7
“C’mere everypony!” Applejack hollered, making sure that the ponies of the market heard her clearly, “get your apples, fresh from the farm!”
Apple Bloom watched as her sister kept tending their stand, her gaze wandered over the market, not focusing on anything in particular.
“It sure is a slow day, ain’t it, ‘Bloom?” her sister asked, through a forced smile, doing her best to sound cheerful on behalf of her sister, but only succeeding in making a frown appear on Apple Bloom’s face.
“Oh, c’mon Apple Bloom, there’s no sense in bein' gloom,” her sister said. She then blinked and gave a light chuckle, “Heh, I just spoke like Zecora, ain’t that somethin'?”
“I don’t think that’s funny, Applejack,” Apple Bloom said, dryly.
Applejack was taken aback by her sister’s reaction. She remained silent while she scratched her head in thought, wondering what she should say to her little sister. After a few seconds of silence, Applejack removed her apron and threw it over the stand and knelt down, until she was lying on the grass right next to her sister.
“It’s okay to be angry, Apple Bloom,” she said.
“No, it ain’t okay,” the earth filly said abruptly, “I shouldn’t be angry because none o' this should. Be. Happenin'!”
Apple Bloom’s outburst caught her sister by surprise. The filly’s lip quivered, but she scrunched her muzzle and laid her head down between her forelegs, facing away from her older sister.
“Listen to me Apple Bloom,” Applejack said after a couple of seconds of silence.
The filly didn’t raise her head, but she perked up her ears, showing that she was listening. “I don’t blame you for feelin' that way, ‘Bloom,” Applejack said as she rested her hoof on her sister’s shoulder, which Apple Bloom promptly shook off. Shocked, but undeterred, Applejack kept talking, “with all that has happened, I’m amazed you’re takin' it this well.”
Apple Bloom buried her head in her forelegs even more, as if she was trying to disappear between them.
“Celestia knows I probably couldn’t have taken it when I was your age,” Applejack added in a whisper.
The filly squirmed in place, and Applejack took this as a sign to keep going, “I meant what I said, Apple Bloom. You are the strongest filly I’ve known and don’t you forget it.” After saying this, Applejack crossed her hooves and looked up, “I have to keep tendin' the stand, we have to get rid of all the apples we have left, hopefully somepony will—” she was interrupted by a yellow blur that had tackled her side.
“I’m sorry,” Apple Bloom said, her voice muffled by her sister’s coat, "I shouldn't have said all those thin's."
A smile tugged at Applejack’s lips as she hugged back the little filly, “It’s alright, ‘Bloom,” she said, gently stroking her sister’s mane.
“Hello?” came a sing-song voice from the front of the stand.
“Sweetie Belle?” Apple Bloom asked, pulling herself away from her sister and rubbing her eyes.
“Hi, Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Belle said, “Hello, Applejack.”
“Hi, Bloom. Hi Applejack” Scootaloo said, jumping from her scooter.
“Hi, girls,” Apple Bloom said with a decidedly happier tone, “what are you doin' here?”
“We wanted to come see you,” Sweetie Belle said.
“We thought we could hang around,” Scootaloo said, “since y’know, there’s no school today.”
The words of the pegasus caused Apple Bloom’s shoulders to sag, but she was back to normal before the other two fillies could notice.
“Sure thin',” she said before scrunching up her muzzle and turning around to face her sister, “I can go, right, AJ?” she pleaded.
Applejack chuckled and rustled the filly’s mane, “'course you can, sugar cube. It’s not like ponies are doin' a lot of buyin' today.”
“Yeah, they all seem to have come just to talk to each other,” Scootaloo said as she jumped back on her scooter, “G’bye Applejack!”
“Good bye, Applejack,” Sweetie Belle said as she started to walk.
“Bye, AJ. I’ll be back in a while,” Apple Bloom said as she followed her friends, none of them noticing the grimace forming on the face of the farmer.
“Come back to the farm before sunset, you hear me?” Applejack said, rising her voice. She grabbed the apron from the cart and struggled to put it back on, hoping to focus on selling the remaining apples she had, however, she couldn't help throwing sideway glances at the ponies who were on the stands next to her.
Scootaloo was right; they weren’t here to buy, if the small groups of murmuring ponies were any indication.
“C’mere everypony!” Applejack yelled again, doing her best to avoid eavesdropping on the other ponies, “get your apples, fresh from the farm!”
And yet, she failed.
“It’s insidious, that’s what it is,” the yellow stallion said, jabbing a hoof on his friend’s chest.
“Calm down, Caramel. You’re starting to freak me out,” the other stallion said as he ogled the jars of honey in front of him.
“That too, why are you so calm?” Caramel said.
“Because I’m choosing to trust the measures taken by the Princess, that’s why."
“Speaking of whom, why didn’t she come to the lockdown?” Caramel asked, arching an eyebrow.
“Well, if this thing's really serious, maybe she didn't want to risk spreading the disease, I don’t know, why are you asking me?” the brown earth pony replied.
“Hey, Turner,” the honey vendor said, catching the attention of both stallions, “you’re a learned pony, aren’t you?”
“Well, I…” Time Turner fumbled with his words, “I guess?”
“I know you are,” she said before leaning towards the two stallions and whispering conspiratorially, “do you have any idea of what’s going on?”
“Yeah, Turner, you’re a history buff. Do you know if anything like this has ever happened before?” Caramel asked back.
“What? No, of course I don’t,” Time Turner said, taking a step back. “If Princess Celestia’s personal student doesn’t know what’s happening, what makes you think I do?”
“I don't know, man. This whole situation is messed up, I don’t know what to think.” Caramel threw his hooves in the air, looking befuddled.
“I think it’s a curse,” the honey vendor said, crossing her hooves over her chest.
“A curse? Seriously?” Time Turner asked.
“Well, how else would you explain what’s happening?” the honey vendor asked back.
"A curse makes no sense. Who would even be casting it?"
"Hey, weirder stuff has happened."
"Okay, yes. Even still, why target random ponies?"
Caramel shrugged. The honey vendor leaned over her counter, resting her head on her crossed hooves.
"I still think it's a curse."
"Of course..."
"Maybe the curse wasn't aimed at some ponies, but to the entire town. Maybe all of us have been cursed, but it’s just waiting to happen,” the honey vendor said.
“That’s grim... What do you think, Turner?” Caramel asked.
“I…” Time Turner paused, opening and closing his mouth a couple of times before sighing, “I don’t know… I just don’t know.”
“I tell you, it’s all a bunch of nonsense,” the old donkey said.
“Doodle! What an awful thing to say,” Matilda shot back.
“It’s the truth, Matilda. Some ponies got a dye job on their flanks and now everyone is panicking,” Cranky said.
Matilda looked around with a grimace, "Still, Doodle, cutie marks mean a lot to ponies, you can't blame them for being afraid."
"I can and I will," Cranky said, shifting under his saddlebags. "These ponies are losing their minds over nothing."
"I don't like your tone, Doodle," Matilda said with a huff, "just imagine how Pinkie Pie would react if she lost her cutie mark. The poor dear would be devastated."
The donkey stopped on his tracks and his shoulders slumped as he sighed. He looked towards the building shaped like a pastry and let out a long, disgruntled sigh.
"I suppose you're right, Matilda," Cranky said. "Ponies really do care about their cutie marks. I guess this whole thing can be pretty upsetting for them."
The couple shared a smile before Matilda spoke again, "I'm sure it is, Cranky. Come on, let's go home."
"It's still not fair that we're stuck in here," Cranky mumbled.
"Doodle, this is only going to last until they solve this little problem," Matilda said back.
"Alright, alright," Cranky said as he started to walk.
And after a quick nuzzle, both donkeys made their way out of the market.
“They seem to think it’s a disease, don’t they?”
“That’s what I heard,” the mare next to her said, “though I don’t know what kind of disease could do something like this.”
“Didn’t a filly get sick and started getting random cutie marks a few months ago?” the first mare said, “maybe this something like that.”
“And to think you girls doubted me when I got those hazmat suits,” a third mare added.
“This is not the time to be smug, Daisy, this is a serious problem,” Rose replied, her voice torn between scolding and pleading.
“How long do you think the town is going to be in quarantine?” Lily asked her friends.
“Until they find a solution to this problem and they can cure the sick ponies, isn’t that the purpose of a quarantine?” Roseluck said.
"I suppose," Lily said, crestfallen.
"I think it's some sort of punishment," Daisy said after a few moments, catching her friends off-guard.
"What?" Rose asked, dumbfounded.
"Daisy! How can you say such a thing?" Lily said, staring at her friend with a frown.
"Well, think about it," Daisy said, arching an eyebrow, "you get your cutie mark once you realise what your talent is, right?"
The other two mares nodded, though not without a certain discomfort.
"Then what would it take to make it disappear?" Daisy asked.
"What... What do you mean, Daisy?" Rose asked her.
"Well," Daisy said in a low tone, leaning towards her friends, "You know how Davenport started selling pencils on his store instead of just quills?"
"You don't really think that's what caused him to—" Lily stopped and gulped before continuing "—you know..."
"I'm just saying it's quite a coincidence..." Daisy said as she turned around, "and I also know that Green Jewel started using low quality gems, and you saw what happened yesterday at Town Hall."
"That's kind of harsh, Daisy," Roseluck said, grimacing.
"Maybe, but I think it makes sense," the mare said back, and with that, she pulled some of the biggest and most colourful flowers from the stand and began tying them together.
Roseluck and Lily stared at their friend, then at each other, not knowing what to say. Finally, they looked back at their flowers and, shaking their heads, went back to tending the stand.
"Well, that sucked," Scootaloo said as she and the other Crusaders left the market behind.
"Everypony is really sad, they must be worried about what's happening," Sweetie Belle said.
"Well duh, of course they are worried, Sweetie Belle," Scootaloo said, "this whole situation is crazy, and it's making everyone nervous."
"But it is gonna be solved, right?," Sweetie Belle said.
"I guess, that's why the Prin—Oof!" Scootaloo yelped as she bumped on Apple Bloom, who had stopped walking and was looking down at the ground and was breathing heavily. Scootaloo rubbed her shoulder and looked at the yellow filly with a puzzled look
"Apple Bloom, are you alright?" Sweetie Belle asked, as she walked towards her friends. She was about to lay a hoof on Apple Bloom's shoulder when the earth filly turned around quickly.
"Right? You wanna know if I'm right?" Apple Bloom yelled, causing her friends to flinch.
"Hey, 'Bloom—" Scootaloo started, but the earth filly began yelling again.
"I ain't right, girls, I'm everythin' but right!" Apple Bloom had her eyes closed and was shaking her head violently
"Apple Bloom, calm down," Scootaloo said with a worried expression on her face.
"No, Scoots, I don't wanna calm down. I wanna yell, and I wanna go home, and I want to go into my room and cry until this whole thing ends and I don't even know what else 'cause right now I don't know how to feel, and I think I could just—" Apple Bloom's rant was abruptly interrupted by a loud yell in the distance.
"Wow, how did you do that, Apple Bloom?" Sweetie Belle said.
"That... that wasn't me," the earth filly said, dumbfounded. Her anger now forgotten, she looked in the direction the scream had come, "That sounded like..."
Scootaloo let out a loud gasp as realisation dawned on them, "That was Rainbow Dash!"
"Let's go, girls!" yelled Apple Bloom, turning around and running in the opposite direction, closely followed by the rest of the Crusaders.
"Nothing out of the ordinary, sir," a guard said.
"The barrier went up without a trouble," her partner added.
"Very well," Sergeant Bold Spear said back, "If any problem arises, just follow the protocol and inform me or Lieutenant Shield immediately."
"Yes, sir!" both guards said at unison as they saluted.
Twilight stared at the guards as they discussed the routine they would follow. She wasn't really paying attention to what they said, which didn't go unnoticed by Spike.
"Hey, Twi..." Spike said, bringing the unicorn back to reality.
Twilight blinked a couple of times before addressing the dragon, "Yeah, Spike?"
"Why are we going with the Sergeant to check the outposts?" He asked her. Once Twilight didn't respond, he talked again, "It's not as if we are really helping in anything."
"I guess I just didn't want to be cooped up in the Library all day," Twilight said. It would just remind me of how ineffective I've been, she didn't say.
"Alright... What are we going to do once the Sergeant finishes his check up, then?" Spike asked again.
"I've been thinking about that, actually, I want to talk to the Mayor and have a meeting to decide what course of action we should take," Twilight said.
"Oh... ok" Spike said, not knowing what else to do to try to cheer up his friend.
"You were right about something, though," Twilight said, still looking forward.
"I was?" Spike asked in incredulity.
"Yeah..." Twilight trailed off, looking at the Sergeant speak with the guards, "I can't keep blaming myself for this."
Spike couldn't help but crack a smile, in spite of the situation, "That's good to hear, Twi."
Twilight kept staring forward, breathing slowly. She knew that she couldn't let this get to her, at least not more than it already had.
"That will be all, then. Go back to your positions," the Sergeant said, catching Spike and Twilight's attention.
"Yes sir!" both guards replied in unison.
"I assume there are no problems with this one either, Sergeant," Twilight said.
"Indeed," Sergeant Bold Spear said turning around to face the unicorn, "There is only one more outpost to check and that will be it for the day."
"Alright, then. Let's—" Twilight said, but was interrupted by an intense yelling coming from somewhere not too far from them.
They all turned around , trying to find the source of the loud discussion.
"What..." Spike said, looking at the direction the scream had come from.
"That... that was Rainbow Dash," Twilight said. Immediately, she bolted forward, running towards the source of the yelling, "come quickly, Sergeant!"
"Lead the way, Miss Twilight," Sergeant Bold Spear said as he galloped behind the unicorn.
"Miss, I'm going to need you to remain calm," the guard said, trying to remain calm himself.
"Don't you Miss me, what the hay is going on here?" Rainbow Dash said, pushing away the guard, "What is this thing?" The pegasus kicked off the ground and hovered above the guard, far from his reach.
"Miss, if you could calm down, then—" the light gray stallion tried to talk to the frazzled pegasus but was ignored.
"I told you to tell me what's this!" Rainbow Dash yelled.
"Like I was trying to say," the guard said, nervously, "Ponyville is in state of quarantine, Miss, and I can't let you—"
"Quarantine? What are you talking about?" Rainbow Dash said, arching an eyebrow, "I'm just trying to get back home."
"Miss, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me," the guard said, mustering all the courage he could.
"Save it, pal. The only place I'm going is home, so get this thing open now," the pegasus demanded, causing the guard to flinch.
"Rainbow Dash!" came a yell from inside of the barrier.
The pegasus perked up her ears and hovered towards the purple~ish screen that separated her from the town, "Squirt? Is that you?" Rainbow Dash said, closing the distance to the barrier as a trio of fillies came into her view.
"Rainbow... Dash..." the orange filly panted as she stopped running. Once she reached the barrier, she lifted a hoof and placed it on the barrier's surface, "what are you doing outside?"
"I had to go to Cloudsdale for a couple of days, and I come back to find that the whole town is inside of a bubble!" the pegasus said motioning towards the town with a hoof, "and numb-flanks over there isn't being any help," she added with a flick of her mane.
"H-hey!" the guard said, but was ignored.
"Is Trixie back in town? Is that what's happening?" She asked, arching an eyebrow as her ayes trailed along the curving shape of the dome.
The crusaders shared a look of confusion between them before looking back at the blue pegasus.
"Y-you mean you haven't heard?" Scootaloo asked, hesitantly.
"Heard what?" Rainbow Dash asked, "Ugh... I swear, everypony is being so cryptic it's not even fun."
"There, uh... There has been some stuff going on in town..." Scootaloo said, kicking the ground. She looked at her friends, hoping to find support from then, but they were equally nervous.
"Scoots, what did I just say about being cryptic?" The pegasus said, crossing her forelegs.
"It's a disease," Twilight's voice came from behind the pegasus, causing the five ponies to turn and face it, "The town is infected and that is why a state of quarantine was established."
Twilight came trotting down the edge of the quarantine barrier, closely followed by Sergeant Bold Spear on the outside.
"Twilight!" Rainbow Dash said, brightening up, "Thank Celestia you came."
"Sergeant!" the first guard saluted, "I was trying to get the lady to cooperate and come with me."
"At ease, Radiant," the Sergeant said.
Twilight stared at her friend in disbelief, "Rainbow... How?" she said in a low voice.
"What is this disease you're talking about, Twi?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"A... a disease has been detected in Ponyville, and Princess Celestia declared a state of quarantine to prevent it from spreading to the rest of Equestria," Twilight said.
"What disease? Did everyone get the feather-flu, or something?" Rainbow Dash said, staring at the group in confusion.
Everyone looked at each other, not sure about how should they break the news to the pegasus. The crusaders had fell silent, as did Twilight and Spike; meanwhile, Sergeant Bold Spear turned around and mumbled some orders to Private Radiant.
"There's an unknown plague in Ponyville," Twilight said after a moment of silence, "it's causing some ponies to... to lose their cutiemarks."
Rainbow Dash stared dumbfounded at her friend, almost as if she hadn't heard her correctly, "Losing their cutiemarks? Are... are you for real Twi?" She said with a nervous edge on her voice.
"Miss Sparkle speaks the truth," Sergeant Bold Spear said, walking towards the pegasus, "which is why we would like to know what are you doing outside of the quarantine."
Rainbow Dash looked at the slightly rose-tinted dome that covered the whole town, "How can something like that happen, Twi?" she asked.
"It's what we're trying to solve, the Princess sent a medical team from Canterlot and they're doing their best to solve this," Twilight said.
"Yeah, and Twilight is doing her best too, Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo said, giving a step forward.
An uncomfortable grimace appeared on Twilight's face, but it disappeared before the rest could notice it. It was nice to know that everypony trusted so much in her and held her efforts in such high regards, but thinking about the events of the last couple of days, and how she had handled this issue, she didn't think she deserved it.
Her lack of reaction when she had found out, keeping the information from the Princess and the rest of Ponyville. Twilight couldn't help but chastise herself for not acting differently, and as much as she wanted to blame the shock of finding out about what was going on, she knew she still could have done much more.
"Miss Dash, I am Sergeant Bold Spear and I have been entrusted by the Princesses with the safety of this town and to make sure the integrity of the barrier is not compromised," the Sergeant said, and when he spoke again, even the otherwise brash and confident Rainbow Dash was put off by his stern tone, "and by the authority that was bestowed upon me, I will ask again, what are you doing outside of the barrier."
"I... I had to go to Cloudsdale to clear the paperwork of Tuesday's storm," the pegasus said.
The storm, the storm that had hit Ponyville just as the plague began to manifest, the damned storm that had prevented them from realising what was happening before it was too late.
"That storm took place two days ago, Miss Dash, why are you returning now?" the Sergeant said.
"Well, I don't really go to Cloudsdale that often, so I went to visit my dad and stayed overnight, and now I come back to see that reality has flipped itself upside down!" Rainbow Dash said, and as she did this, a small group of guards led by Private Radiant arrived and positioned themselves behind the Sergeant.
Sergeant Bold Spear closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Then we know what we must do," he said before turning around and facing the guards, "Private Radiant!" he called.
"Yes, sir!" the gray unicorn said, giving a step forward.
"We must inform Cloudsdale immediately, clear things with Lieutenant Shield and have her send a message to the Mayor immediately," the Sergeant said.
"I'll inform the Princess, Sergeant," Twilight said.
"I will be counting on it," the Sergeant said, not looking at the unicorn.
"Ok, then. Now how about letting me in so you can go do your guard stuff?" Rainbow Dash butted in, a nervous smile on her face.
"I am sorry, Miss Dash, but I cannot do that yet," Sergeant Bold Spear said.
"What?" Rainbow Dash, and the Crusaders yelled at unison.
"What do you mean you can't let her in?" Apple Bloom said.
"You can't just leave her outside," Spike chimed in, leaning from Twilight's back.
"We will not leave her outside, she must be processed first," the Sergeant said back to the filly.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a minute, Mister Sergeant. What do you mean processed?" Rainbow Dash said, waving her front hooves as she flew towards Sergeant Bold Spear.
"Don't worry, Rainbow Dash, it's standard procedure," Twilight said, "the medical team just has to see if you are infected or not."
The guards trotted towards Rainbow Dash, circling her.
"H-hey, back off," she said, nervously, as she slowly rose up.
"Miss Dash, do you want to be let in?" Sergeant Bold Spear said, rising his voice, and causing Rainbow Dash to look straight at the white earth pony in front of her, "then you should let us and the medical team do our job, let us process you and then you can go back home."
Rainbow Dash stared into the Sergeant's eyes, almost as if trying to discern whether or not she should trust him.
"Please, do not make this any harder," the Sergeant added in a softer tone.
Everyone remained silent, and no other sound could be heard save for the beating of the pegasus' wings. The guards stood surrounding Rainbow Dash, waiting for her to come down; Sergeant Bold Spear was behind them, seeing how the situation developed. Inside of the barrier, Twilight, Spike, and the Crusaders stood motionless, waiting for Rainbow Dash to either comply or rebel.
Finally, after what felt like minutes of waiting, Rainbow Dash landed on the ground and gave a sigh, "It's... it's only a medical check up, right?"
The Sergeant gave her a silent nod.
Rainbow Dash looked at the guards and then back at the sergeant. After a few more seconds of silence, she spoke, "Okay, fine. Let's do this."
"What are you going to do to her?" Scootaloo said, nervous as well.
"The medical team will take a look at her and then we will wait for their diagnosis, that is all," the Sergeant said, back to his stern tone.
The pegasus kept staring at the guards around her before turning her back on them, and pressing her hoof against the rose-tinted barrier, "You're trying to solve this too, aren't you, Twi?" Rainbow Dash said.
Twilight was surprised by the pegasus reaction, but she still managed to give her some encouraging words, "I promise you, I'm going to get to the bottom of things."
"Miss Rainbow Dash," the Sergeant said, "please."
"Trust them, Rainbow, it'll all be over soon enough," Twilight said, trying to reassure her friend.
Rainbow Dash frowned, but gave no other sign of discomfort as she landed and trotted towards the guards. They positioned themselves around the pegasus, and motioned her to start walking.
Twilight's gaze followed Rainbow Dash as the guards took her away, and during all this time she didn't remove her hoof from the clear, rose-tinted barrier, "Everything’s going to be just fine, Rainbow, trust me!" the unicorn yelled, hoping her friend would hear her, "E-everything's gonna be ju—" the words died on her throat, and the unicorn let out a soft whimper, just as her friend disappeared into a tent.
"Twilight..." Spike said, trailing off. He didn't know what to say to cheer up his best friend, nor did he have to, for a stern voice caught their attention immediately.
"Is there anything else you forgot to mention, Miss Sparkle?" Sergeant Bold Spear said as he grimaced.
"I... What?" Twilight asked, dumbfounded, as she slowly turned around to face the Sergeant.
"The letter of the Princess was very clear. You were to inform the citizens about the quarantine and more importantly," he stomped his hoof on the ground for emphasis, "do not let anyone leave the town."
Twilight opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, unable to form words. She looked in the direction the guards had gone and took a deep breath, "Sergeant Spear, I'm sorry, but I couldn't—"
"Forget it," the Sergeant said dryly, "the barrier has been up for less than six hours and we already have a containment breach!"
Twilight was taken aback by the Sergeant's outburst, she quickly regained her composure, however, and replied to him with almost equal strength in her words, "Sergeant Bold Spear, this isn't my fault, I didn't know Rainbow Dash wasn't here, I couldn't have known!"
"That's right. She's been dealing with a lot of trouble in town, she can't be aware of what everypony is doing!" Spike yelled at the Sergeant.
"Spike, don't," Twilight whispered at the dragon.
"Don't what? Defend you from this guy?" Spike said with a mild anger tone in his voice.
"Spike's right, you didn't do anything wrong, Twilight!" Scootaloo said, eliciting comments of agreement from the other Crusaders.
"Girls, that's enough. Spike, you can't talk like that to Sergeant Bold Spear," Spike was about to interject, but Twilight cut him off, "Regardless of how inaccurate his accusations may be."
Sergeant Bold Spear's lips tightened, he closed his eyes and flared his nostrils, visibly trying to calm himself down, "I am going to need you to take a census of everyone in Ponyville, Miss Sparkle," he said, opening his eyes and walking towards the barrier, "because if there is someone else missing from this town, then we all have bigger problems than we originally thought."
Twilight bit her tongue and took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. She knew that the Sergeant was right, but that didn't mean that she had to like his tone. She looked straight at him and talked back, "I'll let the Mayor know right away."
"Once you are done, inform one of the guards and they will contact me," the Sergeant said, coldly. He then turned his back on Twilight and started to walk in the opposite direction, he had only taken a couple if steps before stopping and looking at Twilight over his shoulder; he lingered there for a second, staring at the unicorn with an indiscernible stare, before shaking his head and silently walking towards the nearest tent.
Twilight rested her head against the magic barrier and let out a deep sigh, the feeling of uneasiness and dread that had been eating her away for the last three days were nothing compared to the anger welling up inside of her right now, "Now what, Twilight..." she mumbled to herself. She gave the barrier a hard kick, and she closed her eyes with all the force she could muster, trying to ignore the increasing tightness she felt on her throat.
"Miss... Miss Twilight?" a voice called her from behind, making her jump and turn around.
"Oh, A-apple Bloom? You girls are still here?" Twilight asked as she rubbed her eyes; for a moment, she had forgotten about the Crusaders. Once she opened her eyes she saw the trio of fillies staring at her, each one sporting a frown on their faces.
"Are you ok?" Sweetie Belle asked her, "you seemed pretty upset."
"I'm alright, girls, I was just resting for a moment," Twilight said, trying to keep her composure.
"You sure?" Scootaloo asked her.
Twilight nodded and gave the girls what she hoped was a reassuring smile, "I'm sure, girls. I just have to go talk to the Mayor," she said, standing up.
"Well... Ok," Apple Bloom said, the frown still present on her face.
"Yeah, and you should probably head home, it's getting late," Twilight said as she stood up.
"What about you?" Sweetie Belle asked her.
Twilight didn't answer immediately. Instead she looked at the town, slightly squinting her eyes in a determined stare, "I'm going to Town Hall. There are matters I must discuss with the Mayor. Let's go, Spike."
"Bye, girls," Spike said, turning around and waving at the Crusaders before jumping on Twilight's back.
"Be sure to get home safely," Twilight said , already leaving the Crusaders behind and walking straight to Ponyville.
The Crusaders waved at them before Twilight turned at a corner and they disappeared behind a building.
"Twilight, what are you going to do?" Spike asked her once Town Hall was in their sight.
"Sergeant Bold Spear ordered a census, and I'll be making sure that it's carried through; but I'm not going to let Ponyville stand idle while everyone else makes decisions for us," Twilight said.
"What do you mean, Twi?" Spike asked.
Twilight went up the stairs of the veranda of Town Hall. She stopped in front of the doors and took a deep breath, "It's about time we took matters into our own hooves."
After saying that, Twilight threw the doors open with her magic, and strode into the building.
"Well, that sucked," Scootaloo said in a low, sad voice, trying to break the silence that had fallen over the Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse.
"'Course it did," Apple Bloom said dryly, "everythin's just wrong."
"What do you think will happen now?" Sweetie Belle asked, timidly, catching the attention of both of her friends.
"I don't know," Apple Bloom replied, the same tired monotone from earlier seeping into her words.
"The barrier is going to stay up, that's for sure," Scootaloo said, tracing the grain on a plank of wood with her hoof.
"But for how long?" Apple Bloom said, standing around with a jump. "You've seen how everypony is actin', and that bubble thin' is been up for just a day! What do you think will happen after a week? Or in a month? How do you think they're gonna react then?"
Her breathing had gotten ragged, as if she'd ran all the way to the clubhouse. For their part, Sweetie Belle only looked down and buried her face between her hooves. Scootaloo, simply stared back at her, mouth opening and closing.
"Apple Bloom... You... you need to calm down," Scootaloo said, extending a hoof as she walked towards her friend.
"No, Scoots! I don't wanna calm down!" Apple Bloom yelled, tears now threatening to come out of her eyes, "I wanna know why does this have to happen and I want it to stop!"
"But they're working on it," Scootaloo protested, "aren't they? Twilight and those doctors?"
"They don't know what's going on, who knows how long is going to take them to solve this," Apple Bloom shot back, her voice threatening to crack with every word that came out of her mouth. "My family's been acting all weird. They try 'n hide it, b-but I can see it. Granny Smith, Big Mac, even Applejack... I don't understand what's happening, and nopony seems to know! Not Miss Cheerilee, not Twilight, not even the guards, or the Princesses!"
Scootaloo closed the gap between them and grabbed the shaking filly by the shoulders, holding her in place. "Apple Bloom, listen to yourself!" she yelled, "this isn't like you, this is not Apple Bloom! What's gotten into you?"
The earth filly didn't answer, she just looked down and bit her lip.
"'Bloom, I get it, I really do. This whole thing is awful, but you gotta trust Twilight. She has always pulled through before, hasn't she?" Scootaloo said, causing Apple Bloom to raise her head and look at her friend, "And hey, if it does come to the worst, you know you'll always have us."
Her breathing slowed down, almost returning to normal. She didn't feel any better, but at least she didn't feel she was about to lose her mind. She forced herself to keep a neutral expression, and surprised herself with how little resistance her body offered.
Perhaps she was also tired of feeling so hopeless.
Apple Bloom looked into Scootaloo's eyes, bright and full of nervousness that mirrored her own. Yet her friend still tried to cheer her up. Tried to keep her mind from wandering into terrible places. With a bit more effort, the earth filly managed to crack a smile. A small smile, one that would certainly make Pinkie Pie raise objections, but a smile nonetheless.
"Crusaders 'til the end, right?" she ventured, her voice sounding just a tiny bit stronger than it had moments ago.
Scootaloo smiled as well, "Crusaders 'till the end. What do you say, Sweetie Be—?" The pegasus' words died on her throat, and so did her smile once she saw her friend lying on the ground, heaving. Her quiet sobs could barely be heard, but it broke her friend's hearts all the same.
"Sweetie Belle..." Scootaloo said, approaching her friend with tentative steps.
"Sweetie Belle, sorry for that. I ain't feelin' well, I shouldn't have reacted like that," Apple Bloom said as she rubber her eyes.
"It's... It's not that," Sweetie Belle said back, in between sobs.
"Sweetie Belle, you can tell us what the problem is. We're your friends," Scootaloo said.
"It's just that..." Sweetie Belle said, catching her breath, "Miss Cheerilee lost her cutie mark, and Diamond Tiara too, and so did Miss Harvest, and a lot of other ponies as well."
"I know, and I feel bad for them too, Sweetie Belle," Scootaloo said as she walked towards the unicorn, "but we have to believe that they can find a solution to this, we can't just—"
"But what if..." Sweetie Belle said, cutting off her friend, "what if we never get our cutie marks?"
The other two crusaders fell silent as the realisation hit them.
"Ah... I..." Scootaloo mumbled, not being able to form a coherent sentence due to the shock.
She hadn't thought of that. As worried as she'd been over how everypony was reacting to the disease, she hadn't stopped to consider how it affected her. She didn't have a cutie mark yet, so she assumed she would be unaffected. However... Sweetie Belle brought up a good point. If this illness took cutie marks away from ponies, could it stop her from getting one in the first place?
A sidelong glance told her Scootaloo was just as lost as her. What could even be said to soothe that fear? The seconds passed, and Sweetie Belle's sobs turned to muffled whimpers.
While she may be young and not know much, but she knew her friends. And Scootaloo was right. Whatever happened, they had her back, and she would have theirs. Apple Bloom stared at the white filly, who was clearly on the verge of crying again. She walked towards her and lifter her face with her hoof.
"Sweetie Belle, listen to me."
The little unicorn sniffled, but managed to look up at her friend. Apple Bloom did her best to draw strength she didn't have, to express the waning faith she had left. With a low, but steady voice, she spoke, hoping for Sweetie Belle and for herself that she could sound reassuring. "Truth is... I don't know what's gonna happen. Can't say how long it'll be before things get better."
Sweetie Belle seemed to be holding back tears, but she kept listening.
A deep breath, and Apple Bloom kept talking. "But we've gone through lots together. I know they didn't work out in the end, but I appreciate every time we went crusadin'. I still had fun. I still am glad we tried all that, because we did that together. So, even... even if..." her voice caught in her throat. "Even if it comes to that, we'll face it together. I'll have your back, 'cus I know you'll have mine. No matter what may happen, we'll face it together as friends."
Part of her wondered if she should do something more to reassure her friend. Big Mac sometimes patted her head to cheer her up. Before she could consider that any further, Sweetie Belle threw herself over her friend and started crying again. Apple Bloom hugged her as the tears started to flow from her own eyes as well.
Scootaloo didn't say anything. She didn't call out her friends for being mushy, she didn't blew a raspberry at them or tried to ignore them as she often did when her friends got too sentimental. She simply trotted towards them, and hugged her friends.
That evening, the Crusaders didn't say anything. They simply lay in each other's embrace, offering whatever comfort they could, wondering what tomorrow might bring.
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Why is it there's never any cool Royal Guards in stories? Most servicemen I've known have been pretty chill while following procedure and keeping their discipline and composure, these guys are kinda dicks though.
Pretty obvious why Celestia hasn't come down to Ponyville personally. If she and Luna lose their cutie marks, it becomes an Apocalyptic Event and the sun and moon stop moving. World dies. Can't risk it, not even the tiniest bit.
5596014 The guards in this story seem pretty chill to me, so far they seem to be trying to help as best they can while still maintaining some professionalism. The interaction between the guards and RainbowDash seems to point towards RD just being her usual uncooperative self, and as for the sergeant berating twilight, well if i had one job to do, and that job relied on someone else doing theirs, i would be slightly upset as well when they failed to do so.
What's with the random plus symbols at the end there?
5596014
There is no evidence that I can recall to say that the talent disappears with the mark. There has been a lot of speculation from ponies that it may, but no evidence.
5596799
"Can't risk it, not even the tiniest bit."
As long as it was a possibility, you wouldn't let the people responsible for keeping your whole planet alive get infected unless you were some kind of idiot, right? It's not about what's proven, it's about what is unknown.
5596165
I'd say the guards are being too hard on Dash and Twilight because although Dash may have compromised the quarantine, she did so by leaving Ponyville before Twilight had received notice of the quarantine.
I don't know how the guard could think that the quarantine could be retroactively enforced.
5596803
It still wouldn't make sense though. Celestia can raise the moon. Just because she's far better at controlling the sun due to talent doesn't make her incapable of doing it even if she does lose her talent for it. Not to mention there's still a quarantine shield in place. And Celestia and Luna should both be powerful enough to make shields of their own just around themselves.
5596209 A leftover from the editing process, my bad. It's gone now.
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5598294
Answers will come with the next chapter.
5596165
You got it right. Dash left before Twi caught wind of the scope of the blankness plague, and now they're facing the pssibility of having another breakout in Cloudsdale, therefore having to establish another quarantine and all of Equestria finding out about what is happening.
That is, if Rainbow Dash is infected.
I wonder if she is.
Thanks a lot to eveyone who has read so far, and thanks to all of you for leaving a comment.
It's been a rough couple of months, but I'm glad that you still enjoy my story.
5598814 So when is the next chapter coming out?
5598836
I don't want to give an estimate because every time I do that, life comes and punches me in the gut.
I'm currently fleshing out the bullet points I have for chapter 7 and I hope I can finish it as soon as possible. Adding to that, I'm working on other projects as well to prevent a schedule slip as bad as the one I've had with Blankness.
Here's hoping...
I feel for the CMC here. No matter what, through it all, they'll still be together.
They'll still be Crusaders.
this goes well with this chapter. [youtube=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OrMXM5jTbmM]
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While it couldn't be done retroactively, take a step back. It's been made clear that they know how long she waited to write the letter that started this and, though not shown on the page, it's been stated that Celestia's letter said to prevent anyone from leaving town even before the official quarantine began. You kinda need to know who is and isn't in town for that.
The guy said he'd organized everything in eighteen hours, starting fairly late in the day even if Celestia gave the order within minutes of getting the letter. the guy almost certainly got pulled from his other duties partway through his day, so he hasn't slept in well over a day and has been hoofing it for most of that time. If given executive powers, which he was, then the meeting at the start the previous chapter was a courtesy. It's in everyone's best interest for him not to be an ass and to work with the local government for all kinds of reasons, but he doesn't have to.
At said meeting, he was told by someone with absolutely no reason to be there the equal of, "Hey, my friend who visits town once a month and lives out where no one else ever goes is infected, but the far closer locals who come to town regularly are perfectly fine to leave outside the quarantine zone for now." I'm not even joking. He was chewed out for pointing out that that person shouldn't have even been there as she has no actual authority by the person he was giving that courtesy to, and he kept his cool. Again, within his authority to just say 'screw it. We don't have time for this, and I haven't the patience. We're arresting everyone who tries to leave or interferes, and that includes you two. You can have your town back when we're done.'
It's really not even unreasonable for him to do that considering, you know, major unknown disease. Generally inadvisable, but not unreasonable.
Six hours later, still with no sleep, he finds out that the same person who gave the above advice, who he's been told is invaluable in this and, by her and the town's version, the first responder and the one given the order didn't even know one of her best friends had been missing for days. Now, rather than just a Podunk town potentially infected, it's potentially spread to a major city with a two-day lead. It's possibly everywhere now and, best of all, it's all going to land squarely on his head.
His response to all this and, frankly a random person throwing a temper tantrum, is to say to that person "So, you didn't actually bother to do the vitally important and time-sensitive job you were given by order of the Princess twenty-plus hours ago? The one with people's lives, or at least quality of life, on the line? No...? How about you go do it now?"
Honestly, at the end of a long day, I snap at my cat and most people I know are much the same. This guy's on his second without any downtime and didn't even go all that far, to which the story had Twilight be frankly snotty about it.
5607344
So the guard was understandably tired and frustrated, I get that. But since Dash left the town almost certainly before Twilight even sent the letter, let alone received one back, there is nothing Twilight could have done to prevent Dash going.
5607416
Again, prevent, no, but they would have been a full day further ahead containing spread out of Cloudsdale. It also doesn't change that Twilight didn't do the job given her.
I skipped most of this fic. You use LUS way to much, and expect the reader to understand who's speaking Until large chunks of dialog down. And the honey merchant, male or female? What does the merchant look like? But other than using LUS way to much, it's a pretty good chapter pre and post the LUS chunks.
5612036
If you mean the scenes at the market. Yeah, that was intentional, since the focus wasn't really supposed to be on who was speaking, but rather on what they were saying. Those are not the opinions of a couple of ponies (and a donkey), but rather the feelings of most of the town. I had originally had thought about including a couple more scenes with other reactions, but I felt it'd make the chapter unnecessarily long.
You should see the first treatment I made for Blankness, back when I was just trying to set down some ideas and events for the fic. This story borrows the central concept and ideas from José Saramago's "Essay on Blindness", and I tried to copy its style. It didn't turn out so well.
That novel is written in a peculiar way, during the entire book there are no paragraph breaks, and every sentence is linked together, using just commas, to add to that, they never refer to the characters by name, rather using descriptions, the first blind, the doctor's wife, the man with the patch, and so on, and on top of all of that, the narrator speaks in a very peculiar way, very reflexive, kind of like this paragraph, but even more so, now imagine a whole book written like this
You see what I mean? Still, you have a point. I'm not a Portuguese Nobel Prize winner for Literature, so I should stick to a more traditional style of writing. I'll see if I can polish that part.
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5607416
I had originally planned to include the full of Celestia's letter at some point, but I just couldn't figure out how to write it without spoiling some stuff from the next chapter, so I decided to just include snippets of it and imply the contents with the dialogue of the characters. In the end, that may have come back to bite me.
Next chapter will clear up some issues while also addressing Twilight's oversees and mistakes, so don't stop believin'.
I might as well mention the status of chapter 7. I already wrote one scene out of a possible eight. I'll do my best to keep going, but next week I have final exams and project presentations, so I doubt I'll make too much progress. On the other hand, that means I'll have loads of free time to pour into Blankness right after that, so seeing the next chapter before February ends is a real possibility.
Thanks again for the comments, your opinions and critiques mean a lot to me.
5658138
Hold on, there's more of the carroty goodness to come.
I'm glad it was enjoyable.
Officially caught up, but I'll probably be doing some re-reading since it's way late right now. Blargh.
Fun story, mang. I'll be patiently waiting for more.
5763049
*Squeee~*
I'm glad you've enjoyed it so far, I'm working hard on the next chapter, and I hope it's to everyone's liking.
And chapter seven will actually answer a few things, so hooray for that.
5768442
I'm enjoying the story though I cannot comprehend why this is hitting Apple Bloom so hard. Sure, its a serious thing to ponies but Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are holding their composure quite well, while Apple Bloom is acting as if she lost her cutie mark that she never had. I'm not gonna bash you out on that, it is just something I don't understand. Perhaps you could (kindly/please) clear it up for me?
5798238
Hi! Thanks for taking the time to comment on my story.
Regarding that matter, HOW DARE YOU QUESTION ME.
But seriously, though, Apple Bloom is being hit so hard by this whole mess because she's seen how hard it's affecting her family and those she knows. Granny Smith was in shock, and not acting her normal self, Big Mac was even more silent than before, Applejack no longer acted as confident as usual, and that's just her family. She saw how Cheerilee was treated by the parents who thought it was her wrongdoing that caused her to lose her cutie mark; she's seen how Twilight, the smartest pony she knows, has no idea how to stop this; and she's seen how everyone is panicking and is scared of those who lose their cutie-marks. Not to mention her own inner turmoil about what entrails losing a cutie-mark. Or in her case, the chance of getting one.
She's confused because she can't understand what's happening, and she's scared because all the ponies she looks up to seem to be as lost and scared as her.
I remember back when my granddad passed away, my whole family was affected by it, but I also noticed that my nephew, who was too young to fully grasp what had happened and hadn't got to really know my granddad, still was really, really sad. When I talked to him, he said that everyone was so sad all the time, and he felt sad for that too.
Now, I'm no psychologist, nor will I pretend to be one, but what I was trying to convey was how the attitude of those around Apple Bloom exacerbated what was initially just shock.
Hopefully that clears things up, or at least helps you undestand with my intentions are.
Again, thanks for giving my story a chance, I'll be sure to work hard on the next chapters.
5798369
It does! Thanks for taking the time to reply!
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thecvstore.net/img/cv-lies.jpg
5855781
I didn't say February 2015, did I?
But seriously, I'm sorry for the long waiting. I want to see this story done just as much as everyone, but uni has been hard on me for the last two months. And it's not as if I stopped writing, I still hammer out a little bit of horsewords every day.
It's just that I have SO much to do at uni, my slow writing pace is even slower now.
i.imgur.com/6k1vk6Y.png
Still, I'm making progress. Blankness is not dead.
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cdn2.maxim.com/maxim/files/maxim2/FreeLancer/bmcginley/Images/rage.jpg
jk. I appreciate the work, bUt OnLy iF YoU UPDaTe soon........JK
damn you and your WORD COUNT PAGES!
remove ; and replace it with the comma.
___________________
Post 2020, boy does this story hit you.
11650665
Out of all the ways I could've predicted the future, this has got to be the worst one.