//------------------------------// // 11 // Story: Blankness // by Zaid ValRoa //------------------------------// Twilight woke up to the sound of frantic knocking on her door. While her mind, still groggy from sleep, hadn’t caught up to the present, her body was already thrashing, kicking away the covers as she stumbled out of bed. “What… What’s going on?” “It just started,” Spike said from his basket, obviously having woken up not too long before her. The rising sun had yet to chase away the chill of night. It was early, the town meeting wouldn’t happen for another two hours, which at this point could only mean one thing: Something had gone wrong. Her mind was already rushing through the countless scenarios that could have taken place since last night, each one worse than the previous one. She swallowed that already familiar lump of bitterness and, with a quick spell to make herself somewhat presentable, ran downstairs and flung the front door open with her magic before she even reached it. A startled Applejack flinched in surprise, but quickly regained her composure. “Twilight! There’s a—” “Where?” she interrupted with force, making it clear she wanted a direct answer. “The barrier, the guards said they were going to the entrance of town.” Twilight heard the hurried thumping of Spike’s steps as he walked out of Golden Oaks, closing the door behind him. Without pausing, she started gathering magic on her horn. Spike would probably chastise her later, but she didn’t have the time to worry about that. “Meet me there,” was all she said before the teleportation spell went off and she disappeared in a flash of light. An instant later, she appeared in the outskirts of town, close to the barrier. She held her right hoof against her temple, hoping the twinge of pain would dissipate sooner than later. A quick look around showed her exactly what she was looking for: A small group of guards was walking alongside the edge of the barrier, towards the main road and their encampment. Though the pain still coursed through her head, Twilight ran towards them, carried by fear and trepidation. She was about to call them, ask them to slow down and wait for her so they could tell her what had happened. In the end, she didn’t have to. Coming to meet the group of soldiers was Sergeant Bold Spear, closely followed by a couple of ponies from the medical team. When they met, they spoke in hushed tones, hurriedly, and even though they were too far away to make out what they said, Twilight could see that a few of the guards were visibly shaken. The reason became quite apparent only moments later. After what must not have been longer than a minute—yet seemed to stretch eternally—, the other guards nodded and turned around, walking back from where they’d come. Leaving behind a lone guard standing alone in front of the Sergeant while one of the ponies in lab coats took off his armour, revealing his bare flank. Though shocking, Twilight steeled herself. She didn’t shudder, she didn’t flinch, nor did she let the simmering mix of conflicting emotions take over her. She did her best to remain stoic, and waited for the scene to play out. The guard who had lost his cutie mark stepped aside, obviously making a conscious effort to keep his head high, and followed the medical team. Twilight watched them go until she inadvertently made eye contact with Sergeant Bold Spear. The expression on his face did little to ease her mind. Most of the other guards were long gone, but Sergeant Bold Spear remained on the same spot, looking straight at her. Twilight stared back at him, almost daring him to turn away. After a moment, the sergeant turned to give a few orders to the guard next to him. The younger guard saluted before turning away and walking towards their camp. Neither moved for a while, as if their glances would exchange all the information needed. And, in a way, she felt they did. The older pony on the other side of the barrier looked tired. Not physically. At least, not only in that way. He was entrusted with at least part of the responsibility of overseeing the quarantine of Ponyville. She was barely keeping it together and could only imagine how he would be faring. A few seconds later, though, he started walking towards her. “Good morning, Sergeant Bold Spear,” she greeted him with barely any hint of emotion on her voice. “Good morning, Miss Sparkle,” he replied, waiting for her to talk. “Is he going to be alright?” Twilight asked with a nod towards the medical tent. Sergeant Bold Spear looked back at the way the guards had gone before finally turning to face Twilight. “He will be under the care of the medical team. They will follow the appropriate procedure,” he replied, and silence dawned between the two. Silence that was shattered by the clopping of hooves against the dirt road. Twilight looked back and saw Applejack coming down the road at full speed with Spike holding on to her neck. Once they were but a few strides away, the farmer skidded to a halt and barely avoided crashing on the barrier. “Sorry I took so long,” Applejack said, “we came as fast as we could.” “What happened? AJ told me the guards were leaving their posts. Are we gonna be let out?” Spike asked, and despite his obvious efforts to contain himself, the hope in his words was as clear as day. Twilight held his gaze for a few seconds before looking down and shaking her head. “One of the guards lost his cutie mark. The medical team took him in.” She didn’t have to look up to see the faces on her friends, their defeated sighs already painted a vivid image. Before anything else could be said, Twilight felt a small itch on the base of her horn. The glow of the magic barrier intensified for a moment, before a wave of magic rippled through its surface and the colour changed so subtly, she wouldn’t have noticed had she not been standing but a stride away from it. As she pondered the reason for this, an errant memory dredged its way to the forefront of her mind. “Back at town hall…” she started, though the Sergeant didn’t show any sign of having heard her beyond a flick of his ears. “Back then, you said you had well over fifteen unicorns to keep the barrier up when you didn’t need as many. This is the reason, isn’t it?” For a second which once more stretched eternally, neither spoke, letting the silence speak the implicit answer. “It is better to be over prepared than to be underprepared, would you not agree?” the Sergeant finally replied. She let out a humourless chuckle. He was right, of course, but it still felt odd to know the Royal Guard had come here with a worst case scenario already in mind. “I do not question my orders, Miss Sparkle,” he said after a few seconds, “I only follow them to the best of my abilities for the well-being of the citizens of Equestria.” He looked at Twilight with a steady gaze. Despite the slight slump of his shoulders and a slight hints of bags under his eyes—which at least seemed less pronounced than they had the day before—she sensed firmness in his voice and conviction behind his words which, in a way, reminded her of the times her brother talked about their duty to the crown and Equestria. Much like herself, Sergeant Bold Spear and the rest of the guards were doing their best in the current situation. Considering that, she couldn’t bring herself to get angry at any of them. “I understand, Sergeant,” she said. “I can sympathise with that sense of responsibility… Don’t think I’m blaming you.” “I do not think there is any blame to be assigned, Miss Sparkle.” With a heavy sigh, the sergeant closed his eyes and turned away, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his hoof. On some level, she wanted to know what the plan was when... if more guards fell victim to the plague. Would they just keep putting them under quarantine until they ran out of guards? Would they start letting them into town and bringing more? What if the town reached its capacity? Would this crisis last long enough for that to happen? In the end, her empathy trumped her curiosity. “How are you feeling, Sergeant?” she asked. He looked at her with a sidelong glance, silent for the briefest of moments before speaking, “As well as one can feel under these circumstances. We all knew what could happen when we received our orders, but that does little to ease the shock of it actually happening.” He paused once more, turning around to look at her straight into her eyes. “I suppose you can relate.” Just as her thoughts went back to her friends, the Sergeant spoke once more, “Regarding your friend Zecora, a detachment was sent at sunrise. We expect them to return within the hour.” “Thank you, Sergeant,” she said. It had been almost two days since she last saw Zecora, since she promised she would help her. Twilight sighed as she felt a knot undo itself deep in her chest. It may have taken longer than she would’ve wished, but she managed to get some help for her friend. She managed to keep that promise. She had at least done that right and, Celestia willing, she could still find a way to help everypony else. “What about Rainbow Dash?” “She is still under observation. She has become much more cooperative since the medical teamed explained the situation to her,” he replied. Twilight’s heart ached for her friend. Knowing Rainbow Dash, she was probably blaming herself for breaking the quarantine, even if she couldn't have possibly known there was a need for one in the first place. “Now, if it is all the same to you, I will take my leave. I assume you have much to do as well. Should anything relevant regarding your friends come up, I will be sure to inform you.” “And I’ll be sure to do the same if anything pops up over here, Sergeant.” With a firm nod, Sergeant Bold Spear looked at her one last time before turning around and trotting away. Twilight watched him go, not sure of what to make of the mess of thoughts in her mind. “Guess nopony’s really safe, huh?” Applejack said. Twilight spared a glance at her friend. “If what doctor Horse said yesterday is true, then all of us are infected. That would extend to the Guard and the medical team who were in contact with us, as well, but I trust they’ve taken the necessary precautions.” Applejack regarded her with an inscrutable look, though the creeping unease was quite apparent. With a sigh, she looked back at Ponyville and spoke, “I’ll be the first to admit I don’t rightly understand all that’s going on nor any of that quarantine business, but I reckon they don’t want this thing spreading to the rest of Equestria any more than we do. We have to trust them to do their job.” Though Applejack’s words were firm, Twilight wondered if she was trying to convince herself, too. Whichever the case, she was still right. “What do you think will happen?” Spike asked. Twilight’s mind drew a blank. Be it the lack of information regarding the plague, or a subconscious refusal to even entertain the thought of what the future may hold, Twilight couldn’t think of anything. “As far as this town is concerned, nothing has changed,” Twilight said after a few minutes of pondering. “We still have to carry out the meeting, and we have to decide what to do alongside everypony else.” “Reckon we should mention this?” Applejack asked. Twilight turned to face her friend, giving her a thorough look now. Although at first glance she seemed to be fine, if a bit frazzled, she caught a faint glimpse of a foreign emotion on the farmer’s face. Doubt. While it was true that their situation got more complicated with each passing day, Twilight still tried to hold out hope. Knowing Applejack of all ponies started to waver did little for her spirits. Even more so because she didn’t know how to reply. “I… I wouldn’t know how to bring up the topic, but I feel we should tell them. They have the right to know. After all… ” Twilight trailed off before mustering enough energy for a smile before asking her, “Honesty is the best policy, isn’t it?” Applejack let out a short laugh, more of an abrupt exhale than anything, but it was the happiest she’d seen her friend be in the past couple of days. “Sure is, Twi. It sure is…” the farmer trailed off, seemingly lost in thought. “We should get going, Twilight. It's almost time,” Spike said. Twilight looked back at Ponyville. Soon, ponies would soon wake up and—hopefully— would make their way to Town Hall. “Yes. I figure we should,” she said. Without another word, Twilight, Spike, and Applejack walked back into town, and towards one of the most important days of their lives. Apple Bloom kicked the tree, sending her body forwards, swaying gently on the tire swing hanging from the tree branch, as if moved by the breeze. “Do you think they already started?” Sweetie Belle was lying on the grass, looking as troubled as she had the day before. A glance to her side showed that Scootaloo wasn’t faring much better. While Apple Bloom herself had felt the same way, she had gotten the chance to talk things out with her brother and Granny Smith, to get most of her worries out of her chest. If her friends’ expressions were anything to go by, they probably hadn’t had the chance to do so. “Maybe. I don’t know,” Scootaloo replied in a flat tone. Apple Bloom thought back to the way she had felt last night, back to that gnawing, empty feeling somewhere in her stomach that grew stronger whenever she thought of the ponies back in town who were losing their cutie marks. The previous evening, when they’d cried out their laments in their clubhouse, the sorrows had been lessened somewhat, but that had only been a temporary fix. Her lower lip quivered as her mouth opened and closed, like a fish out of water, gasping for the right words to say, and once more coming short. Once more she didn’t know what to say, or if she even could say something to make things right. Just like the time she found Golden Harvest late at night and couldn’t offer more than the empty promises of a child. “I want to believe that, Apple Bloom. I really do.” Perhaps… Perhaps she didn’t have to say anything. Perhaps it was enough to listen. It wasn’t much, but it was all she could do at the moment, and she was going to run with it for the sake of her friends. She swung back and forth before jumping down from the old tire swing, landing with a thud. Both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle looked up at her with melancholic eyes. For a second, none of them spoke, they didn’t even move, nopony wanted to be the first to speak. After a few more seconds of lingering silence, Apple Bloom sat down in front of her friends. “Are we going to do another group hug? 'Cause I don’t think I can take another one of those so soon…” Scootaloo said, looking away. “I wouldn’t mind a hug,” Sweetie Belle mumbled. “Maybe later,” Apple Bloom replied, smiling. “I just wanted to talk… To know how y’all were holding up since yesterday.” Sweetie Belle looked up at her expectantly while Scootaloo did her best to pretend not to be interested. Curiously enough, the latter was the first to speak. “I’m fine,” the pegasus said, too quickly to feel natural, “I’m, uh… Yeah. Fine.” Apple Bloom gave Scootaloo a sidelong glance. Her friend was obviously trying to play down her worries; it probably wouldn’t do them any good to try and force an answer out of her. Better let her come around and open up at her own pace. Turning around to face Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom found that the unicorn wouldn’t meet her gaze. Keeping her eyes fixed on her own hooves. “How are you feeling, Sweetie Belle?” The unicorn sighed and kicked a pebble away. “I’m… I’m alright, I think.” Apple Bloom didn’t reply. She thought back to the previous night, to the way Granny Smith had talked to her. Her grandma had been patient with her, she didn’t pressure her but just gently urging her to speak her mind at her own pace until she was comfortable enough to talk. Hopefully, she could do the same for her friends. With greater resolve, Apple Bloom kneeled down and nuzzled her friend. Sweetie Belle tensed up for a second before mellowing out and nuzzling her back. She was certain Scootaloo was making some retching motions behind them, but she didn’t care. “My parents are out of town,” Sweetie said. Though her voice was barely louder than a whisper, her words brought down a silence over the orchard like a blanket of snow on a winter morning. Though she heard Scootaloo walking closer to them, Apple Bloom didn’t break her gaze away from Sweetie Belle. The unicorn spared her friends a glance before she continued speaking. “But… Then how come yesterday—” Scootaloo started, but was interrupted by the unicorn. “They left weeks ago. Before all of this started,” Sweetie cleared up. “They’ve been planning their second annual honeymoon for several months now, so it’s only been Rarity and me.” Apple Bloom nodded, hoping her friend would know she was listening and she wanted her to go on. “We were together the whole afternoon. She tried to cheer me up… She even got those cookies she says she shouldn’t eat too often.” The faint smile tugging at Sweetie’s lips didn’t go unnoticed by Apple Bloom, though she remained silent as the unicorn kept talking. “We talked for a while and things, I don’t know, they seemed back to normal for a while. As if I could pretend nothing was wrong.” Scootaloo stood right next to Apple Bloom, and she too eyed the unicorn with curiosity. “But then the ponies from Town Hall came for the census, and Rarity sent me to sleep before she went to see Fluttershy,” Sweetie Belle continued in a lethargic tone that left little doubt about if she managed to fall asleep or not. “Before she left, though, she told me not to be afraid.” Apple Bloom thought back to Cheerilee’s words just two days prior. She had asked her not to be afraid, too. To be strong and to believe they would pull through. “You know…” Scootaloo chimed in. Apple Bloom looked up to see their pegasus friend fidgeting in place, as if she wasn’t sure whether to come closer or not. “I’m not afraid.” “Seriously?” Apple Bloom gave her a flat look, and Sweetie Belle must have done the same, seeing how Scootaloo’s eyes widened and she looked away. “Wait, no! That’s not what I meant!” she replied, waving her hooves in front of her friends. “I mean that, I talked with my parents yesterday, too… They’re nervous about what’s happening, and so am I, but… It’s not fear. It’s more like… I still don’t understand what’s happening. I don’t know why it’s happening, but I can understand why every adult is so freaked out. I’ve been thinking about it too, and it’s not that I’m scared—”Scootaloo looked at her friends with a serious expression on her face, one that felt alien on the young pegasus.”—it’s just this weird feeling in my chest… It’s weird, but, it’s like I feel sad for them. I’m not sure how else to say it.” Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo turned to face Sweetie Belle. The unicorn’s eyes danced from side to side before she tapped her chin in thought. “I think that’s called empathy.” “Yeah, what she said,” Scootaloo continued. “It’s just that it’s all so… weird. Don’t you think so? You don’t buy that nonsense about it being your fault you lose your cutie mark, do you?” “No.” Apple Bloom said, her voice unwavering. “That can’t be right. I mean, those ponies who lost their cutie marks didn’t do anything wrong.” In her mind, Apple Bloom saw Golden Harvest’s downcast expression, she saw Miss Cheerilee’s heartfelt encouragement, she even saw the fear in Diamond Tiara’s eyes on the playground that day. Neither had done anything that would deserve the loss of their cutie marks. Even at her worst, she wouldn’t have desired this for Diamond Tiara. Then why was everyone so quick to point hooves? “Well, there has to be a reason, right?” Sweetie Belle chimed in, looking unsure. Sweetie Belle’s words managed to make Apple Bloom’s thoughts come to a halt. She had considered that in passing, but it never registered in her mind until her friend actually said it out loud. “Does there have to be one?” She finally said. “Huh?” Apple Bloom’s eyes went back and forth between her friends confused faces, knowing she looked much the same. “I mean, why does there have to be a reason? There’s no reason for getting sick, it just happens.” Her friends exchanged a quick look before Scootaloo spoke up, “Well, the grown ups want one.” Apple Bloom shook her head, barely noticing how she had started pacing. “That’s what I don’t get. I mean… I get they want a reason, but why do they have to blame the ponies who lost their marks?” Their friends became silent, but she barely paid attention to them. Now that she was—mostly—out of her slump, she could think on what had been bothering since her talk with Cheerilee the other day. What that couple said, what she heard at the market, what she’d overheard after her siblings came back home… Everypony wanted to convince themselves it was the sick pony’s fault. “Maybe…” Sweetie Belle chimed in, “they just want to convince themselves it won’t happen to them?” Apple Bloom considered that thought for a moment, trying to make sense of it. “Y’mean… Like, it’s their fault they got it, but that wouldn’t happen to me in the first place?” Sweetie Belle just shrugged, looking somewhat downcast. “But it’s just a disease. It’s not your fault you got it, right? You just… caught it.” “Well, they obviously don’t see it that way,” Scootaloo said with a huff. “Do you think they will?” Sweetie Belle asked. There was a part of Apple Bloom that wished they would, hoped they would. However, a quieter part also imagined that, even if they stopped trying to pin the blame on the sick ponies, they’d just find somepony or something else to blame. There’d be little point in mentioning that, however. “Maybe…” she said, not trusting herself to say more than that and opting to change topic instead. “I guess AJ will tell us when she comes back.” Whenever she comes back, her mind added, much to her distaste. “What do we do until then?” Scootaloo asked as she fluttered her wings as if trying to purge some of her anxiety through them. “My parents will come as soon as that meeting wraps up, and your sister and Rarity will probably stay until much later.” Apple Bloom pawed at the ground, unsure of how to reply. The meeting was sure to take all morning at the very least. Probably even longer. Normally, they’d be at school, but that was off. And after the past couple of days, going on a crusade for their cutie marks was the last thing on their minds. Right now, the only thing they could do was kill time. That didn’t mean they had to keep moping, though. “Hey, girls… Do you want to make apple fritters?” At the sight of their somewhat confused friends, she continued, and a hopeful edge seeped into her voice. “Granny Smith taught me how to make ‘em last night. I thought we could try making a few to pass the time.” Apple Bloom finished the sentence with a small shrug. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exchanged an quick look before facing her. After a few seconds of silence, Scootaloo nodded and helped Sweetie Belle stand up. “Sure, I could give it a shot,” the pegasus said and started walking towards Apple Bloom. “Oh, Rarity congratulated me the other day! She was proud my toasts managed to still end up with toast shapes when I was done!” At that, Apple Bloom failed to suppress a giggle. For her part, Scootaloo laughed out loud, which in turn let to both of them laughing merrily. Sweetie Belle managed to look offended for all of two seconds before a smile found its way to her lips, and soon enough all three were laughing as they walked back to the farmhouse. Apple Bloom didn’t know how the day would turn out, but right now, being with her friends, she found it hard to care.