//------------------------------// // Held by force, until I broke away... // Story: Plague // by Cezar //------------------------------// Drake was at the library. Its large, grand door, with massive brass knobs, and gold enlaced lining made him feel small, like a mendicant. For the first time, in his life, he felt poor and small. He ran opened the doors, and saw a group of children, which he recognized. Luna and another, pony with a lighter pink mane, and light yellow fur. It was the one he had hid in just the day before. He looked around, and saw the guard escorts. If he could get in, he would have to try harder to get out. (Apple bloom) Apple bloom walked in the back of the group. She and Scootaloo were in deep discussion as to what was causing the sickness, and weather they were ever going home, and as far as their minds could go with the event, they went. Scootaloo suggested zombie’s, and Sweetie Belle suggested that it was another changeling attack. Apple bloom suggested a government conspiracy to kill the princess, and make it the most believable non-assassination attempt possible. Apple bloom was mid sentence, explaining what she thought, when she saw a familiar figure at the door. She stopped, and looked straining, trying to remember him. “ Hey, Sweetie Belle, who’s that kid again?” she asked. “ Who, Oh, isn’t that... Daren?” she responded. “ Thats it, Drake!” She exclaimed. “ Who’s Drake?” Fluttershy asked, pulling aside to the girls. “Him, the pony up at the ste...” She began. He was gone. She looked up and saw him flying up and above the group, toward another section of the library. “Flying over us,” she finished. Fluttershy looked up, and said, “ Oh, dear. Stay here, I’m going to go get him...” and she finished with a deep and longish sigh. (Drake) Drake was flying up and above the shelves, until he found the general section where he had got the books for the hospital. He landed, rather gracefully for his normality. It made him feel good, after the door of discouragement, and rejuvenated his spirits. He looked through the section about parasites, and found nothing. He looked through the Insects and found nothing. He was just about to go on to the other side, when he saw the book. Feld journal of exotic bugs. It was rather thick. Drake figured that would be the book for the job. He picked it up and flew up and into the air. “ Um, excuse me...” a quiet but sweet voice said. “ Yea,” Drake said, whirling around to face the voice. Drake was now face to face with the pegasus, which he saw with the group of children when he entered the library. “ Yes ma’am,” he responded respectfully, trying to go back to his duty at hand as soon as he could. “ Is your name Drake?” She responded. “Yes ma’am, why?” he responded. “Well, our group is moving along, and you're kinda slowing us down,” She said. “Sorry, I’ll be out of the way as soon as I can, I just gotta go and get this checked out, then I’ll be on my way, and out of your’s,” Drake responded. Fluttershy was rather shocked at this response. She was now confused. “ Well, you can just wait for us to get to the checkout, and until then, you’ll have to remaine with the group.” Now Drake was confused. “ Wait, what...?” Fluttershy didn’t let him finish his sentence, she upright took his hoof, and flew down to the group. He tried to be nice, but resist, nice resistance, peacefully protest, whatever it was, he was doing it. Fluttershy’s grip was firm though, and he couldn’t escape without getting kicked out without a book. He remembered the nurse. She was by now probably experiencing pain and vomiting up that black fluid. “ Ma’am, you need to let go, someponies lives depend on it,” he said, as politely but sternly as possible. Fluttershy didn’t get the memo, but took it as a threat. “Oh, thats how you want to be, huh, well, do I have something for you. I swear, if angle heard you talk to me like that, she would’a slapped me and made me hurt you.” Drake was rather shocked, “ I think you heard me wrong...” “Yea, yea, save it for the judge punk!” Fluttershy said, rather crossly. “What judge?” Drake said. He was more lost, than a chicken in goat factory. Fluttershy rejoined the group, where Luna came over to see why she left to begin with. “Where did you go?” She asked, rather nicely. “To get this little punk,” Fluttershy responded, holding up Drake, off the ground. “Well, a trouble maker, do you know what we do with troublemakers?” Luna said, taunting Drake, to almost no avail. “ Wait, I’m not even apart of this group, I live here in Canterlot, and I came to check out a book, I haven't done nothin,” Drake explained. “ Well, a troublemaker and a liar. We really bagged us one this time,” Luna said, rather cross at the persistence of the child. Then something clicked. “ Wait, I recognize you.” Drake shook his head, and said, “No you don’t,” quickly. “Yea, from the train station. You were walking your dog, at the middle of the night. And from the other day, when you were with the children,” Luna continued. Fluttershy looked more confused than she did before when Drake was trying to get out of the whole group thing. “No, you got the wrong pony, it might be my, ... evil twin,” Drake said the last part rather slow and high pitched. He had dug him a hole, and now it was getting more and more impossible to get out of. Luna gave him a stern look, then looked to the guard next to her “Keep an eye on him. I don’t want him to get away.” Drake looked down and sighed. There was no way he was getting out of this one without either getting marked as a bad pony by the princess, or sneaking off, and being marked as a bad pony by the princess. He needed to get back to the hospital, and save the nurse. “Look, I may have, ..., I just need to get back to the hospital as quick as I can, or else, somepony, not threatening you two, just to clarify, but somepony else is going to die if I can’t get back,” Drake said, in a level tone. Fluttershy remembered she was holding him off the ground, and dropped him, then blushed. Luna ignored his pleading, but something told her he was telling the truth. She went to the front of the group, in order to escape the grip of the pity for the boy. She lead the group, while surrounded by three guards. She twisted and turned through the shelves, allowing the children enough time to grab the books that intrigued them. Soon, and by soon, an hour later, they had gone through the entire library, as grand and big as it was. Then they went to check out the books. Drake showed the lady his card, which was given to him by the manager of the place, who he got to know very well. She was astonished of how well taken care of it looked, as if only a few days old. “Well, sonny boy, looks like someone likes to visit. But your card expires in two days. Renew it now, and I can give you a discount,” the elderly assistant said. “Sorry, I can’t do it right now, I don’t have any money. I spent it all on getting some dog food and... and...” he stopped. “And something else.” The old lady at the counter saw his eyes. They were at battle, fighting off an army of tears. She didn’t need to know why, she already knew. “Ahhh, it's their anniversary,” She said as sweetly as she could. “Yea, it was last week,” he said. “So, what did you get them this time?” She asked. “I got them some roses. And candles,” Drake said, now fighting off crying. It was painful to hear his parents names, or the mention of them. It reminded him of the night they died. They went off for dinner, and left him home alone. When they got back, they were shot on the front porch, and their house torched. He watched them bleed out. It was forever scarred in his mind, and the vivid images always popped up in his head, his dreams, practically every time he blinked. It wasn’t the best thing at all to have forever scarred in a childs head. The Librarian looked at him softly, morning with him. “You know, when I was little, something that always cheered me up was when I would look around me and look at somepony else, and make fun of them in my head.” Drake looked up. That didn’t at all fit the scene, and was rather unorthodox for advice from an elderly pony. “Look at that one over there, the one with the snooty face,” She continued. Drake looked over and saw Diamond Tiara, and chuckled a little. “I’d think to myself something like, at least I’m not her, she must be some hooligan,” she said. Drake laughed at her old pony talk. He liked the elderly ponies. They were nicer to him than any other population, and they all seemed to know each other very well. “Thank you... yea, thats it,” he said. But when the librarian looked at him funny, he explained, “ Oh, I was gonna give a corny speech, but I decided not to.” “Okay, good, I would have made fun of you for that, but you sorta saved yourself,” She said. Drake looked up and saw the guard. He happened to see his leg. It was the one Bella bit. Unless, the guard population just all got some weird body formations, in the shape of a rottweiler's jaw. He snickered, then continued on his way. They walked all the way to the castle, a good mile or so, and they would let all of the pegasi in the group fly, except Drake, for fear of him flying off. Luna was now hanging back with Fluttershy, and they were talking about something, girly most likely, just from the giggles and squeals that came from the group. Drake wanted to make fun of Luna, for being a jerk, and Fluttershy too, just cause. But he didn’t want to start anything, so he kept his mouth shut. He kept looking for a time when he could break away unnoticed. It never came. (Luna) Luna pulled away from fluttershy, and went off to see if Celestia was at their designated meeting spot. Sure enough, she was. “Hey, Tia, how’s life been?” She said, rather joyfully. “Nice to hear you in good spirits. How’s your health?” Celestia questioned. “Well, I haven't seen any of the symptoms yet, but I’ll keep my eye out for them. How’s the rest of Equestria coping with one princess behind figurative bars?” Luna asked. Celestia went into a stair, and then finally spoke, “ You’ve grown since I last saw you. At least an inch.” “Oh, you just got smaller,” Luna said, avoiding her eyes. “Tia, I ran into that little one, we clashed with a few nights ago. He was in the library. I think his parents are sick, and he was trying to help them.” Celestia leaned in as close as she could. “ He’s okay? Was he sick,” she asked. “No, he was just fine. But he was rather worried. I took him with us, and have a guard watching him right now,” Luna said. (Drake) Drake was having trouble coming up with a way to get out. He thought, ‘the most defendable position in the nation, the most fortified, and splendid structure in that city, and one little pegasus with a guard on his tail needs to get out, how?’ The guard stood close by him, only talking when Drake’s hand motions annoyed him enough, until, “ Hey, can someone turn on the A.C. it’s getting hotter in here than it is out there.” That answered Drakes question. The A.C. unit was the way to go, but how. “Um, excuse me, but I gotta go to the bathroom,” Drake said. The guard sighed, “ Come with me,” he ordered. Drake snickered in his head. The guard took him to the bathrooms. There was one for Gentle colts on the right, and one for lady’s on the left. Drake peeked into the boy’s room and saw no vent he could get out of. “Did I mention that I’m a homo-sexual, not really, I'm just a perv” he mumbled that last part as said to the guard, and quickly took his head out, and slipped into the little fillies room. The guard started after him, but then thought, ‘I’m not going in there, besides, if anypony in there or goes in there, he will be embarrassed beyond what is possibly possible.’ Drake saw a vent between the sinks, and got straight to work. Apple bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, all rounded the hall, and saw a guard standing between the two bathrooms. “Wow, they really do mean secure when they say it,” Scootaloo said. The guard snickered a little when they opened the door to the bathroom. Applebloom whispered to scootaloo, “ What's this all for, see conspiracy!” Sweetie Belle shrieked. Applebloom and Scootaloo looked to see what it was all about. There Drake was, with a screwdriver in his hoof, taking out an air filter, exposing a shaft out of the bathroom, both up and down. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE!?!” Sweetie Belle screamed. Applebloom and Scootaloo broke out into a hard laugh. (the guard) Laughter and screams pierced the wooden door that separated the bathrooms form public, and the guard snickered. (back in the bathroom) Drake looked over at the three laughing girls. “WHY ARE YOU IN HERE!” Sweetie Belle demanded. “Calm down, I’m just breaking out of the castle,” Drake said. “Does anypony know what time it is?” “No,” Applebloom managed to say before going back into a painfully hard laugh. “It’s getting,” she had to stop to breath. “dark.” “Oh, no, it may be too late,” Drake said, frantically. “Where’d you get the screw driver?” Scootaloo asked. “Oh, I got it from... ya know what, I really don’t know. It was just there, and I picked it up and,” Drake said, rather curious as to where it came from. Drake then looked up the shaft, and began to climb in. “You still haven't answered my question, WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE!?!” Sweetie Belle asked again. “ I don’t know, what are you doing in here?” Drake responded. “ Well, what do GIRLS do in the GIRLS bathroom?” Sweetie Belle replied. “If only I knew,” he said sarcastically. “And for the record, I did answer your question.” And with that said, he slipped into the ventilation system, and flew upward, towards the light. (Luna) Luna was flying back from where her and Celestia were talking. She was almost at the door. She for some reason looked up. A vent that sucked in fresh air, and sent it through the castle started to make strange noises. Then it burst oven, and fell, nearly hitting luna. Drake popped out his head, and said, “ My apologies your hiney, but I have business to take care of.” Drake took off, toward the hospital. Luna was stunned at the utter expectancy of what happened. She looked at a guard and ordered, “ Find where he got into the vents at, and seal it back up.” The guard turned and went in full gallop to his job. Luna turned and spread out her wings and took off after Drake. (Drake) Drake was flying as fast as he could. It was now dark and the nurse was still waiting. Then he remembered, the book. He turned around and flew back to the castle. He went back into the air vent. It was a good thing he was fast. He was flying as fast as he could. He popped out of the air vent, which was still open, and opened the door. He grabbed the book from the guard, and turned back around and into the bathroom He went back up the air shaft, and was almost to the exit. He popped out of the hole, just for Luna to be in front of him, blocking his way. “Stop, you are getting on my nerves,” Luna ordered. “Sorry, but there’s too much at stake,” Drake said, in the most respectful, but defiant tone he could muster. He then took off, hard to the left, where he circled back around to the hospital. He landed, after losing Luna in the dark. He walked into the building. Bella was waiting for him, with a chewed up clipboard at her feet. Drake smiled, and patted her head, as she whined and tried to jump up on him. But Drake was already flying up the hallway. He didn’t even reach the room. He stopped, and dropped the book. It was the nurse. She was dead, in the hallway. Her body was pale, and cold looking. Drake’s eyes teared up and he could only hover in the air, while he took in this scene. The door flung open, and Luna came in, furious. She looked and saw Bella laying down by the door. She had a chewed up clipboard caught between her legs. Luna ignored the strange sight, and walked quickly down the hallway. She looked right, and saw an empty hallway, and then left, and saw Drake, hovering there, not even moving around. She stomped down to him, but just before she grabbed him, she saw over his shoulder, the nurse. She gasped, and backed up. So many things ran through her mind. ‘ There is a dead lady here, in the middle of the hallway, The child is seeing this,’ but then something hit her. He had all day been trying to get back, he continually said, “ Someone's life depends on it,” and it all hit her. “I tried so hard, so hard. But you stopped me,” Drake said. Then he turned around and walked right passed her, and took a right. He walked down the hallway, and signaled Bella to get up and follow him. Luna was now left alone, dealing with this. She had just practically killed somepony. She had stopped her only friend. She looked down, onto the ground. A book about ticks was on the ground. ‘What was this doing here, why did he need this.?’ Luna moved over to the body, and touched it. It was cold. She had been dead for at least a few hours. Luna turned around and looked to see if Drake was still there. He wasn’t. (Drake) Drake exited the back door, and went into the alleyway. He went behind the trash harbor and into his old, home, where he lied down in his bed, and fell asleep.