//------------------------------// // The Siege of the Castle // Story: Northern Lights // by MysteriousStranger //------------------------------// Twilight, Applejack and the two pegasi didn’t move a muscle while they waited for the siege to begin. There was no indication that the operation had begun yet. The guards still milled about regularly. “If this works, we’ll have our old lives back by tomorrow!” Twilight confidently said. “This'll work, sugarcube, don’t worry… This week has been really hard, bein' away from Dashie and Flying Feather… Ah miss my family…” Applejack sadly said. “I still feel bad for leaving Fluttershy like that… But I had to come to look for our daughter; I couldn’t just sit around and cry for losing Aurora--I had to do something!” “You did the right thing, Twi. Don’t let anypony tell you otherwise. Besides, Trixie is with her and Ah’m sure that Princess Celestia’s guards will protect Ponyville from the F.R.O. You got nothin’ to worry about.” “Thanks, Applejack… I’m glad that you came along. There’s no way I could have done any of this without you. I would've been caught the moment I put a hoof in this city…” “Yer welcome, sugarcube. That’s what friends are for: to support you when you need help most. Ah just did what Ah had to. Ah would have come even if mah sister and Scootaloo hadn’t been taken.” “I wouldn’t have accepted that. I would've asked you to stay with your family…” “And Ah would have tagged along anyway. Dashie is strong. She can take care of herself and the family.” “Applejack, if--” “It has begun, look!” Twilight was interrupted by one of the pegasi, who was pointing to the castle. Endless waves of the Brotherhoof were storming into the castle and the guards had only just sounded the alarm. The mares stood up and watched the guards and their reinforcements hold their own against the Brotherhoof. It was time to start their mission; the roofs and walls were deserted. The pegasi lifted off, grabbing Twilight and Applejack and took them to the castle. As expected, the F.R.O. below were too busy holding the Brotherhoof off that they didn’t look at the sky where their real problem was. The pegasi dropped the mares on one of the roofs. Twilight and Applejack rushed down the stairs and stopped by a door. They could hear hoofsteps from the other side. Applejack peered into the keyhole. “...They’re gone.” she said after seeing the guards walk away. She opened the door and kept it open for Twilight to enter. The room was big, with columns and a few empty cardboard boxes nearby. There were two doors on the opposite side of the room. “We have to take the left exit--the other one leads to the outer wall.” Twilight stated as she made her way to the correct door, followed by Applejack. But when they were about to open it, loud hoofsteps resonated from the other side. The two shared a panicked glance before lunging back as quickly as they could into the closest possible hiding spot--the cardboard boxes. The door slammed open and two guards entered with steely eyes, not even bothering to close the door behind them. Twilight and Applejack dared not move in the slightest, so all they could see were the two ponies' hooves from below the boxes' flaps. “Stay here, I’ll go outside to help!” one guard ordered to the other. The second nodded in response and remained completely still as his superior disappeared into the door they'd deemed led to the castle's outer wall. The guard that had stayed behind stared at the two doors ahead of him, his muscles stiff and his flank facing the two infiltrators. Twilight didn’t dare move just yet, but Applejack did. She slowly and quietly began crawling toward the guard, using the box as a disguise. “Applejack, what are you doing?!” The Unicorn whispered to her partner. Applejack stiffened and stopped her creeping. The guard turned, but when he didn’t see anything suspicious, he focused on the door again.--just a few boxes. “Is there somepony there?!” The mares held their breaths as the guard looked around with a stony expression, his ears perked. He took a few steps in their direction, but he only looked around and gave no attention to the boxes that littered the floor. “It must be my imagination…” he finally muttered, returning to his post. The mares allowed themselves to breathe again. “Be quiet, Twilight!” the farmer pony whispered back harshly to her friend before continuing her silent approach of the oblivious stallion. After a few seconds that seemed to drag on forever (Twilight could swear that she heared a clock ticking), Applejack was right behind the stallion. She suddenly shed the box and tackled him in one fluid movement, covering his mouth with her hoof to prevent him from calling for help. However, he wasn’t going to give up that easily. The guard struggled. He was trying whatever he could to get Applejack’s hoof out of his mouth. “Ah don’t think so!” The farmer pony gritted her teeth as she pressed down more. Unluckily for her, the guard managed to get up and was able to get a punch in her face. “Yer going to need more than that to beat me!” Applejack said after She spat blood out. When Twilight saw that Applejack had been hurt, she couldn’t keep herself at bay any longer. She revealed herself from her hiding spot and used a stunning spell on the stallion, who fell unconscious immediately. The bookworm pony approached the guard hotly. “You do not hurt my friends!” “Well done, sugarcube! But that was dangerous; you could've hit me.” “…Are you okay?” “Are you kidding? A few punches won’t stop me!” “But your mouth… It's bleeding.” “Don’t worry about that. Really, I’m fine!” Applejack promised as she wiped the blood from her mouth with a hoof. She smiled to further ensure her friend that she was alright, but Twilight looked unconvinced. The farmer pony sighed and changed the topic tactfully. “We have to hide him.” “Let’s put him under a box and return them where they were before going on.” Twilight said before dragging the unconscious stallion with her magic until he was hidden completely from sight underneath a box. She then used her magic to return Applejack’s box to its original spot. “Ready? Let’s go.” This time, it was Twilight the one who followed Applejack. They went through the door and quickly crossed the corridor until they found a cross. They had to keep moving forward to get to the door that lead to the stairs into the basement where the cells were, but a door opened and two guards trotted from the room straight into the other corridor. Luckily, the door covered them from sight and they weren’t spotted. Twilight and Applejack let their breaths out and continued into the basement. They checked through the keyhole to see if anypony was on the other side before proceeding. Downstairs, they saw yet another door. After checking inside, they opened the door and found the room with the cells. “Applejack, check the ones on the left while I check the right.” Applejack nodded and headed to the first of the cells, but it was locked. But that didn't stop her. With an annoyed grunt, the earth pony brought her rearhoves up and bucked the door open with a strength that could only be matched by her older brother, Big Mac. It opened slowly. The farmer pony entered and returned with two scared colts and a filly. She continued to the next door and repeated the procedure as Twilight headed to the first door on the right. She used her magic to open the door. "Is there anypony in here?" she called out as she entered the cell. “Twilight? Is that you?” “Apple Bloom?” Two figures emerged from the darkness: Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, the latter carrying a sleeping Trotting Paradise. The fillies trotted to hug the mare when they realized that she was, in fact, Twilight. “We thought we were never goin’ to see you again!” Apple Bloom exclaimed wth tears in her eyes as she hugged the Unicorn. “I’m glad to see you too, girls!” Twilight said with just as much emotion as she hugged them back. “Are you the only ones in this cell? Where’s Aurora?” Both fillies' bright smiles receded, leaving them with dark eyes and grimaces. “We don’t know… She was with us for a while, but a mean mare came in and took her today. We haven’t heard from her since then.” Scootaloo said with a frown. Twilight let out a sad sigh. “I have to find her… I won’t leave until she's with us. Put Paradise on my back.” She waited until Apple Bloom had laid the foal on her back before escorting them out of the cell. In that moment, Applejack appeared from another cell with more colts and fillies. “Sis?” Applejack looked to where the voice came from. “Apple Bloom?” The two fillies ran toward Applejack and hugged her tighter than they did Twilight. “Ah missed you, big sis!” Apple Bloom's tears finally escaped as both she and Scootaloo embraced her older sister. “Ah missed both of you too, Applejack… I’m glad that both of you are okay!” “And Trotting Paradise was with them, too.” Twilight commented as she caught up with them. “But Aurora was taken somewhere else… ” she finished sadly. Her shoulders sagged. “Don’t worry, Twi, we’ll find her… But first, we have to take all of them to the roof.” “I know… It'd be better to take them to safety before looking for my daughter…” After releasing all the kids, Twilight and Applejack led them upstairs. After making sure that there was nopony in the room with columns, they entered. Applejack was in the front. She took a few steps forward and turned to see the group. “Alright, listen to me. We're takin’ all of you to the roof. Once there, there will be pegasi ready to pick you up and take you to safety.” “Not if I can prevent it!” the unmistakable voice of a mare echoed directly behind Applejack. But before she could face her, the female guard revealed herself from behind a column near Applejack. She took advantage of the element of surprise and kicked at one of Applejack’s rear legs, breaking it immediately upon contact. “Aaaaagh!” “Applejack!” Apple Bloom' scream echoed through the room. Twilight casted a stunning spell on the mare guard. It was so strong that it shoved her back and into the wall that was meters away. She then trotted to where Applejack was laying with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. “Sis… Are you okay?” “My leg… It’s broken!” “Don’t worry, Applejack! We’ll take you out of here…” But as soon as Twilight finished speaking, the right door thrusted open and three black-hooded ponies entered, their horns sticking out from underneath. Twilight stood in front of her friend to protect her, making sure none of Applejack was visible. However, Twilight could see that if she attacked one of the ponies, the other two would be able to easily dispatch her. So, she just kept looking at them, waiting for an opportunity to attack, but before she knew what was going on, the hooded pony in the middle stepped back and stunned the other two. Twilight stared in disbelief. “What just happened?” The black-hooded pony removed her hood to reveal a blue Unicorn mare with a silver mane and lavender eyes. “Nopony hurts the friends of the Great and Poweful Trixie!"