A series of pressurized doors rotated open in opposite directions like giant cogwheels. Once the path was clear, a stallion in uniform gave a signal, and the passengers on board the undertrolley trotted out in single file. They entered a wide hall with a curved, domed ceiling.
As Rainbow Dash entered Shoggoth, she tilted her head up... up... and up. She gawked at several curved platforms looming above her—one level atop another—and all occupying barely a fraction of the enormous space of the underwater dome. All around—in a nearly unobstructed panoramic view—Rainbow Dash could see out into the watery plains of the ocean's floor. The seaponies' dwelling lit up to the west and the east with shimmering patterns of bioluminescence. Meanwhile, to the north and south, spires and brightly-lit domes lingered in close proximity—just a brisk swim away.
The station's interior was a loud, bustling place—with no end of chatter, noise, or bedlam of mixed conversation. Rainbow Dash saw earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi in countless different styles of customary attire—all chatting, bartering, and commiserating in various collective droves. Their bodies—and the structure as a whole—was lit up by streams of gold and amber light that emanated from the outer ring of the dome, giving the already copper color of the riveted surfaces a red-orange glimmer, like fire.
Most curious, however, were several pools of crystal-clear water, separated by tall vertical support columns built out of... what appeared to Rainbow Dash to be see-through, translucent glass. All of the surface-dwelling equines kept their distance from these watery canals, and the columns stretched up and ran through strategically placed holes in the upper platforms overhead.
It was around this point of constant observation that Rainbow Dash became aware of an accute, persistent groaning sound. Every now and then, the ambiant bass noise would ripple and clash, resembling cymbals that slammed in the distance, only to be answered by melodic chimes and muffled bells before becoming obscure once again.
“What... what in the hay is that?” Rainbow muttered.
“Annoying bullshit,” Echo grumbled from Bard's backside. “That's what.”
“When you have millions of tons of ocean water rolling over a metal eggshell, there's bound to be some auditory effects,” Theanim said with a smile. “As for the more pleasant moments of tonal quality, you can thank the sea ponies for that.”
“But... but I thought you said we couldn't hear them,” Rainbow said.
“Ah. It's more like we're hearing... the dome hear them,” Theanim explained. “A structure this big simply magnifies their song all around us. Let us not forget that the Muddredger city belongs to them as much as it does to the Muddredgers themselves.”
“This is place is... just so cool,” Rainbow remarked. With flapping wings, she lifted herself up for a better look. “Way cooler than I thought—”
A metal talon suddenly yanked her down by her tail.
Rainbow grunted, then frowned at Wildcard. “Dude! What gives—”
“Don't ya know anythang?” Bard exclaimed, glancing off at the distant guards on patrol. “Flyin' ain't allowed in these crazy underwater cities.”
“Yeah, why not?”
“Dun ask me.” Bard shrugged. “Them's the rules!”
“Well, it's a lame bunch of rules,” Rainbow muttered. “But whatever.” She looked to her right. The group had wandered towards the edge of the domed structure, and Rainbow Dash found herself staring at a cluster of rocks covered in vibrant coral and billowing sea anemones. “Whoah...” She murmured, lips pursing in awe. “Just how thick is this glass?” She reached he wing out, feathers stretching. “It... it looks so crystal clear—”
Her feathertips dipped into cool, wet water.
“Gaaaah!” Rainbow hopped back, eyes wide as she huddled behind Bard. “There is n-no glass!”
“Hah hah hah hah!” Bard guffawed, slapping a knee. “Ohhhh... took her longer than I thought to notice!”
Wildcard smirked.
“Dude!” Rainbow looked over Bard's shoulder, gulping. She watched as circular ripples oozed outward from where she had touched the curved liquid barrier. “What g-gives?!”
“You really must be from another flippin' world if you ain't never heard of Siren water charmin'!” Bard said.
“Actually, Mister Bard, the correct term is 'aquakinetic engineering,'” Theanim stated. “It's a form of underwater sorcery that's existed for thousands of generations.”
“Pffft... my grandpa always called it like it is!” Bard tossed his mane back. “Siren water charmin'!”
“But... like...” Rainbow grimaced, gazing up at the see-through parts of the dome overhead with a new sense of dread. “...h-how can ponies... sea ponies actually make water stop for no reason?!”
“Pfft! Hell, it ain't for no reason!” Bard smirked. “Haven't you ever thought how plum weird it'd be for non-pegasi to meet a pony with wings who could control the weather?”
“Huh...” Rainbow blinked, nodding. “That's one way of putting it... wait.” She turned around, gazing once more at the pools of water in the center of the platform—or more spacifically at the clear vertical columns erected alongside them. Upon a secondary examination, she could spot rippling texture to the cylindrical structures. “Those... are all water too.”
“Damn skippy,” Bard said. “Though, I never done seen anythang quite this elaborate. This is about as deep into Siren territory the Desperadoes have ever done mosey'd, ya feel me?”
“Did you seriously expect glass and ironworks to be this city's only barrier against the elements?” Theanim mused. “Shoggoth would have perished decades after its initial construction if that was the case.”
“Yeah, well, live and learn.” Rainbow glanced at the stallion. “I was born in a giant cloud city built out of smaller clouds that floated around wherever it pleased.”
Theanim chuckled. “I'm glad that you're having such a learning experience, Miss Dash, but please—don't use hyperbole to try to best it.”
“No, for real, though—”
With glinting goggles, Wildcard pointed straight up.
“Hmmm?” Theanim and the others turned to look. “Oh, what splendid timing!”
“Huh?” Rainbow looked. Her eyes reflected several amphibious figures swimming rapidly towards the edge of the dome. As they came closer and closer—not even remotely slowing their stride—she could make out colorful eyes and even more colorful smiles. Already, a group of conversing merchants and travellers spread apart, forming a clear line across the bottom platform of the station.
Within seconds—SPLASSSH!—a dozen sea ponies carrying thick bags shot through the water barrier. They dove through the air like dolphins, dribbling a trail of moisture across the clear platform beneath them. Before Rainbow could blink, they had all plunged into the many-many pools littering the floor. Swift as lightning, some of them went under, reemerging in the vertical columns of enchanted liquid. Rainbow watched as various equines darted up and down the watery tubes, swiftly delivering packages and materials to multiple levels within the dome. By the time it was all over, the merchants shifted back into place, reoccupying the momentary splash zones and casually resuming business as usual.
“Huh...” Rainbow blinked. “Okay... this place totally rocks the socks off Cloudsdale.”
“Are we done with the damn sight-seeing yet?” Echo moaned.
“Reckon we'd better get situation,” Bard said, shuffling the weight of the Sarosian on his back. “Where to, Doc?”
“We'll want to proceed to the next structure north of here,” Theanim explained, motioning the group along. “Allow me to show the way.”
Makes sense, I guess.
Forty push-ups, ):(. Knoc 'em out!
...Bad ass...
I dunno... in my opinion Cloudsdale is still miles above Shoggoth.
So Shoggoth is essentially underwater Cloudsdale. That's neat.
I'm surprised Twi and Rar didn't have anything to add this chapter.
-Memories given light, ease a lonely flight. Ynanhluutr.
Of all the different sea pony civilizations people have written about, this is definitely the coolest.
Heh, the underwater city appears to be quite nice. But in all reality, all the non-sea-ponies in there are entirely at the mercy of the sea-ponies. If one sea-pony decided to disrupt the wall that is holding the underwater city's water in..... There would be no escape.
Considering that clouds are just water vapor, it shouldn't be that big of a leap for Rainbow. I do agree with the "so cool" part, though.
Welp. Shoggoth witchcraft trumps Robhredden engineering. Good job, horsefishes.
Wouldn't it be more correct to say that there is no glass?
6298828
Maybe she was being philisophical about it, and questioning if the water really exists, being something outside of her body and mind.
6298853 Or she just got flustered and said the wrong thing.
I bet that's Pinkie Pie.
Yknow, considering the clouds are made of water, and so is rain, Dash should totally be able to do the same.
Rainbow is right, this place is very cool.
6298828
There is no spoon.
6298699
At least its not full of half eroded statues with their names scratched off.
This place is amazing.
-Spirit (Yeast and Treacle)
P.S. And so begins my five day wifi-less hiatus.
Oh, but we haven't seen the Whirlpool Factory yet! How can Shoggoth be better than Cloudsdale without that?
I wonder how long it would take Twilight to reverse engineer everything in sight. I mean, she's done it before. Could be amusing.
6298651
6291016 Exactly
6299035
Cue grimdark fanfictions? How about the song:
6298633
That's some lazy spell-checking soldier. I recommend immediate spelling exercise. 200 words, your choice of topic. Knock that out.
No flying, because dropping seaponies cant change their direction.
That is some serious engineering. I havent seen anything like that, since Abyss the movie.
Our current tech is acoustic levitation and manipulation of microlitre drops in arrays. The most powerful acoustic fields, from rocket launches are 210dB. If we can work out how to combine them, we could have wall less structures capable of withstanding 100km depth of water. But, the power requirements would be scary. Still working on the numbers.
Shoooop de woop!~
Shoop shoop de woop!~
Bioshocking!
6299836 Brave soul. I'll make sure to do pushups at your funeral.
Okay this place is SO much cooler than Rapture.
Whoa. And this is just the work of normal seaponies! Princess Camellia must be some kind of Leviathan analogue or something.
As someone who's rather panicky around mass amounts of water, I noped the buck out when Dash her wing shot right out into the feaking ocean
Wow... that's really neato. Glad I had linecon2015 to get me caught up again.
Damn, this city seems absolutely amazing. Probably one of the coolest settings, and that's saying a lot. So now the question becomes... how long until something goes catastrophically wrong, the enchantments fail, and the city floods?
This series really has made me cynical, hasn't it?
Is that the new Civ expansion pack?
6298919 ...No? If it were Pinkie Pie, the seaponies would have treated it as an anomaly. Instead they act as if they're used to it.
What do you mean there's only shoop!?
6298959 Damnit, second! For both things!
6311445
That's my new favorite video.
This city seems too amazing to be harboring evil in one form or another. It's the perfect spot for it.
This place just gets better and better
6320033 there is a ponified version in ponies the anthology five.
So, they're like gungans, but not? Cool.
So a whale could just fall into that room unimpeded?
What a whale of a tale that be.
6681446 An event like that wouldn't end whale for any of the parties involved.
6873637 Whale that was a decent joke. 7/10
This is one of the most amazing places RD has visited yet, and she's been to Stratopolis.
... Not to mention this entire story takes place on an enormous fragment of a magical ringworld.
7567829
I whale have to agree
8742439
Whale y'all stop making stupid puns?
They're terrible and you should feel bad.
Another thing about this aquakinetic engineering is that it also acts as a security mechanism. In the case that they are under attack, they could “turn off” the magic water or use it to drown and stop hostiles.
Then again, it may not work in that manner/work with every possible threat.
Also, if you’re reading this, you have now officially passed/read chapter 1337 of the Austraeoh series.
1337! W00t!
We're on the bottom of the ocean. I'd take random sounds rather than the incoming doing surge of water and pressure.
....Theanim...dude...do you not get it by now?