Into The Mist

by NeptuneGalaxy

Chapters 5 & 6

Clove saw the burning buildings. She saw her mother, and her father, in the street.

"Go! Get out!" her mother screamed. "I can't let them take you!" Her mother Looked at her with sympathy. "I love you, Clove." Sunny turned around abruptly. She looked around and said, "Clove! Get in here, Now!" She overturned a box and pointed to it. Clove ran over and got in the box. Her mother shut it and pushed it under a bush. Through a hole in the box, Clove could see older ponies come and grab her parents. They tried to fight back but there were too many guards. They disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Clove woke up with a start. "NO!" she screamed. Deryll came rushing up the stairs.

"What's wrong, Clove?"

"I- just a bad dream..." Clove said. She was breaking out into a cold sweat. Deryll hugged her tight.

"It's ok. It was just a dream." Clove nervously hugged him back. Then she glanced at the clock.

"5:04 A.M. It's early. I won't have to go until 6 P.M. tonight." Clove stood up and walked over to her suitcase. She closed it because it was hanging open from the day before. Deryll glanced at Clove and decided to go outside. Clove agreed and the two of them set out the door. When they were walking outside, the sun had just risen and the sunrise was beautiful. Only a couple ponies were outside and everypony stopped and stared at the beautiful sight. Clove and Deryll passed by Deryll's friend, SparkBeat, said hi, and they went on walking. There was a chill in the morning air and Clove shivered. Deryll glanced at her and said,

"Do you want to go get something to eat and drink?"

"Yes, please." The two unicorns walked into a restraunt and bought donuts and hot chocolate. They went outside to sit at a table and ate their food.

About an hour later, after they had finished eating, Clove and Deryll went on walking. They passed Kutya and as they went past him, said hi. As they were walking, Deryll said he had to go do something.

"Where are you going?" Clove said.

"Um, I have to fill out a paper," said Deryll. Clove looked suspiciously at him and said,

"Is it possible for me to come with you?"

"Um," Deryll racked his brain for an excuse. "No, because... It's a surprise for you." Clove looked surprised.

"Really? Well then, I can wait." Deryll sighed and went off, turning down the same dark alley he went down before.

"Deryll! What took you so long?"

"My friend almost found out about this."

"WHAT?!?" Duncan screamed. "You know you can't let anypony else know, Deryll. Because if you do-..." Duncan left the threat hanging in the air. Deryll shivered and pulled his bag out. This time instead of a jewel, he produced a beautiful gold necklace. "Amazing. Good work, Deryll." Duncan took the necklace and threw his cloak back on. This time, instead of disappearing, he said, "Deryll,"

"Yes?" Deryll had started to walk off but turned around at the mention of his name.

"Bring me something sooner. At 5:30 P.M. Tonight." Deryll, surprised, said,

"But Duncan, I brought you something today and yesterday. That's my pay's work for at least the week." Duncan looked at him.

"Do not whine. Do it, or else." and with that, Duncan disappeared.

Clove waited for Deryll and wondered what the surprise was he was talking about. She kept thinking about that until she spotted her friend, Confetti Swirl. Clove called her over and they sat at a table to chat.

"Hiya! What's up?" said Confetti.

"Nothing much. How about you?"

"Eh, normal day. Walking around. So far this is the highlight of my day!" Clove laughed.

"Glad to hear it."

They chatted for a while until Confetti said, "I've got to go." At that same moment, Deryll appeared, carrying a box. Clove said goodbye to Confetti, and ran to Deryll.

"You weren't joking about the surprise, were you?" Deryll laughed.

"I would never lie. Open it." Clove took the box and opened it.

"Wow..." Clove stared at the necklace in the box. It was a gold chain necklace with a purple pendant on it. "It's wonderful. Thank you!" Clove tackled Deryll playfully and hugged him. Deryll thought to himself,

"It's my own little secret. She doesn't know, so she won't get hurt. She doesn't know. She doesn't know..."

Clove and Deryll were sitting at a table. They weren't doing anything In particular, just sitting. Clove was thinking about how in a few hours, she would be leaving for military camp. Deryll was thinking about what Duncan had said earlier.

Clove said, "Deryll, you said you would come with me." Deryll recalled what he had said the day before.

"I did, didn't I?" Clove nodded.

"My question is: how will you come with me? They check everypony who goes on that train, and everypony who gets off."

Deryll said, "I have no idea how I'll get on. I just know I will." Clove smiled. The silence fell over them again. Deryll thought about two things now. How he would get on he train, and the conversation with Duncan.

"5:30. I have to bring something at 5:30," he thought.

Clove broke the silence once again. "Thanks again for the necklace, Deryll."

"You're welcome." Clove glanced at a clock hanging in a shop window. "It's 4:00."

"4 o'clock?!?" Deryll turned to the clock. He had an hour and thirty minutes to find something to bring to Duncan.

"Why so frantic?" asked Clove.

"Uh," Clove laughed at Deryll.

"Let's go to my house," she said. Deryll agreed and they set off in the direction of he two-story house that belonged to Clove.

When they got to the house, Clove unlocked the door and they went inside. The large grandfather clock in the hallway was ticking loudly. Deryll glanced at it and saw the time. 4:15. He was frantic.

"It's ok, it's ok," he thought to himself. Clove looked over her shoulder at him. Deryll forced a smile, and Clove turned around again. Deryll looked around for something small and valuable that Clove wouldn't notice if it disappeared. He saw a small elephant made out of marble and secretly slid it into his bag. Clove was upstairs, looking around her room she wouldn't be in for a long time. She was going to burn the surroundings into her head so as not to forget her home. Deryll hurried up the stairs quietly and when he got up he gasped for breath. He had run up he stairs. Once he caught his breath, he went into Clove's bedroom to find her sitting in the closet beside the blue box. She had opened it and was taking out the things in the box and laying them in a circle around herself. She had taken out everything, except for the notebook which she just stared at.

Deryll walked in and said, "What are you doing, Clove?" Clove jumped at the sound of his voice. Just a moment ago it had been so quiet.

"Oh, nothing. Just looking at the contents of this box," said Clove.

Deryll nodded and said, "Seems fine to me."

Clove said, "You're right. Considering I only have about an hour left before the train comes-"

"AN HOUR?!?" Deryll gasped. He looked at the clock, frantically said, "I've got to go!" and quickly dashed out the door. Clove considered following him, but decided against it since she knew he was very fast.

Deryll raced through the streets, weaving himself through the ponies that littered them. He found the alley he was looking for, but lots of ponies blocked his path. Deryll found a clock and glanced at it. 4:49. He had 31 minutes. Deryll had to find a way around the crowd, through the town and into the alley the back way. He spotted a gap in the ponies and rushed to it. He ran through to the outskirts of town and turned around. Deryll was in top of a hill and looked down over Ponyville. As he was looking, Deryll was planning out a path to get around and to the alley. He glanced back up at the clock. 5:15.

"Ok," he thought. Deryll kept planning his course and then started down the hill. He remembered his mental map and ran around the edges of town. When he found the alley it was 5:29. He had made it.

"You made it," said Duncan. Deryll was trying to catch his breath.

"I did." Duncan stared at Deryll.

"So, what do you bring?"

"Hold on," said Deryll. He pulled the marble elephant out of his bag and handed it to Duncan.

Duncan said, "Small, but valuable." Deryll wished under his breath it was acceptable. He was holding his breath until Duncan said, "Good job." Deryll let out a sigh of relief. "You did good. Your weeks pay," and Duncan gave Deryll a couple of coins.

While all this was happening, Clove was sitting in her room, thinking, and staring at the clock. She watched the minutes tick by and thought about what Deryll might be doing. She eventually stood up and walked to the window. Clove looked at the crowd on the ground. They were all excited for the autograph signing of the famous book writer, Paisley Gearheart. Clove had most of her book series, but she was missing one book. Clove stood up and walked to her bookshelf. She decided to take a couple books, and opened up a small bag. She pulled out her three favorite books, which were the first and second book of the Daring Do series and the newest book that Mrs. Gearheart had written. Clove started to flip through this book and got caught up reading it.

The minutes passed and Clove came back to reality when she heard a knock at the door. "Hello?" said Clove.

"Hello," said the voice outside. "Is this the house of," the voice paused for a moment. "Ms. Clove Leafwall?"

Clove answered, "Yes. It is." She opened the door to find one of Celestia's royal guards.

"Thank you. I understand you have either signed up or have been singed up to join the military?"

Clove choked back an irritated scream and said, "Yes. My mother and father singed me up." The guard looked at a clipboard he had levitated in front of him.

"The train departs soon. Are your bags packed?" Clove once again pushed back the impulse to yell at the guard that she didn't want to leave.

"Yes, they are."

"We need them to check through." Whenever somepony's luggage went on a train, somepony had to check through the bags to check if there was anything dangerous. Clove thought it was silly to check for who would get on the train for military camp. They would be using weapons in a few hours anyway. Clove nodded and went upstairs to get her bags. She got to her room and the bags lifted off the floor and bed to float in midair. She walked downstairs with her bags floating close behind.

"Here they are." In a force that she didn't mean to use, Clove slammed the suitcases on the floor in front of the doorway. Clove noticed her mistake and looked at the guard, who didn't seem to notice the force her magic had slammed the bags on the floor with. He used his own magic to lift the bags in the air and carried them off to the cart he had outside the door. Clove watched as the guards outside started towards the next house and saw the guard who came to the door nod his head at her. She admired the respect the guards had for everypony, and not just the princesses.

Comments

[NeptuneGalaxy]

I hope you like this story! I put a lot of effort into this.