Adventures in Atlasso

The lavender-grey pony looked out the window, her mouth hanging open as she took in the sight on the other side of the glass.

The street outside her building, along with all the other streets in her view, looked almost as if it was paved with gold, shining with a lustrous gleam that was almost unnatural. Her gaze rose from the wondrous road to observe the equally wondrous houses on the opposite side. The foundations of the buildings were made of the same precious metal as the streets, with the trim on the door and window glowing with the beauty of silver. The doors were make of a dark wood the mare didn't recognize, and the contrast between the door and it's frame was stunning in and of itself. Looking closer, the nearly black doors were intricately carved with images of manticores, dragons, windigos, and numerous other creatures that were also unknown to the mare.

As she looked down the street, the unicorn realized that she was near the edge of town, if the size of the houses were any indication. To her right, the buildings grew larger, with more floors than those across the golden road, and the trim changed from silver to even more gold. The mare directed her gaze to down the street on her left before blinking several times in surprise. Squinting her eyes to ensure she wasn't imagining things, she also looked at the sky above her.

At least, what would have been the sky.

"We're in a giant bubble..." the mare whispered as she stared at the glowing multi-colored aura that separated the city and an endless expanse of water.

"Actually, it's only half a bubble," a voice replied from behind her, causing her to jump after being lost in the wonder of her surroundings. Looking back over her shoulder at the pegasus by her bed, she pleaded with her eyes for him to tell her more.

The stallion glanced away from her gaze, seemingly worried about talking too much. After several long seconds of him glancing about the room, he finally broke down, albeit in a different way than expected. He walked to the lone chair in the room and put on his guard helmet before turning and walking to the door.

"You coming?" he asked as he paused at the threshold.

Without stopping to think, the unicorn hurried after her companion as he led her into the outside world. As the duo entered the hallway, the mare slapped a hoof to her face, hurting herself on her iron horseshoe. Stopping to rub at the beginnings of a bruise, she mare explained her facehoof.

"Sorry, I just realized I never introduced myself. My name's StarShine," she said, reaching out her forehoof for a hoof-shake.

"It's okay, that's completely understandable," the pegasus replied as he accepted her hoof-shake. "The name's Trident."

StarShine glanced to the stallion's flank, expecting to see the pony's three-pronged namesake, but was instead greeted by a trio of pink bubbles. Her brow furrowed in confusion, trying to link nautical weapons with bubbles, before simply asking.

"Why is your cutie mark-" she started.

"Everypony asks that, and the answer is always the same: I have no clue," Trident replied, an amused look crossing his face, along with a hint of annoyance. He turned around and resumed his trip down the hallway, pausing momentarily for the unicorn to follow.

The pair soon found themselves right outside one of the city's two hospitals, according to Trident. StarShine looked around at the houses, and soon discovered that, along with precious metals, they were also adorned with various seashells. As she walked deeper into the city, the shells grew in size, beauty, and variety, and the doors grew more ornate in their carvings. Looking up at the decorations of the upper floors of the homes, the unicorn failed to notice the pony walking straight toward her.

"Oof!" exclaimed the mare as she fell backwards onto the glittering pavement. She looked up to see an older mare being helped to her hooves by Trident as the stallion struggled to pick up the mare and her belongings. With a furious blush spreading across her face, StarShine took advantage of her magic to pick up the mare's basket and scattered balls of yarn.

"Thank you, dear," the strange mare said as she took her belongings back from the younger pony. As she did so, the young unicorn got a better look at her fellow crash victim.

The mare must have been well into her 50s, judging by her moderately wrinkled face and grey mane. Her coat was a light brown, almost the color of a deer's pelt, and upon her flank was a bundle of wheat stalks. StarShine looked briefly at the mare's strangely grey eyes, before her own eyes wandered up to the older pony's forehead. She glanced to the tan mare's back where her basket was balanced, and looked back at the horn on her head, which was surrounded by a grey aura. Yet again that day, StarShine was overcome with confusion at the magic obviously being performed, but with no apparent outlet.

"StarShine, this is FertileFields. Fertile, this is StarShine," Trident spoke up, introducing the two mares. The other mare nodded her head before speaking to StarShine.

"I'm so sorry, I was in such a rush to get home, I forgot to look where I was going," she explained, a small chuckle escaping her smiling lips.

"No, I should have been keeping my eyes on the road instead of enjoying the scenery. It's my fault." A guilty look clouded the lavender pony's face, along with a blush of embarrassment as she spoke. Trident simply stood by the two ponies, unable to think of a way to breach the awkwardness of the situation. After making his helmet ring while trying to sweep his hoof through his mane, he turned to face StarShine.

"We should probably get going if you want to see the city before nightfall," he said before facing FertileFields, "Tell NightWatch I'll be stopping by later, please." With that, they continued waking down the street, although they passed more curious onlookers than before.

"Was that a friend of yours? You seemed to know her," StarShine queried, making an attempt at small talk. Trident glanced at her before answering.

"She's a bit of a friend. Her husband's captain of the guard, and her son is a good friend of mine. Not to mention how many times we've been called out to the fields because of her daughter making a mess," he chuckled, a good-natured smile on his face.

StarShine nodded knowingly, although she was only halfway paying attention. Her mind was currently occupied by the world around her. A thought had been nagging her at the back of her mind, and she took the chance to say it out loud.

"Where exactly are we? This place reminds me of stories I heard as a foal, but they were just that: stories." An embarrassed smile crossed her face as she voiced her thoughts. "I know it's silly, but the resemblance is uncanny."

Now it was the pegasus's turn to nod knowingly.

"SeaSwirl says that our city has been a legend in Equestrian history since it sank below the waves. You ponies might call it something different on land nowadays, but down here it's still known as Atlasso."

The mare stopped to stare at her guide, disbelief evident on her face. Her mind reeled with the knowledge that she was in a place that hadn't been seen since before Princess Luna was banished to the moon. A place that many ponies believed never even existed. And here she was, surrounded by ponies living possibly miles upon miles beneath the ocean's surface. StarShine shook her head at the sad fact that she wasn't a true scholar, only a temporary one. Although she was a well-learned pony, that wasn't her actual talent, and all the knowledge around her was being wasted on this particular unicorn.

Trident paused and turned back to look at the perplexed pony, quickly becoming worried by her silence. He trotted the few steps back to the mare while the worry on his face intensified.

"Sorry, I thought you would be able to handle it. I really didn't think it would be that big a deal," the pegasus said, the guilt in his eyes proving his honesty.

StarShine shook her head while she attempted to organize her thoughts. Several seconds of silence passed before her escort spoke again.

"Here, it's probably best if I just take you back to the hospital while you rest and think things through."

The unicorn nodded, still at a loss for words, and turned to go back the way they had just come. As she was led back to her temporary housing, StarShine gazed at the buildings and ponies around her with a newfound light.

This place... how could it survive so long without being detected? And how did these ponies survive the plunge into the ocean; not to mention all these years without sunlight.

Finally arriving at their destination, StarShine resolved herself to learn more. Glancing at the guard beside her, she realized that she had the perfect pony to 'interrogate'. Opening her mouth to start asking questions, the unicorn was quickly interrupted by Trident.

"Here's your room. If you need anything, just call for one of the nurses. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to finish my patrol." With that, the pegasus turned and cantered down the hall and out the door, leaving a fairly annoyed unicorn standing in her doorway. StarShine gave an exasperated sigh before walking to her bed and burrowing beneath the covers.