//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: Dustwatch // Story: Game of Harmony // by CommanderApplejack //------------------------------// Chapter 7 Dustwatch Twilight was studying the map in front of her, she still had bandages covering the minor injuries she had gotten when the bomb exploded. The king had told them to leave the city and head further into earthpony territory prevent any other possible attacks harming his people but was still thankful that Twilight had managed to get all the soldiers out before she let the bomb explode. Twilight hadn't exactly told anyone yet how she got away from the bomb, everyone just assumed she teleported herself out. Twilight looked over at her group, Scootaloo and Applebloom were sleeping alongside Applejack and Cherry, the soldier had been assigned to them for as long as they were traveling through earthpony territory. Sitting beside her was Moonlight who was determining their location using the stars, "We should reach the fortress by tomorrow if I'm correct." She said, the tips of the mountain range that housed the Dustwatch had already become visible on the horizon a couple days earlier. Twilight nodded, "Good, the fillies are going to need the rest." The two fillies had been holding up quite well considering the distance they had walked but with the days becoming increasingly colder as the year was coming to a close it was becoming necessary for them and the others to take a break. Rainbow meanwhile was screwing around with her extendable blade and the element of loyalty, The shield appearing and disappearing as she willed the thing to deploy and then reverse itself into the wristband. "I'm still amazed it's capable of doing that." Moonlight said as she pulled out her own map, which she had marked the locations of elements on. "Oh yeah, haven't really used it before but it's pretty useful," Rainbow said, turning the wristband back into the shield and keeping it like that. Moonlight nodded in agreement, "We should probably get some sleep if we're going to reach the fortress tomorrow." The batpony turned to the sleeping earthpony soldier as she finished packing the maps back into her saddlebag, "We also have to either tell her what we're really doing or find a good cover story because it'll look suspicious if we just start poking around the keep to looking for something." "Tell me what?" Cherry groaned as she sat up, "You girls aren't exactly quiet you know." She glanced over at the unicorn and pegasus who both looked like they had just been caught stealing cookies. Rainbow collapsed her shield, which surprised the earthpony which hadn't even seen the shield in the first place. "You see, we're hunting down a set of pre-Empire artefacts to... help the bat-ponies." Twilight started explaining, "There are six artefacts in total, one for each of the great fortresses of Equestria. The Dustwatch supposedly contains one of them. Rainbow is carrying one of them right now and AJ is supposed to carry another." Cherry looked confused for a moment, "What do you mean by supposed to? Can't anyone use the artefacts?" Moonlight shook her head, "The elements represent the best qualities of ponies; Loyalty, Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, and a sixth I do not know of what it represents. Rainbow here represents Loyalty and we're pretty sure AJ represents Honesty." She explained, "We need the artefacts before the next summer solstice to release a curse that was put on our nightmother by the unicorns, if we don't she will be consumed by it." Cherry rubbed her head, messing up her red mane. "So you need a particular set of ponies to use a set of artefacts that are spread throughout Equestria to save this 'nightmother' batpony?" The three other ponies nodded. "But there's a catch isn't there?" "Yes, we know where the gemstones are but we don't know anything about the ponies who are supposed to use them. The only thing leading us is this thing." Twilight said as she pulled out the compass, "It's currently pointed somewhere in the direction of Manehattan, just as three of the other gemstones are located within the Empire." "So you're willing to risk your hides to help the bat-ponies for what? To cure one of their leaders?" Cherry asked, looking at the unicorn and pegasus and earthpony as if they were insane. Twilight, turned to Moonlight afterwards. "No offence to you that is." "None taken." Moonlight told her with a small smile, "The reason they help us is that we hope by healing nightmother we can convince daymother to restore balance back to the world." She tried to explain to the earthpony but just made her more confused. "You just lost me there, why would this 'day- and nightmother' be able to do anything of any meaning?" Cherry asked. "Do you know how the Empire was founded, Cherry?" Twilight asked the earthpony changing the subject momentarily, Cherry nodded. "Something about beating a tyrant who destroyed her sister and-" "It's a lie" Twilight cut her off, Cherry rolling her eyes as if that was obvious. This didn't discourage Twilight though as she didn't know the magnitude of the lie. "Not just a small one but one that could break the Empire. Unicorns believe themselves superior over the other races and revere the Empress because it was her ancestor who stood up against the tyrant and beat her while the other races did nothing. If it were to come out that the Empress just took the power for herself just because she could, her legitimacy will be destroyed and the Empire would split up in various factions fighting amongst themselves." "So why don't you girls just spread that news yourselves? What does this have to do with 'nightmother'?" Cherry asked as she put some wood on the campfire they had started. "Everything." Moonlight answered as she pointed at the mare in the moon, all colour seemed to vanish from Cherry's face as she connected the dots. "Y-your trying to revive a god." She stammered. Twilight nodded, "And that's why it's extremely important that our true goal stays secret for as long as possible. The bomb in the barracks is going to look small in comparison to what the Empress will do when she realizes what we're doing. Regardless of if she thinks we can actually achieve it." The earthpony lay back down on her makeshift bed, her head reeling with new information. "I'm going to sleep now." She stated but she knew that she probably wasn't going to get much sleep now anyway. "Don't hesitate to ask us questions if you have them, Cherry. It's a lot to take in." Twilight told her while giving her a friendly nudge on the shoulder. "Will do." She said as she stared up at the moon, the image of the mare in the moon staring back at her. "C'mon! We're almost there!" Applejack shouted at the others as she was keeping up a fast but steady pace to the mountain range. "Slow down AJ, you sound like Rainbow!" Twilight shouted back at the earthpony while Rainbow started laughing. "You're just the only one of us who isn't in shape, Sparkle butt!" She shouted at the unicorn, the statement wasn't completely untrue. Earthponies had the benefit of having their natural magic enhancing their endurance while pegasi had adapted to flying giving them larger lungs and bigger hearts, Twilight just had her own endurance to fall back on but that didn't even get close to what the others could do. "Ah can see it!" Applejack shouted back at Twilight as she stopped on top of a hill, giving the unicorn a chance to catch up. When she finally got to the top of the hill she was amazed at what she saw. Built into the side of the mountains an interconnecting structure of walls cutting off all access from the mountains to the countryside behind it and in the centre of it all stood a tiered fortress of black stone, The green flags of the Earthpony kingdom flying at its towers. "That looks so cool!" Scootaloo squealed as she saw the fortress and tried to find the edge of the fortress, "How far does it go?!" Cherry chuckled as the little pegasus' eyes were wide open, "The walls run from the Cerulian Ocean all the way to Saltlick Sea. We are currently right in the middle at the main fortress known as the Dustwatch. A prime example of earthpony construction." She said full of pride. "I'll lead from this point on, when we run into the inevitable guards I'll get you girls cleared. we should arrive in the early evening." She told the companionship as she led them to the ancient fortress. It didn't take long for the group to run into the first patrol, initially, the four earthponies they had run into were reluctant to let the group continue but after Cherry showed the order the King had given her they had agreed to take them to the leading General of the Dustwatch. "You keep the girls here while I go talk to the General, Twilight," Cherry told Twilight as they reached the main keep, the unicorn nodded in agreement. "Try to make it as quick as possible, I'm not sure how long I can keep Applejack from leaving and searching her brother on her own." "Will do," Cherry answered as she made her way further into the keep, Twilight sat down on one of the benches in the room and looked at her earthpony companion. Applejack was sitting on another bench nervously fiddling with her hooves, messing with her hat, and taking glances at the earthpony guards, Twilight sighed as this went on for a couple of minutes. "Your brother will be fine, Applejack." She tried to comfort the mare. "Ah know, Twi. It's just that Ah haven't seen him for years." She replied. "Applejack, if your brother cares about his family half as much as you do then he wouldn't have forgotten about you," Twilight said as she smiled at the earthpony, Applejack smiling back at the unicorn. "Ah guess you're right, he's probably been beatin' himself up over not having returned to ponyville yet." A couple of minutes of banter later Cherry came walking back carrying a saddlebag seemingly filled with green fabric. "General leaf has approved for us to stay within the fortress." Cherry announced, "You have to wear these capes so you can be identified as friendly." She added before turning to Applejack, "Your brother is currently out for a patrol but he'll be back in the eastern barracks before nightfall which, incidentally, is also the barracks where we'll be housed for the duration of the stay." Applejack jumped off the bench she was seated on, closely followed by her little sister who also seemed to be excited at the prospect of seeing her bigger brother. "Well, let's get going then!" She said as she attached the green fabric to the armour she had bought. Everyone else followed in attaching the capes to themselves, Cherry reminding herself of something as they finished. "Rainbow, Moonlight, You are not to fly any higher than the walls to prevent any gunners from accidentally firing on you." She told the two flight-capable ponies, Rainbow grumbled but in the end didn't complain too badly as she could see why she would be forbidden from flying too high. Ten minutes later the group arrived at the eastern barracks where a soldier was already waiting for them, "Follow me." He ordered and led them to a room similar to the one they had shared in Appleoosa. "Ah'm goin' to ask around for mah brother for a bit." Applejack said after she threw her saddlebag onto one of the bunks, and left the room again. Applejack approached a group of soldiers that were playing a game of cards, "Good afternoon, would it trouble ya'll if Ah asked some questions." She asked, the soldiers seemed to take her in before responding. "That depends. What ya wanna know?" One of them asked sceptically, Applejack sat down at the table with the stallions. "Ah'm lookin' for mah brother, larger than average red stallion with a blond mane and mighty big apple for an earth mark?" She asked the group who all perked up at hearing the description, seemingly recognizing who she was talking about. Another one of the soldiers spoke up, "Why are you looking for Silent Red?" "He's mah brother." Applejack replied, the soldier immediately narrowed his eyes. "Prove it. What's his real name, the only thing he really talks about are his two little sisters and we don't appreciate one of our mates being taken for a ride." Applejack slightly recoiled from the soldier at the sudden hostility, "His name is Big McIntosh Apple and mah name's Applejack. His other little sister is called Applebloom, she's also here right now." She told them, the stallions glanced at each other coming to a silent agreement. "Follow us." One of them said as they all put down their cards, "Back in Appleoosa a bunch of mares found out about Mac's sister problem and pretended that she was in the city, when the big lug found out that they were fooling him he broke down crying and didn't say a thing for weeks." He told Applejack, "If you break that stallions heart, King's orders be damned, you'll wish you were never born." Applejack followed the stallions into another room that had bunk beds lining the hallway, "Just stay here, he should be back within the hour." He said and as to speak of the spirit of Chaos, Applejack could hear a group of soldiers entering the barracks. "Have you heard about the recent disappearances in the civilian districts?" She could hear a mare ask as the door to the barracks could be heard closing again. "Eeyup" A low rumbling voice of a stallion answered. Applejack froze as she heard the reply, moments later a large stallion walked into the room and similarly froze. The mare that walked behind Mac crashed into the large stallion. "What the buck, Macintosh." the mare said as she picked herself back up from the floor but the red stallion didn't seem to register her remark as he was focussed on Applejack. "S-Sis?" He stuttered. "Hi, big brother." She replied a growing smile on her face, it took a couple of seconds but both ponies sprung up and embraced each other in a hug. "Ah've missed you, big brother." She cried into Big Mac's shoulder. Behind them, a little filly also entered the room. "Applejack?" Applebloom asked as she had also entered the room, both Mac an AJ looked at the little filly. "Bloom?" Mac asked, his eyes already teared up from meeting back up with Applejack. The little filly suddenly realized who her sister was hugging and joined in on the hug. "How did ya get out of Ponyville?" Mack asked while wiping tears from his eyes, the other soldiers had sat down on a couple of bunks "Well..." Twilight was sitting behind her desk scribbling away at a document in front of her, Rainbow and Scootaloo had gone out for a run, Moonlight had gone for a flight herself in the darkness, this left Cherry alone with the unicorn. "Twilight?" She asked, the purple pony turning her head to the earthpony soldier. "Yes?" she answered, the earthpony nervously pawing at the ground. "If I were let's say, hypothetically, be willing to help you find those magical artefacts," Cherry started, a smile creeping up onto Twilight's face. "What would happen to the earthponies as a whole when you succeed?" Twilight thought for a moment before answering, "I would assume they would be integrated with the other species if sun-mother succeeds." She reasoned but Cherry didn't seem to be satisfied. "How do you know that for sure." She asked sceptically, Twilight sighed. "I haven't told the others but I've met her twice in this past month and I think I've known her for much longer without realizing." This got Cherry's attention, "You've met her?!" Twilight nodded, "The last time was in Appleoosa, she's the reason I got out of the barracks. I was completely out of options when I was disarming that bomb and if she hadn't shown up I wouldn't be here right now." "Wow," Cherry simply said. "And you think you've known her for much longer?" Twilight nodded again, "Yes, though I can't be completely sure, she called me her little star. My professor used to call me that when I was still a little filly. But professor Morningstar was a regular pony so I don't know that for sure." "Well, ok then. I'll give you a 'tour' of the castle tomorrow." Cherry told Twilight as she stood back up, "But only you, if I take too many ponies it'll look suspicious with that many ponies looking around." Twilight nearly sprung up as she heard that, "Thankyou, Thankyou, Thankyou!" She quickly said as she hopped around the room but suddenly Rainbow came crashing through the door startling the two other ponies. "Rainbow what's-" "Scootaloo's missing!" She shouted as she was in a full-on panic, Twilight used telekinesis to hold the pegasus down. "Rainbow, calm down and tell me what happened." She slowly said to Dash. "I-I was taking a run with the Squirt as you know and she kinda challenged me to a race. I, of course, ran ahead a bit but when I turned back she wasn't there!" Rainbow explained as Twilight was simultaneously writing down some notes, "At first I thought she was pulling a prank but after fifteen minutes she still hadn't shown herself again! I checked all the streets in the area but she's nowhere to be found!" Moonlight suddenly burst through the door in a similar fashion to Rainbow only she didn't seem to be panicking in the slightest. "I just saw scootaloo being dragged into some underground tunnel system by some sort of black bug, I wasn't quick enough to stop it." She said, Twilight had to stop Rainbow from immediately flying off again. "Let me go, UNICORN! No one stops me from getting to my sister." She roared in anger. "If you wait for two seconds we can follow Moonlight with each other, if we all go we'll have more luck finding her." Twilight reasoned, Rainbow flopping down onto her flanks. "Fine but hurry up." She grunted. Twilight turned to Cherry who had quickly put her armour back on, "You get AJ up to speed, Dash and I are going ahead to start searching. The elements are on hold up until we find that filly." Cherry nodded as she was still fiddling with her armour, Twilight turning back to Moonlight. "Lead us to where you lost them. We've got a filly to find."