Welcome to Essenceby Element ReadingChaptersChapter 1: Welcome to your doomChapter 2: Time to get some weaponsChapter 3: Here's something unexpectedChapter 4: Is this.... the end?Chapter 1: Welcome to your doomIn the very beautiful and glamorous Crystal Empire throne room, was Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, oh and Flurry Heart too. Shining Armor was holding Flurry Heart while ordering some of the guards around, Cadence was using her magic to go over a whole bunch of papers full of boring political stuff that no one really cares about. Shining Armor walked up to Cadence and said to her, "I gotta ask, where is Sunburst?" "Oh I forgot, he's very sick, he has the flu. And we wouldn't wanna get our little girl sick do we?" "Sigh, alright, I just wish I could have somepony else do this sh-" Cadence shoved her hoof in his mouth and said. "Little pictures." She glanced at Flurry Heart and back at Shining Armor. "Sorry dear, I've been trying to change all the cursing, or as you call it guard talk, but sometimes stuff just, slips out." "It's alright, I just don't want our little filly to know every word the royal guard knows by the age of twelve, and you know exactly the words I mean." "Can we please drop this, I'm trying to do better, hey where are all of the guards?" "I think they're smarter than you give them credit for, they know to stay out of our kerfuffles." Just as she finished Flurry Heart's horn started to glow as she was about to sneeze, until. "AAACHHOOO!!!" Flurry Heart sneezed and Shining Armor and Cadence just disappeared. Three guards walked in only to find the prince and princess missing. In another, unknown location, Shining Armor and Cadence were unconscious inside what seemed like a giant metal pod, the walls were shaped as if they were in a ball with a flat red carpet floor, the metal walls were brass or copper. In the back of the pod was a lever, in the front was a large window that was curved like the walls were. What was seen out of the window was a very dark corridor, I mean you can't see 1 foot into it. Shining Armor and Cadence were starting to wake back up, the first thing Cadence asked, "Where are we?" Shining Armor replied, "I don't know, but it ain't in the Crystal Empire." "Aw come on, I thought Flurry Heart's magical outbursts were over." "Um Cadence, I think we need to focus on where we are more than how we got here." "Alright, I think we should get out of here, but how?" Shining Armor looked behind him and saw the lever. "I think we need to pull this lever to get out." "Try it, we have almost no other choice in the matter." Shining Armor pulled the lever and a large "shunk" was heard, they looked around for a sec only to look out the window. They were descending down into water. They got a little lower only to see a rusty copper sign say "5 fathoms". "Shining, what does fathoms mean?" "I'm not sure, but I think Twilight told me, it's how deep you are in water." Just as he finishes the lights dim down and a whitish tarp fell covering the window, a video started to play. A woman in the film said. "Welcome to Essence, the first, and only human city that has achieved total peace, up above the water humanity wages war against one another. Everyone vs everyone, over 1 billion people have been killed for pathetic resources like gasoline, oil, gold, money. While this is the embodiment of what humanity prays for every night, what every hungry child hopes to find, what humanity should be. This is, Essence, the essence of the good of humanity. When you enter the city you will be assigned a job, if you work hard you're guaranteed a place to sleep, and enough food to feed your family. We are reaching the city limits now, I hope you have a very nice day, and welcome to your new home." Shining Armor and Cadence looked at each other for a few seconds, and back at the window, the window was opening up again and what they saw was amazing. "Wow. This place is amazing, a whole city underwater." Said Cadence. "Ya, I agree ." Just after he said that the pod slowed down and entered a small opening, the pod got all the way in and stopped with a small jerk that made Shining Armor and Cadence fall, with Shining on top. "Shining, this isn't the time." "Sorry, it was just how I fell." The pod started to ascend, after a second it stopped again with little to no jerk, the shaft they just ascended closed up and the water level started to drop until it was all gone. As soon it emptied the pod started to turn around to view the entrance to the city. Though it wasn't all golden and shiny, but it was dark and dead looking. There was a long, slender hallway with one flickering light right in front of the pod, the floor had a discolored and ripped red carpet that should look welcoming, but it gives more of a dead feeling. "Cadence, I'm not sure this is the same place the voice told us." Cadence tried to use a teleporting spell, but all the magic was absorbed into the walls, "What the? My magic is useless, what are we gonna do?" "Wait, there's something up there." They looked closer at the hallway only to see a figure walking towards them, it was a woman, she had a masquerade party mask on (Like in Bioshock) and she wore a yellow and white poke dot dress. Her arms were stained in blood and there no eyes to be seen in the eye holes of the mask. She was walking closer, and closer to the pod, Cadence was about to say something, but Shining covered her mouth and whispered into her ear, "Maybe it can't see us, even if it does, I have a small dagger that I hid in my mane." The woman got right up to the pod and started to sniff, after a couple second she looked right into the glass and said in a very dark voice. "I can smell something, not quite human, but flesh none the less. Might just be a couple of bodies." She started to walk away allowing Shining Armor an Cadence to take one deep breath, that is until she leaped right at the glass. "I don't buy it! I know something's in there! And I'll find out what!" As she started to beat on the glass Shining Armor pushed Cadence back and used a bit of magic to pull out the dagger. He was ready to strike first, that is, before some kind of drone flew from the ceiling and pointed it's gun at the lady, "Oh no, not one of those!" It looked like this. It started to fire upon her, she started to run away as fast as she could, all while the bot followed her. Shining Armor and Cadence heard nothing for almost exactly one minute, but then they heard a male voice ask. "Hello, hello? Please respond, I need help, SOS, mayday, please respond if anyone in that pod is alive, please, I need serious help. Please for the love of god respond!" Shining Armor looked over and saw a small microphone connected to a box, he grabbed it with his magic and replied. "Yes we get you, do you receive us?" "Yes, yes I do! Thank god, at least somebody is still alive." "Who are you? And what is going on?" "Sorry, my name's Otter, and what happened is truly awful. A couple days ago there was a leak in a pipe, okay long story short the pipe let out a whole bunch of creatures that drilled themselves into our heads and ate our brains, while at the same time learning how we work and eventually, they controlled our bodies. I think I'm one of the last survivors here, mainly because I haven't had anyone or anything reply to my cries of distress. But there is one upside, the location I am in is right at the control panel for the bots like the one you just saw, along with control of the only evacuation sub that will get you two out of here." "Wow, well mister Otter, how do we get there?" "First, how many of you are there?" "Two, me and my wife." "Good, but the bad part is it's gonna cost you to leave in my sub." "I don't like this, but what do you want? Money, weapons?" "None of that, all I want is for you two to go get my wife and my daughter, I received a message from them just a couple hours ago, and sadly I can't go get them, the doors that lead out of here are bolted shut. And the entrance to the evacuation sub area can only be opened remotely, with someone in the room I'm in. Please, if you two get them, I will be happy to get you two out of this hell-hole." "Well, do we have any other choice?" Cadence lightly bumped his shoulder. "Well, the alternative is that you both get your heads drilled by seashells, slowly, and very painfully have your brains sucked out and digested for at least 15 minutes followed by it taking over both of your bodies and you two being stuck down here, forever. So which one is it?" Cadence gave Shining Armor a look of, you'd better do it or else. "We'll do it, but are there any weapons we could use, this dagger isn't gonna do much." "There is a small armory near your location, it's probably been looted for everything big, but it might have a couple weapons left, I'll light up the signs so you two will know where to go." "We are putting a lot of trust into you, if you lead us to our dooms we will come for you." "Hey, it's my family on the line here, my wife and baby daughter." Cadence started to think a bit, Shining replied, "Alright, we'll head that way, but how will we talk?" "Duh, you can pick this thing up and strap it to your back." "Oh." Shining Armor used some magic and put the radio on his back and the mic over his ear so he can directly talk with Otter. Cadence ask Shining, "I think this guy might lead us into a trap, we shouldn't trust him." "Cadence, we have no choice here, our powerful magic doesn't work around here. Now the faster we get out of here the sooner we'll get back to Equestria, what do you say?" "Sigh, alright, let's go. We just gotta be very careful around here." The pod doors opened and a nice, fresh smell of ocean water and death raped their noses, making their nostrils flair up, "Elgh, not how I expected it to smell like." Said Cadence. They slowly got out of the pod and walked into the dark, almost unlit hallway unsure of anything that will come. Author's Note Well what do you all think of it? Tell me in the comments. I'll post chapter 2 in about a week or so, and trust me when I say it gets really good. Chapter 2: Time to get some weaponsAt the end of the long hallway they reached a wall with two exits, one to the left, the other to the right, the sign next to the left one said "Casino" while the right one said "Security checkpoint". The lights surrounding the signs were both on, Cadence asked. "Um, which way should we go?" The left sign shut down and the right one blinked multiple times. "I think we should go right." Shining Armor and Cadence started to walk that way. The area was wider, yet still small, it had two metal detectors on each side and a padlocked door in the middle. There was one body sitting with his back to the door, it was a security guard that, has seen better days. Otter said over the radio, "Yup, that room should have what you two need, and it looks to be untouched, you two are lucky." Shining Armor asked, "Is that a body?" "Oh yes it is, poor guy, but come on, my family only has a certain amount of time left before they will die." Cadence used her magic and tore off the pad lock, Otter asked, "Wait, neither of you touched that lock, how did you two do that?" "We're a unicorn and an alicorn." "A what, hold on let me look through the overhead camera, then I'll know what you two look like." They waited a second, the radio was silent, and the area was almost too quiet. That is until Otter said, "Holy f**k! You two are aliens, holy s**t! Wow, I did not expect that. But with everything that's happening right now, I shouldn't act so surprised. First the biggest world war, then an underwater city that is filled with water, followed by strange creatures killing everyone around me, why not alien ponies with powers, why the f**k not?!" "Um, are you okay?" "I'm not sure, get the weapons and I'll get back to you." "Sure." Shining and Cadence looked at each other worryingly, they looked back at the door and opened it, the body fell over and the head just, popped off, Cadence almost threw up. Shining Armor entered first followed by Cadence, in there was a couple lockers that were shut tight, and a small gun rack. Sadly only two pistols were left and each had only one clip, which is 12 rounds. Otter said, "Oh, I kinda hoped for more, but this is better than nothing. Do you two know how to work these things?" "No." Said Shining Armor. "Alright, you point the barrel, slide the button next to the trigger, aim down the sight, and pull the trigger, that will launch one bullet, the bullet is a piece of metal that will travel faster that the speed of sound and it goes where you point, aim for the heads, shooting the bodies just pisses them off." "Wait, pisses them off?" Asked Shining Armor. "Ya, the only part that does anything is the parasite itself. Trust me, that's why the drones are such pieces of s**t, now after you grab those guns you two will have to go up to the ventilation, it's the quickest, and safest, way to get to slum square, that's where my family is." Cadence asked him, "Wait, slum square?" "Ya." "That sounds very weird, might I ask what your job is?" Asked Cadence. "Wait, you aren't the unicorn, I'll ask your names in a second, I'm a janitor, I was mopping around here when I noticed everyone was gone, the doors slammed shut and I was locked in with enough food for at least 2 weeks, and access to every single door, sign, and even drones. Now what is your name, then your husband's name." "Sorry, I'm princess Mi Amore Cadence, but I prefer Cadence, this is Shining Armor." They started to hear him laughing over the intercom, Shining Armor asked, "What is so funny?" "Your name, of my god, Shining Armor, wow, that's your name! Ahahahahaha! That is the dumbest name I've ever ahah ever, ahahaha, HEARD!" They heard him fall on the floor laughing his a*s off, Cadence snickered a bit while Shining Armor was getting kinda mad. "I'm so sorry, but that name, I needed a laugh, I haven't laughed since I lost contact with everyone around here. Ha, thanks, now the vents are right above you, there is a small grate, just hit it and it'll drop. When it does every splicer, that's what I call them by the way, will be running over here wanting some blood." Shining Armor and Cadence gulped a bit before Cadence lit up her horn and started to shake it, it was hurting her quite a bit, felling the magic being sucked out of her. Eventually she opened the grate and Shining Armor jumped off a locker and grabbed onto the hole with his hoofs and magic. He barely got his butt in before Cadence flew inside, she used a bit more magic to lift the guns to them and she put the grate back on. Everything looked normal in there. As expected, the splicers ran in, two of them had light machine guns, and one of them had a revolver, the two splicers with riffles were male, while the one with the revolver was female. One of the males said, "I heard something near here, I know I did." The female replied, "Oh please, you inhabited a horrible host, and you lost his hearing aids a few days ago." "Sigh, very true, let's go." They walked out of the room and they closed the door behind them. Shining Armor said, "That was too close." Otter replied, "Agreed, now you two will wanna head straight forward for a few minutes, then take a right." Shining Armor and Cadence started to make their way up. Cadence asked Shining, "Hey, could you ask Otter why large amounts of magic doesn't work here?" "Sure, hey Otter?" "Sup." Said Otter. "We've been curious, why can't we use any kind of teleporting magic?" "Ha, magic doesn't exist here, dumba*s." "We can use it." "You aren't joking are you?" "Nope." "Well, I should be way more surprised, but after what's happened recently this doesn't even faze me. Well the city planners thought of using solar energy, but this city was way to low for that, so they came up with an interesting way to fuel the city. Any large amount of energy made by life forms is absorbed into the walls and is used to power the city, so for instance if someone gets pumped after work and wants to do something his energy is absorbed and he just resumes the normal cycle. I'll admit, it's over thought, and way more complex than it needs to b- turn left now." They stopped and turned left down another vent shaft. "I hope it's no to complex, but I personally think it's stupid, it makes all the energy from the working class and uses it to power the lights for the rich folk." Cadence replied over Shining Armor's shoulder, "I get it, but it does seem overly elaborated in terms of power." "I agree, keep going straight, that should lead you two to Slum square, just don't turn into any other side vents and you two should live." "Should?" Asked Shining Armor. "Poor choice of words, keep going." Author's Note This chapter is slow, but the next one is really good. I just wrote this chapter to elaborate a bit. And I was bored on a Friday night, not all of us have friends. Chapter 3: Here's something unexpectedAfter about thirty minutes of climbing in the vents they finally reach the residential area of Slum Square, the vent got a whole lot dustier then in the entrance of the city. Shining Armor asked. "So how much longer do we have to crawl?" Otter replied, "Not long, you should be getting near the apartment complex as we speak, just another minute, I'll tell you when to stop. Like I've been for the past thirty f**king minutes." "What?" Asked Shining Armor. "Sorry, a bit of static." Cadence asked. "So what are they like?" "Who?" Asked Otter. "your family." "Oh right, they are wonderful, my little girl is but a year old and she's already said mommy, I can tell she'll do great things. And my wife is beautiful, I honestly don't know how I got her. Oh here's the opening." Shining Armor looked down and saw a small road, it was made from asphalt, duh. Though they heard voices from a little bit away, like on the next street corner. "Oh crap, your not alone, just be very careful and quiet and you two should be fine." Said Otter. Shining used a bit of magic and moved the vent cover, he dropped his head down a bit and looked around. The area was very small, compact, and very filthy, there was trash all over the street, and blood on the road. The space of the road is about 10 feet and a sidewalk about 3 feet, 13 feet between very tightly packed apartments, it was like they were getting as many people down there as possible. He jumped down and raised his gun, Cadence followed him down almost immediately, "Shining, this is a very.... weird place, I mean there is no space, no cleanliness, and humans would live here." "We did, to be honest I was lucky to be crammed in here, I have such a dumb job, I'm a janitor for god's sake. But we got by down here, alright the building with my family should be right in front of you, slowly get to the door and get to the stairs. The one big rule down here, never trust elevators, they can be a bit wonky, with a lot of death in the mix." Shining Armor and Cadence did as they were told and quietly walked to the front doors and they opened the doors. The bottom floor was just a small rectangle with a mailbox shoved in the wall, to the right was a small and very ominous staircase, to the left was a small elevator, it had the classic metal doors which looked a lot more inviting than the stairs. But going with the local's suggestion, they took to the stairs. Each step was more scary than the last one, they feared falling down and dying. When they got to the second floor Otter said, "This is it, now go down the hallway until you two get to the end, then take the right door and you'll be in my apartment." The couple slowly walked down the hall, the more they went down the more... filthy, and deadlier it got, until. They heard something moving behind them, they looked, but nothing was there, "Otter, what's that?" "I don't know, but I'll send a drone over there, until then you'll have to deal with this on your own, proceed with caution." Shining Armor took the lead and slowly walked a little bit up, until the noise got a little bit closer. Shining Armor looked up and saw a human looking down at him drooling, it had the dried out face of a mummy, and glowing yellow eyes. "RUN!" Shouted Shining Armor, he pointed his gun up and fired, the creature fell off the ceiling and hit the floor with a small, yet distinct splat. "Sweet Celestia, what was that?!" Asked a scared Cadence. Two drones flew in, the drones looked at the body, then Otter replied. "Ah, that would be what I like to call a spooder, it can crawl on walls and rotate it's head 180 degrees to look at you from the ceiling. I've seen a lot of people try to kill one, but fail, luckily you found a stupid one, so you two have dumb luck on your side, nice. Now then, the door is just a little farther, please keep going, my drones will take point." The drones flew down the hallway, but nothing really happened, they stopped right in front of the door. It was a heavy brass door, it had a little rust in the corners, it also had a little view hole on the door that was, leaking water? "Is that supposed to do that?" Asked Cadence, Otter shouted over the radio. "Oh shit, open that f**king door! NOW!" Shining Armor used some magic and he turned the knob, but as soon as he did that a large wave of water gushed out of the room pushing Shining Armor and Cadence away from the door. After about 2 minute Cadence and Shining Armor started to wake back up, "What happened? I can't see anything, my drones were taken down for a second, what's going on?!" Shining Armor replied, "We're still alive, but we're not seeing anypony on the ground." "Oh shit, please look in the room, I wanna know what happened." Shining Armor helped Cadence up and they proceeded to enter the apartment, but what they saw shocked them. In the middle of the room was two bodies, a grown woman with red hair, and a small infant. Otter's two drones flew in and just hovered over the bodies, there was complete radio silence for at least 2 minutes, until. "Oh my god, they're dead, I- I. What have I done to deserve this? My family, just, gone. They were everything, they were my life, I, I, don't know what do anymore, why'd they have to die, why not me instead? What'd I do? AARRRGGHHHH!!" They heard Otter starting to sob, Cadence ran to the end of the hallway while Shining Armor walked to the bodies and used some magic to close their dead, distant eyes. He walked back to Cadence, the drones followed right behind him all the way to the end of the hallway. She was crying in a corner, Shining Armor put his hoof on her shoulder, she leaned her head into it and cried a bit more. "Cadence, there was nothing you could have done, there just isn't." "You two could have arrived sooner, allowing my family to live, this is... I'm sorry, it's nobody's fault, or it's not any living person's fault. Since you two got there, just go to the vent and head down for 3 miles or so, I'll set the drones to protect the vent opening, while I will go cry in a corner with a bottle of vodka in one hand, and a bottle of hard cider in the other." They heard him get out of the chair and walk away, the drones flew out of the complex, and into the street. Shining Armor wrapped his arms around her and just let her cry. After about 10 minutes she looks up at Shining Armor and says, "Thank you for being the strong one right now. I needed to get that out, so we just go down the vent and we get to submarine, escape with Otter, and teleport back to Equestria, good plan?" "Very good plan dear, now let's get going." Cadence stood back up and they walked down the stairs and onto the street. Now the street was being overrun with the creatures, Shining Armor got his gun out and started to shoot the closest ones, three of them fell before he ran out of ammo. The drones were trying, but the creatures were jumping up to the drones and beating them down like flies. Shining Armor and Cadence ran as fast as they could toward the vent, but one of the creatures pounced Cadence, it was a female and said. "Oh killing you will be such a blast darling, I wonder what horse tastes li-" Shining Armor grabbed his knife and stabbed the creature in the back of the head making it fall to the ground dead. "Thank you Shining." "We gotta move Cadence, come on." Cadence got back up and flew up to the vent, she held her hoof out and grabbed Shining Armor's hoof. She pulled him up and they quickly crawled away from the action and toward the submarine. Author's Note Sorry if this was rushed, and just kinda wonky, my college classes just started and I've been slammed with work. But one more chapter, then we'll be done. I appreciate all of you who've been reading this far, thank you. The next chapter won't take as long to edit, I hope. Chapter 4: Is this.... the end?It has been half an hour, Shining Armor and Cadence were starting to get tired of crawling through those vents, they're getting worried about Otter, he hasn't called them since his family died. "I still can't believe he saw the dead bodies of his wife and daughter, it was horrible to hear him, nopony should have to go through that." Said Shining Armor. "We should have saved them earlier, we should have done something." "Cadence, no we couldn't, they were probably dead by the time we came here. There was nothing we could do." Otter came over the radio and said, "You two are right over the vent, sigh, just drop down and I'll get the sub ready." The vent right in front of them opened and they dropped down. The room was made out of white cubes with black outlining each cube, to their lefts there were several openings and one in the corner that had a submarine in it. To their right there was two way glass, they could see their reflection, but not what's behind the mirror. Suddenly the radio started to short circuit and Shining Armor had to drop it or get electrocuted. It bursted into flames leaving them there alone, or so they thought. "What the-" Shining Armor was interrupted by a loud mechanical noise, they turned around to see a wall disappearing and a control room was now able to be seen. "Shining, I think I see something moving!" it got closer and closer to the glass until they could see it's face. It was a man, but it had normal brown eyes and no impact to the head, just a normal human. He looked scrony and very skinny, he had very short hair, like a buzz cut, he was also wearing gray overalls and he was holding a bottle of booze in his left hand and a sawed off shotgun in his right hand. "Otter?" Asked Cadence. He looked at her and replied, "Yes Cadence, I'm Otter, a pleasure it is to see you two face, to face, to face." "Why three?" Asked Shining Armor. "Because there are three of us, not two." "Ahh, now I get it." "Now, you two fulfilled your promise and at least tried to save my family, but it was already to late. Shining Armor, there is something I have to tell you, father to father." "Yes, what is it?" "These are words you should live your life to, a father shouldn't have to bury their child, nor their mother. Nothing hurts as much as losing the two people in your life that mean the world to you. Now Cadence, there is also something you need to hear also." "I-I'm all ears." Said Cadence. "Good, take care of your child, it will be difficult and stressful, but it will be worth it, just not to me, based upon what happened. You two should never put your lives above your child's. The submarine is right over there, it's fully juiced up and ready to depart, it'll take you two to the surface and you'll be able to leave this planet, forever hopefully." "Come on, lets get out of here Otter!" Said Shining Armor. "I can't, there isn't anything for me out there. Everything I held dear was here, now they're gone, forever. I can't live without them, I will not live without them." "Otter." Said Cadence. "Never lose your families, it will hurt you more than them, I wish you two the best, and I beg of you two to, NEVER COME BACK HERE AGAIN! Now then, it's time for me to see them again, in heaven. Goodbye, my friends, I hope to see you two again in the afterlife." Shining Armor tried to use his magic to get rid of Otter's gun, but it was futile at best, Otter lifted the gun to his head and closed his eyes. For a moment everything was silent, then, BANG, blood splattered all over the glass and Otter's body fell to the ground limp and dead. Shining Armor and Cadence were just standing there, shocked yet again by death. "H-He kil-l-led himse-e-elf?! Holy-" Cadence was cut off by Shining Armor shoving his hoof over her mouth. "Look away." She turned around with tears pouring from her face, Shining Armor with a slightly teary face walked up to the glass and said, "I understand, and I hope you'll be with your family, may you rest in peace, and thank you for helping us, we'll remember you, forever." He turned around and walked to Cadence, she hugged him right before they walked over to the sub. It was a very small sub, maybe the size of a small room, it's top hatch was open and all the important things had been taken care of. They stepped inside, there were two seats for the controls, and 3 more behind them, would have been just enough for Otter's family. Shining Armor sat down on the left seat, and Cadence sat on the right, she used some magic and closed the bulkhead. Shining Armor pushed the glowing red button that said launch. Cadence closed her eyes and whispered, "Goodbye Essence, hope you never trap anyone else down here again." With a jerk the sub dropped about 2 feet and hit the water, it's auto pilot took over and it made it's way to the surface. Cadence asked. "Why?" Shining Armor looked at her and replied, "Why what?" "Why did all this happen, why here and nowhere else. We could've been transported to a nice beach, or a resort, or anywhere, but why here?" "Let's not complain, we're getting out of there alive, we're almost at the surface, then we teleport back to Equestria, and drink the worst of these memories away." "But you didn't answer my question." "Because I can't, I don't know and we'll never know, please, let's just go home and talk this over there." "Alright, wait! I see sunlight." "Me too." Replied Shining Armor. And it was true, they were reaching the surface. After a second the sub reached the top, the top half of the sub was out of the water and holding steady. Cadence used her magic and opened the bulkhead. They poked they're heads out and saw bright blue seas and a bright light blue sky with the sun shining above them, it was beautiful. They took a moment to admire the beauty of the sea, and the warmth of the sun. Cadence's horn glowed brightly and after a second they vanished. Equestria: There were guards all over the throne room, examining every crack, every corner to find out what happened. Sunset was holding little Flurry Heart with his magic, she was in the crib. Suddenly a bright flash enveloped the throne as everypony covered their eyes. After a second the light subsided and there sat Shining Armor, and Cadence. Sunburst ran up to them and asked, "Where were you two? We were looking all over the castle." Cadence replied, "Well, we were sent to a whole different world, now I wanna see Flurry Heart, then Shining and I will be heading off to the bar, we both need a couple drinks." All Sunburst could say was, "Um, alright, but please fill me in on what happened later, okay?" "Sure." Said Cadence. After a couple minutes with Flurry Heart they decided to have the wine sent to their bedroom, they just wanted to be alone for the mean time. Cadence flopped on the bed while Shining Armor went over to the bottle of wine and poured it into two glasses. He used his magic to take Cadence's drink to her, she nodded. As she was about to drink Shining Armor said, "Wait. I need to propose a toast." "What is it?" Replied Cadence. "To Otter, the human who pretty much saved our lives, may he rest in peace with his family." Cadence nodded with a small tear rolling off of her cheek. They toasted and drank the whole night away. Author's Note Well I hope this story was interesting, if this story gets enough love I'll do a much more edited one and I'll add a whole new chapter. Let me know what all you liked about it, and what all you didn't like about it. I read all my comments.
Chapter 1: Welcome to your doomIn the very beautiful and glamorous Crystal Empire throne room, was Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, oh and Flurry Heart too. Shining Armor was holding Flurry Heart while ordering some of the guards around, Cadence was using her magic to go over a whole bunch of papers full of boring political stuff that no one really cares about. Shining Armor walked up to Cadence and said to her, "I gotta ask, where is Sunburst?" "Oh I forgot, he's very sick, he has the flu. And we wouldn't wanna get our little girl sick do we?" "Sigh, alright, I just wish I could have somepony else do this sh-" Cadence shoved her hoof in his mouth and said. "Little pictures." She glanced at Flurry Heart and back at Shining Armor. "Sorry dear, I've been trying to change all the cursing, or as you call it guard talk, but sometimes stuff just, slips out." "It's alright, I just don't want our little filly to know every word the royal guard knows by the age of twelve, and you know exactly the words I mean." "Can we please drop this, I'm trying to do better, hey where are all of the guards?" "I think they're smarter than you give them credit for, they know to stay out of our kerfuffles." Just as she finished Flurry Heart's horn started to glow as she was about to sneeze, until. "AAACHHOOO!!!" Flurry Heart sneezed and Shining Armor and Cadence just disappeared. Three guards walked in only to find the prince and princess missing. In another, unknown location, Shining Armor and Cadence were unconscious inside what seemed like a giant metal pod, the walls were shaped as if they were in a ball with a flat red carpet floor, the metal walls were brass or copper. In the back of the pod was a lever, in the front was a large window that was curved like the walls were. What was seen out of the window was a very dark corridor, I mean you can't see 1 foot into it. Shining Armor and Cadence were starting to wake back up, the first thing Cadence asked, "Where are we?" Shining Armor replied, "I don't know, but it ain't in the Crystal Empire." "Aw come on, I thought Flurry Heart's magical outbursts were over." "Um Cadence, I think we need to focus on where we are more than how we got here." "Alright, I think we should get out of here, but how?" Shining Armor looked behind him and saw the lever. "I think we need to pull this lever to get out." "Try it, we have almost no other choice in the matter." Shining Armor pulled the lever and a large "shunk" was heard, they looked around for a sec only to look out the window. They were descending down into water. They got a little lower only to see a rusty copper sign say "5 fathoms". "Shining, what does fathoms mean?" "I'm not sure, but I think Twilight told me, it's how deep you are in water." Just as he finishes the lights dim down and a whitish tarp fell covering the window, a video started to play. A woman in the film said. "Welcome to Essence, the first, and only human city that has achieved total peace, up above the water humanity wages war against one another. Everyone vs everyone, over 1 billion people have been killed for pathetic resources like gasoline, oil, gold, money. While this is the embodiment of what humanity prays for every night, what every hungry child hopes to find, what humanity should be. This is, Essence, the essence of the good of humanity. When you enter the city you will be assigned a job, if you work hard you're guaranteed a place to sleep, and enough food to feed your family. We are reaching the city limits now, I hope you have a very nice day, and welcome to your new home." Shining Armor and Cadence looked at each other for a few seconds, and back at the window, the window was opening up again and what they saw was amazing. "Wow. This place is amazing, a whole city underwater." Said Cadence. "Ya, I agree ." Just after he said that the pod slowed down and entered a small opening, the pod got all the way in and stopped with a small jerk that made Shining Armor and Cadence fall, with Shining on top. "Shining, this isn't the time." "Sorry, it was just how I fell." The pod started to ascend, after a second it stopped again with little to no jerk, the shaft they just ascended closed up and the water level started to drop until it was all gone. As soon it emptied the pod started to turn around to view the entrance to the city. Though it wasn't all golden and shiny, but it was dark and dead looking. There was a long, slender hallway with one flickering light right in front of the pod, the floor had a discolored and ripped red carpet that should look welcoming, but it gives more of a dead feeling. "Cadence, I'm not sure this is the same place the voice told us." Cadence tried to use a teleporting spell, but all the magic was absorbed into the walls, "What the? My magic is useless, what are we gonna do?" "Wait, there's something up there." They looked closer at the hallway only to see a figure walking towards them, it was a woman, she had a masquerade party mask on (Like in Bioshock) and she wore a yellow and white poke dot dress. Her arms were stained in blood and there no eyes to be seen in the eye holes of the mask. She was walking closer, and closer to the pod, Cadence was about to say something, but Shining covered her mouth and whispered into her ear, "Maybe it can't see us, even if it does, I have a small dagger that I hid in my mane." The woman got right up to the pod and started to sniff, after a couple second she looked right into the glass and said in a very dark voice. "I can smell something, not quite human, but flesh none the less. Might just be a couple of bodies." She started to walk away allowing Shining Armor an Cadence to take one deep breath, that is until she leaped right at the glass. "I don't buy it! I know something's in there! And I'll find out what!" As she started to beat on the glass Shining Armor pushed Cadence back and used a bit of magic to pull out the dagger. He was ready to strike first, that is, before some kind of drone flew from the ceiling and pointed it's gun at the lady, "Oh no, not one of those!" It looked like this. It started to fire upon her, she started to run away as fast as she could, all while the bot followed her. Shining Armor and Cadence heard nothing for almost exactly one minute, but then they heard a male voice ask. "Hello, hello? Please respond, I need help, SOS, mayday, please respond if anyone in that pod is alive, please, I need serious help. Please for the love of god respond!" Shining Armor looked over and saw a small microphone connected to a box, he grabbed it with his magic and replied. "Yes we get you, do you receive us?" "Yes, yes I do! Thank god, at least somebody is still alive." "Who are you? And what is going on?" "Sorry, my name's Otter, and what happened is truly awful. A couple days ago there was a leak in a pipe, okay long story short the pipe let out a whole bunch of creatures that drilled themselves into our heads and ate our brains, while at the same time learning how we work and eventually, they controlled our bodies. I think I'm one of the last survivors here, mainly because I haven't had anyone or anything reply to my cries of distress. But there is one upside, the location I am in is right at the control panel for the bots like the one you just saw, along with control of the only evacuation sub that will get you two out of here." "Wow, well mister Otter, how do we get there?" "First, how many of you are there?" "Two, me and my wife." "Good, but the bad part is it's gonna cost you to leave in my sub." "I don't like this, but what do you want? Money, weapons?" "None of that, all I want is for you two to go get my wife and my daughter, I received a message from them just a couple hours ago, and sadly I can't go get them, the doors that lead out of here are bolted shut. And the entrance to the evacuation sub area can only be opened remotely, with someone in the room I'm in. Please, if you two get them, I will be happy to get you two out of this hell-hole." "Well, do we have any other choice?" Cadence lightly bumped his shoulder. "Well, the alternative is that you both get your heads drilled by seashells, slowly, and very painfully have your brains sucked out and digested for at least 15 minutes followed by it taking over both of your bodies and you two being stuck down here, forever. So which one is it?" Cadence gave Shining Armor a look of, you'd better do it or else. "We'll do it, but are there any weapons we could use, this dagger isn't gonna do much." "There is a small armory near your location, it's probably been looted for everything big, but it might have a couple weapons left, I'll light up the signs so you two will know where to go." "We are putting a lot of trust into you, if you lead us to our dooms we will come for you." "Hey, it's my family on the line here, my wife and baby daughter." Cadence started to think a bit, Shining replied, "Alright, we'll head that way, but how will we talk?" "Duh, you can pick this thing up and strap it to your back." "Oh." Shining Armor used some magic and put the radio on his back and the mic over his ear so he can directly talk with Otter. Cadence ask Shining, "I think this guy might lead us into a trap, we shouldn't trust him." "Cadence, we have no choice here, our powerful magic doesn't work around here. Now the faster we get out of here the sooner we'll get back to Equestria, what do you say?" "Sigh, alright, let's go. We just gotta be very careful around here." The pod doors opened and a nice, fresh smell of ocean water and death raped their noses, making their nostrils flair up, "Elgh, not how I expected it to smell like." Said Cadence. They slowly got out of the pod and walked into the dark, almost unlit hallway unsure of anything that will come. Author's Note Well what do you all think of it? Tell me in the comments. I'll post chapter 2 in about a week or so, and trust me when I say it gets really good.
Chapter 2: Time to get some weaponsAt the end of the long hallway they reached a wall with two exits, one to the left, the other to the right, the sign next to the left one said "Casino" while the right one said "Security checkpoint". The lights surrounding the signs were both on, Cadence asked. "Um, which way should we go?" The left sign shut down and the right one blinked multiple times. "I think we should go right." Shining Armor and Cadence started to walk that way. The area was wider, yet still small, it had two metal detectors on each side and a padlocked door in the middle. There was one body sitting with his back to the door, it was a security guard that, has seen better days. Otter said over the radio, "Yup, that room should have what you two need, and it looks to be untouched, you two are lucky." Shining Armor asked, "Is that a body?" "Oh yes it is, poor guy, but come on, my family only has a certain amount of time left before they will die." Cadence used her magic and tore off the pad lock, Otter asked, "Wait, neither of you touched that lock, how did you two do that?" "We're a unicorn and an alicorn." "A what, hold on let me look through the overhead camera, then I'll know what you two look like." They waited a second, the radio was silent, and the area was almost too quiet. That is until Otter said, "Holy f**k! You two are aliens, holy s**t! Wow, I did not expect that. But with everything that's happening right now, I shouldn't act so surprised. First the biggest world war, then an underwater city that is filled with water, followed by strange creatures killing everyone around me, why not alien ponies with powers, why the f**k not?!" "Um, are you okay?" "I'm not sure, get the weapons and I'll get back to you." "Sure." Shining and Cadence looked at each other worryingly, they looked back at the door and opened it, the body fell over and the head just, popped off, Cadence almost threw up. Shining Armor entered first followed by Cadence, in there was a couple lockers that were shut tight, and a small gun rack. Sadly only two pistols were left and each had only one clip, which is 12 rounds. Otter said, "Oh, I kinda hoped for more, but this is better than nothing. Do you two know how to work these things?" "No." Said Shining Armor. "Alright, you point the barrel, slide the button next to the trigger, aim down the sight, and pull the trigger, that will launch one bullet, the bullet is a piece of metal that will travel faster that the speed of sound and it goes where you point, aim for the heads, shooting the bodies just pisses them off." "Wait, pisses them off?" Asked Shining Armor. "Ya, the only part that does anything is the parasite itself. Trust me, that's why the drones are such pieces of s**t, now after you grab those guns you two will have to go up to the ventilation, it's the quickest, and safest, way to get to slum square, that's where my family is." Cadence asked him, "Wait, slum square?" "Ya." "That sounds very weird, might I ask what your job is?" Asked Cadence. "Wait, you aren't the unicorn, I'll ask your names in a second, I'm a janitor, I was mopping around here when I noticed everyone was gone, the doors slammed shut and I was locked in with enough food for at least 2 weeks, and access to every single door, sign, and even drones. Now what is your name, then your husband's name." "Sorry, I'm princess Mi Amore Cadence, but I prefer Cadence, this is Shining Armor." They started to hear him laughing over the intercom, Shining Armor asked, "What is so funny?" "Your name, of my god, Shining Armor, wow, that's your name! Ahahahahaha! That is the dumbest name I've ever ahah ever, ahahaha, HEARD!" They heard him fall on the floor laughing his a*s off, Cadence snickered a bit while Shining Armor was getting kinda mad. "I'm so sorry, but that name, I needed a laugh, I haven't laughed since I lost contact with everyone around here. Ha, thanks, now the vents are right above you, there is a small grate, just hit it and it'll drop. When it does every splicer, that's what I call them by the way, will be running over here wanting some blood." Shining Armor and Cadence gulped a bit before Cadence lit up her horn and started to shake it, it was hurting her quite a bit, felling the magic being sucked out of her. Eventually she opened the grate and Shining Armor jumped off a locker and grabbed onto the hole with his hoofs and magic. He barely got his butt in before Cadence flew inside, she used a bit more magic to lift the guns to them and she put the grate back on. Everything looked normal in there. As expected, the splicers ran in, two of them had light machine guns, and one of them had a revolver, the two splicers with riffles were male, while the one with the revolver was female. One of the males said, "I heard something near here, I know I did." The female replied, "Oh please, you inhabited a horrible host, and you lost his hearing aids a few days ago." "Sigh, very true, let's go." They walked out of the room and they closed the door behind them. Shining Armor said, "That was too close." Otter replied, "Agreed, now you two will wanna head straight forward for a few minutes, then take a right." Shining Armor and Cadence started to make their way up. Cadence asked Shining, "Hey, could you ask Otter why large amounts of magic doesn't work here?" "Sure, hey Otter?" "Sup." Said Otter. "We've been curious, why can't we use any kind of teleporting magic?" "Ha, magic doesn't exist here, dumba*s." "We can use it." "You aren't joking are you?" "Nope." "Well, I should be way more surprised, but after what's happened recently this doesn't even faze me. Well the city planners thought of using solar energy, but this city was way to low for that, so they came up with an interesting way to fuel the city. Any large amount of energy made by life forms is absorbed into the walls and is used to power the city, so for instance if someone gets pumped after work and wants to do something his energy is absorbed and he just resumes the normal cycle. I'll admit, it's over thought, and way more complex than it needs to b- turn left now." They stopped and turned left down another vent shaft. "I hope it's no to complex, but I personally think it's stupid, it makes all the energy from the working class and uses it to power the lights for the rich folk." Cadence replied over Shining Armor's shoulder, "I get it, but it does seem overly elaborated in terms of power." "I agree, keep going straight, that should lead you two to Slum square, just don't turn into any other side vents and you two should live." "Should?" Asked Shining Armor. "Poor choice of words, keep going." Author's Note This chapter is slow, but the next one is really good. I just wrote this chapter to elaborate a bit. And I was bored on a Friday night, not all of us have friends.
Chapter 3: Here's something unexpectedAfter about thirty minutes of climbing in the vents they finally reach the residential area of Slum Square, the vent got a whole lot dustier then in the entrance of the city. Shining Armor asked. "So how much longer do we have to crawl?" Otter replied, "Not long, you should be getting near the apartment complex as we speak, just another minute, I'll tell you when to stop. Like I've been for the past thirty f**king minutes." "What?" Asked Shining Armor. "Sorry, a bit of static." Cadence asked. "So what are they like?" "Who?" Asked Otter. "your family." "Oh right, they are wonderful, my little girl is but a year old and she's already said mommy, I can tell she'll do great things. And my wife is beautiful, I honestly don't know how I got her. Oh here's the opening." Shining Armor looked down and saw a small road, it was made from asphalt, duh. Though they heard voices from a little bit away, like on the next street corner. "Oh crap, your not alone, just be very careful and quiet and you two should be fine." Said Otter. Shining used a bit of magic and moved the vent cover, he dropped his head down a bit and looked around. The area was very small, compact, and very filthy, there was trash all over the street, and blood on the road. The space of the road is about 10 feet and a sidewalk about 3 feet, 13 feet between very tightly packed apartments, it was like they were getting as many people down there as possible. He jumped down and raised his gun, Cadence followed him down almost immediately, "Shining, this is a very.... weird place, I mean there is no space, no cleanliness, and humans would live here." "We did, to be honest I was lucky to be crammed in here, I have such a dumb job, I'm a janitor for god's sake. But we got by down here, alright the building with my family should be right in front of you, slowly get to the door and get to the stairs. The one big rule down here, never trust elevators, they can be a bit wonky, with a lot of death in the mix." Shining Armor and Cadence did as they were told and quietly walked to the front doors and they opened the doors. The bottom floor was just a small rectangle with a mailbox shoved in the wall, to the right was a small and very ominous staircase, to the left was a small elevator, it had the classic metal doors which looked a lot more inviting than the stairs. But going with the local's suggestion, they took to the stairs. Each step was more scary than the last one, they feared falling down and dying. When they got to the second floor Otter said, "This is it, now go down the hallway until you two get to the end, then take the right door and you'll be in my apartment." The couple slowly walked down the hall, the more they went down the more... filthy, and deadlier it got, until. They heard something moving behind them, they looked, but nothing was there, "Otter, what's that?" "I don't know, but I'll send a drone over there, until then you'll have to deal with this on your own, proceed with caution." Shining Armor took the lead and slowly walked a little bit up, until the noise got a little bit closer. Shining Armor looked up and saw a human looking down at him drooling, it had the dried out face of a mummy, and glowing yellow eyes. "RUN!" Shouted Shining Armor, he pointed his gun up and fired, the creature fell off the ceiling and hit the floor with a small, yet distinct splat. "Sweet Celestia, what was that?!" Asked a scared Cadence. Two drones flew in, the drones looked at the body, then Otter replied. "Ah, that would be what I like to call a spooder, it can crawl on walls and rotate it's head 180 degrees to look at you from the ceiling. I've seen a lot of people try to kill one, but fail, luckily you found a stupid one, so you two have dumb luck on your side, nice. Now then, the door is just a little farther, please keep going, my drones will take point." The drones flew down the hallway, but nothing really happened, they stopped right in front of the door. It was a heavy brass door, it had a little rust in the corners, it also had a little view hole on the door that was, leaking water? "Is that supposed to do that?" Asked Cadence, Otter shouted over the radio. "Oh shit, open that f**king door! NOW!" Shining Armor used some magic and he turned the knob, but as soon as he did that a large wave of water gushed out of the room pushing Shining Armor and Cadence away from the door. After about 2 minute Cadence and Shining Armor started to wake back up, "What happened? I can't see anything, my drones were taken down for a second, what's going on?!" Shining Armor replied, "We're still alive, but we're not seeing anypony on the ground." "Oh shit, please look in the room, I wanna know what happened." Shining Armor helped Cadence up and they proceeded to enter the apartment, but what they saw shocked them. In the middle of the room was two bodies, a grown woman with red hair, and a small infant. Otter's two drones flew in and just hovered over the bodies, there was complete radio silence for at least 2 minutes, until. "Oh my god, they're dead, I- I. What have I done to deserve this? My family, just, gone. They were everything, they were my life, I, I, don't know what do anymore, why'd they have to die, why not me instead? What'd I do? AARRRGGHHHH!!" They heard Otter starting to sob, Cadence ran to the end of the hallway while Shining Armor walked to the bodies and used some magic to close their dead, distant eyes. He walked back to Cadence, the drones followed right behind him all the way to the end of the hallway. She was crying in a corner, Shining Armor put his hoof on her shoulder, she leaned her head into it and cried a bit more. "Cadence, there was nothing you could have done, there just isn't." "You two could have arrived sooner, allowing my family to live, this is... I'm sorry, it's nobody's fault, or it's not any living person's fault. Since you two got there, just go to the vent and head down for 3 miles or so, I'll set the drones to protect the vent opening, while I will go cry in a corner with a bottle of vodka in one hand, and a bottle of hard cider in the other." They heard him get out of the chair and walk away, the drones flew out of the complex, and into the street. Shining Armor wrapped his arms around her and just let her cry. After about 10 minutes she looks up at Shining Armor and says, "Thank you for being the strong one right now. I needed to get that out, so we just go down the vent and we get to submarine, escape with Otter, and teleport back to Equestria, good plan?" "Very good plan dear, now let's get going." Cadence stood back up and they walked down the stairs and onto the street. Now the street was being overrun with the creatures, Shining Armor got his gun out and started to shoot the closest ones, three of them fell before he ran out of ammo. The drones were trying, but the creatures were jumping up to the drones and beating them down like flies. Shining Armor and Cadence ran as fast as they could toward the vent, but one of the creatures pounced Cadence, it was a female and said. "Oh killing you will be such a blast darling, I wonder what horse tastes li-" Shining Armor grabbed his knife and stabbed the creature in the back of the head making it fall to the ground dead. "Thank you Shining." "We gotta move Cadence, come on." Cadence got back up and flew up to the vent, she held her hoof out and grabbed Shining Armor's hoof. She pulled him up and they quickly crawled away from the action and toward the submarine. Author's Note Sorry if this was rushed, and just kinda wonky, my college classes just started and I've been slammed with work. But one more chapter, then we'll be done. I appreciate all of you who've been reading this far, thank you. The next chapter won't take as long to edit, I hope.
Chapter 4: Is this.... the end?It has been half an hour, Shining Armor and Cadence were starting to get tired of crawling through those vents, they're getting worried about Otter, he hasn't called them since his family died. "I still can't believe he saw the dead bodies of his wife and daughter, it was horrible to hear him, nopony should have to go through that." Said Shining Armor. "We should have saved them earlier, we should have done something." "Cadence, no we couldn't, they were probably dead by the time we came here. There was nothing we could do." Otter came over the radio and said, "You two are right over the vent, sigh, just drop down and I'll get the sub ready." The vent right in front of them opened and they dropped down. The room was made out of white cubes with black outlining each cube, to their lefts there were several openings and one in the corner that had a submarine in it. To their right there was two way glass, they could see their reflection, but not what's behind the mirror. Suddenly the radio started to short circuit and Shining Armor had to drop it or get electrocuted. It bursted into flames leaving them there alone, or so they thought. "What the-" Shining Armor was interrupted by a loud mechanical noise, they turned around to see a wall disappearing and a control room was now able to be seen. "Shining, I think I see something moving!" it got closer and closer to the glass until they could see it's face. It was a man, but it had normal brown eyes and no impact to the head, just a normal human. He looked scrony and very skinny, he had very short hair, like a buzz cut, he was also wearing gray overalls and he was holding a bottle of booze in his left hand and a sawed off shotgun in his right hand. "Otter?" Asked Cadence. He looked at her and replied, "Yes Cadence, I'm Otter, a pleasure it is to see you two face, to face, to face." "Why three?" Asked Shining Armor. "Because there are three of us, not two." "Ahh, now I get it." "Now, you two fulfilled your promise and at least tried to save my family, but it was already to late. Shining Armor, there is something I have to tell you, father to father." "Yes, what is it?" "These are words you should live your life to, a father shouldn't have to bury their child, nor their mother. Nothing hurts as much as losing the two people in your life that mean the world to you. Now Cadence, there is also something you need to hear also." "I-I'm all ears." Said Cadence. "Good, take care of your child, it will be difficult and stressful, but it will be worth it, just not to me, based upon what happened. You two should never put your lives above your child's. The submarine is right over there, it's fully juiced up and ready to depart, it'll take you two to the surface and you'll be able to leave this planet, forever hopefully." "Come on, lets get out of here Otter!" Said Shining Armor. "I can't, there isn't anything for me out there. Everything I held dear was here, now they're gone, forever. I can't live without them, I will not live without them." "Otter." Said Cadence. "Never lose your families, it will hurt you more than them, I wish you two the best, and I beg of you two to, NEVER COME BACK HERE AGAIN! Now then, it's time for me to see them again, in heaven. Goodbye, my friends, I hope to see you two again in the afterlife." Shining Armor tried to use his magic to get rid of Otter's gun, but it was futile at best, Otter lifted the gun to his head and closed his eyes. For a moment everything was silent, then, BANG, blood splattered all over the glass and Otter's body fell to the ground limp and dead. Shining Armor and Cadence were just standing there, shocked yet again by death. "H-He kil-l-led himse-e-elf?! Holy-" Cadence was cut off by Shining Armor shoving his hoof over her mouth. "Look away." She turned around with tears pouring from her face, Shining Armor with a slightly teary face walked up to the glass and said, "I understand, and I hope you'll be with your family, may you rest in peace, and thank you for helping us, we'll remember you, forever." He turned around and walked to Cadence, she hugged him right before they walked over to the sub. It was a very small sub, maybe the size of a small room, it's top hatch was open and all the important things had been taken care of. They stepped inside, there were two seats for the controls, and 3 more behind them, would have been just enough for Otter's family. Shining Armor sat down on the left seat, and Cadence sat on the right, she used some magic and closed the bulkhead. Shining Armor pushed the glowing red button that said launch. Cadence closed her eyes and whispered, "Goodbye Essence, hope you never trap anyone else down here again." With a jerk the sub dropped about 2 feet and hit the water, it's auto pilot took over and it made it's way to the surface. Cadence asked. "Why?" Shining Armor looked at her and replied, "Why what?" "Why did all this happen, why here and nowhere else. We could've been transported to a nice beach, or a resort, or anywhere, but why here?" "Let's not complain, we're getting out of there alive, we're almost at the surface, then we teleport back to Equestria, and drink the worst of these memories away." "But you didn't answer my question." "Because I can't, I don't know and we'll never know, please, let's just go home and talk this over there." "Alright, wait! I see sunlight." "Me too." Replied Shining Armor. And it was true, they were reaching the surface. After a second the sub reached the top, the top half of the sub was out of the water and holding steady. Cadence used her magic and opened the bulkhead. They poked they're heads out and saw bright blue seas and a bright light blue sky with the sun shining above them, it was beautiful. They took a moment to admire the beauty of the sea, and the warmth of the sun. Cadence's horn glowed brightly and after a second they vanished. Equestria: There were guards all over the throne room, examining every crack, every corner to find out what happened. Sunset was holding little Flurry Heart with his magic, she was in the crib. Suddenly a bright flash enveloped the throne as everypony covered their eyes. After a second the light subsided and there sat Shining Armor, and Cadence. Sunburst ran up to them and asked, "Where were you two? We were looking all over the castle." Cadence replied, "Well, we were sent to a whole different world, now I wanna see Flurry Heart, then Shining and I will be heading off to the bar, we both need a couple drinks." All Sunburst could say was, "Um, alright, but please fill me in on what happened later, okay?" "Sure." Said Cadence. After a couple minutes with Flurry Heart they decided to have the wine sent to their bedroom, they just wanted to be alone for the mean time. Cadence flopped on the bed while Shining Armor went over to the bottle of wine and poured it into two glasses. He used his magic to take Cadence's drink to her, she nodded. As she was about to drink Shining Armor said, "Wait. I need to propose a toast." "What is it?" Replied Cadence. "To Otter, the human who pretty much saved our lives, may he rest in peace with his family." Cadence nodded with a small tear rolling off of her cheek. They toasted and drank the whole night away. Author's Note Well I hope this story was interesting, if this story gets enough love I'll do a much more edited one and I'll add a whole new chapter. Let me know what all you liked about it, and what all you didn't like about it. I read all my comments.
