"...and here we have Madame Nightshade's vision for the future: cities that run off of steam, independent of mana. As a proponent of technological innovation and energy conservation, Nightshade Industries has led the charge into hitherto unexplored territories."
As Kera, Bellesmith, and Phoenix shuffled deeper into the presentation, they marched straight through a model city complete with puffing smokestacks and rotating model zeppelins. Deep blue and violet spotlights illuminated the tiny scale skyscrapers and spires flanking them as the ponies made for the far end of the exhibit.
Above, the speaker continued to crackle against a musical backdrop of jubilant fanfare:
"As the Confenderacy's reserves of mana crystals run low, it will be up to pioneers such as Madame Nightshade to pave the way for our children and our children's children's future. Envision, if you will, a society that runs on steam powered machina, with moisture fueled from the grand, untapped Alabaster Mountains to the north. Magic would still have its place in the community, but it would be reserved for the finer things in life, such as healthcare, music, family interaction and the arts. With the latest advances in steam refinement, Nightshade hopes to maintain a Ledomaritan culture where the family ritual can be fully realized, with autonomous machinery providing for our every need, independent of mana recharge."
"Steam powered cities...?" Phoenix made a sense. "Now that's a laugh." He turned and cast Belle a tired smile. "Seems an awful lot like backtracking, to me."
"How do you mean?" Belle asked as Kera skipped ahead of the two of them.
"Well..." Phoenix shrugged as he ducked a model steamship floating over his skull. "Mana-powered machinery, transportation, and industry is a great deal more efficient than steam-based tech."
"That's something that stands to be fiercely debated."
"'Debated,' my flank! You think the Confederacy is capable of altering their entire industrial output? At a time like this?"
Belle shrugged. "Nightshade seems to think it's a good idea."
"And she'd be shooting herself in the hoof! A company as big as Nightshade Industries couldn't afford to push Ledomare in that direction. The military wouldn't have it, and I'm pretty sure the Council would brand Nightshade's corporation as traitorous!"
"Since when did you care so much about the ponies who run this place?"
"Well... I-I don't! But forgive me for still being a soldier beneath all of this lameness, Ms. Belle," Phoenix stammered. "The Xonans would practically eat Ledomare to bits if they tried switching their machinery to steam, especially with the arms race as hot as it is right now."
"Makes you think..." Belle murmured without thinking. "...that the only way for Nightshade to make such a thing work would be if the war ended overnight."
Phoenix scuffled to a stop. He turned back to look at the mare with a pale expression.
She was biting her lip, staring back at him.
He exhaled through his nostrils. "I hate to see any country fall to a foreign aggressor, no matter how full of jerks it may be..."
"Is that what think is at stake here with Nightshade Industries?"
"Quite frankly, Ms. Belle, I don't know what to think," he grumbled while looking ahead. "I wanna get through this dayum sideshow—is what I want to do."
"Well, if you wanna get out, then stop yapping and get over here!" Kera's voice squeaked.
Belle blinked. She stretched her neck to peer over the many miniature buildings and props. "Kera? Where are you, darling?"
"Over here." A tiny, pale hoof wafed from between to tiny factories. "And stop calling me 'darling!'"
Belle winced. With a sheepish breath trot, she approached a black wall where the foal stood. "What is it, Kera?"
"It's a way out of here," Kera said.
"Uhm..." Phoenix shuffled up, blinking. "It's a wall."
Kera spun and kicked him in the fetlock. "I know it's a wall, dummy! There's also a secret passageway on the other side!"
"Well, I know better than to doubt your little horn, kid." Phoenix stood perfectly still... and then suddenly rubbed his fetlock with a frown. "And... ow, by the way."
"Why would a passageway be here of all places?" Belle asked.
"Beats me. But do you guys really wanna trudge through the rest of this stupid thing?" the filly remarked.
Belle sighed and smiled tiredly. "Well, do you suppose you can open it?"
"Lady, I was born to open crud like this." Kera smirked proudly, her horn and tattoos already glowing with blue and silver lines. "I hid around in compartments like this a few days before I finally made it to the building's lobby and—beyond that—freedom!"
"I suspect it's a mantenance passage," Belle thought aloud, glancing at the wall as the presentation's audio crackled in the background.
"Nah. It's something different," Kera said, her face sweating in concentration. "I... can feel it..."
"How so?"
Kera's expression brightened. "See for yourself!" Just then, the wall slid open in two ways, revealing a thin corridor with metal grated floors, all illuminated in a dull blue aura. "Tadaaaa!"
"That... doesn't look like any mantenance hallway that I've ever seen," Phoenix muttered. His nostrils flared. "I smell mana exhaust."
Belle raised an eyebrow. "Have we stumbled upon the Closet of Hypocrisy?"
"I seriously wouldn't doubt it." Phoenix stepped ahead. "Ms. Belle, kiddo, I hope you don't mind if I lead the way this time..."
"Hey..." Kera gestured with a hoof. "After you, big boy."
"Unnngh—Spark..." Phoenix shuddered as he marched before the two other ponies. "Please don't ever say that again."
Kera giggled. She trotted gaily ahead while casting Belle a wry smirk. "Seriously, what do you see in the stallion?"
Belle sighed. "Nnngh... his big head dives in front of things for me."
"I heard that."
"I know you did, Mr. Phoenix."
The door closed behind them. All three were cast in the dim blue light. It did little to illuminate their paths, and they had to march slowly so as not to stumble into a partition or a sudden step. Eventually, the narrow corridor opened up. Phoenix stepped out first, and he whistled in amazement.
"What?" Belle craned her neck. "What is it?"
"Hypocrisy indeed..." His voice said from up front. "Now I know that they're not wanting to abandon mana tech whatsoever."
"How do you mean?" Belle finally emerged with Kera. She squinted to see a cramped office lit up by various blue lamps that hung over a dozen desks and whiteboards cluttered with innumerable paper files.
Phoenix turned, floating a clipboard over for Bellesmith to see. "Take a look for yourself."
Belle sat back on her haunches. Her body shivered from the cold kiss of metal grating against her coat as she cradled the clipboard between two hooves. She flipped through the pages, staring at health reports and data logs. Every other page featured a detailed illustration of a completely different equine, quadruped, or animal.
"'Mana-conductive neurological restructuring...'" Belle murmured aloud. She flipped a page. "'Inner-alicornia transplantive reconstruction...'" She flipped again. "'Synaptic enchantment and unimatrix junctioning...'"
"Make any sense to you, 'Doctor' Bellesmith?"
She grimaced. "Unfortunately, yes..." She gulped. "These schematics are detailing the... injection of mana conduits into living tissue..."
"So, basically, experiments," Phoenix muttered with a cold gaze. "Typical, Ledomaritan experiments..."
Belle fidgeted. "But... but I don't think this is quite the same."
"Care to humor me?"
"I-I mean that it doesn't seem like Nightshade is acting within compliance of the Council of Ledo. Not that the Council is any cleaner in their scientific 'research,' mind you... but..."
"See any ponies in that list?" Phoenix muttered, meanwhile rummaging through a pile of similar notes left on a work desk.
Belle flipped through the clipboard once more. "I see buffalo... rams... giraffes... squirrels... even falcons... but no. No ponies or unicorns."
"I'm not seeing any here either," Phoenix said. With a groaning breath, he said, "I think I'm starting to understand Nightshade's real vision of a mana-less future. It's only the ponies who don't have to use magic for labor." He swiveled to face Belle. "As for the... minorities of the Confederacy..."
Belle's brow furrowed. Her tone was an icy one. "I've seen this sort of thing before." She got up and trotted in a swift stride past Phoenix and Kera. She picked an architectural schematic off the wall.
"What is it?" Kera asked, her face scrunched up. "That evil-sounding place that all the suited ponies were talking about earlier?"
"Yes..." Belle said with a nod. "This is indeed labeled 'Ridge Side Research Facility.' I suspect most if not all of these documents pertain to Nightshade's experiments there. But this..." She clenched her teeth as she picked up another layout. "This says something else."
Phoenix craned to look. "And what's that?"
She gulped. "Blue Shelf."
Full circle, baby.
Oh, damn. I did NOT see that coming.
"I believe this is all happening for a reason."
4.bp.blogspot.com/-2-7f-S6hrlg/T1Z9M6OsqyI/AAAAAAAAAeQ/AVPiTjCt6IE/s1600/nuzlocke.png
This doesn't make any sense. Shell overtook the facility and he clearly acts on the Council's will. If Nightshade was experimenting at Blue Shelf before that - did she have Garnet under her control? Rainbow was delivered there by Shell, but was she hijacked as a subject by Nightshade at first? How does she know of alicorns when rarely anyone east does? How did she manage to discover all twelve symbols and harness their power? How could she begin to access the power of the machine anyways, with the Spark not present? This doesn't make any sense. Her planning some kind of nazi society is the only thing that didn't confuse me right now.
Dafuq, man. Ceterum censeo Searinem delendam esse. I need a drink.
Wow. All possible evil aside, you gotta love the mental image of a Steampunk city.
2686513
"Alicorn" is also used to refer to the material that unicorn horns are made out of.
Judging by the sound of "Inner-alicornia transplantive reconstruction", I'd say that's the meaning it was using.
Dang...all the way back to Blue Shelf...
We need to step out of the closet of hipocrisy, and into the bedroom of truthiness, and flaunt the fabulousness of the truth right under those who would deny us the right to truth. We need to take off the shorts of ignorance and the belt of disillusion, and put on the pants of reason, and the suspenders of logic.
That metaphor kinda got away from me.
Aggressive Perfector - Slayer
Happy National Day Of Slayer!
2686513
Well, Shell took over the facility part way through Belle's narrative. They'd already had several months with the subject to do testing, and not just with Belle. It could easily be that Nightshade had gathered the data from thence back, or perhaps they had an informer who leaked information to them. :shrug:
At least this clarifies why Nightshade was so interested in Xonans. Using their tattoos, all members of society would be able to channel magic, which is exactly what she was looking for. Guessing that Floydien and Simon were pre-Xonan attempts at giving other species mana manipulation abilities.
I have no comment.
What? They can't ALL be deep introspection! Shut up! Fifty push-ups! Knock 'em out!
2686513 I have a feeling when Dash enters Blue Nova to find her friends, she will be treated awesomely.
Ignoring all the crazy stuff, I'm incredibly okay with a steampunk pony world.
I mean.
It's steampunk.
And ponies.
Nothing can go wrong.
Except pretty much everything in this case but what the heck.
I am back! Looking forward the the 500 chapter of the series
As im reading a story about steampunk, this one mentions it. what a coincidence. I still need to see Shell vs. Seclorum. now we have the confirmation that Belle was likely involved with Nightshade without noticing it. So many people thought that before it was basically disproved, now it may indeed be a possibility.
YES. I have caught up! I've had this series on my read later list for ages, finally got around to reading it. I now thoroughly regret not reading the series when I first saw it.
Oh man, the dots are being connected. My only issue with making every creature besides ponies is that it makes it REALLY easy for them to revolt. Oh well, knowing how close shit is to hitting the fan, guess we won't have to worry about that.
Hmm... looking back, I can see it happening. I get the feeling that Belle's little "accident" was more than that, like it was all planned in some way to start the collapse of mana-ponies...
Creepy.
Yes, I'm watching this whole bloody charade. You hooked me with this, and I don't think my nostril likes being tugged so much. But it is ab-so-blessed-lutely enthralling!
2686682
You forgot your little face that you use in your comments.
Gosh. Do I have to reread the beginning of Eljunbyro now? Because I can hardy remember a thing anymore.
Also, what the heck is this all for? For Novus? Quite possibly, I think. I kinda want to know what all happened to him, and what kind of condition he's in.
I KNEW there had to be a connection between Blue Shelf and Ridge Side. I remember that Baxter (I think that's his name) could use fire magic, meaning he was probably a product of Ridge Side. Like Nevlamas, though, I'm confused. I assume it'll be explained more in the next chapter (or the chapter after THAT, if IC decides to be evil and go back to Pilate's story-line next, as we all know he will), but even so: Is this suggesting that Nightshade was somehow involved in Blue Shelf? If so, then how would a Council-crony like Shell have any jurisdiction there? Unless it was some form of military imminent domain. Either way, things are getting so, so very interesting.
A few more mistakes than usual this time, but s'all good.What?
Also, RD hasn't been moving East much. Doesn't she have a shrinking lifespan?
Hmm... Full Circle.
This is going to get crazy dark again, isn't it?
Darker than Silvadel.
... FINALLY!!
2687931
I wouldn't worry about it...
It seems the plot perhaps vaulted the proverbial gill-bearing aquatic craniate animal sometime after Axan played ping-pong pegasus with our favourite courageous and charming cerulean champion.
When suddenly, we find out that Nightshade tortures fillies and colts in her spare dungeon below the blood halls and the lobotomy lab. In her spare time of course, shes a busy mare.
Wow, full circle definitely fits the bill...
As Dash put it so well:
Dun Dun Dunnn!
Looks like Nightshade Industries was in deeper than we thought. They've been a part of this since the beginning of Eljunbyro. Now tho non-unicorn species of Blue Shelf using magic makes a lot of sense.
hmmm...
I wonder if they actually had control of Blue Shelf, or if they just had a high-clearance insider there who was sending them data....
From what I could tell, it was Council-run even before Shell arrived.
Everything is supposedly coming together...but I still don't understand any of it...
Epiphany.
Ah, so that's how Twilight did it - it wasn't the "Magic of Friendship" after all.
In other news, I think what I'm getting out of all this is that Nighty is a bit like a magic Hitler. Which means she's channeling a bit of Voldemort as well as Umbridge.
I think I'll wait for you to have one of your smart characters explain everything to one of the not-so-astute characters before I try and figure all this out, though.
2701226Was it the magic of plastic surgery?
So...basically, their researching biotics?
Nice, we know now where Floydien and Simon come from.
Now we come full circle, once again.
And this definitely confirms that the cage the scientists are working on us for containing a chaos monster.
A Message from MASH-
Uugh...sleeeeeep...
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
Huh. So I guess that the magical talent of all of Belle's old animal friends was experimental. Very interesting...and it doesn't surprise me one bit that the Confederacy would do something like this. Perhaps Floydien, Nancy Jane, and thar squirrel whose name I can't remember were a part of that experiment? But Floydien and the squirr must have gotten away at some point. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
2686803 I like your profile picture. Gives me megaman vibes.
Shouldn't that say "Deep Ridge"?
Things are coming full circle. We know for sure what the cargo of that cage was supposed to be. But... Shell had taken over Blue Shelf.
-Spirit
Hmm . . . this is interesting. The main reason being that Blue Shelf was supposed to be working in compliance with the Council, yet Nightshade is working in secret without compliance of the council. I believe that there is something very, very wrong going on here.
So, they were already doing all that crazy shit at Blue Shell right under Belle's nose? Makes sense, honestly; they planned on using Dash to end the war, so they sent her to Blue Shelf where they were dealing with that sort of thing already.
It is all coming back to blue shelf.
The answers lie back where you began, but they've also been recorded here for your convenience.
Wait, are Ridge Side and Deep Ridge the same thing?
As an engineering student, I can tell you that there are a lot of problems with steam tech. The biggest being inefficiency, the second biggest being it still requires a heating source, and unless they discovered and built a nuclear reactor they are either going to need a lot of coal (or some other flammable substitute like wood, though fossil fuels so far are best), or use magic of some kind to heat the water to make the steam. But then Nightstupid's plan has bigger problems than that already.
05/14/2017 01:41 UTC
8161434
I took it more as a "we're going to run out of these abundant mana resources so we need to move on to steam" though they did really try to sell it as a utopia above and beyond their mana-tech.
Of course, Of course it's Blue Shelf, They just can't seem to get away from it