Smell
I awoke to Pick shaking me quite roughly and if it hadn't been for the fact I was still tired and my sword was left by a tree I'd be gutting him already. "Where am I, was it real?" I asked sitting up quickly and looking at my surroundings.
To my surprise I wasn't asleep fifty metres from our camp beneath a tree which Starswirl had lectured me but instead in the camp and in the same position I was in before the noise awoke me last night. This convinced me that I had been dreaming but since my imagination wasn't that good and it all felt too real I asked Pick "Did I get up last night and leave the camp"?
Pick looked questioningly at me and raised an eyebrow. "Not that I know of, if you recall it was Soarin on watch for the majority of last night and then it was me and I never saw you bat an eyelid so much as get up and go for a stroll" he said as he pulled his saddlebag tightly over his back.
My face must have been one of intensive thinking as Luna, Soarin and Pick were both looking at me with worried faces until eventually Luna asked "Are you alright there Captain"? In truth I was a little freaked but I hid it behind I steely guard face and replied "It is nothing; I simply wish to get to the outskirts of Baltimare soon".
"Well we won't be too long, we're about an hour away of we trot fast" said Pick happily and I nodded and quickly got our things together and left, me trying to put what I'd dreamt behind me despite the fact I was still arguing with myself whether or not it was actually reality.
We set off in high spirits and made our way quickly through the thinning swamps which materialised into light forests and then finally to everyone's great and tired joy Baltimare. Despite the city still being over a mile away I could clearly see that although the city was not as overwhelming as Manehatten or as elegant as Canterlot it still had that city appeal and looking further to the eastern edge of the city I saw many black dot of seagulls fly though the skies and the masts of the large ships in what must have been the docks.
"Wow, my first big city" said Pick in elation despite the fact that the city would probably have wanted posters and more than likely guards inside. "The same for me for it too is my first experience with this city and oh how amazing it is" she said with her eyes glazed over in amazement as she stared with architectural joy at the high rises and the general size.
Always being the one to burst the bubble I sternly told everyone "Ok, we need to get into the city and since it is probably full of wanted posters, villains on the lookout and maybe even Royal Guards then we need disguises or some other way of concealment into the city".
Suddenly without much warning Soarin seemed to shake a little me for collapsing without giving any warning on top of Pick who yelped as his face went head first into the forest floor. "What gives" he said through mouthful of dirt which he spat out before pushing Soarin off of him.
"Is he breathing?" asked Luna and I checked and saw that everything was fine. "He seems to have… fainted or something" I said but as soon as the word left my lips he gasped and shot up like… well a Wonderbolt. He panted and breathed deeply as he looked to and fro and Luna asked "What happened, was it a vision"?
Soarin nodded his head and then groaned and put his hooves on his head as he probably developed a seriously annoying headache. Despite Pick and Luna's worry over Soarin I pushed ahead and asked "What did you see"? Soarin was shutting and opening his eyes multiply to try and see straight but eventually he gave up and began what he had seen in his vision.
"It was Baltimare but it was over three hundred years ago and the ponies all were dressed in strange clothing neither medieval or modern but with weird hats and many had moustaches and some carried lutes and other materials to and fro as they built the city before my eyes" he said and Luna nodded and explained "The Observatory was a powerful tool which I had accidently created after casting a misspell on a powerful telescope I had intended only to view the stars with, if he saw the creation of this city over three hundred years I'm surprised his head hasn't exploded yet".
"What!" exclaimed Soarin hearing that last part but Luna sheepishly calmed him saying "It was only a jest Soarin (which I assumed meant joke)" and so he calmed down a little. However he still looked overwhelmed as he explained "Over the history of the city they installed a sewer over two hundred years which due to the plague sweeping through and killing off everypony was barely used and in time forgotten when ponies from other lands showed up and populated the city, instead installing a fresh sewage system slightly above the ancient one still in use today".
We all saw what he was getting at and although climbing through a sewer wasn't what I wanted to do I had no objections. Pick on the other hand was less than compliant and complained "Darn it Soarin, you couldn't perhaps of envisioned and ancient teleportation device from which we could teleport in could you"!?
Luna looked less than thrilled also but nodded and said "If Soarin knows how to get us above the old sewage tunnel then I can blast a way through the roof and into the newer one" she said and I agreed and asked Soarin "Do you know a way into the old sewer tunnel"?
That's where he looked up and quickly replied "Oh that's the most important part I had to tell you because we're right on top of it you see". "What do you…" I began to ask but then suddenly the ground rumbled and the forest floor where Pick had fallen began to open up and suddenly we all were falling into a dark abyss and typically all crying out as we went.
However our fall of doom was abruptly cut as we all landed in the middle of the long, dark and twisting sewage tunnels with a splash. Instantly I saw nothing but black and slightly green water in my vision which stung my eyes and after making for the surface I pulled myself onto the side of the sewer.
I could thankfully hear the others gag, cough and splutter as they discharged sewage water from their mouths which I had thankfully kept shut upon coming into contact with the foul smelling stuff. "Damn it Soarin, you could have told us about the entrance first" shouted Pick as he whipped his now filthy mane out of his eyes.
"Yeah well I was struggling coming to grips with three hundred years of history so excuse me for letting it slip my mind!" he yelled back as he went into a coughing fit. "Let me get us more light" said Luna since we could only faintly make each other from the light of the collapsed ceiling which we'd thought to be forest floor moments ago.
The tunnels lit up with intense and strong dark blue light and now that I could properly see where we were I was less than impressed. Since I had seen ancient observatories of legend and ruins of a past age I guess I was expecting ancient sophistication to what was really a large tunnel of dirt supported by wooden beams and more mud.
"Wow we all look absolutely vile" remarked Pick whose coat along with the others and mine was thick with muck and sludge. My mane probably looked worse since there was still the dried blood mixed in there and judging by the smell of the sewers by the time we reached the surface we'd probably stand out a mile.
"We'll find a way to wash later but right now we need to move" I said as Luna's light flickered as she coughed and almost threw up. I went over and patted her on the back and asked "Luna are you alright to proceed"? She didn't want to speak so instead just nodded and I suggested to us all "Try breathing through your others and the stench will lessen".
They nodded and began to breathe through their mouths which only made it slightly better. Brushing as much medieval waste cling to me as I could I asked Soarin "Ok now where do we go"? He looked blank and shrugged saying "I don't know, I've forgotten half the stuff I already saw".
I couldn't believe what he was saying and made to ask how in Celestia he could forget something he'd seen two minutes ago but Luna put a hoof on my chest and explained "If he remembered everything after a prediction his brain really would explode".
I decided it best I ask how his brain visions worked later and instead looked down either side of the tunnels and said "Baltimare is North-East which means we need to head in this direction "I said pointing to the others who looked down the tunnel and nodded. "Since the tunnels may wind or be collapsed in some places this might take a few hours so get used to the smell, stay on the walkways and ignore the rapidly drying waste in your coats cause I want to get out of here as fast as possible which means no whining from you Pick" I said pointing at him who pretended to be shocked at the accusation that he would complain about something!
"OK let's go then" I said heading off at a steady walk as the others followed me; Luna's light guiding the way. The only sounds in the tunnel for the next two hours would be the faint trickle and drips of sewage water as we made our way through (literally) the bowels of Baltimare to hopefully the docks or even better a soap shop.
The tunnel was small in places and grand in others, broken and caved in on multiple occasions and in some places so foul that we wretched and Pick and Luna threw up whilst me and Soarin simply turned green and tried to not look as they vomited the simple food we'd been consuming over the past few weeks.
"Damn it how far is it until we reach anywhere near where we need to be?" asked Pick wiping his mouth. I wasn't sure since I had no true idea where we were going and simply gauged the distanced we'd been walking with the distance to the docks on the surface levels.
"Here is as good a place as any to see if the newer and hopefully more pleasantly smelling sewer is" I said gasping and pointing up at the ceiling. Luna immediately pointed her horn to the ceiling but instead of blowing a hole threw it like I thought she would she simply furrowed her brow and concentrated before saying "This part has a lot of earth packed above it but about 20 metres in that direction there's a thin bit of tunnel from the newer sewer I can blow through".
I nodded and we all made our way to where she indicated eager to get out of this stinking hell we wouldn't wish our worst enemy into. Luna once more pointed her horn to the ceiling and shouted "Stand back!" before blasting a fairly large beam at the roof of the tunnel and bringing it down with a large crash and a flood of the above sewer water.
The difference was immediate as the smell decreased significantly and Pick was knocked on the head by a large chunk of rock, falling into the hooves of Soarin who was luckily there to catch him. The flood of water reduced to trickle but presented another problem which I addressed asking "How do we get to the above sewer, there is nothing to climb"?
Soarin laughed and stated the obvious "You know I might just be able to fly us up one at a time since I am a Pegasus"! "Yeah…right" I said trying not to turn red and failing. Despite the smell and how tired we were Luna couldn't help but giggle a little.
So Soarin flew the unconscious Pick up (which helped since he couldn't complain or worm out of it) and then Luna up and finally me. "Put your hooves around my neck and hold on tight" he told me and I nodded, not wanting to fall thirty feet from the above sewer into the toxic waste of the old sewer.
Although the flight was short I envied once more the ability that Soarin and other Pegasus had and asked "why in Equestria I was born an Earth Pony"? Our four second flight ended with him dumping me on my rump on the new sewer pathway and to our great relief a ladder to the surface.
"Well at least we can get out of here earlier than expected" I said thankful for the luck we had at last had and deserved. Soarin slapped Pick awake as me and Luna began to cautiously ascend the ladder since for all we knew we could be in middle of some kind of guard station without knowing it.
"Ok Luna" I said upon reaching the opening to the non-smelling real world "If there is some kind of trouble when I open this then scurry back down and if I get pulled through then run along the tunnel and come up another way" I said to which she responded "Just open the blasted thing already Captain before I choke"!
I nodded and without further ado I shoved against the metal grill and into the oh so sweet smelling world of clean air. However as I scrambled unbalanced up the ladder I was cautious and drew my sword in case we were in the street or in the path of some enemies.
I looked about and saw that we were literally on the edge of the docks with some large crates and containers stacked behind us. Either side were more crates and so I relaxed and turned to help Luna up and out of the blasted sewers followed by Pick and Soarin who also were relieved and took in deep breaths of the sea air which made their eyes water a bit.
For an entire five minutes we just rested against the crates and took in the fresh sea air in thankfulness that we would hopefully never need to go back into those cursed sewers. However that didn't take care of the fact that we still looked and stank like a toilet which would give us away before anypony saw us coming.
I asked what we should do and Soarin suggested "We could all jump into the sea but it would be difficult for me to fly us out since it's looking a bit choppy today". "I have a better idea, but we might be detected and it will completely drain me of all energy" said Luna to which I said "No, you aren't going to risk anything over us Luna we'll just lower ourselves in one by one".
Luna furrowed her brow and stated "You know I also stink like a sewer Captain and I would also be risking myself, in fact I will do it" she said turning her head away and charging her horn with bright blue magic which flashed and then suddenly caused dark but rather small rain clouds appear above our heads.
With a twist of her head suddenly and quite unexpectedly the clouds erupted in a downpour of rain which actually hurt a little as it washed the muck out of our coats and manes. However after the initial surprise we began to scrub away any more dirt and grime which had stuck.
The rain reduced to a slight patter and Luna panted as the clouds disappeared and leaned against the cargo crates for support. I went to steady her as did Soarin and I asked "Princess are you alright"? "I'm fine Captain just…just give me a minute" she lied as she sat down against the crates.
I was angry that Luna would waste such energy to just clean us and yelled "That was really stupid, what if we are attacked and you have absolutely no strength to defend yourself"! Luna steadily got to her hooves and brushed Soarin away and yelled "I'm not some little filly Captain, I am you're Princess and a thousand years older than you and although it might have strained me I knew I could handle it so back off"!
Her outburst certainly surprised me but then I did remember that despite her looks and her sometimes ignorance to the world she was still my Princess and so I grudgingly apologised and suggested "Well since we're safely surrounded by all these cargo crates I suggest that one of us takes a look at the docks and then report back here".
"Well Luna and the Captain can't go and I'm a Wonderbolt and liable to get recognised so…" said Soarin looking towards Pick who held up a hoof and stepped back saying "You can't be serious, just because I'm good at breaking into places and stealing doesn't mean that I'm some kind of spy".
Despite trying to convince himself otherwise that he wasn't the best pony fitted for the job he eventually gave in under our stares and asked "Fine, what do I need to see or scout out or whatever"? "Well right now we just want to see which part of the docks we're in and whether or not we can make our way to some boat for here, in total it should take you five minutes and you're only going a few metres to the other side of these crates so we'll here you scream if there's trouble" I said, trying to reassure him with a little humour which by the look on his face he didn't think was funny.
"Fine, can somepony give me a hoof-up and we'll get this over with" he said flatly and Soarin moved to help him up on top of some lower stacked crates. He then pulled himself up and over onto the dockside. There was a faint noise of seagulls and cranes operating in the distance but other than that there was no sound to be heard and four a few minutes we had to stand there and keep an ear out in case the entire guard suddenly returned with Pick.
"We're in trouble!" said Pick and we all spun round with our hands on our weapons as he dropped back into the small space surrounded by crates from the other side of which he'd left. Getting over our worry and tenseness, we all looked at him with the same question in our eyes… "What was on the other side"?
"Well we sure can pick times, I couldn't see the city but I saw the banners and a patrol of Royal Guards and those ponies called the militia dressed in red and it turns out that Princess Celestia will be here tomorrow to launch the first ever steam ship to be launched and due to security issues security has been quadrupled and extra reserve militia have been called up" he said with a pause for breath.
"But how could you learn all this from a small vault over a wall of crates?" I asked confusedly. "They have notices plastered on every crate, every container, ship and more than likely all over the city detailing what's happening and other posters with our faces on them" he said.
I was troubled by this news but did well to hide it and Luna asked "You were expecting some form of force here anyway, is there still a way to get aboard a ship for Manehatten"? Since we were all being honest and Luna had given me her little speech about her not being a little filly, I decided it best that I be straight with her and said "From what Pick has seen this means we won't be able to move five paces forward without swords to our throats and crossbows at our back. Royal Guards, Militia and probably some of those thugs we've encountered before will be all over the city and by that I mean at the gates, train stations, guarding the ships and generally sweeping the area in preparation for Celestia's arrival. When is it Pick?" I asked hoping for some time. "She arrives tomorrow and by afternoon she'll be smashing some of that fancy wine stuff against the hull of that boat" said Pick.
"Fancy wine is called Champagne Pick" corrected Soarin and I yelled at them both "We don't have time for petty banter and foal play, if the security is this bad then it's only a matter of time before they patrol this section of the docks and although we can take maybe thirty with a few cuts and bruises, when we're surrounded by about a hundred well trained guards, not bandits or monsters who've been stuck in a cave"!
"There must be a way to the docks Captain, some kind of disguise or maybe a secret passage that we can utilise"? "Unless I have a map I have no way of knowing Luna, don't you have magic with illusions that you can use to make us look different?" I asked but she shook he head and explained "It would be too hard to disguise us all for a prolonged amount of time like that".
We were in a bit of a pickle was the nice way to put it but an idea suddenly came to me and I asked "How long would it take to maintain the spell on yourself"? "About two hours but by then I'd be exhausted, did you have something in mind"?
I knew it would be risky but I had to do something so I said "Ok this is what you need to do…"