//-------------------------------------------------------// The Heartbeats of Iron -by Eric Longtooth- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// City of Steel //-------------------------------------------------------// City of Steel “The universe is not like a puzzle-box that you can take apart and put back together again and so solve its secrets. It is a shifting uncertain thing which changes as you consider it, which is changed by the very act of observation. A powerful man is not a man who dissects the universe like a puzzle-box, examining it piece by piece and measuring each piece with scientific precision. A powerful man has only to look upon the universe to change it.” Technomagos Gaelos, Codex Imperialis, p. 44 Manehatten. Equestria’s population centre, a city to house more than any other. Some come to seek work in the multitude of mega corporations that base themselves here. Others, seek the allure of the concrete jungle, and the more… criminal attractions hidden behind the grand constructions. But now… Now there is a new reason to come... for better or worse. After a particularly powerful earthquake rocked the unprepared city, a massive sinkhole swallowed a large portion of the island. It was a disaster, with rich and poor alike shaken by the level of devastation as nearly a quarter of the city disappeared under the earth. The Princesses gave great speeches, and roused thousands into action. Nobles, for the first time in decades, showed their hearts, as grand houses were opened up to refugees. The common pony worked tirelessly to look for the missing… and bury the dead, forging bonds between all walks of life that would’ve never happened otherwise. Unicorns performed great feats of magic in the service of others. Pulling at the strings of reality to save others they have never met. Earth ponies cleared rubble many times heavier than themselves, forcing their strength to the limit with grim determination. Pegasi scouted the ruins from the skies, informing the ground teams of unstable buildings, and fallen friends. Each flying for longer then any thought possible. For all the death, this was the one of the great moments in Equestrian history. Where ponies from all around the country banded together to rebuild homes that they may never use. It was almost insulting, for it to all crash and burn. After all the greatness… all the heroics, it seemed the universe called for a dark joke at the ponies’ expense… With a grunt of effort, rubble was pushed aside as a large stallion pushed forward. The stallion, clad in standard royal guard plate armour, was followed by a magically identical squad of guardstallions. “Keep your eyes peeled, fillies!” The leading stallion cried out to the rest of his comrades. “Let’s find these lost civvies and get back home in time for kickoff!” “Sir, yes sir!” The rest of the guardstallions shouted in response, each voices tinted in amusement at their sergeant’s antics. Near the back of the squad of eleven, a younger stallion fiddled with his armour’s straps. At his side a shortsword hovered in his golden telekinesis, its slight shaking belaying the private’s nervousness. It was little more than a training exercise, after all, it was just a missing archeology team. Chances were the team had found something shiny and got distracted. At least, that’s what he told himself. But, alas, he was still shaking in his armour. Running through the ruined city was bad enough, but doing it at night? He knew he needed night-op training, but was now really the best time? He sighed deeply before attaching his sheathed sword to his belt, after all, complaining wouldn’t help anyone, would it? “You alright, Sparky?” One of the other privates, Steele if he could remember correctly, asked, using one of her wings to brush some hair out of Spark’s eyes. “I-it’s fine. Just some first-op jitters, that’s all.” The unicorn replied, blushing lightly at the mare’s teasing caress. “First-op you say? I assume just the first night-op, after all, I’m pretty sure I’ve ran with you a few times.” Steele giggled, slowing down to walk at Spark’s side. “Y-yeah.” Spark stammered, glad the magic of his armour hid the fierce blush gracing his face. She opened her mouth to say something, before closing it as if thinking better of herself. Reigning in whatever she was going to say in favour of drifting her gaze across the ruins. Silence ruled the moment as they marched forward, giving half hearted attempts to keep an eye out for any passing figures. As the night wore on, their squad marched further and further into the centre of the ruins. Before long, the hike began to require their attention, and any hopes of conversation was buried under the steep terrain. The buildings had fallen inwards into the sinkhole, providing a relatively usable ramp into the depths of the pit. Not to say it was easy, but it was better than the near ninety degree drops of the rest of the sinkhole. It gave an almost dystopian feel, reminiscent of the modern ‘sci-fi horror’ books Spark had noticed during his rare trips to the library. A shudder cursed his spine as he looked out into the open air. After being cooped up in the main city ruins, it was nice to see the sky again. The simultaneous flutter of all the squad’s pegasi seemed to voice a unspoken agreement. Personally, he prefered this to the claustrophobic ruins of the main city. After all, this had the added bonus of being able to see for miles. It was an almost exotic feeling, having spent most of the children life, and guard career, in perpetually rainy city of Hoofington, he couldn’t remember the last time he saw such a view. As he gazed across the picturesque landscape, in all its ruined beauty, one of his comrades cried out from further up the track. “Civilians sighted! Sector three-five, north-east, three klicks out!” Homing into the coordinates, Spark noticed a slight shift in light as a campfire smoldered further into the sinkhole. It was almost unnoticeable, like picking out a single faint voice in a crowd. Turning again, he noted that one of the corporals had pointed it out. Clear Sight, if he remembered correctly, who, unsurprisingly, had a knack for picking out fine details in terrain. To the point that Spark wouldn’t be surprised if Clear was also able to see the ponies in the camp. Unfortunately for Spark though, it meant they would need to go down there to make sure. Roughly three kilometers… through ruins… further into the pit… He let out a quiet sigh, and prepared himself for a long night of hiking. “This isn’t good…” Spark murmured, his voice barely above a whisper as he walked through the abandoned remains of a civilian camp. Five tents were bunched around a smoldering campfire, each left wide open with miscellaneous supplies scattered around them. Five of the other guards had set up a perimeter as the rest searched, but the eerie silence left the young stallion feeling as if he was alone. “It looks like they left in a rush, sir.” Spark overheard one of the specialists inform the sergeant. “From what I can tell, they were moving furth-” “Sergeant! We’ve found something!” An older private, first class Spark assumed, cried from over near the eastern perimeter. The cry drew the majority of the high ranking guardstallions, with Spark following solely for morbid curiosity. Thankfully, what he came to find wasn’t the dead, but instead a small hole barely large enough for a pony to fit through. At the lip of the hole, a faded yellow rappel anchor led into the darkness, barely visible through the rubble. “Orders sergeant?” The same private asked as the sergeant drew near. The discovery slowed the sergeant stride for a moment, before he pulled in a new breath to shout orders once more. “You! Inform the perimeter guards to split into teams of two and three! The larger will follow me into the hole, and the rest will protect this point! You two! Join the specialist and investigate if there is any other leads!” “You, private!” The sergeant continued, turning to Spark. “Call in for another team to assist, then you’re coming with me!” “Sir, yes sir!” Spark cried in return, snapping to a practiced salute. As he pulled out of the mass of moving bodies, he called his magic into his horn for a trio of signal flares. As he released them, he watched the cascade of a blue, a red, and another blue grant light to the pale moonlight. It always gave him a little rush of excitement to show off his special talent, as even with his wallflower attitude, he could get somepony’s attention better than anypony in his squad. The moment passed as he was not-to-subtly forced into line by the other guards following the Sergeant. Before long, he was once more stood before the hole, this time, surrounded by comrades as they prepared to venture into the darkness. Standard night-op his flank. The commanding officer drowned on about service to the princesses and loyalty for a few minutes, hyping the other guards up to venture into the darkness as if this was the last time they’d see the light of day. It wasn’t very comforting. In the end, the speech had worked for the others, as the other guards tried their damndest to get in the hole as fast as possible, each following the sergeant as if there was nothing wrong with what they were doing. Spark let out a deep sigh, chances were he was just over reacting. After all, he was with other Royal Guards, he’d be perfectly safe. And yet, even as the line dwindled, he still couldn’t shake the feeling of dread… //-------------------------------------------------------// The Beating Heart //-------------------------------------------------------// The Beating Heart “A man may die yet still endure if his work enters the greater work. Time is carried upon a current incepted by forgotten deeds. Events of great moment are but the culmination of a single carefully placed thought. As all men must thank progenitors obscured by the past so we must endure the present that those who come after may continue the greater work. ” Garba Mojaro, Prefectus (Technomagos) of the Adeptus Mechanicus, "The Chime of Eons", Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader p. 143 A cascade of light, pouring into the vast emptiness. Three hooves below the entrance, the cave opened into a humongous cavern three ponies tall, and almost as long and wide as the Canterlot Throne Room. The other guardstallions had already reached the floor and began searching, overseen by the Sergeant who was barking orders left and right. As Spark lowered himself from the rappel line, he took note of the only opening in the walls. It was two meters high, a meter wide, and stretched beyond even the range of their military-grade light crystals. “Private! About damn time you showed up!” The Sergeant called, a slight smirk on his muzzle. “You’re in charge of the lights, get ready to move!” “Yes, Sergeant!” Spark cried in reply, snapping to a salute before stumbling as he dropped the remaining distance to the ground. Steele let out a light chuckle as she pulled him to his hooves, thankfully the rest of the guards was mercifully distracted as they drew their blades in preparation. “You alright, short stuff?” “Y-yeah, I’m fine.” Spark stammered as he was pushed to the front of the group. “W-what are you doing down here? I thought the Pegasi would stay topside…” She brushed it off with a scoff, her wings de-seathing their blades in a flurry of movement. “You lot need a mare’s touch, and as the others are a bit… flighty, I’m stuck with you.” “O-oh,” Spark muttered, drawing mana into his horn as he battled the darkness. Only to be cut out of his embarrassment as Steele once again chuckled. “Don’t worry about it, Sparky. Let’s just find these numbskulls and get out of here. I may enjoy close-quarters, but even I have my limits.” And so they moved on, following the oddly square hallway deeper into the abyss. As they walked, Spark found himself distracted by the scrapings across the wall. Whilst most of them could be written off as marks from whoever had mined this out, there was a few that seemed… out of place. Light burns following the wall for a few hooves before stopping, with the stone left by it lightly blackened and smooth. Other points had no marks to speak of, with entire sections of the wall looking like somepony had polished the stone to a shine. Spark was glad for the latter, it left him that little bit more at ease knowing that this was, at least partially, made by civilised creatures. Even though the spacing was… odd, to say the least, it had an almost… religious appeal to it. And there went the good feelings... Kicked out as his brain voiced its confusion at its own conclusion. “Well… this is off to a great start…” Seconds ticked by like hours, each step seeming to lead nowhere. Stone walls lit by the glow of magic looming at the sides of Spark’s vision, and only the sound of clanking armour to remind him of those following him. Steele had fallen silent decently early in this solemn march, along with the other guards having resigned to watching for any change in the environment. Personally, Spark was debating asking the Sergeant to turn back, but it seemed every time he had worked up the courage to, they would find a tattered piece of clothing to renew their determination. Determination… Spark was almost certain the other guards had it, but by now, he was sure he had lost his own. Even as another bit of clothing, a ruined hat this time, passed them by, he felt his creeping nervousness build even higher. The burns and scratches seemed to appear more often now, lasting multiple pony-lengths now instead of the hoof long indents of earlier. Toll the Great Bell Once... For once, a change. His armoured hooves began to strike upon a metal flooring as the stone gave way to cold metal. Even though the enchantments of his armour, Spark could feel an unnatural chill that followed each step. Pull the Lever forward to engage the Piston and Pump... On the edge of his awareness, he heard the Sergeant give the order to keep moving. Part of Spark’s mind wished he hadn’t, but the other was just glad something had changed for the first time in what seemed to be hours. Toll the Great Bell Twice… He turned his attention to the wall, which, unlike the stone one, was bare of any markings. Leaving a dull shine of grey metal illuminated by his golden magic. And yet, every five meters or so, there was a dull glass box a little larger than his head inlaid in the wall. It seemed to call to him, like a cookie jar to a foal… With push of Button fire the Engine and spark Turbine into life… He shook the feeling off, barely breaking stride as time seemed to slow. His mind raced with possibilities as he moved onwards, only vaguely aware of the guards behind him. An almost primal need fueled him to find the end of this ‘cave,’ to the point that, were he less distracted, he would’ve been reminded of the horror stories of the newest princess’... moments. Toll the Great Bell Thrice… Spark swore he could hear… something, from the darkness. A bell maybe, or even a clock tower, chiming a little further into the darkness. Its moments precisely timed, each with a perfect five seconds in between them. Or was it ten? Maybe even a minute? Steele called for him, yet her voice seemed… unimportant. A footnote in his life. Even as the Sergeant joined in calling, Spark found his body and mind compelled to move just that little bit further. Just one more step. Just one more meter… Sing Praise to the God of All Machines… {---}^v[ Steele ]v^{---} Steele brought a hoof up to rub her temples in a half-assed attempt to ease her headache. For the last hour they had been matching down this hallway, and for the last hour, she had to deal with the damned buzzing. At first, it hadn’t been too hard to ignore, but as time wore on, it became more and more audible. From what she could tell, it was like static on a radio. A near constant buzzing broken up by minuscule changes in pitch. Turning her attention to the stallion leading them, Steele tried to figure out how Spark was able to ignore the noise. If anything, he should’ve been the first guard to complain, as he had never been able to deal with high-frequency noises for long. And yet, there he was. Perfectly indifferent. His attention only ever drawn to the scratches across the walls. She let out a low sigh as she gave her wings a flew flaps in annoyance. Steele personally thought this was a waste of time, a job that should be left to civilians or adventurers, not the Royal Guard. As if to answer her complaints, Spark’s hoofsteps began to strike the metal flooring with more force. Speeding up at a steady, yet slow, pace. “Sparky? Did you see something?” Steele asked inquisitively, taking the time to scan the area ahead of them. She received no response from the stallion, but the background buzzing was soon joined by the slow, methodical, tolls of a large bell. “Spaaaark? You in there buddy?” She called, her pace matching Spark’s as she prodded him in the side. Like a rope drawn too tight, the touch sent Spark rushing forwards with surprising speed. Turning from a slow trot, to a run-or-die gallop. “Private! Get your flank back here!” The Sergeant cried from behind them, his voice joined by the sound of the rest of the guard rushing to catch up. And yet, all his cry did was cut the lights as Spark poured all of his energy into running. What was at least a hundred hooves of light, turned to only ten as their backup gems spurred to life. “Spark! What the buck is wrong with you?!” Steele demanded, taking what limited flight she could to catch up. Of all the times to break… why now? //-------------------------------------------------------// Cold Iron //-------------------------------------------------------// Cold Iron "Oh to thee of rushing water, broke upon thy shore, with no fortune foul. Speak to we few, holders of little time, fools to thee of eternal wisdom. We art lost upon the seas of time, lost upon the end, lost as the time breaks and bends around us. Sing to us, a song of fortune and the wise, a song lost to time, a song of the lost." Eric Longtooth. The sounds of vast machinery stirred Spark from his slumber, his eyes felt like lead as he slowly forced his way into wakefulness. Though, as he was roused, he regretted it as a sharp pain in his side demanded his attention. “Errrgh…” His throat felt like sandpaper, but as he scanned the area around him in an attempt to find a solution, he was greeted only by darkness. Darkness… ‘Wait…’ His memory flashed to life as he pieced together what happened, something about bells… and running… It wasn’t very helpful. His muscles cried in agony as he forced himself onto his hooves, dust and ash clinging to his fur as he moved away from his resting place. Channeling what remains of his mana, he lit the area and paused as he took it all in. It was eerily similar to the ruins of Manehatten, but unlike the ruins, there was little to no stone. Iron and steel stretched for as far as he could see, like a scrapyard of raw metal. In the distance, the sound of clanking, steam, and grinding gears voiced its presence with a steady, yet faint, siren call. Part of his mind craved the idea of a fantasy steampunk wonderland, with himself being dropped into a new world like the old fanfictions he had written as a colt. Another part of his mind cried foul, calling it hopeful wishes and screaming this being wrong. Unnatural… unsafe. And yet, with no better leads, and his fellow guards being Celestia-knows-where, he had no better options. So he walked. {---}^v[ Steele ]v^{---} Tears stung her eyes as she fought through the smoke and ash, screams of another fallen comrade spurring her onwards to greater speeds. Damn it to tartarus, even Celestia had forsaken them in this nightmare. Spark was the first to break, but not the last. Each hour another of their number had been slain by creatures in the darkness. Their presence only found in bright flashes of red, and the scorching flame of plasma cutting through flesh like butter. It only got worse when help arrived. They called in a full company after the Sergeant was culled, the veteran having taken three attacks in an attempt to give his comrades time to escape. The smell of burnt flesh, smoldering fur, and melted armour… it would haunt Steele for years to come. Assuming she lived that long. Her stuttering three-hoof geit. rung out like anvil strikes from the forge as she ducked under a long hanging tube of steel. She could barely see five hooves in front of her, but she could still hear it. The source of the buzzing, a golem taller than the princesses themselves. Not blade nor magic could touch its hide, each only earning a crackling flash of red energy as it deflected it with naught but a thought. She had survived the first encounter, but it had cost her a wing. The second cost her a leg. The third she fears would be her last. Using her remaining wing, thankfully on the same side as her lost leg, as an aide, she pulled a tight turn around a burning forge. Its heat not from burning coal, but glowing rods that provided barely enough light to see. The floor moved around her, plates of metal screaming past at speeds faster than she could ever hope to achieve on hoof, like a symphony to cruel production. Part of her wondered how they hadn’t found this place before now, but the other parts couldn’t care less as they tried their damndest to find a way out of this hellhole. THUMP-THUMP, THUMP-THUMP, THUMP-THUMP! The steps of the monster seemed to sound in time to her racing heart. Its pace an unnatural speed, bordering on a slow teleport. Another turn… duck… jump... pain... dodge... “What the fuck do you want with me?!” Steele breathlessly cried, her lungs burning at the exertion. Duck… pain… dodge… jump… turn… No… She tired to slow her pace as a large wall of stone jumped out of the darkness. No! THUMP-THUMP, THUMP-THUMP, THUMP-THUMP! NO! |>o0{ Spark }0oo0{ Spark }0oo0{ Spark }0oo0{ Spark }0o