The Unraveled World Chapter Five New Canterlot

       Ekon had seen postcards of Canterlot before the unraveling pulled it off the mountain. Where there was once a proud city of ancient beauty, only a gaping wound in the mountain remained.

         Since Ekon, Spring Step and Pinksworth arrived at New Canterlot in the middle of the night, none of them were interested in anything but food and rest.

        Surrounding the city was a high concrete wall, much like the ones Ekon had seen in history books. This wall had spotlights, one of which swung its beam onto the approaching trio.

          “Halt!” barked a voice behind the light. “Who goes there?”

         Spring Step grumbled. “You know who we are, Snails. Open the door.”

         Snails snickered. “Can you gimme the password?”

         “Open the door, monkey brain!” hollered the pegasus.

         “Okay. Close enough. Snips, hit the button!”

         The spotlight swung away from them and pointed at the opening door.

         The trio walked into New Canterlot, the sight of which made Ekon snap fully awake. If he thought the safe, clean apartment that he first met his rescuers in was impressive, this place left that tiny room behind.

         For one thing, the city had working electricity that provided juice to a vast color palette of neon signs and street lamps. Even in the theoretically civilized parts of the wasteland, only a few yellow moth-swarmed bulbs would light a porch or two.

         Every building was completely intact. No broken windows or cracked pavements anywhere. For one darting moment, he imagined that the unraveling never happened. The illusion was unbroken until he looked at the mountain where Canterlot once stood.  

         Pinksworth sighed contentedly. “It’s good to be home. What do you think, Ekon?”

         When someone lives like a homeless person for five years, they miss the little things. Coffee. Chocolate. Clean clothes. A truly safe place to lay one’s head.

         All of those long-absent delights were now in front of him. He smelled the bakery selling coffee and chocolate donuts. (No more moldy, bug-infested food! No more rusty cans of outdated botulism fodder!)

         It was weird seeing ponies walk around with not a stitch of clothing on them. (Shouldn’t they at least be wearing gun holsters?) Some ponies wore T-shirts that said “Celestia and Luna are not dead-They are merely unemployed”. Others wore clothing so colorful and extravagant that they would have been gunned down by bandits for the silk alone.

         He felt like he was floating, but not entirely from a lack of sleep. He sat on the ground and took this new paradise in. Ekon let the tears slip down his cheeks.

         Spring Step smiled and chuckled. “That’s one perk of this job I love, Pinks. Watching refugee ponies cry when they get past the gate.”

         “Tears of joy, Springy. Tears of joy. Ekon’s starting to look a little wobbly, though.”

         The pegasus stretched her legs, making her shoulders and hips pop. “Join the club. I’ve had enough wasteland wandering for now. Let’s get to Canterlot Institute.”

         Wiping his tears away, Ekon asked, “What’s that?”

         “It’s where we live, Ekon,” Pinkworth explained. “It’s also where Spring Step got her legs and where my new body was built. You’ll stay there until we can get a place for you.”

         As they traveled towards the middle of the city, he noticed that ponies were waving at them cheerfully. Unlike the bounty hunters that pursued him, nopony was repelled at the sight of Pinksworth or Spring Step.

         “Hi, Petal Pusher!” said Pinkworth as she waved her boxing glove at a passing green mare. “How’s the flower shop going?”

         Petal Pusher smiled as she said, “Just fine, Pinks.” Her eyes widened. “ Ooh, you two got a zebra this time!”

         Ekon waved shyly. “Hi.”

        The mare waved back at him. “You’re very lucky, sir. They got me out of Baltimare before it went underwater. This city’s full of people they’ve rescued. You’ll find lots of friends here, I’m sure.”

         Spring Step said, “Yeah, he’ll fit right in. Let’s go, you two. My bed’s calling my name.”

         As they walked down the quiet street, Ekon noticed small boxes next to the street lights. Squinting at them, he recognized them as security cameras. Pointing at one of them, he asked, “Is there much crime here?”

         Spring Step replied, “Well, it can be hard for career wasteland scavengers to keep their hooves to themselves, but they aren’t much of a problem. No, these cameras are on the lookout for a much sneakier brand of criminal.”

         “Bank robbers?” queried Ekon.

         “Changelings, silly!” said Pinksworth. “Their disguise spells can fool regular pony eyes, but never mechanical ones.”

         “Have you ever seen one in the wastelands?”

         “No, but they might have died out when the magic went away. They feed off of emotions, which is kinda like eating magic. We ponies don’t call say that friendship is magic for nothing, you know.”

         Spring Step added, “We can’t take any chances, though. It’s hard enough just keeping bandit hordes from taking over the biggest city in Equestria. We don’t need those damn bugs drinking us up like coffee.”

         Canterlot Institute was a ten story marvel of steel girders and huge glass panels. It reminded Ekon of the hospital his brother was born in.

         He frowned at that memory. Don’t think about Azi anymore, he told himself. You finally arrived at a place where his men can’t reach you anymore. You’re safe.

         You won’t suffer the way your parents suffered.

         The sliding glass doors opened without a sound. The high ceiling was adorned with large colored paper spheres with lamps in them. The floor was polished white tile that made Spring Step’s aluminum legs click like soda cans. The desk in the middle of the entrance room had a grey mare with lopsided eyes tapping at a computer. She looked up, smiled and waved at them.

         “Wow, guys. You were gone for three weeks,” she said. “Looks like you bagged a cute one this time.”

         Ekon replied, “I keep getting called that. I wish zebra mares felt that way.”

         Pinksworth said, “Well, there is this dating service next to . . . “

         “Zip it, Pinks,” ordered Spring Step good-naturedly. “First things first. Derpy, we need to get this guy a room. He’s been out there ever since the unraveling took place.”

         Whistling, she replied, “Wow, that had to have been rough.”

         “You have no idea,” said Ekon ruefully.

         Tapping at the keys, she shut one eye and studied the monitor. “Okay, I got one for him. I’ll print out the key in a minute. What’s your name?”

         “Ekon Madaki.”

         “Is that back pack your only possession?”

         “Nowadays, yes.”

          “Do you have any fruits or vegetables to declare?”

          Ekon smiled. “No. Why, are you hungry?”

         Derpy snickered and handed him a white plastic key card. “Cute and funny to boot. Not often I see that in a wastelander. Okay, here you go, Ekon. Room two three seven. Take the elevator to the second floor and turn right.”

         Spring Step patted him on the back. “We’ll bang on your door in twelve hours, kiddo. When you take a shower, remember to scrub that bullet wound gently.”

         He looked at the key card. It had his name printed on one side. It had been ten years since he had his name printed onto anything.

         When he opened his room door, the almost forgotten scent of fresh linens filled his nose. When one lives with nothing but a back pack, the simplest pleasures become almost priceless.

         Ekon took a hot shower that lasted a half hour. For the first ten minutes, he simply closed his eyes and let the filth of a ruined world swirl down the drain.

         “I’m beyond you, Azi,” he whispered. “For the moment, I’m beyond everything.”

         When he toweled himself dry, he locked the front door. He had to fight the old urge to barricade the door with a chair. (No more bandits. No more bounty killers.)

         He looked out the large window next to the bed and tried to count the city lights. It was like seeing the stars of the night sky taking up residence in the city. Unlike in the abandoned cities he explored and hid in, he didn’t feel dangerously exposed standing in front of the window. (No longer being hunted.)

         Ekon slipped into the impossibly soft bed. In less than a minute, before he even realized it, he slipped into a deep slumber.

         He was in the mountain’s caves. It took ages to map them all as they branched out in all directions like an ant’s nest. One cave was particularly unique, however. The walls were worn glass-smooth by what Ekon’s father, Alafin, has guessed was magic. Only the best magic wielders could sculpt rocks on a molecular level. The walls were engraved with drawings of Celestia and Luna. Why? Well, the answer was a lost thing that was sure to be eventually found.

         Ekon’s mother, Tarana, had translated the old Equestrian texts well enough to know that a powerful magician once lived here. These caves were of great interest to the Canterlot Historical Society because records of the caves were destroyed in a fire.

         She was still scribbling notes at her work desk when Ekon got out of the smaller caves and sat down in a chair next to her.

         “Hello, dear. Where’s your brother?” she queried.

         “He’s somewhere nearby, I guess.”

         “He’s hard to get away from, that’s for sure.” She put down her pen and faced him. “Let me ask you something, son.”

         “Yes?”

         “Why do you think you’re beyond Azi now?”

         He stepped away from the chair. “What do you mean?”

         “You are Azi’s lost treasure and he will find you. He is nothing if not stubborn.”

         Ekon banged the table testily. “But I escaped the wasteland! He can’t touch me now!”

         “Every one of us is connected to each other, child. Even Celestia and Luna. If you want to end his search for you, you must become more than just his target.”

         He slammed his hooves into the table, sending documents flying. He yelled, “What do you mean?”

         Spring Step rapped on his door and hollered, “I mean it’s time to rise and shine, Ekon!”

         Ekon flinched as his eyes snapped open, an after-image of his smiling mother fading away from his vision.

         “At least I wasn’t hanging from a tree this time,” he whispered. Ekon then hollered, “Just a minute, Springy!”

         “Hey, only the Iron Mare calls me that,” replied Spring Step, laughing.

          He opened the door and saw that the pegasus was wearing a shirt that said “Crowbar Queen”. Her metal legs were now painted a dark gray.

         “Like what you see? I asked the eggheads to make my legs less shiny. Come on, I’ll show you where they’re rebuilding Pinkie’s body.”

         When they stepped into the elevator, she pressed the button marked “basement” three times. Then she punched the tenth floor button three times. “It’s the access code for the think tank levels.”

         “You mean the science labs?”

         She nodded, smiling. “You got it. Looks like a shower and a good night’s sleep did you a world of good. You’re less groggy now.”

         The lights on the floor button panel counted down past “basement”. The elevator kept riding down what felt like five floors then stopped. The doors opened to reveal an immense room that had dozens of scientists, workers and other assorted ponies working at dozens of workstations.

         One had a robot with enormous guns attempting to walk a straight line. A blue pony walked past them who had a pair of three fingered robot hands strapped to her back. The hands waved as she winked at Ekon.

         Beyond the flurry of activity, they heard Pinkie Pie say, “I keep telling you guys, I don’t want lethal weapons!”

         Nudging Ekon in the ribs, she trotted towards her friend’s voice. “Come on. Just stay close to me.”

         Ekon had seen only a small part of Pinkie Pie when she was plugged into her suit. Now she was lying on her back in a hospital bed. Her rear legs were gone. Her forelegs ended in shriveled stumps. With her helmet removed, he saw that she was shaved bald. Long scars crisscrossed her face and head. Pinkie had the bluest eyes Ekon had ever seen.

           Those eyes turned towards Ekon and she smiled. “Oh, hey! How are you feeling, Ekon? Good morning, Springy.”

         “It’s three in the afternoon, Pinks,” explained Spring Step.

         Pinkie groaned. “No wonder I still feel a little frazzled.” She waved a stump at the brown pony scientist behind her. “Or maybe it’s because Clock Twister . . . “

         “Time Turner!” grumbled the pony.

         “. . . the ticktock pony says that I need to replace my party cannon with a flame thrower. Or maybe a buzz saw. How are those going to be practical in a fight?”

         Time Turner rubbed his temples and asked, “Did that ludicrous boxing glove help you in the wastelands?”

         “Yeah. I knocked out two ponies with it. Look, just because my pal Spring Step kills ponies doesn’t mean I want to. Or even have to.”

         Spring Step said, “I did let that bounty hunter pony go. I could have broken a lot more than just his nose, but I didn’t. Hopefully he’s pursuing a less violent life.”

         Pinkie shrugged. “Eh. One can only hope.”

         Time Turner held up a blueprint of Pinkie’s armor. “Can I at least install the self-destruct feature? One big concern of ours is you getting captured and your gear being used by the enemy. If it looks like that might happen, you tell the suit to blow up with the catchphrase of your choice. Then you’ll get shot out the back in a protective cocoon right before the armor self-destructs. Then a homing beacon switches on that we can pick up from anywhere in Equestria. “

         She raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know. How big a boom are we talking about here?”

         “Oh, the kind you get from five pounds of C-4. Your cocoon should protect you from . . . most of the explosion.” Time Turner suddenly found it difficult to avert his eyes from the ceiling.

         Rolling her eyes, she remarked, “Gee, how can I say no? Fine, go install the bomb. But give it a ten second fuse so I can at least roll away as far as I can.”

         Grinning, the scientist trotted away. “Okay, guys,” he hollered to a nearby workstation. “She said yes! Pinkie wants big boom!”

         “That’s going to be my catchphrase. I love eggheads,” Pinkie said as she laid back in her bed. “Give them something explosive to work with and they’re happy as ferrets in a raisin pile. Welcome to the think tank, Ekon.”

          “I had no idea that anything like this was going on these last few years.”

         Spring Step said, “This is where Pinkie and I supported each other while the staff here built my legs and her suit.”

         “I bet that took a while,” mused Ekon.

         Spring Step walked over to Pinkie and hugged her. “It two weeks for me to talk to anypony, even Pinkie.” Breaking off the hug, she draped a foreleg over Pinkie’s shoulders. “But she never quit trying to talk to me. The only thing I wanted to do back then was die. All I could think of was, ‘What’s the point of going on? Why bother doing anything?’ “

         Pinkie added, “When she asked me that, I told her that anything is better than nothing. Doing nothing is not only boring, it’s not natural.”

         “When Pinks started getting depressed, I told her something my dad taught me. ‘Life is a series of exchanges. Sometimes it takes more than it gives, but you can never afford to give up hope.”

         “This world needs all the hope it can get,” said Pinkie. “But you have to believe in yourself before you can help others. We were inseparable for two months in this place. Mister and Mrs. Cake are gone, but I have my buddy here to help me stay focused.”

         Spring Step said, “I lost nearly everypony I loved, but Pinks here reminds me that it’s not all bad. Sometimes her sense of humor is the only thing that keeps me from screaming.”

         Ekon’s ears drooped. “You guys are the first ponies I’ve met in five years that didn’t try to rip me off, rob me or shoot me. The only thing life ever gave me for five years was misery.”

         A white pony with a red mane and a white nurse cap pushed a tray cart next to Pinkie’s bed. She looked at Ekon and said, “What you need to get now are immunization shots. I also need to check that wound. Do you have any allergies we need to be aware of?”

         Swallowing while staring at the tray’s hypodermics, he replied, “Yes. I am very allergic to needles. How did you know I was here?”

         Spring Step said, “I told the nurses that you needed what we call the ‘Wasteland Special’. It’s a bunch of booster shots that’ll get you back into full fighting trim. After she has her way with you, and Pinks gets suited up, we’ll go talk to Spike. When I mentioned your full name to him, he became very interested in talking to you.”

         Ekon’s eyes widened. “He’s . . . heard of me?”

         “Well, he’s read some files about your father. Alafin Madaki. That’s his name, right?”

         “Yes. I guess he wants an update on what we found at the dig site, but I’m not sure why. It seems that archeology should be the last concern this city has.”

         She shrugged. “Spike’s been searching for clues on how to bring magic back into the world. Any info you provide might fill in some gaps that the collapse of Canterlot’s library left behind.”

         When Spring Step turned and walked away, Ekon scratched his head. The mountain he escaped from seemed to house a temple where Celestia and Luna were worshipped.

         How would such a temple help with Spikes’s search?