What Went Wrong?
Chapter 6 - Canterlot Inbound
Derpy hated this plan.
It was depressing enough finding out that Thunderlane had died last night, from a crossbow bolt in the chest. But now she had to be 'captured' by the Celestian Solar Empire and brought to Canterlot via train as a prisoner.
However, the only problem was the 'capture' itself. Neither Archer nor Caramel had the faintest idea how they were going to pull that one off.
Caramel leaned on the balcony rail, letting the sun soak into his coat. "We'll need to get SB to organise it."
Archer sighed, drinking from a mug. "I still think this plan is too risky."
"And any other plan isn't?"
Archer's silence spoke volumes.
Derpy sat on her bed, arms crossed. She didn't want to go. She just wanted to stay here and be sad.
"So, how do we get her captured?" Caramel muttered to himself. "She could walk up to them but then we can't control what'll happen."
The next few minutes were filled with silence.
"Wait, I have an idea." Archer said, her eyes brightening a little.
"Shoot." Caramel replied, turning to her.
"A raid."
"A raid?" Derpy asked.
"The CSE has this method of capture where we- I mean, they barge into a place and take the person by force." Archer explained.
Caramel frowned. "You mean you're going to let the CSE know where we live?"
"Of course not, I'm not an idiot." Archer rolled her eyes. "We'll stage it."
Caramel smirked. "Ok, that'll work."
Derpy sighed. This won't end well...
Derpy sat down on a dilapidated chair in the ruins of Sugarcube Corner. "I don't like this plan."
Caramel sighed, closing the fridge in the kitchen; part of the wall had collapsed between it and the main room. "I know, but if you want to see Dinky and Twilight, it's about the best plan we've got."
"So, I just sit here and let them take me?"
"No, that's not convincing." Caramel said. "You'll have Archer and me backing you up."
Derpy groaned. "Convincing...?"
"When they come, hide. When they grab you, resist."
"Right..." Derpy drawled.
"Oh come on, it'll be worth it to see Dinky again, right?"
If she still wants to see me... Derpy thought to herself.
It was late afternoon, the orange lights filtering through the dusty room. Caramel and Archer were playing some sort of card game, with some crossbows lingering near them. Derpy sat across from them, half-watching their game, half lost in thought.
Thunderlane's dead... I can't talk to him again... I can't see him again... not unless I can find Twilight. But what if it doesn't work? What if it just sends me even further in time?
"I win." Archer chimed, much to Caramel's chagrin.
"That's 40 games in a row..." Caramel moaned, leaning back in defeat.
"Come on, admit it, you suck at this game."
"I don't suck, you're just better at it."
"You lost to Pinkie."
"You lost to Pinkie too, remember?"
"I didn't! I forfeited!"
"Nopony has won against Pinkie."
Archer sighed. "She's too darn lucky."
"I'll say."
Silence descended again. Caramel turned to Derpy. "Hey, do you want a go?"
"Sure." Derpy muttered, and Archer moved from her spot as Derpy took it. "How does this game work again?"
"I don't believe it..." Caramel muttered, completely in shock. His eyes were wide and disbelieving. "I lost... again."
Derpy smiled. "I guess I'm just lucky myself."
Archer chuckled. "Or Caramel really does suck."
"I do not suck!" Caramel blurted, blushing in embarrassment. "You're just better than me!"
"Face it, you've only won against Vinyl, when she was drunk, and that was only a fluke."
Caramel pouted. "Shut up, I won fair and square."
"Vinyl didn't even know what game she was playing, and still she almost beat you."
Caramel frowned, blushing even more. The mares giggled, prompting him to feel even more awkward.
Of course, the cheery, awkward atmosphere was lost when a few golden-plated dark-grey unicorns burst into the room.
Derpy shrieked and scampered to her hooves, running into the kitchen. Caramel and Archer lifted up their crossbows. One of the unicorns pointed a hoof to where Derpy fled, another followed.
"Stand down and things won't get messy.”
Caramel sneered. "Make me."
Derpy, meanwhile, found a nice, dark, smelly and cramped cupboard to hide in. She could hear the chinking of armour and the hoofbeats from the guard who followed her. "Come out now and I promise you won't be harmed."
She said nothing in reply. She heard doors being opened, as the guard flung every cupboard and pantry door open. "Don't make this harder than it has to be."
She saw a magic field envelop the door, then it being flung open. The guard frowned. "There you-"
Make it convincing. Derpy screamed and charged into the unicorn, knocking him to his haunches. The guard cried out in pain, and then kept swinging his head at her, his sharp horn passed inches from her glasses. She raised a hoof up and smacked the guard on the helmet, the metal surface hurting her hoof more than the guard's head underneath.
Clutching her sore hoof, she felt herself being lifted up, and saw her body was enveloped in a magic aura. She tried to flail but she couldn't; this unicorn's magic aura was just too strong.
"Celestia-dammit, why do they always resist?" The guard groaned, carrying Derpy out. Fortunately he was careful enough not to let her head hit anything.
When she floated out of the kitchen, she noticed that Caramel and Archer had been disarmed; their crossbows lay on the ground with limp strings. The guard leader smiled, sheathing his sword. "Easiest raid ever; almost like they wanted us to capture her."
Derpy blinked, hoping they didn't actually believe it was a staged event.
"Well, good thing this thing didn't break out into violence. The Lieutenant would kill me if it did, if I didn't go in combat myself."
Caramel chuckled sarcastically. "Just don't hurt her."
"We treat our prisoners with respect, unlike your Republic."
Derpy was carried out into the open night sky, still unable to move.
She was lowered into a train carriage, and two of the guards positioned themselves across from her. The senior of them shackled Derpy up.
"Don't try anything, ok?"
Derpy nodded solemnly. The train jolted forward and soon they were off.
Derpy looked down at her hooves. The manacles were heavy and uncomfortable. Her hoof was sore from that poorly thought-out attack. She felt tired and exhausted. And, to top it all off, Thunderlane was dead.
"Sorry about the rough treatment." The junior guard said sympathetically. "It's kind of necessary, though."
"It's ok... I've just been having a bad few days..."
"We all do." The senior guard muttered, turning away. "My son died in a raid it a few months ago."
"My best friend died last night." Derpy murmured.
The junior guard gasped, and then sighed sadly. "I'm so sorry..."
"It's ok..."
"The recent siege at the PLR HQ?"
Derpy nodded.
"Well, we're permanently assigned to Canterlot and the trains. We don't see much actual fighting." The senior said. "So... well, we weren't responsible."
Derpy sighed, closing her eyes.
The junior guard looked down awkwardly, kicking the ground a little. "I hate this war... it's just so..."
"Bad." Senior muttered. "I didn't even think there would be one. We were all doing so well, too..."
Derpy nodded. "I remember it like it was yesterday."
"How old were you back then?"
Derpy faltered. These ponies didn't know the past was, quite literally, only a day or two ago for her. "F-five" was all she managed to say.
"Got a better memory than me." He chuckled, then pulled something from a compartment in his armour; a packet of pink sugary cylinders. "Here, have something to eat."
Derpy grabbed one of the candy sticks in her mouth and slowly chewed on it. It was delicious and sweet, and something she didn't even realised she needed.
She smiled sadly, swallowing. "Thank you."
Suddenly there was a shout from the rear of the train, and the familiar thunk of crossbows could be heard over the chugging of the locomotive. The carriage shook violently as something landed on it, and the guards spun to the door, telekinetically drawing blades.
"What was that?" Derpy squeaked.
The door was thrown open, almost off, and a large winged creature rushed in. It, or she, was wearing tinted goggles and a bandanna around it's muzzle... beak... thing. Derpy saw the purple eyeshadow, the colours of the eagle-headed lion thing and gasped. "Gilda!"
"Shut it, dweeb!" The griffon growled, grabbing the senior guard and throwing him out of the train screaming.
The junior guard bellowed loudly and swung his sword at the large beast. Gilda dodged it easily, drawing what looked like a tiny hoofcannon with a strange trigger mechanism and pointing it at the guard. A second blade swing knocked it out of her hands, sending it skidding to Derpy. Gilda growled and drew a hefty knife, rushing forward, locking blades with the guard.
"Ohp!" Derpy cried. Both blade-wielders turned to face the grey pegasus, eyes widening. She was standing up as best she could, the mini-hoofcannon in her mouth, pointed at the griffon.
"What are you doing, you idiot?!" Gilda squawked. "You don't even know what that does!"
Derpy glared into her eyes, not caring what the thing in her mouth did. "Go ahay!"
"Don't make this harder on-"
"Ah 'aid go ahay!" Derpy growled.
Gilda glared back, until she felt something sharp on her neck. She looked down in horror at the young guard.
"You heard her. Get going, and take your lackeys with you."
"You..." Gilda hissed, then stepped back, sheathing her knife. "At least give me my pistol back."
"So you can shoot us? I don't think so. Now get out before I make you."
Gilda growled and flew out, shouting orders at a group of others; ponies or griffons, it was hard to tell. The guard turned to Derpy, and gently removed the pistol from her mouth.
"You just saved my life. Thank you." The guard smiled, then placed the pistol in a lockbox in the carriage.
Derpy just fell back to her haunches, not even believing what she just did. Had she just saved pony's life? All she was doing was scaring Gilda away, or trying to. "Y-you're welcome..."
A voice called out from the side of the carriage, the sounds of galloping hoofbeats just audible. The guard leaned out and laughed, pulling the ejected senior guard out. "You're alive!"
"Takes more than that... to get rid of me..." Senior panted, lying on the floor. "Stupid... bandits..."
"You should have been here, the prisoner saved my life and got rid of that griffon."
Senior laughed. "Well, that's new."
"So, what, do we reward her?"
"That's up for the Lieutenant to decide." Senior panted, and then turned his gaze to Derpy. "Thanks, kid."
Derpy, despite the pain in her hooves and heart, smiled.
The train finally stopped, throwing Derpy's head around a little. She couldn't reach up to rub it, even if she tried hard enough. The guards helped her up and escorted her into the streets of Canterlot.
Canterlot. It didn't even look touched by the war. All the majesty of the buildings remained, the trees were nice and green, and the smell of fancy restaurants filled the air. Fancily-dressed mares and posh stallions walked across the street, looking rather pleased with themselves; almost as if they were untouchable by the war. Derpy found herself loathing them more and more.
One mare walked up to the senior guard. "Excuse me my good fellow, but do you know where the nearest post office is?"
The guard gave some simple directions, and the mare walked off without a thank you. He muttered something rude under his breath.
The three proceeded across the unscarred streets. Posters hung on nearly every wall; showing scenes of Nightmare Moon surrounded by vicious bat-like ponies, with words like STOP THE SHADOWY MENACE OF THE REPUBLIC! JOIN THE CSEMF NOW! and other ludicrous things. Derpy frowned; she had seen the Republic and they had treated her well. They weren't batponies, they were just normal ponies who banded with Luna.
The guards turned a corner and within minutes they arrived at a gaol, its dark-bricked squareness looming over them. Derpy looked up and gulped.
"B-big..."
"Don't worry; it looks much better on the inside."
Not by much. Derpy thought to herself.
Within the minute of them entering, she had been placed into a cell on her own, near the entrance. The cell looked like it had been recently cleaned, but it was cold and dark and small. A single window was the only connection to the outside world, with shafts of moonlight poking through. Derpy sighed.
She crawled to what looked like a makeshift bed and lied down on it, patting her hooves on it. It was hard and cold and very uncomfortable, but better than sleeping on the uneven, stone floor.
She closed her eyes and tried to sleep. After what seemed like a few hours, she finally felt a weight lift from her shoulders and she drifted into a pleasant sleep.