Metropolis

Metropolis

by Kirb Hysteria

Chapter Two

Life in Equestria

A few miles to the north of Canterlot, the city of Metropolis thrived. Its bright lights could be seen miles away, its huge buildings loomed over the heads of the city's inhabitants, and its complex highways and subway system made it quick and easy to get from one place to another.

Nearly everything on the surface was powered by machines that worked underneath. Thousands of gears, pumps, switches, knobs, dials, buttons, levers and other things of the sort kept everything in the city intact.

Suddenly, as the clock struck ten, an alarm sounded. An incredibly loud, almost deafening electric shreik sounded beneath the surface, so ear-shattering that ponies could hear it up on the high stories of the skyscrapers that loomed on top of it. This meant nothing to the average Metropolis citizen, but to the workers, it signified the changing of their 10-hour shift.

All the workers of the previous shift lined up behind a gate. Once they were all in line, the gate opened up to reveal a hallway with two aisles. The exhausted figures walked down the aisle while a second group of ponies walked in the opposite direction down the second. These ponies were to work the next shift.

As the newly freed workers trudged down the aisles, there was an almost eerie silence accompanied by a unanimous feeling of hopelessness in the very air. These ponies' shifts were done, but they knew they would only get a ten-hour break before they would be put back to work. Things had gone on like this for years, and they knew it would never get any better.

At the end of the aisle there was an elevator. A rather large elevator, actually, large enough to fit all the workers from that single shift. Once all the workers were inside, the elevator started descending. Deeper and deeper. Down far below the Earth's surface, even deeper than the machines, lay the workers' city.

As the elevator sank lower, the workers looked at their version of the Metropolis above. It had many buildings, but it was nowhere near as spectacular as the true Metropolis, and was poorly maintained at best. Some of the bricks on the buildings were falling out, and the lights that lit the city due to the lack of sun were dim and fading more each day. In the center of the city was a large bell, which was to be used as an alarm in the case of emergency.

When the elevator landed, the workers slowly departed and left for their homes and families, knowing their miserable lifestyles would most likely never change.

...

Just as the workers' city remained so deep underground, Metropolis towered higher than thought possible. On the side of one of the many skyscrapers there was a sign that read "Club de l'Postérité Riche." This was where the children of the chosen few went to spend their days. This complex had everything, from lecture halls to libraries, from theaters to stadiums.

In one of the many rooms of the Club, several young foals sat back and relaxed while watching a movie projected on an illuminated screen. One of them, a reddish unicorn colt, sat laid back in a chair eating popcorn. This unicorn looked around sixteen years of age, too old for fairy tales but still too young to go to work. He had a short mane, cut to his desired length and wore a white jacket. His cutie mark resembled two gears grinding together.

As the movie continued, the unicorn pressed a button on the side of his chair. Immediately, a butler came to the unicorn's side.

"How may I be of service, Master Wenzel?" asked the butler.

"Excuse me," spoke the unicorn, "but would you please refill my popcorn?" He levitated the empty box into the hooves of the butler.

"Certainly," the butler replied, walking away with the red and white striped box. He was readily at the service of all the colts and fillies there, but he gave extra attention to this one in particular. This unicorn was Wenzel and he was the son of Windsor, the master of Metropolis. Surely one would want to treat Wenzel with respect, as to not get his father upset.

A few seconds after the butler had left, a noise came from outside the theater. A few minutes after this, the doors were pushed wide open and let light into the room. The ponies in the audience turned around, wondering what had disturbed their film that they had been watching.

The disturbance was caused by fifty or so ponies entering the room. Wenzel, who had turned his head in their direction, looked upon them with such wonder. Many of these ponies, most of which young fillies and colts, were covered in dirt and grime. They looked around the room curiously. These were children of the workers and they had not seen rooms like this before.

One of these ponies in particular caught Wenzel's eye: a pale blue Pegasus filly who seemed to be the leader of the group. She was many years older than the group, and she looked around Wenzel's age. She had a long mane that she preferrably wore in a ponytail, probably to keep it out of her eyes. She, like the rest of the group, was covered in dirt as only a worker's child could be, but not so much that Wenzel couldn't see her cutie mark which resembled a megaphone.

The filly looked down at the children and said to them, "Look! These are your brothers and sisters!" As she pointed out to the numerous ponies in the room many of the ponies who had only just earlier been watching their movie looked at her with disgust, some turning back to continue watching the movie. She signaled again. "Look! These are our brothers and sisters!"

A few seconds after this, several security guard ponies came in. One of them told the filly, "Excuse me, ma'am, but you and your children will have to leave. Please remove yourselves willingly or we will have to remove you by force."

Understanding, the filly looked to the other children. "Alright, it's time to go now."

What were they doing wrong? Wenzel pondered this. Is it a crime, now, to just be here? Why were they forced to leave?

As they left, Wenzel could not stop watching the mysterious filly who had led them in. By now, most of the other ponies had gone back to watching the movie, though a few of them were talking amongst themselves. Among the words Wenzel heard was "worker trash." At this point, the butler had arrived back with the full box of popcorn.

"Here is your popcorn, Master Wenzel."

Wenzel grabbed the popcorn with his magic and placed it in the seat beside him; he was in no mood for eating.

"That filly who just left--the leader of the children--who was that?" Wenzel asked curiously.

"Her?" he responded indignantly. "Oh, she was only the daughter of some worker. Come now, Wenzel, who cares about such miniscule things? Sit back down and enjoy the movie! Here, I brought you a soda, too! It's Colt Cola, your favorite!"

Wenzel wasn't thirsty, and he especially did not want to watch the movie any longer. What he wanted to do was find out who that filly was. She intrigued him, fascinated him, and she had vanished as mysteriously as she had come. Knowing the butler would not be any help in his search for the filly, Wenzel got up out of his seat and galloped out the door.

The butler watched Wenzel leave, then looked back down at the soda and the abandoned popcorn he had brought for Wenzel. Glancing about nervously, the butler sat down. He felt he deserved a break, which he hadn't had in a long time, so he sat down with popcorn in one hoof, soda in the other, and watched the movie.

...

Author's note: In Chapter Two, we meet our protagonist, Wenzel (based on Freder from the original) as he meets a mysterious filly. Little does he know that as he looks for her, he will discover a world he never could have imagined.

Please note that this fanfiction is based loosely on Fritz Lang's 1927 German sci-fi film of the same name.

Also, special thanks to The Dagwood Brony (Daegan Hamilton) for revising this before I submitted it.