//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 // Story: The Cost of Utopia // by Dr Freedom MLP //------------------------------// “The secret of happiness is freedom. The secret of freedom is courage.” - Thucydides Chapter 13 ____________________________________________________________________________ The following morning Applejack's eyes opened to the bright morning sun. She was an early riser having been brought up on a farm and all. She was fairly awake for a pony who had just gotten up. Twilight was still asleep in the bed next to her's. It had been a long day yesterday between talking to ponies and handing out fliers they were both pretty beat. Applejack made her way over to the window and quietly opened the drapes letting the morning sun shine through. She took in the view of the city for a moment before realizing something was wrong. Everything was quite... To quite. The normally busy city was laid back and few ponies were on the street. Then she saw a few royal guards making their way down the street. As they approached the hotel the two friends were staying in they stopped and talked to the doorman. The country pony couldn't hear anything since she was three stories up but she could tell that the doorman had told the guard her and Twi's location because the guards nodded in thanks and headed inside. The orange mare whipped around and quickly moved to Twilight's bed, and began violently shaking her. "Twilight!" She yelled as loud as she could without waking the ponies in the nearby rooms. "Twi wake up!" The purple mare groaned and rolled over. "It's bucking 5:30 am. What's so important?" the unicorn muttered drowsily. "Weh gotta go now! The guards are here!" At those words Twilight snapped wide awake, and bolted to her feet. "Already? But we've only been here a day!" "Ah know but I saw 'em enter down below jus' now." Applejack replied. The purple mare galloped towards the door to the room, magically unlocking and opening it as she got closer. She stopped in the doorway and looked both ways checking to see if the coast was clear. "Come on AJ, follow me." She whispered before bolting out the door to the left, with the other mare following closely. They made for the stairs, hoping the guards had taken the elevator. They threw the door open and took the stairs three at a time. As they reached the bottom they slowed down, trying to look casual so as not to be noticed by anyone in the lobby. Both slowly opened the door and two violet eyes scanned the area for anything suspicious. Deciding everything looked ok the two mares walked into the open trying to find a way out besides the front door. Applejack spotted a side exit and pointed to show her companion the way out. As they approached a sign became visible. "Alarm will sound is door opens." The two looked at the sign then at each other. The Apple pony opened her mouth and started to whisper. "One." Twilight looked behind to see the elevator doors slide open and a pegasus in full uniform step out. "Two." He was talking to his comrades and hadn't noticed the duo yet. "Three." with the last number said she whipped around and slammed her back hooves into the door bucking it open. The alarm roared to life and the two galloped full speed down the alleyway that had opened up. "There they are!" Twilight heard behind her. "Get them!" The un-athletic mare quickly started to tire and her more seasoned friend started to pull ahead. Gasping for breath she managed to yell. "AJ I can't keep- oof!" she stopped mid-sentence having been plowed into by the pegasus she had seen earlier. She struggled but the station was to strong. She couldn't move. Out of nowhere an orange hoof collided with his head knocking his helmet off and sending him sprawling, out cold. Looking up she saw Applejack standing over her, the other two guards standing menacingly a few hooves away. Apple Jack charged into the awaiting ponies and took one out with a swift buck to the chest so strong it broke the gold colored armor. All too soon though she was hit from the side and sent tumbling into a nearby brick wall. Her inflictor stood over her about to finish her off before a laser tore through his middle and he dropped to the ground dead. Twilight stood not five feet away still panting. "Never *huff* thought I would *huff* need that *puff* spell." Her friend sat horrified for a moment before chuckling. "Sure saved mah flank there. Were in Equestria did ya even get tha' spell?" "Found it in some old guard training book years ago." "Well it sure as hay came in useful." "You ok?" "Eeyup, no worse fer wear. How bout' you?" "Few scrapes but I'll be fine. Ready to keep moving?" "Ya mean y'all still has a plan?" "Didn't you know Applejack? I always have a plan." She paused "Lets hide these bodies then keep moving." after a few minutes they dumped the bodies in some trash cans and started on their way again, sticking to side streets so as to be less noticeable. "Where are weh headed sugar cube?" The green eyed mare asked after a bit of walking. They were getting to the worse parts of town now. In Manehatten the Anadolu district was mostly comprised of earth ponies. There were some pegasi and some unicorns but most unicorns were in the upper class Hackney district while the pegasi were in the middle of the run Faroe district. "Do you remember that nice stallion from the park?" Her counterpart replied. The other mare thought for a moment before responding. "Oh yeah. Viney was it?" "That's him. He said he would give us somewhere to stay if we needed it so I figured it's worth a shot. According to the address he gave us his house should be right about... Here." Both ponies looked at the house. It was in a somewhat sad state, needing some paint and possibly a new roof. The two made their way up the front stairs and knocked on the door. They heard movement then the door opened. A purple stallion with a green mane poked his head out. "Oh, it's you!" he said excitedly opening the door wider. "Come in, come in." As they stepped inside they took in what they saw, and it wasn't much. Two rooms were on the bottom floor. One acting as a kitchen and the other as a family room and dining room. There were stairs leading to a small upper level which appeared to be a bedroom. "Good to see you again Viney. How is everything?" "Good, good. I assume you need somewhere to stay?" Both girls were somewhat surprised by how blunt he had been. Noticing this he grinned. "It's fine, follow me and I'll show you where your rooms are." Both mares looked at each other. He had said rooms. There was no way there was enough room in this tiny place to give them both a room. The stallion just headed out the front door and across the street to the vineyard. The two other ponies followed him as he unlocked the door and stepped inside. He immediately headed downstairs to where the hogsheads of wine were kept. He walked up to one about middle of the row against the row and turned the nosle on it upside down. The front of the large barrel swung open on concealed hinges and led to a secret hallway rather large in length. The two friends’ mouths hung open. Noticing this Twilight just shrugged. "I'm eccentric." he stated before making his way inside the secret area. Applejack and Twilight were slow to follow having been awed by the simple elegance of the hidden room. "Four doors on the right are bedrooms with three beds each. Doors on the left in order from closest to farthest are kitchen, bathroom, dining room, and storage. Any questions?"