they naturally served it. She carefully extracted herself from her hiding spot and quickly made her way back the way she came.
It was a long process , but she eventually made it back to the lower mines. She abandoned stealth and ran the rest of the way. There were no signs of the two trolls from before so the other Fangs must have taken care of them. She soon reached Gaige’s workshop and pounded on the door, planning to let her know of the dangers and to spread the word that they shouldn’t go into the lower mines.
There was no response from inside the shop.
“… Gaige?” She asked through the door worriedly.
There was no response. She tried the knob but it was locked. “Ponies and their locks…” She muttered as she used her precision tools to pick the lock. The door unlocked easily and swung in, revealing a messy workshop piled high with half completed projects and assorted tools littering every surface.
“Gaige?” She called out.
Faina strained her ears and heard a faint dripping sound and soft sobbing. Faina’s ears flattened as she felt sad for her crying friend. She made her way through the shop careful to avoid the precariously stacked debris of tools and parts. As she rounded the final corner into a back room she gasped in horror.
Gaige was at an operating table, there was a set of surgical equipment next to her as well as a large surgical saw. Her front left leg was tied down to the operating table with several leather straps. Her shoulder was cut deeply and was bleeding profusely. Upon inspecting the cut it was following the pattern of marks she had mistaken for an injury earlier. Lying on the table was a mechanical device that looked eerily similar to a pony’s from left leg.
“Gaige?! Gaige! Oh… Oh my gosh! W-what happened?! Are you alright!? Do you... need help?”
Gaige didn’t respond, instead moaning and crying in pain. Faina clutched at her head as she tried to make sense of what her friend was attempting to do. Her mind made the connection between the marks and the fake leg and felt sick to her stomach.
She quickly moved the cutting saw away and grabbed some of the extra straps. In a few calculated movements she did her best to secure a tourniquet on her shoulder to stop the bleeding. She made sure the injured leg was still secured and helped prop her up so she wouldn’t pull on it.
“Ragna, call for the emergency medical team now.” Faina commanded, doing her best to keep calm.
“Contacting.” It responded, once more calling out an ultra-high pitch signal.
Faina opened one of her pouches and pulled out a vial of liquid. She pulled out the cork with her teeth and tilted Gaige’s head back, forcing the potion down her throat. A few seconds later she went limp as the potent sleeping agent took effect.
She sat there and waited for the medical team to arrive, petting her friend’s head as she whispered, more to herself, that everything was going to be okay. The cut was clean, they should be able so stitch it back up. ‘Right?’ she asked herself.
After a few minutes that seemed to drag on for hours, a trio of ponies ran into the workshop.
“Back here!” Faina called to them.
They arrived at the scene and looked it over quickly, “What the hell happened here?” One of them asked.
Faina took a breath to keep herself calm, “I think she was trying to replace her leg with a mechanical one, she didn’t get too far so I think it'll be alright, but she's lost a lot of blood. I put her under with a sleeping agent so she wouldn’t hurt herself further.”
One of the medical ponies nodded, “Okay. We will take it from here then.”
“Okay.” She backed away to allow them room to work. “Ragna, have Thust meet us at the medical ward. Tell the others too.”
“Roger. Moving to deliver message to Thust and friends.” The small drake spread its wings and took off, flying out of the shop and back towards the main areas.
One of the medical ponies seemed to be having trouble with the straps. “Get out the heavy cutter; I can't get these straps off. They seem to be locked.”
“I got it.” Faina said as she moved in and cut off the straps with her bladed gauntlets.
“Thank you.” He said. The medical team quickly wrapped the leg up, carefully put Gaige on a gurney, and wheeled her out of the workshop. They moved quickly, shouting at others to move aside as Faina trailed behind, heart full of worry.
They reached the hospital area, located as central as possible for quick access from anywhere in the mines. One of the first responders turned and stopped Faina, indicating that she wait in the waiting room while they operated.
Faina collapsed into one of the chairs and held her head in her hooves, not knowing this was just the beginning of a very long day.
Author's Note
This is just the beginning.
