The pony's voice crackled through the radio, "Come on Clamshell, what's the holdup?"

Clamshell, a blue colored hippogriff, turned his head to see the still surface of the water begin to bubble. "Just one more minute! The pod, the pod's coming up now!""

"Clamshell, that thing's alerting security all over," the pony responded over the radio, "It'd be best that you hurry before some of the enfused come!"

Bluejacket in the meantime, looked out the window as the pod bobbed into the exposed air of the building. He saw the Clamshell hurriedly attempting to open the pod with the control panel, the hippogriff failing to notice a shadowy form drop down behind him.

A wicked giggle made Clamshell spin around. Fear filled his eyes as he held up his claws in defense. "Please lady, I didn't mean to trespass," He took out and placed a small glass vial on the ground. "Just don't hurt me! Just let me go! Thats all the essence I have! You can-"

In an instant, the figure swept out a hoof, cutting open the hippogriffs neck. Clamshell gurgled, blood pooling down his long neck, before the figure shoved him off the walkway and into the water.

Breathing more heavily now, Bluejacket took a step back from the window as the murderous stranger stepped into the light.

The figure paused before tilting her head in interest, "Is it somepony new?"

She was a pony, a unicorn to be exact, but something was definitely wrong with her. Her body was emancipated, her limbs long and gangly. Her azure coat was dirty, and her light blue mane had clearly not been maintained in some time. Dark stains of what could only be blood was scattered on her legs. Most noticeable was her hooves, the skin cracked and flaking off, revealing a blue glow underneath that pulsed with every step. The unicorn had a crazed look in her eyes, which faintly glowed blue.

"Did somepony bring a new friend for the Great and Powerful Trixie?"

This, Trixie began to madly laugh as her front limbs shuddered. Jagged hook-like crystals grew from her hooves, the skin peeling away from the glowing gems.

With a mad scream, Trixie agilely leapt onto the top of the pod. Bluejacket braced himself as the pod violently shook, the screams of the pony outside echoing as she tried in vain to rupture the pod open with her crystalline claws. The pony ceased her attacks, leaping back onto the walkway. Her head twitched to the right as if she heard something.

"Later, friend" she whispered.

Trixie giggled as she jumped onto the wall, using her claws to climb it like a spider before crawling out of sight.

As the unicorn's laugh faded, the door to the pod opened with a hiss. As Bluejacket stepped out, the radio, which had been discarded on the ground, crackled to life once again.

"Would kindly pick up that radio?"

Bluejacket did so, picking up the radio and fiddling with it until the static faded. "I don't where you came from or how you survived the attack, but I could really really use your help."

Lights overhead magically flickered on, revealing the rest of the room. It was some kind of terminal for the underwater pods, with multiple walkways that led into pools of water. Only one of the walkways had a pod with it, Bluejacket's of course, the rest were empty, with magic scorch marks signifying that a struggle had happened there some time ago.

"Now, you'll have to get to a higher ground if you want to make it out alive," the pony on the radio continued, "Oh, and before I forget, my name is Fluttershy, and I aim to find you and me a way out of here."

Bluejacket nodded in response, not caring that it would be impossible for the pony to see him. So, he made his leave of the station, exiting up some stairs. The next few rooms were just as derelict as the pod station, with some sections being filled with collapsed rubble. The next staircase up was completely blocked by debris. In order to deal with this, Bluejacket picked up a wrench that was laying nearby and pried apart the pile.

Fluttershy's voice chirped up again on the radio, "I know you're confused, and you may feel like the unluckiest pony in Equestria, but you're my only hope I'll ever see my friends and family again. Would you kindly go to Aston Landing... Please."

Bluejacket didn't answer this time, instead proceeding up the stairs. He exited into a lounge of some kind. The red walls and carpeting gave the room a cozy vibe. Posters and signs adorned the walls, each advertising magical spells.

"Get a magic enfusion today!" "Teleportation, now not just for unicorns!" "Magical essence now available for all!" "New! Flora and Frenzy!"

Largest of all was a mural on one wall. It depicted a griffon, a hippogriff, and an earth pony filly all happily shooting magic out of their hands. The text below read, "Join a bright new Equestria! Try out a Magical Enfusion today!" All of the advertisements had the royal emblem of Equestria pasted onto the bottom.

Bluejacket of course didn't know what any of these advertisements meant, so instead he looked for a way out. The only door in the room was a large metal thing that apparently led to the waters outside, but it was sparking and apparently didn't work.

At the top of another set of staircases, there was a small hallway with a vending machine of some kind. The machine was graced at both sides by metal statues of cutesy cartoon dragons. "Lil' Sparks Depository," read the sign on top. The machine had an assortment of glowing vials and bottles behind glass, but one vial, full of some kind of blue glowing mixture that fluctuated, had fallen out.

"Those are what we call magic essence," Fluttershy stated on the radio, "I would normally advise against drinking them, but it seems that you'll have to drink that if you want to get out of here."

Bluejacket picked up the vial, it looked harmless enough; so, he popped off the cork and gulped down the liquid. It left a fiery sensation as it trickled down his throat, but the feelings didn't end there. His brain began to buzz as it suddenly became hard to stand. He looked down, sparks of electricity began to jitter between his hooves. He screamed as his skin suddenly lit up with a fluorescent blue. In a panic, Bluejacket began to run around, launching himself over the balcony railing and to the lounge floor below as everything went black...

Breathing heavily, Bluejacket slowly opened his eyes to the sight of a dragon staring him directly in the eyes. The black-scaled dragonling jumped back in alarm, "Ah! Not gone! Not gone!"

With a low rumble, something big leaned into the baby dragon, as if it was reassuring the dragonling. It was some kind of large stone and metal construction. It had a hunched over appearance with brown joints, oversized arms, tiny curved legs, and a pointed mask with six glowing spots. Glowing pink light emanated from between the cracks in its joints.

The black baby dragon giggled, "No worry, Mr. B, I'm okay! And pony..." The dragon glanced back to the Bluejacket one more time before leaving, "Pony will be gone soon..."

---

Bluejacket awoke to find the lounge empty once more. He looked at his hooves, they looked normal, but something felt different. Something that felt like energy inside.

He thrust a hoof forward, making a small bolt of electricity shoot out. So, that's what the magic essence did, it gave him, a normally non-magical earth pony, magical abilities, particularly an electricity spell.

Without a moment's delay, Bluejacket shot electricity at the malfunctioning door. The shuddered with a jolt, then slid open. Beyond was the open sea, or moreso a glass tunnel with a view of the open sea. The tunnel ran between two Seaquestrian buildings that floated near each other.

As Bluejacket walked through the tunnel, a muffled noise from overhead made him look up. The train engine from the crash earlier slowly sank down into Seaquestria from overhead. With a worried thought, Bluejacket realized it was heading straight for the tunnel he was standing in.

The stallion began to dash to the next building, turning a corner to a tall domed building. The tunnel creaked and groaned as the sound of shattering glass echoed down the hall. Looking behind him, Bluejacket saw that the engine had punctured the tunnel, ripping it in half, causing a tidal wave to flow down the hall. He leapt through the next door just as the wave hit the entrance, causing a magical failsafe to take effect and seal it off.

Bluejack found himself standing in a dimly lit room. The glass walls to the left were leaking in several places, puddling around several bodies slumped against the wall. The bodies, most of whom were ponies, were bloody and beaten, and one body, that of a griffon, disturbingly looked like he had a bite taken out of one of his legs.

Then Bluejacket noticed he wasn't alone. At the other end of the room, a brown earth pony looked at him curiously. The pony was just as dirty and scrawny as Trixie earlier, his hooves cracked with pink light. He had cutie mark of a disco ball with confetti and wore an eloquent mask in the shape of a parasprite, the four translucent wings hanging off his covered face.

The earth pony gave a slit-eyed stare at Bluejacket, "Hello new friend, do you have a gift for me?"

"You might want to put that magic of yours to use," Fluttershy commented.

The earth pony charged, screaming as his hooves glowed with a pink aura. Bluejacket jumped aside, letting the earth pony ram into the sealed door. The mask flew off from the collision, unveiling the pony's sunken eyes and bleeding nose. Bluejacket took the opportunity to launch electricity from his hoof. The bolt hit the earth pony squarely in the chest, who convulsed as the electricity coursed through his body. Bluejacket swung his wrench at the pony's head, creating a sickening crack as the pony's cries of pain fell silent.

The now dead earth pony slumped onto the floor, the sparks of magic flickering out of his hooves.

"That pony right there," Fluttershy began over the radio, "That's what I call an enfused. They are, or were, ponies and creatures who used the magical essence. They said it it safe, that Twilight had tested it herself, but they were wrong. Magic essence changed everything. Most creatures couldn't handle their new power, it destroyed their bodies, their minds. It even corrupted the magic down here, ruining unicorns and changelings, creatures who already had magic. Best friends murdering each other, colts butchered in the streets. The whole city went straight to Tartarus."

The next room was tall with multiple elevators and shops up above. Only one of the elevators seemed to be working, with two being destroyed hunks of metal. Banners hung from the ceiling, each labeled with its own term, "HONESTY, LOYALTY, GENEROSITY, KINDNESS, LAUGHTER, MAGIC." These qualities of friendship stood in stark contrast to what Bluejacket had seen so far.

As Bluejacket rode the sole operational elevator up, the voice of a mare came into earshot. At the top, there was a shut-off store, and another place called the Novo Lounge, which was where the voice could be heard coming from. Bluejacket crept around a corner, seeing the shadowed silhouette of a pegasus standing over a baby carriage. He turned his head to get a better look.

"My little pony... my little pony," the pegasus sang to herself. Her dark pink coat was muddy, and her blue wings were frayed with many feathers missing. Bluejacket quietly exhaled, could she be a normal pony?

The pegasus stopped, she heard him. The enfused pushed the carriage aside and screamed, "Don't you dare touch my filly!" She began to furiously flap her wings, which began to glow with blue energy. Feathers flew out from her wings, transforming into diamond blades mid-air, embedding themselves in the wall where Bluejacket had been a moment earlier.

He ducked, narrowly avoiding another feather which bounced off the railing; and bucked his rear leg. The hoof connected with the enfused pegasus's snout, snapping it the wrong direction. The pegasus snarled with rage and leapt at Bluejacket, who sidestepped the uncoordinated attacker and kicked her in the rear. The pegasus bounced off the ground and collided with the railing, her front legs snapping as she tumbled off the edge.

Bluejacket watched her fall down, her now diamond wings flapping uselessly as she collided into the glass floor below. As one more measure, Bluejacket checked the pegasus's "filly" in the carriage, discovering she had in fact been singing to a dagger encrusted with dry blood. Maybe it could be useful later.

---

A large-scale party seemingly had taken place within the Novo Lounge, though now it looked more a war had occurred there. There were many tables, most of which were overturned or scorched with magical burns. There were surprisingly few bodies though, only about two, both of which were ponies in various positions around the dining area.

The lounge curved wall entirely made of glass, giving a view into Seaquestria's globular city beyond. Several parts were noticeably cracked, spraying water that gathered around a large metal statue of a rearing alicorn that had at one point, had one its sides blasted open.

"Gotta be around here," commented a voice. Bluejacket ducked behind a table. An enfused pony and hippogriff waded in the water around the statue, looking for something.

"I know I saw it, and you know what a runt like that can do," the hippogriff answered. His beak was chipped in several places, and one the wings had apparently been cut clean off.

"Well, if the whelps not here, I'll make you pay," the pony snarled in response, using her magic to threateningly wave a sharpened stick about.

Bluejacket looked over the enfused again, they were both standing in the water, which was a good conductor. That gave him an idea.

Bluejacket jumped out and shot out a full blast of electricity from both hooves at the water pool. Both of the enfused screamed as the magical electricity burst across the water, thoroughly roasting each of the insane magic users. The pony fell face-first into the water as the electricity frayed her mane. The hippogriff unfortunately remained standing, screaming horrifically until the back of his head popped open, splattering green goo on the wall.

Fluttershy's voice spoke up again, "Killing them might seem cruel, but trust me, killing enfused is an act of mercy." Bluejacket had to agree, none of the creatures he was killing seem sound both physically and mentally.

Bluejacket searched through the Novo Lounge. There were the bloody remains of something in the broom closet. There was another body in the kitchen who carried a significant number of bits. But eventually, he stumbled into the restroom, in which one of the walls had been conveniently busted open.

The hole opened up onto a catwalk above a performance area. As Bluejacket crossed, he heard a familiar babbling below. He jumped and slid down a pile of rubble and looked through a glass wall to see the black dragonling from earlier, who happily burbled as it bit a chunk out of a body of a pony on the floor.

Fluttershy spoke up over the radio, "Careful now... Would you kindly not attack that dragonling?"

Bluejacket stood down, watching as the baby dragonling chewed on the hoof of the pony.

"You think that's a baby down there, don't you? Well don't be fooled. That's a Little Spark now. Somepony went and turned a bunch of sweet little baby dragons into that monster you see before you. Those Little Sparks, they create Dragon Fire– the magic spark that makes up the core of magical essence. Everycreature wants it; everycreature needs it."

Suddenly, two more creatures entered the theater. Two enfused, a large yak who had lost much of his fur, and a griffon who had carved a bloody cutie mark onto his thigh.

They both slowly approached the Spark hungrily, "Don't worry little whelp," said the yak, "Magic yak won't hurt you; magic yak just want friend."

The Little Spark did not buy their act for a second. "No no no," it cried, "Big B Big B! Help!"

"You're mine!" the enfused griffon hissed, lunging at the dragonling.

A roar rang echoed out through the theater. The stone and metal mechanical charged into the room, tossing the yak into the opposite wall with a single smack. The joints of the thing bristled with rage, and the pink magic had shifted to a crimson shade of red.

"And that's a mechanical;" said Fluttershy on the radio, "they protect the Sparks. The Sparks make Fire, the mechanicals protect them."

The yak howled with anger, charging down the mechanical. The mechanical stood its ground, grabbing the yak's horns and twisting. The enfused yak's neck snapped as the mechanical lifted up the body and threw it at the glass wall, cracking the glass.

The griffon, meanwhile, had a claw wrapped around the Spark's neck and had backed away to the glass wall. "Stay back! I'm warning you! Or the runt gets it!", his outstretched claw glowed orange, being aimed at the Spark's face.

The mechanical seemed to regard the warning, turning and standing still for a second.

Then, without hesitation, the mechanical thrust an arm forward, the magic flowing out and solidifying into a large crystal spike that impaled the griffon straight through the glass wall. Bluejacket jumped back as the now dead griffon fell over onto his side of the wall.

The Spark babbled happily as the mechanical calmed down. "Yay! Do that again! Do that again!" The mechanical rumbled happily as it used its large stone hand to gently grasp the Little Sparks claw as the two left the wrecked theater.

Once the rumbling steps of the mechanical faded away, Bluejacket carefully stepped over the shattered glass wall, turning at a sign that pointed to the transit center.

The transit center had more staircases and two doors, one labeled Aston Landing and the other Medical Pavilion. The glass ceiling in this room was even more cracked than usual. A waterfall poured downward, drenching the body of an assumedly dead mechanical.

"You made it!" Fluttershy announced over the radio, "Now just go the Aston Landing station."

Bluejacket did so accordingly, starting a gallop to his only means of escape. Of course, it wasn't meant to be, as Bluejacket ran face first into the door as the Aston Landing entrance magically sealed. The magical lights in the room turned red as sirens rang out.

Bluejacket looked around in confusion, a security lockdown? But he stopped short as he heard the cries of enfused growing in the distance. He quickly turned tail and dashed into the Medical Pavilion entrance. He turned a corner and entered a square, metal room. The doors slid shut, bathing the room in complete darkness.

Bluejacket sighed, trying to think of what to do next when magically suddenly projected onto the glass wall. A still image of a seapony's face appeared. She had light cyan fins with a brilliant yellow coloration.

"So, tell me intruder," the seapony's voiced asked, "which one of those royal mules sent you? Was it the ever-obnoxious Flurry Heart? Or was it that liar Twilight Sparkle? Here's the news: Seaquestria isn't some sunken ruin for you to take advantage of just because you abandoned it, and Skystar is no longer a giddy socialite who can be slapped around by Canterlot royalty. And with that, farewell, or goodbye, whichever you prefer... friend."

The image vanished as muffled cries and screams approached the room. The silhouettes of several ponies appeared on the other side of the glass, the eyes faintly glowing with magic. They began to bang on the wall with their hooves and other weapons. The wall began to give way with cracks forming across its width.

The door behind Bluejacket abruptly opened as Fluttershy yelled out, "Quickly! I got the door open! Get out of there now!"

Bluejacket ran inside the bulkhead room and slammed the heavy door shut. The room shuddered as bubbles appeared in decorative glass panels along each wall.

Bluejacket's radio crackled to life once again, "And that my friend, was Queen Skystar. The seapony who still claims to be queen of Seaquestria," Fluttershy sighed over the radio, "Now that the way is blocked by security and a horde of enfused, you'll have to find your way to Aston Landing through Emergency Access. And if you want to use the emergency access, you'll need Photo Finish's key. She's kind of the most important pony down there. But I don't expect her to hand it to you out of friendship. Photo Finish isn't known for her sharing and as you might guess, not entirely there either."

Next Chapter: Chapter 3- The Medical Pavilion Estimated time remaining: 12 Minutes