“Well it’s not like I didn’t expect this to happen at some point,” Applejack rubbed the back of her neck as she looked up at the ceiling where the roaring siren was coming from.
“Please! Help us get out of here!” The stallion shouted at her while panic erupted throughout the other cells.
“I will—but I can’t right now! There’s still more I need to do,” Applejack shook her head. “But I promise that soon you’ll get out of here. I promise!”
With that, Applejack turned tail and left even as she heard more shouting and pleading coming from behind her. She felt really bad about that but the ponies here weren’t in much condition to do anything. If she freed them right now without knowing just how many armor-clad and weapon-wielding guards were coming it could end real ugly. And she couldn’t leave behind the other ponies she knew were here or give the Warden an opportunity to escape. This had to all get finished at once.
Applejack threw open the door and ran out of the large prison, running through the hallways of the Citadel building. She didn’t know if the guards actually knew where she was or if they had just discovered that there was a break-in. Either way she didn’t even know where she was going, it didn’t matter, she just couldn’t look like she was getting caught on purpose or anything.
She could now hear guards running through the halls around her—they were getting closer. Should she try and fight them at first or just give up?
In another moment the siren finally went off but a familiar static crackle replaced it:
Bzzt!
“Announcement for Applejack, the Element of Harmony who is currently at large inside the Citadel. This is being broadcast only through this building. I implore you to cease what you are doing, stay where you are, and wait for the guards to apprehend you. If you do not resist you will not be harmed. That is all.”
Bzzt!
“Aint that nice of him,” Applejack rolled her eyes.
That announcement answered some questions for her but also gave rise to quite a few new ones. She really wanted to find out where he was before anything else happened and her first guess was at the top of the huge tower that rose up from the Citadel. Applejack made her way for the nearest stairs so she could get to the top floor and maybe find the way into that tower. A scouting tremor told her that multiple squads of guards on different floors were getting close to her though, she might get surrounded soon.
“Well this still aint the worst way this could go…” Applejack muttered.
Finding the stairs, she ran up them to at least get back onto the ground floor she had first arrived at. That had to lead to most of the other important places inside here, it was the only floor that had a normal entrance in and out of the building. As soon as she got back onto the ground floor though she could hear guards running up and down the stairs right behind her. And coming from the hallway in front of her.
“Tch,” Applejack ran to the right in an attempt to avoid getting cornered for as long as possible, pretty much going down new corridors at random. She didn’t see a single helpful sign or arrow telling her where anything was. A design choice that was probably intentional. The average pony breaking in here would get lost for certain.
The sounds were getting closer and Applejack ran around another corner-
And skidded to a halt.
A cadre of guards was already there waiting for her—their spears leveled at her. Applejack frowned and started to take a few steps backwards when the loud approach of another squad of guards came from behind to cut her off. And she could hear more coming from other directions as well. Applejack could maybe fight them and get out of here but it was almost inevitable that she’d have to hurt them and she didn’t really want to do that. For one, she just didn’t like hurting others at all, and two she wasn’t sure how complicit these guards really were in what was going on here or if they were just victims of the Warden and Citadel in another way. Such a big group, with rather sharp weapons, would be dangerous for her to get on the bad side of too.
One of the guards in front of her—a unicorn—narrowed his eyes at her. “The Warden told us if you ever turned up missing in town that it meant you had broken into here. Looks like he was right.”
“Guess so,” Applejack said back, she took a few looks around at all the guards. “I guess I can’t expect you to throw down your weapons and help me instead?”
“Nice try pony, but no,” a Minotaur said as he poked his spear at her. “Now turn around and start marching—we’re taking you to the detention center. You can stay there with every other pony dumb enough to cause problems here.”
Applejack sighed and shook her head. “Figured as much. But I was still hoping for the chance you’d see that what you’re doing is wrong…”
“Heh,” a pegasus smirked. “What do you mean? We know it’s wrong—we’re just paid too much to care.”
Applejack rolled her eyes. “Fantastic.” She turned around and started walking before she stopped and sent another glance over her shoulder. “Before you take me away… what about the Warden? Seems like he took a special interest in me, can I see him first? Maybe I can talk to him about all this.”
“Nobody sees the Warden,” a griffon snorted.
“That’s right, now keep going. Git!” The same Minotaur ordered.
Applejack scowled but didn’t retaliate just yet. It would’ve been helpful to have found where the Warden was, but she’d have to get to him later. Things were still going to plan. She just hoped the other ponies in the detention center were doing alright.
She was taken up to the third floor of the Citadel building, what she believed to be the top floor for the most part, and taken to the far right side of it. Eventually, while being corralled by the guards, she found herself in front of a similar door to the one that entered the prison down below. Though the hallway outside it and the door itself were much smaller. There were already guards there too on either side of it, a pair of unicorns, who once they saw Applejack and the others approaching unlocked the door to the detention center and held it open for them.
She was right about this place being smaller than the other prison. There was only a single row of a few cells to the right of the narrow hallway going inside the detention center. There didn’t seem to be as many ponies thrown into each cell either, and it wasn’t lit up as well with only a few lights in the ceiling that didn’t illuminate the entirety of the cells. Applejack was led right to the door of the first cell, where one of the guards from outside quickly went to unlock and open.
Upon which she was roughly shoved inside by the Minotaur, stumbling and falling flat on her face.
“Ngh!”
“Heh. Enjoy your stay here with the rest of the troublemakers, pony.” The Minotaur loudly guffawed as the cell was locked back up and the guards retreated out of the detention center. Leaving things quiet outside a few murmurs Applejack heard from around her.
“Jerk,” Applejack grumbled as she stood up, glaring after the guards.
“Well it looks like we’ve got a new guest—and hopefully one that’s better company than the rest of you.”
“I resent that.”
“Of course you do, you’re a criminal after all. And not a very good one at that, heh.”
Applejack turned and saw that there were seven other ponies in the cell with her, the light in the ceiling providing her a good enough view to see them now as they approached her. Six of them stood arrayed before her while the seventh shyly hung back behind them. One—a mare—walked up to Applejack with a friendly smile.
She was a scarlet mare with a deeper shade of red mane and tail and a pair of very deep blue eyes. On her flank Applejack could see a tornado Cutie Mark. For a moment, Applejack also thought she was an earth pony but then she noticed two little stubs on her sides. Wings. Just undersized ones that looked like they hadn’t grown since she was a baby.
“Hello there, honey. My name’s Valentine—Miss Valentine. Who might you be?” She offered a hoof to Applejack.
“Applejack. Pleased to meet you,” Applejack said and shook her hoof.
Miss Valentine’s smile widened a bit. “You seem like a decent sort—and I’ve got a good eye for ponies. The rest of this cell aint worth much at all but maybe the two of us can get along well for as long as we’re stuck here, honey.”
“There you go again with your petty insults,” another mare snorted. “You’re just a vagrant who got caught here, I don’t think you exactly have the right to look down on any of us.”
“I certainly do, criminal. And I wouldn’t be here at all if I hadn’t taken the offer to track down you and your friends after you escaped from Diminuendo,” Valentine smirked back at the mare.
“Diminuendo…” Applejack muttered. “I recognize that name, it’s the name of a Kingdom to the east of here, isn’t it?”
“That’s right,” Valentine said. “These five mares are escaped criminals from that Kingdom. They came running out here to try and get away past the canyon—only to get themselves thrown in here after causing problems for the guards and Warden. The other cells are full of ponies who just tried to break into the Citadel and get to the bridge, or maybe assaulted a guard out of frustration. They’re not bad ponies or did anything wrong before coming here. But you’ve been thrown into the cell for the Warden’s special prisoners.” Valentine winked at her. “We’re the ones who have been a bit more problematic for Al-Karamaretel.”
“Enough!” The same mare growled and walked up to push Miss Valentine out of the way. “We are not some common criminals you can insult and you’re still hardly any better! I know that you’ve done plenty of bad in the past, you’re not a noble hero, you’re a bounty hunter if that.” She huffed and looked over at Applejack, a not so genuine smile tugging up her lips. “Now allow me to introduce myself and my friends formally to you-“
Like Valentine, she offered a hoof for Applejack to shake. She was a purple unicorn with a curly pink mane and a Cutie Mark of a bright Nebula. “My name is Amethyst and these four are my close friends.” She gestured to the four mares standing behind her, who were a mixture of bored and nervous.
“This is Emerald-” she pointed to a caramel earth pony mare with sharp red eyes and a willowy green mane.
“Diamond-” she pointed to a white earth pony with a thin face and a sparkly blue mane and tail. Her eyes were a blue almost as deep as Valentine’s.
“Topaz-” a bored looking red pegasus with a fiery orange and yellow mane that didn’t even bother looking directly at Applejack. She blinked disinterestedly with violet eyes.
“And Opal.” Amethyst finished with pointing to another pegasus, teal, with a short black and white mane and tail and amber eyes. Her wings ruffled constantly and she looked bothered by something.
“The five of us have been best friends since we were children,” Amethyst said, still smiling that fake smile at Applejack.
“A-Amethyst, s-she’s-” Opal whispered but a glare from Amethyst quieted her.
Amethyst then coughed and turned back to Applejack. “Now then, I’m sorry, but what was your name again?”
“I’m Applejack,” Applejack said and shook the other mare’s hoof. This time leaving off the “pleased to meet you”.
Amethyst’s smile cracked and froze on her face as Applejack shook her hoof. A nervous laugh came up from her throat and she started to sweat. “Hehe… heh… y-you wouldn’t happen to mean Applejack as in Applejack from Equestria, would you? Element of Honesty? Friend of Princess Twilight Sparkle?”
“Yeah. Why?” Applejack raised an eyebrow. Out the corner of her eye she saw Valentine holding back laughter.
“N-No reason!” Amethyst quickly pulled her hoof away and backpedaled over to her friends, who were now all trying to look away and not meet Applejack’s gaze. “No reason at all!”
“It’s because-” Miss Valentine spoke up, a playful grin on her face. “From what I heard, these mares aren’t from Diminuendo originally. They’re from Equestria too and they were causing all sorts of trouble in small towns back there. I heard from Diminuendo’s own Prince that before they came to try and usurp control of Diminuendo that they were looking to do something similar in Equestria.”
“Oh really?” Applejack narrowed her eyes and glared at the five mares.
“N-No, not at all!” Amethyst fervently shook her head, sweating and smiling at Applejack. “We never did anything bad, not really. There were some aspirations, yes, but we never really did anything too criminal.”
“Stupid aspirations that we never should’ve followed...” Opal muttered.
“Shut it! If you had half the brain I did it all would’ve gone fine!” Amethyst growled at her.
“Opal’s right, Amethyst, everything we’ve done has failed. We should’ve stopped listening to you ages ago,” Topaz said.
“And what? Become dreary nobodies back in Equestria? I refuse!” Amethyst shouted.
“But now look at us… things are worse than ever. We’ll never be free or happy again...” Diamond grasped her head and started chewing on her mane nervously while Emerald silently patted her back.
While the five of them got into a full-blown argument, Applejack finally really noticed the seventh pony in the cell, who was shying away in the corner and looking away from her. He even had a hoof lifted up to hide his face for some reason. Applejack could tell he was a stallion, and an earth pony, with an orange coat and straw mane similar to her own. He was also using his tail to obscure his Cutie Mark for some reason.
“Hey back there!” Applejack said to him. “What’s your name—mind introducing yourself?”
“I’m nopony… just ignore me, I’m not anypony you need to pay attention to,” he said, mumbling under his breath.
Miss Valentine also looked over at him and frowned. “What are you acting like that for, Birdseed?”
“B-Birdseed? I’ve never heard that name before in my life, surely you’re confused,” the stallion coughed. He peeked past his hoof and met Applejack’s eyes briefly before turning away again.
Applejack tilted her head. “Hold on… have I met you before?”
“No! Definitely not!” Birdseed denied. “I’m sure I’ve never met you before.”
Applejack scratched her chin. “That name… and your mane and coat…” She frowned and walked up to him. “Now I remember where I met you before.” She grabbed his tail to reveal his Cutie Mark—an overflowing bag of bird feed. “Tch, thought so. You’re that thug who tried to blow up the dam at Mountain Town!”
Birdseed pulled away from her and tried to back up. “T-That was a while ago, I haven’t done anything like that since, I promise.”
“Hahahaha!” Miss Valentine laughed loudly. “Well, well, well, if it aint another mare you’ve wronged in the past. Blew up a dam? You’ve got a lot of explaining to do there.”
“It was just another job,” Birdseed growled at Valentine. “And the dam didn’t even get blown up—she stopped it all in the first place!”
“Can’t say I’m happy to see you again,” Applejack snorted.
“Likewise… just leave me alone, we’re already imprisoned anyways,” Birdseed said.
“And speaking of that-” Amethyst said as she pushed her way past her friends and walked up to Applejack. Her eyes suspiciously roamed up and down Applejack. “What did you do to get brought in here? And why is an Element of Harmony so far out here in the first place?”
“I just needed to get to the other side of the bridge actually,” Applejack shrugged. “Didn’t know about any of this. But when I learned what was going on here at the Citadel of Al-Karamaretel I decided I had to bring it to a stop. That’s why I broke in here, and I still really need to find the Warden so I can give him a piece of my mind.”
“You and I had a similar little trip here then, honey,” Miss Valentine said. “I came here originally chasing these fools but once I saw the place-” her lip curled. “This just aint right, not at all. Course I ended up captured too before I could do anything.”
“Well do you know anything about the Warden?” Applejack asked. “I’d like to-”
Before she could continue, they all heard the sound of the doors leading to the detention center open back up. Together, the prisoners watched as a pair of Diamond Dog guards came in, dragging a figure between them right over to the cell door. They unlocked the cell and threw the figure in before locking back up and leaving them behind.
“So annoying...” one of the Diamond Dogs muttered.
The figure squeaked in discomfort as she was tossed to the cold floor of the cell and Applejack’s eyes widened in shock.
“Vahar! What are you doing in here?” Applejack went over to pick her friend up.
The merpony looked up at the sound of her voice, she wasn’t wearing her usual robe or hat, and her eyes were red from crying. Seeing Applejack—Vahar’s lip trembled and fresh new tears started to pour down her face. “WAAAAAAAGGGHHH! APPLEJACK!” Vahar threw herself into Applejack’s hooves and started to cry her eyes out.
“Oh geez...” Applejack muttered and rubbed the merpony’s back.
“T-The guards, t-they came out and said I was being a bother to everypony! They brought me in here and they took all my stuff away!” Vahar hugged her and sobbed harder. “My robe, my hat, all my magical trinkets and tools, and they even took my loaded dice so I can’t cheat at games anymore!”
“Wait—what? Loaded dice? How long have you been doing that?” Applejack raised an eyebrow.
“Waaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!” Vahar just continued to cry and cry.
Miss Valentine grinned in wry amusement at the scene. “Well today is certainly turning out to be an interesting day.”