//------------------------------// // Chapter 19: Lockdown // Story: A Life, for A Life // by Zinnia //------------------------------// "Com' on, we have to go too!" Rainbow argued. "What if something bad happens when we aren't there to help?" Applejack sighed, leaning back in her bed. Looking around Rainbow's private room in Canterlot castle, it was pretty open and wide, with shelves high up on the walls, plenty of room for flying and surprisingly.. empty. Granted she didn't actually live here, but you'd expect a trophy or a dozen at least. Applejack could've sworn there were at least posters on the wall, from her time in the Wonderbolts academy along with pictures with the stars themselves. "Applejack! Are you even listening to me?" "Listen Rainbow, I wanna go too don't get me wrong. But look at us." Applejack pointed to the bandages around Rainbow Dash's wings and barrel, as well as on herself. "We're in rougher shape than two cows with hay fever." "I-I, w-well.. argghh.." Rainbow growled in frustration. "Still! You should know better than anypony that whenever Twilight does things on her own with dangerous situations, bad things happen." "But she pulls through anyway. Besides, she ain't alone." Applejack rebutted. "Spike's with her, and he's known her longer than all of us. From what Celestia told us, Zale was determined to go because of a debt he feels like he has to pay back, which I understand. I don't have a good feeling about that Valkyrie character, but Tempest will keep them in check. She's not alone Rainbow." Rainbow looked like she was having trouble coming up with another argument until she sighed dejectedly, Putting her head in her hooves. "I guess I just.. I just feel terrible that Princess Celestia was hurt and Princcess Luna was taken. If only I was stronger, If I knew I could've-" "Now hold it right there, partner. It ain't yours, or anypony else's fault." Applejack reassured. "We have no idea what we're dealing with right now. We have to have faith in them. That's the best we can do right now I reckon.." Rainbow Dash stayed silent for a moment before nodding. "Yeah.. I guess you're right. Thanks for stopping by AJ." Rainbow sat up, stretching out her limbs, being careful as to not open up wounds. "So how are the others doing?" "I haven't seen Pinkie yet, but Rarity and Fluttershy are gettin' back in shape. Shoot," Applejack chuckled a bit before continuing. "Rarity fixed herself up right quick after a little while, y'all should go see for yourself." Applejack got up onto her hooves and walked towards the door. "I'ma go down to the kitchen to cook something up if ya need me. Something tells me that Pinkie's already beat me to it." "I think I'm going to walk around the castle some. Can't fly so walking is the next best thing, I guess." Rainbow replied. And with that, they both walked out the room, and split off in different directions. Applejack's trip to the kitchens was relatively short, reasons being that she had a good sense of direction, as well as the trail of flour that started to pick up along the way. When She entered the room, it was.. well she didn't know how to describe it. If she had to put it in one word, it was chaos. As Applejack guessed, Pinkie Pie was currently making.. something. Looking at the varies ingredients all over the counter tops, floor and herself, it was either cupcakes, or pancakes. Pinkie's burns weren't as bad as the others, so she didn't have many bandages aside from around her head, but she looked perfectly fine. As she worked, she was zipping from one station to the other, taking things she needed with both hooves, mouth and hair. The chefs who actually worked here didn't know what to make of it. They just stood there, covered in the aftermath of Pinkie's storm. Pinkie turned to one of them and shouted, "I need 10 grams of cane sugar and a cup of heavy cream, STAT!" before throwing more ingredients into the mixer. The chef, a little confused had complied. The sugar and cream made it into the mixer with the others. She hadn't noticed the Applejack had entered yet. Taking advantage of that, Applejack decided it would be best to sit down at the table and Wait for her to finish, before getting started on her own dish. ~ ~ ~ ~ > > < < ~ ~ ~ ~ Even with the princess of the night currently absent, Celestia has managed to take care of the responsibilities of them both, just as she had for one thousand years. Although this time around, she did have some help from Rarity, who took care of majority of the nobles and the bourgeoisie in the courts. Currently the two were in the throne room, meeting with ponies who either had official documents and deeds for property or businesses, as well as ponies with complaints, usually the nobles about Zale's position and inquiries. After a newly found business was made by a pony who just turned in their papers, Rarity turned to Celestia who sat in her throne. "How did you manage all of this for a thousand years?" She asked, genuinely impressed. "I couldn't imagine anypony handling this on their own! Even if you're a princess." Celestia laughed in amusement, shaking her head. "Well of course nopony could handle this on their own. Even when Luna was still banished, I was never truly alone. I had the castle staff, the representatives, royal guards and even some of the nobles took on some responsibilities." Celestia sighed, looking around the room. The throne room had been fixed up with a quick whirl of her horn, tapestries repaired by Rarity, stained windows are as good as new and still told the story of all that had transpired throughout Equestria. It didn't take long for the reparation spell to complete, and after some delay they were able to utilize it again, just like nothing ever happened. "But even though I knew I wasn't alone, I still felt like it was all on me. Just like.." Celestia paused, ears starting to droop. But before she could finish, the throne room doors opened. A stallion, being escorted by two guards looked like he just walked through the flames of Tartarus. What's left of his shawl was now burnt strips of black, his mane had burnt and uneven ends sticking out of it, and his eyes.. They were starting to fill with tears as they landed on the Princess. "I've made it.." His voice was coarse, like he hasn't had water for days. After a few more steps, he collapsed, gasping for air. Celestia stood, trotting down towards him with Rarity close behind. "My word, what happened to you?" She turned to one of the guards, raising and eyebrow. "Why haven't you taken him to a hospital?" "We did your majesty, but he demanded that he wouldn't accept treatment until he had an immediate audience with you." Celestia turned back to the stallion, using her magic to remedy some of his injuries. After a moment, he was able to at least stand again, and his breathing stabilized. "What did you need to see me about in such a state?" Celestia asked with a worried look. "I escaped from Vanhoover Princess, and I came here seeking aid." "Escaped?" Rarity echoed. "What ever do you mean?" "The city needs your help. It's.. It's under lockdown." Celestia's brow furrowed, recalling a somewhat recent document stating that Vanhoover was expecting some massive renovations.. with the deadline coming soon. Very soon. "I don't understand," Celestia began, her horn lighting up with scrolls following suit. She skimmed though them until she found what she was looking for. "It says here that they are almost done with renovations and remodeling of the city, and I was invited to a grand reopening of most of the cities major sites." The stranger shook his head solemnly. "No your grace, that is a lie. We have been under control for the last 3 months and none of us has ever been able to leave the city due to an invisible barrier of some sort. Those that tried, well.." He looked down at his hooves. "They either vanished, or was forced back in by powerful magic. But I was able to slip past a small gap in the barrier that happened a few days ago, although it still took a toll on me." "What?" Celestia asked, a little fear and anger starting to slip through her tone but her features remained stoic. "Do you know who or what is responsible for this?" "I'm sorry, but I have no idea. Ever since this barrier appeared we have been at a loss to what it was or where it came from, ponies disappearing, the barrier keeping us from leaving. Everypony in town is so afraid that they don't even trust outsiders anymore. So I watched and I waited. Waited for an opportunity, my chance. I took it and here I am today." Celestia was silent for a moment before responding. "What is your name?" "Percy. Percy Ire." "You have done us a tremendous service by informing us of the situation of Vanhoover, Percy." Celestia bowed her head in thanks before turning and trotting towards the door next to her throne. "Now, be sure to get yourself looked at in the hospital, guards?" "Yes your majesty." Without hesitation, Percy and his escorts left the throne room, shutting the grand door behind them with a thud. "Princess? What.. what do we do?" Rarity asked, trotting up to her side. "Twilight and the others are already there!" "I know." Celestia responded firmly. "I know I just.. sigh." The door they were coming up on glowed in a golden aura before opening. "I need to send a letter to Twilight about this, I just hope that barrier doesn't block outside sources of magic.." A few doors down, they came up to the royal study, Celestia with no hesitation grabbed the nearest ink, quill and blank page and began writing as they walked into the room. "Seeing as you entered the city with no issues, we can only assume the barrier was specifically designed to keep ponies in, not out.." Celestia added. "Something powerful enough to generate such a containment spell and maintain it for so long, I'm not sure what to expect." She rolled up the note and it was consumed by a green flame, the smoke flowing out of the window and on it's way. Rarity followed the smoke onto the balcony with a worried expression. "Please be alright darlings.." ~ ~ ~ ~ > > < < ~ ~ ~ ~ "Ah, that was a much needed change." I said as we made our way towards the Smokey Mountains, just coming from one of the only open restaurants in the city. "They didn't serve meat but I don't care. That tomato soup was somethin' else." "I'll say," Spike agreed, picking at something in his teeth with a claw. "I'm just glad there was actually still someplace open to eat." "How's your custom book sleeve feel so far?" Twilight turned to me and looked down at my new accessory that she made herself, using some of the materials from the workshops Jack used to work at. The sleeve itself was made out of leather and a very self adjusting fabric, able to stretch outwards pretty far, considering how big my grimoire was. the strap was able to fit snugly around my waist, just underneath my bags that Rarity made for me. The brown leather and black fabric really complimented everything else I had on, and I was starting to really dig the style. "It's pretty good, I could get used to this honestly." Looking to Chrysalis and Fizzy, or rather 'Valkyrie', seeing as she was back in her normal disguise. We figured it'd probably be for the best to be Valkyrie in public, as not to further panic the already paranoid denizens of Vanhoover. "What do you two think?" "I'm not the type to ask about fashion." Valkyrie responded. "But.. I would be lying if I said you didn't look like a formidable threat." She smirked, nodding in approval. I'll.. take that as a compliment. "It suits you pretty well Isaiah." Fizzy noted, looking me up and down. "Mmm.. now that I think about it if you had some form of armor, you'd look like a full on adventurer. Right now you look more of just a traveler." "Well thanks, I guess you're right. Maybe something lighter though, I can't imagine myself in something heavy-" I was cut off from a sudden gagging coming from Spike, green flames spilling out as he continued. Before I could ask what was wrong, green flames erupted from his maw, with a sealed scroll materializing out of it. Spike looked confused as he took the paper in hand and opened it up. "That's weird, I haven't gotten a letter like that since..." He trailed off, mouth starting to hang open, what could only be described as a look of pure horror. Twilight walked up to him with concern. "Spike? Is everything alright?" Fizzy and I exchanged worried glances, before Spike gave Twilight the letter, mouth snapping shut. "I think we have our answer."